Clash

by Belle Aurora

  Lee, still very clearly entertained, argued for me. “Oh, c’mon, Hell. Let her have a shot.”

  Hell sighed, carrying me surfboard style over to the net, the ball still tightly adhered to my hands. Once there, he placed me on my feet and waved an arm out. “Go on then.”

  Really?

  I watched and waited for someone to rush me but nobody did.

  When I took the ball and made to shoot, I looked around again to find three tall, muscular men smiling back at me.

  I lifted the ball, shot, and missed. I sighed. “Let me try again.”

  Lee threw the ball back and I concentrated hard, taking my time, then threw it. But it fell dismally short. I let out a huff. “It’s so high up. I’m too short.”

  And then, suddenly, I was airborne.

  I let out a squeak as Hell lifted me, holding me around the thighs. Lee brought me the ball. Connor watched quietly, assessing. I gripped onto Hell’s arms, my fingers digging into the hard flesh there. “Oh my God, put me down!”

  Hell simply laughed. “Relax. I’m not gonna drop you. You’re tiny, little bird.”

  Lee spoke gently. “Take the ball, Emmy.”

  After I managed to catch my breath, I carefully took the outstretched basketball. Then I lifted it in my hands and shot it at the net.

  It missed.

  Lee fetched the ball for me and handed it to me again good-naturedly.

  I tried again, reaching the backboard, but… “Aw,” I uttered when it rolled off the rim. Then I smiled at the guys. It was close. “I almost had it that time.”

  Lee handed me the ball then clapped. “C’mon, you got this. One more time, Emmy.”

  I took in a deep breath, and Hell spoke at my back. “Whenever you’re ready.”

  You heard them, Emmy. You’ve got this.

  Without hesitating, I lifted the ball, shot it hard, and watched as it flew into the net.

  A surprised shout left me and I lifted my arms into the air, cheering and clapping at my great feat.

  Hell lowered me to the ground, holding out his palm. I high-fived him then Lee but when I turned to Connor, he was already walking back to the bus.

  Lee returned the ball as Hell and I made our way back. Once on board, Noah sat at the booth with his laptop open but he called me over. “Looked like you had fun out there.”

  I sat opposite him and took in a deep breath. “I did.”

  “Good.” Noah looked relieved. “So you think you wanna hang out some more?”

  My smile was genuine but as timid as my voice. “I’d like that.”

  And with that simple admission, a friendship had begun.

  “See this hair?” Hell pointed to a curly hair on his forearm. I peered in, squinting to look at it. Hell took his fingers and unraveled it, pulling it straight. It was freakishly long. “I call him Golden Boy. He’s sort of a national treasure.”

  “I can see why.” I pulled back and fought a smile at this ridiculous conversation. “He’s beautiful.”

  The bus was long on the road and sometime after dark, the guys had come out of their cubbies like the night owls I would come to realize they were. And for reasons unbeknownst to me, they were chatty.

  “My face started to swell, and soon enough, my eyes were so swollen I couldn’t see a damn thing. Looked like a Buddha.” This was Lee. “And that was how I discovered I was allergic to shellfish.” He finished on a grin, folding his arms across his chest.

  I had a feeling about what was going on here and all signs pointed to Noah. I wasn’t upset about him intervening. Actually, quite the opposite. I was beginning to see a different side of these men and the more I learned, the less scary they became.

  Their tall tales made me see them as flawed and human as the rest of the world. And once this became apparent, I couldn’t stop smiling.

  Noah became animated partway through his story. “And I was like ‘no way,’” he groaned, running his hands down his face. “But at the end of it all, it wasn’t even my car.” He started to laugh. “I’d parked it on the other side of the lot. I was just so drunk I forgot.”

  I don’t know what I expected from Connor, but it was close to what I got. “All I’m saying is that if the sex sounds like running through the rain in flip-flops—” He blinked at me, a picture of innocence. “—it’s bomb.”

  For a moment, I thought about the sound running through the rain in flip-flops would make, and my stomach turned.

  Ew.

  Connor grinned and I realized I’d said it out loud.

  Leaning in, I listened to every dumb little tidbit they wished to share.

  “I washed it ten freaking times, but,” Hell revealed solemnly, “it’s smelled like vomit ever since.”

  More stories were told.

  “So when I came to, I woke in the hospital with my arm in a cast and a gash on my chin.” Lee pointed to the scar on his chin. “See it?”

  I saw it.

  The stories seemed never ending.

  Noah’s lips thinned and he slowly shook his head. “No one told me it was an electric fence.”

  These were the tales of little boys, not grown men.

  I tried to hold it in but I couldn’t. Soft laughter left me and I covered my mouth in an attempt to stop it. Unfortunately, it just made me laugh harder.

  Connor kept his eyes on me and smiled at my unrestrained mirth. Suddenly, his smile faded. he jerked his chin towards me and uttered, “What about you?”

  Immediately, my laughter allayed. “Me?”

  “Yeah, you.” His eyes narrowed and he licked his lips. “What’s your story?”

  My story?

  Did I even have a story?

  If I did, it wasn’t much. It definitely wasn’t like any of theirs but the expectant gazes of the four men in front of me told me it was my turn to share.

  “Uh,” I started at the beginning. “I guess I was your typical kid. I grew up in Bakersfield with my mom. I never knew my dad. I mean, Mom insisted she loved him but later on down the track, Nanna disclosed the guy was married and mom was his mistress, so yeah.” They listened closely. “Mom got sick when I was seven. She died soon after and so I moved in with Nanna. Went to Marshall High and finished a year early. Immediately after, I went to college and got a degree.” Or two. “I graduated”—with honors—“and started looking for work but I noticed Nanna was becoming forgetful and it wasn’t until a few weeks later that I realized how bad it actually was. I got a call from the police.” It was the worst day of my life. “They wouldn’t tell me much, just that I needed to pick her up. So when I got there Nanna was disoriented and she kept calling me by my mom’s name, June. She ended up north of the highway and I asked her why she didn’t just go home.” I paused. “She told me she couldn’t remember how to get there.” I cleared my throat. “That was when I stopped looking for work and decided to care for her. That was three years ago.”

  I didn’t reveal that at the time we couldn’t afford a caretaker or to put her in a home. That was my business. Solely my business.

  “That sucks, kid,” stated Lee.

  “Yeah,” Hell said, then asked, “What’s she got?”

  “Dementia.” It was hard to talk about. “She’s in a home now. St Jude’s. It’s a nice place.” A pricey place that I could afford thanks to this job. “Her memory is shaky. Some days, she’s lucid. Other days, she’s… not. Most of the time, she doesn’t even remember me.” Which was absolutely heartbreaking. “Unfortunately, she needs constant care at the hands of a nurse and that’s not something I can be for her.”

  I’m not sure why that last statement came out as defensive as it did.

  “Of course,” Noah uttered kindly. “That’s a big ask of anyone, especially someone your age.”

  Connor straightened in his seat. “How old is she?”

  “She’s older. Quite a lot older.” And declining quickly. “She had my mom late in life, when she was in her for
ties.” I smiled softly. “Mom was her miracle baby.”

  Having had enough of this conversation, I asked, “May I—?” I was embarrassed and bit my lip, but tried again. “Can I take a photo of you?”

  Noah was the first to speak. “Sure.”

  It would be the first photo taken on my new smartphone, courtesy of the label.

  They posed for me and I took the shot, looking down at the screen and smiling. “Cool.”

  “You’re not gonna post that on social media now, are you?” Connor enquired coolly.

  “Oh, uh…” I looked up at him. “I don’t have social media.”

  Hell frowned in disbelief. “What? Why?”

  I realized that was fairly unheard of.

  “How do you keep in touch with your friends?” Lee asked, completely baffled.

  What friends?

  The silence that followed was cutting and my gut clenched painfully.

  My smile fell and pressure built in my ears.

  A slow flush rose up my neck to heat my cheeks. I bit my lip hard enough to bruise.

  I hadn’t meant to say that out loud.

  It was too much. The silence had become almost agonizing.

  “Well.” Standing, I cleared my throat then held up my phone. “Thanks again.” Averting each gaze I felt on me, I smiled thinly. “Goodnight.”

  Oh, dear.

  Look at me exposing myself.

  Feeling emotionally stripped, I climbed into my cubby, shut the privacy curtain and lay down, throwing a pillow on top of my head for good measure.

  Perhaps that would help me shut my big, dumb mouth.

  Chapter Six

  Me and My Friends.

  Emily

  It was day two on the bus and for the most part, it was fairly uneventful. It was also the first time I’d heard a loud clapping fart followed by four grown men laughing raucously.

  Definitely something new.

  The guys all did their own thing—sleeping, listening to music, reading, playing their instruments—and I was kind of bored. I wish I had prepared better. I only brought three books with me, thinking I wouldn’t have time to do much reading.

  Travelling was tedious.

  Lee came down the aisle, playing on his Nintendo Switch, and when he fell into the seat next to me, he held out the console. “Wanna battle?”

  I pushed my glasses up my nose and had a look at the red and blue machine. “Battle?”

  “Yeah.” He removed a controller and threw it over.

  I caught it before it landed and smiled cautiously. “Okay, but I don’t know what I’m doing.”

  Lee grinned at me. “I’ll show you.” Placing the screen onto the table in front of us, he propped it up on its teensy kickstand and started the game. “Watch a pro at work, kid.”

  I watched, giving the game my full attention, catching on fairly quickly as to what the objective of the game was. It was a process of elimination, last guy standing type thing. Lee collected weapons and a shield of sorts then shot at anyone who came into view. It seemed easy enough.

  After the match had finished, Lee prompted me, “Ready?”

  “I think so.” I sat up taller and gripped the controller the same way I’d seen Lee hold it.

  The second I touched land, I was shot and killed.

  “What?” I was bummed. “How?”

  But Lee just muttered, “That’s the name of the game, Emmy. Try again.”

  I did. I landed, ran a short distance, and was brutally eliminated.

  “Oh, God, I’m terrible.” I handed Lee the controller. “I don’t want to do this anymore. This game is hard.”

  Lee clicked his tongue and placed the controller back in my hand. “Practice, Emmy san. It gets easier, I promise.”

  With a sigh, I readied myself. I wasn’t a quitter. This game was not going to beat me. I’d play till my fingers bled.

  “Ready?”

  Focused, I nodded. “Do it.”

  Lee started the game and when I landed, I managed to run to a small shed where I found a weapon and shield. I made a happy noise in my throat. But when I exited the shed, a guy was there.

  He shot me.

  My guy was on his knees and I let out a shrill, “No!” The other guy shot me again and I died. “This is a nightmare!” I wanted to throw the damn controller and huffed out a breath. “Why is everyone picking on me? I—”

  Lee’s shoulders shook.

  “What?” I asked guardedly.

  Lee held his controller, moved the toggle, and it hit me. My eyes widened. I shot up out of my chair, pointed at him, and hollered, “You!”

  He couldn’t control himself. Lee burst out into loud, boisterous laughter.

  I should’ve known.

  Lee was controlling the guy who kept shooting me.

  His laughter was contagious. I tried to keep a straight face but failed. “That was not very nice.”

  Lee wiped away tears of mirth. “Oh, Jesus. That was golden.” He finally got himself under control. “You’re a lot of fun, kid.”

  I sat back down with a pout. “I didn’t want to play your dumb game anyway,” I murmured to myself.

  This made Lee start all over again.

  My smile transformed into a chuckle. My chuckle grew into laughter. My laughter morphed into a snort and Lee just about pissed his pants. The more he laughed, the more I snorted. It became a never-ending cycle until finally, Lee rolled off his chair and into the aisle, howling.

  This was the most fun I’d ever had in my life.

  My cheeks were flushed and, smiling like an idiot, I wiped away tears of merriment. Lee wiped his face on his tee when Noah snooped, “What the hell are you guys doing over there?”

  We spoke at the same time. “Nothing.”

  “Don’t make me come over there.” I heard Noah’s smile.

  Lee handed me a controller and we battled again. This time, we worked as a tag team and when I finally got my first kill under my belt, I sprung up, yelling at the god-awful tiny screen. “Yes! Take that PoBoi365!”

  Of course, that was the moment I was killed. I spun to Lee and he put his hands up in a placating gesture. “It wasn’t me, I swear!”

  I moped, sitting again with a dull thud. “I hate this game.”

  Then why was it strangely addictive?

  Who knew?

  “Okay,” Lee uttered. “Well, you choose. What do you wanna play?”

  I thought about it. “The only gaming console I ever had was the NES. I didn’t have many games on it. My absolute favorite was Super Mario 3.”

  “I don’t got it on here, kid,” Lee murmured then he smiled. “But I can get it. Hold up.”

  Then he got up and walked down the passage to his cubby. He spent a little time in there before he came back holding a small black console. Unfolding it, he handed it to me. “It’s a 3DS. I’ve got all the classics on there.”

  I opened it and immediately spotted Super Mario 3. With a small gasp, I held the console to my bosom. “Lee!”

  He sunk into the chair next to me and nudged me with his shoulder. “You can have it.” I instantly went to protest but he held up a hand to stop me. “I have four of them, kid.”

  “Are…” My frown was deep. “Are you sure?”

  “Yep.” Lee got comfortable, resting his head on my shoulder, and I smiled to myself. “Now. Show me what you got.”

  I clicked on the opening screen and when the familiar opening sequence began, I uttered a long, drawn out, “Cool.”

  I felt Lee’s body shake next to me. “By the way, no one says cool anymore.”

  “They don’t?”

  I did.

  He looked up at me from my shoulder and gently shook his head. “No. They say sick, or…”

  While Lee thought about it, Hell called out, “Awesome.”

  Noah added, “Bitchin’.”

  “Lit.” This was Connor.

  I wa
s mildly embarrassed. “Do I…” My voice was slight. “Do I have to choose one now, or…” And it weakened even more as I bit my lip. “…can I think about it?”

  Lee’s shoulders shook hard then he slapped a hand down on my leg, causing my entire body to jerk.

  “Goddammit, Emmy.” He laughed out loud then sighed, “I like you.”

  My smile was small.

  My voice was smaller. “I like you too.”

  And I did, very much.

  It was funny to watch four tall, sturdy men sit at such a small cubicle to play poker. The booth was flooding with testosterone, positively bursting with it.

  I smiled to myself as I watched them from over the edge of my book.

  Sitting opposite them on the three-seater, I tucked my feet underneath me and pretended to read.

  “You have no idea, guys,” Connor uttered as he shuffled the cards. “Twins. That’s where it’s at.”

  Noah shook his head. “Two pussies are too many for me. I’m a one-woman guy.”

  “I don’t know, man,” Lee stated thoughtfully. “I’d sure give it a red-hot go.”

  I blushed, gripping my book tighter.

  I should not have been listening to this. It was a private conversation.

  When Hell picked up his cards, he admitted, “Been there, done that.” He made a noncommittal sound. “I don’t rate it.”

  “What? That’s weak, bro.” Connor was outraged. He spoke directly to Noah, “You telling me you got two young, tight pussies, wet as fuck, and you wouldn’t figure out what to do with ‘em?”

  “Call me old-fashioned, but,” Noah muttered, putting a card down, “one dick needs one hole. I’m not greedy.”

  Connor grinned brazenly. “Greed is my middle name.”

  Caught up in the moment, I accidentally revealed myself when I made a small noise in my throat.

  All of them looked over at me, and my cheeks colored.

  Eyes wide, I pulled the book down to my mouth and tried to speak through the thick binding. “I wasn’t listening.” Four sets of eyes smiled and my neck began to itch. “I mean—” My voice was quiet. “—I wasn’t trying to listen.” I swallowed hard then whispered, “Sorry.” I hid behind my book and tried to read the words on the page.