“Mercy, ok, mercy!”
Laughing down in my face, he handed them back. “Go get it started.”
“You play dirty, you know.”
“I know.” He winked and then rolled off the top of me.
I climbed up the embankment, excited for the open road. Firing up the ignition, the radio blasted a twangy song I recognized by Tim McGraw. I shuddered, hearing something about girls being rain. I worked the dial, trying to find something else the old Jeep could play on the ancient speakers.
“What are you doin’?” Jess asked, getting in the passenger side. His hand reached over for the dial.
“Ah, no, you stay on your side of the car.”
“You’re not drivin’ if you make me listen to that angry girl shit again.”
“Shut up. Ok…this is good,” I said, smiling sweetly back at him.
The drums pounded. I slung my head back and forth to the hard beat of the Foo Fighters. The music had the power to open up every bit of reserve, letting me belt out the first line. I pulled the Jeep off the embankment and peeled out on the dirt road to home.
“Geez, you sound terrible. You need to just stick to drawin’ stuff.”
“You really want to provoke the driver?”
“What the hell is this?”
“My Hero.”
“What? You said I’m your hero?”
“Shut up. It’s the Foo Fighters.”
“Your Kung Foo music is gonna wake up half the countryside.”
“It’s Foo Fighters!” I shouted over Dave Grohl’s gravelly voice. Turning toward Jess, I caught him swinging his arms around in karate chops. His hands twisted and slapped through the air just to piss me off.
“I hate you sometimes, Jess Mason.”
“I know,” he grinned. Shaking my head, I turned back to face the road. A pair of glassy eyes reflected back in the headlights.
I screamed. Yanking the steering wheel to the right, I swerved trying to avoid the deer. The back tires fishtailed on the gravel to the left. My fingers dug hard into the wheel, pulling it back straight, but the unstable dirt pushed the Jeep off the road.
The hood went through the barbed wire fence. The metal spikes grated into the paint, bursting apart as they came in contact with the glass. The Jeep flew through the Johnson grass and slammed into a tree.
The impact propelled my body forward, only to be yanked back by the seat belt. I couldn’t breathe; my lungs crushed from the shoulder strap. Coughing and gasping, I panicked, “Jess…Jess!”
I couldn’t remember if he fastened his seat belt. Dust floated in a light mist around the Jeep. My terrified eyes found Jess strapped into the passenger side. The electric guitar crackled through the speakers with the pounding drums. My heart accelerated with the sound of the Foo Fighters still screaming in the car. I couldn’t breathe.
Jess reached down and turned off the blaring radio. The Jeep went eerie silent in the dark night. I couldn’t speak as I watched Jess's lips say words I couldn’t hear. Slowly, his voice came into focus, “It’s ok. It’s gonna be ok.”
My white-knuckles were still clenching the wheel. He reached over and pulled them away. “Are you hurt?”
“I…I…don’t think…so,” I mumbled back. One minute we were arguing about music and then we almost… I couldn’t even process the thought. I almost killed Jess.
“Ok…let’s…umm…just get out,” Jess said, unlatching his shoulder trap.
My hands were shaking and I couldn’t work the buckle. I couldn’t breathe. My chest hurt from the bruise forming across my body.
“I got it.” Jess came over to the driver side, setting me free.
Swinging my legs down, I climbed out into the grass. My knees gave out. He slipped an arm around my waist as we staggered to the front to see the damage. It was a tough old car made of solid metal, but the impact smashed all the way through the bumper and into the hood. The top was buckled up like a crunched can.
“It’s bad,” I muttered.
“I know, but I think I can get it backed out of here.” He turned and looked at me with a frown. “You sure you’re ok?”
“I guess.”
“Ok, then let’s go.”
Jess walked with me to the passenger side. Crawling up in the seat, he latched the seat belt across my shoulder. I moaned, feeling the band cut into my throbbing chest.
“You sure?” The blue eyes stared into mine.
“Yes,” I whispered. “I just want to go home.”
“Ok. I’ll get you there. Hold on.” Jess jumped in the driver seat. He fired up the ignition, putting the Jeep in reverse, but the tires spun with each touch to the petal.
“It’s stuck, isn’t it?”
“No, I’ll get us out…just gonna take a bit.”
Jess floored the gas, making the car shake. He eased up and tried again. The Jeep lurched sideways, spinning away from the tree. We pulled out on the road and headed toward the old farmhouse. Jess drove slowly. The cab rocked back and forth from the frame damage. The movement made me nauseous. I sucked in another gulp of painful air.
“It’s after three,” I said quietly. “What are we going to do?”
“Well, I’m gonna drop you off and then try to get this thing back in the barn.”
“We have to tell somebody,” I pleaded. I figured we needed to wake somebody up when we got back to the ranch.
“We ain’t tellin’ anyone anythin’ tonight.”
“They have to know what I did.”
“You didn’t do anythin’.”
“Jess, they will know. The Jeep’s messed up bad.”
“Yeah, I know. They’re gonna find out but it ain’t gonna be like this.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’ve got this, Alex. You’re not involved. You weren’t here.”
“You’re not taking the blame for this.”
“Yes, I am. I’m gonna keep the keys. They won’t notice the front if I park it just right. Then tomorrow, I’ll take it out on the meadow.” I saw him swallow hard and grit his jaw.
“And what? Run it into a tree? No, Jess! This is crazy! Just let me tell them what happened.”
“Your dad will kill you and then he’ll kill me for takin’ you out here. It won’t be as bad if they think I did it on the ranch durin’ the day. But if they find out we ran through the Nelson’s fence in the middle of the night? Ain’t either us gonna live through that one. So just let me fix it, ok?
“I don’t like this.” The nausea rolled around in the pit of my stomach. The Jeep crashed once and we survived, but Jess was going to crash it again on purpose. My stomach twisted, spinning bile up into my throat, “Oh crap. I’m gonna be sick.”
Leaning over the side, I puked as we rounded one of the curves. Bits of vomit flew out past the door in the darkness.
“Want me to stop?”
“No, just go.” I waved my hand forward. “I just want to go home.”
We reached my house, and I climbed down from the Jeep. It took every bit of control not to cry out in pain. Jess followed me down the road to the farmhouse. Reaching down, he tried to help me up in the window, but I grabbed Jess in a fierce hug. His arms circled around my bruised body. He felt solid; he felt safe. The hot, summer night made my skin sweaty, but I didn’t care. I clung to Jess, refusing to let go.
“I’m ok,” he whispered in my ear.
“I almost killed you.”
“Then I guess we’re even.”
“That’s not funny.” I squeezed harder, my fingers digging into his skin.
“Nothin’ is gonna happen to me,” he whispered. “I’m invincible.”
Chapter 17
Today, 11:08 p.m.
The beauty queen enters the hospital room, carrying two towels and a bottle of fancy shampoo. My father uses her arrival as an excuse to walk toward the door. My hands shake, seeing him leave.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going to get you some food.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“You need to eat. All I’ve seen you do is throw up the last six hours.” His sad eyes glance toward me and back to her. “I won’t go very far.”
As he leaves, I look at the blonde in the corner. She smiles, faintly as her lips sparkle with a light coat of gloss. “You ready for a shower?”
I shrug and glance down at my pants. Chills shoot up on my arms at the sight of the stains. I want those jeans burned in a trash can. I slid off the bed, feeling my wobbly legs collapse. She wraps an arm around my lanky body. I could crush her in one swoop, but she holds on with a tight grasp. Without a word, I let the beauty queen take me to the shower. I lean against the sink while she turns on the water and sets up the little handheld nozzle.
“Can you do this by yourself or do you want me to help?” Her mascara-coated lashes blink in my direction, waiting for a response. She must have applied new makeup when she got the shampoo. “I do this all the time. I mean, the hospital stuff…seeing people naked.”
I should care about this strange course of events, but I’m too tired to think straight. “I…I…don’t want to keep you here. Don’t you need to go home?”
“It’s ok, really.”
I nod back in submission. She smiles again, this time almost apologetic. I cringe, feeling her hands unbutton the front of my blue, plaid shirt. Every moment of today, was a page right out of a chapter from hell.
A tan bra covers my chest. The fabric is marked in black stains that soaked through my shirt. A tear rolls down my cheek and lands next to one of the spots. She pauses for a moment, glancing up with something that resembles compassion.
“I’m a little dizzy,” I mutter, turning my head away.
“It’s the drugs they gave you.”
“Are they safe? I mean…um…I think they gave me a lot.”
She stops for a moment and looks me in the eye. “Yeah.”
“Ok.” I swallow hard, trying to keep my stomach in check. She moves to the front of my jeans. I hold onto her shoulders as I step out of the disgusting pants. I smell rancid. It wafts up, making me dry heave.
“You need a pan, Alex?”
“No,” I take a deep breath, closing my eyes. Her fingers slip my stained bra off my shoulders. My white boy shorts follow over my thighs. Standing naked and vulnerable in front of this woman, I open my eyes to see her calm face. I swallow the bile back down my throat.
“Let’s get you in.”
I sit on the built-in seat used for old people. She soaks my skin with the spray wand. I scrub my arms and legs as a dark trail disappears into the drain. The beauty queen lathers up shampoo and rubs it into my scalp. The floor fills with foamy dried blood.
“The little girl earlier,” I ask as a distraction. “Is she your daughter?”
“Yeah, that’s Corrie. She’s four.”
“Did she go home?”
“Yeah, my mother stopped by to get me after my shift. Corrie stays with her when I’m at work.”
“That’s nice. Where um, is her father?”
Her fingers pause for a moment before she answers. “He didn’t want her.”
“Must be hard.”
“I don’t complain much. I can’t imagine my life without Corrie. I guess the hard part is rememberin’ what it was like before she existed.”
“I guess life works that way, doesn’t it.” I mutter.
“Yeah, it does,” her eyes catch mine. “Come on. Let’s get you out.” She turns off the water and wraps one of the towels around my red hair. Taking the other one, the beauty queen dabs the soft fabric down my skin. Yes, today was a page right out a chapter from hell.
Chapter 18
When I was sixteen…
The jingle of the door caught me by surprise. My stomach automatically tightened at the sight of her. Ashley Cartwright walked through the front door of Jeeter’s, followed by two of her Ashley-bots. It was a cliché, really, when you looked at the facts. However, clichés only become notorious in the world for a reason. It was just too damn common of a story. Unfortunately, it was currently mine.
“Look at Ashley,” Natalie said, her eyes shifting toward the counter. “She went home after school and got slutted up for a Coke. No one’s even here but us.”
I knew exactly what she was trying to do in Jeeter’s. The day or the moment wasn’t clear in my mind when everything started with Ashley. Ever since I moved to Arlis, she’d looked down her perky nose at me. It didn’t matter much back in those days. I had Jess and the ranch. He didn’t like her so I wasn’t forced to spend much time in her presence.
As life evolved, it all became a different playing field in high school. I’d fretted about the changes that would come as we grew older. I wish I’d known just how hazardous it would get the next few years. Who knew Jess would become the football star, love the popularity, and start dating my mortal enemy? I really could just kill him sometimes. I pictured my hands around his throat, choking out his lust for Ashley.
“I guess I need to go help them.” I slid out of the booth.
“I can do it.”
“No, it’s my turn.” I let out a sigh and walked toward the counter. The words of Kenny Chesney played on the jukebox, announcing my impending doom.
Ashley stood at the front of the group, wearing tiny pieces of raveling denim she called a skirt with a tight, blue tank top that forced you to look at her breasts. Her perfect skin was surrounded by flowing blond layers, she modeled after Jessica Simpson’s perfect hair. With the cowboy boots, Ashley could be an ad for that new country line dancing bar on Highway 37. I wondered if Mrs. Mason had seen her lately. She would definitely not approve of this outfit.
I self-consciously smoothed my hands over my uniform, trying to dust off the splatters of ice cream. The afternoons on the ranch ended quite some time ago. These days, Jess went to football practice while I made milkshakes at Jeeter’s after school.
Old man Jeeter had opened the place almost sixty years ago. His granddaughter Caroline now owned the restaurant, which sat conveniently down the block from the hardware store. My father picked me up after he closed the shop. Caroline always made sure we had something wrapped in foil to take home for dinner. She was the doting, fussy type and about my father’s age. He said it was my imagination, but I think she liked him.
“What can I get you, Ashley?” I plastered the fake, service worker smile on my lips and glanced back at Lila and Katie Rae. I never could tell where they stood toward me. Obviously, they were her Ashley-bots, always following along silently in the background, doing what they were told.
“I don’t know.” Her glossy lips pursed in contemplation. She wasn’t friendly but wasn’t hateful. Hopefully, it would be a good day. The thought didn’t release the tight knot in my abdomen.
Jess and Ashley had known each other their whole lives. Somewhere along the way, he went from hating her to dating her. I couldn’t blame him really. She was sexy and sometimes he was just a stupid boy.
Ashley’s family owned the tag agency. In some twisted way, the fact her parents slapped a date stamp on the back of every Arlis truck, made her feel special. She was involved in every organization at school, including cheerleading. While every guy wanted to date Ashley, every girl either wanted to be her or was afraid of her, or a little of both.
Ashley wasn’t necessarily an aggressive mean person unless you attempted to take away something she thought was hers. This caused most people to tread lightly because she assumed most things were hers. I guess this also explained why she developed a major issue with me. She thought Jess belonged to Ashley, and I should vanish from the face of the earth.
“Have you decided?” I really didn’t want to poke the bear with a stick, but two songs had played on the jukebox since she came to the counter. Ashley didn’t answer. She briefly lifted her long eyelashes, caked in mascara, and then looked back at the menu. My fingers clenched into my palms. She was doing this on purpose.
I never knew how an encounter wo
uld go with Ashley. With Jess around, she was civil and sometimes over the top with gooey compliments. The true selfish bitch would sneak around the corner when everyone else was out of sight. Often, it was little jabs whispered in my ear while walking past her in the hall, like loser or homeless skank. If she had some free rein, her words turned into long, drawn out barbs about me stinking up a room.
About a month ago, Ashley crossed into hostile after coming to a dinner hosted by the Masons. I knew something would happen the moment the words left his lips. Jess had the guests laughing at one of our ranch stories. I had watched the fake smile on her face change to a very menacing look in my direction. Ashley didn’t like attention focused on me when it involved Jess.
The next day, I opened my locker to find my jacket and backpack soaked in something that smelled like rotten garlic juice. I threw away my clothes, but my locker still carried the faint odor. Every time I smelled it, I hated her a little more. The lingering scent haunted me until she got me with the eggs.
A few weeks ago, I returned home to find the farmhouse pelted with sticky, cracked yokes. Not just a quick drive by fling, but roughly ten dozen eggs, baking in the hot sun to a curdled mess. I frantically scrubbed every piece of wood on the front of our house, praying to finish before my father returned from work.
With each shell picked from the ground, a deep hatred burned through my skin. I went absolutely nuts when I saw the lipstick prints on some of the mangled pieces. My blonde tormentor planted a signature kiss on the eggs before destroying my porch. I carried the shells behind the shed and beat them into splinters with a hammer. Maybe I couldn’t destroy her, but I could at least kill the evidence.
“Ashley?” I prompted her menacing face. I would not stand here all day, waiting on her twisted mind to figure out her order.
“Since you are so impatient. I need one scoop…not two, of the low-fat, vanilla yogurt…slightly blended, with low-fat milk.” She turned her piercing eyes from the board to focus at me.
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