Peace Love Resistance

by Jettie Woodruff

  “Sort of. Give me an examplefor instance.”

  Tristan stood a little, reached over and took Tobias right out of my arms. “Okay, like coming here.”

  I stopped her with accusing words and a glare. “What’d you do that for?”

  “I wanted him.”

  “But you get him all the time. I want him.”

  Tristan smiled and handed him back, pulling the thin blanket over his bare arm. “Fine, here, you big baby.”

  “Thank you. What about coming here?”

  “You’re here because that’s what you attracted into your life.”

  “Now I know you’re wrong. I hate it here. This was one of my worst fears.”

  “Okay, that’s perfect. Let’s play off that. Why do you say that?”

  I shrugged one shoulder, looking down to Tobias. He was so content; his eyes wide awake, glancing around the scenery like he could see it all, like he was taking in the beauty, too. “I don’t know. When I was seven and my mom took me from here, I wanted nothing more than to come back, but by the time I’d reached middle school I was over it.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t know. The last time I came here I was twelve. My mom brought me here for a summer visit. She spent the weekend and it was, I don’t know, really cool. We’d just moved to Miami and I hated it, I didn’t want to go to school or live there. I wanted to be back here with my dad.”

  “Go on. I need more.”

  “I don’t know, I guess I sort of got excited, us all being together, and my mom and dad acting like crazy teenagers in love. We fished, hiked, went out in my Uncle Coop’s boat, cooked out, and they slept in the same bed. I guess I was a little shocked when I woke up Monday morning and she was gone.”

  “You were disappointed,” Tristan commented.

  I blew out a puff of air, thinking about it. “I was fucking devastated. My dad didn’t even know I existed after that. He went to work in the mornings and came home drunk at night. It took two weeks of me calling my mom, begging her to come and get me. She gave me an ultimatum. If I promised to stay out of the way of her and her new dentist friend, she’d come and get me. They had a summer already planned out, and it didn’t include me. Anyway, she showed up while he was at work, took me back to Miami, and this is the first time I’ve been back.”

  “But you stayed in contact? With your dad?”

  “Not really. He called on my birthday if he remembered, he called when my mom wanted him to threaten to come and get me. You know, when I’d get in trouble or something. That’s about it.”

  “And how are your parents?”

  I tossed an unbelieving frown her way. “How are they? I thought we were talking about me.”

  “We are. Do you think they really are in love?”

  “I don’t know. They seem very happy this time, but it won’t last. I know my mom.”

  “You shouldn’t do that. Don’t put stuff like that out there. Think positive thoughts and only positive things can come your way. It’s the law of the Universe. Trust me. It works. Everything is a vibrational match whether you want it or not. You reap what you sew. Wish your parents much happiness, and embrace this change. You asked for it. Whenever you get home, I want you to sit down and have a conversation with them.”

  That was ridiculous. I hadn’t asked for any of this shit. None of it. “No, that has nothing to do with anything. We don’t have that kind of relationship, never did. I don’t need to talk to them, and I never asked for this.”

  “You attracted it, and you said you would do whatever I told you to do.”

  “Tristan, I practically raised myself. They’ve never been there. They’re still not. All they care about is acting like a couple teenagers in heat and drinking beer. We don’t need to involve them.”

  “They’re involved, Ty. You want out already? Is that what you’re saying?”

  I growled an annoyed grumble at her threat. “Fine, whatever. Five minutes, that’s all I’m giving them.”

  “I’ll take it. Do you have a notebook?”

  “For what?” I questioned, not about to do homework for her.

  “Homework.”

  “No, I doubt it. What kind of homework?”

  “Never mind. Let’s go to the bookstore tomorrow. You should pick out your own anyway. Can you get away? Morgantown has a couple really nice shops I’d like to take you to.”

  “I do whatever I want. I’ll see if I can get my mom’s Jeep so you don’t have to worry about losing your spot.”

  “Okay, that’d be great. Come on, I’ve got another fun exercise for you,” she exclaimed, her bare feet cautiously stepping over stones.

  “Fun exercise or sarcastic oxymoron?” I questioned, my arms securing Tobias as I reached for my shoes and followed her out.

  Tristan laughed and led me back up the slope, to the clearing in front of her camp. She sat where she always sat in the field of daisies, patting the grass for me to sit with her.

  My shoes dropped to the ground and I sat, crossing my legs just like she had. Unlike the last time, I didn’t protest her taking Tobias from me, not until she laid him on the bare grass, the blanket tossed over him rather than under him.

  “I know I’ve never raised a kid or anything, but do you really think he should be on the ground like that?”

  Tristan gave me the smile that told me she was amused, like she knew something I didn’t, like she was making fun of me. “Like what, Ty? You mean where crystals lie beneath the warm earth, where healing energies are being sent up just for simply being here? Just sit there and be quiet. That’s all you have to do for this exercise.”

  I didn’t touch the energy sending crystals thing. Nope not with a ten foot pole. “Meditate? You want me to meditate?”

  “Lord, no. You couldn’t meditate in your state if your life depended on it. You don’t even understand what it is.”

  “Yes, I do. I just don’t understand why you would want to do it.”

  “You will. Shut up now.”

  Despite the fact that she said I didn’t have to meditate, she did. She moved her fingers into two O’s, closed her eyes, and took at least five deep breaths while I watched. I didn’t want to just sit there and be quiet, and after five very long minutes, I wondered how long I had to do it. Baby-T didn’t seem to mind it. His little eyes became heavier and heavier until he was sound asleep, not minding the warm grass at all. I went back and forth, my eyes moving from the sleeping baby to Tristan, her body not moving either.

  Ten whole minutes went by before I couldn’t take it anymore. She could sit there for an hour, but not me. I wasn’t wired that way. My hands and my mind needed to be doing something. That’s when I remembered the good reception from where we were. As quiet as a mouse, I reached for my phone, anxious to see my video likes. Just when I got excited, seeing the shares over seven-hundred, the stupid thing dinged.

  Tristan didn’t even blink, not one eye opened. She reached over and took it right out of my hand, shoved it beneath her left leg, and went right back to her meditating position.

  I sighed and laid back with my hands behind my head. That was cool for a few minutes. The sky was a bright blue with puffy marshmallow clouds, and the air moved just enough for a breeze. Regrettably, my attention span bored with the sky rather quickly.

  “How much longer,” I whispered.

  “Shhh.” That was her response.

  Next I picked the petals from not one, but five daisies. She’s crazy, she’s not, she’s crazy, she’s not. Four out of five daisies said she was and I sort of believed them. Always trust the daisies.

  “Tristan?” I whispered.

  “Oh, my God, Tobias. What? Baby-T has a longer attention span than you. It’s been twenty minutes.”

  Internally, I smiled at her using my name for Baby-T. “Well, how long are we going to be quiet? I don’t get why we have to be quiet. What’s that teaching me?”

  “A lot, Ty. You’re so distracted, you can’t even enjoy an hour of q
uiet time without something to do.”

  “So, it’s not my fault. I have ADD. Ask my mom. I even took medicine for it in junior high, but it made me too sleepy.”

  Tristan groaned and scooped up Tobias, carrying him to the van. “Let’s continue this tomorrow.”

  “No, wait. I’ll be quiet. I promise,” I begged, my mouth spitting words I never even thought about.

  “It’s fine, Ty. You’re just going to take a little more time than I hoped you would. I’m going to lay him on the bed and clean up the dishes.”

  “Can I stay? I’ll help you.”

  “Sure, for a little while. Build a fire and heat some water for the dishes.”

  No problem. I would have done anything the girl told me to do. Even sit there and not talk. For once, we talked like normal people would when they met. Common questions followed by typical answers, not mystical stuff. Sort of. I think.

  “How old are you?” I questioned.

  Tristan didn’t look up from her gathering dishes, but she did grin. “Too old for you.”

  “Whatever, tell me.”

  “Twenty-one.”

  Normally, I would have been excited that I had a friend old enough to buy beer, but Tristan was my alcohol, the only intoxicating I needed. As gay as that sounded in my head, it was true. “Oh yeah, you’re way too old for me. Three years. You’ll probably be in a nursing home soon.”

  “Well, lucky for you, I’m not a numbers kind of girl. Twin flames don’t really work like that, but that doesn’t mean there is anything going on here. Got it?”

  Again, I leaped from my comfort zone and spit it out, my mouth overpowering my own mind. “Yes, but I have been dying to kiss you ever since I met you,” I admitted, my hand tossing an imaginary ball her way.

  Tristan pretended to catch it, tossed it into the air, and walked right up to me. She shoved the invisible ball into my chest, placing it once again in my court. “Go ahead.”

  I’m not sure what I expected, but it wasn’t that. I looked down to her hazel eyes, sure they’d changed colors with my heart beating out of my chest and my palms suddenly damp. My initial thought was to place my hand behind her neck and pull her lips to mine, but once again, something else was calling the shots. Without thought, I pressed my lips to hers, simple, soft, and sweet. Not the kind I had used on Avery a million times, my cue to get in her pants. This wasn’t like that at all. I didn’t feel the need to shove my tongue half way down her throat, yet this one unpretentious kiss packed more power than I knew what to do with.

  Her eyes closed and her forehead replaced her lips, her soft skin resting on my lips. The floral scent from her hair, her fingers wrapped around both my arms, and her body pressed against mine intensified the burning between us. For the first time since I’d gone through puberty, I didn’t feel the need to go any further. It was the weirdest thing ever.

  Tristan was the one to do it first, not me. She was the one who out of the blue pulled her forehead from my lips and kissed me, her tongue parting my lips. Her body shoved me toward her folding table, stopping me, stopping time, stopping the spinning earth. Resting my butt on the end of the table, she moved between my legs or maybe I moved her there, my hands instantly went around her waist, pulling her body to mine. Sparks that I didn’t even know existed, flew all around me, lighting up my world like I had never felt in my entire life. I’m pretty sure that one kiss was my first introduction to passion, a passion that drove my soul.

  Everything about her was so wrong, but felt so right. Nothing made sense, but for odd reasons, it all made perfect sense with her, even if I didn’t understand it. Tristan did crazy, exciting things to me, all while totally fucking with my mind. I would never in my life forget this kiss. Guaranteed.

  Tristan pulled her lips from mine three times before we finally took a breather, both of us winded from passion. “Damn, I knew it was going to be that way.”

  My grin was instant, “Where the fuck did you come from, girl?”

  Tristan smiled, her body leaning into mine. “Not this planet.”

  I chuckled, agreeing whole heartily. “That’s the first thing you’ve said to me that makes any sense.”

  A sad demeanor took over her expression; she looked down, and played with the end of my shirt. “I’m different than the girls you’re used to, Ty. I feel things that I can’t help.”

  “Like what?”

  “Feelings. Not just mine, but people around me.”

  “Do you feel mine?”

  With her eyes still down, Tristan gave me a half of a headshake. “No, not like that. The energy I pick up from you is different, unlike any I’ve ever come in contact with.”

  Of course that stroked my ego a little. I brushed her hair behind her shoulder, trying not to boast with a smile. “Like what?”

  She did look up that time, briefly holding onto an inevitable trance. “Like your ego right now.”

  “Busted,” I teased, my lips touching hers once again. It wasn’t meant to turn into another passionate, mind-bending kiss, but that’s exactly what happened. For another minute or so, we lost all sense of reality. At least I did anyway. When it was over it seemed to have been simultaneously, both pulling away at the same time. I whispered to her lips, wanting to continue the conversation, wanting more. “Like what else?”

  “Like your energy is my energy. Like I’ve known you for lots of lifetimes. Like we’re connected. Like I can feel you from fifty feet away. Like I’m always tuned to the same channel as you. Like we have this verbal communication without words. Like there’s an inexplicably pull toward you that I can’t seem to control no matter how hard I try. Like—.”

  “Like what?” I asked when she hesitated.

  “Like something is missing when you’re not with me.”

  “What if I don’t want you to control it?”

  Tristan let out a puff of air with that question, confusion covering her face. She pulled away, washing a dirty plate for distraction. “This is very complicated for me. I live this life because I want to. I’m a natural nomad, and that’s not going to change. I don’t know what this is? I mean, I do, I just don’t like it. Not with you.”

  “Gee, thanks.”

  She smiled, her eyes moving to mine. “Want me to look at your video now?”

  I smiled back, my shoulders bouncing from a chuckle. “Nah, it doesn’t seem that important anymore.”

  “Go home and do your homework. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  That wasn’t what I was expecting. I didn’t want to leave, and truth be told, I felt the same way, like a part of me was missing without her. Nonetheless, I sensed she needed her space. “I hate that assignment. I don’t want to talk to my parents.”

  “Do it anyway. You promised.”

  I growled at her like a bear, moving the mosquito net from the side doors on her van to see sleeping Tobias. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Baby T.”

  He grunted a little, twisting his body while his arms stretched and his legs retracted toward his chest. I couldn’t get enough of him. He was way cuter than any puppy I’d ever seen.

  “Can I at least have your number?”

  Tristan tilted her head to the side. “Do I really look like the type to carry a cell-phone?”

  “I sure as hell hope so.”

  “Well, I don’t. I have CB radio for roadside emergencies, and I have a prepaid phone card for anything else.”

  “What if someone needs to get a hold of you?”

  “There is no one else, Tobias. I told you that already.”

  The touchy subject was sensed, or maybe it was felt, like she saw it. Even so, I let it go, wondering where the hell she’d come from for the hundredth time. I didn’t care what planet it was. She didn’t get here without the help of a mother and a father. That was scientific fact. “I don’t like you being here without a phone.”

  She smiled again, but this one strained and forced. “It’s fine. All I have to do is scream really loud and this hero magically appears.�
�

  “Don’t scream,” I ordered playfully, never wanting to hear that again.

  “I’m fine. Night, Ty.”

  “Night, Tristan.”

  “Hey, Ty,” she called right after I’d kicked the bike started.

  I turned back without speaking.

  “Show your parents your video.”

  “Night, Tristan,” I countered, not about to promise something I wouldn’t keep.

  Chapter Seven

  The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it,

  move with it, and join the dance.

  Alan Wats

  I checked the time on my phone as I pulled to the porch, leaning my bike against the rail, Kota meeting me at my side. “Move,” I said when he walked right in front of me, his tail wagging like we were old friends or something. “Jesus, dog move,” I ordered again, this time shoving him with my leg.

  The intention of talking to my parents really was there. At least a, hey, how you doing, anyway. It wasn’t my fault they couldn’t separate to save their lives. One glance to the living room where my dad sat in the recliner watching stupid election shit and my mom sat with her laptop right on his lap was enough for me. Or at least I thought anyway. Getting in and out of the kitchen without having to speak to them lasted right about the time I opened the fridge.

  “Hey, Ty. Come here,” my mom called.

  Rolling my eyes, I opened a can of Pepsi and stood in the doorway. “What?”

  “Mason called. He said you made some video and had offers from real TV stations. Is that true?”

  I shrugged one shoulder. “I don’t know. I haven’t really had time to sit down and research anything. Why?”

  My mom sat up, her eyes wide in shock. “Why? Because this could be a big deal, Ty. Show me the video.”

  An internal smile fell upon me and I blamed Tristan, a mental note planted to accuse her of telepathically getting to my mom. I let out an exhausted breath, dramatically showing my disapproval in associating with them, or as my mom would call it, I gave her attitude with a capital A. Nonetheless, I showed her the stupid video, not because I wanted to, but because I knew it would make Tristan happy.