“Those guys at the game assumed we’re a couple. I didn’t set ‘em straight, Em. I’m really sorry. That was just stupid... and unfair to you.” His voice quaked slightly as he uttered the last few words. She could see how upset he was.
“Yeah, I noticed that,” she replied. Wayne cringed a little. “I don’t mind that stuff. That’s what friends are for,” she said with laugh. Wayne was relieved. She looked him in the eye again and smiled.
When they got to Wayne’s house that afternoon, his mom was watching from the porch, waiting for them to return. She peered down into the truck. Wayne turned to Emily and said “She’s gonna want to meet you. I hope you don’t mind.”
Emily got out of the truck and walked over to the porch. Wayne followed, “Mom, this is my friend, Emily,” he called from behind her.
“Hi,” Emily chipped in. “It’s good to meet you.” Mrs. Turley said nothing for a brief moment. She seemed stunned. For the last few weeks, all she’d heard from her son was “Emily this” and “Emily that.” She new he was infatuated, but she had no idea the girl would turn out to be so beautiful. Her mind went all fuzzy for a moment. Wayne gestured to her to speak and she recovered herself.
“It is so good finally to meet you, Emily,” she blurted out. “I’ve heard so much about you. Would you like to come in for some tea?”
Emily chatted with Mrs. Turley for about an hour. It was almost too much for Wayne to bear. The prospect of his mother saying something to embarrass him harrowed his soul. His discomfort tickled Emily. But as it turned out, his mom was too busy gushing over Emily to remember any embarrassing stories about her son.
After Emily left, Wayne finally sat down with his mom and told her of his anxieties about college. “I don’t know what I want to do, Mom. How can I even fill out an application?” She knew he was anxious, but she also knew he needed to get away from home.
“Honey, you can figure that out once you’re there. You don’t need to have your whole life planned out in order to go. Just think of it as an adventure.”
“That’s sort of what Emily told me.” Mrs. Turley smiled.
“You should see more of that girl,” she said with a tear in her eye.
“Mom,” he replied in mock exasperation, “I already see her practically everyday in school and at the dojo. She’s like my best friend.” A realization suddenly dawned on her.
“You mean she’s the girl from the dojo you guys are all afraid of?! But she’s so sweet... and pretty.” Wayne grinned.
“Yeah, She’s that girl.”
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Chapter 14: Back to the Woods Again
Wendy’s parents ran a bed and breakfast on the north end of town. It was a large civil war era house with several bedrooms and a rather large dining room. They had added a new wing on the north side of the building which included three small studio apartments. These tended to be rented by the week all year round. A small swimming pool dominated the upper terrace in back next to a hot tub large enough to accommodate eight or nine people. The parents lived in a small suite behind the front desk. The children had bedrooms in the basement on either side of a large rec room that led out into the back yard.
Wendy and her brother had cleaning and front desk duties during the off-season, when there weren’t many guests. During the high season, the family usually took on a couple of extra staff to handle the business. Just now, the only guests were staying in the studios. These were long term rentals. The rest of the house was empty. Even though it provided her family with a comfortable life, Wendy disliked living there intensely, and resented having to contribute to the upkeep of the house. Her family moved here from Baltimore when she was in seventh grade. She was forced to leave behind all her childhood friends. She still harbored a grudge about it. Her parents watched uncomprehendingly as she gradually became more reserved and withdrawn, and began to dress more exotically with each year.
Emily pulled down the circular drive to the front porch on the dirt bike just before ten. She was wearing black jeans over western style boots, a deep red t-shirt and a brown leather jacket. She tossed a second helmet to Wendy, sitting on the bottom step. Her jaw dropped. It really hadn’t occurred to her that this was the sort of ride Emily had in mind. She thought “What the hell,” pulled the helmet on, and climbed on the back of the bike. They sped down the drive, spitting gravel behind them.
An hour’s ride brought them as far as Potts Creek, where Emily turned east up a dirt road that connected to a network of logging trails through the forest. It was a thrilling ride up and down hills, in and out of valleys, bending around some sharp turns and over some large bumps. On a few occasions they were actually airborne. Wendy screamed most of the way. After another hour, they came out on a ridgeline overlooking a high meadow. Emily cut the engine and leaned the bike up against a tree. They sat on a fallen log and took in the scenery. From their position on the ridge they saw a lower ridge, some tilled fields and clear pasturage on the other side, and a much higher ridge about two miles away. It was a pastoral scene of exquisite beauty.
Wendy had driven past scenery like this loads of times over the last few years. But somehow today felt different. No doubt, the thrill of the ride contributed to her giddy mood, but also the company. She started laughing out loud after a few minutes. Emily looked at her, puzzled and amused. She saw the ecstatic joy dancing on Wendy’s face and couldn’t suppress a giggle of her own. Before long the two of them were laughing together. It was intoxicating.
“Emily, I had no idea,” Wendy gushed after a few moments. “Do you do this often?”
“My dad and I used to camp in the mountains all the time,” she said after a moment.
“I meant the bike. Did you do that with your dad?”
“It used to be his bike,” she laughed, though a sad thought lingered in the back of her mind. Talking about him now reminded her of the magnitude of what she had lost. But there was no other way to retrieve any of her happy memories.
“You are nothing like what I expected,” Wendy said with a laugh.
“You were expecting something?” Emily teased.
“You seem like such a loner. Ya know, on the outside looking in,” Wendy mused. “But you’re not an outsider at all.”
“Whaddya mean?”
“I don’t think you’re looking in,” said Wendy, very pleased with herself.
Emily laughed, because she was right, sort of. She had been a loner all her life, had lost herself in her own private pursuits, in martial arts, in school work, in her love for her dad. She only realized how lonely she had been all those years when she began to allow people to get close to her. She had friends now. It was painful to think of life without them. But Wendy has friends, she thought. Why does she think of herself as an outsider?
“I’ve got better things to do than worry about being in or out,” Emily said provocatively. “I’ve got more friends now than I’ve ever had before, and I like it. I guess I’m just Miss Popularity.”
“Yeah, right,” Wendy snorted. “Why do I get the feeling all these new friends don’t really know you at all.”
Emily was surprised at how perceptive Wendy could be, and yet still not really understand her. But perhaps it was better that way. She wasn’t sure she could let a friend get to know her any better than that.
“What about your friends, ya know, the guys in black? Do they know the real you?” Emily teased.
“I suppose not,” she conceded. “But at least they’re not phonies, like everyone else.” There was some genuine anger and frustration behind Wendy’s voice as she spoke. Emily turned to face her, looked her in the eyes.
“I don’t know what you mean by phonies, Wendy. I’m pretty sure I’m a phony, ya know, pretending to be what I’m not. But I don’t need a uniform. All the black clothes, the death stuff, the makeup, isn’t that kinda phony?”
Wendy didn’t like to hear this from her new friend, even though she knew it was true. She had felt it herself for some time now
. The goths were phonies like everyone else. For Wendy, it started as a rebellion against her parents. She was angry at them for moving out here, for making her leave her friends behind. An added bonus is that it made her parents think she wasn’t quite presentable to the guests. It got her out of doing any of the public duties of the bed and breakfast. But she wasn’t comfortable with how quickly Emily had turned the tables on her, telling her a cutting truth about herself. That was supposed to be her prerogative, not Emily’s. She was just supposed to be her exciting new friend. But when she looked into her new friend’s eyes, she saw something darker than any goth has ever imagined. It was dark, but it was not made of anger or frustration. She was fascinated. She thought Emily was a deliciously dangerous sort of friend.
On the way back home they stopped for gas on the outskirts of Covington. Wendy went inside to use the facilities while Emily filled the tank on the bike. Wendy prowled about the store for a moment looking for a bottle of iced tea when she noticed a dusty white SUV pulled up on the other side of the pumps from Emily. There seemed to be a heated conversation going on between a guy and his girlfriend about Emily. She was paying no attention. Finally the girl yelled “I’m telling you, that’s the bitch from the other night!” Two other guys piled out of the back of the SUV. They were quite a bit larger than the driver. One was big and athletic looking, like he might be on the football team. The second guy was a little shorter and on the husky side, but still huge. Wendy began to grow concerned. But she couldn’t seem to get herself to go outside.
The driver sauntered over to Emily. He was clearly menacing her. Out of nowhere he had a knife in his hand and seemed to be threatening her with it. Emily hardly moved. Was she frozen in fear, too? Finally Wendy unglued her feet from the floor and ran to the door just as the driver was about to hurt her friend. “Look out, Emily,” she was about to yell. But before the words were even fully formed in her mouth, she saw Emily move her hands quickly towards the driver’s elbow and shoulder. He winced in pain as she took control of his arm, spun him around and stuck him in the ass with his own knife. He squealed in pain as she kicked him to the ground. Wendy gasped. It was only a flesh wound, it seemed, not much blood. But it must have stung like hell. The girl ran over to him shrieking as the husky guy reached for Emily.
“What the hell is wrong with you, bitch! You can’t do that to my friend,” he snarled trying to sound intimidating. Emily parried his hand, twisting it down and around and sending him tumbling head over heels. He lay on his back a few feet away groaning. The last guy, the athletic one, rushed toward her, thinking he would take care of her. She gave him a very hard look and pointed her finger at him. “Do you really want to risk it?” she asked. “If I take out your knees, you’ll be off the team.” He shrank back.
By this time the driver had recovered himself, picked up his knife and lunged towards her with unconcealed rage. Wendy was terrified for her friend. But Emily seemed so... calm. She waved her left hand in a lazy circle in front of the driver’s eyes. It seemed like such an innocent gesture, so graceful, so unthreatening. But without Wendy quite understanding how it happened, she twisted his right arm up and in, sending his entire body cartwheeling into the side of the building, his shoulder weirdly misshapen.
“What is wrong with you! Are you afraid of this bitch?” the girl shrieked at the last guy standing. She pulled what looked like a little gun out of her bag and tried to point it at Emily. But before she could fully extend her arm to fire, Emily had slapped her gun hand toward her chest and slapped her hard across the face. The gun flew across the parking lot. As the girl twisted away from the second slap, Emily kicked the back of her knee and forcing her to the ground. She crouched down and whispered something in the girl’s ear. Wendy watched as her face became contorted in terror. Emily got on the bike and waved Wendy over. She swallowed, and then got on the back. They sped off down the road back into the mountains.
A couple of miles later, Emily pulled onto a little dirt road that ended by a creek. She cut the engine and sat by the water’s edge. Wendy got off the bike and stood a few feet away. Her heart was pounding in her throat as she tried to regain a little composure.
“Wh-what the hell happened back there,” she practically shrieked. Emily looked at her calmly, but some sort of concern was clearly etched across her forehead. Wendy couldn’t quite read her expression.
“Oh, that,” she said, in mock non-chalance. “Just taking care of a little unfinished business.”
“Emily, those guys were trying to kill you! That girl had a gun! Where did they even come from? How do you know them?”
“We met those guys the other night outside a pizza joint in Covington. Wayne stumbled into the middle of a fight and they all turned on him. Danny and Billy helped him chase them all off. I guess they were still pissed about it.”
“I can’t believe how calm you are. I was terrified. And how did you even do that? You were incredible!” Emily had to shift gears at this point to keep pace with her friend’s passions.
“Wendy, don’t make a big deal out of this. In fact, I’d prefer it if we didn’t mention it to anyone else.”
She was a little concerned a fight like that might attract the wrong sort of attention. The only consolation was that it happened in Covington. If the wrong people looked into it, they would probably end up looking in the wrong places.
Of course, Wendy was puzzled by this last request. She had just discovered a new side to her new friend, who was now even more mysterious than ever.
“Emily, what are you talking about? You were amazing back there,” she gushed.
“Wendy, those guys were assholes, and they got what they deserved. But there’s nothing to brag about in what I did. I would be happier if they had left well enough alone. Do me a favor and keep it under your hat.” Wendy could see she was completely serious.
“Okay,” she said reluctantly.
“Great. Now we have a secret,” Emily teased. “We’re secret friends!”
When they got back to Wendy’s house, her mom met them at the front porch. She was struck by how different Emily was from the friends her daughter usually brought home. She came down the steps to meet her.
“Hi, Mom,” Wendy chirped nervously. “This is my friend, Emily.”
“Hi, Mrs. Williams,” Emily added. “It’s good to meet you.”
Wendy’s mom stood quietly for a moment, just taking Emily in. She had the strangest feeling about this girl. She was beautiful, sure. But the degree of self-assurance... she had never met anyone quite like her. She got caught in a reverie for a moment and there was the beginning of an awkward silence.
“It is really good to meet you, Emily,” she said, recovering herself. “It’s almost dinner time. Would you care to join us? We’d love to have you.” Emily glanced at Wendy, who nodded vigorously, grinning wildly.
“I’d like that, Mrs. Williams,” she replied. “That sounds nice.”
“Do you need to call home?”
“No, I don’t think that’ll be necessary,” Emily replied. It was just turning dark, and there was a slight chill in the air.
“Your Dad has the hot tub all set up. Why don’t you two go join him? Wendy, you must have a suit Emily can wear. I’ll be out in just a minute, as soon as I get the roast in the oven.”
Wendy hesitated for a moment. She didn’t want to embarrass her friend. Emily smiled at her and said “Sounds great to me,” and followed Wendy down to her room. She only had two suits, and one was a skimpy two-piece her mom got her that she was embarrassed to wear. “I’ll wear it,” Emily said with an air of indifference. Wendy breathed an audible sigh of relief. As they changed Wendy gasped when she saw how fit and well-defined Emily was. She was more than just beautiful. This girl was in shape, long, lean and strong. It was a little easier now to see how she had been able to handle those guys at the gas station. When they got out to the hot tub, Wendy’s parents and her brother had similar reactions.
Emily appeared to be u
naware of any of it. She didn’t seem to have any insecurity about her appearance, no false modesty. If they could have seen into her heart, they would have been surprised to find that she thought of her body as little more than a tool, or a weapon, an extension of her mind, the focus of her training, not as a silvered image in a mirror. Short of that, however, they could only see that she was quite unselfconscious.
The conversation in the hot tub and later at dinner ran through the usual topics. Her parents, plans for college, friends. Emily told them what she could, omitted what seemed too dangerous. Her new policy was to tell the truth whenever possible, but not to say too much.
Wendy’s parents were surprised to hear Emily lived on her own, in her own apartment, that her dad was out of the country, that she didn’t know her mother. They were impressed by her self-possession. She was at eighteen as independent and focused as most adults. They couldn’t imagine Wendy managing half so well on her own. They had heard about her interest in martial arts and asked her about the dojo. She told them about her friends there, about Sensei and her father.
It turned out Wendy was really the only friend she had who didn’t train at the dojo, and she was surprised to hear this. She assumed Emily had friends all over the school. That, at least, was how it seemed at the football game. “Emily really is a loner,” she thought. But how can that be? She’s so cool, so tough, so focused. It dawned on her how little she really understood about her new friend.
After Emily went home, Wendy had a long talk with her mom about two things: her goth friends and going shopping for new clothes.
“That Emily is really something, isn’t she?” her mom said absent-mindedly. “She’s not like any of your other friends.”
“No, Mom, I can assure you of that,” Wendy replied. “She is totally one of a kind.”
Girl Fights Back (Go No Sen) (Emily Kane Adventures) Page 13