“No, you won’t, sugar,” I said.
I slipped my arms around her waist and pulled her away from Kip.
She swung and kicked at me, so I let her go and spun her around.
She slapped me across the face.
Which was fine.
Barr picked up the comforter. “Hey, love, put this back on. Take a breath.”
Tinsley looked at him with fire in her eyes. “Fuck you.”
“Sugar, it’s going to be okay,” I said.
She looked at me. “Fuck you, too.”
“Tinsley…”
“She’s going to die because of me,” Tinsley said. “Because I left town.”
“That’s not true,” I said.
“Yes it is,” she yelled back at me. “It’s… I just have to get there.”
“I know you do, sugar,” he said.
Tinsley swallowed hard. “You don’t want me to go.”
“Of course I don’t,” I said. “I don’t want you to leave BFH. But I understand who you are and why you’re going to do this. You want to go save her.”
“Ruby was my best friend, Pres.”
“I know.”
“It doesn’t matter what happened to us. I left. I looked like this rich bitch. She took offense. She was jealous. I would have been the same way. To get out of that place? And I never… I never called her. I never texted her.”
Tinsley’s eyes filled with tears.
I hugged her and kissed the top of her head.
She broke the hug a second later.
She sucked in a breath. “I need some air. I need to think.”
“Okay,” I said.
I nodded to Kip and he moved from the door.
Tinsley grabbed for his hand. “Sorry about your lip.”
“You hit like a girl so it’s okay,” Kip said. Tinsley opened the door and my eyes went wide when I saw the girl with the black bikini from the pool standing there. Wearing a white sleeveless shirt. Kip’s shirt. Wearing nothing else. Which was made very evident by the poke, poke against the shirt at her chest.
“What the fuck is this?” she asked. “You’re half naked. With all three of them? What kind of fucking gross kinky shit is this.”
“Shit,” I whispered.
Tinsley didn’t hesitate for a second, she wound up and punched the girl in the face.
Tinsley looked back at us. “That, I’m not sorry for.”
She walked forward and lifted her fist again.
The girl hurried to drop to the ground and put a hand up.
“Stay on your back, bitch,” Tinsley said. “That’s where you look best.”
“She just kicked your girl’s ass,” Barr whispered to Kip.
“Is it wrong that I’m turned on right now?” Kip asked.
“Clean this up,” I said. “And get her out of here.”
I chased after Tinsley as she stood next to the pool, hugging herself.
The early morning hours were still cool.
Almost cold.
I wrapped my right arm around her and pulled her close.
“I should be mad at you for looking at my phone. Even if I was drunk and told you to,” she said. “And I should be mad that you didn’t wake me up. Or shake me from being so drunk and dumb that I couldn’t even talk about my best friend…”
“Are you mad at me, sugar?”
“No.”
“Good.”
“I have to go, Pres,” she said, looking up at me.
“I’m coming with you, Tinsley.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“Yes, I do. We’re going to find her together.”
“You’ve never… I mean, you don’t know Ruby…”
I touched Tinsley’s chin. “She matters to you. Which means she matters to me. Whatever she’s going through, she needs someone like you.”
Tinsley nodded. “I can’t figure you out, Pres. Whether I really love you as much as I think I do. Or if it’s a mix of love and hate. Or…”
I kissed her. “Don’t think, sugar. Just feel. Now go get dressed. We’ll load up on coffee and get out of here.”
“Right now?” she asked.
“Do you want to go back to bed?”
“No. I won’t be able to sleep.”
“Then we’re out of here.”
Tinsley and I turned.
She pointed to the girl on the ground. Kip was crouched in front of her, grinning, probably trying to tell whatever dumb joke was needed to get the girl off her ass and back into his bed.
“What about the whore?” Tinsley asked.
“She’s not my whore,” I said. “What the fuck do I care?”
“Did you just call me a whore?” Tinsley asked.
“Not a whore but my whore.”
“Pres?”
“Yeah, sugar?”
Tinsley jumped to her toes and kissed my cheek.
She moved her lips to my ear.
“Don’t make me kick your ass.”
* * *
She was sound asleep, curled up in the front seat of the SUV.
I had just crossed the border to her old town and I reached across the seat and slipped my hand to the back of her neck. As I gently squeezed to try and wake her, she began to groan. She moved her head and let out a long sigh.
I pulled my hand away and made a fist.
“Don’t stop,” she whispered with her eyes shut.
“Sugar, if I keep doing that and you keep making those noises, I’m going to have to stop. And pull over. And throw you into the backseat.”
Tinsley’s eyes opened. “That… made you…”
“We’re here,” I said.
Tinsley sat up and stretched. “Sorry for falling asleep.”
“Don’t worry about it. You needed the sleep. It’s still kind of early here. Where are we going first? Meet up with Amelia?”
Tinsley looked at her phone. “Not yet.”
“Okay. Am I just driving in circles here then?”
“No.” Tinsley looked at me. “Take me to the apartment.”
“The apartment?”
“Where I used to live. I want to see it.”
“The building?”
“The apartment itself, Pres.”
“How the hell are you going to get in there, sugar?” I asked.
“Does that matter?”
I opened my mouth but held back.
I shook my head.
And I drove.
Tinsley rattled off the directions on where to go. When to turn.
And when I pulled into the parking lot and looked at the shitty building, my hands gripped the steering wheel tighter.
I couldn’t imagine living in that place.
It wasn’t fair to Tinsley that she had to endure that kind of life.
If anything, seeing that building just proved to me how much I needed to take care of her. Spoil her. Make her that rich bitch that everyone hated.
“I want to see something,” Tinsley said. “Just trust me.”
I turned off the SUV. “Let’s go, sugar.”
I held her hand as we walked into the building.
The first smell that hit me was harsh.
A mix of everyone’s apartment on the first floor along with dusty walls, dirty carpets, cheap air fresheners that were plugged in and burned out, not to mention just the overall smell of something like wet, dirty clothes.
Tinsley led the way and stopped at a door.
“Right here,” she said.
“What are you going to do? Knock?”
“Nope,” she said. She crouched down and lifted a faded welcome mat. “Look.”
There was a silver key under the mat.
“Are you kidding me?” I asked. “A spare key under the welcome mat to the apartment.”
“There was nothing worth stealing,” she said.
Tinsley stuck the key into the lock and turned it.
The key worked.
“What if someone lives here?” I asked.
&nbs
p; “Oh well,” she said. “This place is so fucking scummy… who cares, Pres?”
I put my hand on hers.
We turned the doorknob together and opened the apartment door.
The place was a hollowed out shell of an apartment. No furniture. Pieces of the carpet cleaner than others, showing where furniture used to be. A jagged piece of a cable wire sticking up out of the floor like a snake poised to attack. The heavy smell of heat and dust. The dirty carpet gave way to a small patch of dirty linoleum in the kitchen. The drawers and cabinets were open, cupboards bare.
Tinsley opened the fridge and coughed.
“No power,” she said. “And there’s stuff in there.”
She covered her mouth.
“What are we doing here, sugar?” I asked her. “Huh? You know where you came from. And you know you never have to go back there. Ever. I understand that before it was scary. You were living with Claire and you weren’t sure of anything. But that doesn’t matter now. Whatever happens to Claire, you have me. I’m going to take care of you for the rest of your life, sugar.”
Tinsley stepped to me and grabbed my hands. “I want to show you something, Pres.”
She moved from the kitchen and down the hallway, pausing at a door.
When she opened it, I saw it was a large closet. With three tiers of shelves all along the walls.
Tinsley stepped into the closet and pointed to the floor.
“Right there,” she whispered.
“What?” I asked.
She looked back at me. “That’s where I found my mother. I walked home from class… and I came home. Instead of hanging out with Ruby. If I hadn’t come home, Pres, she would have died. And if she had died…”
“No, sugar, don’t do that to yourself,” I whispered. “Don’t think about what if.”
“I have to,” she said. “I found her here. I thought she was dead. And I was relieved, Pres. I was happy. I called for help and I just stood here…” Tinsley blinked fast. “I wanted her to be gone. But she survived. Like she always did. But this time… this was the time Claire showed up and brought me to you…”
I stood next to her and held her hand. I squeezed it tight. “There’s a lot of shit that happens in life, sugar. I know our lives are very different. We grew up very different. But in some ways we were the same. I grew up seeing the destruction of money. You grew up seeing the destruction of no money. My mother loved me the same way Claire loved you. I can never take away what happened to her. Or what brought you to me. But what matters is that you’re with me, Tinsley. And your mother didn’t die. And she’s clean. And she’s happy.”
Tinsley looked up at me and nodded. “Thank you, Pres. For being here and listening to me.”
“Always. And we’re going to find Ruby. And we’re going to help her.”
“Okay. Can we get something to eat? I think I’m feeling better.”
“Anything you want, sugar.”
I pulled her to get out of the smelly closet.
She stopped for a second.
She smiled at me.
“Wait,” she said. “One more thing…”
Before I could say a word, Tinsley coughed and spit at the spot where her mother had overdosed.
Then she looked at me and smiled.
We left the apartment, locked the door, and put the key back under the mat.
In my SUV, I held her chin and kissed her.
I wanted to tell her she would never have to deal with that part of her life ever again.
But that would have been a lie.
We were just getting started in this shithole she used to call home.
Chapter 13
“Just so you know, Amelia and I weren’t very close,” Tinsley said.
“So?” I asked.
“I don’t know how awkward this will be.”
“Sugar, this isn’t about being awkward. It’s about your other friend. She’s in trouble.”
“Right. Sorry. Just… I appreciate you being here.”
I lifted her hand to my lips and kissed. “Don’t worry about it. I’m here. I’m not leaving.”
“There she is.”
The town was rundown. Like some kind of forgotten world.
We were standing at the edge of a parking lot outside my SUV. I could feel the worry and tension pouring from Tinsley. Which made sense. Her life had changed so much and this place was nothing but a memory. A living memory she could step into and remind herself of what was.
The girl walking toward us had one hot pink earbud stuck in her ear. She had the longest hair I ever saw on someone. Pulled up and back, the ponytail down the front of her body, bouncing off her hip. She was in a faded jean jacket with a low cut white shirt under it. Large, gold hoops hung from her ears. She looked tired. And she looked around like she was scared.
I let Tinsley’s hand go so she could run to the girl.
Amelia.
They hugged and both started to cry.
I just stood there, watching it.
Old friendships.
That was a part of life I never knew.
There were never friendships. That kind of stuff was always far gone from me. Other than meeting Barr and Kip and coming up with a common goal of who we wanted to be, friends weren’t needed. Friends were a problem. A burden with nothing but issues.
Kind of like what I was staring at.
“Where is she?” Tinsley asked.
“I’ll tell you everything,” Amelia said.
“Here,” I called out. “Get in. I’ll drive around so we can talk in private.”
It was a hell of sight to be opening the back door of the SUV and having Tinsley and her friend get inside.
Before I shut the door, Amelia looked at me and stuck out her hand.
“Amelia.”
“Pres.”
“You’re the rich guy who stole Ti.”
“That I am,” I said.
I slammed the door and walked around the SUV.
I drove out of the parking lot and cruised the streets slow, listening to the conversation.
“Okay, it was Garcia,” Amelia said. “He got crazy, Ti.”
“What do you mean by that?” she asked.
“He tried to get involved with dealing.”
“Drugs?” I asked.
Amelia looked at me.
“You can trust him,” Tinsley said. “Believe me… we need him.”
“You need me,” I said, winking at Amelia.
“Yes,” she said. “Drugs.”
“Shit,” Tinsley said. “When did that start?”
“A while ago,” Amelia said. “He got in over his head with it. He was making a little money for fun but then it got serious. He must have went into someone else’s territory and it got bad. He got beat up really bad. Was in the hospital.”
“What?” Tinsley asked. She grabbed Amelia’s hand. “What else happened?”
“That was just the start. That world is dark. And the slope is very steep. I lost her, Ti. This is my fault for letting it happen. I should have known. Or seen it.”
“What?”
“The guy her mother started seeing… he was bad.”
“Bad as in what?” I asked. “Drugs again?”
“Bingo, dude,” Amelia said. “This isn’t fucking Silver Spoon Street here.”
“I never said it was,” I said. “But if you don’t tell us where Ruby is soon, we won’t be able to get to her.”
“I’m getting there, dude,” Amelia said. “Shit. Chill.”
“What happened with Ruby’s mother’s boyfriend?” Tinsley asked.
“He was somehow tied to Garcia too. They hate each other. They were always arguing and fighting. Which was fucked up to see. And poor Ruby… she was just in the middle. I should have seen it coming…”
“Seen what?” I asked.
“That she was hiding it. That she was involved too.”
I pulled to the side of the road. I turned around. “Involved how?”
“Fuck,” Tinsley said. “I thought she was just in trouble. This is… big trouble.”
I looked at Tinsley.
It had to have reminded her of her mother all over again.
“When I noticed it I thought she was just having fun. Partying. You know?”
“Yeah, I know,” Tinsley said.
“Then it got worse. I tried to… I don’t know. I tried to talk to her. To yell at her. I tried to be mean. Then nice. I tried to get her to come with me. To sleep at my place.”
“She’s still living at home?” I asked.
“Was,” Amelia said. “Her mother’s boyfriend made a pass at her.”
“Oh god,” Tinsley said.
I curled my lip. “A pass at her…”
“Yeah. He wanted to screw her. Told her she was a younger, hotter version of her mother. And since there was nothing wrong with it, why not?”
“How old is this piece of shit?” I asked.
“Oh, that’s the best part,” Amelia said. “He’s only twenty-two.”
“What the fuck,” Tinsley said. “So Ruby is twenty. He’s twenty-two. And her mother is… what, thirty-nine?”
“Fuck ages,” I said. “Did Ruby go with this guy?”
“No,” Amelia said. “After that happened, she came with me. I thought I finally had a chance to save her. I had her all set up in the basement. Her own spot. Bed. Everything. The first night we stayed up and watched a movie. We ate so much junk food we got sick. It was actually…” Amelia laughed. “We laughed because she threw up from eating junk food. Instead of… other stuff.”
I turned forward and started to drive again.
I kept my ears wide open though.
“What happened then?” Tinsley asked.
“The next night she took off. I tried to look at all the normal hangouts for her.”
“What about the bad spots in town?” I asked.
“The entire town is a bad spot, dude,” Amelia said.
“He means the really bad ones,” Tinsley said. “Where the really bad people go to…”
Amelia shook her head. “I think it’s Garcia. I think he’s lying. I think she’s with him at his apartment.”
“Wait,” I said. “Garcia has an apartment?”
“Yeah. Third floor of this shit building. All the windows are blacked out and shit. It’s not good.”
“Give me directions,” I said.
PRES: a bay falls high novel Page 11