Damaged Goods

by Jennifer Bardsley

  I lay my hands neatly on my lap, and my new bracelet twinkles. “I know, but something happened today that disturbed me, and I knew you were the only person who could possibly fix it.”

  “What?” Keung places a hand on my bare knee. “Is it Seth? Is he in trouble?”

  There is no hope in his voice. No question. My instincts tell me that Keung already knows.

  So I say it decisively. “I broke up with Seth.” I shift my legs ever so closer to Keung, causing his hand to slip down toward my thigh.

  “I’m sorry about that.” Keung swallows. “I want you to be happy.”

  “I want to be happy too. And I have it all planned out.” I flick my hair behind my shoulder. “I don’t need a Virus like Seth. I can take care of myself.”

  “Of course you can, tiānshĭ.”

  I stare at Keung when he says that and try to gauge what he’s thinking. But his hot hand on my thigh tells me all I need to know.

  Now’s the moment to strike. Vestals avenge all wrongs, especially when our honor is at stake.

  “I’m going to college,” I say forcefully.

  “You’ll be brilliant.”

  “That’s not what my tutor says.”

  “Then she’s stupid.” Keung places a second hand on my leg.

  “Then why did you plant Irene Page at McNeal Solar?” I feel Keung’s fingers dig into my muscles.

  “What?”

  “She was my tutor. And she was horrible.”

  “Blanca, I—”

  “It’s okay.” My voice is soft and delicious. “I’m fine with having your people around.” I place my hands on top of his own. “It’s so sweet that you want to keep an eye on me. But couldn’t you have given me a better teacher? Irene was awful.”

  Keung shrugs. “She came highly recommended. I thought her expertise at math and science would be perfect.”

  I giggle. “Well you were wrong.” I reach up and brush an imaginary piece of lint off Keung’s shoulder. Then I let my hand linger on his chest. “Any other people I should know about?”

  Keung grins. “Not at your mansion.”

  “So what do I have to do if I want to see you again?” I slide my hand behind his neck and play with his hair. “Go through Jeremy?”

  Keung leans down and crushes his mouth on mine. He cups his hand under my dress and lifts me onto his lap. Old memories assert themselves. We kiss frantically. Passionately. Until I feel Keung’s hand on the back zipper of my dress and I pull away.

  “There are people outside,” I whisper.

  “That never stopped us before.”

  I comb Keung’s hair with my fingers. Then I straighten out his suit with both hands, and slip back to my own seat. “Not here.”

  Keung reaches for my wrist and waves his fingertips over my chip-watch. “This is my private number. For later.”

  My eyebrows shoot up. “How’d you do that? You don’t have finger-chips.”

  Keung holds up his palms. “Invisi-chips. By the time I’m done, everyone will want them.”

  I stare at his hands closely and finally see them. Faint pinpricks of glowing blue.

  Just like Ethan had.

  My insides quake, but hopefully my body doesn’t betray me.

  “I’ll be in touch,” I say. “Count on it.” Then I stand up, cross the room, and slither into my coat.

  “Oh, Blanca,” Keung says before I leave.

  I turn to look at him. “Yes?”

  “You look beautiful in blue.”

  I blush.

  I bet that’s the first honest thing Keung has said.

  Alan takes me directly to McNeal Solar. As soon as I walk into Nancy’s office, I hold out my wrist. “Here,” I say. “You need this.” I slip off my mother’s bracelet and place it in her hand.

  “A bracelet?” Nancy straightens out her plum colored suit. “I’m not sure if turquoise is the best color for this outfit.”

  “No. That’s not what I mean.” I slide open one of the stones and reveal a tiny camera. “A recording and video. I made them for you. As McNeal Solar’s chief counsel, I think you should investigate. Or maybe we need to share this with Agents Plunkett and Marlow. You tell me.”

  Nancy snatches up the bracelet “What?”

  I fill Nancy in on my meeting with Keung, even the part about me crawling all over his lap.

  Nancy grins like the Cheshire Cat. “Well, Blanca McNeal, you are full of surprises!

  “Always,” I answer.

  Ten minutes later, while Nancy and I analyze every nuance of Keung’s voice on that recording, my chip-watch goes off with a call from Cal. “Great news, sweetheart!” His silvery image stands outside of Pilar and Fatima’s building.

  My heart drops to my stomach over what Cal might say next. First my mother and now Pilar. How can Cal be so gullible? If he’s calling to tell me that he’s proposed, I’ll have to break it to him that Pilar’s using him for his money.

  But Cal mercifully interrupts my train of crazy thoughts. “We’re going on vacation,” he says. “You, Pilar, Seth, Fatima, Beau—everyone’s coming. We leave in two days.”

  “What?”

  “An island retreat!” Cal gushes. “In the Pacific. The private investigator recommended the place. The resort sits in a satellite shadow with no tech reception. It’ll be perfect!”

  “What?” I gasp. “How’s that possible?”

  “I don’t know,” says Cal. “Ask Nancy. She says you might own it.”

  “What?”

  “Wait,” says Cal. “Where are you? Is that Nancy’s office?”

  I turn around so that Nancy appears in the frame. “Hi, Cal,” she waves.

  Cal’s face blanches. “Oh! I didn’t realize you weren’t alone. Uh, Nancy? This trip is confidential. The Vestals don’t want the news to get out.”

  “Attorney-client privilege,” Nancy says. “I won’t say anything.” She locks her lips with an imaginary key.

  “We’ll talk more when you get home. Be safe, Blanca.”

  “I will.” I click off my watch and stare at Nancy. “An island?” My voice raises an octave. “My mother owned an island?”

  When Nancy nods, I suddenly remember the purple swimsuit.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Seth’s white T-shirt hugs his skin, showing off every last tattoo. I spot a new one. Under his elbow snarls an ancient face with a gaping mouth. It looks puffy, like it was freshly inked a few days ago. My own skin feels clammy.

  The tight quarters of the airplane cabin activates my latent claustrophobia. The low hum of the environmental systems has me on edge. One moment I’m freezing; the next minute I suffocate. But mainly, I’m terrified. This is the first time I’ve flown. Cal promised me the McNeal Solar private jet is perfectly safe, but that doesn’t calm my nerves.

  I look at Seth’s head bent low over his finger-chip screen, engrossed in whatever he’s reading, and wish that I could bury my head in his shoulders and have him tell me it will all be all right.

  I would tell him I was a fool for giving him an ultimatum. That I don’t care if he has finger-chips so long as he stays true to me. And I would kiss his beautiful mouth and feel the scratch of stubble against my lips.

  “Are you okay?” Seth jerks his head away from his screen and looks at me.

  “What?” I ask.

  “You were staring.” He waves his finger-chips and the image jiggles. “Did you want to read this?”

  “No. I was … What’s your new tattoo supposed to be?”

  Seth twists his arm for inspection. “It’s the Mouth of Truth from ancient Italy. I saw it online and thought it was cool.”

  I struggle to think of something honest to say. “Oh. It’s very fitting.” I turn back toward the physics book I brought with me from Cal’s library.

  “Here we are!” Fatima announces with delight. Her spaghetti-strap tank top and maternity shorts make her look like a beach ball. I
never thought it would happen, but Fatima’s curves have melded together into one huge lump.

  Beau comes two steps behind her in an ivory silk shirt and linen shorts. The two of them scoot down the aisle of the McNeal Solar private jet and take a seat across from me and Seth.

  Pilar and Cal have the seats in front of us. Pilar looks especially svelte in a white strapless dress and gladiator sandals. Alberto’s a few rows behind, his shoulder-length hair a mane of silver.

  “Richard,” Cal says as Trevor’s family comes on board, “I’m so glad you could make it.”

  “The soap family’s invited?” Seth narrows his eyes. “Why?”

  “I don’t know,” I whisper. But when I see Richard make a beeline for Alberto, I have my suspicions.

  Trevor and Sarah board the plane next, holding hands. Sarah’s prematurely gray hair looks especially surreal next to her T-shirt, flip-flops, and shorts.

  “What’s up?” Trevor asks as he escorts Sarah past us. The corner of his carry-on bumps Seth in the head.

  Seth frowns. “Why did I agree to this again?”

  “I don’t know.” I point to the seats in front of us. “Didn’t you tell your dad we broke up?”

  Seth shakes his head. “Didn’t you?”

  My face gives away my answer.

  “Well, shit,” Seth mumbles. “No wonder our seats are together.”

  Suddenly the whole plane feels tiny.

  Then it shrinks smaller when Beau’s brothers board.

  “Dude!” the big one yells. By big, I mean six feet six. “Let the party begin!”

  “That’s Ryan,” I say. Then I nod at the blond guy behind him. “And the one holding the Hacky Sack is Zach.” Both brothers grin when they spot me staring.

  “Hey, Blanca.” Ryan winks while he walks to his seat.

  But Zach pauses, right in front of Seth. He rolls the Hacky Sack down his forearm, shoots it back up with his biceps, and catches it with a smack. “If this Virus gives you any trouble, princess, you come tell me.”

  “Dude,” Seth says, “I can hear you.”

  Zach grins. “People can always hear me, Rex. And I inspire my lady friends to be even louder.”

  “Ladies and gentleman,” the pilot announces, “this is Captain Milo Lin from the cockpit. Please take your seats and prepare for takeoff.”

  A pretty lady in a red pantsuit walks up and herds Zach to the rear of the plane. She gets rewarded with a full dose of Zach’s charm.

  “Who’s the woman in red?” I ask Seth.

  “I don’t know. Probably the flight attendant.”

  The lady spins on her heels when she hears Seth’s voice. “I’m not a flight attendant. I’m the copilot. And, sir, you need to turn your finger-chips off now.”

  “But we haven’t left the gate!”

  The copilot shrugs her shoulders. “I don’t make the rules. But I do enforce them.”

  “Bloody hell.” Seth slouches down in his seat and closes his eyes for a nap.

  I do my best to ignore him.

  That is until about ten minutes later when the plane taxies down the runway for takeoff. I didn’t know an engine could roar so loud. Then the plane rattles, and I really get nervous. I look across the aisle to Beau and Fatima, who hold on to each other for dear life.

  None of us have flown before except Beau’s brothers.

  “Seth!” I jab him in the arm with my finger to wake him up. “What’s going on? Are we crashing?”

  He opens one eye to look at me. “This is perfectly normal, and it’s going to get louder here in a sec.”

  “Louder?” I grip the armrest so tight my knuckles turn white.

  The whole plane jerks and throws me backward. Momentum presses me into my seat. The plane moves faster and faster. Then it lifts off the ground and clatters. Equipment squeals like something is breaking.

  “Those are the wheels retracting,” Seth offers.

  “What?” Beau shouts across the aisle.

  “The wheels retracting,” Seth says louder, so everyone can hear. “It’s normal, people.”

  A few seconds later, the captain’s voice overtakes the cabin.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, I understand that for many of you this is your first flight. Please let me reassure you that all that noise and turbulence is common. Once we reach our cruising altitude, things will calm down, and you’ll be free to move about the cabin.”

  Up in front of me, I hear Pilar let out a loud sigh of relief.

  “Vestals,” Seth mumbles under his breath. “You guys are nuts.”

  I peer down the window at water as clear as glass. It’s the same turquoise color as my mother’s bracelet. The plane circles lower and lower. Amid the palm trees and thatched huts, I see a tiny strip of land that must be the tarmac.

  Cal leans back over the seat to talk to us. “We’re not that far from Tahiti,” he says. “Prepare yourselves for the best snorkeling of your life.”

  “How did you find this place again?” Seth asks his dad.

  Cal looks at me. “Blanca owns it.”

  “What?”

  I shrug. “It’s more like the sham company my mother created owns it. I’m still not sure of the details.”

  The plane quakes from the descent. I reach absentmindedly for my cuff that is no longer there. I feel my chip-watch instead and spin it around and around my wrist.

  I don’t know why I bothered to bring it. Cal said that this entire island was off the grid in a dead-zone of satellite reception. When my mother was here, Barbelo couldn’t bother her.

  Unless he came too.

  I never thought to ask Nancy the specifics.

  “Stop it,” Seth says.

  “Stop what?”

  “That thing you do with your wrist. It’s really annoying.”

  I look down at my chip-watch. “Oh. Sorry.” I blink my eyes rapidly and look away.

  When the plane touches ground, it makes so much noise that I’m positive we’re crashing. But pretty soon things quiet down, and we roll across the runway. Islanders wait for us in flowered shirts and shell necklaces.

  “Look. There’s a welcoming committee.” I turn to Seth and smile.

  He doesn’t return my expression. “Damn. My finger-chips won’t work.” Seth shakes his hands, trying to activate the batteries.

  My face clenches. Does Seth not know?

  “Ladies and gentlemen,” the pilot announces, “this is Captain Lin again. Paradise awaits. You may now unfasten your seat belts.”

  At this, Fatima rises to her feet. “Hi, everyone. I want to say thank you for coming, and a special thank-you to my mom and dad and Cal for organizing all this.” Fatima blows Pilar and Alberto a kiss. Then she gives me an air kiss too. “And to my best friend, Blanca, for hosting us on her island.”

  “Um, you’re welcome.” I wave.

  Fatima’s smile is wide. “But what most of you don’t know—and especially not Beau—”

  “What?” Beau interrupts. “What’s going on?”

  “—is that these three days aren’t just a vacation,” Fatima continues. “It’s Beau and my top-secret wedding!”

  “Really?” Beau jumps to his feet.

  “With no photographers,” Fatima adds. “No companies! No public relations game plan. It’s our own private celebration.”

  “Babe.” Beau looks at Fatima with a face full of love. He leans Fatima as far back as she can go with her pregnant belly and kisses her.

  Trevor claps, and pretty soon everyone joins in.

  Up in front, I see Pilar bounce up and down excitedly on her chair. Then she grabs Cal by the shoulders and plants one on him.

  Seth witnesses this too. “Gross!” he mumbles, looking away. He jiggles his finger-chips one more time.

  “Uh, Seth.” I hesitate before delivering the facts. “Those things won’t work here.”

  “What do you mean ‘won’t work’?”

 
“This island? Um, the reason my mother liked it so much is the whole resort is cloistered.” I explain about the satellite shadow.

  Seth slams his head back against his seat. “Enough with the Vestal shit!”

  I turn my head and look back out the window so he won’t see my glee.

  The hand-stitched quilt on the bed reminds me of my mother. Ms. Lydia never did any sort of sewing or crafts as far as I know, but the white background, gentle stitching, and purple flowers echo her gracefulness.

  Was this the room my mother stayed in when she came? I look around the bungalow excitedly and search for clues. But all I find is simple bamboo furniture. A table and chair along with a small dresser. There is nothing of my mother’s here. At least that I can see.

  It was stupid of me to hope.

  I lift my small suitcase onto the table and unpack. There’s a gigantic bottle of sunscreen Cal insisted I bring and several outfits, but the only thing of real importance is the small velvet bag with the mysterious key. Maybe I’ll find the lock it goes with this weekend. The sooner I explore the island, the better.

  I search through the garments and select the white bikini. But then I drop it back on the pile. Who would I be showing skin for? Seth? Beau’s brothers? I stuff the spandex away and pull out the purple one-piece.

  I try it on in front of the mirror, delighted that it’s a perfect fit. The suit scoops down the back, revealing my naked skin, and pushes me up in the front, which makes my modest cleavage look a little more inviting.

  And purple is definitely my color.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  The black sand burns my feet when I take off my flip-flops, but I run down to the shoreline fast enough that the heat doesn’t stick. The water hits the beach with a sharp impact. No gentle slope leads into the waves, only a steep shelf. My white cotton maxi dress billows around me, and sunglasses shade everything pink.

  “Over here, sweetheart!” Cal calls to me from a collection of lounge chairs up the beach. “I ordered you a punch.” He holds up a gigantic coconut with a straw and umbrella sticking out. Seth and Pilar lie on chaises next to him.