Lorena sat down next to me with the box of pizza in her lap.
“No plates?” I laughed.
“No plates,” she answered. Then she grabbed a slice and motioned for me to get one too.
I could see why she was so excited about the pizza. It looked so good and hot, then when I took a piece the cheese clung together just like on the commercials. It looked delicious.
“Yeah, see,” Lorena was nodding her head. She saw the hungry look on my face, “I know. You don’t have to say anything.”
Lorena grabbed the remote and turned on a classic scary movie: Halloween. After finishing more than half of the box of pizza, and were now almost through the movie, Lorena got up and poured herself a glass of wine.
“You want some?” She asked.
“No, I’m not much of a drinker.”
“Neither am I,” She walked back and sat down next to me on the floor in front of the couch, “but I wanted to celebrate.”
“For what?”
“New friends, and new memories,” She started sipping on her first cup, “and singlism.”
“Is that even a word?” I laughed.
“Is cu-pretty a word?” she raised an eyebrow, “and it’s okay if you were going to call me cute. I don’t mind.”
I avoided making eye contact with her and stood up, “I think I will get some wine.”
“See, there you go,” she laughed.
I poured myself a cup of red wine and sat back down. After sipping on it for a little while the awkwardness went away and I felt relaxed.
“So, I want to play a game,” Lorena faced me cross legged.
“Hmmm?” I sat the cup down.
“Twenty-one questions,” she said.
Usually, I would panic when this suggestion came around, but I guess the wine kept me a bit careless, “Okay.”
“You first,” She said.
I was staring at her, thinking of the first question, but couldn’t think of one. Instead I got lost into her sea colored eyes that were so innocent and curious. I still don’t know how I became friends with such a kind girl. We don’t seem very compatible.
“Rose?” She cocked her head to the side.
“Oh! Um, where are you from?” I asked.
“Well, I was born in Columbia, but grew up here in Ohio as far as I know,” She sighed, “What about you?”
“California. I grew up there with my parents.”
“Oh...Where are they now?” I guess she saw the pained look on my face. It felt like she stuck a needle through my chest, “I’m sorry. You don’t have to-”
“No, I’m OK,” I gave her a reassuring smile, “They passed away when I was a kid. It was a....car accident,” It was really my fault for losing a match. Arnold said he would get rid of them if I didn’t win because we were fighting for a lot of money, and when I lost, we lost it all. I lost it all.
“I’m sorry...My mom died from cancer a little while back, and my father disappeared when I was a kid.”
“Disappeared?” I asked.
“Yeah, my mom said he left with me one day, and then he brought me back a few months later and disappeared. I can’t even remember what he looks like.”
“He left with you? To where?” I asked.
“I don’t really remember. He was one of those men that sold kids into fighting. When I woke up, I had no memory of who I was or what had happened. My mom said that I wasn’t one of those kids, but I don’t believe her. From what my grandparents told me, my father got into business with really bad people and he went in debt. Guess I had to pay it back”
The wine wasn’t working anymore and I could feel myself start to panic. She was just like me? But with no memory of what happened to her, or her father? If anything I was starting to feel angry. What father does that to his child? She could have died! Or she could’ve ended up a mess like me! I guess it was a good thing that she lost all of her memories.
“So where do you think he went?” I asked.
“I don’t know. He’s probably dead. My dad owed a lot of dangerous people money. He even got mixed up with Kiboski.”
“Kiboski?” The name sounded familiar, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.
“Yeah, Arnold Kiboski. He’s some millionaire, or was a millionaire years ago.”
I slowly picked up my wine and then drank down the rest of it. I forgot Kiboski was Arnold’s last name. I had always just called him Arnold. We weren’t very close, but we started to form a relationship up until Winee died. That’s when I lost all feelings for any and everyone and just fought. He definitely made a lot from me after that.
“Hey, how come you’re so calm about this?” My voice cracked.
“I don’t know,” she sighed and looked out the window, “I guess because I have no memory of him. I wouldn’t like him much anyways. They said he used to hit on my mom.”
I shook my head. Seems like the women in the Rojas family had bad taste in men.
“Well, I’m glad you don’t remember any of it,” She turned to look at me with those glossy blue eyes again, “it’s not something you can easily forget.”
Lorena frowned in confusion, “It wasn’t all bad.”
“Huh? I thought you said you couldn’t remember anything?”
“I don’t. Well not the fighting part. I just remember this girl.”
“A girl....”
“Yeah like, I just remember this girl. She was my age, and she was friendly. I think she was my friend, but our time together is a little blurry. Like sometimes I may dream about playing outside with her- I have no idea where outside was....” she shrugged.
“Do you remember what she looks like?”
Lorena shook her head, “I haven’t the slightest clue,” She got the bottle of wine and poured me and her another cup, “I just remember what she was like- a little bit. I remember that she was kind, but hard. I felt protected around her.”
“Oh...” I drank more wine.
“That’s why you seem so familiar. You’re just like her. Sometimes I wonder if you are her.” She gave me a long stare, hoping that I would say that I was, but I didn’t.
“Lorena, there’s no way of knowing. Besides, I wasn’t one of those children,” It hurt to lie, but I had to. She couldn’t know what I did, “I just grew up in California like all the regular kids.”
“And then you moved here...” Lorena looked a little hurt. I wasn’t who she’d hoped I would be, and it made me feel guilty somehow.
“You want to know why I came here.”
Lorena bit her lip, “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. You know what? This was a bad id-”
“No it wasn’t. You want to get to know me better. I mean, I guess I am pretty mysterious,” I folded my hands on my lap, “It’s OK.”
Lorena gave me her usual look. It was like she wanted to know, but she was afraid to hear the words.
I took a deep breath and cracked my knuckles, “Well, back in Cali, after my parents died, I got messed up. I wasn’t the best child to look after, and when my Aunt adopted me I started screwing up more. I stole, fought, skipped school...the regular. So, now the school recommended me to the school psychologist. I was a junior, and this was my third psych. I couldn’t stand when she tried to get into my head, and one day she did,” I sighed, “I gave in, and I told her about everything.....talking didn’t help though. It was the end of wrestling practice and one of my friends and I were still going at it. I don’t know what happened, but I blanked out. Everything went dark, and then I thought that I was back-somewhere else,” my hands started shaking, “when I woke up I was lying next to his body. They said that I killed him, and because of my connections-I guess, I wasn’t locked up. The people in my city hated me though. My aunt and I tried to stay there, but there was too much going on. Rocks being thrown at our windows, vandalism on our house, no one would bother to talk to me, and everyone was afraid of me. Then my aunt got fired. She ended up finding a good job out here, so this is where we moved.
I wanted a clean start when I first came here, and maybe have a chance at a better life. I just wanted a second chance, so I never told anyone what I did,” I looked up at Lorena, who now looked shocked, “and I really didn’t want you to know. You’re so nice, and beautiful, and I love being around you. It’s weird, because I’ve never felt this way before-” Lorena leaned in and kissed me on the cheek right on the corner of my lips.
I was thrown completely off guard and didn’t move until she pulled away, leaving my cheek tingling.
She was blushing and smiled at me, “What you did isn’t going to change how I feel about you. You aren’t that person anymore.”
I was still staring at her, and I couldn’t seem to break eye contact with her, then I smiled back.
* * *
By the end of the night we were drunk. The wine had fully set in and had us dancing around the house. We just wanted to forget about our painful pasts and move on to more fun things like eating, drinking, and dancing off beat.
Lorena turned on some old school music by Kid ‘n Play and started dancing circles around me. I just laughed and thought back to the days my dad used to play old school in the car when we went on fun trips. He said it was the best kind of road music.
I wasn’t much for dancing, and I didn’t want to embarrass myself, but Lorena got me to dance with her anyway. I took her hand and spun her around then I pulled her close “This isn’t complete without a rose,” I said while holding her.
“There goes one,” she pointed to the little rose plant she was growing on the coffee table.
“That has thorns,” I laughed.
“You’re tough!”
“No, not that tough,” I stood up straight and twirled her one more time. Somehow she tripped over her own foot and fell backwards pulling me down with her.
I fell by her side onto the comforter and pillows we had laid out from earlier, “I think that was God telling us to go to bed.”
“Yeah,” she giggled, then she got up and turned off all the lights. It was just the moonlight shining through the large glass window that led through to the patio.
“Lorena?” I said with my face in a pillow.
“Yeah?” Lorena laid down next to me.
“Thanks. This was fun,” I came up for air and faced her.
“I had fun too,” she was laying on her back while facing me. “We should do this more often.”
I slowly nodded in agreement, then I closed my eyes, feeling exhausted and relieved. I finally told someone what had happened, and even though that wasn’t everything that I held onto, it was a start.
I was just falling asleep when Lorena spoke again.
“Rose?”
“Yeah,” I answered tiredly.
“Are you sure that your friend died?”
“Hmm,” I woke up a little more.
“Winee, are you sure that she died? “
“I saw it happen,” I said thinking back to her pale face.
“Oh...”
“Why did you ask?”
“Because her name. Winee is short for Windred right?”
My eyes widened, “Do you know someone with that name?”
Lorena was quiet for a moment, “It’s my middle name,” she paused for a moment. “My parents thought it sounded American and because we were moving here they wanted to give me something- I don’t know- American like. So they named me Lorena Windred Rojas.”
I looked at Lorena in the moonlight and saw Winee’s face. Lorena could definitely pass as the older version of Windred because she was just the right age and had all of her looks, but it couldn’t possibly be her. I killed her. I saw her laying out on the ground with blood coming from the back of her head. Winee is dead. She had to be.
“I mean, it makes sense. You have that one friend, with my middle name, that you think passed away, and I had a friend that was just like...you, but I can’t remember. It’s possible...”
“It’s not.” When I think back to it, Lorena made a lot of sense. I mean I was never sure if Winee actually died, but I convinced myself that she did because I would never see her again. Winee hit her head, and Lorena has no memory of her childhood. Lorena could very well be Windred.
Lorena sighed and turned to her side, “Well, I just thought maybe...you were her.”
“....Sorry...” If I was, and if she was...I couldn’t tell her. I couldn’t tell her what I did to her.
Chapter 27
Morning came fast. I was awoken by Lorena who held a hot plate of pancakes, eggs, and sausage in my face.
“Hey,” I said with a raspy voice. I sat up and took the plate, then after my first bite I started to dig in.
“Good?” She laughed. She stood up and walked back into the kitchen.
I slowed down my pace, feeling embarrassed, and then sat the plate down in front of me. I had just remembered the talk from last night and had lost my appetite.
Lorena walked back in with her own plate, “Oh, I guess not,” She sat down on the couch and clicked on the TV, “well, if you don’t want it, then you can just throw it out. It’s okay.”
I looked up at her and watched her face. I could tell that last night was bothering her because the mood had completely changed since yesterday. Lorena looked down at me with dull eyes, and the happiness I wanted to see didn’t appear, “What is it?” she asked.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
Lorena continued to stare at me with sad eyes, “I’ll be fine.”
“Well, are we okay?” when Lorena didn’t answer right away I panicked, “I really hope that it isn’t because of what I told you? I mean, I’m not like that anymore... I swear I’m not-”
“You know it isn’t about that,” her expression didn’t change.
I sighed and looked down at my plate full of food. It looked so good just a moment ago, but now.... “I’m sorry Lorena. I don’t really know what to say about that....I’m not who you think I am.”
Lorena could see right through me, but even I could tell that she had doubts as well. There was a very good chance that Lorena Windred Rojas could be Winee, and that I was the girl from her memories, but that could only be true if Winee hadn’t died.
“Lorena...I saw her die. I watched her die. That’s how I know that you’re not her. The fact that you have her middle name is just a coincidence, and I’m really sorry about that. I’m sorry-”
Lorena rested her hand on my shoulder and smiled, “We’re fine. Still just a little down about it, that’s all, but you and I are still okay. Everything’s still the same,” she pulled her hand away and looked down at my plate, “Is my cooking really that bad?”
I picked up my plate and started eating again. The food was actually very good.
* * *
Lorena and I walked out of the apartment building laughing about my dancing from last night. I gave her a light shove and then braced myself to be shoved back. Hers was a little harder than mine, but then again, I’m a lot harder to push.
“That was cute,” I laughed as I walked to the passenger side of the car.
“Whatever,” She unlocked the doors and got into her vehicle.
. I was about to get in when I saw a black car driving slowly down the street passing us by. In any normal case, I would think that the car was driving so slow because of the icy roads, but no. This was the same car that I saw the other night, with the mysterious driver behind it. Someone who knows me...possibly the only one who really knows me...
I quickly got into the car and took a deep breath. Lorena looked at me with worried eyes and saw that my hands were shaking, “What is it?”
I was going to tell her what was going on, but for some reason no words were coming out. Then I thought back to the girl with the gun. Someone is out there that want’s to hurt me, and I think whoever it was might be inside that black car. Usually I would start to get pumped, and would go at them head on, but the thought that one of the passengers could be Arnold scared the hell out of me.
“It’s no
thing...nothing,” I looked around to make sure no danger was coming our way.
Lorena didn’t ask any more questions and started to take me home. I was quiet the whole ride back and constantly checked to see if we were being followed. I didn’t once look at Lorena, because I knew that she was giving me that curious look while waiting on some kind of explanation. Once we pulled up into my driveway, I looked back to see if the black car was parked in its usual spot. It wasn’t.
My phone beeped, letting me know that I got a text message and I checked it. It was from an unfamiliar number and I almost ignored it when I saw the text.
“Rose?” Lorena grabbed my wrist, a little more worried than before. I was breathing loudly, almost whimpering, and my hands were shaking so badly that I could barely make a text back, “Hey, are you okay?”
I read the text that was sent to me again and knew it was him. I knew it was Arnold. He’s the only person that could confirm that Lorena was really......
Happy to see my girls together again....That’s what the text said, and although it wasn’t direct proof that it was Arnold, I just knew it was him. A painful feeling that I was all too used to throbbed in my chest and I felt like I couldn’t breathe. Lorena was right about everything. I am the girl from her dreams, and Winee- I didn’t kill her because she was sitting right next to me...
“Lorena?” I turned to her, but could barely see her through my tears. It was Winee that was looking back at me. She was the girl that I thought I had killed, and I held onto that guilt for half my life since then. Some part of me already knew that it was really her, but I couldn’t let myself believe that because back then what I saw was real, but now it has proven to be fake. Winee was just unconscious after the fight, and then she had lost the majority of her memories. All but the ones of me.
At first all I could feel was happiness when I realized who Lorena really was, but then it all diminished when my thoughts came rushing in. Arnold, my worst nightmare, is here, and I came to a quick conclusion that Lorena and I could no longer be friends. I’m the reason that she has no memory, and for years I thought that I had killed her. How could I be friends with someone after doing something like that to them?
Caged (Caged series Book 1) Page 17