by Lark Maren
“Turn that thing off,” I said. “We’ll deal with it in the morning.” I had no idea what her dad actually did. Probably some white-collar shit where he would serve a sentence in the kind of prison that was nicer than my apartment. Him and her mother running off, not facing the consequences, just showed what kind of people they were. Exactly the kind of people I pinned them as this whole time.
Ella, though…
She was different. She was perfect. She was mine.
Chapter Twenty-One
Ella:
“I’m sorry to let you down,” I said as I flopped open the pizza box on the coffee table and pulled out a slice. “That’s the worst part about all this. I’ve been fighting for my independence for so long, but I never thought it would all end, cold turkey.”
“Babe, I hardly call this cold turkey,” Tonya said, flipping open the trap door in the bottom of the cigar box. It was stuffed with stacks of thousands, plus a key to a safe deposit box, which I was sure was filled with my mother’s jewelry. It all felt so dirty to me, though. Who did my dad screw over to get this money? Who went hungry so he could stash riches all over the place for me, just in case? “We stay here in this apartment, we could probably retire off of this.” She laughed and slammed the box shut.
She grabbed a piece of pizza and shoved a bite in her mouth. I tried to laugh along with her, but nothing was funny to me right now.
“I was just kidding, Ella,” she said. “We’re not staying here forever. I promise you that.”
Truth was, if she wanted to stay here forever, I would, as long as I could be with her. I’d live in a cardboard box under the bridge if that’s what made her happy. As long as I had her I didn’t want for anything. When she told Alfonso she would keep me safe, I believed her with all my heart. My only worry was that she was going to get tired of me eventually. Tired of my optimism that I know comes off as ignorance. Tired of teaching me how to adult. Tired of having to explain to people that I wasn’t as scummy as my parents. I knew the team was going to have a field day with this. I doubted once the news hit about my dad being investigated they were going to want anything to do with me. It twisted my stomach in knots that even a big greasy slice of pizza couldn’t unravel.
“I’m sorry if I let the team down,” I said. “I know how important football is to you.”
“The team is still yours, isn’t it?” she asked. “Like all yours?”
“Yeah. But what will everyone think? I’m going to be a pariah in this city by tomorrow morning. I’m a joke thanks to my dad.” I sank back into the couch and rested my head in my hands. Maybe I would use that fake ID, dye my hair, change my name, pick up an accent, get a fresh start. We could tell people I met Tonya online and moved here from Florida to be with her.
“Our team should be called the Pittsburgh Pariahs,” she said with a laugh, poking her finger into my nose. “You should see some of our arrest sheets.”
“You sure know how to make a girl feel better.” I finally laughed, mostly at myself. I caught her finger in between my lips, kissing it softly before nibbling it. “I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to get the paperwork for Areal before all this hit the fan. It was on my to-do list for tomorrow.”
“It’s okay,” she said, tucking my hair behind my ear. “I’m going to do it myself. Tomorrow, when we go to dinner with her and Mae, I’m going to tell her we’re going to go to the school together and do whatever it takes to get her in. I’m going to handle this once and for all.”
“You’re taking me to dinner with your family?” I said, swinging my leg to straddle her lap. I raised my eyebrows as her cheeks grew bright pink. “So does that mean you like me or something?”
“I mean, you’ll have to meet them for yourself. You might take off running once you do.”
“Well fortunately, I have the paperwork if that’s something I have to do,” I teased, reaching for the box. “I can’t believe this bullshit. It’s insane. I don’t even know what I’m supposed to do. Like, should I report it to somebody?”
I was so conflicted. I loved my parents so much. They raised me, took care of me, made sure I wanted for nothing. They tried to instill good values in me, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized my father wasn’t always on the up-and-up. The kind of people who came to my birthday parties, the kind of people he associated with, and now this—a fresh box of forged documents that looked pretty recent… how long had this worst-case scenario plan been in place? How did my dad sleep at night knowing that one day we were all just going to have to up and flee the country?
She pursed her lips and flipped through the stack of paperwork. “I’m probably not a good example of doing the right thing, Ella,” she said. “If I were in your shoes, I wouldn’t do a damn thing. Get rid of this stuff. Bury your past. You’re not your parents. The choices they made for you were not theirs to make. If I called the police every time my mother did something illegal, it wouldn’t make my life better. It’s a guilt I’m not trying to carry. Life is hard enough already. Sometimes you have to just take a step back and be selfish. You really want to put yourself through that burden? For what end? To feel like you did the right thing? Sometimes the right thing isn’t the letter of the law. I’m sure your father had his reasons. None of that takes away from how much he loves you. He fucked up. People fuck up. Just so happens his fuck up is a little bigger than lifting a bottle of whiskey from the liquor store.”
“I thought you hated him,” I said, surprised at her change in tone.
“I respect anybody who does what they need to do to survive. Some people have an opportunity to survive a little better than others.” Her bright blue eyes flickered, and she jumped up from the couch, grabbing the cigar box from me. She walked over to the stove, turning the knob until the red and blue flame flickered high. “If I know anything about anything, it’s that if you’re going to do shady stuff, you better be damn good at destroying the evidence.”
In that moment, I felt closer to Tonya than I ever had before. She had a fist full of blackmail, an opportunity to ruin my life, a nail in a coffin to put my father behind bars and completely destroy me, and instead, she stood there at the sink, filling up a giant soup pot with water, smiling the entire time.
“You do like me,” I stammered, joining her in the kitchen. She pressed her lips to my forehead and set the pot next to the stove.
“Quit being ridiculous,” she teased. She reached into the drawer and pulled out a pair of tongs. “You knew the minute you met me you were going to end up getting everything you wanted.”
She handed me the tongs, and pulled out the fake birth certificate from the box.
“Women like you always get everything you want, Ella. Bet you didn’t picture it like this, though.” She placed the birth certificate in between the metal rods and stood behind me with her arms wrapped around me as I dangled it over the flame, watching it quickly ignite and blacken. I squealed in shock as the flame grew higher and higher, singeing the vent above the stove.
She giggled and grabbed my arm, tossing the flaming piece of paper into the pot of water. It hissed as it flickered out, like a pressure valve finally being released, and I threw my head back and laughed.
“What about you, Tonya. What do you want?” I asked as I loaded up the tongs with the Florida drivers’ license, still reeling over the fact that the person in the picture on the front was me, and the picture had to have been taken only months ago.
“I don’t ask for much. I want to keep my family safe. I want to play football. I want a hot girlfriend to keep my bed warm and take me seriously. I’d say I’m doing pretty well for myself as of right this very moment.”
The ID card was much less dramatic than the birth certificate, the plastic shriveling in a matter of seconds, and I jammed it into the pot of water, watching the picture of my face wrinkle up into an unrecognizable blob. It was like the old me was gone, and I was being reborn.
“I guess that’s all I want too,” I said. “Aside f
rom the playing football thing. I’d rather save the tackling for the bedroom.”
“Oh come on,” she teased, patting her hands on my shoulders. “You don’t want to pad up and chase me around the field? Put all that pierogi racing to good use?”
I turned to kiss her, and I wasn’t sure if it was the flame from the stove or the flame of my lust for her, but suddenly I felt warm from head to toe. She cupped the back of my head, tugging my hair ever so softly as our tongues began to tangle, exploring the depths of each other’s mouths, our passion increasing.
She reached behind me and turned the knob.
“We can finish this later,” she said with a nod, tracing her tongue over her teeth as our eyes met. Slowly, she began unbuttoning my shirt. It felt like an eternity as she undid one button at a time, staring me in the eye the entire time. As she moved to the buttons on my jeans, I gasped in anticipation. She tugged the fabric down my thighs, admiring my body with her eyes, her glare so powerful it sent shivers over my flesh. She grabbed my ass in her hands, hoisting me up onto the countertop with her strength, and slid my shirt off my shoulders, peppering them with soft kisses.
I rested my head back on the cabinets as she took my breasts in her hands, kneading them through the fabric of my bra as my lips began to part, a gentle sigh on my breath. I loved the way she took charge, her strength, her confidence. The way she knew exactly what she wanted and somehow that always intertwined with exactly what I needed.
“How’d I get so lucky,” I mewled as she unclasped my bra and began tracing her tongue around my nipples, drawing them into sensitive hardened nubs.
“Shhh…” she whispered, pressing a finger to my lips. “No more talking. I’m busy.”
She took my nipple in her mouth, flicking it, gently nibbling it, and I reached for her ponytail. She grabbed my wrists firmly in her hands and shook her head with a mischievous smile. “Lift up,” she commanded, as she guided my hands under my ass cheeks.
“I want to touch you,” I pleaded.
“I said be quiet.” She pressed her lips to mine, softly, parting my thighs further as she leaned into me. “You always get what you want, Ella. Sometimes you have to work for it.”
Her mouth traveled from my earlobe to my shoulder, up and down slowly for what seemed like an eternity as my back arched and my hips thrusted. “Now that you’re on your own, you’re going to have to learn to be patient.”
“You’re a cruel teacher.” I groaned in ecstasy as she traced the inside of my ear, her breath heavy, my wetness increasing.
“And you’re a mouthy student,” she said, her words lighting up my core in ways I never knew were possible. I dug my fingernails into the countertop, desperation overflowing me. “I think you might benefit from a spanking.” She stared in my eyes to gauge my expression. I gulped, my heart racing so hard I felt all the blood rushing from my brain to my pussy. She made me insane. I nodded ever so slightly.
“You can use your words now,” she said with a haughty laugh. “Tell me.”
“Do it,” I urged.
“Do what?” She pursed her lips in innocence but her eyes told me another story. She stood with her arms crossed over her chest, and it just drove me even wilder.
“I need spanked,” I said, cringing as the words came out of my mouth.
“I know you have better manners than that.” She grabbed my chin in her hand and lifted it, her fingertips stroking my jawline just firmly enough to let me know she was serious.
“Please, Tonya. I need you to spank me.” I could feel the desperation coming from my chest. It was like nothing I’d ever felt before. I was on the edge of orgasm and she hadn’t even touched me.
“That’s the sexiest words I’ve ever heard,” she said with a smile. She pressed her lips to mine once again, this time pulling my lip in between her teeth. Before I knew it, she had lifted me from the counter and turned me around. Her fingertips felt soft against the flesh of my ass, tickling and teasing, and she pulled my panties down around my ankles.
“God, you’re dripping,” she said, her fingers finding my folds. I ground my hips upwards, trying to find some relief for my poor swollen clit. Just one stroke, just the right way, and I’d be lost. She firmed her hand into my lower back, pinning me to the countertop. “Patience.”
She dipped a finger inside me, and my toes curled into the linoleum. I flexed my fingers, did my yoga breathing, did whatever I possibly could to keep a level head. It wasn’t happening. Desperate tears stung my eyes as she slid another finger into my pussy, scissoring them back and forth over my g-spot.
“I’m going to cum,” I cried out.
“No,” she said, as she slid her fingers in and out, faster and faster, just barely grazing my clit with every thrust. I felt my thighs begin to quiver, but she pulled away, ruining my chance as I stood there on the edge, frustrated and desperate. “Are you ready for me to spank you?”
A frustrated groan came from my lips, and she pressed her palm into my back.
“What was that?”
“Yes,” I whimpered. “Please.”
“Good. You have a beautiful ass.” She ran her hands over my exposed flesh, then brought her lips to it, eliciting a moan.
“Oh my God,” I mewled as her hand swung back and slapped me, a little harder than I expected. Her palm kept me pressed into the counter as my feet nearly left the floor. It was the strangest combination of pleasure and pain, of need and lust, balled up with the dirtiness of it all. I was letting my girlfriend spank me over the countertop, and I loved it. I craved it. “Please, do it again,” I pleaded.
“You’re perfect,” she whispered, slapping the same spot, the sting of her palm as heat radiated from my tender flesh driving me closer and closer to the edge. I cried out in pleasure with each swat, and as she moved to the other side, I felt the sunburn-like heat emanating from my skin. “You like that?”
“Yes,” I cooed. I felt like I was having an out of body experience, my mind turning to applesauce as her lips traced over the warm welts peppering my skin.
“And you’re not just saying that because you want me to like you?” she asked, her hand moving from my ass to my swollen mound, just barely cupping it, her fingers trembling.
“You aren’t so cruel after all, are you?” I said, urging her forward. “I love it. Isn’t it obvious?”
She dipped her finger into me once again, her other palm running up and down my spine with the lightest touch. The combination of pain, tenderness, pleasure, I couldn’t hold it in anymore. “Now can I?” I pleaded. Without a word, she strummed her thumb over my clit and I felt my legs go limp as I pressed my forehead into the countertop.
“See what happens when you’re patient? Cum for me, beautiful.” Her words all melded together. I was too lost in the most intense sensation of my life to try and put together what she was saying. Electric shocks, twitching muscles, sweat pouring from me, these unfamiliar moans coming from my lips that were bordering on screams, I was completely lost. As she turned me around to kiss me, my breath choppy, I dropped to my knees on the floor in front of her, pulling her leggings down in one solid swipe. I pressed my lips to her mound with a need that I’d never felt before, tasting her, licking her, kissing her, gripping her round ass in my hands as her muscular thighs quivered.
The way she moaned just as she was losing it was music to my ears. She gripped my hair in her fist and squealed as I looked up at her pretty face, contorting in the throes of orgasm. It was beautiful. She was perfect. We were perfect. Even if this was nothing like I imagined it being for us, I got everything I asked for and more. My heart swelled with love as she helped me from the floor, and we shared a kiss, both of us quaking.
“I don’t even know what to say.” I couldn’t stop smiling. I pressed my forehead to hers, and we both laughed.
“That’s a first,” she giggled. “How about, let’s go cuddle.”
“What?” I teased.
“Come on.” She grabbed me by the hand and led me
to her bedroom, the lamp on the nightstand glowing dimly. I couldn’t remember the last time I stayed anywhere but in my house, in my bedroom, and for a moment I dwelled on the idea that, soon, that wouldn’t be an option anymore. A lifetime of memories was about to be forcibly ripped away from me, not by choice of my own, but by decisions made by people I trusted. “Are you alright?” she asked, running her palm over my back. I was shivering.
She pulled a t-shirt and some shorts out of her dresser and handed them to me. I held the shirt up to my face, breathing in the smell of her detergent, the smell of her. I slid it over my head, and watched as she undressed and folded back the comforter on her twin-sized bed.
“Everything they’re taking away from me, it wasn’t mine to begin with,” I said, as if a lightbulb had just gone off over my head. “Everything I ever had was given to me. Whatever I wanted. It wasn’t truly mine, though.”
“Get in here,” she urged, fluffing a pillow and laying it next to her head.
“It’s like I’m waking up from a dream. I’m starting at ground zero. I’m like a little baby learning how to exist in this world.” I looked around the room. The walls were closing in around me. Where was I? More importantly, who was I?
“Ella, you are not a little baby,” she said, patting the mattress. “You’re a smart and capable woman. You can cry all night. I won’t judge you. I’ll hold your hand and tell you everything is going to be okay, because I promise, it is. We’re going to do this together. You’re not alone, alright?”
I slid into bed next to her, and she pulled the covers up to my chin before wrapping me in her embrace. “Thank you,” I said, letting myself melt into her. “I’m sorry I’m being so dramatic.”
“I don’t mind it.” She brushed my hair out of my eyes and nestled her head into the crook of my neck, holding me tight, like a prized possession. I didn’t know if she was doing it for me, to help me through this time like a good friend, or if she truly wanted me like that. In that moment, I didn’t care. Before I could say another word, she had drifted off, and reality hit me that even when everything was stacked against me, I still got everything I wanted handed to me. Everything I needed was in this very room. Tomorrow, I was going to start all over again, but not with nothing. Tomorrow, I was going to officially start my new life, with her by my side.