Wheels of Steel, Book 3

by Pepper Pace

  They drove to school silently and went about the day with very little words. At lunch everyone had somehow gotten word of Jason and Peter’s trip to Japan and the table was more crowded than ever with bodies. Amberly was excitedly exclaiming that she had to go shopping and get her haircut and bounding around like a livewire. Robin was so jealous that it made her physically ill. Amberly was running through a list of all of the things that she would need to do from arranging the flights with James Edelson and making sure that they had transportation to and from. She even had a little notebook in which she used to jot down her thoughts.

  Peter touched Robin’s arm and she looked at him sharply. He leaned toward her and whispered. “You okay, Sweetheart?”

  She took a deep breath. “Can you take Jason home?”

  Peter’s mouth fell open. Jason turned to look at her. Robin moved her chair back and ran out of the room.

  The phone was ringing as she drove and cried. Of course it was ringing. She silenced it and headed for Peter’s apartment. She knocked on the door, forcing the poor sick lady inside to get up and shamble to answer it. When Belinda finally opened it, it was to the sight of Robin’s angry, tear streaked face.

  “I’m breaking up with Jason!”

  “Oh shit. You found out about the pool stuff. Sweetheart, they were drunk and they stopped before anything happened.” Robin stared at the floor. Stopped…they stopped…

  And then it clicked and made perfect sense in her mind. Jason and Amberly had done something in the pool that night.

  Robin narrowed her eyes at Belinda. “You can’t keep a secret for shit but you kept that one?!”

  “Some secrets should never be told.” Belinda said. “It didn’t mean anything. And Jason is in love with you.”

  Trust. Jason had said trust but he couldn’t be trusted! He was never going to tell her—not this time…not the next time.

  Belinda stared at her. “Something occurs to me and tell me if I’m wrong. You had no idea about what had happened in that pool before you got here, did you?”

  Robin’s tears had dried up. “I just needed to get things straight and I have. I should have never been in the picture in the first place.”

  “Robin, don’t.” She walked out the door without another word.

  When a woman breaks up with a man, and she means it, there are certain things that you do to protect your heart. The first thing Robin did was to change her cell phone number. She called Pinnacle and informed them that she was taking herself off the roster today and if they had a problem with it then when she returned they could tell her to find a new job. She waited for Mary Louise’s response and heard her say, ‘Enjoy your vacation. See you next year.’

  With that done she went home and told her Landlord that she was leaving for several weeks and not to expect anyone there. She packed up most of her clothes and personal possessions and loaded them into her car. The last thing she took was the jewelry box that had belonged to Miss Lucille.

  When she got to her Mother’s house it was late in the evening. Betty gave her a surprised look. Then she looked down at the suitcases at her feet.

  “What in the world?”

  “Can I move in with you for a while?”

  Betty pulled her into the house. “Babygirl, what’s wrong?”

  And despite all of your resolve to be strong, when your Mama is standing there and your heart is breaking-- the tears come and everything that you didn’t want to say comes spilling out of your mouth. They sat in the kitchen drinking eggnog and talking late into the night.

  Once Betty had heard the entire story she resisted the urge to say anything bad about Jason. Yeah he was stupid for trusting a treacherous female friend that had her talons out for him, but he was just a mere boy. And love had a way of worming its way back into your heart. So like a smart mother she kept her opinions to herself and listened and sympathized with Robin…and yeah, she agonized that her baby’s heart was broken by her first love.

  They made up her bed in Robin’s old room with fresh sheets and she fell asleep in a bed that now felt foreign to her. Sleep came after she had cried a bit more, but her first night without Jason came and went.

  ***

  Amberly watched as Robin run out of the cafeteria. “Aren’t you going to go after her?”

  “No.” Jason said sullenly.

  “Don’t be an ass!” Peter said. And then he wheeled after her. But by the time he got outside, Robin was already zooming away in her car. He returned to the cafeteria to see Jason and Amberly heading out.

  “What was that about?”

  “She’s angry.”

  “I noticed.”

  “She can’t come with me to Japan.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because she’s going to the Bahamas with her mother.”

  “Oh.”

  Jason glanced at Amberly. “But she doesn’t want Amberly being my aid for the trip.”

  “Ohhh…” Peter said in understanding.

  Amberly huffed. “Look, I’ve been cool with Robin. I don’t know why all of a sudden she’s mad.”

  Peter shrugged. “Maybe because you had your tongue down her boyfriend’s throat?”

  Amberly gave him a hurt look. “We were drunk…and that was a mistake.”

  Jason looked uncomfortable. “She doesn’t even know about that. And let’s keep it that way.”

  “I’m not going to mention it!” Amberly said. “Look…Jason if you don’t want me to go, then it’s cool.”

  Jason shook his head. “Amberly I could really use your help, and it’s only right that you be there. You and me…well we started Wheels of Steel at least the part where you and Belinda made little videos for my beats. And then Peter came along. It feels right that you be there with your camera filming the whole thing.” Amberly nodded and then gave him a relieved hug.

  “I got a present for you two…but I’ll give it to you on Christmas…when we celebrate it in JAPAN!!!” Her enthusiasm was too infectious for them not to both smile along with her.

  Once the friends had parted to head to their next classes, Jason dialed Robin. He didn’t know what he would say, he didn’t like seeing her hurt, but he also didn’t feel as if he had done anything wrong. Amberly had every right to go to Japan, especially if she wasn’t going to go. But she wouldn’t answer the phone so he just hung up bitterly.

  Peter and Jason dropped off their birth certificates and were informed that their passports would be at the airport waiting for them. He didn’t know how stars made things like this happen but he knew that if he had gone through the normal channels then it would have taken six weeks to get a passport. Now they were talking 48 hours!

  Jason and Peter stopped for dinner and because they were still more boys then men, they didn’t talk about Robin or Belinda but about Japan and music and money and fame. It wasn’t until he got home that night and looked at the Christmas tree and smelled the remnants of Robin’s perfume that doubt began to set in.

  He phoned her again but this time got a message that there were problems with that phone line. The muscles in his jaw clenched and he swore that he was not going to spend even one second worried about her. He was going through his clothes trying to get stuff packed when his cell phone rang and he almost broke his neck to answer.

  “Hello?!”

  “Hello. Mr. Hamilton? This is Pinnacle.”

  “Pinnacle?”

  “Yes, Mary Louise here. We’re sending you a replacement aid while Robin is on vacation. Well…we couldn’t find one so I’ll be your assistant until you start winter break, which I understand begins after classes Friday. And then beginning Monday we will have a caregiver that can come out for your daily needs.”

  Jason listened in confusion. “Are you saying that Robin won’t be here tomorrow?”

  “No. She’s off the roster until the beginning of the year.”

  Jason absorbed that information. He disconnected without saying another word and then he called Robin’s numbe
r again. This time it said that the number was disconnected. He felt sick and lost. Did she really just break up with him?

  The next day Mary Louise rang the bell and Jason scowled at her. “You’re late!” He barked.

  “Late? I’m here at seven-”

  “You’re supposed to be here at six. How do you not know that?!” Jason wheeled away angrily. He disappeared to the back of the apartment and then she heard him yell. “Mary Louise I need coffee and I need my ass wiped, and I don’t care what order!”

  Mary Louise had a hellacious day. Jason was rude, crude and socially awkward. He spit when he talked, he was hard to understand and each time that he had to repeat himself his words dripped with sarcasm. Once he had to spell out something to her and he said, ‘O-like obtuse, U-like useless, T-like like like STUPID!’

  If she moved too slowly he yelled her name. ‘Mary Louise!’ and then he’d had a seizure and she had just stood there dumbly not sure what to do. He laughed afterwards and then glared at her as if he hadn’t just done that. At lunch he dribbled food everywhere and then turned his head like an insolent child to have his face wiped. If at all possible, he got worse when his friend whispered something to him. Mary Louise couldn’t hear it all but it sounded like, ‘Belinda told her about what happened in the pool.’

  Then he had actually flipped his tray and wheeled away from her. She’d had to chase after him and when she dropped him off after school, she had sworn to herself that she would never ever return. She understood perfectly why Robin had been so quick to get off the roster. Jason Hamilton was an ass!

  Chapter 3

  There was something very comforting about being home with her mother. Robin remembered a time when she could just place all of her cares in her mother’s hands, back before she had the responsibilities of bills and crappy jobs. She got up each morning and had coffee with Mama before she went to work, then Robin spent the day reading. When Mama returned home in the evening they went out to eat and got caught up on last minute shopping. They had so much stuff that Robin didn’t know if they’d have enough suitcases, so Mama bought her new luggage!

  At night she squeezed her eyes closed until she saw stars, but she forced herself not to picture Jason or his wild red hair. Then the next morning she’d start the entire routine over again. Friday came and she went to the bookstore and bought an online book device and she spent a shitload of money on online stories. She spent the day absorbed in fantasy characters and pretended not to think about Jason flying off to Japan without her.

  But Saturday was her breaking point. The thoughts and images of Jason and Amberly was too much. There was nothing that could stop her from picking up the telephone and calling Belinda. She missed her madly, and was worried about her, but she also had to satisfy her curiosity; did Jason go with Amberly or not?

  The phone rang and then went to voicemail. Maybe that was for the best. She hung up without leaving a message. But not a second later her phone rang. Good ol’ *69.

  “Hello.” Robin said.

  “I knew it was you.” Belinda said.

  “You still sound weak.”

  “A hysterectomy ain’t no joke.”

  “Do you need anything?”

  “It’s kind of boring here. I could use some company.”

  Robin sighed. “Yeah, me too. You want me to bring some food?”

  “God yes. And no fast food shit like burgers or pizza’s. Something that can’t be delivered.”

  “Hmmm…How about fish?”

  “Yum…sushi would be better. Grab some dragon rolls from Mr. Sushi and I’ll be your friend for life.”

  Robin grinned. “I’m on my way with sushi in hand.”

  When she got to the loft the door was unlocked and cracked for her and Belinda was in the kitchen brewing oolong tea. She had the table set with pretty black and red square plates and fancy chop sticks.

  “Oooo.” Robin exclaimed.

  “Peter knows how to do stuff up nice.”

  “Yeah.” Robin said solemnly. She placed the sushi on the table and Belinda’s lip twisted.

  “I’m sorry, Robin.”

  Robin frowned. “What are you sorry about?” Robin opened the tray and placed sushi pieces onto both plates. She grabbed soy sauce and wasabi and mixed it in the small bowl that accompanied each plate.

  “About…everything that happened that Friday and about how you found out and asking you to come to the abortion with me when I knew you didn’t want to. Just everything.”

  Robin glanced at her. “Everything that I did, including taking you to the clinic, I did because I wanted to.” She passed her a plate of sushi and Belinda ate one without the chopstick.

  “That’s so good.” She said while her eyes rolled to the top of her head.

  Robin dipped her into her wasabi/soy sauce mixture and then munched happily. “Yep. Good stuff.”

  Belinda gave her a long look as she chewed. “I guess they’re in Japan now. Peter hasn’t called yet.”

  “Hmm.” Was Robin’s only response.

  “Even though you haven’t asked, I’m going to tell you. Amberly is there also.” Robin dipped another bit of sushi into her liquid, but this time when she placed it into her mouth it didn’t taste half as appetizing. “Jason tried to call you a million times before he left. He even went to your apartment. The landlady said you were on vacation.”

  “I don’t want to talk about Jason.”

  “You care about me, but you didn’t come all this way just to bring me sushi and see how I’m doing. You want to talk about him.”

  Robin put her plate down on the table and headed for the door. “I’m out of here.”

  Belinda chased after her and then winced, holding her belly. “Okay…I’m wrong. You came to eat sushi and keep me company. So, let’s climb into that big ass bed and do it right. We’ll run up Peter’s cable bill watching pay-per-view.”

  Robin followed her back to the kitchen and while Belinda grabbed the sushi she grabbed the tea and they got into that huge bed of Peter’s and watched pay-per view movies on cable until it was time for Robin’s mother to come home.

  Robin felt pretty good. She bid her friend goodbye promising to return and then she met her Mama for dinner.

  Robin’s new routine was to sit with Belinda for a while. She tidied and did laundry and they watched tv or a rented movie. And then came the day that the phone rang and Belinda was talking very lovingly to her man. Robin got up to move out of the room to give her privacy but Belinda stopped her.

  “Robin! Peter wants to talk to you.”

  Robin shook her head. “I don’t-”

  “This is freaking long distance!” She held out the phone and Robin reluctantly took it.

  “Hi Sweetheart.” Came Peter’s voice.

  “Hi Peter.”

  “Thanks for looking out for B. I tried to call you to tell you to keep an eye on her for me. My Mom is going to come by every few days but…well you know how Moms can be.”

  Robin relaxed a bit. “I know. I don’t mind hanging out with your girl.”