by L. C. Morgan
“Is there a reason Jason’s gone all Streetcar?” I asked, and Coll gave me a look. I waved it off. “Nevermind. I’m guessing he’s not taking the break up too well.” I pointed to where Jason stood in the middle of the driveway in the pouring rain.
“Oh, yeah. No. This is him taking it well. He’s celebrating. With us …”
“Ah.”
“Yeah.”
I shrugged. “Okay, then. Let’s celebrate. Just let me grab my coat first.”
I sat between Coll and Jason on the ride to the bar, which actually turned into a tour of Jason’s childhood. Not only did he point out the house he grew up in, but also where he scraped his first knee, caught his first fish, and kissed his first girl. It was safe to say I knew Jason better than anybody by the time we reached the pier.
Once we parked, Jason hopped out of the truck, nearly landing on his ass. The sight made my own tailbone ache from where I’d hit it earlier in the day, and I slid down to stand beside him and make sure he was okay.
“I’m great. Never been better,” he said then threw his arm over my shoulder. “You’re gonna love this place, Hailey.”
Jason seemed to have forgotten this was the only bar in town. Not to mention the exact place I’d first met him.
“Sonia hates it. But you’re gonna love it. You know how I know?” Jason tripped over his own feet, steadying himself against me.
“No. How?”
“‘Cause you’re cool. You’re a cool girl. Unlike that bitch, Sonia.”
“Hey.” Both Jason and I turned to look at Coll. Slamming his door shut, he pointed at Jason. “Cool it with the language. We got a lady in our presence.”
Holding up his hands in defense, Jason took off ahead of us, and Coll draped an arm over my shoulders to lead me up to the bar.
The inside was just as smoky as I remembered since Amber, Alyssa, and I had been there. I cleared my throat to hide my cough, smiling up at Coll when he looked down.
“Did you say something?” he asked, and I shook my head.
“No. Nothing.”
We found a table where he helped me take off my jacket then pulled out my chair.
“Such a gentleman,” I said when he gestured for me to sit.
He shrugged. “I try.” With his hand still on the back of my chair, he leaned down to speak against my ear. “So what are you havin’? I’m buyin’.”
I ordered a Diet Coke, seeing as I hated beer and thought it best to steer clear of the hard liquor.
When Coll made it back to the table, he sat down and pulled the chair closer so he was right beside me. “So I been thinkin’ ‘bout askin’ you somethin’.”
“Yeah, what’s that?”
Swiping the side of his nose with his thumb, he sniffed as he leaned in closer. “See, I’m taking off for my yearly fishing trip tomorrow. I usually take it with my brothers, but none of them can go. And since school’s closed on Monday, I thought you might want to go.”
I was getting a very strange feeling about this. Excitement mixed with a little bit of dread.
“Like a camping trip? Or do you stay in a cabin?”
Say cabin. Please. For the love of God, say cabin.
“No, it’s a camping trip.”
I must’ve had a look on my face because he smiled then huffed a laugh.
“I have a propane tank I set up in the tent. If you don’t mind sleeping in a sleeping bag, it’s really no different than being in a bed. And it’s only one night. So, you wanna go?”
I wasn’t really sure if I did. I wasn’t sure if he should, seeing as he seemed to have picked up a case of the sniffles. But then he looked at me and that was it.
“Okay, yeah. That sounds like it could be fun.”
I took a drink and smiled around the rim of my glass. Coll took a swig of his beer, and we sat there hip to hip, watching everybody else mingle around us.
My eyes searched for anyone I might know, coming across a few familiar faces before landing on Sonia’s brother Sean.
Smiling, I waved, but he only jerked his chin to acknowledge he saw me.
Okay …
“Hey.” Coll nudged my knee with his, and I turned my attention to him. “You wanna dance?” he asked, and my mouth dropped as a pair of arms wrapped around my shoulders from behind. I craned my neck to find Sonia hanging on my back.
“Hey, you ho. You didn’t tell me you were coming out tonight. We could have doubled.” She jerked her thumb to the back of the bar and some guy waved back at us. “His name’s Luis. Isn’t that sexy, how it just rolls off the tongue like that? Luiiis.” She drew out his name. “I met him at some photo shoot right outside of town. Can you believe it? Walked right by and he stopped me. Isn’t that some shit?” She slapped my shoulder with the back of her hand. “He’s a French model. From France.”
I made an impressed face at Coll and he gave me an amused smile before taking another swig of his beer.
“Hey!” I flinched when Sonia shouted right by my ear. Standing up straight, she pointed to the dance floor. “What is he doing here?”
I followed her finger to find Jason dancing with some bar fly.
“Looks like he’s dancing,” Coll said. Wide-eyed, I turned to look at him, and he shrugged, taking another swig.
I shook my head.
“Unbelievable!” Sonia yelled and took off for her table, catching Jason’s eye as she stomped by. His face fell then turned dark when he saw where she was headed and who she was headed toward.
I perked up and kicked Coll in the side of his foot when Jason took off toward the back of the bar.
“Shit.” Standing, Coll took off for Jason.
All I could do was watch as Coll cut him off and the two wrestled with each other in the middle of the dance floor. It took a few minutes, but Coll was finally able to get Jason outside. I grabbed my coat at the same time Sonia grabbed my hand, and we followed them out the door.
Jason was still struggling to get out of Coll’s grip in order to get to Luis, who was taunting him mercilessly about being out with his girl. The whole scene was a mess and going down right in the middle of the pouring rain.
Sonia and I huddled under the awning, out of harm’s way, until Jason broke free and clocked Luis right in his nose and then a second time in his jaw. Wiggling out of my arms, Sonia ran out in the rain to jump on Jason.
At first I thought she was attacking him because she was angry. But then she wrapped her legs around his waist and he grabbed her ass as both attacked each other’s mouths.
Coll and I stood on either side of them, staring at each other through the rain.
When he cracked a smile, so did I.
I was so busy thinking about kissing him like that, I didn’t see Sean or his fist coming until it connected with Coll’s face.
Chapter Thirteen
The whole thing played out in slow motion.
Sean’s fist hit Coll’s face with a sickening sound of flesh colliding with flesh. I watched in horror as Coll lost his footing, only to recover just before hitting the ground. Straightening, he took another hit to the mouth, and I covered mine with both hands as he rubbed his jaw then wiped blood from his bottom lip before spitting some out.
“Sean, stop it!” Tara screamed, barreling out the bar doors. She stepped between the two, spanning both arms in an attempt to keep them apart. Unsatisfied, Sean stepped forward for more.
Jason practically threw Sonia off him to go after her little brother. “What the hell’s your problem, man?” Jason asked, grabbing Sean by the front of his shirt.
“Him!” Sean pointed at Coll, who was letting Tara paw all over his chest and face, the sight of which lit a fire inside my belly.
How dare she touch him? And right in front of me! Where the hell did she even come from?
“He’s my problem. Can have anyone he wants but goes after my girl. Mine!”
“Hey, I didn’t go after anybody.” Coll held his hands up in a casual defense.
Tara wiped a
bit of blood away from his lip and I vomited in my mouth a little. Was this really happening? Did stuff like this actually happen? Were they really fighting over this girl? This had to be a nightmare. One I would have really liked to wake up from right then.
“Fuck you, Coll! You went after Tara! You went after her and you know it!” Sean yelled, pushing against Jason.
“All right. All right, let’s just all calm down now,” Jason said, and Sean shook him off.
“He started it.” Sean pointed at Coll.
“Really, Sean?” Sonia butted in, planting her hands on her hips. “Tara is a grown whore.”
Tara looked over her shoulder to glare at Sonia who looked back at her like “well, bitch, you are.” I dug my nails into my palms to keep from saying or doing anything like charging over and scratching the grown whore’s eyes out.
“She did what she did because she wanted to, not because Coll forced her. Come on.” Grabbing my arm, Sonia pulled me out into the rain with the rest of them. “Hailey, drive us home, would ya? French models may be sexy, but they’re broke as a joke.” Sonia stuck her middle finger in Luis’ face as we walked by. “I had to pick the asshole up and buy the drinks. Can you believe that? All he did was talk about himself while I took sips. Now I’ve gone and drank too much and can’t drive. Shit …”
She dragged me past Coll and grabbed Sean who obediently stumbled along behind us. I glanced back to give Coll an apologetic look, but ended up giving both him and Tara what was probably a death glare instead.
Waving me off, Coll rubbed his jaw as he headed back inside with Jason, Tara following not far behind them.
I wanted to scream. Pull my hair. Pull Tara’s hair. All while stomping my feet so hard I’d break through the pier and drown in the bay below. But mostly I just wanted to get home, crawl into bed, and forget this disaster of a night ever happened.
*
“Damn that Sonia,” Alyssa said as I rehashed the happenings of the previous night. She plopped down at the kitchen table, and I turned back to the counter, grabbing another orange to peel and dice for a healthy fruit salad.
I briefly eyed the cupboard with the Doritos and frowned.
“It wasn’t her fault.”
“Not her fault, my ass. Her and that brother of hers …” Alyssa growled like a cute little lion cub. “Neither one of ‘em’s any good, the selfish little shits.”
“Come on, Alyssa. She was drunk. What the hell else was I supposed to do?”
“Not what you did.”
Twisting at the waist, I gave Alyssa a look before turning back to my healthy bowl of blah.
“Well, you’re a better friend than me. I would have told her to hit the road. Put that well-manicured thumb to good use.”
“No you wouldn’t have.”
“The hell I wouldn’t.”
“Well, what if it was me? I find it hard to believe you’d leave me stranded for some guy.”
“Uh, if that some guy looked anything like Collin Locke, then yeah. Yeah, I would. You can bet your pert, white ass.”
While Alyssa continued mumbling to herself, I grabbed the fat-free whipped cream and shot a dollop into my mouth before spraying it all over the mixed fruit.
I joined her at the table, and we poked at it like hesitant chimpanzees while I went over my lesson plans, making sure I had everything squared away before leaving for the fishing trip with Coll. That was, if we were still going. It was already almost noon and I still hadn’t heard a thing from him.
“I just can’t believe that bitch.”
“Which one?”
“Tara. Going after your man like that.” Alyssa shook her head.
“He’s not my man.”
“He’s just as good as. And is for all she knows. He took you to his mother’s house for dinner for Hell’s sake. You showed up at the bar with him.”
Yeah, and he took her home for all I knew.
“Look, I hear you. Believe me.” She was loud enough. “But the point is, we haven’t gone there.”
“Wait. You haven’t slept together yet?”
“No.”
“Really.”
“Haven’t even talked about it.”
Alyssa snorted. “Sleeping together isn’t something you talk about. Haven’t I already explained this to you?”
I shrugged, and Alyssa sighed.
“Okay.” Adjusting herself in her seat, she held up her palm like she did when she was getting ready to divulge something extremely important. “Sex isn’t something you talk about. It’s something you do. So just do it already and lock that shit down before Tara comes swooping back in on her broomstick.” Alyssa stabbed a melon and stuck it in her mouth, cringing as she chewed. “Nobody cleans the blood off your man’s face but you.” She pointed her fork at my face.
Chewing a piece of cantaloupe, I nodded.
“Jesus, this fruit.” Alyssa scowled at the bowl before sticking her fork back in to fish out another bite. “Eating healthy sucks.”
“Don’t I know it.”
Taking another bite, we chewed for a moment in silence before I couldn’t take it anymore.
“Okay. That’s it.” I threw down my fork and got up to dig through the cupboard. Turning back to the table, I held up the Doritos. “You want some?”
After Alyssa and I finished off the bag, she left, and I phoned Amber to once again recount the previous night’s excitement. She pretty much confirmed what Alyssa had been saying all along.
Get your man before somebody else does.
Again.
We quickly hung up when there was a knock at the door. I ran to grab my pack from the bedroom then thought better of it, not wanting to seem too eager. Just to be safe, I waited until he knocked again before answering.
I found Coll standing on the other side of the door with his head down and a pair of sunglasses covering his eyes, most likely hiding the extent of damage Sean had left underneath them. But there was no hiding that split lip.
“You ready?” he asked, surpassing any type of greeting.
“Oh … Okay, yeah. Sure. Uh, just let me grab my bag real quick.” Leaving the door open, I went to grab my things.
“I don’t mean to rush you,” he said from the other room. I smiled at him when I returned. “But if we don’t get a move on we’ll lose the light.”
I pulled on my boots then grabbed my coat. “Yeah. No, it’s no problem.”
I followed him out and locked the door behind me. He took my bag to throw it in the bed of his truck, and we both piled in the cab. Stretching his arm out behind me, he backed out then swung around. I took it a little too personal when he pulled his arm back in to help steer instead of letting it rest behind my shoulders like he had that one time before.
Was he mad at me? Because he had no reason to be. If anybody had a reason to be mad it was me. I wasn’t the one who let another woman hang all over me in front of him. I wasn’t the one to head back into the bar with her. If the tables were turned I would have left when my date did. That would have been the polite thing to do. Not show up at their house the next day all pushy and impatient.
“I woke up kinda late.”
“Oh, yeah? Late night?”
“You could say that.”
Oh, could I? Just what the hell did that mean?
“After I left the bar, I came home to find my bedroom window busted out by a tree limb.”
“Seriously?”
He nodded. “Had to clean that up. Then my electric went out so my alarm didn’t go off.”
Well, shit. Was that it?
“My God. You must have been freezing all night.”
“Nah, wasn’t that bad. Gets a lot worse out on the boats.”
“Still. Don’t you need to tell Sonia? Get it fixed? Should we even be going on this trip?”
“I always go no matter what. And always today. Besides, I’m not telling Sonia shit.”
“Why not?”
“Have you met her?”
T
ilting my head, I offered him a look of understanding even though he couldn’t really see it. I had to give it to him. Sonia was crazy pretty much all the time. But still. It was an accident. One that wasn’t anyone’s fault. That was why they called it a natural disaster.
“Well, then how do you expect to get it fixed?”
“I’ll do it myself.”
I side-eyed him. “Really? You know how to fix windows?”
He shrugged. “Can’t be that hard.”
Uh huh.
“So when?”
“When what?”
“When are you going to fix the window?”
“I don’t know. Soon as I can save up enough, I guess.”
“Save up enough? Why should you have to pay for it? Shouldn’t a tree branch busting your window be covered by your insurance?”
“Probably. But you gotta have it first.”
I twisted in my seat to face him. “Wait. You’re telling me you don’t have any renter’s insurance? Is that what you’re saying?”
“That’s what I’m saying.”
I scoffed. “Well, how the hell do you get away with that? Sonia makes me show her proof of payment every month.”
Not that I wouldn’t have it if she didn’t require me to. There were a boatload of things that could go wrong. Fires, floods, burglaries, branches busting through your bedroom window … How did he sleep at night?
Making a left he shrugged, casually stretching his arm over the back of the seat behind me like I wanted him to earlier, which made me so immensely happy I forgot what we had been talking about.
Time flew by with the passing of the trees. Before I knew it we were pulling onto some overgrown tracks in the middle of the forest. Dormant branches scraped against the sides of the truck. I held back a few choice words and animalistic noises that threatened to tumble out with each trench the tires rolled in then bounced out of.
I kept waiting for the trees to thin, but they never did. Only seemed to grow thicker and denser the farther he maneuvered through them. There were a few times I almost asked if we were getting close, but I stopped myself. The last thing I wanted was to come off as annoying or ruin his trip. So I kept my mouth shut, dug my nails into the cracks in the upholstery, and sucked it up. He must have noticed my discomfort.