Hotbox

by Delia Delaney

  After that, and several songs of requested “hair band music,” Jayden called it quits. We began cleaning up the backyard from the barbecue while Shawn continued playing, occasionally talking to Jayden about a new song he was working on. He asked her opinion on a couple of things and she ended up sitting back down with him to figure it out. I was actually surprised that they worked so well together, being that Shawn was so cocky about his musical abilities. But I guess when it came to music he set everything aside and focused solely on what gave him the best result.

  We left around four-thirty and headed to the lake where there was a huge festival going on. We all walked there together, but there were so many things happening, we would separate and then meet up again every so often.

  Jayden and I were walking through a street market when I spotted Holly, but before I could make a move to avoid her, she had already seen me. Since Jesse had made it clear to her that I was not at all interested in her, and very much involved with someone else, I didn’t think she would make an effort to talk to me.

  I was wrong.

  “Hey, Ty,” she smiled, coming up to me. She was eyeing Jayden at the same time, who was holding my hand but politely listening to one of the vendors.

  “Hi,” I replied, hoping that would be the extent of our conversation.

  “Is this your girlfriend?” she asked, still smiling. She leaned slightly to get Jayden’s attention, and when Jayden looked at her she said, “Hi, I’m Holly.”

  Jayden eyed her for a second and a tiny smile appeared at the corner of her mouth. “Jayden,” she answered a bit dryly. I was surprised by her lack of friendliness, but for this particular occasion, I was glad.

  I was content with moving on at that point, and Jayden took a couple of steps with me.

  “Watch out for this one,” Holly smiled. “He’s a heartbreaker. He’ll tell you everything you want to hear, sleep with you, and move on. But I have to admit,” she added, winking at me, “he’s very good in bed.”

  Jayden didn’t even miss a beat when she leaned toward Holly and whispered, “I know! He’s amazing in bed, and anywhere else we happen to end up.”

  I was still stunned by the first comment, but Jayden’s almost made me choke. She put her arm around me as Holly gave her an angry glare, but Jayden wasn’t done.

  “And by the way, Holly… I’d be careful with the tricks you turn, because one of these days it’s going to catch up to you, and it won’t be pretty. You spread anymore rumors about him again, and I’ll come after you myself.”

  Jayden smiled at her, and Holly turned on her heel to storm away.

  “There, I don’t think she’ll want to bother you anymore,” Jayden said to me. She took my hand and began to walk like nothing even happened.

  When I finally found my voice I said, “I did not sleep with her.”

  “Oh, I know,” she smiled. She stopped in front of me and took both of my hands. “I should have told you this sooner, but I’m quite familiar with Holly. I’ve never met her, but she dated Josh for a while. Shawn calls her ‘Psycho,’ ” she chuckled. “He hates her for what she did to his little brother. She’s a liar and quite vindictive. You’re lucky you avoided her as much as you did.”

  We began walking again, but my curiosity was too much.

  “What did she do to Josh?”

  She sighed a heavy sigh. “He wanted to break up with her, so she decided to tell him she was pregnant.”

  “What?”

  She nodded. “Yeah. Josh was just…freaked out and didn’t know what to do. He was barely nineteen. But he stuck with her for another month—he was miserable. Finally she wanted to move on to another guy and she told him she wasn’t even pregnant. Poor Josh… He was really screwed up after that. It took him a long time to even get near another girl. Silvia’s really sweet, though, and totally more his pace.”

  I shook my head, very thankful I was smart enough to avoid a similar outcome. But something was eating at me, and I finally decided I should ask.

  “So did your friends think I was dating her? What did you mean about ‘rumors’?”

  Jayden stopped again and offered me a sympathetic smile. “I’m sorry, it’s just the whole gossip line that gets things going. A friend of a friend heard from a friend of a friend…that type of thing. Yeah, Chris heard you were with Holly, that…you used her and then dumped her and…that just really…set things off.”

  “But you guys know what she’s like. Didn’t I get some kind of benefit of the doubt?”

  “Well, at first he didn’t know it was Holly. He was away at school when Josh was dealing with that whole issue. And then the fact that you’ve dated a lot of girls kind of added fuel to the fire.”

  “Wait, just because I couldn’t find a girl interesting enough to go on a second date with, people automatically thought I just slept with them and moved on? Besides, I didn’t even date very many girls. A bunch of them hung out at our house occasionally, but that was Aaron’s doing, not mine.”

  “Ty, don’t worry about it now. It’s all in the past. Chris knows it’s not true, my father knows it’s not true… Besides, I never believed any of it. Doesn’t that count?” she smiled, wrapping her arms around my waist.

  “Yes, that’s definitely the only thing that matters, but it really sucks to have people think some pretty awful things about you.”

  “I know,” she replied. “I’ve certainly had my share of rumors to deal with.” I was tempted to ask what she meant, but I think she could read the curiosity on my face. With a sigh she asked, “Have any of the guys mentioned Chaz Morrison to you?”

  I shook my head no, but I already didn’t like the guy.

  “By the time I was a senior in high school, I’d lost my closest guy friends—Chris and Matt had graduated two years prior, and Shawn graduated the year after them—they were who I always hung out with or went to dances with. Josh was a grade younger than me, and I went to a couple of things with him, but the rest of the guys in the school… I guess they tried to capitalize on the fact that I didn’t have my older friends around to intimidate them anymore.

  “Chaz was pretty nice to me. We had a couple of classes together, and I even went to homecoming with him. I liked him because he seemed like a good guy; he didn’t even try to kiss me for about a month. I thought he was just being…a gentleman. Anyway, after we’d gone to a movie one night, he took me to his house to meet his parents. At least that’s what he told me we’d be doing.”

  I felt my stomach sink, just from seeing the look on her face.

  She sighed again. “Long story short, I realize that his parents aren’t really home, he starts kissing me and putting his hands all over me, I tell him to stop and he won’t, so…” She paused, and then she smiled. “I really had to hurt him.” I tried to hide a smile, but when she said, “I even made him bleed,” I had to chuckle.

  “Serves him right,” I said. “But he didn’t hurt you, did he?”

  She shook her head. “Not physically. But when he got to school on Monday, he told all of his buddies… Well, he lied and said he ‘closed the deal’ with me. They actually had a bet going on to see which of them could…” she shrugged, “…get the furthest with me, I guess.”

  I blew out a breath of air. Guys like that could be pretty repulsive. Aaron was like that, and I could easily see him being one of those guys.

  “I’m sorry, Jay.”

  She nodded. “I was so upset that day. You wouldn’t believe some of the things I heard, not only behind my back, but directly to my face. All I could do was deny it, but when I got home that day I just… I couldn’t believe he actually told them that he had sex with me. I felt completely violated, even though I knew it didn’t happen.

  “Chris came over—Cali told him what people were saying, but he wanted to talk to me about it first. Then he actually went over to Chaz’s house that night, told him he’d better come clean about what really happened, and that the whole school better know the truth by the end of the
next school day. Chris came to my school to make sure it was all taken care of, only to find out that the rumors had gotten worse. So he finds Chaz in the parking lot and tells him, ‘You’ve got one more chance. I suggest you do the right thing.’ Chaz had the nerve to call me a slut right to Chris’s face.” She took a deep breath and exhaled. “I tried to stop it, but… Chris beat the crap out of him right then and there.”

  I raised my eyebrows with surprise.

  Jayden frowned and shook her head. “Chris was twenty, coming to a high school to confront a student. It wasn’t good. My dad got involved, and things eventually worked out, but Chris was pretty lucky Chaz didn’t press charges.”

  Memories of the near-brawl with Garrett Freeman’s team flashed in my head. Jayden was pretty upset that day, not from what was said to her, but because I could have gotten in trouble. No wonder she almost freaked out.

  “So did the problems at school get cleared up?”

  She nodded. “Yeah. Chaz never bothered me again, and the rumors stopped that very second. Everyone knew Chris and respected him, so most of the school was on his side. Chaz actually ended up moving to a different school because of how many people hated him after that. But anyways, back to what I was saying before,” she smiled. “Rumors can be harsh. But I can’t control what people think. All I know is I have friends that try to look out for me, and those are the people whose opinions matter—even if they’re wrong once in a while. And most importantly I have you, and that means more to me than anything.”

  She slid her hands behind my neck and kissed me, and I knew she was all that I needed. I didn’t know why I couldn’t just go off and marry her right then. It seemed so simple. We both had good jobs, I could afford to buy us a decent house, and I would be content with staying in town and living a normal life. I didn’t need baseball, and I was done living with excuses from my past. All I wanted was to be with her, and I felt everything else would fall into place.

  But I couldn’t stop that feeling that kept nagging at me in the back of my mind: It was too good to be true, and it wasn’t going to last. I didn’t know what to do to convince myself that I was wrong. I had already decided that I was going to be a good husband and a good father. I knew I would be. But it was the other factors in my life that were dragging me down—my dad and Olevsky and his business. I couldn’t commit myself entirely to Jayden unless I got all of that out of my life.

  “Ew, get a room you two,” Cali giggled as she appeared next to us with Josh and Silvia.

  “Hey,” Jayden smiled. “What’re you guys up to?”

  “We’re heading over to hear some music. Wanna come?”

  Jayden glanced at me and I nodded, so we headed to the other side of the park to listen to a live band. Matt and Stacie met up with us a few minutes later, and Jayden called Chris and he joined us too. It was still pretty warm out, eighty plus, so it felt good to sit under the shade of a tree.

  I had a new understanding of Chris that day. All this time I just thought he acted like a jealous ex-boyfriend. I knew Jayden’s friends wanted to protect her from guys like Chaz and Aaron—and I certainly couldn’t blame them—but to know what Chris had risked to protect Jayden’s integrity made me respect him quite a bit. If anything, I was the jealous boyfriend, and I felt I had the right to be to an extent, but I was so confident in my relationship with Jayden that I knew I had nothing to worry about. However, I was still trying to get used to having someone in my life that I cared so much about, and sometimes that unfamiliar feeling tripped me up a bit.

  But there was one thing about Jayden that really helped me out when it came to her interaction with other people, including me. She was so straightforward in her expression and in her actions. I knew she loved me, and she made sure everyone knew it. I loved how important she made me feel, and I hoped that I made her feel the same way.

  “Jay, is Ty going with us next weekend?” Matt asked her.

  She glanced at me and smiled. “I haven’t even thought to mention it yet,” she admitted.

  Matt looked at me and said, “We’re all going up river to camp—go boating, ride the bikes, hang out—whatever anyone likes to do. You should come. Friday to Sunday—it’s a lot of fun. We’ll probably go two or three more times this summer. You’re welcome to join us anytime.”

  “It sounds fun,” I replied. “I’ll have to see if I can get that Saturday off.”

  “And just so you know,” Matt told me, “I can’t go riding unless Jayden’s there to entertain me. So I’m counting on you, man.”

  “And I won’t go riding with Shawn unless Chris is there to fix him up,” Jayden laughed.

  They spent some time joking around about why everyone needed to be there, and it was clear that no one wanted anyone else to miss out.

  They described to me the spot they always camped at. It was lake front property that belonged to a friend of Joe Adams. Ed had been letting Jayden and her dad camp up there for years now, and the old guy told Jayden she could come up with her friends anytime. There was a boat launch, plenty of room for tents, and acres and acres of riding trails and logging roads nearby. There was also a small cabin on the property with a couple of rooms and a bathroom. I found out that’s where Cali stayed.

  “That makes more sense,” I told her. “I was having a hard time picturing you camping in a tent.”

  Shawn laughed and said, “She won’t go anywhere without running water. Try convincing her to take a dump in the woods.”

  “Ew,” she replied, “Just thinking about you taking a dump in the woods is about all I can take.”

  “Ugh! Anyways,” Jayden smiled at me, “we usually go up Friday after work and come back Sunday evening. If Lou can’t give you Saturday off, then I’ll have to find a way to close his shop down myself.”

  At ten o’clock we were situated in a spot on the river to watch the fireworks. Matt built a fire, but he didn’t want it quite as big as the last one. Most everyone left around midnight, but Jayden and I remained until almost one in the morning. It was just too easy to stay there with her in my arms.

  Finally I did take her home, and when I walked her to the front door and kissed her goodnight, the last thing she said to me was, “I love you more than anything, Ty. Don’t you ever forget that.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Lou easily gave me the next Saturday off since I hardly ever took days off, and I was excited to go camping with Jayden and her friends. The Thursday before, however, was a very trying day.

  I had a full day scheduled in the shop, and I dove right in to get everything done before the weekend. Marcus and I were in the middle of dropping in an entirely rebuilt 396 into a ‘67 El Camino SS when Lou hollered that I had a phone call. He saw that I was busy and told me never mind, but he came back a minute later and said that it was urgent.

  I told Marcus I’d be right back and hurried to answer the phone. “This is Ty.”

  “Ty, sorry to bother you,” Dean said without any true feeling of remorse.

  I groaned. “I’m in the middle of something. Call back later.”

  “Yeah, I see that. That’s a nice looking engine you got there. What is it, a 350?”

  I looked out the window until I saw Dean sitting in a car across the street.

  “What do you want?”

  “The boss wants you to meet him.”

  “Now? Come on, I gotta huge day. Can’t you pick a different time?”

  I rubbed my forehead in frustration while Marcus (and now Mike) waited impatiently for me to return. Lou entered the office from the bathroom and sat down behind the counter.

  “I suggest you do it, Ty. I guess I’ll have to report you’re being uncooperative.”

  He hung up, and I released a silent sigh. Lou didn’t ask questions because he’d been told Dean was my “cousin,” always complaining to me about “family issues.”

  I mostly worked on the El Camino for the rest of the day with Marcus, and Mike and Doyle worked on anything else that came in. By t
he end of the day I was pretty tired. Not exactly from physical labor, but from the stress of the job I was expected to do later that night. I didn’t know how much of this I could take.

  As I pulled out of the parking lot I received a call from The Man himself.

  “Tyler, I need to speak with you about tonight’s job. It’s been changed to Saturday.”

  Of course… Why couldn’t it be on any other day?

  “I’m not going to be here this weekend,” I replied.

  “Tyler,” he warned in his kindest, most threatening tone. “I said I need to speak with you about the job. Meet me at Perdita’s.”

  He hung up.

  I sighed a very frustrated sigh, but made my way to 14th Avenue. Along the way I thought through as many excuses that I could to tell Jayden why I wouldn’t be going with her this weekend. None of them seemed good enough; not even the real reason why.

  I made my way into the back entry of Perdita’s. Cue was standing in the hallway, but he said nothing as I turned into the private dining room that “the boss” often ate in. Without a word I sat down across from him and waited for my fate to be sealed. He was reading the newspaper and didn’t even look up. With a chuckle he slid it over to me and said, “The police believe a part of our business has moved out of town.”

  I glanced down at the paper in front of me and read the title “Have The Drugs Moved On?”

  “Wow, you’ve sure fooled them.”

  He only smiled at my sarcasm and took a bite of his food. After a few seconds of silence he looked at me and said, “Do I have a disgruntled employee?” He shook his head and clicked his tongue. “I do apologize, Tyler, for overlooking your unhappiness. What can I do to make it up to you?”

  “Cut me loose.”

  He laughed. “I could do that,” he replied, pretending to think about it, “but you are my favorite. No one likes to give up the best part of their job.”

  “What can I do to become the exception?”