We both started laughing. It made me want her even more when I remembered that the beautiful sex goddess sitting next to me knew as much about that game as I did. She was so perfect for me.
I have to make her mine.
A few minutes later I calmed down. I had to distract myself from my constant thoughts of how amazing she was, and the fact that she still wasn't my girlfriend. “How much farther is it, do you think?" I asked.
"Maybe another twenty minutes. We should listen to some music.”
"I'd like that."
"Okay - I could sing to you? That might turn you off. Then we might actually make it to the show," she said.
"Why do you say that? I've heard you and you're not bad at all."
"What I lack in talent I make up for in enthusiasm, I guess," she said. "Honestly, I love to drive around and sing really loud. It's one of my favorite things.”
"Me too," I said.
"What do you like to sing?"
"Whatever, really. Rock, metal, pop sometimes.”
"Hmmm... here's a good song to sing in the car.” She turned her mp3 player back on. It was a song I knew. I turned the volume up and we sang all the way to our destination. It was fun, but she was right – for once I didn’t feel like jumping her every five seconds. It might’ve just been that I’d finally worn myself out.
I turned off on the McMurraysville exit. Soon we had parked the car in a gravel lot.
"It's just up the street a little ways," she said.
I wanted to take her hand as we walked but I wasn't bold enough, yet. I thought I could sense that she felt a little more romantic toward me. But I knew I needed to let things happen naturally if they were going to happen at all.
"Dang it, there's a line. I wonder what's going on?" she said. We walked to the back of the line.
A middle aged woman with long, frizzy blond hair and a lot of tatoos turned around. “There was an emergency. An ambulance was here. But someone came out and said everything was alright and they’d open the doors in a few minutes."
"Do you have any idea what happened?" Susie asked. "Was there a fight or something?"
"No, I think it was alcohol poisoning,” she said, her voice lowered to a whisper.
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. But thanks for letting us know," Susie said.
"No problem,” the woman said, then turned back around.
Susie looked at me. "I'm glad I left my heavy jacket in the car. I have a feeling it's gonna be really warm in there." She stuck her hands in her pockets, shivering. It was a little warmer that evening than it was earlier in the day, but not by much. She wore a heavy sweater over her long-sleeved t-shirt.
"Well, let me know if you get cold. I'm here.” I was still wearing my jacket. "I'd be glad to let you borrow this. With or without me wearing it."
She laughed. I would have preferred to just hold her body close to me all night. But I knew she didn't want it to look like a date. From talking to Joan and Monica, I thought Susie would've had that conversation with me by then.
We stood there talking for a few minutes. More people lined up behind us.
"They must be pretty popular," I said.
"Yeah, they have a pretty good turnout, usually. The text message subscription was a great idea. I would've never known they were here. They have an email list but I hate email,” she said.
I noticed two guys walking down the street toward us. They looked to be about our age. One of them wore a heavy metal t-shirt and a leather jacket. The other, a plain black sweatshirt. I thought they were probably walking to the back of the line, which ended at least twenty five people behind us by then. They stopped to take a look at most of the people in line as they walked by. They spoke to each other once in a while and laughed, obviously drunk.
They walked toward us, slowly. Susie looked away from them at the building to our left. She looked like she was trying to avoid eye contact.
The one in the black sweatshirt stopped to stare at her, a curious expression on his face. His friend saw him and stopped to gawk at her as well.
"So, how're you doin' tonight?" Black sweatshirt asked. “Wanna party with us?”
She acted like she didn't hear them. Several people turned around in line to see what was going on.
"Yeah - you look familiar. I know you.” He looked her up and down.
"No, you don't," Susie said.
"I'm pretty sure I do, sugar.” He reached out his hand like he wanted to touch her.
"Get away from her!" I turned to face him.
"I thought you were alone, sugar," he said to Susie, ignoring me.
His friend stared at me, his eyes growing wider. I stood head and shoulders above both of them. "Come on, Darryl," he said. "Let's go on over across the street."
"But I know her, she's cool," Darryl said.
"You need to get the fuck out of here, Darryl," I said.
"It's cool, it's cool," his friend said. "I'll get him outta here. His mouth gets him in trouble when he's drunk." He put his arm on Darryl's back and guided him away. "You two have a good night," Darryl's friend said.
"You too," Susie said.
"I'll show you a good night, candy girl," Darryl said.
Susie watched them walk across the street. She turned toward me. “Thanks for your help.”
"I should've said something as soon as he approached you. I'm sorry." I felt so stupid. “I don't know why I let it go on so long.”
"Don't worry about it. It happened fast. You stepped in at the right time."
I pulled her close to me. I wanted to say, "looks like I need to be your boyfriend again," but I didn't. I thought it would come across too cheesy during such a serious moment. I wanted her to know she was safe with me around.
I kept my arm around her shoulders for a while. Then I stepped behind her and held her as she leaned back against me. I rested my chin on her head for a second before kissing her cheek.
We stood that way for a while. I rubbed her shoulders and pressed my body against hers as much as I could, trying to comfort her and keep her warm. Somehow, I didn't get hard. It didn't feel sexual. I felt like her protector.
She turned around and buried her head in my chest. Then her arms went inside my jacket to rub my back. After a couple of minutes she tilted her face up to look at me. The street lights made her glow like she did the night we stood outside the coffee shop, before we went back to her place for the first time.
I ran my fingers through her hair and looked in her eyes. Everything around us disappeared.
She was so beautiful, I had to kiss her. She let me kiss her slowly and passionately as my arms held her tight to my body.
She's falling for me. I know she is. I'm breaking through.
I told myself not to get cocky. Maybe she was just grateful to me for coming to her rescue. But I hoped it was more than that.
I soon realized we were the gross, overly affectionate couple having the inappropriate public display in front of all those people waiting in line. There's always one in every crowd, and I always hated them. But that's who we were right then. And I didn’t care.
We stood there, our mouths unabashedly locked together for the whole world - or, at least, all of downtown McMurraysville - to see. Some of the day’s events went through my mind. How she let me into a secret room of her house that none of her other friends knew about. How she let me drive her car again, and then had kinky, wild sex with me in the back of it.
Maybe she'll let me find out more about her. Maybe she'll even tell me her deep, dark secret that's supposedly keeping her from ever having a normal relationship.
I don't know how long we stood there on the street, making out for the world to see. Someone behind us said, "Dude, the line's moving."
I pulled away from her. Yes, the line ahead of us had started to move.
"Thanks," I said. I turned around to see who it was.
It was a young guy holding hands with a cute redhead that I assumed was his girlfriend. They both smil
ed at me. "No problem, man." He nodded.
I smiled back at him. Susie turned around and I followed her down the line. Each time it stopped, I put my arms around her again, holding her back against my chest. She rubbed my forearm. After the fourth or fifth time, she grabbed my hand and held it, so when we started walking again we were still holding hands.
She can deny if it she wants to, I thought. She likes me. Now, if I could just get her to admit it and act on it...
We finally got inside The Depot. The band was setting up, tuning their instruments. Susie walked up to the bar. The bartender immediately recognized her and said hi. She squeezed my hand tightly, pulling me close to her as they spoke.
“Good to see you, girl! What’ll you have tonight?” The bartender asked.
“Rum and coke,” she said.
“Anything for your boyfriend?” he asked.
“No. He needs to drive me home later.” She squeezed my hand again, but didn’t turn to look at me. I wondered if she really considered me her boyfriend or if she just wanted my protection.
Part 4
Tyler's Point of View
Sunday, October 10, 2010
I inhaled sharply. I must have fallen asleep. The pounding of heavy footsteps on the porch beat against my ears like a drum.
“That's her.” Susie said. My head fell forward as she broke away from my embrace to answer the door.
Susie had hit the snooze button four or five times before we rolled out of bed a half hour earlier. She warned me several times, well after midnight, that her friend was coming over in the morning and we'd have to get up early. Each time, I laughed it off and we went back to what we were doing.
I fantasized about the gallon of coffee I’d hopefully get to drink at breakfast.
I rubbed my eyes before heaving myself off the couch. At the doorway stood a portly woman who looked old enough to be my grandmother, wearing a long green coat and a matching scarf around her head. She held a bucket of cleaning supplies in each hand.
"Rosita!" Susie yelled, slightly rolling her 'r.'
"Susanna!" Rosita pulled Susie into a big hug. "It's so good to see you!"
"It's good to see you too. But you don't have to clean my house just to see me."
Rosita frowned as she stomped past Susie. "Don't start that with me, miss."
"Okay, okay." Susie took the supplies out of her hands and sat them on the floor. "You know, you don't always have to bring these. I have most of this stuff."
Rosita's eyes perked up when she noticed me. She looked back at Susie.
"Rosita, this is Tyler. Tyler - Rosita."
I walked toward her and held out my hand. Rosita put both of her hands around mine when she shook it.
"Very nice to meet you, Tyler,” she said.
"Nice to meet you too."
"Where are you from? Your hair is so long.” Rosita peered up at my hair, waiting a few seconds before touching it.
"Montana. I'm mostly American Indian," I said.
"Ahhh... that's what it is. Which tribe?"
"Blackfoot."
“You grew up on a reservation?” She examined the strand of my hair entwined in her fingers as she spoke.
“No. But I might as well have. My family lived around us and they all came from the reservation.”
"Really? You’re here for school?”
“Yes.”
Rosita drew her hand away from my hair. “I'm Indian too. Of the Maya people.”
“Really?" I'd never met a Mayan before but I knew a lot about their culture. It was surprising to meet one in the Pacific Northwest. "How’d you end up in Oregon? Susie said you're from Honduras?”
Rosita went on for a few minutes telling me about her move to the U.S. with her husband many years earlier. Then I heard Susie’s cell phone ring.
“I need to take this.” Susie opened the front door and walked onto the porch, closing the door tight behind her.
I knew it might be my only chance to find out more about the Rosita situation. "So, Rosita, why do you clean Susie’s house, anyway?" I asked.
"What?" She pulled her hand to her chest with a gasp.
"I'm sorry, I'm just curious. She said you think you owe her something?"
Rosita’s eyes darted to the front door, then back to me. "You have a lot of nerve."
I instantly felt bad about asking. "Look, I know you just met me. I'm not usually so nosy. It's just that..." I glanced at the door before continuing, "I really care about Susie. I can't figure her out. She's just so....," my eyes darted around the room as I searched for the right words.
"Secretive?" Rosita’s eyebrows rose.
"Yes. Secretive. I'm just trying to put all these pieces together." I took a deep breath. "I think I'm in love with her."
"I don't know what to tell you.” Her expression slowly changed from a frown to a smile. I wondered if she’d forced herself to look happy for my sake, knowing what I was up against. “She's a very special girl. She helped me a lot."
"Oh really? So you feel like you owe her? Because Susie told me she can’t figure out why you come here.”
Rosita rolled her eyes as her tongue made a clicking sound against the roof of her mouth. "She's a funny one, that girl." She looked at the door again, then back at me. "I will tell you something, but it's not really a secret. You could go around town and ask other people who'd tell you anyway."
"Tell me what?"
"That girl gives away a lot of money but she doesn't admit it. My husband died and I had nothing. Nothing but medical bills." Rosita glanced at the door again. "A few weeks after the funeral, I found out someone had paid the funeral home bill. Then I found out someone paid off my mortgage." She looked at the door before putting her hand on my forearm. "And then someone gave an anonymous donation to my church to give to me. It was a lot of money." Rosita's eyes were huge.
"Are you sure it was her?"
"Yes! You see, I told her I got her name from the funeral home and she believed me. That's when I started cleaning her house. She doesn't know I found out about the rest of the money."
"How does she have so much money?"
"I don't know." She shook her head. "I wonder if it's her family. Her aunt gave her this house, you know."
"Yeah, but it's not fancy or anything. If she has that much money, why isn't she living in a mansion?"
"Have you seen the whole house?"
"Are you talking about that locked room upstairs?" I asked.
She chuckled. "Which one?"
My mouth dropped open. I hadn't realized there were more rooms. I was always too focused on getting her into bed to find an opportunity to snoop around. "I saw the big bathtub."
"Well, there are several. I clean the ones I have keys for.”
“So you don’t even get to see her whole house? There’s no hope for me then.”
Rosita took a step toward me. “When something is meant to be, it will be. Trust me. I was married to a wonderful man for many years." She took my hands in hers. "I get a good feeling about you. Be patient."
"I will, I will.” I wondered why she got a good feeling about me. "I just wish she’d open up to me. She told me she’ll never want a boyfriend."
She drew her hand to her mouth and laughed softly.
"I don't think that's true,” Rosita said. “I think she protects herself. Look how many locked rooms she has. This house is like a fortress."
"It's like an amusement park."
She grinned. "Maybe. Now why do you think she would lock so many things away like that? She's scared. She can't fool me." She glanced quickly at the door again. Her voice lowered to a whisper. "Look here. I know someone who knows her Aunt. I don't know details. I just know she's had it rough. And she caused that Aunt a lot of grief when she lived here when she was younger. I'm surprised she lets her stay here by herself."
"What happened when she was younger?"
"I don't know."
I didn't believe Rosita. I had a feeling she knew a lot more
than she was willing to tell me. "Do you know of other people she gave money to? You’re the second person who told me she gave a lot of money to someone."
"Was it the lady across town whose trailer burnt down?" she asked.
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