Serenity

by Ava O'Shay

Leave her alone.

  “Shit.” Brock was completely taking over his life.

  Jolin pulled out his phone and sent a text to Akeo.

  Where’s the party?

  Who wants to know? His text back was almost immediate.

  Jolin smiled then typed in, A dude.

  Akeo texted him the address to a warehouse downtown. Not that far from the coffee shop. Jolin either needed to talk to Akeo or track down Quill. He wanted to know what the deal was with Ren and Brock. There is no way Brock would threaten his rise to stardom by hanging out with Ren. Something major was up.

  Jolin got to the warehouse by midnight. He sent a text off letting his mom know he was out with Akeo then headed inside. The music was pumping and a haze of smoke distorted the overhead lighting. He’d never been to one of the makeshift clubs put on by the college kids. His group had their own exclusive parties. With Elizabeth on his arm, he hadn’t needed to look elsewhere for companionship.

  Jolin stood by the make-shift bar and looked for Akeo’s black hair, towering over the rest of the crowd.

  “Hey dude you need something to drink?” A voice behind him said. Why was everyone calling him dude?

  He turned and found a guy dressed like a male version of Ren standing behind a piece of plywood held up with wood boxes. “What are you offering?” Jolin leaned in and yelled.

  “Beer.”

  “Then I’ll take a b-b-beer.”

  “Twenty bucks for a blue cup and unlimited refills or a buck a cup for the red.” He held up two different colored Solo cups.

  Jolin pulled his wallet out and handed him a buck. He wasn’t sure how long he was staying.

  The beer was semi warm and left a bad after taste but what do you expect at a glorified kegger?

  He texted Akeo to meet him at the bar. Three beers later Akeo finally showed up.

  “Dude!” he yelled and wrapped his arms around Jolin. “Slumming with the big boys.”

  Jolin pushed him back and tried to regain his manhood. “K-K-Ke lay off.”

  Akeo wasn’t a drinker so any of his crazy behavior could only be chalked up to his I don’t give a fuck personality.

  “I need to t-t-talk to you.” Jolin leaned in and yelled into Akeo’s ear. The music pumped through his bones. The dance floor was full of kids dressed as circus performers. Ren’s outfits were tame compared to these people. Maybe Mr. Carson needed to check out the length of their arms.

  “What about? You’re drinking?” Akeo asked.

  Jolin looked down at his cup then held it up to take a drink, answering Akeo’s question.

  “You driving?” And there was Jolin’s father disguised as Akeo.

  “Not if I’m d-d-drinking.”

  “So you’re going to need a ride then?” Akeo asked.

  This was not the conversation Jolin was looking to have with him. He grabbed Akeo’s arm and pulled him to a corner of the room. “Look I need you to t-t-tell me what you meant by Brock and Ren. He p-p-picked her up after work,” Jolin yelled.

  Akeo closed his eyes and ran his hands over his head. “Let it go Jo. Leave it alone. You can’t win this one.”

  “I d-d-don’t want to win anything. She isn’t some p-p-prize. I just don’t want Brock around her.”

  Akeo shook his head. He wasn’t going to elaborate.

  “What the fuck, Ke. Jesus. Where’s Quill? Is he here?”

  Jolin turned to leave but Akeo grabbed his arm and pulled him back so his mouth was uncomfortably close to his ear. “She’s here.”

  Jolin spun around and didn’t have to search.She glowed as she walked through the crowd. She was wearing a skirt that was way too short. It had a train of ruffles that flowed down her ass. A thin draping of lace flowed across the front keeping it from being completely inappropriate. He almost swallowed his tongue when his eyes traveled from her drop dead legs up to the top she had cinched tight across her abs. This was the sexiest he’d seen her. But his stomach felt sick when he saw who was pulling her through to the dance floor.

  Brock.

  Jolin turned on Akeo and grabbed him by the front of his shirt. “They come here?”

  Akeo shook his head. “Just started a few weeks ago. No one from the crowd ever shows up here. He can do whatever he wants and can keep it on the down low.”

  “What is it they d-d-do?” He was afraid to ask.

  “Grab your beer and come with me.” Akeo jerked his head away from where Ren and Brock were dancing. Jolin threw two bucks at the bartender and followed Akeo toward a set of stairs. He downed one, and then the other before they even reached the top, then headed to the bar on the second floor to get two more. He couldn’t watch this sober.

  Akeo settled them in at a table, nodding at the people already sitting around it. Jolin scooted his chair close to the rail so he would watch the scene going on below. He poured thenext beer down. He was well on his way to spending the evening by a toilet.

  “Jo. Slow down. I’ll drive you home, but I’m not defending your honor when you do something stupid.” Akeo grabbed his arm before the cup could hit his lips.

  He didn’t have a clue what he was in for, but he was pretty sure he needed to be drunk to witness it. Akeo let go of his wrist and Jolin gulped down more beer. He did a quick look around to see if there was any way he could get another without losing his view.

  “I’ll get you more. Don’t leave that chair.” Akeo scooted his chair back and headed toward the bar. Jolin thought about offering him a few bucks but he was already gone. He’d pay him back later.

  Jolin turned in his seat and let the numbness the beer provided flow through him. He was disappearing and Brock was taking everything he wanted away. He spotted Quill off to the side of the dance floor with a girl, his tongue stuck down her throat and a hand up her shirt. Jolin scanned the dance floor until his gaze found Ren again. She had her back to Brock and was gyrating against his groin while his hands traveled over her body. His face was buried in her hair. Jealousy coursed through his veins. He started to stand up but Akeo’s hand pushed him back down and shoved a beer in his face. “Let it go.”

  “I d-d-don’t understand. He wants a cheertator,” Jolin slurred.

  “Cheertator?” Akeo laughed.

  “They d-d-dictate everything in your life. How d-d-did he free himself from her c-c-claws.” Jolin felt his head dropping toward the table. He hadn’t drank in months and apparently his tolerance was lacking. “I got to g-g-go.” He pulled his phone out and did what he would never had done sober. He texted Elizabeth.

  “No. Jo. Don’t do it. The dragon juice has ahold of you.” Akeo dove for Jolin’s phone and wrestled to keep him from pressing the send button. Jolin fell out of his chair and pulled Akeo under him. Finally Jolin got his finger around and sent the text.

  Can I come over?

  “No,” Akeo wailed.

  “T-t-take me to her house.” Jolin lifted himself to his hands and knees and crawled over to the table, using it as leverage to get back in his chair. The last beer was still sitting on the table and he downed it while watching Brock’s mouth cover Ren’s. He had to get out of here before he did something stupid. Although somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew he was heading into a whole different stupid.

  -oOo-

  If there was any chance to talk Jolin out of going to Elizabeth’s house, it disappeared when he saw the fogged up windows of Brock’s car, still parked in the parking lot. So against his better judgment, Akeo dropped him off at Elizabeth’s house. She hadn’t texted him back, but this wouldn’t be the first time he snuck to her house. Akeo took off after a final bitch session on how screwed up he was and how he didn’t know why he was even his friend. Jolin didn’t care. He was tired of being frozen out. Ren and Brock were playing with him and he wanted his spot at the popular table back. Elizabeth could give it to him.

  Jolin stood on a wobbly trash can and tapped on Elizabeth’s window. It only took a few minutes before she was standing at the window in a thin nightgown
looking down at him.

  “Jolin,” she whispered. “What are you doing here?”

  “I w-w-wanted to see you. I m-m-miss us.” He was lying. He didn’t miss one minute of her bossy righteous behavior, but he missed what she provided for him. “Can we t-t-talk?” Jolin wobbled a little and grabbed onto the window sill trying not to topple over.

  “Are you drunk?” She was so perceptive.

  He shrugged.

  “I’ll meet you at the trailer.” She disappeared into the darkness of the house.

  Elizabeth’s family had a travel trailer. It was really nice. It was always ready to travel and sat in the backyard under an open garage. Elizabeth and Jolin used it for extracurricular activities a few times in the past.

  Jolin opened the door and climbed in. Elizabeth’s family had a lot of money, and the trailer was top of the line. The beer was making him tired so he sprawled out on the bed and waited.

  The room started to spin.

  “Jo?” Elizabeth peeked in the door then climbed up the stairs. He moaned in response.

  She crawled onto the bed next to him and snuggled onto his chest. “You have been drinking.”

  Jolin groaned again as her hand found its way under his T-shirt and rubbed against his stomach.

  She moved her mouth next to Jolin’s ear and pulled his earlobe with her teeth. He rolled over, wrapped his arm around her, and pulled her into him, crushing her mouth against his. She immediately responded and ran her fingers into his hair, tugging lightly. Jolin couldn’t suppress the moan that arose. Her tongue searched his out and ran it over his teeth. He pulled back. He hated when she did that. It reminded him of his childhood dogs lapping at each other’s mouths like they were cleaning the food out of their teeth. He missed Ren’s mouth. The sweet smell of vanilla she always had, unless she was working…then she smelled like a rich cup of coffee. This experience was lacking, and the hotter Elizabeth seemed to be getting, the less he wanted what he’d come to get.

  Elizabeth was wearing a thin pair of pajamas. Jolin’s hands worked with their own mind and found their way under the hem to cup her breasts, running a thumb over her hard nipples. She leaned back and moaned at his touch. The dim light coming from the porch light shadowed her face but did little to soften her stoic, emotionless expression. It was like making out with a manequin. She moved to straddle him, running her mouth down his abs, kissing his stomach before moving to his pants. Unbuttoning the waistband, she locked her gaze to his and lowered the zipper. Jolin lifted his hips so she could move his pants down far enough to release him. Did it really matter who he was having sex with…it was still sex. At least he tried to convince himself of that…but somehow just being next to Ren was more of a turn on than slipping it to Elizabeth. She ripped open a condom package and rolled it down his length, then shimmed her nightgown up. When she lowered herself to him, Jolin’s breath caught. It didn’t feel right. How had he ever thought this was how it was supposed to be? His mind was hazy, the faster Liz moved, the more he became preoccupied with thoughts of Brock’s body moving against Ren’s in the fogged up back seat of his truck. Jolin wrapped an arm around Elizabeth’s waist and flipped her over. With a few thrusts, he finished what he’d came for….to fuck Brock over.

  Elizabeth moved into Jolin’s side and ran her hand down his cheek. Realization at the mistake he just made snuck through his drunken haze.

  “W-w-we g-g-good?”

  She rolled away from him and sat on the edge of the bed.

  “Jo we broke up.”

  “I know.” He fell back on the bed and covered his eyes with an arm. “But I thought…”

  “What?”

  “I don’t know,” Jolin groaned.

  Elizabeth stood. “I got to go inside. I don’t want my parents to find me gone.” She walked to the door. “It was sex. I can’t get that from Brock. Not yet anyway. I have a perfect rep and I’m not ruining it by sleeping with him.”

  “You slept…you fuck…me.”

  “And no one knows that little tid bit of information and if you decide to share with the school I will destroy you.”

  “I’m already destroyed. What more could you do?”

  “Stop being such a baby. You know all guys want is a piece of ass. Take what I’m giving you and stop whining about your head.” She hopped out the door leaving him humiliated in the dark. “We aren’t getting back together.” She tossed over her shoulder.

  He couldn’t believe he’d come to satisfy his ex’s sexual need after she kicked him to the curb. Or worse he screwed her because Ren was screwing Brock. How pathetic was that? Although the realization he was slipping it to her when Brock wasn’t did provide him with some consolation…he still felt dirty and used. Jolin pulled himself up as the room tipped, knocking him into the wall. He was an idiot. He let himself out and walked home. He’d hit Ke up for a ride to his car tomorrow.

  Serenity

  Saturday, October 19

  3:00 a.m.

  As usual the house was hopping when she got home. Somewhere along the line mom gathered a hoard of losers that showed up at their house without fail on the weekend. Here she was coming home stoned at three a.m. and her mom and her clan were was still going strong. Ren was done and ready to find her bed.

  Out partied by her mom.

  Stacks of beer cases and a line of tequila bottles sat on the coffee table. Couples were laying around the small living room in various stages of undress, going at it. Ren was surprised the neighbors hadn’t called the fire department with the amount of hazy smoke wafting out the windows.

  “What the fuck,” Ren yelled. “Mom! Mom! Mel!” she finally screamed her mom’s name. “Where did all this booze come from?” Her mom was broke. The only way she could have afforded all this alcohol was if she found Ren’s stash of money. “Mel!” Ren yelled again. Her mom didn’t deserve the label mom. “Where the fuck is my money?” She took off up the stairs to check her secret hiding spot, but a guy she didn’t recognize grabbed her around the waist, restraining her flailing arms. He flopped down on the couch with her on his lap. His hands immediately groped for the edge of her skirt and started working their way to her crotch.

  “Get your fucking hands off me.” Ren struggled to remove his hands from her. “God dammit. Mom! Get your asshole off me.” She was about to grab his balls and twist when her mom appeared in front of her. “You stole my money! How the hell are we going to live if you drink the rent away?” Ren screamed.

  “You fucking bitch,” Mel hissed. “You just can’t keep your slutty hands off my men.”

  “Me?” Ren froze, giving her mom’s apparently new boyfriend the opportunity to grab her breast and squeeze. “He’s the one that has his fucking hands on me!”

  “That’s what you always said. You’re a whore. I just got back and here you are taking my man again.” Ren’s mom flung her hands in the air as she continued her delusional rant. “Spreading you legs for anyone who walks in the door. You’ve always been jealous of me. You can’t let me have any happiness. You suck every bit of happy out of my life. You have since the day I got knocked up.”

  “You sold me for drugs! I never took anything from you. You sold me to them! The only reason you have a place to stay is because I work my ass off for this piece of shit house.”

  “Yeah you work your ass off on your back you little bitch!”

  Ren pulled herself together and pushed the man’s hand away, fighting to get up. Boyfriend’s hands dug into her waist, pulling her back into him. “I’m the bitch!” Ren yelled, struggling against his hold. “You took the rent money. You’re having a party with the fucking rent money. What were you planning when my money ran out? Selling me for another line? Another fifth? Just lay me out on the couch for a fuck? Upping the ante since I’m older now? Because you’re the fucking bitch who sold your eight year old daughter to the highest bidder!” Ren’s voice choked out the words. Words that held the pain of the past and fear of her future. “How does a little girl steal your
men mom? How does an innocent eight year old make that decision? I wouldn’t let this asshole’s prick touch me on my worst day!” Ren yelled in her face.

  The boyfriend had Ren’s arms pinned to her side, and her mom took the opportunity to punch her. “I never had to sell you. You sold yourself. You still flaunt your stuck up ass. You fall to your knees for them for nothing now,” she hissed. “You think I don’t know how you got that money! You never needed me to do your bidding. The minute a man walked through the door you had your hand down their pants!”

  With all her defenses gone, she did the only thing she could. Ren spit in her face. Bloody saliva from the punch she’d taken ran down her mom’s cheek.

  Her mom stood frozen in shock before hurling her body towards Ren.

  The boyfriend blocked her and hoisted Ren over his shoulder, using a free hand to hold her mom back from tearing Ren limb for limb. With hardly any effort at all, he hauled Ren up the stairs, her mom yelling behind them. Ren twisted around in time to see he was heading for her grandma’s bedroom. She threw out her hands and grabbed the doorframe, holding on so he couldn’t toss her onto the bed. There was no way he was getting her into that room. She kicked at his body and would have scratched his eyes out if it wouldn’t have meant letting go of the frame. She couldn’t see through the fear and rage flowing through her.

  Profanities flew from her mouth as she struggled against his weight. “Let go of me you fucking asshole. God dammit you prick put me down!”

  “I thought your mom was hot, but fuck girl you’re on fire.” His hand ran over Ren’s ass, sliding his fingers under her panties, nearing her crack. Ren went crazy kicking her feet frantically. She wasn’t going to let her mom pull her back into the nightmare of her childhood.

  Ren’s mom’s fingers wrapped themselves into her hair and pulled. Ren screamed, released her hold on the door frame and began pummeling the man’s back. Her mom gave a hard tug and pulled Ren off the boyfriend’s shoulder.

  She hit the floor with a thud. Her shoulder took the brunt of the fall and fire shot through her. Ren struggled to see beyond the stars fluttering before her eyes. A foot firmly kicked her in the side. The air pushed out of her, and she rolled in a ball, wrapping her arms around her head protecting herself from the next kick. This was it. After all the fighting she’d done, this was it. The pain cursing through her was intense, but tears wouldn’t come as Ren braced herself for the final blow. The blow that would make her disappear. But it never came.