by Holly Hood
“He’s the mayor kiddo, not the president. These things happen when two boys are after the same girl.” Dad smirked. It wasn’t humorous.
“Tucker and Slade are not enemies because of me. They hate each other for many other reasons. Forget it. Is there anything else you want to say? Am I grounded from society now, along with being expelled from school?” I tossed my water in the trash can, waiting for Dad to say something.
“Hope, what is going on with you?” Dad asked, the wrinkles in his forehead deep with concern. “Since when do we talk to each other like this?”
I sighed, realizing I was being a little harsh on my dad. “I like Slade, Dad. And everyone here treats him just the way they treat me. And it’s not fair. I might have been off fooling around after curfew with a cute boy but I promise you I didn’t have sex, and he didn’t do anything wrong.”
Dad touched my shoulder. “I want you to promise me you will be smart about any guys. Just because you think they’re nice guys doesn’t mean that’s the truth. Some guys only have their eyes on the prize, if you catch my drift.”
“I know. That’s why I didn’t do anything like that, Dad. Please don’t judge Slade like everyone else.” I kissed his cheek and said goodnight.
Crawling into my bed, I was furious. Furious that Tucker thought he could control me. And furious that Slade was sitting downtown because of Tucker.
Snapping off my lamp, I drifted off into a troubled sleep.
Party Crashing
Waking up to sunshine at one time would have made me happy. But today it was just a reminder of the new day. And a reminder that I was still pretty furious with all that happened last night.
I walked across my bedroom floor, opening up my blinds. I turned around to my desk. My computer showed a new instant message.
Where are you? it read. It was from Karsen, she was the only one I knew with the screen name of GenocideZombieGirl7.
I pulled up a seat, letting out a sigh. It had been a while since we had spoken. I flexed my fingers before I started typing back to her.
Oh, so much to say… where have you been? Since when don’t we talk all the time?
The instant message showed she was typing, so I took the time to check the house phone for any missed calls. I was pretty confident I hadn’t heard anything while I slept. I needed to find out what happened to Slade.
You know how it is. School. Rents. Still trying to get to Cali to see you. she replied back.
I rolled my eyes. It hurt to think we were growing apart. And it hurt even more to think she was making up excuses.
Yeah, for sure. Well, super busy day ahead of me. Call me sometime, XO.
I held back my tears, lingering long enough to see if she said something comforting. Something normal Karsen would come up with.
Morgan is having a big bash at her house tonight. I thought I would go check it out. I’ll see ya.
I huffed, snapping my computer off in frustration. Morgan. The snootiest girl in the school. The one Karsen always swore she secretly despised. They were now friends.
I quickly forgot about it. I had more important people to worry about. I was going to shower and go down to Henry Park to find out if Slade had been released. And I was going to apologize for my family and for Tucker sending him on a ride downtown.
Well, I wasn’t really sure if it was downtown, but back home that’s where the bad guys usually went. Maybe Cherry was a little more trendy and preferred to house their criminals in luxury uptown somewhere.
I let out a long sigh as the water rained down on my head. Running my fingers through my hair, I hurriedly worked the shampoo to the ends like I did every time I showered. I quickly rinsed and repeated and then started on shaving my legs. I was in a hurry but I was still possibly going to see Slade, so I wanted to look my best.
I ignored Elliot and Easton as they pounded on the bathroom door.
When I was finished, I opened the door to find Elliot waiting impatiently on the other side. “It’s about time you’re done.” Jeez, never can have any peace around here since this Slade guy has been around. You worry more about your looks now then some of those girls at your school,” Elliot griped as I pushed past him.
I swatted him. “You’re just mad you don’t have a girlfriend,” I told him.
“Please. I could care less about dating any of these high dollar hookers.” He looked at me as if I was the pathetic one. I couldn’t believe his language, he was barely a teen.
“High dollar hooker, wow, wait until Dad hears that one,” I said, heading into the kitchen. Easton sat at the table devouring a giant bowl of cereal.
“Dad said the police hauled him off to jail last night,” Easton threw out as I came into view. “Way to pick ‘em. I think it’s kind of cool you’re dating the town criminal,” he said with a laugh.
I groaned, raiding the cupboards for cereal and coming up empty. Apparently, my twin brothers cleaned us out while I slept. I settled on popping two pieces of bread in the toaster.
“He’s not a criminal. When did Dad say he would be back?” I asked, waiting impatiently for my toast to pop up.
“Don’t think you’re sneaking out. Nona told Dad she was stopping by in the morning to keep an eye on you or something,” Easton insisted, shoving his bowl to the center of the table and standing up. He was finished with breakfast and finished with talking to me.
“Are you serious, she’s coming to keep an eye on me?” I called after him as he headed for the video game in the living room. He shrugged, ignoring me now.
The toast popped up, barely browned, but I didn’t care, I needed to get out of the house, fast. The last thing I needed was Nona trying to hold me hostage all day. Forcing me to rub her feet with lotion and watch old episodes of Dr. Phil with her.
I shuddered at the thought of it.
I was on the beach halfway to Henry Park when I popped the last bit of toast in my mouth. I’d hurried and thrown on the quickest thing I could find, which were Capri’s and a white t-shirt, and bolted. I gathered my hair in a high ponytail, securing it with the black rubber band on my wrist as I walked.
Something off in the distance caught my attention. As I watched the crowds of people on the boardwalk I noticed someone. Tucker, and his sleazy slime ball father and his god awful stepmom. They were all dressed in white clothes, just gallivanting around the boardwalk. It seemed she was on a shopping spree and they were busy carrying around her things like servants.
I shooed the seagulls out of my way, cutting across the sand to get to the boardwalk. I kept my distance, taking an interest in a display of sunglasses, acting as if I cared more about them than anything else in the world.
Tucker’s stepmom stopped at another little boutique. The ones with the petite mannequins sitting in their windows with some overpriced summer fashion. Tucker’s dad held tight to her waist, gazing into the window with her. She whispered in his ear as she pointed at a maroon jumper. I was sure it was something along the lines of ‘please darling I must have it or I will die’.
“Hope,” someone called from behind me. I turned quickly to find Campbell standing there.
“Oh, hey, Campbell,” I said, trying to hide behind the sunglass rack. But I knew it was no use. They had already spotted me.
Campbell slung her shopping bag over her shoulder, giving me a strange look. “What’s up? Why do you seem like you’re hiding from the police or something?”
I stepped away from the sunglasses, putting a pair on. Trying to play it off as sincere shopping. “I wasn’t. So what are you up to?” I asked, changing the subject quickly.
“Well, I came with my mom to get a new dress. There’s a school dance coming soon. I hate dresses. I’m more the jeans and a t-shirt kind of girl,” Campbell said with a smile. Mrs. Ashay motioned for Campbell to stop talking to me and come back into the store, which I was glad for. She gave a wave, heading into the boutique.
I shoved the sunglasses back on the rack, taking off back down the boardwa
lk. I don’t know what I was thinking, but I needed to get far away from Tucker and his screwed up family. I was too upset at the moment to think rationally.
“Leaving so soon?” Tucker called out. I cussed silently to myself, spinning on my heels to face him and his parents. They wore very similar expressions, each of which was not impressed in the least by my presence.
Tucker’s Evil stepmom stared down her nose at me.
I glared at all three of them. This time I wasn’t backing down.
“Ooh, I think someone’s upset,” Anita said in a singsong voice. She rocked on her heels, a pleased expression on her face. The passing shoppers took notice of our standoff. It was obvious by the nudges and hushed whisper they were talking about us.
Tucker raked his hand through his brown mess of hair. “Good to see you out and about,” he muttered.
“Oh, yeah, I bet,” I said, putting both hands on my hips.
Everett stepped closer to me, his eyebrows meeting up in the center of his forehead. “Just doing a little shopping. No one needs any trouble.”
“Yeah, that’s right. Too bad your son doesn’t understand how to stay out of it,” I shot back.
“Excuse you,” Anita started, stepping forward and sticking a shiny red nail nearly on my forehead. She waved her manicured hand in my face.
This time I didn’t get upset, I got angry. So angry I shoved her hand out of my face. “Keep your hand away from me!”
Tucker and his father looked deeply concerned as a crowd began to gather, bystanders whispering amongst themselves, making up their own theories on what the whole standoff was about.
“Young lady, you don’t want to be laying hands on my wife or you may end up like that there friend of yours,” Tucker’s dad warned.
Tucker jumped in front of his dad, pushing me away from him. The more crimson his face became, the more I knew he was getting that much angrier.
“Don’t touch me,” I hissed at Tucker, shaking his grip off of my arms.
“I’m trying to do you a favor,” he said low, backing me up some more. I shook his hands off me once more, stepping to the side to get in view of his dad again.
“My friend didn’t do anything wrong. Seems kind of funny you’re the one drugging teenage girls and trying god knows what. But Slade, he does nothing wrong and your son can have him arrested with one single phone call. Bullshit if you ask me.” I resented the last part that came out of my mouth, but I was on a rant, and when you’re on a rant you have no control of the words leaving your mouth.
All I remembered was the blood draining from Tucker’s face, his body appearing to stiffen as my words were set free onto public ears. He gripped me by the shoulders. “You need to get out of here, Hope.”
I slapped him away. “Oh, was it something I said?”
Everett balled his fists in his shopping bags while Anita’s arms crossed and she glared at me and then her husband.
“You don’t know who you’re messing with, you little bitch!” Anita yapped.
I swatted her words away like an annoying gnat. “Oh I think I have it figured out.” I crossed my arms “Mr. Sinclair thinks he’s untouchable and can go around doing whatever it is he wants. And this whole town thinks they can treat anyone not like them like crap. Slade is the only good person in this town, yet he is the one going down for somebody else’s screw up!”
“Hope, stop talking and get out of here now!” Tucker warned me again.
“What are you so afraid of, Tucker? Afraid you’re going to disappoint your daddy?” I taunted. “He’s not my dad. I could give two shits what he thinks about what I have to say. In fact, I think he deserves to hear what I have to say. Everyone does.”
The growing crowd of women and men, kids and employees remained frozen in place. They were ready to hear more. I licked my lips, taking a breath before I said any more. I knew I was treading on shaky ground. I had just seen Slade carted off the night before because of these people. But I didn’t care.
“You drugged me that night. You drugged me and I think if it wouldn’t have been for–”
Before anymore accusations could leave my lips, Slade appeared, grabbing me by the arm and yanking me away from them, his shoulder checking Tucker’s as he shoved me back toward the sunglasses.
“What the hell are you doing?” he demanded, his face inches from my own. His hands held mine in place, waiting for answers.
“Defending you,” I told him. He let go of me, his face full of concern.
“I don’t need defending. You. Can. Not. Talk to him that way,” Slade told me, staring me down.
“Why? They run around talking to us anyways they want,” I said loudly, hoping they heard every word coming out of my mouth still.
“Get her out of here,” Tucker said, approaching us. He kept looking over his shoulder nervously at his dad.
Slade bit at his lip ring looking rather agitated. “Go back over to your dad. I’ll take care of Hope.”
“I mean it, get her out of here, Slade,” Tucker said again.
“Or what!” I yelled. I was tired of the threats. Slade took hold of my arm forcefully and dragged me all the way off the boardwalk, not giving my feet even a second to try to resist him.
“Stop it. You need to stop egging these people on. Don’t defend me anymore!” Slade said loudly. I felt like a child being scolded by their angry older brother. And as soon as my eyes fell to the ground and regret filled my body, Slade brushed my cheek with his hand. “Come on, let’s go. “
“What if I don’t want to go with you?” I said, trying to act stubborn.
“Well, then I’ll walk you home,” he said, searching my eyes.
I sighed. “You don’t have to be so mean to me. I was defending you.”
“Thank you. I would have said thank you if it wasn’t such a horrible thing to do.”
I scoffed. “How is that horrible? You were arrested last night at my house for nothing. When did you get out, by the way?”
We headed into Henry Park as the conversation continued. The loud roar of music making it rather difficult to hear anything Slade was saying. He took hold of my hand, slicing through the crowd at a fast pace.
“An hour ago, maybe. I was on my way to see you when I stumbled upon you making the worst possible mistake ever,” he said as we passed the stage. I caught a glimpse of Oz and Kidd jamming away, the crowd rocking out to the music.
“I don’t care if he arrests me. I didn’t do anything wrong. I know my rights.”
“Did you not see me being carted away for nothing last night?” Slade asked. He unlocked the bus, letting me in first. I slid into the booth, the one we all sat at the first night I was there.
I stared at my hands. I felt bad suddenly. Silence filled the bus.
“Look,” Slade started, setting a soda in front of me. He cracked his open. “I’m acting upset because I don’t want to see anything happen to you.” I stayed silent. “I also am upset because I was there that night.”
I finally raised my head. “What night?” But I already knew the answer.
“The night you were on the beach.”
My insides quivered. “Because you saw him. It was Tucker’s dad like I thought all along, right?”
Slade ran a hand through his hair. “You swear to God on whatever means anything to you that you won’t say a thing.”
“I swear.”
“Yeah, it was.” He took a seat across from me, taking my hands in his. “I hit him. I wanted to kill him, but one punch was all it took to knock him off his feet. That’s when I picked you up and started carrying you away. But I knew if I took you home that things wouldn’t look good for me. But Tucker found his dad, and he saw me.”
I blinked back tears. “Tucker knew you didn’t do anything but he lied for his dad.” And the bruise on Mr. Sinclair’s face suddenly made sense.
“Now do you understand why I don’t want you messing with that man?” He ran his hand across my arm, lingering on the black heart.
“You’re messing with the wrong person, Hope.”
“Yeah, but if you know that he is such a bad man why don’t you just do something to him? You’re more powerful than any police. You could cast a spell on him and make him confess to the police or something.” Then another thought struck me. “Anaya. Do you think he killed her too?”
Slade squeezed the bridge of his nose in agitation. “All that I know is that it wasn’t me. And then you come along and it almost plays out again.”
“And if it wasn’t for you, I might not be here anymore. I might be…dead.” I stared off, a bit disturbed at the thought. What would my dad have done? He would have lost it if he ever lost me. And this made me sad and angry.
Slade slid out of the booth and offered his hand. I took it, letting him help me out.
“I’ll show you my room,” he told me, walking me down the narrow path to a sleek wooden door.
“I thought you guys all slept in those little cubby holes,” I said.
He shook his head, opening up the door to a small room. There was a black framed bed with dark red bedding with a small nightstand on each side. At the foot of the bed hung a plasma television above a black wooden dresser. It was neat and precise, and smelled just like him.
I watched him shut the blinds. He made sure the door was locked before climbing on top of the bedding and making himself comfortable.
“This is your room,” I said, crossing my arms. I looked around the room for pictures. Sunglasses, money and his remote sat on one nightstand and the other housed a picture frame with two pictures: the first, a man and woman embracing. They were older. The woman had dark black hair, tan skin and a beaming smile. The man was a bit scruffy with hair to his shoulders. He was burly and muscular and had eyes just like Slade’s.
“These are your parents?” I questioned, pretty sure that they were.
“Yep. And that’s Erica and me,” he said, taking the picture frame in his hands.
“That must mean they mean something to you if you keep them in a frame by your bed,” I said softly.