Drift (Drift Series) (3 page)

CHAPTER 3

A
GITATION

The day flew by. In the evening, I left to pick up Scruffy. I honked as I pulled up to his house. He charged out, slamming the door. In his true goofy nature, he started skipping like a goober down his driveway as he came at me.

“Yo, what
’s up, Leo? Let’s roll!” Scruffy jumped in my car excitedly.

“Dude, you
’re such a boner,” I teased.

“What?” Scruffy looked at me.

“Let’s just go, man.” I snickered, shaking my head.

On the way to BNB’s, Scruffy and I rehashed what transpired between Darryl and Shade. We also made a bet on whether Shade would show up at our hangout spot. If she did, Scruffy would buy my meal, if she didn’t, I would buy his.

A few minutes later, we pulled into BNB’s and parked at one of the car-side ordering menus. Already, a bunch of people from school were standing around talking, both inside and outside their cars. A radio blared music in the background and everyone elevated their voices in an attempt to talk over the noise.

“Looks like I
’ll be ordering the deluxe burger and extra large fries tonight! I can afford it since it’ll be on you, Leo.”

“Slow down, cowboy. Sandra and company aren’t here, either. Therefore, there
’s still a huge chance Shade will arrive, so relax.”

“Whatever you gotta tell yourself, Leo.
Whatever
you gotta tell yourself. Just don’t make me wait too long; I’m pretty hungry, homey.”

We got out of my Mustang and walked around to the front and leaned on the hood. Before Scruffy could get comfortable, he spotted someone he knew across the parking lot. He said he would be right back and left me standing alone. I hate when I
’m left alone in a place of many peering eyes. It makes me feel stupid because it looks like I’m by myself, like everyone at BNB’s thinks I arrived alone to hang out in an attempt at being cool. It was more likely that no one was paying attention to me, or what I was doing, and they couldn’t probably care less. Even so, I still felt uncomfortable and kept my eyes locked on my shoes in a shallow attempt at not making eye contact with anyone.

Scruffy was taking his sweet time in making his rounds. I
’m not as social as Scruffy and I occupied myself by lifting my stare from my feet every now and then to view the many vehicles pulling in and out of BNB’s. I was looking to win my bet. Thirty minutes went by and there was still no sign of Shade or her friends. Scruffy eventually made his way back to my car.

“No sign of her, huh?” Scruffy stared at me, resting his butt against my hood as he crossed his arms on his chest.

“Nope, not yet,” I answered, trying not to seem discouraged.

In a rare effort to be sincere, Scruffy actually mouthed some lifting words
. “I’m sorry, man. I know you dig her. There will be other chances see her.”

Just as I was about to acknowledge Scruffy’s sincerity, he ruined the moment in true Scruffy fashion, “Now, get your butt over there and order my deluxe burger and fries.”

We both laughed as he swatted me on the back. I was about to concede his victory and place our orders when I saw Sandra’s convertible pulling into the burger joint out of the corner of my eye. Amongst the four heads bobbing around in the open convertible, the one I was looking for had arrived.

Shade was sitting in the backseat wearing sunglasses. I assumed what Sandra said about the bruise on her face was true. Apparently Scruffy saw them
, too. “Crap,” he muttered.

Before I could gloat about my victory, he was already
en route to placing our order. “I know, Leo, I know. I got it,” Scruffy said, defeated.

I laughed at him while I watched the girls pull up three spaces from us. All of them hopped out of the car except Shade. It was apparent she was trying to hide something.

I thought I detected her staring in my direction, but I couldn’t be sure because of those dark glasses. Just in case she was looking my way, I did my best not to get caught staring. I sneaked peeks when I could, and it always seemed she was doing the same in my general direction. The moment I looked at her, she looked away.

This shy exchange went on for a few more minutes, but eventually my view was obstructed by the many
people surrounding Sandra’s car. It was clear everyone was too anxious to confirm the rumors about her and Darryl. It also became clear that their concerns were warranted because she explained what had happened. I could barely see through the crowd, but at one point, Shade’s head came into view. She took off her sunglasses. Her right eye sported a good sized black and blue bruise. It seemed Darryl was indeed taking the shape of a monster.

Shade left the glasses off. I guess she thought wearing them at night was more embarrassing than the bruise itself. The overwhelming attention being lavished on her was an annoyance. She kept telling
her sympathizers that it was no big deal, it was over and she wanted to move past it. I couldn’t blame her at all for being a little put off. Sometimes things are self-explanatory, everyone officially knows what happened is true. No sense in filling the social bellies full of more teen drama.

Something else that I confirmed was that Shade was indeed looking in my direction. Amongst all the consoling being blanketed over her, she managed to raise herself up and sit on the top of the back seat, allowing her head to just peek above the heads in the crowd. Shade and I locked eyes; this time I didn’t look away. After a few seconds, she looked down, fluttering her eyelids as if she was processing what our shared glance meant.

Her attention was sharply pulled back to a friend speaking to her. It seemed she was paying no attention to him even though she was staring right at him. I was glaring so hard at her that I didn’t even see Scruffy trying to hand me my winnings.

“Dude, you better stop your Shade session and take this stuff before I eat it.” A grinning Scruffy shoved my bag of food into my chest.

I grabbed the food humbly and avoided eye contact with him. “Thanks, bro.”

We sat in silence for a few minutes, eating and watching the commotion at Sandra’s car. Breaking the momentary silence, Scruffy said, “Leo, you should go with me when I tell Shade we
’re with her and that we’re sorry about what happened.”

“I don’t need anyone to speak for me
; besides, why don’t you wait to talk to her? I’m sure she’s pretty sick of all the people that keep coming up to her in their ‘poor baby’ mode. Just leave her be. When and if she gets ready to talk to guys like us about it, she will.”

But Scruffy being Scruffy, foolish and naïve, said, “I know you don’t, and you
’re probably right, but I still want to let her know I care, and you should too, ‘cause, I know
you
do, too.”

I kept my attention on my food. Scruffy shook his head at my silence, and about a minute later announced he was going over to join the crowd. He reminded me that I should come with him, but I shook my head no. He shrugged as if saying
whatever
, and took a big slurp of his soda.

Suddenly, the sound of a familiar, thundering engine broke like a nasty wave across BNB’s. Scruffy’s face said it all; trouble had arrived. But even without the revving of Darryl’s car, I sensed his arrival like an oncoming thunderstorm. It was almost like everyone had left. The only thing that could be heard now was one car stereo that continued to chirp music.

Shade put her sunglasses on and slumped into the backseat of the car as she tried to hide from the coming menace. Her demeanor had changed from reluctant to fearful.

Everyone started chatting in a much more reserved tone as Darryl eased through the parking lot. His engine hummed as he crept by everyone who was pretending not to notice him. It was hard to tell what he was doing inside his car because his windows are tinted very dark, but I assumed he was creeping to see if Shade was around. People began leaving Sandra’s car, bidding farewell to Shade.

I couldn’t blame them for walking away now that an unpredictable Darryl was here. But I couldn’t believe how cowardly these actions were, nonetheless I mean, if they were true friends, they would stay and support her, no matter how Darryl or his friends may act towards them. Only Sandra remained by her side.

I only took my gaze off Shade briefly, simultaneously trying to watch her and Darryl’s actions. He parked
on the other side of the small plaza covered with cement tables and chairs in front of us.

He killed the engine and got out
; three of his friends followed. Meanwhile, Shade slumped even lower in the vehicle. She kept her head tilted down. Sandra leaned down and appeared to be giving words of encouragement.

Everyone, including Scruffy and myself, pretended to be talking amongst ourselves. But it was obvious we were all keeping one eye on the potential scenario that may unfold.

Darryl’s eyes locked onto the convertible. Without any hesitation, he started walking straight toward the car. The rest of his buddies just glared from behind him, smirking in support.

Shade looked at her friend
for reassurance. Sandra stroked her hair in a nurturing fashion as they spoke to each other, steadily watching every step the wolf took towards them.

H
is glare stayed fixated on his ex. Sandra spoke to her battered friend again and waved at her as if to ask if it was okay for her to walk away briefly. Darryl stood close to the two ladies as Sandra spoke into Shade’s ear while giving her a comforting hug.

With one of the fiercest stares I have ever seen a girl give a guy, Sandra stalked past Darryl to join her girlfriends a few feet away, never taking an eye off the feuding couple in the event she was needed. Even Scruffy’s motor mouth was put on hiatus.

His hands grabbed the front passenger door as he leaned against it and peered at the defiant girl. He let out a sharp breath before he spoke. She never looked up, but it was clear she was listening.

His
lips moved and his head bobbed like he was unloading some sort of apology. Shade, still avoiding eye contact, crossed her arms and turned to look at everyone pretending not to watch them.

I listened intently to catch the conversation. But after five minutes or so of Darryl pleading his case, Shade finally broke her silence
. “Look at my face—you did this!” She tore off the sunglasses.

Her shout completely silenced everyone. There was no problem now hearing the slightly embarrassed Darryl respond,
“Look, I’m not asking you to get back together with me, I’m just asking if you can forgive me, and if we can be still be friends. I was drunk when that happened, and because of that, I’ve quit drinking. I know stuff like this is said all the time, but it will never happen again. What I did was wrong. I’m taking steps to become a better person. It would really mean a lot to me…and everyone else, if you would still show up at my party. I hope that will be the first step in us becoming friends again. I’m truly sorry for what I did.” He looked around and noticed everyone looking at them.

“I don’t know
. You were out of control the other day. I have to think about your offer and decide whether or not it’s a good idea for me to go to your party. If I do show, it’s understood that we are not getting back together, or are even friends yet. It doesn’t mean I forgive you, either.” She was making sure everyone around heard the conditions in case Darryl might misinterpret, or intentionally try to mislead people about her intentions.

I thought things might weigh out for me after all. It was vital that Shade attend the party.

“That’s fair enough, sweetheart. That’s all I ask. I hope I see you tomorrow night, but if not, that’s okay. I understand. Thanks for giving me the time to talk to you. I’ll see you later.”

He
waved to her as he squeaked out a small smile. Shade said nothing and simply nodded.

Sandra
and the others hurried to their frustrated friend as Darryl headed back to his waiting buddies. I couldn’t help but notice a certain look cross his mug when he turned. A look of rage flashed over his face. It quickly disappeared, but I knew he was struggling to maintain his positive outward appearance. He was still
very
angry inside.

With the fireworks on hiatus, Scruffy waved a few friends over and we started talking. Considering how tense the evening started out, everything seemed to return to normal.

I was laughing at Scruffy’s animated storytelling. He was doing some kind of funky dance. I kept peeking at Shade, but was a little disheartened because she didn’t look my way anymore. I was so engrossed in Scruffy and Shade, that I hadn’t noticed Darryl and his cronies hanging out at the car next to us talking with more of his friends.

My attention was
suddenly drawn with a stranglehold to their familiar voices behind me. “Darryl, I don’t know, man. I think homeboy’s ‘Stang could take your ride,” his friends teased.

“Yeah
, right. That car is just as much of a joke as the owner. I could slaughter him and that car.”