Authors: Tiara James
I felt as if I was beaming like a star in the night. His words were exactly
what I needed to hear to ease my mind about the situation we were sitting in;
my mind had overanalyzed as it always did. David had given me nothing but
assurance. “Thank you for that, really.” I said genuinely.
David shook his head. “It’s no problem. You needed to let that out; I can see
it on your face that you’re more at ease than when you stepped foot across that
creek tonight.”
“Well, Daddy already took my car, I was scared of what else he would do if he
knew I snuck out.” I explained, digging into my ice cream.
David snorted. “You’re on punishment, they took your keys, and they banned you
from seeing me, they treat you like you’re twelve.”
I gave him a blank face.
“How old are you anyways?” He asked, spooning into his chocolate scoops.
“Actually, I’m nineteen Mr. Finley.” I answered in a matter-of-fact tone.
“You really are a youngster.” He chuckled. “And how many times do I have to
tell you to call me David?”
“Actually, I’m nineteen
Da-vid
.” I said in the same tone, emphasizing
his name.
He stared at me for a moment before we both started laughing at me being silly.
“Smart ass,” He shook his head.
“Well how old are you?” I asked.
“I’m twenty-four.” He answered confidently.
I dramatically placed my hand over my heart. “And you have the
nerve
to
call me young? Of course because you’re old enough to be my father!” I laughed.
“Oh yes, I was definitely having kids at the age of five.” David replied
sarcastically.
I rolled my eyes. “You know what I mean. But I was kidding, I don’t think
you’re that old.”
“So what
do
you think of my age?” He asked, making direct eye contact.
I placed my hand on his forearm and smiled. “I think it’s just right.”
David gave me a warm smile in return. “So your parents want you to marry
Ray…why don’t you just tell them you don’t want to?”
“It’s not so easy living a life where your parents control
everything
you
do…oh you just wouldn’t understand.” I shook my head.
He raised his eyebrows. “Oh I wouldn’t? You’re speaking to a man whose purpose
in life has been nothing other than to please his father since his mother died.
A man who’s followed in his father’s exact same footsteps, schools and all. I’m
pretty sure I have an idea of what that life can be like.” David shoved a
spoonful of ice cream in his mouth.
My hand came over my mouth, ugh I felt like such an ass! “I’m sorry…I didn’t
know that.”
“That’s why we’re getting to know each other, remember?” David looked at me
with an assuring expression.
There was silence between us for a few moments; I looked out the window as he
ate his ice cream. I couldn’t help but still feel bad about assuming he had it
easier than me. “It’s terrible, isn’t it?” I looked at him.
David set his spoon down, his eyebrows coming together over his striking blue
eyes in confusion. “What is?”
“Having such controlling parents.” I answered.
David nodded understandingly. “It’s about the equivalent of being stuck on the
same track your whole life, never being able to make the wrong turn because
they’re the ones who laid the tracks and they’d never want you to go the wrong
way. Almost like you’ll never be able to see what else is out there, because
you’re just…stuck.”
My eyes widened. “Yes, my thoughts exactly! I mean I know it’s for the best and
it’s because they love us, but in my life I can’t help but wonder what it’d be
like if I ventured off the path a little, just to see what else the world has
to offer.”
David had been looking at me intently with the slightest hint of a smile on his
face and his forearms crossed over each other on the table. He slowly reached
his hand across the table and slid his fingers in between mine. “How about if
you let me show you what else the world has to offer, Eva-Marie.” David
proposed in a low voice.
I stopped breathing; he had literally taken my breath away with that simple
statement! The offer was so enticing I couldn’t do anything but stare at him
with my mouth slightly opened.
His fingers played with mine and he chuckled through his nose. “How does that
sound to you?” His eyes met mine.
“I think it’d be the best adventure I’ve ever taken.” I breathed. It took
everything I had in me to not jump across the table and smother him with
inexperienced kisses!
For the next few hours, we talked and slowly ate the rest of our ice cream,
causing them to become milkshakes. He told me numerous stories about his,
Chris, and Timmy’s wild teenage adventures. And I, too, told him a bit about
myself – of course I was careful as to what details I shared – and stories of
my own group of friends. On the way home there were no knots in my stomach and
I was one hundred percent sure that I had made the correct choice in getting
out of the house that night.
The next
morning at work, I found it awfully difficult to not lay my head down and take
a quick nap. After David dropped me off, I stayed awake in my bed smiling to
myself as I replayed the events of the night in my head. That night there were
no longer knots in my stomach, but…
butterflies
. Yes! There were
butterflies in my stomach as I remembered how David defended me and how his
lips curved around the words ‘
I want you
’. I was about as giddy as an
elementary school girl over her first crush! After all, he really
was
my
first crush outside of the love stories I read.
I hadn’t noticed I’d been smiling to myself and in a daze until the phone on my
desk began to ring. “Ace Cigars, this is Eva-Marie how may I help you?” I
answered.
“There’s a pickup downstairs.” Daddy’s voice came on the line, flat and curt.
He hung up before I could respond.
Both my parents hadn’t spoke to me since I went and disrespected my mother in
such a major way. I felt somewhat bad but they needed to know that I was fed up
with them dictating my life; however, I also knew I wasn’t going to get my car
back until I apologized and began acting like their little girl again. So I had
a lot of sucking up to do.
I grabbed the keys out of the drawer and rose from my desk.
Back to real
life
, I thought to myself as I sighed and made my way to the elevator.
I took the freight elevator down to the bottom floor where Trioxytin production
was done. The bell rang obnoxiously when I pushed the button for the lock on
the industrial sliding doors to be released. When I pushed the doors open, I
saw two large men waiting.
I smiled and greeted them. “Luccio, Mastodon, so nice to see you again. But you
know Daddy doesn’t like direct pickups.”
Luccio grinned. “Always good to see you too, princess.”
“Thank you but that still doesn’t change the rules you know.” I scolded
them but in a sweet voice as I picked up the order with their names on it. I
wrote a note, informing them how much they were getting and included that they
were not to make any more direct pickups.
“We know the rules, princess, but Mr. Brandy been very…busy. Selling lots.”
Mastodon said, taking the order and handing me a bag in return.
“Oh I believe it,” I nodded. “Is it all here?”
“Don’t worry, all your money in there, princess.” Luccio beamed.
“Well thank you boys, as you know we liked to keep these visits short and
sweet.” I smiled tightly and began sliding the door shut.
“As you wish.” Mastodon agreed. They both nodded and took a step back.
“Tell Mr. Brandy I say
hello!” I called after them.
Oh the double life I lived, it never got any easier.
“N
ow
remember when we go in here, you have
got
to have control over that
temper of yours.” Clayton eyed me, making sure I understood.
I reluctantly nodded; I hated being told what to do.
“Make sure you have no gun on
ya
, no badge, and don’t
ask any questions that’ll make ‘em grow suspicious of us. You got it?” He
asked.
“I’ve got it.” I mumbled.
We got out the car and headed up the lawn toward Nicholas’s home. To my
surprise, his house was not as big and lavish as I expected it to be. It was
just an average house with an ostentatious luxury car sitting in the driveway.
When we knocked on the door, two familiar faces answered.
“Luccio! Mastodon! Good to see y’all again!” Clayton exclaimed before they could
say anything.
Mastodon checked his watch and nodded. “Ten minutes early.”
“Better early than late, right buddy?” Clayton patted him on the back.
Mastodon stared at Clayton expressionless for a few moments before stepping
aside and letting us inside.
“We must check you and make positive you carry no weapons.” Luccio grumbled in
his deep voice.
“Whatever you say, boss.” Clayton agreed, lifting his arms and spreading his
legs.
I furrowed my eyebrows at him, positive that I did
not
want them feeling
me up. Then I remembered that in order to succeed in the case, I would have to
play by their rules. I sighed and copied Clayton’s position.
“You sit and wait here.” Luccio led us to a couch in the living room.
“Thank you kind sir,” Clayton said as we took our seats.
I watched behind me as Luccio and Mastodon ascended up the stairs.
Clayton, too, was watching as they disappeared. Once he was sure they were gone
he rose and began snooping around.
“What’re you looking for?” I asked.
“Any signs that tell us he’s the producer.” Clayton was looking at pictures
above the fireplace.
I rose from my seat as well, eager to help. “You think he’d be so obvious about
it?”
“I know for a fact that the car in his driveway cost more than a dealer’s
salary.” Clayton answered.
I began going through a pile of mail, finding nothing. “I’m not sure, I feel
like the supplier would be smarter than that and wouldn’t just up and invite us
to his house.”
“Or he would; you bought Trio from him already, why would he suspect any shady
business?” Clayton reasoned.
I shrugged. “He’s just a scammer, I paid two-fifty for two rocks! He’s scamming
his buyers and even the main producer, by jacking up the price.”
“Well if he’s just a seller, why would he need so much supplies?” Clayton
revealed bag upon bag of powdered Trio stacked on top of each other under the
cushion of the couch.
My eyes widened. “What if he just has a lot of clients?” I tried to reason.
Clayton shook his head and lowered the cushion. “He’s got enough for the whole
city and then some, boy.”
I knelt down and unzipped a duffle bag sitting on the floor next to the chair
in front of the couch we had been sitting on. “Well would you look at that,” I
presented to Clayton a notebook inside the bag. I opened it ready to read,
however, there was only one note on the first page and nothing else in the
entire notebook. The note read:
REMINDER, pick up more
Dexy
on Thursday!
Clayton read it and looked at me with a broad smile. “We have to take this,
son, we
have
to keep a hold of this!”
We heard a door close on the floor above us and looked at each other with wide
eyes. Clayton hurriedly went and sat back on the couch, making sure the cushion
he had pulled up looked like it had before he displaced it. I quickly went to
zip the up the duffle bag, and it was just my luck that one of the bags from
the inside got caught in the zipper! The footsteps of all three men began down
the stairs. My heart was beating out of my fucking chest! I pulled the zipper
with all my might and finally got it shut! I went to sit next to Clayton and
then he pointed out that the note I’d ripped out of the notebook had fallen on
the ground next to the bag. I wanted to die! I lunged across the floor as
quickly as I could and retrieved the note, crumpling it up and shoving it in my
pants – not in any pocket of my pants, but actually down my pants. I sat as
still as possible on the couch, breathing like I had just finished a race.
Clayton slapped my leg. “Relax.” He commanded.
“How when I almost got caught! And thanks for the help!” I hissed.
“Keep your voice down!”
“Clayton! I’m glad to see you made it on time!” Nicholas’s voice entered the
room. He looked confused when he saw me. “David, how nice to see you. But I
didn’t know you were tagging along as well.”
I cleared my throat, in order to not sound like I was losing my breath. “Just
wanted to make sure I knew what my cousin was getting into.”
“Oh family love, isn’t it the greatest?” Nicholas beamed and took a seat in
front of us. “What were you two discussing before I came down? It sounded quite
heated.”
“We were just discussing the car outside. Nice one you’ve got there.” It was
the first explanation that came to my mind.
Nicholas snorted. “It’s a keeper.”
“That it is.” I nodded.
“Well let’s not waste any time and get down to business.” Clayton clapped his
hand. “How does this work?”
“First, you would have to build up a demand, meaning a list of clients, before
I give you anything to sell.” Nicholas answered. “I can’t afford the wasting of
supplies.”
“It seems like you sell them for a high enough price to afford it,” I mumbled,
still angry he scammed me for an extra fifty dollars. I didn’t like being
played like a fool.
Nicholas eyed me. “You ought to be thankful, I gave you a serious discount that
night of the ball because you were Timmy’s friend.”
“Well I was told the rocks were a hundred each, that’s all.” I explained,
hoping he would give me some information I could actually use.
He laughed haughtily. “You must’ve been told wrong, what I make is of a higher
class.”
“Higher class?” I gave him a questioning expression.
“With my knowledge of chemistry I’m able to add an extra high to my product.”
He shifted his gaze to Clayton. “By the way, I am to receive seventy percent of
everything you make. And if the numbers don’t add up…” His eyes flashed over to
Luccio and Mastodon.
“Oh let me guess, I’ll be
dealin
’ with the big boys?”
Clayton looked at the two men.
“I’m so glad you’re competent. Though there wouldn’t be much to deal with, it’s
usually a one shot thing.” Nicholas shrugged.
“And we can’t have that happen,” Clayton shook his head.
“Exactly.” Nicholas agreed. “So I’m going to give you about a week or two to
gain some demand.” He looked at me. “With him around that shouldn’t be a
problem, I’m sure he knows plenty of people in need.”
Honestly, Timmy and Chris were about the only friends I had in the area.
However, I went along with it and nodded anyways. “Yeah, I could help out with
that.”
“Then this should go fairly well.” Nicholas smiled tightly at the both of us.
He went on for about another half hour about how great his product was and how
much money he made and frankly, just boring the hell out of me.
“Thank
The
good Lord!” I exclaimed, glad when we were
back outside heading for the car.
Clayton laughed. “Never once did I think there was a fella that could talk your
ears off more than myself.”
“Absolutely ridiculous.” I shook my head and got into the car.
“But we definitely made a breakthrough, partner. He was
lettin
’
out loads of helpful information.” Clayton said.
“Agreed, at first I was convinced there were two suppliers but he confirmed I
guessed wrong. What do we need now? More evidence?” I asked.
“You guessed
it,” Clayton nodded his head.
“I’ll have
to write down everything I remember when we get to the station.” I reached in
my pants and retrieved the note I had stuffed in them earlier. “What exactly am
I supposed to do with this, here?” I snorted.
Clayton looked over at the crumpled note and began laughing hysterically. “That
my friend has got to be the funniest damn thing I ever seen.” He caught his
breath. “Put a file together on all the information we got today and keep it in
there, it’ll be useful somehow.”
I shook my head and sighed. “So you’re really
gonna
do this selling thing, huh?”
Clayton nodded. “Absolutely, I’m dedicated to this case because I’m dedicated
to this job. It’s sort of become…my life. Well, besides the family at home that
I’ve got to support. I believe all the hard work will pay off after this case;
I think I’ll get the spot as Chief. I mean I know the ropes better than anyone
else that works at the station besides your old man himself.” He paused and
sighed. “It would just change…a lot of things for me, son.”
All I could do was nod. I sighed and stared out the window, desperately trying
to avoid the guilt trip my mind was trying to throw me on. My stomach turned,
realizing that it would always be an underlying problem; I knew that when the
case was said and done, my father was going to announce that he was retiring
and let the whole station know that he was handing the position as Chief over
to me. It never got any easier, knowing that I would be hurting Clayton in the
end. I felt as if in the time we’d been working together we had come a long
way, like we’d actually become…friends. I shut my eyes hard and shook my head,
not wanting to think about it anymore. Why was I so wrapped up in my emotions
all of a sudden?
Later, after I left the station I headed home and was greeted by a beautiful
surprise; Eva-Marie was sitting on my front steps when I arrived. Her dark eyes
looked up when I pulled in the driveway and her perfect white teeth were
revealed. Boy, could that smile stop a heart! She was exactly the woman I
needed to see after a long day of work. I quickly took the folder of
information from the day’s work that I had thrown on the passenger seat and
hurriedly shoved it under my seat. Hopefully, she hadn’t noticed.
“Well isn’t this a pleasant surprise?” I called to her when I opened the door.
She rose, still smiling brightly. “I wasn’t sure what time you’d be back. Where
do you work?”
I almost blurted out that I was finishing up work at the station until I
realized I couldn’t tell her where I worked…she thought I was a law student.
“My father wants me to get experience in the field, I work at his law office in
the city. I usually get home around five thirty…if I don’t work too late.” I
figured she wouldn’t wonder too much about it.
“Oh how fancy.” She giggled. “My parents are working late, so I had time to get
away.”
It was as if those words gave me life – they meant that I would be getting to
spend more time with her! She was like a personal form of therapy; with her it
seemed as if I had not a single thing to worry about in the world besides her
and myself. I raised my eyebrows, “Is that so? How long have you been waiting
here?”
“Just about half an hour… maybe an hour. That’s not important.” She descended
off the front steps and came closer to me. “I want to take you somewhere.” Eva
was looking up at me hopefully.
“What do you have planned?” I asked.
“Well it’s a surprise, silly!” She pulled out a scarf. “You’re going to need to
put this on around your eyes, okay?”
I looked at the scarf and leaned against my car, crossing my arms. Something
told me her parents hadn’t given her the car back yet and I could predict where
she was going with this. “I can’t drive with that over my eyes, Eva-Marie.”
“Oh don’t be ridiculous, you aren’t!” She grabbed my arm and pulled me to the
passenger side. “I am, you’re enjoying the ride.”