Demonspawn (8 page)

“Sure,” Jenny looked at me. “Your truck
unlocked?”

“Yeah.”

She left. It was just Cindy and me. She put
her hands on my shoulders.

“Alex, I'm
so
sorry,” she said. “What
happened?”

I shrugged. “It wasn't working out.”

“What?”

“That's what she said. She said she just
didn't feel it was working out.”

“That fuckin' bitch.”

Her tone made me laugh. “I'll be okay.”

“I didn't mean what I said.” She gave me a
hug. “She's an
idiot
for breaking up with you. She'll never
find someone else like you.”

“Thanks, Cindy. Do me a favor. Just keep this
quiet for tonight. I don't want everybody freaking out and wanting
to talk about Julie all night.”

She nodded. “No problem. What a stupid bitch.
Listen, nine thousand women will be all over you at the club. So
don't worry about it.”

“Yeah, right.”

We left the apartment. Jenny was waiting in
the back seat of my truck. Alicia was driving away with Dave and
Tina, but slowed down when she saw me. We locked eyes, and I smiled
and nodded, letting her know I was okay. She nodded back, letting
me know she understood. Sibling communication.

The night started out normal enough. The
drive through the city wasn't fun, but that was expected. Groups of
people walked around everywhere. Every street was jammed with
traffic. But we eventually made it to the club and parked close to
each other. Then the six of us walked up together. We all got a
nice little drinking armband except Alicia.

It's like an assault on the senses when you
first step into any club. You go from a quiet, wide open outside to
a loud, claustrophobic inside. It was so loud I could barely hear
anyone talk. It was so crowded I could barely move. The lines at
the bar were so long that it would take minutes to get a drink of
any kind. Wow, what fun.

We split up after a while. Dave and Tina went
to the dance floor and started grinding on each other. Alicia went
to the bathroom while Jenny, Cindy, and I all waited for a
drink.

It was so loud that whenever you wanted to
talk to someone you had to get right next to their ear. And Jenny
would put a hand on me whenever I leaned close to talk. Weird.

“What you want?” I asked her, pointing at the
bar.

“Just a beer is fine. Thanks.”

I looked at Cindy. “Water.”

I gave her a look. That's what I had in
mind.

I handed everyone their drinks and we found a
corner to stand in. Cindy leaned close to me.

“Any woman's phone number in here you want,
let me know. We'll get it.”

I shook my head. Cindy always looked out for
me. Probably a little too much.

“Jesus,” Jenny said. “Look at those two.”

I followed her finger. Dave and Tina were
making out like crazy on the dance floor. I thought any moment he'd
throw her to the ground and make their own porn film.

“Leese will be dropping them off at a hotel
tonight.”

Someone behind Dave and Tina caught my
attention. There was a red-headed woman standing next to the
platform where the DJ was and others were dancing. She wasn't
dancing or drinking. She leaned against the railing and stared
right at me.

I took a sip of my water. I expected when I
looked back over at her that she'd be looking somewhere else. I was
wrong. She still stared right at me. And it wasn't an “I think
you're sexy” stare. There was a curiosity in her body language.

I looked at Cindy. “Hey. Do you see that
redhead over there? Don't stare. But do you see her?”

Cindy casually searched to where I was
gesturing. “I don't see any redhead.”

I looked back to the DJ. Sure enough, she was
gone. I searched around the dance floor. In just a matter of
seconds, I couldn't find her. You gotta love clubs.

“Can't blame her, though,” Cindy said with a
smile. “I'd stare at you too.”

I opened my mouth to throw a joke out when
Alicia joined us.

“Hey guys,” she said. “One of the pool tables
is open upstairs. Let's get some games in.”

I liked that idea. I'm not great at pool, but
like playing it. We made our way up the stairs to the second level
of the club. Near the back were the pool tables. Alicia and Jenny
played first. I cheered my little sister on as always, while Jenny
gave me dirty looks. Cindy sat next to me and rested an arm on my
shoulder.

They were about halfway done their first game
when I heard a voice off to my left.

“Hi guys.”

We all turned to look at her. The redhead I'd
seen staring at me not too long ago. Now that she was only ten feet
away I could get a good look at her.

Very
gorgeous. Red hair that stopped
past the shoulders. Deep green eyes. A skirt that went just above
the knees. Rather pale skin. A bright smile. Absolutely amazing
body. She looked about our age, maybe a little older.

“You guys mind if I play with you?”

Alicia looked at all of us. When none of us
objected, she shrugged.

“Sure. You can have winner of our game if you
want.”

“I want to play him, if that's alright.” She
pointed at me.

I saw Alicia give me a look. She smiled and
nodded, like she was proud of me that I could attract such a
beautiful woman.

The redhead sat next to me while we waited
for Jenny and Alicia to finish. I didn't say a word to her. Cindy
nudged me, trying to get me to talk to her.

I somehow knew she wasn't interested in me.
She was here for another reason. I just didn't know what it
was.

Alicia finally beat Jenny. She pretended to
put Jenny in a headlock while tossing the pool cue to me.

“Well, you ready?” the redhead said to
me.

I nodded. Cindy and I locked eyes for a
moment before I started racking. Her eyes said it all. She was
wondering what was wrong with me, why I wasn't chatting up this
beautiful woman.

“Aren't you the stud with all these women,”
she said. She never took her eyes off me at the other end of the
pool table.

She was playing a game of some kind. Was she
actually flirting or interested in me? Something deep down told me
no.

“I'm Alex. That's my sister Alicia. My
friends, Jenny and Cindy.”

“I'm Victoria. Nice to meet all of you.”

“Hi,” Cindy said, flashing her smile. “Alex
is a little shy, so you have to forgive him.”

“I think I can manage that. He is cute.”

I broke the rack, sinking a ball. I missed my
next shot. She took hers, sinking the one ball. It almost felt like
a duel of some kind.

“So do you live around here?” she asked.

“All my life.”

“I'm a traveler myself. I'm in town for a few
days. Looking to make some friends.”

“Ah.”

“You guys come out here a lot?”

“Every now and then.”

“You don't look like a drinker to me.”

“One day we'll get him drunk,” Jenny said
from next to Cindy. Now suddenly she felt the need to help out
too.

“Nah. I like a guy who's in control.”

I ended up beating her. She faked
disappointment and handed her cue to Alicia. She touched my
shoulder. I wanted to pull away, but didn't. I didn't want to make
my hesitance of Victoria obvious.

“It was nice meeting you. I hope we meet
again sometime.”

I watched her walk away and disappear into
the crowd of people. I heard Jenny behind me.

“I'll give you credit, Alex. Any other guy
would have been all over her. Julie is a lucky woman.”

Yeah, right
.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. I knew it was
Cindy.

“You
are
something.”

I looked at her. “What do you mean?”

“Any other guy would jump on the rebound
express. And a hot redhead, no question about it.”

I smiled. “You were trying to get me to talk
to her at first.”

She shook her head. “Bad idea. She was too
pushy.”

“Yeah. Not my type.”

“What
is
your type, Alex?”

The question caught me off guard. I looked at
my friend.

“Don't really know. But I know it's not
that.”

She smiled. “I'm so glad we're friends.” She
was serious. No humor in her voice.

Again, the sudden bonding surprised me. I
gave her a quick, playful hug. She did the same.

“What would I do without you?”

“You wouldn't make it a week. Now get me some
more water, bitch.”

I laughed.

I complain about clubs a lot, but I usually
end up having fun. I always have the company to thank for that. I
always have fun with Alicia and Cindy, of course. Dave and Tina
just made me laugh. They were a funny couple. Jenny was quiet, but
I liked her too.

There was one more surprise in store for
me.

It was getting close to the end of the night.
Dave and Tina ran off to who-knows-where. Jenny actually met a guy,
and was at the bar talking to him. Alicia had to go to the
bathroom. It was just me and Cindy, leaning against the wall with
our waters.

“So, you having fun?” she asked me.

“Yeah. I just get tired of you whipping my
ass at pool.”

“You let me win.”

“Bullshit. I wouldn't let my own mother
win.”

She laughed. “I'm glad you had fun.”

I knew what she was referring to.

“I'll probably hide in bed all day tomorrow,”
I said. “But thanks for looking out for me.”

“That's what friends are for. Tomorrow I'll
pull you out of bed and get us a pizza. We'll become one with the
couch and watch some movies.”

I laughed. “Sounds good.”

“Now, what do I have to do to get you out
there and dance with me?”

“Probably a lot of beer. But I don't drink.
So that's that.”

“Come on, Alex. It'll be fun. I'll hang all
over you like Tina does to Dave.”

“We'll probably get arrested then. Come on,
you know white people can't dance.”

Her turn to laugh. “Well, I'm gonna dance.
And if you don't come I'll look stupid dancing all alone.”

She walked out to the dance floor. I shook my
head while holding up the wall. But I couldn't take my eyes off
her. Cindy grew up from a spunky five-year-old girl to a sexy
woman, all right in front of me. She had that beauty that went
across all races. Once people found out we were friends, color
didn't matter. I had whites, blacks, Asians, Hispanics, all asking
if Cindy was single. Everyone wanted to talk to her. Can't say I
blame them.

Maybe somebody spiked the water, I don't
know. But I decided I was gonna dance badly with her. She was
trying her best to have fun with me. What better way than to laugh
together at how bad a dancer I am.

I took two steps away from the wall when
suddenly a pair of arms slipped around me. I looked into the eyes
of Victoria, the hot redhead. I noticed for the first time that she
was about an inch shorter than me.

“Put your arms around me. Right now. Make it
look like we're dancing.”

Her voice had changed from earlier. The
flirty tone was gone. She wore a smile, but she was all business. I
thought I heard a slight accent that I didn't hear before.

She squeezed me. I actually felt the air rush
out of my lungs. For a few seconds I couldn't draw a breath. Then
she eased her grip.

“I could kill you right here, right now, and
no one will really notice. Now put your arms around me.”

“No. Fuck you. You won't hurt me, cause you
want something from me. Now let me go.”

I don't where that came from. I'd never been
threatened before in my life, unless you count schoolyard bullies
that Cindy saved me from. But there I was, mouthing off to someone
who obviously wasn't what she seemed.

She actually smiled.

“Fair enough.”

She let me go. But she did grab a hold of my
hand. The entire time she never let the smile fade from her
face.

“Who are you?”

I was confused. “I told you. My name's Alex.
I don't know what you're problem is, but I think you got me
confused for someone else.”

“Okay. Enough games. Listen to me. I don't
know who or what you are. But this place is under my protection.
Get to whatever business you have and leave.”

I felt a hand on my shoulder.

“Hi guys,” Cindy said. “I was looking for
you, Alex.”

Victoria's personality shifted once
again.

“Hi, Cindy,” she said. “Listen, I'll get
right to it. You and Alex aren't dating, right?”

“Nope. Not at all. He's all yours.”

“Just what I wanted to hear.”

Victoria winked at me. Then she walked
away.

I watched the curvy stranger. Her words still
bounced in my mind.

Who are you? What are you?

“Man, that is one aggressive bitch.”

I didn't smile. “You ain't lying.”

“Hey. Did I mess up there? It looked like you
needed saving. But if you're interested...“

“Oh no, Cindy. You definitely saved me.”

“Good. I'm picking your next girlfriend. No
one's ever breaking up with you again.”

I looked at Cindy and smiled. “It's a
deal.”

The rest of the night went smoothly. It ended
up being almost three in the morning before everyone got home.
Cindy wanted to stop by my place and watch TV, but I was tired. I
just wanted to get to bed. I wanted to go to sleep and dwell on the
fun stuff. I wanted to forget about girlfriends that broke up for
reasons unknown and hot redheads that were freakishly strong and
got people mixed up.

I don't know what time I woke up the next
morning, but the sun was up high. The first thing I did when I woke
up was reach over for Julie. She always stayed over my apartment on
the weekends. My heart sank when I realized she wasn't there, and
the memory of the day before flooded back.

That's right. I'm single again.

I sat up in bed for a minute, taking it all
in. I'd have to get used to sleeping alone on the weekends one more
time.