Flying Backwards (11 page)

They didn’t often get a chance to hang out together because of their various trip schedules, so it was a rare occasion indeed. Rebecca came by the most often. They didn’t see Jackie as much, and this was the first time they’d convinced Miguel to join them.

Over pre-club drinks in the townhouse Rebecca apologized to her friends because she was asking for a transfer to the North Carolina base. She was having a tough time making Philadelphia her home. Rebecca shared an apartment with two roommates who were best friends, and Rebecca felt like a third wheel. She said she was glad that Bree and Nora always welcomed her. Nora nodded, understanding Rebecca’s plight. She somehow knew she wouldn’t be calling Philly her home forever either.

Tonight Tyrone, the guy Bree had been dating, was planning to meet them at one of the nightclubs. Nora had a funny feeling it would prove to be an interesting evening. Even though they lived together, Nora and Bree would sometimes not see each other for a couple weeks at a time, which meant she hadn’t yet met the elusive Tyrone. But she had overheard some disturbing phone calls. She heard Bree say things like, “No! I wasn’t out with another guy!” Or, “Yeah, I can find my own ride.” Or, “I’m not going to say anything.” Or, “No one knows.” Nora had decided not to ask Bree about the calls until she had met Tyrone, although what she heard left Nora wondering what kind of guy he was.

Nora and her friends were enjoying catching up and sharing crazy stories from their flights. They walked to the local hotspot and began dancing as the night went on. They finally met up with Sergei and Alexei, the Russian pilots who flew for a freight airline and lived across the street from Nora and Bree. Sergei had noticed Bree outside her townhouse wearing her uniform just after the girls had moved in. They struck up a conversation and had been friends ever since. A few times Sergei and Alexei had joined the girls for pizza and a movie, but usually the four of them sat out on the stoop on nights when the weather was nice and their schedules happened to sync, drinking and hanging out. Rebecca had hung out on the stoop with them a couple of times.

Nora introduced the pilots to Jackie and Miguel when they arrived. Jackie and Miguel stood near the dance floor, watching the dancers. The Russian guys were not much for dancing so they hung out at the bar. Nora thought they were both really nice guys, and she was thankful to have a good group of friends. Back in her old life she only hung out with Phillip or her family.
I’ve been missing out!

From the dance floor, Nora smiled across the room at Sergei. She could not help but notice that he kept a watchful eye on her. Nora found the pulse of the music primal and intoxicating. A couple of guys made a move and tried to dance with her. She acted as if she was interested for a minute, flirting with her eyes and tossing her hair, then she’d back away and slip into the crowd with a little wave good-bye. Oh, the look on those boys faces! Just when they thought they had her… Her smile was sly, and she felt powerful and naughty, which was out of character. She did not care. She had never before been anyone’s object of desire. Phillip hadn’t
desired
her. He never made her feel like this. Since her time with Antonio she’d felt something awaken within her, and she wanted to explore just what that was.

After a while, Nora returned to her circle of friends. Suddenly, a tune motivated quiet Miguel to show off his moves on the dance floor. The crowd parted; his old-school break-dance moves had the dancers cheering him on. Nora and Bree exchanged surprised glances.

“Wow–he’s amazing!” Nora yelled to Jackie, who wore an all-knowing smile. She had spent a lot of time on the Miami scene in the clubs with Miguel. They all felt loose and friendly after drinking for several hours. Even Rebecca, their Southern Christian girl, grooved with a beer in her hand.

The drama started when Tyrone made an appearance around midnight. He arrived with a gang of friends, who dominated one side of the bar. When Bree introduced Nora to him, Tyrone barely gave her a glance. “What’s up,” he murmured into his drink.

Bree was all smiles. “Hey, babe, do you want to join us on the dance floor?” trying to entice Tyrone to join her friends. Bree exchanged mini handwaves with Rebecca, who was grooving with some guy on the dance floor. Tyrone’s eyes cut across the dance floor and slid back to Bree.

“Naw…‌And you stay here with me.” Bree stayed next to him, but he turned away and ignored her while he talked to his fellas. Nora could tell it bothered her friend, but Bree pretended everything was fine.

The next song was cued up. “Let’s go back out–I love this song!” Nora grabbed Bree’s hand, only to have Tyrone clamp it.

“She’s sittin’ wit’ me.” He smiled, but it did not reach his eyes. “You go ahead though, it being your favorite song and all.”

“Yes! Go! I haven’t seen Tyrone all night,” Bree urged. Nora slid her hand out of the sandwich.
What an asshole
, Nora thought.
Why is Bree with this guy?
Clearly Bree was uncomfortable and not hiding it well.

“Okay,” Nora chirped and walked away. What was she going to do–argue with Tyrone in the deafening, packed club?

Nora joined Sergei and Alexei at the bar. “I need a drink.”

“Some vodka?” Sergei teased.

“I’ll do a shot,” she announced. Somehow Tyrone had had a sobering effect, and Nora wasn’t ready to be sober. She’d been having a great time until he showed up.

Sergei’s loud, deep voice with its heavy Russian accent caught the bartender’s attention. “Three shots of vodka–top shelf.” Sergei’s loud voice always caused heads to turn. He was tall and well muscled. His blond hair was cut short, and his pale blue eyes sparkled when he laughed. Nora really liked him. She’d seen him angry a couple times and hoped to always remain on his good side. He could appear quite menacing when he wanted to.

Nora had noticed that Sergei had been keeping the corner of his eye on her all night. She knew his eyes lingered a little longer when she moved on the dance floor.

“What’s going on? That sleazeball with Bree–did he upset you?”

Nora sat on the stool he gave up for her, and her face softened. She appreciated that Sergei could tell she was upset. “That’s Bree’s boyfriend.” She looked down the bar at them; Tyrone and Bree were in a heated argument. When Sergei called her name she blinked out of her trance. She did not know how long she’d been watching them. He handed her the shot of vodka.

The three of them raised their glasses, calling the famous Russian toast “Nostrovia!” in unison. Three heads tilted back, taking their shots, and then three glasses clanked on the table. Sergei and Alexei chuckled at the face Nora made. She was soon distracted by someone calling her name. She twisted around to see Jackie, Miguel, and Rebecca standing near Bree, as close as they could get in the crowd. Rebecca was pointing frantically toward Bree and Tyrone. Tyrone’s gang was already heading out the door, and he was still arguing with Bree, standing over her and yelling in her face.

“What the hell!” Anger flashed in Nora’s eyes as she watched her friend being berated by some loser boyfriend. Everything was happening fast.

“Get the tab, we’re leaving,” Sergei said to Alexei over Nora’s head.

She shoved her way down the packed bar. “Excuse me! Excuse me!”
These drunk bastard’s won’t move
, she thought. She wasn’t very big, but her bony elbows helped her open a path.

By the time she reached Rebecca, Rebecca was frantic. “Nora, don’t let Bree go with him.” Nora saw Bree following Tyrone out the door and rushed to follow them. Outside, Bree was pleading with Tyrone.

“I swear, babe, he never touched me.” Bree followed him like a puppy dog. Nora had never seen her like this.
Why is she with this loser?

“Why are you a lying bitch? I saw it with my own eyes,” he accused.

“Bree!” Nora yelled. An electric-orange muscle car pulled up to the curb. The door swung open, and Tyrone moved toward it. “Bree, let’s go home,” Nora suggested as she reached Bree’s side.

Suddenly Tyrone turned around and shot Nora a warning look. He’d already taken several steps toward the car, leaving Bree standing there, but after Nora staked her claim, Tyrone seemed to have acquired a renewed interest in Bree. “Bree, get in the car.”

Bree looked at him, clearly confused.

“I said get in the car, bitch.”

“I don’t think so,” Sergei’s heavily accented voice bellowed. He’d followed Nora through the crowd and out the door. She hadn’t even noticed. Her heart skipped a beat.
Thank God for Sergei.

Three of Tyrone’s buddies started to climb out of the tricked-out vehicle. Tyrone acted cocky until Alexei, who was three inches taller than Sergei, jogged out of the bar and asked, “Is there trouble?” The duo was a threatening pair. Nora knew that boxing was one of their hobbies. As a result Alexei’s face was all angles, and Sergei’s nose was crooked.

“No trouble,” Tyrone said to the Russians, backing away. His friends slid back into the car. He spit at the ground in Bree’s direction and said to her, “You ain’t worth no trouble, bitch.” The car was already pulling away before Tyrone could shut the door all the way.

Nora let out a long sigh. She had not realized she’d been holding her breath. She was so relieved Bree had not left with that guy. She grabbed Bree’s hand. “Let’s go home.” Rebecca, Jackie, and Miguel came out of the club just then. Their concern was evident, but Bree did not want to face them. Nora was sure her friend was embarrassed.

“What happened?” Rebecca ran up and hugged Bree. “Are you all right?”

Bree looked like she was about to cry. Nora assured her, “Everything’s fine now. We’re going home.”

As the group walked silently toward their street, Jackie spoke up. “We’re going to take off. Miguel didn’t drink that much. He’s going to drive us home. Want a ride, Rebecca?” Rebecca nodded, and the three of them crossed the street to head toward their car.

“Okay. I’ll call you tomorrow,” Nora yelled in farewell. Bree kept walking, her arms tightly folded over her chest.

When they reached the brownstone, Sergei and Alexei stopped on the sidewalk. Bree, who had been silent the whole time, ran up the steps and slammed the door behind her.

Nora thanked them again. “What would I have done if you were not there? What could I have done?” Nora sat on the stoop. Sergei joined her.

Alexei said, “Good night.”

“Night,” they replied at the same time.

“Oh my God, Sergei, I can’t believe that guy.” Nora gritted her teeth. Sergei sighed in response.

“You were pretty brave, standing up to that punk. I’ve never seen you so angry. How were you planning on stopping him?” Sergei pulled at a wavy lock of Nora’s hair that hung down her back.

She looked at him, unable to think of an answer. “I don’t know. Honestly, I’m really glad you were there.” She became distracted, her mind wrestling to find a solution for this problem. “Ahh.” She released some frustration. “I don’t understand any of this. I’ve been working so much… I didn’t know this was going on with Tyrone. Bree never really talked about him. Oh…” She suddenly remembered the phone calls. “I’m an idiot!” She placed both her hands on her head and shook it. “I’ve got to go talk to her.” She placed her hand on his bicep. It was so large her whole hand and fingers lay flat without her fingers curling. “Thank you for following me out of the club. I don’t know what I would have done without you and Alexei.”

Sergei had been leaning back against the upper stair tread. He slowly sat up and placed one hand on the small of her back. The other skimmed her knee and began easing upward before resting on her bare skin.

An alarm went off in Nora’s brain. She braced her hands again his chest. “Sergei, I…” she whispered. She didn’t know what to say. Her words stopped the kiss she knew he was ready to give her. Antonio’s face flashed across her eyes, but she scolded herself,
No commitments–just having fun!
She thought about the possibility of kissing Sergei, but the timing was all wrong. “I need to go inside. I’m sorry.”

“You are a good friend to her, Nora.” His face was so close to hers she could smell the vodka on his breath.

“So are you,” she whispered, searching his eyes for a clue about what he was feeling. Sergei just grunted in agreement. He slipped his hands from her body and lifted himself off the stoop. He walked toward his brownstone across the street. Nora felt a chill where the heat of Sergei’s body had been. He had been going to kiss her! And she didn’t think she’d mind kissing him back. She would have to think about that later. Right now, she needed to talk to Bree. She scrambled up the steps, slipped inside, and locked the door behind her.

Nora knocked on her bedroom door. “Bree, can I come in?”

“I’m going to sleep.”

Nora opened the door. “Please talk to me. Are you okay? What is going on? Why are you seeing that guy?” Nora blurted as she crossed the room and sat at the end of Bree’s bed.

Bree had the covers pulled up to her chin. “I don’t know. He was all right for a while. He’s not usually like that.”

“Why were you arguing?” Watching Tyrone yelling in Bree’s face had made Nora’s blood boil.

“Oh, that.” She waved her hand. “Tyrone thought some guy next to me grabbed my ass, but he didn’t. He acts crazy when he gets jealous.”

“He was a jerk the whole time. Bree, you deserve to be with someone better than that loser. Please tell me you won’t see him again. You’re not planning on seeing him again, are you?” Nora knew she could not tell her friend what to do, so she was reduced to pleading.

Bree shook her head, and Nora felt relieved. Nora had the impression that Bree’s fondness for bad boys had to do with her family life. Bree had confessed before that guys she’d dated drove her parents crazy. There had been an older musician and then some guy with questionable tattoos. Her parents’ divorce seemed to have exacted a toll on Bree’s choices for healthy relationships.

“Thanks, Nora, for looking out for me.” Bree’s chest softly convulsed, and humiliated tears spilled from her eyes.

After Nora tucked Bree into bed she slipped from the room. She scrubbed her face clean, slipped on a T-shirt, and snuggled under her grandmother’s quilt with a heavy sigh. She was worried about her friend. Nora was dismayed that she had been right about Tyrone. She’d had a bad feeling about him from the beginning. She thought again how lucky she was to have Sergei and Alexei to help her.