Shadow Keeper (18 page)

“You don’t know anything about her, or what happened at the minimart. Besides, it’s really none of your business.”

“Maybe, but I could make it my business.” She put her foot on the bench beside my hip. “I could do a lot of things for you.” She slipped off her sandal and put her bare foot in my lap. “Does this give you a hint of what I could do for you?”

“If you mean, make my crotch smell like your foot, then no thanks.”

“How about if I take care of your problem like a woman and not like a little tease?”

I didn’t want Regina to take care of anything for me. I grabbed her ankle, but her toes dug into me. “Move it, or I’ll flip you onto the ground.”

She put her hands on my shoulders and leaned closer. “Ooh, are you going to get rough? I might like that.”

“Am I interrupting?” a voice asked from behind me.

That voice I
did
recognize. I tossed Regina’s leg aside and jumped off the bench. “Hey, Lisa. You’re here.”

“Would you prefer I come back later after the two of you have finished your discussion?”

I stepped toward her. “We’re through talking.”

“Right. We’re through—for now.” Regina forced her body between us and stroked her hand across my chest as she walked past. “Call me when you want to go out on our second date.”

I knocked her arm away with the back of my hand. “Don’t hold your breath.”

She glanced at Lisa. “Your boyfriend is a really great kisser. But then I guess you already know that.”

Lisa’s mouth dropped open. My mind did a quick recap. I’d told her about Regina, right?

“You dated her?” Lisa asked, but from the tone of her voice, it didn’t sound like a question.

“Yeah, once. It was before I knew you.”

“Once is apparently all it takes with her. I heard she puts out on the first date.” Her lips twisted into a grimace. “And you kissed that skanky ho on the mouth?”

“It was just a kiss.” I didn’t see what the problem was, so I tried for a lighter approach. “I’ve brushed my teeth since then.”

“Don’t joke about this, Brendon.”

“Then quit making such a big deal about it. All we did was kiss.”

“You liar,” she shouted.

“I am not lying.” My tone matched her angry pitch. “Besides I went out with her before we ever met, so it’s not like I cheated on you or anything.”

“But you’re still a liar. You said you never slept with her.”

“And I haven’t.”

“Haven’t what?” She raised both hands and made sky quotes. “
Slept
with her? I suppose you’re going to say that technically you didn’t because you were both wide awake.”

“Don’t be stupid. You know what I mean.”

“Stupid! You think I’m stupid?”

Wrong word. I knew that the second it came out of my mouth. “I didn’t mean you.” I reached for her, but she slapped away my hand.

“The only one who’s stupid here is you. I catch you with that skank’s foot rubbing all over your…your lap, and you expect me to believe nothing happened between the two of you.”

“Yeah, I do expect you to believe me.”

“Just the other day you swore to me you’d never gone out with her.”

“I never swore any such thing. All I said was that I never slept with her. And I haven’t. So it all comes down to this. Do you trust me or not?”

“Not.” Her lower lip quivered. “Maybe you’re not a cheater, but you are a liar. And the only thing I trust right now are my instincts.”

She turned and walked away. I wanted to run after her, beg her to believe me, but I didn’t think it would help.

“Sorry, man.” Carson laid his food on the table. “I should have given you a skank alert, but I didn’t see Regina until it was too late.”

“It’s not your fault Lisa doesn’t believe me.”

“Do you want to go after her?” he asked. “I’ll keep an eye on your lunch.”

“What’s the use?” I flopped down on the bench. “If she doesn’t trust me, then we shouldn’t be together.”

****

I took my time getting to Spanish class. Carson went in ahead while I paced the length of the hallway. Seeing Lisa after she just dumped me wasn’t something I looked forward to. I half considered skipping class, but playing coward wasn’t in me. I walked into the room and glanced around. She sat at the usual place. Her head was down and her hair covered her face. The only empty desk I spotted was directly behind her. I’d be damned if I’d sit there. She probably expected me to beg or grovel for her forgiveness. If she did, she’d have a long wait because I’d done nothing wrong.

I glanced around for another place to sit. Ryan Jenkins, a smart mouth little punk, pushed at my hip. “Move it, Alexander. You’re fat butt’s blocking my view.”

A sneer covered his face, like he already knew Lisa had dumped me. He picked the wrong time to mouth off. I grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and jerked him from his seat. “You’re in my spot.”

“Hey, douche bag.” Jenkins stumbled to regain his balance. “I was sitting there.”

“Not anymore.” I crawled into the seat and tossed his book on the floor by his feet.

The teacher walked around her desk. “
Señor Alexander. ¿Está used tiene un problema?”

“No, Señora Hayes
.” I slouched down in the seat.
“Todo está bien.”

****

After the football game, I headed for Carson’s pickup. The dance was already underway in the gym and I didn’t want to be anywhere near it. Lisa wouldn’t be there, but I didn’t want to see the decorations and have memories of what might have been. Before the game had even started, Carson had confirmed with Sherry that Lisa and her mother would not be attending the football game, or the dance. That information helped me concentrate on the game instead of wondering where Lisa might’ve been sitting, but my insides still hurt at the thought we wouldn’t be together anymore.

I’d only been in the pickup a few minutes when I spotted Carson walking through the dimly lit parking lot with another person. When he opened the driver’s door, the dome light popped on.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“This is Vanetti.”

“I know who he is, but what’s he doing here? He’s only a junior. I thought we were going to the broken bridge to party.”

“We need a driver.” He tossed Vanetti into the pickup and shoved him to the middle of the bench seat. “You’re riding bitch.”

“You don’t have to be so pushy, man.” Vanetti straightened his shirt.

“You ain’t seen nothing yet.” Carson jumped in the pickup and revved the engine. “If I find that you’ve even sniffed a beer bottle after I just made you the designated driver, I’ll kick the crap out of your sorry butt.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Vanetti said. “I’m not going to drink anyway. My dad is bigger than you, and if he smells alcohol on my breath, he
will
kick the crap out of me.”

“What do we need a driver for? Not that I don’t want you along, Vanetti,” I added. “But I’m always the driver because I don’t drink.”

“Not tonight, X–man. Your woman dumped you today, but you act like nothing’s wrong. You can’t keep your feelings bottled up like that or you’ll explode.”

“You’re right.” I flopped back against the seat. “In Spanish class, I almost knocked the snot out of Jenkins just because he looked at me the wrong way.”

“I know, man. I saw you. Of course, out on the field tonight, that anger worked in your favor. You were on fire. You ran right over those linebackers. Some of them were huge.”

“They hit hard too.” I flexed the muscles in my back. “I’m going to feel it tomorrow.”

“That’s why you’re going to drink a couple beers with me. You’re always the calm, quiet one. Tonight, you’re going to blow off some steam.”

“Fine. Just don’t let me do anything stupid.”

“You got it, X–man. I’ll always have your back.”

Chapter Twenty–Three

Broken bridge set about three miles outside of town in the middle of nowhere. The bridge collapsed thirty–some years ago, but the county never bothered to fix it. No one came down the road anymore because it dead ended at the creek.

A few other kids had already beaten us there and had a fire going inside a pit ringed with rocks. With Esparto being such a small school, everyone knew everyone else and no one had a problem partying together. I set up the folding canvas chairs while Carson put the ice chest on the tailgate of his pickup.

“Here you go, X–man.” He used a church key to pop the cap off the bottle. “You deserve the first one.”

I grabbed the dripping wet bottle and took a swig. The beer fizzled over my tongue and slithered down my throat. My lips curled back against my teeth. “How can you drink this crap? It tastes like somebody peed in it.”

“That’s the rumor.” Carson slouched into the chair beside me. “The beer is made in Mexico. Down there, they don’t let the workers take breaks, so they have to pee in the vat.”

I peered through the clear glass bottle at the foaming, amber colored liquid. “I believe it. And you drink it anyway?”

“You’ll get used to it.”

The whine of an engine caught my attention. I glanced at the headlights of a car tearing down the deserted road toward us. “That looks like Paul’s car. I thought he went to the dance with Sherry.”

“Maybe he brought her with him.”

My gaze went to the other party goers; all single males without a woman. “Why would he bring her here to a party of losers?”

“Thanks, man.” His voice carried his sarcasm.

“You’re welcome.” I clanked my bottle against his. “I’ll always have your back.”

“Hey,
Pablo
,” Carson shouted as Paul climbed from the car alone. “
¿
Que paso, hombre?”

Paul approached the camp area. “Looks like you started the party without me.”

“We didn’t know you were coming.” I turned in the chair to see him better. He walked to the back of the pickup. “Where’s Sherry?”

“We broke up. Women!” He dug a beer from the ice chest. “Said she didn’t trust me. Do you believe that crap?”

“At least your woman had a good reason to distrust you. You cheated on her.”

“I know.” Paul flopped into a canvas chair on the other side of me.

His bloodshot eyes peeked out of puffy eyelids. My first guess was he’d been crying. Telling him
I told you so
didn’t seem like a good idea. I leaned to him and clanked my bottle to his. “Here’s to the women we love.”

“Dude?” Paul stared at the beer bottle in my hand. “If you’re drinking, who’s going to drive?”

“Vanetti.” I nodded across the fire to where he sat. “Carson told him he could hang with us if he’d be the driver.”

Paul held up his beer bottle, saluting him. “You’re the man.”

Vanetti lifted his can of soda in the air, as if invisibly clanking it to Paul’s beer.

“Cool.” Paul leaned back and stared up at the stars.

Carson got up and walked around the fire pit. He kicked at the end of a log sticking out of the stone circle. “Do you think this needs more wood?”

“Feels good to me.” I leaned back in the chair, enjoying the warmth.

“You didn’t even look at it.”

“I saw enough. Besides, you’re not supposed to look directly at the flames. My father told me that staring into a campfire causes night blindness.”

“Oh, yeah?” Carson said in his usual goofy way. “Well, my old man told me whacking off too much can make you go blind, but that’s never happened.”

Paul sat up straighter in the chair. “I suppose if anybody would know, Carson, it would be you.”

“Damn straight.” He grabbed another log and dumped it on the fire. The glowing embers of the burning logs crackled and flew into the air.

My gaze lingered over the orange flames. There was something soothing about staring at the fire. The dancing light had a life of its own as it flickered and changed colors. The logs sizzled and the flames flared from the center of the dry wood. Smoke curled upward into the cool night air.

The fire seemed to beckon to me. I leaned closer, my eyes unflinching as I studied the growing flame. A face appeared within the flourishing light. Two dark eyes stared back at me. The mouth opened as if to speak.

“Wow!” I rocked back in the chair. “Did you see that?” I glanced at Carson.

“See what?”

“A face in the fire.”

“Yeah, man. Right.”

“No, I’m serious. I saw the face of a man in the fire. He was trying to speak to me.”

Carson squinted at me through narrowed eyelids like I was crazy. Maybe I was. I glanced back at the fire. The face had vanished and only flames flickered within the stone circle.

“You built this too big,” Paul said. “The cops will see it from ten miles away. Then we’ll all get busted.” He climbed out of the chair and poured beer over the fire.

Gray smoke billowed up from the doused flames. Dark, puffy streamers swirled above the smoldering campfire and transformed into odd shapes that twined together. In a fiery flash, the form of a man unfolded from the smoky clouds like a wave breaking against the rocks.