Slammed (19 page)

“
You…
drug
him?” I ask. I’m trying to hold back the laughter.

“
Over 200 yards. After I hit him the first time, I kept backing up and his pant leg got hung up in the bumper. I broke his leg. Joel was so worried they were going to sue, he made me take food to him at the hospital every day for a week. That’s when we fell in love.”

“
You’re lucky you didn’t kill him,” Nick says. “You’d be locked up on a hit and run charge
and
involuntary manslaughter. Poor Gavin would be ten feet under.”

“
Six
feet under!” I laugh.

“
I’d love to hear your stupid story Layken, but it’s gonna have to wait. We’re gonna be late,” Eddie says as she scoots out of the booth.

***

On our drive to the slam, Eddie pulls a folded up sheet of paper out of her back pocket.

“
What’s that?” I ask her.

“
It’s my poem. I’m going to slam tonight.”

“
Seriously? God you're brave.”

“
Not really. The first time Gavin and I went, I promised myself I would do one before I turned eighteen. My birthday is next week. When Mr. Cooper told us we could skip the final if we performed, I took it as a sign.”

“
I would just
say
I did one, Mr. Cooper won’t know. I doubt he’ll be there,” Nick says.

“
No,” Gavin says. “He’ll be there. He’s always there.”

The empty feeling in my stomach returns, despite being full from supper. I slide my hands across my pants and fix my eyes on a star outside the window. I’ll wait to join back in the conversation until the subject changes.

“
Man, Vaughn really did a number on him,” Nick says.

I cock my head in Nick’s direction. Eddie sees the interest perk in me and she folds her paper up and puts it back in her pocket.

“
His ex,” she says. “They dated their last two years of high school. They were
the
couple. Homecoming queen, football star…"

“
Football? He played football?” I’m shocked. This doesn’t sound like Will.

“
Oh yeah, star quarterback three years running,” Nick says. “We were freshmen when he was a senior. He was a nice guy, I guess.”

“
Can’t say the same about Vaughn,” Gavin says.

“
Why? Was she a bitch?” I ask.

“
Honestly, she wasn’t that bad in high school. It’s what she did to him after they graduated. After his parents…” Eddie’s voice trails off.

“
What’d she do?” I sound too interested, I know.

“
She dumped him. Two weeks after his parents were killed in a car wreck. He had a football scholarship but lost it when he had to move back home to take care of his little brother. Vaughn told everyone she wasn’t marrying a college dropout with a kid. So, that’s it. He lost his parents, his girlfriend, his scholarship
and
became a guardian all in the same two week time frame.”

I return my gaze out the window. I don’t want Eddie to see the tears welling up in my eyes. This explains so much. It explains why he’s scared to take everything away from me, like it was taken from him. All this time I've been assuming his feelings just aren't as strong for me as mine are for him. Maybe I'm wrong. I fade out of the conversation as I become entranced with the falling snow as we drive toward Detroit.

“
Here,” Eddie whispers as she lays something in my lap. A tissue. I squeeze her hand to thank her, then wipe the tears from my eyes.

9.

“
A slight figure of speech

I cut my chest wide open

They come and watch us bleed

Is it art like I was hoping now?”

-The Avett Brothers, Slight Figure of Speech

Chapter Nine

When we enter the building, I immediately search for Will. Nick and Gavin lead us to a table on the floor, so much more exposed than the booth Will and I sat in. The sac has already performed and they are well into round one. Eddie goes to the judges table and pays her money and comes back.

“
Layken, come to the bathroom with me,” she says as she pulls me out of my chair.

When we get in the bathroom, she backs me up to the sink and stands in front of me with her hands on my shoulders.

“
Snap out of it girl! We’re here to have fun.” She reaches into her purse and pulls out her makeup bag. She wets her thumbs under the faucet and wipes mascara from underneath my eyes. She meticulously applies my makeup. She’s extremely focused on the task. No one’s ever done my makeup before besides me. She pulls a brush out of her purse and pushes me forward, brushing my hair upside down over my head. I feel like a ragdoll. She pulls me back up and does some fancy handiwork as her fingers twist and pull at my hair. She steps back and smiles as though she’s admiring her accomplishment.

“
There.”

She turns me to the mirror and my jaw drops to the floor. I can’t believe it. I look…
pretty.
My bangs are pulled into a French braid that hangs loose down my shoulder. The soft amber hue of eye shadow brings out my eyes. My lips are defined but not too colorful. I look just like my mother.

“
Wow. You have a gift, Eddie.”

“
I know. Twenty-nine brothers and sisters in nine years, you’re bound to learn a few tricks.”

She pulls me out of the bathroom and we head back. As we approach our seats, I stop. Eddie stops too, since she has hold of my hand and is suddenly being jerked back. She follows my gaze to our table and sees Javi…and Will.

“
Looks like we have company,” she says as she winks at me. She tries to pull me forward but I pull her hand back. My feet are weighted to the floor beneath me.

“
Eddie, it’s not like that. I don’t want you thinking it’s like that.”

She turns and faces me and takes my hands in hers.

“
I don’t think
anything,
Layken. But, if it really
isn’t
like that, it would explain the obvious tension between you two,” she says.

“
It’s only obvious to you.”

“
And that’s how it shall remain,” she says as she pulls me forward.

When we reach the table, all eight eyes are focused on me. I want to run.

“
Damn girl, you look good,” Javi says.

Gavin glares at Javi and then smiles back at me. “Eddie got hold of you, did she?” He wraps his arm around Eddie’s waist and pulls her to him, leaving me to fend for myself.

Nick pulls a chair out for me and I take it. I glance up at Will and he gives me a half smile. I know what it means. He thinks I look pretty.

“
Alright we’ve got four more performers for round one. Next one goes by the name of Eddie. Where is he?”

I look at Eddie as she rolls her eyes and stands. “I’m a
she
!”

“
Oh, my bad. There she is. Come on up Ms. Eddie,”

Eddie gives Gavin a quick peck on the lips and bounces to the stage, her confidence pouring from her smile. Everyone takes a seat other than Will. Javi takes the seat to my left and the only available seat at the table is to my right. Will hesitates before he takes a step and finally sits.

“
What are you performing Eddie?” the emcee asks her.

She leans into the microphone and says, “Pink Balloon."

As soon as the emcee is off the stage, Eddie loses her smile and goes into her zone.

My name is Olivia King

I am five years old.

My mother bought me a
balloon
. I remember the day she walked through the front door with it. The curly hot pink ribbon
trickling
down her arm,
wrapped
around her
wrist
. She was
smiling
at me as she
untied
the ribbon and wrapped it around my hand.

“
Here Livie, I bought this for you.”

She called me
Livie.

I was so
happy.
I’d
never
had a
balloon
before. I mean, I always saw balloons wrapped around
other
kids wrists in the parking lot of
Wal-Mart
,
but I never
dreamed
I would have my very
own
.

My
very own
pink balloon.

I was so
excited!
So
ecstatic!
So
thrilled!
I couldn’t
believe
my mother bought me something! She’d
never
bought me
anything
before! I played with it for
hours
. It was full of
helium
and it
danced
and
swayed
and
floated
as I
drug
it around from
room
to
room
with me, thinking of places to take it. Thinking of places the balloon had
never
been before. I took it in the
bathroom,
the
closet,
the
laundry room,
the
kitchen,
the
living room
. I wanted my new best friend to see
everything
I saw! I took it to my mother’s
bedroom!

My mothers

Bedroom?

Where I wasn’t supposed to
be?

With my pink

balloon…

I
covered
my
ears
as she
screamed
at me,
wiping
the
evidence
off of her
nose!
She
slapped
me across the face as she told me how
bad
I was! How much I
misbehaved!
How I never
listened!
She
shoved
me into the hallway and
slammed
the door, locking my pink balloon inside with her. I wanted him
back!
He was
my
best friend
! Not hers!
The pink ribbon was
still
tied around my
wrist
so I
pulled
and
pulled,
trying to get my new best friend
away
from her.