VIP (5 page)

“You
clean up nice! You looked great before, now you just look amazing. Are you
ready?”

“I am,” I
assured him, with a smile.

The more
things change, the more they stay the same. School had started up again for all
of us. We rode our bikes together to and from school everyday. I was never a
huge fan of school especially when I was younger, I preferred playing baseball
or being anywhere near the water. Although, school had been an easy transition
for Oli; she loved to learn. Since Julia and I were the total opposite of her,
we often made fun of her.

“Where are
you going, Babygirl?” I yelled, as Julia hauled ass on her bike right after
school.

“I have
to go to the bathroom. I’ll see you guys at the house.”

Oli
smiled a weak smile over at me. I let her stay one tire in front, just so I
could watch her.

“Sebby?”
she softly peddled as we barely crept. We were going just fast enough to keep
our bikes from toppling over.

“Hmmm?”
I replied.

She
didn’t look at me. She kept her head slightly down. “How come you never said
anything about that day?”

“What
day, Oli?” I knew what she was asking. I was feigning ignorance, not exactly
sure how to respond.

“You
know. That day you made me jump off the swing. We never talked about kissing.”

“Did you
want to?”

She
shrugged her shoulders. “I just, I don’t know. I kind of liked it.”

I
snickered a little. “I kind of liked it to, Oli.”

“You
know Julia likes you, right?”

“Nah,
Julia and I are just friends. We’re too close. She’s like my right arm or
something.”

“I don’t
think so. She likes you.”

“Does
that bother you?”

She
shrugged again. It did bother her. I could tell. “I love her. I would never do
anything to hurt her.”

“I love
her too, Oli. I would never intentionally hurt her either.”

We rode
in silence for a few minutes.

“Oli?”

“Yeah,”
she said, looking back at me.

“Do you
want to do it again?”

I saw
the instant small smile, like she was trying to hide it or something. “Do you?”
she asked.

“Maybe,
just to see, you know, see if we still like it.”

“Okay, but
not in the middle of the street, someone will see us.”

Pumping
my legs, I pulled around her. “Follow me,” I beckoned, trying to hide my own
smile.

I darted
through the sidewalks and quickly made our way to the neighborhood clubhouse;
we went around the back of the building where no one could see us.

Keeping
my hands tightly around the handlebars, I backed my bike up beside hers. We
kind of stared into each other’s eyes, briefly. It was rather awkward. Neither
of us knew what the hell we were doing.

“Just do
it, Sebby,” she coaxed.

I did. I
leaned in, as she did. I was expecting it to be like the last time. Kind of
like a relative kiss. It started off that way and I was about to pull away when
Oli parted her lips for me. I pulled my tongue back when it touched hers, and then
hers sought mine out, turning it into something, I’m not even sure what. It was
wet, sloppy, and amazing.

Oli was
the one to pull away from my lips. I didn’t want to stop. I wanted to kiss her
for the rest of my life.

“Did you
still like it?” she asked, quietly.

“Uh-uh,”
I stupidly replied, still dazed and confused.

She
laughed. “Come on, I’ll race you home,” she wagered.

It took
me a moment. I couldn’t move. My legs didn’t seem to remember how to make the
stupid bike go.

“Come on,
Sebby,” Oli called, pulling me from the most amazing trance I’d ever been in.
We made our way back to her house and parked our bikes in the garage. Julia was
in the kitchen making us sandwiches as we walked through the door.

“What
took you guys so long?” She wondered.

“Oh,
Sebby forgot his math book, so I waited for him.”

            Julia
laughed, while looking over at me, which made me inadvertently shrug my
shoulders.

“Sebby…what
would you do without us?” She questioned.

“Good
thing I never have to find out.” I remarked.

Oli
looked over at me with a huge smile, I knew mine matched her own. She had a
glow about her for the rest of the day. I hoped even then that Julia couldn’t
tell that something was going on between us. I never wanted to hurt Julia, I
loved her. The way I felt around Oli was undeniable. I didn’t understand those
feelings or what they were, just that they were different.

Oli and
I would steal glances at each other, and sometimes if no one was around, I
would hold her hand just to touch her skin. She was always warm and soft. We
continued as friends all three of us, playing at our waterhole.

Although
the older we got things started to shift a little. Of course, we all still
remained extremely close, things just started changing.

I
remember one afternoon when I tied our tubes together, like I often did for the
three of us to float around the waterhole. We would float like that for hours,
talking about growing up, and what we would become. We were still young and
naïve. I was going to be an astronaut, Julia was going to be a dancer, and
Olivia was going to the Olympics to win a gold metal.

“Come
on, Oli,” I coaxed, when she just sat on the bank. I guess the girls were
around twelve at the time and I was fourteen.

“No,
Sebby. I’m not getting in the water today,” she called, from the bank.

“Why
not? It’s a hundred degrees out here.”

“I don’t
want to.” She retorted.

“What do
you mean, you don’t want to? You always want to. You’re the first one in,
because you’re part fish. Now, come on.” I exclaimed.

“No, I’m
not getting in. Stop bugging me or I’m going home,” she pouted.

“Leave
her alone, Sebby,” Julia said, in a soft tone.

“What’s
the matter with her, Babygirl?”

“I can’t
tell you.” She said with a grin.

“What do
you mean, you can’t tell me? You tell me everything.”

“I can’t
tell you this. It’s a sister secret.” She wiggled her eyebrows.

I
grabbed Julia’s tube and spun her so that Olivia couldn’t see her lips moving.

“You
can’t keep secrets from me, Babygirl, we have a pact. Remember our tree house
pact?”

Julia
laughed. “We were like seven, Sebastian. I think you still thought you could be
the fifth Ninja Turtle. ”

“It
could still happen and it doesn’t matter. A pact is a contract. You can’t break
it. I can take you to court or something.”

“You cannot,”
she laughed.

“Oh I
can and I will. Now please tell me, Babygirl. I hate seeing Oli left out.”

“I can’t,
Sebby. I promised.” She whispered.

“Yes,
you can. I promise that I won’t tell her you told me.” I said, grabbing her
pinky with my own.

“You swear
on your life?”

“Yes, just
tell me already.”

“Oli got
her period.”

Whoa.
I should have let her keep that
secret. I wasn’t expecting that at all. I was expecting something like she
thought she was fat or something. I didn’t know how to react. I just froze.

“Sebby?”
Julia said, pulling me from my shock. “You promised,” she worried.

“I’m not
going to say anything to her. I promise.” No way was I saying anything. I
wished that I didn’t know. “I don’t understand, Babygirl. You can’t swim when
you have your period.” She laughed.

“Stop
laughing at me. I don’t know anything about that stuff. I’m not a girl.”

“She can
swim if she wears a tampon. She just hasn’t worked up the nerve to use one yet.
She will.”

“How do
you know?

“Because,
I got mine like six months ago.”

“You
did?”

“Yeah! Unlike
Oli I’m ecstatic about it. I love that I am finally a woman.”

“Hmm,
why is she scared about the tampon thing?”  

 “It’s
scary the first time, Sebby. You have to put it inside of you, you know?” she
explained, looking down between her legs.

I heard
enough. Too much had happened in a matter of five minutes. Periods and tampons,
I definitely needed to start hanging out with my baseball friends.

<>*<>
Y
<>*<>

I worked
a full shift that night and tried to remember how to make all the drink orders
that Devon kept ringing up. Devon was a chick magnet. They were like moths to a
flame, putting their bouncing breasts right in his face every chance they got.
Devon seemed receptive towards it, I’m not sure if he was flirting, because he
wanted to get laid, or he wanted bigger tips. As the owner, I’m assuming it was
probably both. I didn’t make many cocktails, I took care of all the easier
drinks and beer.

I was shocked
at how many people ordered vodka and club soda. I recognized that night, how
much appearances mattered in this town. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able
to fit in, however I was getting quite a bit of attention. It helped in easing
some trepidation in my mind.

I’m sure
it was expected. I had never had anyone show me this kind of attention. My
mother sure as hell never told me how beautiful I was. Some of the guys back
home did, I assumed that was for their own sexual gratification, not my esteem.
 

At the
end of the shift, I was exhausted. The bar closed at 5 a.m. We turned into a live,
happening nightclub at night, which came as a nice surprise. I really enjoyed
the music that the DJ played. Everybody referred to it as house music, the
upbeats and constant drops kept me going all night. By the time we cleaned up,
cashed, and tipped out it was close to 6:30 a.m. I counted all the money that I
had made after tipping out. I had to count it several times. I was sure my eyes
were playing tricks on me. I ended up with $252 bucks.
Yes!
I wasn’t
sleeping in some alley. I saw Devon from the corner of my eye.

“It’s
usually a slow night on Tuesdays. Did you do okay?” I looked up at him, with
disbelief in my eyes.

“Yeah…I
did more than okay. I can probably get a decent hotel for a couple of nights
now.”

“You
don’t have anywhere to go?”

Noticing
the worry in his tone, I smiled at him. “No…I don’t, I’ll be fine.” I would be
fine. I was used to taking care of myself, did it my whole fucking life.

 He
reached over and grabbed my shoulder.

“You did
really great tonight, Kid. I’m going to put you on the schedule.” I immediately
started jumping up and down. I was so happy and giddy.

“Really!
That’s great. I’m so happy.” He laughed at me.

“Great,
because I have another proposition for you. My roommate just moved out a couple
weeks ago, he got married and left all his furniture behind. His wife said
something about wanting to buy new stuff, because it was too masculine. If you
don’t mind that, the room is yours for however long you need it.”

 The
apprehension on my face was visible which made him squeeze my shoulder.

“It
shouldn’t take you too long to get on your feet. Hotels in Miami are sleazy,
unless you can afford something on South Beach, and I’m assuming you can’t. I wouldn’t
feel right letting you sleep somewhere, where I know you won’t be safe. A
pretty girl like you could get in a lot of trouble in this town. My apartment is
right on South Beach, next to Collins Street. You could walk to work, and
everything you need would be in walking distance, so transportation wouldn’t be
an issue. You could focus on finding a place and then maybe buying a car.”

“Why are
you being so nice to me?” I blurted out. I couldn’t help it. I wasn’t used to
people being nice to me. It just came out that way. How was I to know that his
intentions weren’t what my mind was convinced they were.

He had a
genuine smile on his face.

“Because,
you look like you need it, Kid.”

“What do
you want for it?” Damn, I couldn’t stop my abruptness.
I could tell by
the look in his eyes, that he was caught off guard with what I had just said. It
quickly turned to sadness.

“A thank
you, would suffice. If you want to cook me some dinners when we’re not working
a few nights a week, we would call it even.”

He
smiled again. I felt like I had won the lottery. A part of me still believed
that he wanted something more, and wouldn’t come out with it. At this point, I
had nowhere to go and it seemed honest. What else was I going to do? Even if he
did want payment, I would pay, I had to.

“Okay, Devon.
I’m not a great cook but…you have a deal.” I extended my right hand, and he
extended his. After we shook on it he laughed again, and put his arm over my
shoulder.