Page 12 of Wait For Me

The girl sitting there daydreaming while waiting on her food, she was someone else, and the three years no longer mattered as much as they once did. I lit up a cigarette while watching and waiting. That initial taste on my tongue as I inhaled made me close my eyes and savor the experience. Smoking had been a thing for me all through high school. I fucking thought I was cool as shit doing it. Being cool led to a habit that I was trying to kick. Down to half a pack a day wasn’t bad considering the three-pack-a-day habit from the previous year.

Not to give her any credit, but once my Prez asked me to think about marrying his daughter so she could remain an active part of our club, I took to noticing her more often, without letting on that it was happening. Whenever I’d light up while she was around, the little brat scrunched her nose up in distaste. I’d cut back a little after noticing her doing it a few more times. It really hit home though when I kissed Ashlynn that night. I had taken her and Mitzi out in the open in the hopes that word would get back to Star and finally kill her crush on me.

Ash told me it was like kissing a fucking ash tray. That’s when I turned her over and took her from behind. My ego took a hit on the kissing an ashtray thing, but my gut took a bigger punch when I saw Star standing there watching, and how horrified Ash had been at knowing her best friend saw too.

I knew Ash had only been trying to make Kip jealous. I could have told her it was the wrong way to approach that situation, but since my own agenda took precedence, I didn’t bother. I should have because I fucked things up with Kip that night too. It took several months to get him to talk to me again, though that was because of his sister, not Ash.

His words about Ash were simply: “She showed her true colors and that’s not a place I’m willing to go now.” The girl had been an idiot because Kip had been into her before, and if she’d paid closer attention, she would have noticed that he never did a thing with club whores, and he hadn’t been doing shit with his ex-girlfriend that night that she caught Kip with Carla in his room. Since his mom died, his dad dipped his wick in those waters and it skeeved Kip out to think about putting his dick in the same place his dad’s had been. Couldn’t blame him for that. If my pops were still around and kicking, I’d probably feel the same. Oh well, that’s the reason hindsight was a bitch.

After Star checked into a hotel for the night, I went to get some supplies to keep me stocked and then checked into a fleabag no-tell motel back on the mainland. If the girl continued to check into tourist town hotels for her whole trip, she was bound to run out of money sooner than later. She could go crawl back home to daddy then and I’d be off the hook.

Something didn’t settle well when I thought about being off the hook though. Not that I wanted to follow her around the damn country on some crazy adventure for an indeterminate amount of time. It was something else. Something I tried to figure out while staring at the picture I’d taken of her until my eyes eventually drifted shut for the night.

4

Star

After three months on the road, I’d driven all over the southeastern states and worked my way through most of the Midwest before I started to run low on funds. I wasn’t exactly thrilled with the idea of going broke and heading home so I found a place to land and earn some more money. That place was Loveland, Colorado.

“Where are you now?” Aunt Viv asked, excited for another adventure report from me. Sometimes, I thought my aunt was jealous of my travels. She always sounded so wistful when we spoke, like I was on some grand, romantic adventure. My eyes rolled all of their own accord at that thought. Romance had not been a part of this road trip plan.

“I’m still in Colorado,” I told her, knowing my uncle was probably listening in and plotting my coordinates into a map somewhere.

“Do you like it there, or something?” The hesitancy in her voice spoke volumes. She was worried that I might never come back. It was a legitimate concern, though I wouldn’t let her know that just yet. Not until I found the place that would eventually be home for me.

“I like it just fine. Loveland is a gorgeous spot. You should see the lakes!” I crooned to her, as I had done three weeks ago when I got there. “I kind of wish I could see it in the winter, but I don’t think I’d be able to afford it. Sticking here is pretty expensive.”

“Where are you staying?”

“It’s just a cheap, crap-star hotel that usually goes for $83 a night, but they have an efficiency kitchen with a full-size fridge in it, so I don’t have to eat out. And I got a long-term rate on it since I’ll be here for about a month or two.”

“Why so long?” Aunt Viv’s eyes kept shifting worriedly offscreen somewhere, and I just knew she was communicating telepathically with my uncle the way they somehow managed. I didn’t think they were really telepathic, but maybe just so attuned to one another that they knew what the other was thinking without having to verbalize it.

“Making some extra money while I’m here. That’s the other reason I got a good rate at the hotel, I’m working here too in the restaurant and cleaning rooms a few days a week.”

“Do you need me to send money for you to get home?”

“What? No way! Aunt Viv, stop worrying so much. I have an emergency account and the sole purpose is to get me back home from anywhere in the US if there’s a need. Promise. I just wanted to make some more cash before I move on to the next place. Traveling isn’t cheap.”

“Well, no shit!” My uncle huffed out amidst a chuckle, proving that yes, he was indeed listening in.

“Hello, Uncle Spies-A-Lot,” I teased.

Viv laughed. “Sorry, honey, but you had to know.”

“Of course, I knew, but now maybe we can stop the two separate phone call business, because I’ve known all along and honestly, it’s easier to talk to you both at once.”

“Fine,” Uncle Mack agreed. “You talked to your dad lately?”

“You know that I haven’t spoken to him since he chewed me out and told me to come home again two weeks ago.”

“You have been gone three months already, kiddo,” Uncle Mack lamented. All the amusement in his voice was drowned out by the darker turn in our conversation.

“I love him. I love you guys too. My dad did nothing to convince me to come home when he called me a burden and told me I needed to remember my place.”

“What?” Aunt Viv hissed into the receiver.

“I fully understand my place, and it’s not with the club. That’s why I’m out exploring on my own. And how can I be a burden? I haven’t once asked for money, I’m funding my own trip, and I even check in, so everyone knows I’m safe.”

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