Page 21 of Road Trip
“Will you excuse us? I was just going to take Kelly over to the piercing tent.”
Shayla looked confused as I put my arm around Kelly and slid my hand into his back pocket.
“Let’s go, baby.”
Kelly nodded to her as I pulled him away. As soon as she was out of earshot, he asked, “Want to tell me what that was all about?”
“Drama, that’s what she’s all about. I’m really glad Jilly isn’t seeing her anymore. She doesn’t respect boundaries. I’ll put it that way.”
“I could sense that. Is she, um, I don’t know. Is she the kind of woman you find attractive?”
He was trying really hard to figure me out. Shayla was a skinny chick with dreads and piercings all over her face. Her wardrobe didn’t contain any clothes without holes or tears in them. She didn’t have the best hygiene.
“No. Absolutely not. I don’t know if I have a kind of woman I find attractive. The girls I’ve dated were more, well, clean.”
He burst out laughing at that. “I see. Okay. So about this piercing tent?” he asked nervously.
“Relax, Farm Boy. No needles on this runaway…at least not yet. I’d never let you get tattooed or pierced in this place. But maybe on our next stop.”
He swallowed hard, trying to judge if I was joking or not.
“I do like the way they look. Especially on you. But I’m just not—”
He was really too good for my ego.
“Kelly. I’m not planning on totally corrupting you. You can breathe.” I laughed as he inhaled and exhaled, letting go of some of his worry. It struck me as funny that such a tiny person could make him nervous. The possibilities were exhilarating.
We made our way down the ramp to where the second and third stages were set up. One of the first bands to play was Islander and they had a catchy little tune called Coconut Dracula that I’d been listening to quite a bit, despite the strange lyrics. Kelly seemed to be enjoying the music, and he was gettingplentyof looks from both women and men; the former intrigued, the latter a little threatened. He scanned the crowd constantly, and I could feel his body tense up. Maybe the festival was too much for him? I was ready to give it up if he needed to go.
“Everything okay, Farm Boy?”
He pulled me in front of him so he could lean down and talk in my ear.
“I’m good. I can see why you would like these festivals. It’s just a lot to process. There’s a lot going on.”
I looked up at him and watched his line of sight. A group of people that looked a lot like Shayla were passing around a pipe.
“I guess they just let it go here, huh? Probably couldn’t catch all of them anyway.” He shook his head.
“It’s got to be weird for you, huh? I’m sorry—”
“No, it’s fine. It feels weird to be away from the job. I’ve never really thought about what it’s like to not be on the job all the time. This week has me rethinking that. My lieutenant was right. I’m really burned out. For the first time in five years I’m questioning whether I want to be a cop anymore.”
I hated to hear him talk like that, but I understood.
“After what you’ve been through, I think it’s completely understandable. You can’t deal with the dirt all the time and not find a way to get clean, or at least get some distance. I get that way, too. That’s why I started letting loose during the summer. I travel and do whatever I want, whatever I can afford. If not, I can’t be there for my kids.”
“I never got a chance to ask you what you do for work.”
I smiled up at him and was getting ready to answer when a group of teens came bounding up.
Kelly
“Ms. Mora! Ms. Mora! I can’t believe you’re here!”
Abra hugged the kids enthusiastically. There were three boys and two girls and all of them had multicolored hair, various items of black clothing, and they were all wearing makeup.
“You guys look great! Oh! Kids, this is Kelly. Kelly, these are some of my students from Hayward Alternative.”
