Page 13 of Anarchy
Chapter Six
Emma
The back of the truck is full of shopping bags as we drive back to the club. Mikey and I spent the day laughing and talking. It felt so normal and so right. Almost as if this were the life I was always supposed to lead. I never felt like I fit it in before.
I was so nervous at the beginning of the day. We usually made our clothes and anything else we paid very little for. I was picking up shirts that were fifty dollars, and pants that were over a hundred. I couldn’t imagine that any of those would be acceptable.
Pulling into the lot Mikey turns to me. “Have fun today?”
I can’t help my smile, its been stuck on my face all day. “Probably the best day I’ve had.”
"Happy to hear it." He gets out of the car, and I follow, walking inside with him. I look around noticing how many people are here today than there were before. Tables are being set up, and I see large speakers being hooked up over near the pool tables
I'm not watching where I'm walking, and suddenly I hit something and am falling backward. Someone catches me, and I look up to see Whip. Looking in front of me I see that I ran into Mikey. "You okay?" Whip says to me as he stands me back up.
“Yea, just feel like I ran into a tank,” I laugh.
“Hmmm,” Whip looks between Mikey and I. “That might actually work, Tank.” He walks over next to Mikey, “looks like you just found yourself a road name.”
Mikey looks over at me and laughs. “At least it’s better than some of the ones that came from old ladies, right Whip?”
This time it's me laughing, and Whip walks away finding neither of us funny.
“So there's gonna be a party tonight," Mikey says as we walk down the hallway toward my room. "You can come out if you want but it can get pretty wild, and I don't know how much of it will be your scene."
“I’ll definitely come hang out. I like to have fun you know.” I wink at him.
Who the heck winks? Ugh, I’m such a dork.
We walk into my room, and I plop down on the bed, not realizing how exhausted I was. Mikey sits next to me, he pulls my feet onto his lap and slowly unties each of my sneakers and slips them off. "I'm glad you had a good time today, it was nice getting to see you smile."
Leaning up on my elbows I look over at him. “I really appreciate all of it.”
“I know you do.” His hands slowly start to rub the arch of my feet. “That is exactly why you could ask me for anything.”
Feeling my cheeks turn red I look away. “I’ve never met anyone like you.”
"Feeling is mutual gorgeous." His hands continue to rub the aches out of my tired feet, and I close my eyes. "So I have to ask…” he says after a few minutes pass.
“Hmmm…” I say sleepily as his hands are making me so relaxed I’m almost passed out.
"What's your story? I mean I know a little bit, but not very much." He isn't looking at me when he asks, and I appreciate that because my past isn't really something I want to talk about.
"Well, my mom died when I was just a baby. My dad had three wives after her and sixteen children aside from me." His hands stop moving, and I look up to see him wide-eyed. "Yea, our house was crowded, but I loved it at the same time." Just talking about them my eyes start to fill with tears. I don't even know if losing them has really even resonated with me yet because I haven't had a chance to breathe since I left.
Mikey lays down next to me his hand brushing the hair from my face and swiping the tear that escaped. “You miss them?”
"More than I ever thought I could." He places his hand on my side drawing slow circles to try and calm me. "They're gone though, and that's a huge reason that I left."
His hand stops moving, “what do you mean by gone?”
I tell him the story about my would be marriage, the purity house, and the turmoil that came after it.
He doesn’t say anything for the longest time and for a minute I almost regret spilling my guts to him. My chest hurts from trying to swallow the tears and from recounting all of the tragedy that the past week brought. His hand wraps around my waist as he pulls me close to him. I rest my head against his chest and let the sound of his steady heart ease the tension that is racking my body.
I can feel myself slipping away, the emotional exhaustion taking over and pulling me under.
I hear Mikey’s voice but I’m not entirely sure what he says, it sounds like “you’ll never be alone again.”
