“He’s called the sperm donor,” I said.
Claire laughed. “Tinsley, I’m sorry. There was nothing else I could do. I really didn’t come here to talk about that. To talk about the past.”
“So then why are you here?”
“To give you a chance to get away from this,” Claire said. “I mean, without being too harsh, you have nowhere else to go.”
“To go? As in me going with you? Where?”
“With me,” Claire said. “You can finish your last year and have an actual home. A big home. More rooms than you can possibly imagine. Your mother will be in rehab. And she’ll be better off knowing you’re safe and sound. You can have anything you want, Tinsley. House, clothes, car, money.”
“For free?”
“You deserve a break for once,” Claire said. “If your mother wants to live on the streets and put that junk in her arms, that’s up to her. But you… I don’t want that for you.”
“So where were you my entire life then?” I asked.
“I don’t think that matters right now,” Claire said. “Just look at the moment in front of you, Tinsley. Hey. Who do you think convinced your mother to name you Tinsley? Seriously, she was going to call you Tinsel. She wanted you to be called Tinsel Cringle Claire Ditkiss.”
My eyes opened wide. “What?”
“Yeah. Think about that name for a second.”
And here I thought Tinsley Jane Ditkiss was bad.
“Do it for your mother,” Claire said. “I know you’ve done a lot for her. But this is something easy. She’ll be where she belongs. And she’ll get better.”
“Can I get some decent coffee at least?” I asked.
Claire walked toward me and took the coffee she bought out of my hand. She threw it out and slowly put her sunglasses back on her face.
“I’ll buy a cup of coffee that costs more than all the clothes you’re wearing right now.”
* * *
I turned on the light switch and nothing happened. I did it eight more times as though the power would magically turn on. I hurried into the kitchen to find the stove and microwave both without power. No green, neon numbers telling me the time.
My next step was the wall that attached our apartment to Harriet’s.
I put my ear to the wall and shut my eyes, whispering a prayer to myself that I would hear nothing. Meaning Harriet had no power either. Meaning the entire building lost power. And that it wasn’t just-
I heard a voice and then the boomer laughter of an audience. It was followed by Harriet’s throaty smoker’s laugh.
Great.
Mom overdoses, almost dies, and now there’s no electricity in the apartment.
My eyes looked at the stack of bills on the table and I refused to look. I didn’t want to know what other kind of bullshit hell Mom had waiting for me.
And that’s what it was now.
It was me.
It was all on me.
There was a soft knock at the door.
“What now?” I whispered as I put my head back.
I opened the door and saw Claire standing there.
“No power, right?”
“What are you doing here?”
“Your mother and I stayed in touch,” she said. “She was always behind on things.”
“So you’re the rich land lady who stayed in touch with my mother but never did anything to help?”
“I helped more than you know, Tinsley. And there was nothing I could do for you because she wouldn’t let me. I offered to take you several times. But now you’re old enough to make your own decisions. Right?”
“That’s right. I’m an adult.”
Claire grinned. “Of course you are. So now you have to figure out how to pay back what’s owed on the electric. They’re going to want a massive security deposit now, too. Just in case this happens again. And without power…”
“I get it,” I said. “I’m an adult because of my age but to you and the rest of the world I’m a stupid teenager, right?”
“Not even close,” Claire said. “You’re more grown up than your mother.”
“So why did you follow me here?”
“I can’t sleep tonight knowing you’re in this place without power.”
“You’re rich. Fix it.”
“If that’s what you want, I’ll make a call right now,” Claire said.
“Good,” I said.
“Or you could have a bedroom the size of this apartment. A chef to cook you real meals. In-ground pool with a waterfall. I mean… the normal stuff.”
“This isn’t a joke,” I said.
“I’m not saying it is. I owe this to you, Tinsley. And to your mother, I suppose.”
“So I just go with you?”
“And your mother knows you’re not here. Alone. She can go to rehab and actually get cleaned up for once.”
“And me?”
“You can finish school at Bay Falls High.”
I laughed. “BFH? Seriously?”
“You know the name?”
“Yeah. Stands for Bitches. Freaks. Whores.”
“Whore starts with W… not H…”
“They really don’t teach us much around here,” I said. “You know, since we’re all so poor and scummy.”
“I never said that. But you’re a smart girl, Tinsley. I’ll make sure you’re put in the right building with the right classes. You just show up. That’s it. And you won’t have to worry about anything else.”
“Thanks, but no thanks,” I said.
I shut the door and locked it.
I walked through the quiet and dark apartment.
My mind raced.
I was sure if I called the electric company and told them what was happening they’d listen. I could pick up a couple jobs and get things in order.
That sounded so… grown up…
I thought about Ruby. Smoking cigarettes. And getting high with Garcia on the roof of his house. And Amelia sneaking vodka to school to get through the boring classes.
It was about being young and having fun.
And… well…
I bit my lip.
I could become anyone at a new school, right?
Tinsley.
Call me Ti, motherfuckers. Ti. If not, I’ll claw your fake bitch eyes out.
Nobody would have to know about me. Who I was. Where I came from. Why I was there. I’d be the new girl, but I’d have Claire’s house and money to back me up.
I opened the fridge and there was obviously no light.
The smell that came out of it made my eyes water.
I turned and coughed, almost throwing up in the sink.
I saw the antenna from a cockroach pop up from the drain and watched the disgusting creature hurry across the dirty sink.
Shit.
I ran toward the door and hurried to unlock and open it.
Claire was waiting there.
I was gasping for a breath as my eyes filled with tears.
She reached for me, hugging me.
Something an adult hadn’t done in a really long time.
I could be anyone I wanted to be.
Just as long as I wasn’t fucking Tinsley Ditkiss.
And I never wanted to go back into that apartment again… no matter what happened.
three
Nothing Claire told me was a lie.
Her house was a mansion.
She had more rooms than she knew what to do with.
My new bedroom was bigger than the entire apartment I had lived in for so long. I had more space than I knew what to do with. Including my own walk-in closet that went for miles. And my own bathroom with bright lights that dimmed, black stone tile in the shower, and a tub that looked deeper than a pool.
The view from the window above my bed may have been the best part though.
A view of the ocean.
There was nothing more teasing than living where I had been with Mom. The fact that we were close to the ocean but not close enough
to walk there. It was always a car ride. And depending on traffic that car ride could be a pain in the ass.
But this…
It was right there.
And there was a sandy path that led from Claire’s house right down to the beach.
Which meant…
I left my two bags (my entire life) on the bed and bolted for the door.
The house almost reminded me of a hotel mixed with a fancy school. The hallways and doors along with the overall feel of it. That clean carpet type smell. Hints of vanilla and lavender randomly hitting my nose but there was nothing plugged in to make that smell happen. It was just too fresh and too clean.
The main staircase… yes, main staircase because the house had three fucking sets of stairs… was extra wide and curved a little to the right. That led down to the grand foyer and the massive front door.
I skipped the front door and walked through the house looking to go out back so I could make my way to the beach.
Claire was outside, standing with a drink in her hand, her phone to her ear.
She looked at me and rolled her eyes.
She pulled the phone away from her ear and hit the screen to mute the call on her end.
“Hate these calls,” she said.
“Claire, what do you actually do?” I asked. “I mean… this house…”
“Don’t worry about me. Worry about yourself.”
“I’m going to the beach.”
“Do you know how to swim?”
“What?”
“Do you know how to swim?”
“Yes, I know how to swim. I’m not going into the water. I just like looking.”
Claire nodded. “That’s the problem with most people, Tinsley. They claim they’re just looking and they know how to swim… only until they get too close. My advice here? Don’t get too close.”
I opened my mouth to say something but Claire went back to her call.
“Let me cut in right there, Charlie,” she said. “And let me be very clear when I say this. Fuck off.”
My eyes went wide.
Whoa.
I walked my way down to the beach and felt the breeze hit my face and take my hair for a ride. It was the first time in a long time I smiled and it felt good to smile. I mean, part of me felt bad that I simply just texted Ruby and Amelia that I was leaving. But it wasn’t like I moved across the country. But I definitely was far enough away that we couldn’t see each other so easily. And I definitely was in a whole new world. Funny how money changed everything. Even though people tried to say money couldn’t buy happiness. That was complete and total bullshit. Everyone could be sad but those with money were a little less sad.
I was feeling a little less sad as I stood there on the beach.
Watching the waves slowly smack their hands to the shore. Like they were clapping. Or maybe they had heard a funny joke and were slapping their hands on a table.
My phone started to ring, taking my peaceful moment.
Especially when I looked and saw it was Mom.
I would have preferred a regular call. Or a text.
But no… Mom wanted to see my face.
And I did not want to see her face. Because when I did, I thought about what I saw in that closet. What she had tried to do. What could have happened if I hadn’t come home to find her. To think, Ruby’s period basically saved my mother’s life.
I reminded myself of what Claire was doing for me and for Mom so I planted a fake smile on my face.
“Hey, Mom,” I said.
“Oh, Tinsley… baby…”
She looked like death.
Her face pale. She looked sweaty. Her hair messy. Sitting in a hospital bed.
“How do you feel?” I asked.
I had no clue what the protocol was here.
“Not good,” she said. “Not good at all.”
“Hey, want to see something cool?”
“Of course.”
I turned the video around. “The ocean, Mom. I finally made it to the ocean.”
There was silence.
I watched as Mom’s eyes filled with tears. She shut her eyes. A tear escaped.
Yeah, it still got to me. It still made my heart beat faster and made me feel pain. But this cycle… I was used to it.
“I just need to know you’re okay, Tinsley,” Mom said.
“I’m okay,” I said. “I’m perfectly okay.”
“I’m sorry.”
There it was.
The two words that meant nothing to me anymore. Yet they were two words I had to accept and had to believe in. Because if I didn’t then I was basically wishing my mother would die.
“I know you are,” I said.
Mom carefully wiped her eyes.
There were tubes and needles and all kinds of stuff attached to her arm and hand.
She looked like a science project.
And soon she would get changed and walk out of the hospital like nothing happened. Only to go right to rehab. And what would that actually do?
I swallowed hard.
“I’m going to take care of this,” she said. “I’m not going to make empty promises to you.”
Like you’ve done my entire life?
I faked another smile. “I’m okay here, Mom. You don’t need to worry about me.”
“I know that.”
“You need to worry about yourself.”
“I will.”
I saw something from the corner of my eye.
It was the first sign of life on the beach.
Just off in the distance there were two people walking along the edge of the water.
Guys.
It caught my attention for sure.
Then again, two guys walking on the beach together… maybe they were together.
One guy wore white shorts and tan shoes. A baby blue polo shirt with spiked hair. He looked nervous.
Rightfully so.
Because the guy next to him was… whew.
Tall, wide shoulders, a t-shirt that did nothing to hide the tone cut muscles that carefully slid out of the sleeves of the shirt. There was a watch on his wrist that for some reason made him look hotter. I told myself this place was nothing but rich boys. And this guy walking the beach screamed it. But he wore jeans. Like regular jeans. And shoes. Regular shoes. Right there on the beach.
The shorter guy talked, using his hands.
The tall, hot guy listened, looking out to the water.
I suddenly had the urge to be an artist. So I could trace the perfect cut line of his jaw. You know, with a pencil… or my lips.
I shut my eyes.
Jeez, Ti…
“I better get going,” Mom’s voice said.
“Oh, yeah,” I said, remembering that my junkie of a mother was on the phone.
You know, the one who just overdosed and almost died? The one who didn’t pay the bills and got the electricity turned off? The one who put me in this position right now?
Yeah, that Mom.
“Love you, Tinsley,” she said.
“Love you back,” I said.
There was a moment when we stared at each other.
She wanted to apologize again but didn’t.
I wanted to tell her to please get clean - for me - but I didn’t.
We ended the video just staring at each other.
My heart hurt worse.
But I had a little way to distract it.
I bit my lip and turned my head.
I wanted another look at the hottie with the body walking the beach.
No matter what though I was the poor girl with the fucked up mother. But that didn’t mean there couldn’t be any fun. Right?
Imagine me going back to the slum shit town I called home and telling Ruby the story of me hooking up with a rich boy.
I grinned and watched as the tall, hot guy stopped walking.
He pointed to the ocean.
The short guy turned.
Tall, hot guy stepped up behind him.
I thought he was going to wrap his arms around him and hug him, which would be my luck.
Someone that hot and he’d prefer parts I didn’t have.
Typical Tinsley for sure.
The short guy pointed and then waved his hands like he didn’t know what he was looking at.
Tall, hot guy pointed again.
Then he stepped back and made a fist.
I watched as he punched the short guy in the middle of his back, dropping him to his knees.
I covered my mouth.
Tall, hot guy then turned his head and looked right at me.
Welcome to the beginning of the end…
* * *
Tall, hot guy didn’t seem to mind I was there.
Short guy let out a crying yell and turned.
That’s when a fist connected to his face.
My stomach did a backflip and I gasped.
I had seen some crazy stuff in my life. I had seen fights. I had seen violence.
But this… it was just so unexpected.
Tall, hot guy was so put together. The way he looked. So proper, if that made sense.
He reached down and picked up short guy like he was a toy. Short guy screamed and thrashed his arms, blood dripping from his face into the ocean. Tall, hot guy didn’t care for a second that his clothes were getting wet as he walked short guy into the ocean.
He then threw short guy into a crashing wave.
I heard the smack of the wave against short guy’s body and I cringed.
Short guy thrashed his arms again and managed to get to his feet.
When he looked at tall, hot guy it was a look of defeat. Meaning he knew this beating was coming. He knew why this was happening.
My heart pounded harder when tall, hot guy threw another hard punch.
The sight of his knuckles smashing against short guy’s eye. The way short guy’s head snapped back and twisted.
Short guy fell back into the water, which was maybe the only way to save himself. Just pretend he was knocked out. Or maybe try to swim away.
But here’s the thing… this obviously wasn’t tall, hot guy’s first fight. If this even was an actual fight. This was more of a setup for a beatdown.
Tall, hot guy lunged forward and grabbed short guy by the throat and picked him up out of the water. He held him up like a wrestler on TV, ready to do his finishing move.
UNtouched: a bay falls high novel Page 2
