When Art Rises: Living in Cin: (A Twisted Interracial High School Love Triangle)

by Lorrain Allen

  “I’ll go next,” I say, surprising everyone in the room. “Cin, truth or dare?”

  The look on her face is priceless, the rabbit caught by the fox. Trevor stiffens as he prepares for what will happen next.

  “Truth,” she replies meekly.

  “Is it true you never cheated on Trevor?”

  “Motherfucker! Cin would never cheat on me!” Trevor’s outburst nearly knocks Cin from his lap.

  “You never know. Maybe she has a taste for some new dick,” I taunt.

  When Trevor tries to remove Cin from his lap, she wraps her arms around him to hinder his movement.

  “No, you promised,” Cin pleads.

  “It’s about time someone put this motherfucker in his place.”

  “Calm down, it’s only a game. Cin, you have to answer the question,” Bri says.

  “No, I’ve never cheated on Trevor.”

  She doesn’t even flinch when the lie leaves her mouth.

  “And she never would,” Trevor adds.

  If only the bastard knew.

  “Truth or dare?” Danny asks me, snuffing his joint out in an ashtray.

  If they think the game has been entertaining this far, the encore is going to be epic.

  “Truth.”

  “Is it true you tried to kill yourself?”

  “Man, that’s fucked up,” Dex says.

  “Danny, that’s not cool,” Cin says in disgust.

  “Yep,” I answer.

  “You must be some kind of fucked up to want to off yourself.” Danny shakes his head.

  “Shut up,” Bri hiss.

  “Truth or dare?” he asks again.

  “Hey, you had your turn,” Lilah interjects.

  “Dare.”

  Danny stands, pulling a pocketknife from his pants. He pulls the sharp blade from the enclosure before tossing it in the air and catching it at the handle.

  “I dare you to finish the job.”

  “You’re taking this too far,” Josh says.

  “I’m only offering him the chance to put an end to his suffering. You want to die right? Here, let me help you.” He grabs my arm, sliding the blade along my wrist.

  I quickly stand, pushing him away. “Get your fucking hands off me.”

  “I can’t believe you did that! He’s bleeding!” Cin shouts.

  Josh and Robbie jump to their feet, preparing to intervene if necessary. Zeke and Anneli walk back into the living room after hearing the commotion.

  “You’re nothing but a chickenshit,” Danny snickers.

  “Let’s see who the real chickenshit is. It’s time for Chaos,” I say.

  “Bring it, motherfucker. I’m up for anything you throw my way,” Danny challenges.

  “Truth or dare is child’s play. It’s time for the big leagues. Are you up for a game of chicken?”

  “Are you insane?” Cin asks.

  “A little bit.”

  “Someone could die,” Robbie adds.

  “It’s a nice night for a drive. Follow me to Fox Road. It’s practically empty at this hour.” Danny leaves the house.

  Josh blocks my path when I go to follow.

  “This is stupid.”

  “I’ll go right the fuck through you,” I threaten.

  “Don’t let him leave,” Cin says in a trembling voice.

  “No, let him go since he’s so big and bad,” Trevor says.

  Cin shoots him a death glare.

  “Move out of my way.”

  “Fine, it’ll be your funeral.”

  I brush past Josh, straight to my motorcycle.

  I grip the handle of Art’s bike. “Wait!”

  “Back off,” he says.

  “Don’t do this.”

  Trevor clasps me around the waist to forcibly remove me. Art starts the engine then zooms down the street.

  “I can’t believe you’re letting this happen.”

  “Do you honestly think anyone can stop him when he sets his mind to do something?” Trevor asks.

  “Chill, Cin. Danny isn’t a psycho. He’ll chicken out at the last second,” Bri assures me.

  “And Art is?” I ask.

  “Well, yeah,” Bri says.

  “We’re going to miss the action,” Lilah exclaims.

  “This is a serious situation, and that’s all you can say?” Anneli asks.

  “It’s not too late to put a stop to this madness.” I run towards Trevor’s truck, jumping in the passenger seat. “Come on!” I yell over my shoulder.

  Once Anneli, Lilah, and Bri pile into the back seat, Trevor speeds down the road. Everyone else has already left. By the time we make it to the destination of tonight’s fuckery, the opponents are positioned at opposite ends on the road.

  “It‘s too late,” I say.

  We’re out of the truck in seconds to join the rest of the group in a grassy area on the side of the road.

  They take off when Aiden lifts his fist in the air. I don’t think I’ve ever been this scared in my life. Smoke billows as the wheels of Art’s motorcycle spin on the concrete. My eyes are riveted on him. Though the scene before me unfolds in slow motion, it only takes moments for them to reach each other. Danny jerks his Mustang to the left at the last possible second, clipping the end of the bike. I scream when the Mustang crashes into a tree and Art is flung from his motorcycle. His body rolls across the pavement along with the motorcycle creating bright sparks illuminating the darkness as it slides sideways down the asphalt. Lilah and Bri follow me over to Art while the rest check on Danny. Art pushes himself to a sitting position, so maybe he isn’t hurt too badly. I notice that his face is covered in abrasions when I kneel at his side.

  “You fucking moron! You could’ve been killed,” I shout.

  Blood trickles from his mouth. “Would you care if I was?”

  Bri laughs. The bitch actually laughs. “I knew you wouldn’t let Danny show you up.”

  I tackle her to the ground in a blind rage. We roll across the ground, pulling hair and slapping at each other. Trevor drags me off of her, gripping tightly to prevent further attack while Josh holds Bri back.

  “What the fuck is your issue?” she screams.

  “You are.”

  “We have to get Danny to a hospital. He’s hurt really bad,” Dex says.

  Damn, I forgot about him. A groaning Danny is being held up by Aiden and Zeke. His arm dangles at an odd angle and his face is a bloody mess.

  “We are so fucked. How are we going to explain this?” Robbie yanks his hand through his hair.

  “Use my truck to drive the girls to Bri’s house,” Josh orders me. “Trevor, we’ll use your truck to take Danny to the hospital. We can think of a lie on the way.”

  Bri jerks her arm away from Josh before stomping to the truck and slamming the door closed once she’s inside.

  “Do you need to go to the hospital?” Josh grudgingly asks Art.

  “Fuck off.”

  “Fine, it’d be nice if every bone in your body was broken,” he grumbles, walking away.

  “I’ll call you later, babe,” Trevor says, getting inside his truck.

  He misses the glare I toss his way. I hope Danny is okay, though he brought this on himself.

  “Can you walk?” I’m mad at myself for being so concerned for Art when he doesn’t give a fuck.

  He slowly pushes to his feet. The urge to help him beats at me, but I’m so fucking pissed at him, and I need to be careful about our interactions when others are around. My eyes roam over his body to ensure he’s intact as he limps over to his motorcycle.

  “That’s it? You’re just going to walk away?” I ask.

  He stands his motorcycle up before climbing on and speeds down the road without acknowledging me. It seems the bike didn’t sustain any extensive damage.

  “It’s obvious you didn’t end it with him. You need to before it’s too late,” Anneli whispers.

  I’m past the point of no return, so it’s already too damn late.

  “What
did she say to you?” Lilah asks.

  “Nothing, let’s get out of here.”

  I storm into the house, intent on giving Art a piece of my mind. He doesn’t flinch when his bedroom door is flung open. He lounges on the bed with a bag of frozen peas covering the left side of his face. My body vibrates with anger, but when he smirks at me, I see red. I grab the bag of peas and smack him in the face with them. His hand latches onto my neck, slamming me on the bed. His heavy body covers mine.

  “I always knew you had claws but compared to me you’re just a fucking cub.”

  “You could’ve been killed! You’re a fucking lunatic!” My arms flail, fighting him with everything I have.

  I’ll never match his strength, and he proves it by capturing my wrists with one hand to pin above my head.

  “Why are you crying?”

  “I’m not crying.”

  He licks the tears from my face. “Don’t cry for me. I’m not worth your tears.”

  I lift my head, ferociously consuming his lips, and he gives me the same energy in return. I pour all of me into our kiss, exposing my emotions and not giving a damn. He’s the puppet master, and I’m the puppet being controlled by him. We tear at each other’s clothes until we lie exposed, our bodies as well as our hearts. I close my eyes in pure rapture when he fills me. Art fucks me so amazingly good, like it’s the last time he’ll ever experience this kind of intimacy. He flips me inside out, breaking me into little pieces before putting me back together again. Grunts, moans of pleasure, and the sound of our bodies impacting float through the bedroom.

  My orgasm takes over, quenching the thirst my body so desperately needs. Art follows behind me, groaning as his reaches his climax.

  My head rests comfortably in Cin’s lap while she cleans and applies ointment on my scrapes. We’re both naked, her perfect breasts within sucking distance. Cin, in all her indignant outrage stormed into my bedroom, but forgot to close the door. We could’ve been caught. The way we were fucking, we wouldn’t have heard anyone approaching. Afterwards, Cin was horrified when she noticed. I’ve never seen her move so quickly. I enjoyed the view of her heart-shaped ass. Though it’s small, there’s still a little jiggle. I’m afforded the opportunity to study her facial features as she concentrates on her task.

  “Why are you staring at me?”

  “Because you’re gorgeous.”

  A beautiful shade of red flushes her cheeks.

  “Ahh, she’s blushes.”

  “All done.” She twists the cap onto the tube of ointment.

  “What prompted you to dye the tips of your hair pink?” I run my fingers through the glossy strands.

  She shrugs her shoulders. “I wanted to switch up my appearance, I guess.”

  “The color suits you.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Your belly piercing is sexy as hell.”

  God, her smile is as bright as the fucking sun. “You’re just full of compliments tonight.”

  “I only give them when they’re due. Does your mom know you have it?”

  “Yep. She took me to get the piercing for my sixteenth birthday.”

  “Do you want any more piercings?”

  “Maybe, it’s crossed my mind a few times. What about you?”

  “Nah, six piercings are enough.”

  “Six? I only see five—tongue, lip, nose, and both of your earlobes.”

  I lift up my tongue so she can see my frenulum piercing.

  “Did that hurt?”

  “Nope, it was a walk in the park. The old man and my mother flipped out when I came home tatted and pierced.”

  “Did you do it to piss them off?”

  “Kind of, but I got the tattoo on my back to honor my brother.”

  “That’s a great way to keep his memory alive.”

  It’s becoming way too easy to confide in her.

  “What does the semicolon tattoo mean?”

  “That I’m a suicide survivor.”

  “Are you happy you’re still alive?”

  “Yes, because death isn’t good enough for me. There’s peace in death.”

  “I’m happy you survived. You have so much to live for.”

  “I wish that were true.”

  “It is. You—”

  “What nationality is your father?” I ask quickly, hoping to end this line of conversation.

  “Brazilian.”

  “Oh, that’s where your feistiness comes from. Where is he?”

  “He lives in Arizona, but he’s rarely home.”

  “Do you ever see him?”

  “Not really. He’s a CDL driver, so he travels most of the time, but when I visit my grandmother, he comes home if he’s able to.”

  “Do you have a good relationship with him?”

  “I would say I do. When we do have time to spend together, he always makes sure I have a great time. What about your dad?”

  “What about him?” I’m not in the mood to talk about that bastard.

  “Do you have a good relationship with him?”

  “No.” Well shit, if I had known my question was going to lead to Cin asking about my father, I would’ve surely avoided it.

  “Just no?”

  “Yeah.”

  “What about your mother?”

  “She’s a gold digging whore. My father is a pathetic spineless bitch with a manipulative father. Ricky got out before he could be tainted. Now drop it. I don’t want to talk about them.”

  “Can I ask you something?”

  “No.”

  “Before your brother died, were you planning on going to college?”

  “Of course. What rich kid in his prime wouldn’t want the opportunity to attend fraternity parties and fuck his way through the hundreds of girls on campus?”

  “Typical.”

  “Hey, you asked. It’s not my fault if you don’t like the answer.”

  “What major did you want to study?”

  “Fuck if I know.”

  “Did you plan on joining the family business?”

  “Hell no.”

  “Well, what were you going to do after college?”

  “It’s stupid.”

  “Don’t say that.”

  “It’s true. It was a dumb dream.”

  “No one’s dream is dumb. Tell me.”

  “I wanted to play football professionally. It doesn’t matter now, though. I haven’t played for years and don’t have the heart for the game anymore.”

  “What about minor league football? You could try that.”

  “Drop it.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I don’t have a future, and I don’t deserve one. I plan to die alone with a bottle of the strongest liquor at my side.”

  “Stop punishing yourself. You act as if you drowned your brother yourself.”

  “I might as well have.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “That’s my other secret. Do you want to hear it?”

  “Yes, only if you want to share it with me.”

  “That night, Cole asked me to go to the pool with him.”

  I pause to take a deep breath, because this is the first time I’m telling this story to anyone.

  “You don’t have to talk about it if you’re not ready to.” Cin wipes tears from my face.

  Fuck, I hadn’t even realized I started crying.

  “I have to tell someone.”

  Cin brushes my hair from my forehead before kissing it. “Okay, I’m listening.”

  “He wanted to play with a motorized toy boat I bought him a few days earlier.”

  My tears flow in earnest now. Cin will be repulsed by me once I tell her what I did.

  “He kept pulling my arm, begging me, so I pushed him and told him to fuck off. I remember the look on his face—it’ll be etched in my mind forever. He was so damn scared because I’d never raised my voice at him before.”

  “I know to you it seems that way—”

  “If only I took twenty min
utes to take him to the pool, he’d still be alive.” I turn my face into the warmth of her stomach, muffling my cries and drenching the area in my sorrow.

  “You had no idea your brother would go to the pool without you. It’s not your fault. Fucked-up shit happens in the world all the time.”

  “His terrified face is the last look he ever gave me before God took him away. I thought God was merciful. Why didn’t he spare the life of an innocent three-year-old boy? God can kiss my ass.”

  Now she knows the secret that’s been burning a hole through my brain, and she doesn’t hate me. She doesn’t think I’m the worst kind of monster. I feel an undeserved sense of relief.

  “No one else’s words are going to help you through the battle you’re going through. I can’t begin to understand how you feel. You’ll have to find peace within yourself. I’m so sorry about your brother.”

  Cin and I lie together for a little while longer with her running her fingers through my hair. Some of the weight has been lifted from my shoulders.

  “Art. Wake up.”

  I roll over on the bed, pulling the covers from my face to peer at Ricky, who stands in the doorway.

  “Don’t you knock?”

  “I did, but you didn’t answer.”

  “What do you want?”

  “Come into the living room.”

  Shit, he must’ve heard about Danny. I sigh, detangling myself from the bedding to trudge behind him into the living room where Josh and Cin already sit on the sofa.

  “Art, have a seat.”

  “What’s the team meeting about this morning, and will I be getting paid overtime for attending?” I sit next to a squirming Cin.

  “Danny has a broken arm and a punctured lung. It’ll take him weeks to recover. I want the truth about what happened last night.”

  “We told you. A dog ran out in the middle of the road and Danny swerved to avoid hitting it,” Josh explains.

  “Yeah, that’s what happened. Not all heroes wear capes. Danny risked his life to save a defenseless dog,” I mock. “I for one think he deserves a medal for his bravery.

  Josh breaks into laughter then starts coughing when the look on Ricky’s face becomes murderous.

  “This is a serious situation! The sheriff is out for blood, especially yours, Art. He’s convinced you had something to do with the car accident last night.”

  “Why? I had nothing to do with it.”