Cranberry Lane

by Laurèn Lee

  Sammy looked at me with sad eyes; he knew what kind of neighborhood I lived in now.

  “Don’t look at me like that,” I hissed.

  “I’m not looking at you any specific way! I used to live there, too when I was a kid. Wanna take the bus together? I think our stops are not too far from each other. I could walk you home?”

  What is up with these nice guys wanting to walk me home? And, did he just say he grew up on Cranberry Lane, too? He must be lying to try to make me feel better.

  “Fine,” I conceded. It would be nice to have some company and plus, Sammy did make great company. And who knows, maybe we’d have a little more fun before the night ended.

  As we stood from our corner hideaway, Cheryl approached us with her eyes on Sammy. “Where do you think you’re going?”

  “Oh. Hey, Cheryl. I’m taking Seren—, I mean Jessica home.”

  Cheryl raised an eyebrow and glared at me. “We are going over to Sid’s for the after party. I thought you said you were coming?”

  “That was earlier. I don’t feel like going now,” Sammy said matter-of-factly.

  “But, we had plans.” She continued to pout.

  “Sorry. Another time.”

  “So, what? You meet some West Side skank and then you want to ditch your friends?”

  Sammy didn’t have time to react as I stepped forward, once again in her face. “What the fuck did you just call me?”

  “I called you a skank. Do you need me to spell it out for you?”

  Instinctively, I rose my fist ready to show this bitch who she was messing with, but Sammy had caught my hand in mid-air.

  “C’mon. Let’s get out of here. This party blows anyway,” Sammy said.

  Cheryl started snickering, but if I’d had my way she wouldn’t have been laughing. Sammy and I started walking out and I turned out to give her one last look. I drew my finger across my throat and winked at her; Cheryl’s smile disappeared.

  “Your ex is a total bitch.”

  “You can say that again.” Sammy smiled.

  “Your ex is a total bitch.” I howled with laughter.

  We’d boarded the bus headed West and took a seat in the back. I nearly tripped as I walked toward the last row; my balance had been compromised from the Wild Turkey.

  “Can I tell you a secret?”

  “I’m all ears kid.” I winked.

  He groaned. “I’ll only tell you if you promise to stop calling me kid!”

  “Okay, okay. I’ll stop. Now, spill.”

  “I’ve never had sex,” he admitted softly.

  “That’s your big, bad secret?”

  “Well, yeah. It’s kind of embarrassing.”

  “I thought you were going to tell me you were into butt plugs or getting pissed on.” I burst out laughing. “This is nothing!”

  Sammy nudged me with his elbow and broke out into a smile, too. “What about you?”

  “What about me? I’m not into butt plugs either!”

  “I mean have you ever, you know?”

  “A lady doesn’t kiss and tell Samuel!”

  “Have you ever been in love?”

  Woah, this conversation just took a wild turn.

  “I thought I’d been in love once, but I’m not really sure,” I began. “Your first love is always your very first taste of falling for someone. And, it’s also the time you’ll fall the hardest. It also hurts the most when you get your heart broken. First cut is the deepest or whatever they say.”

  “What kind of love comes after ‘first love’?”

  “This is getting too intense.” I laughed nervously. “Can’t we just talk about sports, or something?”

  “I want to know you, Serenity. Maybe it’s the booze or the fact I’ve never been this drunk or drunk at all. But, I want to know you. What kind of love do you want?” He looked deeply into my eyes and I couldn’t help but appreciate his innocence.

  “Okay, I’ll humor you. I want a love that you can’t describe with words. A love so intense it hurts you as much as it makes you happy. I want someone to love me so deeply, they’d die for me, they’d kill for me, they’d do whatever it takes to be with me. I want a love like holding hands as the ship goes down kind of love.”

  “That sounds nice,” Sammy admitted.

  “Yeah it does, huh?”

  “I hope I can find that someday, too.”

  “You will, Sammy. You will.”

  “It’s your stop,” Sammy said as he pointed outside.

  I stood, but Sammy got up with me. “What are you doing? Your stop isn’t until the next block.”

  “I told you I wanted to walk you home. Ya know, make sure you get home safely and all that.”

  I rolled my eyes. “All right. Let’s go.” I’d learned it was easier not to put up a fight when it came to a guy wanting to keep me safe. I supposed I could shed my “tough girl” persona for a few extra minutes.

  We stumbled off the bus the same as we’d stumbled onto it. The sky appeared especially black tonight. The moon had either disappeared behind the clouds or it’d been a New Moon. Either way, it was difficult to see down Cranberry Lane. Half the street lamps were out, too which didn’t help anyone.

  “You don’t really have to walk me home, ya know?”

  “It’s okay. I don’t mind. Plus, we’re already like halfway down your street.” He smirked.

  Playfully, I took his hand in mind and started swinging our arms up and down like an overly excited child would do to their mother in the parking lot.

  “Serenity?” a voice called down Cranberry Lane.

  “Fuck off!” I shouted to the dark figure in the distance. It was probably more neighborhood assholes trying to give me a hard time.

  “Who is that?” Sammy asked as he simultaneously let go of my hand.

  “No idea.”

  The figure jogged toward us and my pulse quickened.

  Who is this?

  I looked over to Sammy and his eyes had expanded to the size of pizza crusts.

  “Serenity? Who the fuck is this?”

  It was Joey.

  “Oh, phew. It’s you,” I panted.

  “Yeah, it’s me. Who the fuck is this?”

  I rolled my eyes. “Joey, this is my friend Sammy. Sammy, this is my friend, Joey.”

  Sammy looked over to me and then held out his hand to shake Joey’s, only Joey didn’t return the favor.

  “I’ve been trying to call you, you know,” he said with steam nearly coming out of his ears.

  “I was at a party.” I shrugged.

  All three of us stood in the middle of the lane. Most of the buildings stood dark and lifeless. Only a few windows illuminated the night with their glow coming from the inside of the apartments. The usual group of stray cats prowled and dug through the garbage while a lone bat could be seen soaring across the sky.

  “You didn’t tell me you were going to a party, S?”

  “I don’t have to report to you,” I hissed. “Jesus, Joey. What’s your deal?”

  “We were supposed to go grab a drink at Mickey’s after the game!”

  Oops.

  “Sorry, I forgot.”

  “You forgot, or you were out to get some dick?”

  “Hey, man!” Sammy started. “It’s not like that.”

  Joey stepped to Sammy threateningly the same as I had done to Cheryl. “Shut your mouth, kid.”

  “Joey, stop trying to piss everywhere and mark your territory. Sammy and I are friends. I can have other friends, you know?”

  Joey’s eyes glowed with fierce resentment and hysteria. He had to be drunk. He’d probably gone to Mickey’s without me.

  “Sammy was kind enough to walk me home. You should thank him, actually,” I said breezily.

  “Thank him? You want me to thank this skinny motherfucker?” Joey looked back from me to Sammy incredulously.

  “This is ridiculous. I’m tired. Sammy, finish walking me home?”

  Joey threw his arm out in front of u
s. “I will walk you home. You are my friend. Tell this loser to get outta here.”

  I pushed Joey away and spat in his face. “You do not control me, Joey and I am not your property! You’re the one who needs to fuck off!”

  In an instant, Joey had backhanded me with such brute force, I was thrown to the ground and blood oozed out of my mouth; I’d lost a tooth. I tried to stand, but even with the adrenaline rush, my legs could barely hold me up to kneel.

  In slow motion, Sammy punched Joey squarely in his jaw and held his hands up in front of his face to defend himself against the blow which would surely be coming back his way. Joey wiped a few droplets of his own blood off his chin and howled with laughter.

  “I’m going to kill you,” Joey said intently after he’d finished smiling.

  “Not if I have something to say about it,” a voice called from the shadows.

  21

  Wayne

  I couldn’t sleep as I waited for Sammy to come home. I’d tossed and turned more than a dozen times. Like a typical worried parent, I only thought the worst. When he didn’t pick up his phone, I assumed he’d been in an accident. When he was a few minutes late coming home, I figured he’d ran away or been kidnapped. And worst of all, I couldn’t silence the agonizing and twisting fear that someone had found out about me and hurt Sammy as retribution.

  I gave up on trying to fall asleep and called Sammy again. It was well past his normal curfew even if it was the weekend.

  I chose his number from my ‘Favorites’ menu and waited for him to answer so I could wring him out and know if he was safe or not. No answer.

  Delving deep into paranoia, I logged onto my laptop and booted up a program I could use to track people’s location by simply using their phone number. Of course, this was a highly illegal program, but it came in handy if I had any research to do.

  I typed in Sammy’s number and realized he was only a few blocks away on Cranberry Lane. I instantly thought back to the pink-haired crack-of-the-whip girl I’d walked home only this week. Could it be a coincidence? I watched the tracking software for about five minutes until it was clear Sammy hadn’t moved from the same spot.

  I jumped up, grabbed my other .42 and sprinted out of the house. I hoped Sammy would still be on Cranberry Lane when I got there.

  As I ran, I increased my speed with every block, anxious to see if Sammy was okay. I had no idea why he’d be on the lane at this time of night, but if memory serves, it was never a good place to be once the sun had disappeared below the horizon.

  I’d finally reached Cranberry Lane from Evergreen Street and saw the outline of three people about a hundred yards away. I heard yelling and calls of desperation. I recognized one voice in particular: Sammy.

  I stealthily, yet swiftly sidled against the buildings to get closer and closer to the squabble without drawing attention to myself. If I had to go in guns blazing, I would. As I approached, I saw pink hair and shook my head in case I’d been imagining. Nope, it was Serenity standing next to my very own Sammy. Confusion washed over me, but I continued to step closer and closer.

  Without warning, I saw the third shadow, a man I hadn’t recognized swing and swipe Serenity so hard she hit the ground with an earth-shattering thud. Even in the darkness, I could see the blood gushing from her mouth. I thought I could almost smell the iron in the air, too.

  And then, Sammy swung at the man, defending Serenity’s honor just the same as I had done only days ago. Like brother, like brother? And then, I stood less than ten feet away from the scene and knew it was Sammy’s turn to be struck. However, before the other guy had a chance, I stepped out of the shadows and made my presence known.

  “Who are you?” the other guy slurred nervously as he noticed my gun pointed in his direction.

  “I’m the guy who’s going to blow your head clean off if you don’t back the fuck,” I snarled.

  The guy instantly let go of Sammy’s collar and put his hands up in a surrendering manner. I saw Serenity squinting in the darkness to see who’d come to her rescue again. It only took a few seconds until I saw the recognition in her eyes.

  “Get outta here,” I said to the guy. “And, if I ever see you near Serenity or Sammy again, I won’t be so forgiving.”

  Damn, this was the second person I let slip away.

  He didn’t need any other convincing and jogged down Cranberry Lane in the other direction far away until his footsteps had gone silent.

  “Wayne!” Sammy called out and ran to me. He threw his arms around my neck and I hugged him tightly.

  “You okay, buddy?” I asked.

  “Better now, thanks to you. I was about to get rocked.” He smiled.

  Letting him go, I realized Serenity still sat on the grease-stained, faded blacktop. Her clothes now speckled with blood.

  “Got yourself in trouble again, huh?”

  “Well, aren’t I lucky you were here to save the day… Again,” she said reluctantly.

  “Wait,” Sammy began as he looked back and forth from me to Serenity. “Do you two know each other?”

  “Kind of,” I said as Serenity simultaneously said, “No.”

  I snickered. “We’ve only met once. But hey, how do you two know each other?”

  “I met her at the record store and again tonight at Evan’s,” Sammy said.

  “What about that other girl you were seeing?” I asked with narrowed eyes.

  “Um, hello? Is anyone going to help me up?”

  Shaking us out of our stupor, Sammy and I dashed to help Serenity stand. I also gave her a napkin I’d had stuffed in my back pocket for the blood. We each took an arm and lifted her erect.

  “Thanks, fellas,” she crooned.

  “Do you want to come back to our place so we can help get you cleaned up?” I offered.

  She sneered, and her tiny dimples crunched together as per usual. “I think I can manage.”

  “I think you should come home with us Serenity,” Sammy said.

  “Back up a minute. How do you guys know each other?”

  Sammy and I looked at each other and smiled. “He’s my big brother.”

  “Interesting,” Serenity said as she wiped away the dirt and gravel from her jeans. “What a small world, huh?”

  “Hey, Serenity?”

  “Yeah, Sammy?”

  “Your friend is a dick,” Sammy said.

  Damn, that girl is always getting herself into trouble.

  “C’mon, just come back with us. I’d feel better knowing that asshole won’t be able to find you at my place,” I offered.

  She stood for a minute and bit her lip. I couldn’t help but notice how cute she looked when she was lost in thought.

  “Okay, I guess I could manage,” she said carefully.

  All three of us walked away from Cranberry Lane and to my place just a few blocks away.

  Once we’d arrived, I turned on a hot shower for Serenity and laid out some old clothes an ex-girlfriend had left behind. I always meant to donate them, but never got around to it. Luckily, she didn’t give me a hard time about taking a shower or trying to lure her to get naked; I’d been waiting for it, though. I was glad she obliged because I also wanted to talk to Sammy.

  “So, how was your night?” I asked.

  “You mean before I almost got my ass kicked?”

  “Yeah.”

  “It was okay. It was more fun once Serenity showed up at Evan’s.” he said, looking down.

  “And, you met her where again?”

  “The record store. Over on the East Side,” he reminded me.

  I nodded. “She’s trouble, that’s for sure.”

  “It’s kinda weird we both met her separately,” Sammy noted.

  “Very,” I agreed.

  “How do you know her?” I sensed a slight tone of jealousy in his voice.

  “I met her this week at Mickey’s, actually. She’d gotten herself in a little trouble then, too. I helped her out.”

  I hadn’t realized the sound
of rushing water had ceased and out walked Serenity, still in a towel.

  “Did someone say my name?” she asked coyly.

  I noticed Sammy’s jaw nearly dropped, but he managed to pull himself together. “Feeling better?”

  “Much better. Thanks.”

  “I put out some clothes for you,” I mentioned.

  “I know. Hey, can I get a beer?”

  “Are you twenty-one?” I asked.

  She sneered. “Really? Who are you the party police?”

  I shook my head and grabbed a Blue Light from the fridge and tossed it to her; she caught it with one hand.

  “Hey, I want one!” Sammy whined.

  “What is this? Monkey see, monkey do?”

  “Oh, give the kid a beer,” Serenity said, already sipping her own. “After all we drank tonight, one more beer couldn’t hurt!”

  I sighed and gave my little brother a Blue Light, too.

  “Well, this is cozy,” Serenity said as she sat down.

  Sammy stared at her like a lovesick puppy and I hoped he’d snap out of it sooner rather than later. I’d met my fair share of “Serenity’s” back in my day and all they brought to the table was trouble and a hot piece of ass. Sometimes, not even a hot piece of ass depending on how desperate I’d been after a night of drinking.

  We each sipped our beers in silence, however Serenity tapped her foot against the table. I noticed more of her tattoos and wondered how she could have afforded to get all that ink. Most were impressive pieces, too.

  “What are you looking at?” she accused.

  “Your tattoos,” I said simply.

  “Oh, yeah. I have a lot,” she responded nonchalantly.

  “I like them,” Sammy chirped.

  “Thank you. Maybe, I can take you to get one soon,” Serenity offered.

  “Not too fast,” I warned in my most fatherly tone.

  Serenity scoffed and Sammy pouted.

  Changing the subject, “Well, that’s about enough excitement for me.” I yawned loudly.

  “Serenity, do you wanna take my bed?” Sammy asked.

  I glared at him and he shrugged.

  “I’ll take the couch.”

  “Nah. It’s okay. I don’t want to put you out or anything. I should probably go home anyway.”