Evan was in the water with his hand on the edge as an anchor.
“Evan,” she exclaimed surprised because she genuinely was, just for a different reason. Hannah broke the embrace and reached down for the coin.
“Thank you,” Hannah said. “I didn’t want to bother you while you were swimming but my sister threw it into your lane. I think she might have even done it on purpose.”
“Hannah,” snapped Sasha busted. She flushed with embarrassment and glared at her sister. She was never taking her anywhere again.
Evan burst out laughing and seemed entertained by the accusation. “It’s alright,” he said.
“If she had done it on purpose,” Jenna said. “You can’t blame her. You are someone I’d like to meet.”
Evan laughed again although a bit uncertain as if afraid Jenna would devour him. Sasha felt grateful to Jenna for easing Sasha’s embarrassment. Her comment was equally as embarrassing as Hannah’s
“Ok, enough crazy shit,” Sasha intervened. “Go change Hannah. We gotta go.”
Jenna shuffled to the change room with Hannah and left the two of them alone. Sasha crouched down, one knee in the sopping mess of pool water. She didn’t feel it considering Hannah had made the rest of her damp too.
“How are you?” She asked him. She was worried about how he was processing last night.
“Not bad,” he said. “I wanted to see how you were but I realized I didn’t have your number.”
Sasha smiled. “I’ll leave it for you at the Second Cup.”
“Good,” he said.
There was a moment of silence. Sasha felt awkward and didn’t know what to say. She’d arranged this and yet was at a loss for words.
“Did you see the police?” Evan asked.
“Yes,” she said. “Didn’t help much. They were wearing masks.”
“That’s what I said. Seemed like a waste of time. Don’t get me wrong, I do hope they catch the guys.”
Sasha nodded. “I get it,” she said.
Evan turned away and watched the other swimmers. “I need to finish before going to work,” he said motioning with his head toward the water.
Sasha jumped to her feet. “Absolutely.”
“See you later,” he said. “Make sure you leave your number at the café.”
Then he pushed off from the wall into a front crawl stroke and swam smoothly away.
Sasha battled two emotions raging in her head. She was thrilled that he wanted her number and yet disappointed because she would have liked to talk to him longer. Next time, she told herself and slipped out of the pool.
CHAPTER FOUR
To get her mother off her back, Sasha found a restaurant for her birthday dinner. It was a small Italian hole in the wall that she was sure her mother would hate but it made great lasagna.
She texted a few people she knew and was tempted to post on Facebook an all-person invite but she didn’t think her mother would appreciate having to feed 30 people.
Jenna was the first one to respond.
Probably free, Jenna’s text message said.
Great let me know, Sasha responded.
A few other friends quickly replied with affirmative answers. Cady was last to answer.
No can do. Got plans, she said.
It’s my b-day, Sasha pleaded.
Will try and cancel. No guarantee, Cady responded.
Sasha wasn’t surprised that Cady couldn’t make the party. She’d already told her she was busy but Sasha thought maybe she would have changed her plans. That’s what Sasha would do for Cady.
Willow Bean came home as Sasha received a flurry of text messages. She was fiddling with her phone when her mother flounced into the kitchen and dropped her purse on the table.
Sasha could feel her mother watching her as she texted messages to her friends.
“Does no one talk on the phone anymore?” Willow Bean asked.
“No,” Sasha said.
“What kind of life is that?” Willow Bean said.
Sasha ignored her mother and kept sending messages to her friends. She sent a text message to her mother telling her how many friends were coming and the location she’d chosen for the party.
Willow Bean’s phone beeped. She picked up her purse and dug the phone out of an exterior pocket. She checked the screen and then gawked in disbelief at her daughter.
“Did you just send me a text?”
“Yes. Now don’t bother me about the party anymore,” and Sasha left the room.
She needed to decide whether she was going to ask Evan to the party. She ran into Hannah in the family room slouched in front of the television watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer reruns.
Sasha flopped on the couch beside her little sister.
“Who started the romance? Buffy or Angel?” she asked her sister, a Buffy expert.
“Both,” Hannah said. Sasha was skeptical.
“Angel was always around but it’s not like she wasn’t interested,” she said.
“So you think it was mutual then?”
Hannah nodded vigorously. “Why do you ask?”
Sasha ignored the question. “How do you know, for sure, if someone is interested?”
Hannah shrugged “When guys like girls they pull the girl’s hair.”
“Who told you that?”
“That’s what Tyler does to Megan. She told her mom and she said the boy was just trying to get her attention.”
Sasha sighed. She had no idea how to figure out whether Evan was interested in her or just being polite because of their shared trauma. He hadn’t tried to pull her hair. He’d said he wanted her number but didn’t propose a date. It felt like he was into her at the pool and last night. After they’d run into the convenience store he didn’t have to hold her hand for such a long time. She suspected he was interested but didn’t know positively.
Sasha tested her theory on Sunday afternoon. The glass door to the Second Cup was boarded up but a poster declared the café open. Sasha pushed open the door unsure if Evan was working. She didn’t have his phone number and hoped he’d be there.
She didn’t see him. At the counter was a black man in his 20s. He was ringing up a drink order and shouted to someone out of view.
Sasha scanned the robust crowd that occupied every table. Her favorite chair by the fireplace was occupied. Sasha walked up to the counter still wearing her leather coat, her knapsack slung over her shoulder. She decided she’d get a drink and wait a bit to see if Evan showed up.
Teebow, who was always friendly, was behind the counter. He smiled brilliantly at Sasha blinding her with his pearly white teeth.
“I’ll be with you in a moment,” he said and turned away. The beautiful gold edged antique mirror that hung over the sink behind the counter was gone. Sasha stared at the huge hole in the back wall as a memory from Friday flashed in her head. She saw the mirror burst into hundreds of pieces after a bullet shattered the surface. The police must have dug the slug out of the wall because the hole in the drywall was the size of a fist.
Teebow puttered behind the counter adding milk and fruit to a blender. An older woman with salt and pepper frizzy hair waited impatiently beside Sasha. She tapped her foot and kept checking her watch.
“How much longer?” The woman said to Teebow.
“One more second,” he said giving her a smile over his shoulder.
When Teebow turned on the blender the noise of the café faded. Sasha couldn’t even hear voices over the grinding noise. It ended as quickly as it started and Teebow poured the foamy drink into a plastic cup, sealed the lid and jammed a straw into the opening. He handed the irritated woman her drink with a smile.
Sasha wouldn’t have been able to do that. She didn’t like demanding people. Maybe that’s why she and her mother clashed so often. Sasha shook her head to get rid of the thought. She didn’t want to think about her mother.
“What about you?” Teebow said. “What’s your pleasure?”
He smiled although not
as widely as before.
“Latté with cinnamon please,” she said pulling her change purse out of the front pocket of her knapsack.
“Full fat, skim, fat free or almond milk?” he asked
Sasha shrugged. She couldn’t remember if someone had asked her that before. “Full fat I guess. Almond?”
“It’s new for those who are lactose intolerant,” he said.
Teebow nodded and moved over to the cappuccino machine. As he frothed the milk Sasha heard the office door close and glanced up to see Evan. He was adjusting his waist apron and didn’t see her.
“Hey bro, can you ring this up?” Teebow said.
Evan looked up and saw Sasha standing at the register. He gave her a smile that touched his eyes and made them sparkle. Sasha’s heart warmed at the reception. Maybe she hadn’t been wrong.
“Hey good to see you,” he said taking up his post behind the register.
“You too,” she said feeling tongue tied.
“You two know each other?” Teebow asked.
Evan faced Teebow and motioned toward Sasha. “This is the girl from Friday night,” he said.
Teebow’s mouth dropped open and his face softened with concern. He stopped working, walked around the counter and stood in front of Sasha.
“Well come here girl and let me give you a big hug,” he said wrapping his arms around her and lifting her off her feet. Her arms were pressed to her sides and she couldn’t move. He hugged her so tightly she exhaled dramatically.
Seeing her distress Evan intervened. “Easy Teebow,” he said. “She’s a girl, not one of your buddies.”
Teebow let Sasha go. She stumbled once she was two-footed and Teebow held her arm to balance her.
“Sorry,” he said a red flush appearing on his bronze face. “I take it a bit far. I’m just so glad you’re alright.”
He squeezed her arm, a soft smile on his lips. “Drinks for life,” he said. “I wish there was more I could do.”
Startled Sasha shook her head. “I can’t accept drinks for life. That’s too much.”
“I own the place, I can do what I want,” he said returning behind the counter. “I can’t have my customers getting robbed. Nobody would come back.”
Sasha shook her head. She appreciated the gesture but thought it excessive especially considering the robbers didn’t actually steal from her or the store.
She waved around the store. “Doesn’t look like it’s hurt business,” she said. “I can’t even find a seat.”
“Yeah, my peeps are loyal,” he said turning to Evan. “Ask those folks by the fireplace to move. That’s her favorite spot.”
Sasha couldn’t hide her surprise. “How did you know?”
Teebow winked at her. “I pay attention.”
Evan rearranged some tables to make room for the couple then asked them to vacate their seats. They obliged after Teebow offered them free drinks.
“Teebow, if you keep giving away the merchandise you won’t make any money,” Sasha said.
Teebow grinned confidently. “Don’t worry bout me. Go sit. Evan will bring your drink.”
Sasha sat down in the seat vacated for her and pulled her knapsack on her lap. She didn’t know that Teebow owned the café but it made sense. She saw him practically every time she came.
She pulled a novel out of her bag and sat back into the cracked leather cushions. When Evan put her drink on the coffee table in front of her she wanted to say something clever. Anything to spark a conversation, get him to stay.
“How are you?” she asked. She hoped she didn’t sound motherly. She didn’t want to sound maternal but she couldn’t think of anything else to say to him.
“Good, good, you?”
She nodded her head and took a sip of her drink. It was scalding hot and she blew on it.
“I love this place,” she said, again having nothing else to say. She so desperately wanted to be witty and charming and couldn’t come up with a decent conversation topic. She felt supremely pathetic and hoped it didn’t show.
“Me too,” he said. “I live nearby and have been coming here for years.”
“Really? I’ve never seen you here before Friday.”
“I know weird,” he said. “Teebow tells me you come here all the time. You probably weren’t looking for me.”
“What?” she said distressed that her interest was so obvious. She covered her eyes with her hand too embarrassed to meet his gaze.
“I mean your book,” he laughed. “You’ve had your head in your book. I’m not surprised you didn’t see me.”
“Oh,” she said and wished the floor would open up and swallow her.
Evan glanced over his shoulder toward the counter and frowned at a line starting to form in front of the cash register.
“Thanks for the drink,” she said noting his anxiety at being away from his duties.
Evan stood up, relief on his face. “See you.”
“Absolutely,” she said with a confidence she didn’t feel. They hadn’t yet exchanged phone numbers as she wanted nor had she invited him to her birthday party. She was waiting for a sign that he’d respond favorably and she didn’t want to be one of those girls who chased guys. It was unbecoming and it never worked out. Guys liked to be the ones to pursue or at least that’s what she read in one of Jenna’s mom’s self-improvement books.
Jenna’s mom was single after her parents divorced and was always reading about how to date in the new millennium. She’d even tried online dating but swore off it after discovering most men lie in their profiles and posted pictures of themselves that were decades old before they got fat and bald.
Sasha opened her book hoping it would inspire words she could speak. Despite her anxiety, time passed quickly. She was lost in her book and had finished her drink when Evan appeared beside her chair. The seat across from her was empty and he took it.
Evan stared at his clasped hands in his lap. She wondered if he was shy too.
“How are you doing, really?” he asked lifting his head.
Sasha paused and chose her words carefully. “A little freaked out,” she said. She dismissed the idea of mention the man in the parking lot she thought was following her. It would make her appear as paranoid as she felt. As far as Evan knew Friday was a simple robbery.
“Yeah, me too,” he sighed leaning back and putting his foot on the edge of the table. “Nightmares?”
Sasha shook her head in the negative. “Not yet.”
Evan nodded like he understood. “I keep thinking back and I don’t think they asked for any money.”
Sasha stiffened, her shoulders drew inward. “What?” She said playing dumb.
Evan sat up in his seat and leaned toward her. “I’m just saying, I don’t remember them asking for money. So then the question I keep asking myself is what did they want?”
Sasha hunched over in her seat hoping the necklace wasn’t showing.
“What do you think?”
Sasha swallowed and paused. “Maybe. Or maybe they were just confused crack heads?”
“Could be,” he said.
She couldn’t tell if he was searching her neckline. She had to change the subject.
“It’s my birthday tomorrow,” she blurted. “My mom is having a dinner for me. Would you come?”
Evan was startled. “Me?”
Sasha shrugged. “Why not celebrate after someone tried to kill us?”
Evan laughed. “Sounds like a good reason to party.”
Sasha grinned. “My parents will be there.”
He laughed again and then got serious.
“You think they were trying to kill us?”
Sasha shrugged. Evan leaned toward her and frowned.
“That or they were just crazy,” she said trying to keep her voice light.
“I think I’ll go with crazy. I mean why would someone want to kill me? I don’t have anything, and when I say nothing, I mean nothing.”
Sasha stared at him wanting to know his stor
y but she didn’t want to pry.
“Give me your number and I’ll text you the details,” she said.
“Sure,” he said. “Give me your phone.”
Sasha reached into her bag and pulled out her phone. Evan handed her his phone and took hers adding his contact information. His fingers flew over the keys. Sasha punched in her information into his phone and put it on the coffee table. He stood when he handed her phone back and picked up his. Sasha felt a tingle when their fingers touched as the phone was exchanged. A warm sensation sparked in her stomach and spread to her chest.
“I gotta get back to work, see you tomorrow,” he said.
A goofy grin was plastered on Sasha’s face. She gathered up her things and waved at Teebow as she left.
“Count on it,” she said and slung the backpack over her shoulder as she headed out the door.
CHAPTER FIVE
Sasha left the coffee shop elated. She couldn’t believe Evan agreed to go to her party. She hoped she didn’t come across as desperate. It was supposed to be a casual invitation.
A tingle of self doubt set in. She was not a clingy girl. She felt a twinge of regret and tried not to let it ruin her mood.
A big gust of wind made the garbage in the parking lot swirl around. She didn’t take much notice and that was probably why she didn’t see him.
She slipped the key in her bike lock when she saw a pair of men’s shoes. They were white leather with white rubber soles, a fashion statement not seen very often. It was very Fantasy Island.
Sasha squinted into the blinding sun. The man was wearing white pants, a white shirt under a white jacket and a white fedora style hat. He glowed but she wasn’t sure if it was from the clothes or some magical essence.
It was the man from the police station parking lot. She felt a peculiar vibration along her nerves and knew it was an internal warning system alerting her to danger.
She waited for the man to speak first. Her hands shook and the key rattled. She stuffed it in her pocket to hide her fear. The deodorant commercial tag line kept ringing in her head. Never let them see you sweat.
She didn’t know how to call on her power. She didn’t feel a charge of blue sparks building up. Where were the blue sparks when she needed them?
Cursed Page 4
