by Kayn, Debra
Several minutes passed without any noise from the other end of the call. If she had any idea how to find where Nick and Shayla lived, she'd start walking. All she knew from previous conversations with her cousin was that they lived together in a trailer about a mile from the viaduct. The overhead interstate went clear through town. She had no idea which direction to even start walking.
"Yeah?" said a male voice in her ear.
She startled. "Nick?"
"Who is this?" he asked.
"It's me, Nova. Your cousin." She paused. "Are you drunk?"
"No."
Her shoulders rounded in relief. "Thank God. I'm in Federal and need a ride."
"Where are you?"
"I'm under the viaduct. There's a sign that says Montana in one direction and Spokane in the other direction. Do you know where that is?"
"Yeah," he said.
"And, Nick?" She bit down on her lip. "Can you hurry? Please?"
"Be there in a couple of minutes."
"Thanks." The phone disconnected.
She glanced at the screen until the light went out. Older than her by six years, Nick remained a loner and quiet. He preferred working on his beater truck and kicking around with his friends.
As an only child, until she was eight years old, Nova learned fast how to get along with her cousins when she moved in with her Aunt Jennie when her mom ran away with her boyfriend. She had a fast wake-up call on what it meant to be family. Living with relatives, adapting to her environment, she gained knowledge that only proved to her that nobody's life was perfect.
Poverty made choices for all of them.
Aunt Jennie drank herself to an early death when her liver gave out. Nick fell in with a rough crowd and stayed away from the house, preferring to hang with his buddies in the park. Shayla—sweet and endearingly naive—continued searching for the rich man who would solve all her problems and had inherited the habit of numbing her disappointments with parties, peer pressure, and pretending everything was okay.
Nova dragged the toe of her sneaker against the ground. Wanting better for herself, she worked any part-time job she could find during high school before dropping out of school completely six months before graduating. She floundered for two years until she finally admitted she wasn't going anywhere and let Shayla talk her into signing up with the Network.
Except, Shayla chickened out when the contract was put in front of her and left Nova alone to move forward on her own.
Tired of hard living, she flourished as a prostitute. Six years later, she had over two hundred and fifty thousand dollars to her name and had worked her way around the United States to find herself in Federal where her cousins had moved three years ago and stayed.
Now she had the opportunity to reconnect with the only relatives she had left.
A loud car pulled off the road and parked under the viaduct, revving its engine. Nova jogged over, straining to see through the darkened windshield. The lights under the interstate failed to uncover her view of the driver.
An urge to hurry pushed her to open the passenger door and the overhead light in the interior of the car came on. Her body froze. An unfamiliar man stared back at her.
The man's dirty blond hair hung almost to his shoulders. Under his baseball cap, his dark blue eyes studied her with interest. The frayed spots on the man's jeans distracted her. She held on to the door, ready to flee. The man was the polar opposite of her cousin Nick, who had brown hair, brown eyes, and a cleft chin.
"Who are you?" she asked on a gasp and at his proximity to her, she got a slight whiff of Lava soap.
Her stomach fluttered recognizing the clean scent she remembered growing up and the roughness of the pumice against her skin. On the man, the aroma was sexy as hell and comforting. Only men who lived an honest life and worked hard labor to put food on the table used a working man's soap.
"A friend of your cousin. Get in." He pressed his foot to the clutch and shifted the car into reverse.
Aware of time slipping away and not knowing the next time she'd have a chance to sneak away from Red Light, she slid into the front seat and shut the door. Her body careened toward the driver as he whipped the car around. She grabbed the door to keep from bumping into him.
"Shit." She pushed her back into the seat and grabbed for the seatbelt. "Did you rob a bank or something? Slow down. You'll have the cops pulling you over."
Her cousin's friend drove the car around the corner, burning rubber, and raced up the on-ramp. The change of momentum threw Nova against the door. She pressed her feet flat on the floor of the car to stabilize herself. "Seriously, I appreciate the ride, but I'd like to get there in one piece if it's okay with you."
The man ignored her, and the car rolled down the interstate in the right-hand lane. She glanced behind her. The guy was lucky no other cars were around in the middle of the night. The state police could pull him over easily if he continued speeding.
"Hang on." The man turned right off the interstate.
Prepared for the sudden change in speed, Nova squinted into the night and tried to read the street sign. She had no idea where Shayla and Nick lived or if the man would dump her at some unknown location and she'd never make it back to Red Light in time.
The headlights flashed over a tall, dark structure at the first stop sign. She gazed out at the twenty-foot statue of a miner and remembered which way they turned so she could point herself back to the interstate.
He hadn't gone far, maybe a mile, when he pulled onto a county road. If Shayla drank too much to take her back to Red Light, she'd borrow her cousin's car and leave it parked under the viaduct. No way was she risking her life again letting one of Shayla's friends drive her back to town.
"How long have you known Shayla?" she asked, uncomfortable with the lack of conversation and hoping to get her mind off the guy's death ride.
"A few years." He glanced over at Nova. "I live next door to her and Nick in the park."
He dimmed the lights on the car and turned off the road, slowing his speed over gravel and grass.
"Are we driving through someone's yard?" She gawked out the window taking in the row after row of run-down trailers scattered in front of her and warmth filled her. A trailer park, any trailer park, reminded her of home.
While she'd grown up in the same kind of environment, first with her mom and then with her aunt and cousins, she'd hoped Shayla and Nick had found a better life in their new location. Shayla talked as if they'd found their permanent place in Federal and planned on settling down.
He pulled up in front of a single-wide trailer with plastic flapping around the bottom edges of the house in an attempt to insulate against the weather and hide the lack of foundation. "She's inside."
Her heart raced in anticipation. She took off her seatbelt and opened the door. Turning to thank the man who brought her to her cousins' place, she flinched as the door shut in her face. He'd already walked away from the car and forgot about her.
Following her instincts to get inside the house before she drew any attention from the neighbors in the middle of the night, she hurried across the small expanse of weeds to the front door. She knocked, watching the nearest window for movement. When none came, and knowing Shayla probably conked out again after talking with her on the phone, Nova turned the handle and stepped inside.
The assault of stale cigarette smoke took her breath away. She fanned the air in front of her face and fought against the familiar setting. Every flat surface held multiple glasses and beer cans. The blue/green variegated carpet matted from age and wear. Each piece of furniture stood out on its own.
The orange flowered couch half covered with a faded purple comforter.
Two recliners—one mahogany with cracks on the thin arms and a green microfiber chair with a broken footrest propped up on a red brick.
The coffee table took up most of the floor and served as an eating table going by the plates stacked on top.
"Shayla?" she called to the empty room,
stepping over a pile of clothes and heading toward the hallway.
Next time she planned to sneak out and visit, she'd make sure Shayla stayed focused. If she missed getting back to the Red Light on time, she'd lose her job. As it was, she risked one of those big goons on bikes who patrolled the building all the time spotting her escape and reentry to her room.
Living on the edge, pushing boundaries, and seeking her independence was once a part of her life she enjoyed. But, she was out of practice.
"Shayla?" She flipped the light on in the first bedroom and found two people cuddled together fully clothed. The woman definitely wasn't her cousin.
Pressured to hurry, she went to the next room and turned on the light. She sagged against the doorframe in relief. In all her travels, she'd never found a woman who had dark auburn hair, so beautiful and natural, with nary a freckle on a flawless face than Shayla. She stepped over the pile of clothes and sat down on the bed. After a childhood of sleeping in the same bed as her cousin, she understood that once she woke Shayla up, she'd be swept up in the vibrate energetic mood that seemed to consume Shayla's life.
"Hey," she whispered, rubbing Shayla's back. "I expected a little more excitement over seeing me."
"Hm?" Shayla stretched, rolling to her side and rubbing her eyes. "Nova?"
"What other bitch would wake you up?" Nova braced as Shayla sat up and threw her arms around her.
She closed her eyes and squeezed back. Her throat constricted, and she laughed to keep the happiness from bursting out in tears. Her reunion had them both rocking side to side, holding each other.
"God, I missed you." Nova pulled back and firmly held Shayla by the arms. "You loser. You flaked on helping me escape."
"Sorry." Shayla brought Nova's hands to her lips. "Everyone came over and Kirkland—God, you should see him—he shared some kind of messed-up cocktail with me that was better than anything I'd ever had before. I think I drank too much."
Nova stood, taking care of the situation and drawing her away from what happened before she'd arrived. "So, fill me in. You and Nick are happy here?"
"Yeah." Shayla scooted off the bed, grabbed a pair of leggings off the floor, and pulled them on. "He got a job at the mine working the elevator shaft. It brings in decent money. We bought this place, and the electricity stays on. He's at work now. His shift changes all the time, so he never knows if he has to work days, swing, or night shift."
"That's great." Genuinely happy for her cousins, she wanted to hear more. "What are you doing?"
Shayla wound her hair behind her neck and slipped a bandana around the messy bun. "Cleaning houses. It covers our groceries and gas."
Nova followed her out to the main area of the house. "You should stay around after you're done working in town."
"Um..." Nova waited for Shayla to look at her. "About that. You can't tell anyone about the bordello in town or that I work there."
"Hey, your secret is safe with me."
"I'm serious." Nova leaned against the kitchen counter and watched Shayla pour a glass of water. "Not only could I get arrested and go to prison, but the whole place could get shut down if a rumor started. There are a lot of people who would get in trouble."
Shayla paused with the glass halfway to her mouth. "Have I ever ratted you out?"
"No." Nova warmed.
Through everything, Shayla always had her back. Her and Nick were the only family members who never betrayed her.
"What do you say? Want to move in after you're done working?" Shayla offered her the water.
Nova waved off both offers. "Thanks, but no. Besides, I noticed your extra bedroom is full. Are you renting out the room?"
"No, that's Brad and Donna. They live in the park and were at the party." Shayla sat down at the Formica-topped table. "I don't blame you for not wanting to move in with us. You have all the men you can stand making you smile. I should've signed up when I had the chance. I don't know why I never went through with it. I guess...I don't know. Maybe subconsciously I knew I wasn't good enough."
Nova glanced away. Shayla would never survive the life of a prostitute. Everything she tried, she put her heart and soul into, and having sex with strangers for money would send her spiraling.
"Who was the man who picked me up?" she asked, changing the subject.
Shayla's brows lowered. "Who?"
"You handed the phone to some guy." Nova leaned back in the chair. "He drives an old muscle car with gray primer paint."
Shayla's eyes had widened before she caught herself. "That's Emmett."
Determined not to let herself get dragged into the dynamics and gossip of the trailer park, she reached out and grabbed Shayla's hand. The oddly painted nails, different colors on each finger with a gold star sticker on her thumb, gave her something to concentrate on rather than how normal it felt to be back with Shayla in an environment she ran away from. "I'm worried about you."
Shayla leaned forward, the stench of drink on her breath. "Why in the hell would you worry about me?"
"You're drunk." Nova inhaled deeply. "Our phone conversations never centered around you partying or the fact that you chose to drink tonight over seeing your favorite cousin after three years."
Shayla laughed. "Look at you being all uptight and prissy. It was a one-time thing, I swear. Besides, I remember walking you home one night and you could barely hold your head up."
Nova lifted her chin. "We were young, and I was living in the park. There wasn't anything else to do..."
She exhaled over her mistake. Shayla never left the park life. She only moved to another state, but park life was the same everywhere. People either accepted their lot in life or they escaped with whatever substance they could find. Drugs, drink, sex, or food.
Shayla always looked to escape.
Time stood still clustered into a tiny community within a town. People existed in a world where they worried over how to earn money for their next meal and useless drama consumed all their free time. Shayla never had a chance to escape and learn a different way of life.
"Just don't forget where you came from, Nova." Shayla pushed at a wayward strand of hair. "Nick worked hard to get us to Federal after we lost our home in Washington. In a lot of ways, we're better off here. You know what it's like to grow up in a park where everyone knows every damn thing about you. We came here, and they've finally accepted me for who I am now. I'd like to keep it that way."
"I get it," she whispered. "And, I'm happy for you and Nick. Plus, I get this short time with you. It'll almost be like old times, right?"
There were times she even let herself imagine living back with her cousins, but she worked for the Network to better herself. She would buy a home away from neighbors, away from the park, and settle down. She squeezed Shayla's hand and stood. Every park had the single woman who opened her door and let her legs be a necklace around some guy's neck. She would not be that woman.
"I need to get back to town." Nova leaned over and kissed Shayla's forehead. "I'll try and sneak away again when we have more time to talk. Now that I made it here after the building closed down, I should be able to leave earlier, around nine o'clock, and that way we have more time together."
Shayla lifted her glass of water. "I'll find my keys and take you back."
"No, stay here. I don't want you driving after you've been drinking. The sun isn't even up yet. I have plenty of time to walk back."
"Nova..." Shayla scrunched up her face. "I'm sorry. It's just that Emmett was here, and —"
"No worries. The exercise will do me good." Nova kissed her cheek, walked to the door, not giving her cousin time to argue. A drunk driving charge would set Shayla back.
Outside, she stood in the weed-filled patch of grass and closed her eyes, letting the fresh air fill her lungs, and the ghosts of her past leave her mind. For all the bad things she'd experienced growing up in a trailer park, she wasn't prepared for the homesickness that hit her.
Chapter Two
The front door o
f Nick and Shayla's trailer opened and the chick he'd picked up in town walked out. Emmett Parker leaned against the front panel of his car and eyed her body, enjoying the confident way she moved.
The door banged behind her, and the dogs on the west side of the park barked at the sudden noise, setting off a chain reaction with every damn dog within the trailer park. All around him people stuck their heads out of their trailers and yelled for quiet. Emmett reached into the open window of his car, pulled out the pistol he took to the auto parts store every morning.
Keeping his gaze on Nova, he shot into the air, fulfilling his duty as park manager to keep the peace, and the dogs quieted.
Nova never flinched at the blast.
He shoved his pistol back under the seat and straightened. He'd never seen her around the park or heard Nick mention a cousin coming to visit before, but one thing was obvious.
The lady was accustomed to trailer park living, despite her high-class looks and attitude.
Nova walked away from the trailer and headed down the road toward the interstate. Emmett glanced back at his neighbor's house. No motion came in front of the windows, and everything remained quiet. Used to hearing their toilet flush and even Shayla's hairdryer because of the closeness of the trailers, he grabbed his car keys out of his pocket and drove after Nova.
He rolled to a stop at the entrance to the park alongside Nova, and she only looked his way when he'd rolled down the window completely.
"Get in. I'll take you back to town," he said.
She walked behind the car and climbed into the passenger seat without a word. In another hour, the sun would rise, but in the dark, even in a small town, a woman should never walk alone. If four-legged creatures left her alone, two legged ones would look at her and want to sample.
"Where do you need to go?" he asked.
She turned toward him, raised her brows, and scoffed in amusement. He gave her another look before letting her have her mystery. If she wanted to pretend she wasn't dependent on him to take her home and without him she'd stomp the pavement for four miles until she reached Federal, it was no hair off his balls.
