About Time

by Danielle Torella

  “Okay,” She says and she pulls out a business card from her pocket, “If you need an out call me.” She hands me a bright green card and it has a cute little cartoon character on it in a super hero’s costume, which resembles her. It has her name, number and a website on it. I look it over quick and thank her.

  We are once again set free, this time we make it to the door way and I look back over my shoulder and see Justin at the bar holding a bottle in the air at me and nods. I purse my lips and send him a tight smile.

  “Do you want to follow me? It’s back closer to home where I want to go or ride together and I can bring you back here to your car?” Derrek asks as we finally get outside.

  I laugh, “Oh, I can’t see you driving me three hours both ways.”

  He smiles and nods in the direction of his Dodge Dart which is all black and such a new car. I have never owned a new vehicle, it’s always been Blue Belle and I. He offers up a smile and wave then he disappears into the sweet ride.

  I following him on the highway all the way back home. At times he goes much faster than what Blue Belle can do and I would fall back a little, but then he would slow it back down. I listen to my new music on the way back and I am full of smiles.

  When we pull into the lot he is quick to get out of his car and rushes over to mine. Before I can get out he is next to the door and he catches me in a light giggle.

  “What’s so funny?” He asks amused.

  “Oh, it’s nothing. I’ll never get used to a quiet car.”

  Leaning in closer to my car window, with an arm propping him up, “What doesn’t your boyfriend have a nice car?”

  He has to keep bringing him up doesn’t he? Maybe it’s for the best, I don’t want to do something stupid tonight. “Yeah, but we hardly ever drive together. Usually he is on campus or coming from his place.”

  “Campus? How old is this guy?” He chuckles.

  “Same as me, twenty-four. He is finishing up law school.”

  “Twenty-four huh?” He glances in.

  “Yeah, how old are you?” I have been trying to guess since the first time we met, but you’re hard to read.

  “Twenty-eight.”

  Oh, “Okay.” I don’t know how to reply to that.

  “Am I too old to be your friend Margot?” His voice is low and sultry.

  I shake my head no, in the red glow of the light which is just outside of our destination, we are at a cute café style bistro. I’m surprised they are even open still.

  He steps aside to look down the nearly empty lot and he grins, obviously happy with what he saw. He shoots back to try and open the door for me and I am already out. “What? Can’t wait for a guy to at least be a gentleman?”

  I feel bad instantly, “Sorry. Not something I’m used to.”

  “Something else we can talk about too.” He rushes to the entrance and makes sure he opens it before I even have the chance, I smile and shake my head at him.

  “Table for two please Stacy,” He tells the girl at the check in podium.

  She rolls her eyes, “You know we close in half an hour right?”

  Ooh, ouch! She doesn’t seem pleasant. He steps closer to her and I am kind of feeling weirded out. He tells her, “Then tell Dad that I will close up when we are done here. You guys can go home.”

  “Fine, don’t forget to take care of your own dishes and don’t burn the place down with the table candles.” She punches him on the shoulder when she passes by him to show us to a table.

  “Stacy this is Margot, my…friend?” He looks to me for approval in his answer.

  I agree and offer my hand to the thirty-something woman, “Nice to meet you.”

  “Likewise. This is the first time little Der has brought a girl here.”

  “Little Der?” I can’t help but ask.

  Derrek moans and runs his hand through his hair, “You had to call me that huh?”

  “What it’s a cute story?” She sticks her tongue out at him and looks back to me, “When he was five-ish our three year old sister Chloe couldn’t say his name so when she tried it came out as Der the first time and when we pointed to poor Derrek she would say Der! Dropping the K and saying it like it was a dumb question, back at us! Cutest thing ever so it stuck.”

  I look to Derrek and laugh when I see him sitting there with his face covered shaking his head, “Thanks Stacy.”

  “That’s what big sisters are for!” She pats his shoulder and asks me what I want to drink.

  “Can I get an unsweetened iced tea?”

  “Like no sugar in it?” She asks me like every other server I have ever had.

  “Yeah, I don’t like sweet tea.” Both of them have eyes on me, “What? I know it’s not common in the south but…”

  His mouth drops open then closes and then open again, “The only person I had ever met who didn’t like sweet tea was our mother, so it’s a blow to the old heart.”

  “I’m sorry…is she the only one in the family who likes it that way?”

  “Was,” Derrek breathes out.

  They look at one another, “I am sorry I didn’t mean…”

  “No, no it’s fine, how could you know. I will get that for you.” She tells me and walks to the back.

  Derrek looks down at the table and when I go to put my hands in my lap he reaches out and grabs the both of them. His jaw clenched, he waits to speak, until Stacy drops off our drinks and a basket of bread then leaves us alone, probably sensing whatever this is.

  “Derrek I am sorry I stirred up memories…”

  He closes his eyes, “No it’s fine really. It’s just she passed away only a couple years ago and everything has changed. The only thing keeping my Dad going is this restaurant and my sisters helping out, well Stacy and Joanne. Chloe went and did her own thing and won’t talk about any of it. Anyways, I brought you here to talk about you, so can we please do so?”

  I want to know more, but I don’t want to pressure him, I know what that is like all too well. People making you talk all the time, people you don’t even know asking you personal questions. But being here with Derrek is different. He isn’t doing his job like the rest of them were. “What do you want to know?” I squeeze his hand and take a sip out of my straw.

  “I want to know why you came out tonight.”

  “I told you, I was invited and was curious.”

  “I got that much, and now why with me? Why did you agree to come here alone with me? Especially when it was Justin who actually invited you out tonight.” I suck in my lip, and he snips, “You better knock that off or we won’t be friends for much longer.” His voice stern and deep, so deep it travels through my body and curls my toes.

  I release it instantly and look down. “Look at me Margot,” his tone a little softer this time. “Don’t look away from me when I am talking to you. Why did you look away?”

  I have to think about that question, “Authority has always scared me.” His eyes soften and so does the rest of his face, I think what I said made him see that he can’t be like that with me right now.

  “I’m sorry, why is that?”

  I take in a breath, getting ready to open up to him, I am not sure why I feel the need to, but I do. “My parents didn’t want me when I was born. They were teenagers and being reckless ones got pregnant. So, when I wasn’t wanted by anyone else in the family because I was a creation of sin I was given to the state of Illinois. So from the day I was born I wasn’t wanted and was put through foster home after foster home and group homes.”

  He shifts his chair so he was now sitting right next to me instead of across the little round table. His arm goes around my shoulder and he waits for me to go on, when I don’t he tells me, “I am sorry Margot, I never would have guessed. So is that why you jumped away from me at the pub?”

  I keep eye contact like he asked of me, “Yes. As I got older and ‘defiant’ as they told the authorities, they got rough with me. I mean it’s expected in the group homes. People think boys are so rough and e
vil, has never been stuck in a room with unwanted, thrown out girls. But, when you are put into the care of a foster family you would think those kind of people would care and want to help out children, really they do it for the checks. They could give a shit. Sorry, I didn’t mean to swear, I typically don’t…”

  “Margot I think you are one of the only people I know who deserves to. I am surprised you didn’t go the way these kids go. I have heard that people in your case end up in jail, on drugs or worse.”

  I sigh, “That’s true, and I am one in a million. Once I was a legal adult I packed my one bag and got the hell out of there. I just started driving and ended up in Beaufort. That’s when I met Maddy, who was looking for a roommate and here I am.”

  He runs his hand up and down my back, “Here you are.”

  I look away for a moment when his sister returns to tell us our only options for dinner, seeing as the kitchen was pretty much closed. Derrek wasn’t impressed, “Go on home, Dad too. I know my way around.”

  His sister puts a fist on her hip and gives him the ol’ yeah right look. “I don’t know if the insurance would cover the amount of damage I am sure you are capable of in there.”

  I laugh and he pokes me in the ribs, “Don’t encourage her,” He nuzzles in my ear. That shuts me right up.

  “Have a little faith Sue.”

  “Fine, just clean up after. It was really nice meeting you Margot, I hope to see you again soon.” She waves and smiles at me, a genuine smile. I tell her thank you and I wave back.

  She goes back through the kitchen and leaves from the back. Derrek gets up to close the shutters in the windows and lock the door. He returns back to the table and holds that hand back out at me, “Join me in the kitchen?”

  I stand and lightly hold his hand. It’s a friendly gesture I try to tell myself. Don’t read anything into Margot. We walk through double swinging doors into a smaller up to date kitchen. Not something you would see on Cupcake Wars or Cake Boss or anything, but it’s cute and more than functional.

  “What are you in the mood for?” He asks me. “Hush puppies perhaps,” He winks and I shake my head, then I see the walk in freezer he is leading me into.

  The room looks really small and I start to tighten up. I am extremely claustrophobic and going into that thing is not going to work well with me or my nerves. I start to pull back and I try to let go of his hand. He stops and gives me this look of oh, come on. I shake my head no and look away from the box of impending doom.

  “Claustrophobic?”

  “Very much so.”

  “Okay, stay here I just need to go in a grab some stuff.” He is in there for only a couple of moments and he is right out and closing the heavy door. Setting it on the prep table he goes to work on his gatherings. I have no idea what he is making for me, I see chicken, pasta and veggies. “So did that fear always exist or did something bring it on?” He glances up from his chopping.

  I bite the inside of my cheek. He is asking things that no one has ever noticed before. Things I didn’t expect to discuss. “Like I said living all around the state from a baby to eighteen had mostly downs and very few goods. When I was about six I was put in a foster home with like four other kids. They were all a little older than me and when I was brought in, I was an enemy right from the start. They were pretty mean to a little girl who has been going through hell and they didn’t hide it from my new caregivers. But one day during the summer when they were working and the oldest one, who was twelve thought it’d be funny to lock me in this storm seller. It was about the size of that fridge over there. I was there for nine hours. No water or food. When the man came home and let me out, he smacked the crap out of my butt for snooping.”

  “Didn’t you tell someone?” He asks me in disgust.

  I shook my head no, “If I tattled then they would only hurt me more. Then I would get whooped for supposedly lying. When that foster family got tired of me, I would be passed onto the next one and the next one. And as I got older things only got worse…”

  “What Margot? What happened to you?” For someone who just met me, he is the first to really care to show the pain on his face, the pain that I felt for so many years. I held so much in for so long. Sure I told Josh, but he just kind of nodded along. Now that I think about it, he didn’t seem to have that much interest or compassion, like I had thought back then. I can feel my eyes start to fill with hot tears. I never told Maddy half the stuff I am telling him, she thinks she knows it all, but she has only heard the tip of the iceberg. “Margot,” He sets his knives down and lifts me up onto the counter and stands between my knees. This should make me nervous, but I want it.

  “I had a couple of the other foster boys and the men hurt me. Not just beatings…” That’s all it takes and I can feel my body start to shutter with the cries I have been holding back for my entire life.”

  Derrek shushes me and his hands move into my hair, “It’s okay, and you don’t need to tell me anymore I got the idea. He holds my head in his strong hands and demands me to look at him, I struggle to do so. He dips his head down to look at me instead. “No one can hurt you now.”

  “That’s where you are wrong. I have nightmares all the time, they won. They took everything from me. I can’t even have a normal sex life and my boyfriend, well I am pretty sure he is getting it somewhere else, because I can’t. And you know what? I feel like it’s my fault that he feels the need to.”

  “No!” He growls. “He doesn’t get to do that to you! If he was even half of a man, he would help you, stay by your side and get you through the nightmares, not crawl up some other girl’s pussy!”

  His strong use of language sounds odd on my ears, but feels about right. I don’t have it in me to say those things, but having someone else say them for me, seems good enough. “Thank you.”

  “For what? I haven’t done anything for you, I would love to though, more than anything.” He leans in closer to me. My cheeks are on fire with hot tears.

  I take in a deep breath and chuckle. His look contorts and his eye brow shoots up, “You’re showing the rage I wish I could get out. I feel like I weigh less because I finally told someone.”

  I calm myself back down and my body stills. “So what are you making us?” I look to the half prepared meal.

  “Screw it. I want to sit near you and talk more, how do you feel about crusty bread and marinara sauce?”

  “Delicious.”

  We sat and ate torn off chunks of bread and dipped it in spaghetti sauce and talked. It’s nearly five thirty in the morning. “I want to have breakfast with you. It’s nearly morning as it is, why don’t you go on and take a quick nap or shower and meet me in the town center? I know a good place near there.”

  I shyly smile and nod my head in agreement.

  How can I fall to sleep, let alone shower. But my one and only concern is walking back into the apartment and facing Maddy. Now only was I out for the whole night, but I am popping in for a couple of hours and then going back out again. She will know something is up. Library it is. I use my key to let myself in and I pull out a book on my never ending to be read list and cuddle up in a chair. I unintentionally imagine Derrek as the leading man and it makes me squirm in my chair at the juicy parts. I keep getting distracted and I look at the time on my phone just about every fifteen minutes. When I see that it’s finally time to go, I close up the book and practically run out of the library.

  I am early of course, but I pull in and park on the street, people will be just getting out of bed to head out to breakfast, most eating before church at one of the hundreds of little congregations in the area. He pulls in and parks next to me.

  “Even though I have lived here for some time now, I sometimes forget that some places aren’t even open on Sunday’s it’s hard to believe.” I nervously start to ramble. “Besides isn’t Sunday like the best day to go out and have breakfast? I know I…”

  “Margot,” He stops walking and I feel embarrassed by my ongoing verbal diarrhea.
“I think you are the first person who would agree with me on this matter. I myself am a big breakfast person.”

  “Oh,” I nervously laugh, I thought for sure he was going to tell me to shut up.

  “Why do you look nervous and relieved all at the same time?” He asks with a soft smile filled with questioning.

  I fidget with my hands, “Because I ramble on when I’m a little nervous and I thought you were going to tell me to shut up.” I keep walking, but when I turn to see what his face is saying what his words aren’t he has stopped in his tracks. “What?” I ask him. His hands are in his pockets and he is looking down. I slowly walk back to him and I put my hand on his arm. He doesn’t lift his head, but he is looking at me, reading me.

  “I would never tell you to shut up. And it stings me that you would think I would. I am not that kind of douche bag, some would disagree I am sure, but I care too much about you. No one should ever tell you to stop talking.” He reaches up to scratch his light beard, which I find to be alluring as hell. Stop it Margot… “I could sit and listen to you go on for days.” I bite my lip and smile, which he mimics and I feel better already. We walk around the shore in front of the town, and we come up to a place called Boardwalk Café, it’s right on the main strip of Front Street.

  He holds the door open for me and we walk into the small and quiet restaurant. We are told to seat ourselves and we do at a table for two, “This has to be the only place open every day and night, how is that?”

  The waitress over hears me and answer my question, “Because we are originally New Yorkers and we believe breakfast should be served at all times of the day.” In a non-southern accent also.

  “This is my new favorite place,” I announce with a big smile.

  Smiling she asks us what we want to drink and Derrek tries to order for me, “She will have unsweetened iced tea.”

  I hold up my hand, “hot tea actually.”

  Derrek grins, “Hot tea, of course.”

  “And for you young man?” The older woman asks him.

  “The same please.” She nods and takes off in full swing.