“Austin’s clueless,” he finally said. “If I were you I wouldn’t put up with his crap. Just saying.”
“And what am I supposed to do?” I asked, slightly irritated.
“All right, since you asked,” he said with contrived enthusiasm.
“Okay, so I know you have your opinions. Let’s hear ‘em.”
“Hmm, I don’t think right now is a good time.”
“Why not?”
“Uh, because I’m afraid you’ll get pissed with me and hitch a ride home.”
I smiled just slightly as I scoffed. “I doubt it,” I murmured.
He didn’t reply.
“There’s no way I’m missing Brandon Flowers,” I added.
With a chuckle he said, “Maybe he’ll marry you.”
“He’s already married.”
“Oh.”
“Anyways, I thought I was married to you,” I told him.
He gave me a look of confusion. “Huh?”
With a chuckle I said, “Charlie claims we’re secretly married but he’s not supposed to tell anyone.”
Ben rolled his eyes, but I was surprised when he asked, “And what else did he tell you?”
“Charlie? Uh, nothing really. He’s kind of weird, you know.”
“Yeah, which causes me to worry sometimes,” he smiled.
“Worry about what? All your deep, dark secrets?”
“Maybe. Probably should have had him ride with us, though,” he kind of mumbled to himself. “Laurel and Andy might’ve needed some time alone…”
We’d arrived at the Fox Theatre, and after Ben parked, the subject was dropped. By then I started to get excited for the concert again, and having a night out with Ben and his friends seemed to be just what I needed. From the opening act to the very end, the show was amazing, and even though I barely knew Andy, Laurel, and Charlie, I had a lot of fun with them.
We stuck around for a little bit afterwards, mainly because Charlie had left our group for a few minutes and we didn’t know where he went. I wasn’t sure what was going on when I heard Ben say, “Great,” and he left us, as well. I watched him walk across the theatre and that’s when I saw Charlie. He was standing with another group of people that he seemed to know, but one of the guys appeared to be giving him a hard time.
“Wait here,” Andy said as he left Laurel and I standing there.
By then Ben had met up with Charlie. But he said something to the other guy instead, and it didn’t look like a friendly exchange. Some words were spoken, and as Ben was trying to lead Charlie away, the other guy said something that made Ben stop. I was worried that he was going to get into some type of altercation with the guy, so I was happy when he decided to shake it off and just walk away.
“Let’s go,” Ben said when he approached us. He barely waited for us and continued to walk.
“What was that all about?” I asked as I caught up with him.
“Just Charlie getting mixed up with the wrong people again.”
“Who was that guy?”
“Josh Keller. Biggest dealer in town. It’s because of him that Charlie got into all that crap.”
“So what did he want?”
By then we were almost to the exit and Ben decided to slow his pace. “Who knows, but I don’t want Charlie around those guys,” he said quietly as the others caught up to us. “I’ll take you home,” he said to Charlie.
Charlie nodded, we said our farewells to Andy and Laurel, and the three of made our way to Ben’s Jeep. It wasn’t until we were on Chester Avenue when Ben finally said, “What were you thinking, talking to those guys?”
“I didn’t make it a point to talk to them. I saw Kendra so I thought I’d say hi. I didn’t see Josh until he came over to me.”
“And what did he want?”
“Nothing, he just…I don’t know, said ‘Hey,’ I guess.”
“Just ‘hey,’ huh?” Ben scoffed.
“Yeah,” Charlie replied, getting angry. “What, you think I’d be dumb enough to associate with the guy again? Gee, thanks for the confidence, man.”
“I trust you, Charlie; I don’t trust Josh.”
“Well you’d better damn well trust me,” Charlie growled. “You think I really want that life again, Ben? Huh? Are you out of your mind?!”
“Don’t yell at me in here. You’re right in my ear.”
“Then don’t lecture me like I haven’t learned my lesson. I already feel like your retarded little brother.”
That made Ben chuckle, and so did Charlie. I smiled too, just because the mood had lightened.
“Well I’m just trying to look out for you,” Ben finally said. “Whether you’re actually retarded or not,” he added with a smile.
“Maybe not retarded, but I’m sure there are a few billion brain cells missing.”
A few minutes later we dropped Charlie off at a dumpy apartment building. It reminded me of the first apartment that my mom and I lived in when we moved out of my grandparents’ house. He said something about “home, sweet home” when he got out, and then he waved goodbye as he climbed a set of stairs.
Ben actually waited until he was inside of his apartment before he left. I thought that was thoughtful. I think he might have even walked him to his door had I not been there with him, and when I mentioned that to him, he kind of laughed.
“Yeah, I usually do. But it’s more out of habit because Charlie used to be paranoid that the Feds were waiting for him in his apartment.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Either that or the Russians that wanted his plans for an invisible spy plane.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle, but at the same time I knew it wasn’t funny.
“It’s okay,” Ben said, realizing that I felt bad. “We laugh about it now, but back then… Man, he was really bad, Nova. It’s one thing to see one of your best buddies get into trouble now and then, but to watch them literally destroy themselves…” I didn’t know what to say so I didn’t say anything. We drove in silence for a bit before he finally said, “Sorry, I normally wouldn’t say stuff like that to anyone, but Charlie said he told you, right?”
“That he was a junkie? Yeah, he mentioned it.”
We were silent again as we headed Harmony acres. The moon was almost full, and I leaned my head against the window to watch it through the trees.
“Charlie’s one of those demons that I’ve had to face,” Ben said, breaking the silence.
I looked at him and he glanced at me, and then we took a left for the ranch.
“It’s because of me that he got into that crap, not Josh Keller.”
“You said you didn’t do drugs. I don’t understand.”
“I didn’t. But a lot of those people we hung around with in the racing scene—Josh, Keith, Kado—they had other business on the side. I used to race for Josh a lot—so did Austin. At the time we were a little naïve to all that stuff. Charlie seemed to know more about it than we did, and it was because he was with those guys more than we were. Austin and I were busy racing and Charlie was left to be raised by the wolves. He was kind of our shark, you know? He knew just how to rope people in for races and he was great for business. Josh loved him, and I later realized that he’d been giving Charlie freebies—drugs—all along.
“When Austin started to feel some of the heat—you know, being around that crowd and stuff—it made him uncomfortable. He said we shouldn’t race for Josh anymore, especially because Josh seemed to get even crazier with his betting and his behavior started to get a little extreme. Too many bad things started to happen—fights, theft, too much rivalry—and the scene just changed for the worse. It wasn’t fun anymore.”
We pulled up to the guesthouse and Ben parked his Jeep by the fence.
“Without Austin, winning bets was even harder. I lost a lot of money, Josh lost a lot of money… Things just kind of went downhill. And because Josh wasn’t making as much street racing, he turned to dealing more often. And that’s when he started to use Charlie. I was so hooked on ga
mbling that I couldn’t even see past my own greed. I had that mentality of, ‘Just one more race and I’ll be back on top.’ I didn’t even know that Charlie had become so addicted to drugs. Pretty soon he was living the life of a junkie—stealing from people, hocking people’s stuff, using every dime for his next fix… I didn’t even know who he was anymore. I couldn’t talk to him—he was delusional half the time, unreasonable—and anything I said to Josh got me into trouble. He said he’d stop dealing to Charlie if I did this or if I did that. And yeah, it did work the first few times. But Charlie was too addicted and Josh knew that. It just…didn’t turn out well.”
I internalized the information for a bit before I asked, “And what about Austin?”
“Austin was smart and got out. By the time I wanted out I’d already gotten myself into a load of trouble. Austin did help me out quite a bit, but when Charlie came around a couple times looking for me to get him out of some sort of mess again… That’s when things got worse around here. No one wanted Charlie around here because he was so messed up all the time and couldn’t be trusted.”
“You said that Charlie got into stuff like stealing from people and hocking things… Um, you said you did that here at the ranch… Did Charlie have anything to do with that, too?”
He didn’t answer at first, but then he replied, “Yeah, that’s who started it all. But Charlie wasn’t to blame entirely. I really did do it, too. I did it to dig myself out of gambling debts at first, and then I was desperate to get Charlie into rehab and did it some more. Not my proudest achievement.”
“But you’ve come clean about all of that, so it’s not something that you still need to atone for.”
“No, but I still have regrets, you know. I mean I wish I could turn back the clock and—”
“Mistakes are meant to be made. That’s what refines us the most if we’ve actually learned from them.”
“I know but…”
“Yeah, I understand. I also admire you.”
He chuckled until he realized I was serious. “What for?”
“It’s hard to fess up to things we’ve done wrong. And do you remember the first day we talked to each other?”
“How could I forget that?” he smiled. “You were covered in dirt and sweat… So beautiful.”
I laughed at his facetiousness. “Yeah, anyways… I was referring more to our conversation at the truck.”
“Okay.”
“I had no right to spout off my opinions like that. It wasn’t my place and I’m sorry.”
“Apology accepted, but I did aggravate the situation, too,” he smiled.
“Yes, you did. But you already apologized for that.”
“Yes, I certainly did,” he smiled again. We sat there for a few seconds in silence. Ben turned off the engine to his Jeep and then sighed. “It’s really true that you can’t judge a book by its cover.”
I thought about that for a second. “No, I guess you can’t. I mean on the outside something could be obvious, but you really don’t know what a person has been through unless you walk a mile in their shoes.”
“Ha, another cliché.”
I smiled. “Yeah, I know.”
He sighed again and then slapped his thighs with his hands. “Well?” he asked, looking at me. “I’m ready to hit the sack. Wanna join me?”
I snorted and then punched him in the arm while he laughed. We both got out of the Jeep and headed for the house when he said, “I didn’t mean in the same sack.”
“Right.”
He chuckled again. “I knew you were gonna punch me, but not that hard,” he said, rubbing his arm.
“Hm, maybe next time you’ll think twice.”
“Probably not. It’s too fun to get a reaction out of you.”
I punched him again, just to be ornery.
“Ow! Keep your hands to yourself!”
“No,” I retorted, getting into a boxing stance.
He shook his head at me with warning. “Oh, I don’t think you wanna start that…”
I jabbed at him lightly but he easily blocked it. “See it all starts with easy girly stuff,” I said, lightly sparring with him again. “And then—” I went for it and slugged him right in the shoulder.
“Ow!”
“That seems to be the only word you know right now,” I kidded.
He shook his head at me again. “You’d better watch it, little girl.”
“Or what?” I taunted, back to barely sparring.
“Or you’re gonna be crying for my mom in a second.”
I laughed at that, since I occasionally did tease Clara when she acted like my “mom.”
“Oh, come on, Benny. You afraid to fight a girl?”
“Yeah, pretty much. Especially you since you’re a devil child.”
I laughed again but just went with it. “That’s right. Cheap shots, titty twisters, and bitch slaps…that’s what I’m good at.”
It was his turn to laugh, and when he did, I softly swatted his face.
“Hey, now,” he growled, and when I continued to box at him, he made a move to grab my wrists.
“Ahh! Hey,” I grumbled, trying to keep him from getting the advantage. He got behind me anyway and held his arms around mine so I couldn’t do anything with them.
“You think you’re so tough,” he chuckled.
I squirmed to get free but wasn’t successful. “Mo-om!” I play hollered.
That made him laugh. “No one’s gonna help you now.”
I struggled some more, even trying to use my legs as leverage to free myself, but he was just too strong. “Okay, farm boy. You win.”
“Farm boy?”
“Yes, Clark Kent. You can let go of me now.”
“Oh, so you can come back at me again?”
“I won’t, I promise.” I couldn’t say it without laughing, and Ben laughed too.
“Right.”
“I have to pee really bad. I’m gonna pee my pants.”
“That’s your problem.”
“You’re a jerk.”
“You started this. What, can’t you finish it?”
I was calm for a few seconds, trying to figure out my next move. I let my body completely relax and Ben chuckled again.
“That’s not going to work, either.”
“What’s not going to work?”
“The surprise assault that’s supposed to happen next.”
I had to laugh again and tried to think of a new tactic. “Okay, I honestly give up. Truly.”
“Right.”
“I do. Because I really have to go to the bathroom.”
He was quiet for a few seconds and I was sure he was considering it. But instead of releasing me he only changed his hold so he was holding me with one arm. “You have to go to the bathroom, huh?” he asked, poking me in the ribs.
“Oh! Don’t you dare tickle me, Ben!”
“Why not?” he chuckled. “Huh?” He dug a few more fingers into my side and it made me scream. “You’re not ticklish, are you?”
“Stop it!” I half laughed, half pleaded. “I will…smother you in your sleep!” I threatened.
That made him laugh even more. “You promise?”
“Let go! I’m seriously gonna—”
The front door opened and Clara was standing there with confusion as she watched us struggle on the lawn.
“Mom! Help!” I pleaded.
“No, she’s being really naughty!” Ben said. “Don’t listen to her!”
“He’s bigger than me! Look at him! What could I possibly do to him?”
Clara had a big smile on her face, thoroughly amused, and then Heath joined her in the doorway.
“Dad, help!” I cried. “Get the belt! Beat this kid!”
“She’s full of lies; she’ll punch me the second I let go.”
“Nova, what’d we tell you about punching people?” Heath asked gruffly.
“Oh? Oh, really? You wanna know what your son said to me? You wanna know what started this whole—�
�
Ben covered my mouth with his hand so I couldn’t say anymore, but I moved my head around so he couldn’t cover it for long.
“He asked me if I—”
“Fine,” Ben grumbled, letting me go with a playful shove.
“He asked you if what?” Clara asked, glaring at him.
I smiled victoriously at Ben and he rolled his eyes.
“Fine, you win,” he told me, shaking his head at my facetiousness. “You happy?”
“Yes, very.”
“Do you know what time it is?” Clara asked us.
Neither of us said anything as we entered the dark house, but after a few seconds, Ben whispered, “Uh, time for the old folks to get back to bed?”
I punched him again and said, “That was rude.”
“Ow,” he growled quietly. “You really want to start this again? You see that?” he asked his parents.
“See what?” Heath replied, shutting the door.
“Jeez, my family hates me,” Ben complained, heading up the stairs. “You all gang up on me…”
I was quietly laughing, and when I heard his bedroom door shut I said, “I’m really sorry about all the noise.”
“Oh, it’s fine,” Clara replied, and she softly laughed. “We were still awake anyways.”
“You were? After midnight?”
“Well our children weren’t in yet,” she replied. “I can’t sleep unless I know everyone’s home safely. Goodnight, sweetie.”
She patted my arm on her way by, and Heath also said goodnight.
I smiled, and as I made my way upstairs, I felt really thankful for such a great night.
Chapter Twenty-Two
I stormed down the hall and pounded on Ben’s door. I didn’t even give him a chance to respond when I flung it open and he stood there stunned, probably on his way to open it. Thank goodness he at least had on a pair of boxers.
“What’s the matter?” he asked, truly concerned. He had no idea I was just about to rip him a new one.
“You knew he would get pissed, didn’t you? You knew he would eventually find out and that he would be furious!”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Austin? You know, my boyfriend that hates you and apparently your other little friends, as well?”
Nova Page 27
