by Amarie Avant
“Not that I know of.” Liam shrugged.
As they continued down the street her fingers sought out his larger ones. Somewhere deep inside was the boy she once loved wholeheartedly.
Her stomach coiled; she wanted to ask Liam more. Jonathan, his father, was a very emotionless man. She’d wanted to slap the shit out of him one day when Liam had happily chatted about something. She couldn’t remember, but hated that Jonathan played with his phone as Liam talked.
“Liam.” Raven stopped and looked up. Those honey eyes were laced with faint sorrow. Raven bit her lip. How did she respond? He was no longer the boy she loved. He was tall and handsome and walked with confidence. He was a grown man. A man she didn't need to love.
But those thick lips that had sought her own years ago began to lower. Raven’s mouth watered, tippy toes rising. Then her forehead slammed into his hard chest. Raven whipped around, ready to pounce and tell someone off. But Liam beat her to the punch.
“Hey, you–” Liam shouted until he realized the person who bumped rather harshly into Raven was an old, hobbling woman. Maybe the lady was going blind? But how had she knocked into Raven with such force?
The Creole had etched skin, the color of roasted almonds. Her hair was a golden halo like Liam’s, but much kinkier. One hand twined around a tiny bone collection necklace. The other had two crooked fingers pointed at Raven.
“There's a darkness in you,” the woman spat through gritted teeth.
“Okay, okay, lady, move along.” Liam began to step before Raven. Yet the Creole moved faster than lightening. Her crippled hand gripped Raven’s arm. As Liam grabbed his old best friend, he felt an eerie compulsion to let her go. “Let her go. Leave her…” those words transcribed onto his psyche.
The shouting got louder. Liam yanked Raven away.
As the lady’s feeble hand unlatched from Raven’s arm, the thoughts swarming in his head vanished. Caught off guard, Liam took a second before he tugged Raven behind him.
“GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM US!” Liam shouted.
Tourists ceased their carefree meandering. It was as if they hadn't noticed the slight tussle between the wacko and Raven earlier.
The elderly woman smiled, and patrons went about their business. Her gaze locked onto Liam’s. “You're a good one. You are blood. You heard me very well. Your life is perfect. Let her go. Leave her.”
The woman's lips didn't move a muscle, but he heard the words clear as day, just as he had when extracting her grip from Raven’s forearm. A second later, she hobbled away. Gone with her uncanny strength.
Liam turned around. He almost expected to see Raven’s eyes transformed into an icy blue, as they usually did when she'd fought for him or for her negligent mother. But no. Raven smiled.
“Well, Liam, these are your people. One half Creole. One half crazy.”
He stared. Liam had only been denied one thing in his life. Sure, his mother was strict, borderline heartless. But Elise had taken away Raven. He was just beginning to mend their broken bond. And for the first time, Liam felt an uncertainty. Something urged him to leave behind his soul’s desire.
“I'm just kidding. You know I have a crude sense of humor.” Again, Raven smiled. Something urgent told Liam to hug her. Hold onto her for dear life. But for the first time ever, Liam wasn't convicted to take up for Raven. He did neither.
“I don't believe you've had the taste of taking someone’s life yet, Madame Raven Shaw. You, who covet what others have.”
Raven popped up in bed, beads of sweat dotting her forehead. The elderly Creole woman's words were still burning a hole through her psyche.
Raven shoved down the blankets and inspected her right forearm where the woman had grabbed her. As the woman had clutched onto her, it felt like sticking her hand over a roasting campfire. Under the dusty moonlight streaming into the room, Raven saw no blistering skin. No bruises. No real pain.
For Liam's sake, she hadn't mentioned what the psycho had… Well, had the woman whispered to her? How had the ancient lady said such things with Liam around?
It had to be a whisper.
Heart rate settling down, Raven fell back into a dark, dreamless sleep.
8
Raven felt torn between the two, Chris and Liam. Though Chris didn’t measure up to Liam, not in the least, she somehow felt that she owed him.
The day Liam vanished, she finally gave Chris the time of day. His popular status was often like a defibrillator to the heart, she’d been that deprived of feeling. But, Liam, on the other hand, made her hesitant. He was everything she could dream of, a single thought of him made her smile. Yet, he had been the cause of much pain. Like a mother and father she didn’t know, he’d left.
At school for the past couple of weeks, everything was fine. Chris gave Raven so much attention, walked her to all of her classes, and they’d share a kiss each time. He almost took her back to when they first met. New love.
Then she’d hang out with Liam all evening and into the weekend. Guilt was settling in, but they were only trying to get back to being friends–at least that’s what Raven hoped. Why did she feel wrong when she left Chris to be with Liam, or Liam to be with Chris?
Putting on lip gloss, Raven got ready to go on a date with Chris, but thought about Liam. New Year’s Eve had been the test. She’d strung Liam along all day, telling him she wasn’t sure if Granny would let her go out that night. At the last minute, she used the “Granny” trick on Chris. Dressed in a sparkly silver mini skirt and a bright orange tube top, Raven chose to go out with Liam.
They’d gone to a house–mansion, technically–party in Brinton. One of the student’s parents was on vacation. The test was to try and put him into friend-mode. So she danced with a lot of guys, and then had auditory hallucinations of “Redrum, redrum” in her ears as Liam danced with other girls.
When Raven noticed Liam across the room staring at her as he leaned against the wall, butterflies fluttered in her stomach. There were girls all around him, obviously flirting as they touched his shoulders or arms. But, his gaze stroked her body as she turned away. This friend-mode thingy wouldn’t work if he kept staring at her like a lost jewel that he just had to have. Shawn had just walked by; she stopped him with a touch on his shoulder.
“Shawn, wanna dance?” Batting long eyelashes, she smiled.
“Hell nah,” he said in that country voice of his, but there was a smile on his face. “Don’t get me wrong, Raven. You’re fine enough to send a preacher straight to hell, but you belong to Liam.”
Raven continued to enjoy herself. When it was time for the crowd to bring in the New Year, they were drawn to each other. Liam handed her purple punch with a kick. She drank it down.
They screamed out the numbers, and she pumped her fist in the air. As he bent down to kiss her lips, his minty warm breath teased her mouth. His hard body made her eyelids slowly close as he molded against her. Before their lips could collide, Raven smacked a big kiss on his cheek.
Most of the neighboring homes were dark. There was an occasional glow in windows as she passed the homes of neighbors she’d known her entire life. Except for the streetlights, the moon provided ample illumination.
At the end of the block, the exhaust pipe of Chris’s beat-up Tacoma rumbled. The breaking-up-chat floated away when she got into the car and saw the smile on his honey brown face.
“Hey, boo,” Chris said.
“Hey.” Raven greeted him with a soft, slow kiss. She was just about to tell him about the disgusting taste of beer on her lips, and just for a moment thought about breaking up with him again, when he told her about a surprise he had for her.
“What is it?” Her baby blues widened. “You know I don’t like surprises.”
“You’ll see.”
Chris turned on the radio and drove toward the border of town. They were headed up the hill, towards Liam’s family mansion. With every inch Chris’s car got closer to the house, thoughts of Liam infused in her mind. Think about Chris�
�s surprise, not Liam. No such luck. They were pulling up the hill. Liam’s hill.
Raven turned down the radio. “Where are we going?”
“Right here.” Chris swerved the truck off the road and onto gravel. It lurched over rocks and stopped dangerously close to a cliff.
Raven huffed. The truck overlooked “lovers’ point,” the location that a few girls in the locker room after gym talked about. These same girls talked about doing things with boys that she intended to wait on doing until after saying “I do.”
The starry sky and a milky full moon contrasted against the grimy windows that she looked through. Surveying the town beyond the cliff’s edge, Bellwood was quiet. Raven got out with less energy than Chris. He was already placing a quilt across the back of the truck when she finally asked, “I thought we were going to hang out with your brother and Monica?”
Monica was supposedly dating Chris’s brother, but that was debatable.
“Not tonight.” Tone tense, he moved around on his knees, tugging at the blanket until it met his satisfaction.
What’s his problem? Raven climbed onto the back of the truck reluctantly. The instant she got comfortably seated next to him, he was all over her. Smooching, rubbing uncharted territory. It all made her tense with irritation.
“What if someone sees us?” Raven pushed him away. The last kiss had taken her breath away. The thought of Liam’s parents traveling this road tonight, after a date or some gala, made Raven scoot against the side of the truck. She had nowhere else to go.
“Nobody comes up this hill, unless they want to do what we’re doing.” He moved closer. “That stuck-up couple that lives at the top keeps their asses on the other side, in Brinton.”
“Okay. Well…” can you let up a bit?
Again, Chris reached over and painted Raven’s lips and cheeks with more slobbery, beer-tasting kisses. Choking on his spongy mucous-like tongue, she tried to catch her breath. Then she was deep in thought, beating herself up for coming out tonight. When she heard the slight rustling sound, it brought her back to reality. Propping up on her elbows, she saw Chris methodically opening a condom wrapper.
“What…what are you doing?” her voice squeaked. “You know I’m waiting till I get–”
“This is my surprise, Raven! Don’t give me that crap about marriage first! What have you been doing with that fat fuck Liam? Whatever you’ve done with him, you can do with me!” Chris pushed her shoulder back onto the truck bed.
Raven tried to push up, but he had her pinned. “Stop.”
He quickly straddled her, undid the bejeweled button at the top of her jeans. “C’mon, Raven. Give it up like your momma used to!”
“Don’t talk about my mother!”
“Don’t talk about your mom, huh? I want you to be more like your mom!” Chris struggled to put her hands over her head. Once he succeeded, his right hand clasped her wrists together. Using his other hand, he yanked down the zipper on his jeans, and then gathered the condom again.
With all of her strength, Raven slapped the condom out of his hand.
“All right, Raven! Good idea. I fucking hate protection anyway!” Spittle splattered on her face as Chris screamed. He picked the unused condom off the bed of the truck and chucked it over the side of the cliff.
The black fog was as thick as it had always been. Fighting was second nature. No hesitation or second guessing herself. But Chris had much more power.
As lust consumed a bit of his strength, while he began to shove down her panties, Raven wiggled one hand free. She grabbed and held onto his hardness. He instantly stilled.
All the hardness had melted into a tiny whimper as she clawed down, twisting until his dick became putty. Her fingernails clamped into the velvety meat, and how badly did she want to feel his cock tear into a bloody pulp of shreds. Through gritted teeth, she said, “Get. Off. Right. Now!”
“Let me go!” Chris was suddenly a soprano.
“Try me again, you’re fucking dead.” Raven’s voice was steely. The limp noodle slid out of her hand.
Chris’s eyes began to water. He lay in a ball, whimpering. As much as she wanted to revel in his pain, this was no time to disconnect with reality.
Allowing her mind to run rampant with images of murdering Chris would slow her down. Raven’s shoes crunched on dirt when she jumped off of the back of the pickup truck.
She ran down the steep slope of the mountain. Going through the wooded areas was much faster than walking down the winding road. Into the dark forest, she weaved through the red oak trees, knowing every one of them. The moon provided scattered rays of light as she leapt over the shallowest part of the creek, water splashing around the legs of her jeans.
Her eyes burned. God, I just wanted to rip his heart out. Doubling over, she laughed. The pain she caused Chris made her veins rush with a plethora of emotions. The bloodlust of bringing Chris pain was at the forefront of her mind.
Liam turned off the television. He looked at the clock. It was a quarter to one on a Saturday morning. Usually the dorm apartment he shared with Shawn was active with partygoers. But Liam didn’t feel like partying tonight. He hadn’t had sex since Whitley, and only desired to be around the girl who didn’t want him.
Up until now, they’d spent every weekend together. He’d thought about how he’d almost gotten a kiss during New Year’s Eve– he hadn’t expected her to come. But she came, hips and ass drawing him in, pink plump lips all luscious, and then acted all buddy-buddy. Not exactly what he wanted.
It hurt when Raven didn’t look at him as he’d asked about her plans tonight after they came from the movies. Liam knew exactly where she had to be. She was with Chris. Had to be. He saw it in her eyes earlier.
Who am I kidding? Raven is Chris’s girl. That mere thought got him restless again. Chris was the reason he hadn’t come to see her after moving back from France. He’d asked around, and was told they were together. He didn’t want to see her as Chris’s girl. How can I steal her back? But she never really was my girl.
Instead of rationalizing the situation, Liam slipped into Nike sweatpants, his leather jacket, and grabbed the keys off the nightstand. Walking down the halls of the dorm rooms, students’ doors were open, and they were drinking or playing blackjack with stacks of money.
He had a plan, it didn’t matter how crazy it sounded running through his head but he intended to do said plan. If Raven was truly out with Chris, he’d climb the tree outside of her bedroom and wait for her ass to get home. He’d tell her to end it with Chris. That sounds simple. Fuck, that’s even the Delacroix way. His family wasn’t above coercion. But Raven was his weakness.
The engine of the Chevelle roared to life, becoming his motivation. Yes, he wouldn’t cower to his best friend, because unlike Raven, he knew exactly what she wanted. And it sure as hell wasn’t that douche bag.
The road to Bellwood was all open space as lush green wooded areas surrounded it. Liam completed the forty-minute ride in less than twenty-five, slowing to the speed limit when he reached town. He looked toward his own home off in the distance, noticing the soft glow of both master suites in the north and south wing. His mother was in the north master suite, probably indulging in a vintage bottle of Pinot Noir while Dad would be in the south master suite, watching television or highlighting important information about an upcoming case.
Instead of taking the road that would lead him home, Liam traveled toward the little homes at the base of the mountain. He was a block from Raven’s when he noticed a figure with the same rhinestone studs on the jeans that he had seen her in earlier. The sweater was different, but he slowed to a stop. Where the fuck is Chris as she walks home?! Liam leaned over and pulled up the metal lock.
She opened the door, and slid onto the soft, black leather seat. “Hey, stranger, what are you doing here this late?”
She put her head against the lime green stitching of his initials and the Chevy emblem on the headrest. But she didn’t turn to look at him.
“Asked you first.” Her left foot shook. She had to be nervous.
“I... was thinking about you.” Liam put his hand under her chin, turned her face to him. Indescribable feelings enveloped him, but he had to tune those out as curiosity got the best of him. He looked deep into her eyes. “Were you crying?”
“Kinda,” Raven mumbled, leaning back again. She looked out the window for a moment, then told him about Chris.
Liam’s knuckles tightened around the steering wheel. Raven started to cry and told him through her sobs about what her boyfriend tried to do. Liam reached over and hugged her. They held each other for a while, and then Raven said, “I have to get to bed. I have to conduct the choir for the early morning service tomorrow.”
He wasn’t ready to let her go, but she wasn’t his to keep. After calming Raven down, Liam watched her climb up the southern magnolia tree and slip back into the safe haven of her home.
Gritting his teeth, he thought about what Chris had done. Liam and Raven never hung out in the small, gossipy town. How would Chris have known they were together?
9
Brinton Stadium was crammed with cheering fans for the post-season charity game. All of the noise wasn’t able to get through the funnel of enticement that Raven looked through. She sat with Shawn and Liam’s other rowdy friends, but her focus was solely on him. Captivated by Liam’s agility, she watched the muscles in his legs bulge as he maneuvered forty yards down the field. The dance he performed when he made a touchdown brought a smile to her face. Confidence radiated as he walked to the coach, huddling with his teammates to discuss the game plan. Ambitious.
