Dad wasn’t coming back tonight like I had hoped he would. There was no way he would drive back after the sun went down. He had this weird thing about not driving after dark. All the lights were out as I entered the driveway. A mess was waiting to welcome me.
The couch had a tattered old blanket and pillow on it. The center table was covered with empty wrappers of Walkers, beer bottles and a big box of stale cornflakes. I walked in, focusing more on the breathing activity of my lungs. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. “Damn!” I heard a curse followed by metal hitting the ground.
The sharp sound echoed around the enclosed space. I sighed and stalked towards the source of the sound that had come from the kitchen. “Does any human live in this house? I can’t find anything to eat.” My mother was standing on her toes with cabinets flung open before her as she searched the boxes.
All I wanted was to turn around and leave. You can do this. I said to myself. “What do you need?” I said in a calmed voice. She whirled around to see me.
“Who the hell are you?” Wow.
“Mother, if you could just step…”
“I ain’t your mother.” I gritted my teeth and asked myself what the hell was I there for anyway? She is your mother, however messed up she may be, my insides said to me. I wanted to groan loudly.
“You’ll hurt yourself.” I saw her pulling a knife out of the holder to slice the bread she had gotten. “I’ll help you with it.” I stepped closer and extended my hand to get the knife out of her hand before she could slit her own wrist.
“Step back, asshole.” Saying that, she hit the back of the knife on my wrist making me yelp in pain. I held my wrist and clutched it to my stomach. “Enjoyed that?” she said with a sly grin.
I settled on glaring. I marched out of the house shutting the door loudly behind me.
I walked out without anywhere particular in mind. When I stopped, I found myself outside Tynice’s house. Yes, she was the person I needed –Tynice. I marched towards the back of the house where her room was and knocked three times. That was our code for whenever I wanted her to know I was at her place and couldn’t use the front door. Her curtains pulled apart and she opened the window with a wide grin.
“Hey, Leggy.” She greeted me with the ridiculous nickname. I glared at her and she grinned wider.
“Care to come out?” I growled at her.
“Oh someone’s being grumpy today.” She rolled her eyes and then jumped out of her window. One thing I adored about her was her being all real and carefree. She didn’t act graceful and all coy batting eyelashes dramatically trying to be extra cute like the other girls did. She was just… herself.
All perky in a devil–may–kiss–my–ass sort of way. She didn’t care if climbing out the window wasn’t very ladylike. She did what she found comfy and handy in the moment. “What happened to your hand?” she asked me. I shoved it behind my back, not wanting her to see it. Not wanting to tell her how bitchy of a person my mother was.
“Did she hit you again?” she asked me. Her voice was soft and concerned.
How could she always know? I gave in. “Yeah.” That was what I managed to say.
She tugged my arm but I didn’t move an inch. “Get your big ass inside, West, or I’ll be forced to move you in. ”She put her hands on her rounded hips and glowered at me with her big brown eyes.
“I’m fine, Tynice. I just came in to say hi,” I said.
“Well, hello to you too. Now get moving.” She ordered me like I was a third grade student. I couldn’t help but smile at her. She was so bossy. She was half my height and a year younger, yet she treated me as if she could have me on the ground in one single blow. Her confidence and attitude was that bad. I followed her inside, not wanting to offend her. Also I did need some TLC after my mother’s abusive actions and words.
“Isn’t your dad home?” I asked her, looking around her small home which was much better kept than mine and far cleaner. Her dad and my mom, both were cut from the same cloth. No wonder Tynice and I clicked so well. It does take someone like you to understand you. That’s what we were to each other. Confidants.
“No, gone to the bar.” She pulled out an ice tray from her freezer and got a hand towel before coming to the table. She emptied the ice cubes on the towel and wrapped it up like a rough sand bag. “Give me your hand,” she said and I extended my injured hand.
She grasped it softly and then patted my three inch wide bruise tentatively. I winced in pain. Tynice pulled it away immediately. “Does it hurt?” she asked. Her eyes got even bigger with worry. I could actually see them watering. I had to cheer her up because she was that one person I never intended to hurt or let get hurt. I would beat anyone black and blue if they tried to touch her. Just like I did to Tenning the other day.
“I'm just a big softie,” I said to her and she first looked at me like she didn’t understood what I said and when she did, she gave a little laugh.
“I guess you are. Maybe I should start calling you softie instead of leggy.” She teased me back as she placed the ice towel on my wrist again. It didn’t hurt as much as before.
“Argh. Stick to Adrian, please.” I rolled my eyes at the last word.
“Do you have to stay in?” I asked her after she had taken care of my bruise and while we shared her hot chocolate. I didn’t want to go home and I couldn’t stay at her place long.
“What do you wanna do?” she asked me.
“I don’t know. Walk to the lake?” I shrugged. Anything but going back.
“Alright. I’ll just let Mom know that I’m leaving.” Three minutes later she was back with her pajamas changed into jeans and slippers into sneakers. “Let’s go,” she said, taking the key off the counter and then followed me out.
Tynice
June 2014, Williamsville, Illinois
This day was never going to end. I was spending the night in this car guaranteed until someone either mugged me or helped me out of here. I hoped that those stupid rental car agency guys had a gps device in this useless car of theirs and they would come tracking me down after Kelly called them.
I didn’t know how much she had heard of what I said. I just hoped she knew how much of a desperate situation I was in, and worked triple the speed of her usual pace to sort this out. Damn, I had an early meeting scheduled too which I couldn’t miss. My whole day was packed with appointments and meetings since I was the workaholic type. I was never late for a meeting unless it was part of my plan to put the next person in anticipation or on edge that would eventually end in my benefit.
But nothing on schedule for tomorrow needed these types of tactics. Being late now would only create further complications and complications were the last thing I wanted. But I had no option other than to lock myself up in this car and wait for a car to stop by and help me out. If only people out here were generous enough. I looked down at my watch. It said five past midnight.
Twenty more minutes passed and I was beginning to lose hope. I had always faced problems with a brave face and always found a way around them. But broken here in the middle of a strange place, I couldn’t get my head around it. I stepped out of the car and popped open the hood. Maybe I could see some fallen off wire in the engine that I could fix and the car would start up.
As I opened the lid, black smoke welcomed me and I stepped back coughing. When the smoke lightened, I rolled up my white sleeves to the elbow and then bowed my head down to the giant engine. Well, everything seemed perfect. No hanging wires, no loose nuts, nothing. “Damn!” I brushed my bangs away from my cheek and groaned in frustration. “What the hell am I gonna do?” I said in a loud voice. I sat on the sidewalk with my head between my knees.
After who knows how many minutes or hours, I heard a car approaching. I was so tired that I couldn’t make myself get up and signal for help. So I stayed where I was, thinking the car would pass. The sound of the engine came closer and closer and then it came to a stop. I heard the door shut with a thud and then heavy footsteps approaching where I was
sitting.
“Hey you okay there?” a thick masculine voice hit my ears. I could see from between my knees that he was wearing big brown Caterpillar work boots and blue jeans that looked faded and well worn. They were unraveling from the hem. “Has your car broken down?” he asked me again. Could he be drunk and only being nice so that he can take advantage of me? His voice didn’t sound slurred.
But no one helps anyone without any personal motive in my world, I thought. It was one in the morning, what else was I supposed to think? Sudden panic began to rise inside me. I counted till three and steadied my breath. I had to put my strong face on so that I wouldn’t appear vulnerable. The one I used in the courtroom.
I lifted my head from my knees and got up, brushing the dust off my butt. “Thank you for stopping. My car…” when my eyes reached his face, words were lost in my mouth and my brain stopped working. He was a sight to stare at. White skinned, blond hair, blue eyes, not to mention how many inches he was above six feet and to top it off an athletic build.
His black T shirt draped around his body completely showing off how well he was built under it. A red checked shirt, open in the front, covered his shoulders and arms. Over all, his appearance gave out a very cowboy look – a very hot cowboy look. And I would be damned if I said that it didn’t do things to me.
My nipples jumped to attention. Damn, that never happened to me. Not when Zach complimented me or talked dirty while making love to me. And here I was, in heat with just some stranger’s sight. I realized that I was staring at the man. I was checking him out from face to toe. Some dignity please, Ms. Johnson.
I dragged my gaze to his eyes and saw that I wasn’t the only one gawking. The man was too. I cleared my throat and opened my mouth to speak. “Uh, my car broke down. I had a brake failure or something and now I don’t know what to do with it.” I gestured at the car.
When he didn’t respond, I looked at him to see he was still looking my way. That caught his attention and he came back to the problem at hand. “Yeah, your car, right. Do you mind if I check it out?” he asked.
“Please, if you don't mind. I know it’s late and you probably have to get somewhere."
As I said the last words, my eyes automatically went to his fingers to find a ring. There was none. Not even a faded mark that would show if he had been wearing it previously. I don’t know what I felt seeing his bare fingers. Relief? Maybe. When I saw him, I could tell my little turn of sight hadn’t gone unnoticed from him. “I have nowhere to be,” he said to me.
His eyes told me the other meaning of his words. Oh I totally get it. I side stepped and he walked to my car and looked under the hood. I just saw the way he moved. Like a leopard moving on the hunt. When he bowed into the engine, I had a moment to appreciate his perfect back. What the hell am I doing? I was surprised at my imaginations and my actions. I had never been like that, checking a man out. But I had never seen one like him. My traitorous nipples yelled for some excitement and so did a lower part of my body.
Before my thoughts could go into a more exotic direction, I stepped closer to the car and then stood on the perpendicular side of where he was standing. I could see his brows furrowed as he concentrated on something down there. I was taken by the movements of his face.
Sometimes his eyes narrowed in focus or when he frowned. My eyes dropped to his hand to see a tattoo running from his wrist up to his elbow and then disappeared beneath his sleeves. I wondered what it said and where it went. It sort of intrigued me – his overall attire that is.“Your brake wire has burned out,” he said to me straightening up.
His gaze stopped at my open buttons that I had popped open earlier due to the heat. His eyes lingered at my full breasts before he dragged them up to my eyes. “There can’t be anything done about it until morning.” And then I came back to reality, and what I was doing in Springfield in the first place.
“What? But how am I supposed to go back? I can’t wait until morning. I have an early meeting and then an appointment with another attorney. I certainly can’t miss any of it.” I began babbling and threw my hands in the air.
“I can drive you wherever you want to go,” he offered. As handsome and kind as he was, I couldn’t take him up on his offer.
I looked into his eyes and for a moment I felt a strange familiarity in them. Then I jerked it aside. “No, I can’t ask you for that. You have already been so kind,” I said.
“Try at least,” he said and I looked at him confusingly. “Try asking me,” he elaborated.
“Oh, no I certainly can’t.” I was too stubborn to ask for help.
“So how do you plan to stay the night here or go back to wherever it is you wanna go? “Good question. I had no plan, period.
“But…” I tried.
“It’s totally cool with me. I mean, I don’t mind driving a pretty lady.” The way he said driving did quite a few things to me.
“If you’re sure.” I gave in, I had no other options.
“Pretty sure.” He grinned at me. And I just stared at him. His smile was… I couldn’t find the word but it did melt me inside. There was something about it that reminded me of someone.
Gentleman that he was, he carried out my luggage to his beast sized truck and loaded it. It hit me that I didn’t even know his name. “I'm Tynice,” I offered.
“Adrian,” He said, pushing the back door closed. Adrian? Could he… my eyes were huge in surprise. Could he be the same Adrian? My childhood best friend? Adrian West? “Hey, you alright? You look kinda shocked,” he asked me. He might have gained a few inches and sure as hell some great body but his eyes and his smile, they looked so familiar. I knew I was gaping at him because he was frowning. “Adrian West?” I said in a low voice.
“Yeah.” His frown deepened.
A laugh escaped my mouth. “Oh my Gosh!” I exclaimed. He tilted his head with a raise of his brow. “Leggy, it’s you!” and before I knew it, I had thrown my arms around him.
Tynice
July 1998, Williamsville, Illinois
July was hot in Williamsville and humid. Even the nights weren’t that comforting but they were better than day time. I walked alongside Adrian as we passed the streets and reached the lake. Both of us were comfortable in silence. We didn’t need words all the time. “What keeps you going when you are sick of the things going on around you?” he asked me out of blue.
I thought for a minute. What kept me going? I looked deeper and thought harder and then finally answered. “My future.”
He looked at me as if I had said something surreal. “Your future?” he asked as we both sat down on the damp grass on the ground just next to the small lake.
“Well, I have dreams.” I shrugged. He eyed me, asking to elaborate. I let out a sigh and then turned to pull my sneakers off. I hadn’t said anything about it out loud to anyone yet. “I’ll leave this town. I don’t want to live here. I want a big city life,” I said, flexing my toes.
“I want to be a lawyer.” I said in a hushed voice, as if not wanting anyone else to hear. But then it came to me that I shouldn’t care. This was what I wanted and I will have it one day. So I continued in a louder and clearer voice. “A world class, kickass lawyer. Who would bow before no one and have everybody around her finger.” I curled my finger in air to demonstrate.
I thought he would laugh at my words and tease me about it. But he didn’t say a word. So I continued, “I want to be strong and rich and powerful, which isn't possible in Williamsville. I want to make a name for myself that would be recognized and respected. I want to leave this place behind me, where people know me by my dad’s name and reputation. I want them to call me Tynice Johnson, the unbeatable lawyer. Not some daughter of that drunken bastard who ended up in jail three times and lost his wife’s salary gambling. When I think of this and how important it is for me, I get the determination to keep moving because I cannot stop here.” There, I said it all.
Saying it out loud gave my dreams a stamp of confirmation. The deal was se
aled. Now I just had to work my way up there. I hadn’t known it before now, how desperate I was for all this.
I looked at Adrian who hadn’t said anything during the whole speech. He was looking at me with weird eyes. “What?” I asked.
“I didn’t know you didn’t want to live here,” he said. “You never told me.” Was it hurt in his eyes? I felt guilty.
“But you know how much I hate being here,” I said to him and then nudged him with my elbow. “And you know you are the only one who is keeping me here.” He gave a smile but that didn’t touch his eyes. I wondered, why?
“I'm glad you have it all planned out. Your future that is,” he said after a long silence. “I wish I could have it figured out too.”I encouraged him to continue. “All I can think of is having horses.” He laughed in embarrassment.
I never found his passion for horses amusing. I found it fascinating. When I didn’t comment, he continued. “I dream of running a ranch. A big ranch with lots of horses. I want to train them, tame them and groom them. Hell I want to be a cowboy. It’s pretty lousy to even think of it but I want it. And I want it here in Williamsville. If not here than any other countryside would do.” His eyes sparkled as he talked about horses. His passion was visible in his blue eyes.
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