by Nia Arthurs
Releasing me with a groan, Drew stalked away.
“Drew!” I called after him. “Drew!”
But he didn’t turn around and he didn’t respond to my calls. If I was a cursing kind of girl, I would have hurled every four letter word that I knew and then I would have invented some more. Frustration built in my stomach and I grabbed for the umbrella and marched back toward my cabin.
Stupid men. Stupid, delicious, melt-your-toes-kissable men!
And guys thought we were the mysterious ones?
I would seriously pay someone to write a book on Drew Darcy because right now, I had not a clue.
Shaking the rain from my umbrella, I tried to slow my breathing as I stormed into the cabin.
“Whoa,” Brittney gaped, “You’re soaking wet.”
“Yeah.” I breathed deeply and tried to calm my racing heart. “It’s intense out there.”
“Where’s everybody else?”
Only Lindsey and Renesha sat on their beds. The girls had a pack of Uno cards before them.
“At the rec center.” Renesha replied.
“Oh,” I nodded, feeling my temper calm and wrung the water from my hair.
“You guy’s mind forming a pillow shade around me? I want to change.”
“Sure,” They both scrambled from the bed and accepted big fluffy towels from me. I grabbed a packet of warm clothes and underwear and hobbled to the corner of the cabin, far away from the windows. My two helpers held up the towels as I stripped and shoved my clothes on.
“No peeking!” I cried.
“Miss, we don’t want to see.” Lindsey assured me.
I hope this practice wasn’t breaking some kind of law.
“Okay, I’m done.” I thanked them for their service and collected the towels back.
“Wanna play?” Lindsey asked.
I glanced at the storm outside and shrugged. The way I felt about Drew right now, he didn’t deserve to be in the forefront of mind. I walked to their bed near the window and threw myself upon it.
“Got any Oreos?” I asked.
I had, but I didn’t really feel like sharing.
“I brought a jumbo pack.” Lindsey nodded.
My eyes brightened.
“That’s for me.” The girl clarified and my eyes dimmed.
She laughed, “Fine, take it out. It’s in the left pocket of my duffel bag.”
I retrieved her Oreos and brought my own jumbo packet out as well.
“Hey!” Lindsey protested when she saw my stash.
“I’m sorry.” I winced, “I have a thing for Oreos.”
She smiled and handed out the cards like a pro. “So do I.”
Even though the rain was pouring like nobody’s business and the temperature had dropped about six degrees, I saw the heaven’s break open and an Oreo fell from the sky to light the black and white glow over Lindsey’s head.
Me and this girl, we could definitely get along.
As I played Uno with the teenagers, consumed Oreos like it was going out of style, and talked about random childish things, I felt a sense of wholeness. Drew was a problem that I could fuss over later. Right now, I needed to kick Lindsey’s butt. She was winning far too many Uno games and I was starting suspect that there was foul play going on here.
I glanced behind her back.
“Are you kidding me!” I railed after losing to the pretty Spanish girl for the second time. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“Just face it, Lexi. You suck.”
The room quieted and I glanced out the window to find that the rain had cleared and the sun was once more the king of the day.
“Let’s go again. Keep a close eye on her, Renesha. I smell a rat.”
Renesha giggled as she handed out the cards. “That’s because one died somewhere around here.”
She scrunched her nose.
I laughed.
“Hey,” Renesha exclaimed quietly as she stared out of the window.
“What?” I addressed her.
She glanced quickly at Lindsey who was picking an Oreo from the packet.
“Nothing.” Renesha said, but her pale face clearly displayed her embarrassment.
Lindsey looked at the both of us.
“What?” She asked.
“I don’t know.” I sent Lindsey a questioning look.
Renesha clearly did not wish to clarify but the girl’s eyes moved of their own accord and seared the dirty pane of the cabin window before she had the presence of mind to jerk it back toward us.
Both Lindsey and I moved as one peered out of the window pane to see what had Renesha all tongue-tied and weirded out. Lindsey gasped and I winced. Brett was parading around the field with a new lady. She was pretty and short with long hair and fair skin. Whatever promises Brett had made to Lindsey, it didn’t look like he intended on keeping them.
“That little…” Lindsey uttered an expletive that had me widening my eyes and glancing at her in surprise.
“Lindsey,” I cajoled, “Lindsey, calm down.”
Her little nose flared and her skin was deepening with every new discovery that she made. Brett held his new girl’s hand in his own and they laughed together, a cute little sight had I not seen him in a deep embrace with Lindsey only a few hours ago.
“Lindsey.” Renesha cautioned the girl.
But Lindsey was far from ready to listen to either one of us. Curses stringing from her lips, Lindsey hurtled herself off the bed. Renesha and I scrambled after her.
“Lindsey!” I yelled.
My shouting alerted the couple strolling on the lawn.
Lindsey hurled herself at the girl and started slapping her face and pulling her hair. I stood in awe of the fight, having never seen anything like it before.
Renesha’s shrieking voice lulled me back from the state of panic.
“Do something!” she screamed.
I snapped back to attention.
Crapperdoodles. I was the adult here.
I stepped forward as a crowd of onlookers cheered the girls on or screamed for the heck of it. I approached the girls’ flying fists and mean comments cautiously. No way did I want to get a shiner by swooping into the midst of that. I finally noticed an opening and tried to maneuver my arms into their little huddle.
“Stop! Stop!” I yelled, but Lindsey was on autopilot and I don’t think she saw anything but blood red.
Drew and Jermaine came out of nowhere and jumped into the fray. Drew held Lindsey back while Jermaine carried the punching, grunting ‘other woman’ a few steps back.
“What is going on?” Mia addressed the girls firmly.
“Mia, Mia.” Archie shook his head at my friend and cut his palm in front of his neck. “Not here.”
The men carted the girls off to the closest cabin. I followed after them, feeling like a total heel. Lindsey’s chest was heaving and if Drew ever let her go, she’d launch herself right back at the other teenager.
Had nothing from our talk last night impacted the girl at all?
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
The atmosphere in the empty cabin was fraught with tension. Brett was nowhere in sight which I thought was the perfect example of how stupid we females could be. He was probably back in his cabin boasting to the other guys about the fact that he’d inspired two beautiful teenagers to fight over him.
I was angry and disappointed in Lindsey. Just when I felt that I was making strides with her she sprung this incredibly dumb behavior on me.
Jermaine sat the girls on two separate beds and bore down on them.
“What is wrong with you? Both of you?” He raged.
Wow, I’d never seen Jermaine so irate before. It was kind of attractive.
Ooh, I hadn’t even had to force myself that time.
“She started it.” The young lady pointed a finger at Lindsey.
“Because you’re a man-stealing-”
“That’s enough.” Jermaine thundered before Lindsey could compare the girl to a gardening tool
.
“All I want to know is who threw the first punch.”
Both girls remained stonily silent. As much as they didn’t like each other, neither was willing to rat the other out.
Jermaine turned to me. “Lexi?” He asked, his brown eyes spitting fire.
As much as it made me feel like a snitch, I answered honestly, “Lindsey.”
Lindsey sucked her teeth and glared at me like I’d betrayed her trust. I steeled my gaze and glared right back.
She’d betrayed mine.
“Lindsey, pack your things. You’re leaving tonight.”
Lindsey sucked her teeth and shoved herself from off the bed.
“Jermaine,” I stepped forward and he turned toward me.
It was so unfair that only Lindsey was being punished when Brett deserved to go home too, but I didn’t want to stir up any more trouble.
“Lexi, you can’t take up for her. She was completely out of line.” Jermaine declared before I could say anything.
I took a deep breath, “I know. I’m not trying to get her out of this. But I want to take her home.”
Jermaine peered at me.
“Really?”
“Yes.” I nodded.
He shrugged. “Fine. I’ll ask one of the other camp leaders to take care of your cabin until you get back. But Lindsey, don’t take any longer on her than necessary.”
I saluted him since this bossy side of Jermaine was new. I wasn’t sure exactly how I felt about it.
I ignored Drew’s gaze as I grabbed the keys Jermaine offered, trotted out of the cabin, and made my way to where Lexi was noisily stamping around and cursing in our hut. When I stepped into the house, Renesha was nowhere in sight, however a crowd of teenagers pointed and laughed at Lindsey as she raged.
I closed the door behind me and drew the curtains closed to at least afford Lindsey some dignity even though she’d done her best to ditch it. She noticed my entrance and threw a sock my way.
“You ratted me out!” She accused.
“I told the truth.”
“You said you’d have my back!” Tears were mixed in with her admission this time.
“I do, Lindsey. But I told you, when you break the rules, there are consequences for it. I can’t and I won’t shield you from this one.”
She wiped at her eyes and slung her duffel bag over her shoulder.
“Is this it, huh?” She came up into my personal space, “You’ve just come to gloat before they kick me out?”
“No,” I dangled the keys Jermaine had lent me before her eyes, “I’m going to take you home.”
She wiped at her nose and stomped outside. As we made our trek though the muddy fields, I caught sight of Brett grinning with his friends as the young girl passed by. I was glad Lindsey was keeping her head down. If she’d seen her ex-boyfriend’s expression, she surely would have started another fight.
We made our way out of the campground and unto the gravel pathway that led to the highway where the camp ground manager’s car was parked. She climbed in to the truck and slammed the door shut. I cringed. The old jalopy pickup wasn’t meant to take that kind of heat.
I started the car, my temper beginning to flare the more I thought about the completely unnecessary fight that Lindsey had started. It was such an ignorant thing to do. I really couldn’t wrap my mind around it.
I turned my indicator and pulled my vehicle onto the road. While last night, I’d had an issue with finding the right words, today, a surge of lectures and scoldings paraded through my mind. Seriously, I had a hard time choosing just one!
“Just go ahead.” Lindsey sulked in the passenger seat. “Let me have it.”
Her cavalier attitude irked me so much that all my attempts at calmness and keeping the peace bounced through the window.
“I hope you feel proud of yourself.” I managed through gritted teeth, “Because no one else feels that way right now.”
She folded her arms and replied with attitude, “I do.”
I pressed my foot on the gas and then let up because I didn’t want my anger to get us both killed.
“What is wrong with you? Fighting with that girl accomplished nothing. Nothing except for getting you kicked out of the camp and smearing your reputation all over the place.”
“She deserved it.” Lindsey defended.
“For what? Falling for the same lines that you did?”
She sucked her teeth again, her face as hard as granite as she stared out the window.
Shaking lightly from my own anger, I continued. “No, you’re a big bad girl. A woman. So why don’t you own up to what you really did!”
I nodded at her.
“Is the girl you beat up going home?”
She turned her head away and I swerved the car suddenly to the right.
“Is she!”
“Dang,” Lindsey put her seatbelt on and answered me, “No.”
I shook my head. “Is Brett going home right now.”
She sulked. “No.” She admitted softly.
“No! No!” I gripped the steering wheel so hard, I feared it would pop out of the console. “Brett wasn’t even taken into the office. Brett wasn’t paraded through the campgrounds like prisoner. He won’t have his name ripped to shreds because of getting into a fight. Do you know what Brett’s doing?”
She wiped angry tears from her eyes but I honestly didn’t care.
“Brett is back in his cabin talking about how he scored two girls in less than twenty-four hours and one was even stupid enough to fight over him.”
I hit the middle of the steering wheel with my palm and cursed with my own personal flair.
“Sugar crap!” I grunted, “Brett’s being called a hero right now and you’re riding here beside me filled with anger at the wrong person.”
Lindsey screamed, “Brett was the love of my life. I gave him up because you told me to. This is your fault.”
I had half a mind to slap this girl silly.
“My fault?” I gasped.
“Yes. I should have never told Brett I wanted a break. I love him and he loves me.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, that’s why he was holding hands with some other girl. I bet he told her the same thing.”
“Just shut up!” Lindsey screamed, “Shut up!”
I turned to her and opened my mouth to lambast her all over again, but the beeping of a car alerting me that I was swerving into the wrong lane jolted my attention fully back onto the road. I pulled my steering wheel to the left, but the road was still slick from the rain and Lindsey and I were pulled into a crazy car version of the tilt-a-whirl before our vehicle ran slightly off the road and stopped abruptly.
“Oh my gosh! Lindsey, are you okay?” I asked the teenage girl. Tears streamed down her face as she nodded.
“I’m so sorry.” I held a hand to my racing heart and thanked the King for keeping us out of harm’s way today.
Lindsey rocked up and down, weeping giant crocodile tears.
“He said he loved me.” She moaned, “He said he loved me.”
I undid my seatbelt and gathered her into my arms. She cried against my T-shirt and it reminded me of the way the rain had soaked into my blouse.
I rubbed her back, my haze of anger receding just as the dark clouds did when the sun finally conquered the war of the heavens. This was just a little girl, one stinking teenage girl who was trying to maneuver through life the best way she knew how.
“I know, baby.” I consoled her. “I know.” I drew her away so I could look into her face when I asked, “Lindsey, did you sleep with him.”
She moaned and nodded, fresh tears escaping from her eyes. “I did.” She hiccupped and I drew her head down again. “I’m so stupid. I am so so stupid.”
“No,” I consoled her. “You’re not stupid.”
My own wealth of emotional investment in this young lady was astounding. I wasn’t usually so nurturing. You could ask Melody. But something about this girl’s heart wrenching tears were to
o hard to ignore and I tried my best to emulate what truly caring people did in the movies. My words, however, were sincere.
“You are beautiful and smart and talented. You are not stupid.”
“Yes, I am.” She insisted. “I thought he cared about me.” Her sobs were heart-wrenching. “Am I not pretty enough? Am I not curvy enough?” She fisted her hands and banged it against her knee. “If I was curvier and had bigger boobs he wouldn’t have gone with another girl the minute I asked for a break.”
I shook my head and lifted Lindsey’s chin so that she stared me straight in the eyes, “You are not going to play that game because of some douche bag.” I spoke firmly, “You’re self-worth will never be found in a guy. Do you hear me? You are beautiful and talented and sweet because that’s how you were made. And no one can take that away from you. So don’t let them.”
Her tears slowed down and she nodded her head slowly.
I returned to the road after that and Lindsey kept silent only speaking up when we entered the city and she directed me to her home in the downtown area of Belize. I dropped her off in front of a nice cement house in the middle of a lower middle class neighborhood. As ghetto as Lindsey behaved, her home certainly didn’t reflect that personality.
“Thanks, Ms. Lexi.” The girl slammed the door shut.
“Hey!” I called as the girl stepped toward her iron fence.
She turned around and faced me.
“What time does your school day end on Friday?”
She peered at me, shading her eyes from the sun with her hands, “Two. Why?”
“And you go to Wesley right?”
“Yeah.” She shrugged.
“Okay, this Friday, I’ll pick you up and we’ll go for ice cream.”
A grin spread across her face but she tried to restrain it.
“Whatever.” She shrugged, but I knew that I had made her day.
I drove off, leaving Lindsey in her yard. Still, she was close to my mind as I returned to the highway and drove toward the campgrounds. I had never seen a fight that low down and dirty and over something as insignificant as a lying, cheating, scumbag of a sixteen year old boy. It made me think of the way I felt about Drew and our weird, tension filled, non-relationship. I realized that it was wrong of me to put that kind of pressure on my friend. It was selfish of me to assume that he was ready for a serious relationship with me just because I wanted one.
