Virginia Gone (5 page)

 If anything his grin only widened. “And what about your mother?”

 “Oh, she’ll see it too! Everyone will see it!” 

 “Glad to see your fight is back, little mouse,” He said around a long trail of smoke. He WAS the devil! Attractive and tempting…but the still EVIL!

 
Six

 “Sometimes you weren't supposed to share pain. Sometimes it was best just to deal with it alone.” –Sarah Addison Allen, The Sugar Queen

  Riley hung his head, his arms rigid, his long fingers splayed out against the slick walls of the shower. Streams of hot water pulverized the taunt muscles visible along his shoulders. He doubled over and gagged as clips of disgusting memories came back to him in a sudden rush….the taste and pressure of a man’s penis in his mouth, being forced to pleasure a man while his mother lay passed out only a few feet away, how the same man had returned the favor giving Riley his first orgasm at the hands of another. Ten years old at the time, Riley had begged the man claiming no interest in being touched by any male. His shaft growing hard as the man worked it had revealed the lie in his confession. As hard as he had fought it, and he had fought it, Riley had found the man’s mouth on him very enjoyable.

 Starting a long affair with his mother, the man had come to him often, in secret: late at night, in the dark, while he lay sleeping. Riley eventually gave in; no longer putting up a struggle he’d never win. He willingly welcomed the man in to his bed, but not his heart. He felt no attraction toward a man, only the pleasure one could provide. Would his father have put an end to his mother’s love affair, or the man’s obsession with his young son? Riley doubted it. His father spent most of his time trashed out of his mind. Only one thing mattered to him, and that was his next fix. Truth be told, his father would have probably used his son’s “
experience”
to score more drugs without needing the cash, which he often lacked. Some things were just better left in the past and forgotten.

 Riley’s jaw tensed as he grew hard. Damn it! He grabbed the bar of Dial soap concreted in the corner of the shower. He scrubbed his flesh until it stung, becoming inflamed and raw. She was right, he was sick. Perverted and sick. He was the one that needed to be seeing a damn shrink.

 Forget it. It’s the past. It wasn’t your fault. Riley mumbled those words under his breath daily, ever so often to remind himself he was just a young boy at the time and didn’t know any better. Virginia’s father had told him the same thing,
“It’s not your fault.”
 

 He toweled off, slid on a pair of black, nylon shorts and headed for his room. It was late and the house was quite. Assuming everyone was already asleep he stopped by the thin crack in Virginia’s bedroom door. Light spilled out in to the dark hall. Hearing voices, Riley put an ear to the crack. He took a light step closer careful not to make the floor creak.

 “Brandon I know, I tried to tell him. He didn’t believe me.”

 Riley inched even closer. He listened hard as Virginia’s voice spiked, “No! I don’t want you getting in to it with him. Just leave it alone. If he had anything to do with mom’s “accident” that means he’s capable of anything. Heaven forbid if something happens to you…. Wait, did you hear…shh!” He sensed her moving towards the door. Shit! He progressed on down the hallway towards his room whistling like a man that just stepped out of the shower …and was almost inside when Virginia stepped out in to the hall. He froze and turned feeling her glare settled on him.

 “What excuse do you have for lurking outside people’s doors? Let me guess…you’re curious?”

 She stood with her back to the door she just exited from, her arm tucked behind her, her right hand still on the doorknob. Was she trying to keep Brandon in, or Riley out? He noticed the way her eyes dipped to his bare chest, and the way her cheeks flared with color. Saying nothing he came to stand in front of her. She nervously spared a glance over her shoulder obviously considering what would happen if her brother stepped out in to the hall. 

 Brandon was the least of Riley’s worries as he gently reached around her to pull the door the rest of the way closed to where it was only her and him. No distractions. His bare chest rested against hers. Her eyes widened never leaving his. He noticed the quick hitch in her breath. He caught the smell of her mint toothpaste where she had recently brushed her teeth.  His mouth hovered near hers, but never quite committing.  She’d give in the same as she always did whenever he kissed her. But he wasn’t about to kiss her, not aroused and aching like he was. 

 “Virginia….you don’t want to go there.”

 “There?” The word was muttered, her warm breath teasing the swell of his bottom lip.

 “Don’t turn this in to something ugly. Trust me… you don’t want to do that.”

 “Are you threatening me?”

 He smiled and tucked unruly hair behind her left ear. “You do have an active imagination…I’ll give you that.”

 Virginia sagged against the door as he released her, turned and walked away. She watched him go, exhaling a long breath when his bedroom door clicked shut.

 
Seven

 “Why don’t you wake up? It’s as if I can feel you slipping away right in front of me.” Virginia grasped her mother’s hand tight. Early morning light filtered through the nearby blinds warming the covers piled on the bed. Her mother’s skin felt cold, her body lay motionless. Virginia cast her tear filled eyes to the floor. “Please, I don’t want to be here. I hate this house. I feel so alone all the time. If you abandon me…” and then she saw it, the prescription bottle under the dresser by the window. Chills crawled down her spine, a sick feeling settling in the pit of her stomach. She crossed the room, went down on her knees and felt her way through cobwebs until she bumped the cylinder bottle with her finger tips…a little further, almost, she grunted her arm extended under the dresser as far as it would go, until bingo. She dragged the dust covered bottle out. The typed print on the label read, “Phenobarbital.”

 Phenobarbital? Why did that sound familiar? She searched her memory coming up with zilch. She sat the prescription bottle back on the dresser and immediately went to her room to Google the drug. She skimmed the page until she came across exactly what she was searching for. 

 She found her father sitting at the kitchen table his back to her as she entered the room, across from him was Riley. The room smelled of freshly brewed coffee and cigarettes an odd combination, like peanut butter and jelly, both she found equally pleasing. Riley shoved a hand through his dark hair and sat back in his chair exhaling a breath. Worry seemed to show in his brow. Was he aware the game he was playing was near its end? No one can juggle lies forever without eventually being caught in their own web of deception—rules of the universe.

 “I think Lizzie is a huge part of it…” Her father’s words were low and cut short.

 “Shh…we’ll talk about it later, little ears are listening. Morning Gin….did you sleep well?” Riley crossed his arms over his chest and smiled. No, he was clueless as sly fox staring down the barrel of a loaded shot gun. He had no idea how his little, make-believe world was about to get rocked.

 She came forward with a smug smile planted on her face. It felt wonderful to be right. In her hands she held the proof that would change everything. She slapped it down on the table in front of her father, all the while holding her enemies gaze. “Read it.” She ordered tapping the page with a fingernail. “Read what’s highlighted.”

 In no hurry, her father took a slow swallow from the coffee mug in his hand; he carefully sat it down and then leaned forward squinting at the fine print. “Let’s see….um, the main characteristic of phenobarbital overdose is a “slowing” of bodily functions, including decreased consciousness (even coma).” His eyes rose to meet hers which finally left Riley’s to see the confusion washed over her father’s face. “Okay honey...so, what about it?”

 Virginia’s victorious expression took a sudden dive towards a frown. “Isn’t it obvious? Mom’s not waking up, because HE”S drugging her with “Phenobarbital”. Make him leave our home and everything will go back to how it was before he ever came here. I promise.”

 The kitchen was silent, until she heard Riley’s weight shift as he leaned forward and lit a cigarette. She tried her best to ignore him. He puffed and exhaled. Inside, her anger smoldered. She didn’t have to turn her head to know his gaze was on her. Her father shook his head, “I’m sorry. Things can never go back to how they were Gin. Some things are just irreversible.”

 
Eight

 I can be your home," he said quietly. "Belong to me.” –Sarah Addison Allen, The Girl Who Chased the Moon

 1:30 am.

 The room was dark, blinds drawn so no stray moonlight could find its way in.

 Blankets were kicked to the foot of the bed.

 Riley tossed under a thin sheet, his flesh damp with perspiration.

 Reds and gold’s flashed behind his eyelids.

 Screams coming from the people on the rides echoed in his mind.

 Brandon was there in that stupid ball cap of his, grinning. In his right hand was a baseball, which he lightly tossed in front of Riley’s face.  “Bet I can knock more jugs down than you.”

 “Virginia’s hungry. I thought I’d take her to get something to eat on the way home.”

 “Man, just buy her a corndog or something.” Brandon swung. Jugs scattered sending a group of nearby girls in to giggling fits.

 Riley shrugged. “You know how picky she is…. says she doesn’t like any of the junk here.”

 “Alright, let me go find mom and dad to tell them we’re riding back with you.”

 Riley found Virginia waiting right where he left her, by the entrance gate. She stood with her feet crossed, her pocket book held close to her right side as she eyed a couple of young guys a few feet away. Virginia squirmed under their snickers and heavy gazes. She looked terrified and helpless as a baby fawn lost from its mother. Until she saw Riley heading towards her, then she lit with a smile all tension in her body dissipating.

 She trusted him, he found that trust to be endearing—and sexy.

 “Well, what did they say? Can I ride home with you?”

 “Yeah, it’s cool.” He took her hand and led her toward the exit.

 She stumbled to keep up. “Isn’t Brandon coming?”

 “Nah, he says he’s just going to catch a ride home with your parents.”

 She put on the brakes, the rubber soles of her sneakers scratching over dirt. “And my parents said that’s okay, if I go alone with you? I mean it’s always been the three of us. You know it’s the rule.”

 He sighed, “Yeah Virginia, I guess they figure I’ve been around you for so long if I was going to get in your pants, I’d already tried it by now….but if it makes you feel better we’ll go back so you can hear it directly from your parents.” He spun around headed back inside the gate.

 She caught up with him tugging on his arm until he stopped. “Okay, I believe you…lets go before they change their mind.” She sighed as they fell in to step beside one another. “I can’t believe we’re doing this.”