A Little Bit of Trouble (39 page)

I open it and blink twice at the short video before me, it’s of Lucas’ hand wrapped around his length pumping away into one of MY socks. After the climax a message flashes across the screen that reads, ‘Look What You Made Me Do.’ I laugh, a lot and it feels good.

Please read on for an excerpt from

Winters Island
by
Lillian Mackenzie Rhine

Thank you so much for reading, I’d be eternally grateful if you would please l
eave a review. Good or bad.

This book is part of the Little Bits series
.

A Little Bit of Crazy (Part One) 

A Little Bit of Us (Part Two)

A Lit
tle Bit of Trouble (Lucas’ story)

A Little Bit of …. (Marie’s Story
Coming soon, title undecided
)

I'm
22 and I’ve been writing since I could hold a pen in my hand! I love to write, it’s my passion, and I never stop.  In fact I love to write so much I have started over one hundred and fifty different books before finally completing my first ever novel 'A Little Bit of Crazy' which I published in May 2013. I was grateful when I received feedback as it helps me be a better writer.

When I'm not writing, I love spending time with my family and when I get some spare time (not easy with young children!) It’s either reading or listening to music. You won’t find me without a book or my Kindle in my hand. I read whilst I’m cooking, cleaning, talking, walking… you could say reading is my other passion!  

Although I based my first few books in America I am in fact a British author (I live in the north East of England). I chose to set my books in America as although I love England, I also love all things American and I have read a lot of American novels and as I love a challenge, I decided to write in an American voice! Studying the differences between Britain and America has been fascinating to say the least, even something as simple as remembering our chips are their fries and our crisps are their chips was a challenge! I’m pretty sure you’ll still find some Britishisms in my book and if you do, drop me a line (contact details below) to correct me!

Thank you for taking the time to read my book. I appreciate any kind of feedback be it good or bad. This has been a huge learning curve for me and I'm happy to receive any advice/criticism...praise?! That you wish to provide. Don’t be shy.

Thank you,

Love Alex

To get in touch with me please use the following.

https://www.facebook.com/alexandra.murphy.522066

[email protected]

Winter’s Island

by

Lillian MacKenzie Rhine

Saint Angeles

~~~

~ Cay Winters ~

Stretched out on the back windshield of her Camry somewhere in the desert lands of Arizona, soaking in ultraviolet inspiration, Cay did a small inventory of her life before she moved on to her current plains. Cay Winters was an adventurous 23 year old artist who specialized in sketches and character design. She had spent the last few years of her emerging adulthood venturing to different areas in California, seeking encouragement for new projects. Her last few months were spent traveling over the road from coast to coast, slumming it with strangers, finding refuge with distant relatives, or bunking solo in her early model Camry was her life that thrilled her to no end. Cay not only lived in the moment; she was the moment.

She did not have much in the ways of an anchored home. Her mother, an ambitious painter and singer, allowed her plight to succeed in the all-watchful eye of the  world to swallow her up at a young age. She became an abuser of everything addictive from sex to heroin. These poisons eventually overtook reason to live, causing her to perish due to an overdose when Cay was three years old. Cay never doubted her mother’s love for her, but her resentment was unwavering. Cay refused to mirror the same lifestyle that her mother lived; it was her driving motivation in life. In her mind, her mother was simply another weak woman.

Soon after the death of her mother, Cay was adopted by her mother’s younger sister, Lucinda Winters, who Cay affectionately refers to as Lulu. Her aunt Lulu worked hard gaining all the esteem needed to be a notable estate attorney residing in Los Angeles, California. Cay found her aunt to be her ultimate inspiration based on the fact that Lulu finished college while raising her own son Malcolm plus taking in a stray in Cay. Yes they had nights of Top Ramen and cold cuts, but now Lulu was a partner in one of the largest firms in California.

Even with all that success and wealth available to her, Cay found herself to be a wanderer like her disappointment of a mother. She graduated with honors from a well-respected art institute with the goal of being free like a bird to soar to the highest mountains. Her aunt begged her to stay put in Los Angeles, offering the luxury of her own private studio and loft apartment but those perks did not appeal to Cay’s creed. She believed she was one with the Earth and there was a lot of land undiscovered to her envisioned eyes. With the grace of a ripple in a lake, she kissed Lulu and Malcolm goodbye, leaving to explore her virgin land. This left Lulu so hurt by her absence, using every excuse to contact her, pleading for her return due to one pressing matter or another.

She heard her aunt’s assigned ring-tone blaring for the fifth time that morning disturbing her daydreams of the flatland desert. She wanted badly to avoid the conversation but realized it might be emergent.

“Hey chica! What’s going on?” Lulu inquired with the spunk of a teenager on homecoming night.

“Just seeing the sights Lulu.” This was Cay’s typical response. She found that over the years, her family, in particular Lulu, had a silent concern for her well being in which she found it difficult to understand. Why was it so strange to live by the seat of your pants, she constantly wondered.

As Cay leaned back against the warm glass, she fanned her toes in the Phoenix sun. Her aunt remained silent with bated breath waiting on her niece’s response. “What is it Lulu? Is there an emergency or something? I can hear your wheels turning so spit it out.”

Lulu sighed, “Cay I have been calling you for days. Where are you?” Cay knew and loved her aunt dearly; she was her second mom. But Cay was a feather in the wind who hated to be flicked. “Lulu, I am in Phoenix if you must know my exact location.”

“Phoenix? Where in Phoenix?”

“On some dirt road getting inspired by the sunshine melanizing my pores.”

Another sigh, “Cay? Look, I know you do not like to be disturbed, but I have a request of you. I desperately need a favor.” A warm breeze kissed the peach sundress from the knees of the liberal woman. She found herself distracted, peeking at the spectrum of hues her perspiration beaded upon her breasts.

“Cay?”

“Yes? I heard you. A request.”

“About the request. Your cousin, Malcolm, is starting college a few weeks early this summer.”

Cay skated her fingertips across her mocha-dipped chest, creating designs like ribbons at play while her aunt muttered on about summer sessions and finances.

“Cay? Pay attention girl,” her aunt exhaled. “You definitely are your mother’s child.”

Cay winced at the mention of her being likened to her mother. Her aunt had a terrible habit of comparing the two. In Cay’s mind, she would never in her natural born life use substances that would alter her unchained presence to creativity. Before she could rebut the vicious comment, her aunt continued, “I’m sorry for the comparison. You know she was not all that bad Cay. She was an artist-.”

“Your request Lulu?” Cay muttered changing the subject,
wanting to end the call that was getting out of control.

“Okay, okay, so Malcolm is heading to school in two weeks. The thing is he was accepted to the University of the Virgin Islands for the Marine Biology Program which is great. The problem is the resident facilities were over capacity. The administration took the initiative to reach out to some of the parents, providing information on alternative living arrangements. I was hoping you would be able to take time out of your schedule to accompany Malcolm to Saint Thomas until next school year where he will hopefully be able to live in the dorms.”

Cay sat up, drawing her heels into her rear. Her silken hazelnut locks were dampened from her misted brow. She pushed her newly cut, bob-length waves behind her lobes riddled with metaled piercings. A swirl of dust was serenading the wind in the distance depositing, wisps of heat cooling her exposed thighs as she reflected on the information received.

“University of the Virgin Islands? Where exactly would we be staying again?”

“So I am hoping that is a yes? As far as the location, a liaison from the campus will meet you two at the airport to present your accommodations. You know your cousin loves you and is looking forward to you joining him. Plus, I know you will look after my baby.”

“My car? What about my Camry and my materials?” Cay questioned rubbing on the automobile for effect.

“Just make your way back home and we will talk over the details. Oh, and Cay, thank you for this.”

“Okay Lulu. Give me a day or so to reach Los Angeles.”

Her aunt agreed to the estimated time of her arrival and they disconnected the line. Cay laid her phone down on the weather-worn hood. She fingered the metal curling her lips in a grin. To Cay, her car was her first and only love. She sold a lot of meaningful artwork at low rates in order to buy her Camry from a small family five years prior. Her baby had seen a lot of horizons and sunsets since their union. Cay felt so attached to her car that she refused to let any filthy mechanic molest her mobile companion consequently making her a self-proclaimed grease monkey, willing to get oily to make her baby healthy again.

With the realization that she needed to get on the road to L.A. soon, she slumped over, resting her head on her knees already exhausted from the trek. “Phoenix, you are a hot son of a bitch. But it’s been real. Time to venture from the desert to the tropics.”

Cay arrived in Los Angeles in record time only stopping to relieve herself and wink at a sunset or two. It had been almost two months since she had left for her explorations, and she was sure that Lulu would take notice of her physical changes. Her thinner, toned body was something unheard of for Cay, but her thickened thighs that she like to think of as her baby fat had disappeared due to all the walking around she was doing. Lulu would have a fit over that, she knew. Lulu would probably sign her up for some type of eating disorder camp; even though, eating was not an issue for Cay who ate like a grown man. But the biggest change to her look, was the long, straight, milk chocolate strands that cascaded down her back was chopped off, shortened to ear length. Cay’s mother had hair that fell to her lower back, so her aunt loved to see the image of Cay growing her hair out which was the reason Cay cut it off as soon as she got out of the city limits on the journey to discover who she was outside of her family.

Just as expected, Lulu was livid, pinching at Cay’s thin thighs, speaking on cooking hefty meals that Cay was sure to devour happily. But the look on her face when she circled Cay to see her hair gone was heartbreaking. Lulu had to excuse herself to her room for a few hours making Cay feel a slight guilt to her motives for relieving herself of someone else’s memory.

After she gathered herself, Lulu returned to go over the arrangements for the trip. Her aunt had everything prepared exceeding the baseline level of normalcy, because in her eyes money was for the living to live. She spared no expense making cushy arrangements for her only son and wildflower of a niece. Cay got lost in the details itching to get out of the city life. She found it annoying living in the metropolitan city of angels. It just did not speak to her nature. When younger, she would imagine that she was born to a group of Gypsies who stowed her away in a basket, dropping her at her mother’s doorstep.

Her aunt promised that while they were away, she would take Cay’s car for a spin every Saturday to see The Hills - the only place Cay found peace amongst the glitz, noise, and crime of L.A. When it came to packing, Lulu turned her nose up at Cay’s sack of dingy sundresses and pieced together sandals, but Cay refused to leave without her personal items she had collected over the years. It was bad enough she was leaving her codependent metal roommate, moving her to tears with every thought. Knowing Cay’s independent personality, Lulu assured Cay that an adequate vehicle would be provided for her exclusive use in Saint Thomas, lessening the sting of leaving her car behind. After hours of protest, she did agree to the weekly stipend offered as well. Cay was not positive of the quality of drawing materials or their price so she would allocate her allowance to the purchase of an easel, pencils, pads, and a camera.

Leaving Lulu to construct some emails, Cay went to check on her cousin. Malcolm was a brilliant kid, graduating high school one year early as the valedictorian. There was no question in Cay’s mind that she would travel with her pseudo kid brother. Malcolm was just as excited as his mom to be leaving the stateside. He was overjoyed that his big sis was joining him too. Cay and Malcolm talked every single night while she traveled. Him being only a few years her junior fueled their bond even more. They had an agreement that each week she would send him a small trinket from the city she was visiting at the moment in exchange for keeping Lulu off of her back.