A Little Bit of Trouble (5 page)

     “Let’s not talk about that,” I clear my throat and take another bite out of my vegetarian sub. Did I mention the fact she took all of the others…? Being a gentleman I couldn’t say no
to her demand for all of the meat sandwiches. This is fucking gross. “So, why are you working here now?”

     “Let’s not talk about that.” Touché.
She finishes her meatball sub and throws me the others. Thank god. I hastily unwrap one and bite into it. Fuck, that’s good. My eyes are instantly drawn to her lips as she wipes her mouth on a napkin. So full and pink and perfect. Her lower lip has a tiny dent or groove in the middle, I want to trace it with my tongue. Why’s her mouth moving so much?

Click, click.

     “Hello?” she snaps. I blink a few times and look up to her eyes. “Did you not hear anything I just said?”

     “No.”

     Her mouth falls open again, that’s hot. “I said, if you’re trying to sleep with me. Don’t bother. I’m not going to have intercourse with you. So you may as well take back your invitation to dinner on Saturday.”

     I take another bite and chew, effectively ignoring her.

Click, click, click. She’s clicking her fingers, in case you were wondering.

     “Hello!”

     “
Sup?” I respond and throw my empty sub wrapper in the bag.

     “Why aren’t you listening to me?”

     “Because you aren’t saying anything I want to hear,” I wink at her and tap her on the nose. “And you’re talking shit.”

     “You’re such a pig!”

     I chuckle, this girl is fun to wind up. “You’ve said that.”

     “I mean it too.”

     “That’s nice.” I glance at the door, the bell just rang, signifying the fact it just opened. Just a customer leaving empty handed. “So. Dress casual Saturday. I figured we could go to dinner and then maybe watch a movie.”

     “I’m not going out with you! I don’t even like you!”

     Ouch. “Then I guess we’ll have to rectify that.” I glance at my watch. “Fuck! Time flies when you’re having fun. I’ve gotta go.”

     “Finally.” I can see she doesn’t mean it
by the way she shifts a little and her body tenses. “Where are you going?”

     “To pick up my brother’s,
mom’s dry cleaning.” I place my hand on the counter and jump over. Fuck that was awesome.

     “There is an opening here,”
she swings the counter up at the side.

     “But then I wouldn’t have been ab
le to show off my awesome moves.” She snorts in response, I’ve made her smile. Score! “See, I knew you weren’t constantly a moody bitch.” I duck out of the door before the dishrag hits me in the face again. HA! Missed.

     I pick up the dry cleaning only an hour late and head to Amelia’s school. I’m early but it’ll give me chance to catch up on my emails on my cell and catch up on music via the radio. I need some new tunes.

Emails… Work, work, spam, junk, work, work, don’t know him, delete, delete, delete, junk, spam. Boring. A text comes through, from an unidentified number, this looks interesting.

     I need a favor… really bad. I got into some shit. Real bad shit. It’s Dana. Daniel is my old dealer. He’s looking for
me. Smashed up Peanut last week. I don’t know what to do. I need somewhere to hide until I can get his money. Please Lucas. I’m fucked here. I’m clean I swear! I can’t afford a motel let alone any of that shit.

Who you gonna call?

Lucas
: Are you crazy? What if they get to my daughter? I can’t help you Dana! Not this time. This is messed up! Sorry. But no.

Not Lucas! 

     Fuck. Why me? Why the fuck does she ask me? Why didn’t Patch tell me about Peanut unless… my name has already been fucking dropped and that psycho Daniel guy was there with him when he called? Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. I slam my head on the steering wheel a few times and switch my cell off as if that will suddenly erase everything bad in my life.

     The loud ringing bell sounds, signifying the end of a school day. I climb out of my car and follow other parents to the side entrance that Amelia exits from. As soon as she sees me she frowns. Okay, that sucks.

     “Hi daddy,” I lift her into my arms and kiss her on the cheek. “Put me down.”
Okay, okay. Calm down.

     “What’s wrong?”

     “Nothing, I thought Maya was coming to get me!” she sighs and allows me to strap her into her booster seat in the back of the car.

     I shrug, “Sorry kid. Want to go get pizza?”

     “No.” she crosses her arms across her chest. Lucas style.

     “Bacon?”

     She rolls her eyes… she’s five. What the fuck? “No.”

     “Ice cream?”

     “No.”

     “Whatever then.
Mac ‘n’ cheese it is,” she knows I can’t cook.

     “Can we go to Auntie Maya’s for dinner?” she sticks out her lower lip. God she’s starting to look so much like her
mom. “Please?”

     “But, I really want to go relax at home. Just me and you. Yeah?”

     “PLEEEEEEASE!” fine, fine.

With a sigh I turn my cell back on. I have no messages or calls. Wow, I’m so damn popular it should be illegal.

Lucas:
Apparently I’m not cool enough to have dinner with. Expect two more people.

Maya
: Yay! I’ll make chicken! See you soon!

     She’ll make chicken. Let me say that out loud. “Auntie Maya says she’ll…
make
… chicken.”

     “YAY!” squeals Amelia
and fist pumps. She got that from James. He tends to do the victory fist pump. “I like chicken.”

     How on earth do you make chicken? Maya is a strange one.

Dejected Daddies

     “Auntie Maya!” Amelia squeals and rushes straight into Maya’s waiting arms. “We having chicken?”

     “Yes we are,
are you coming to help me?” Maya gives me a quick peck on the cheek after releasing Amelia and heads to the kitchen.

     James is closing the door behind me at present
, with Evelyn in his arms. I take the baby and hold her like a football, she loves it. “No hug for Uncle James then?” James sighs dramatically.

      Amelia huffs and rushes over to give him a
kiss on the cheek before catching up with Maya again. Then Evelyn starts crying in my arms, I lift her up to my chest just as Maya comes back through to the hall and opens her arms, Evelyn gurgles and smiles whilst holding up her own chunky little arms, her mommy grabs her from me. The three of them head into the kitchen, leaving both James and I stood with lowered ears and our tails between our legs feeling like dogs that got sent outside for begging. What the fuck?

     “Welcome to my world buddy,” James sighs and slaps me on the back. “Let’s watch man shit.” Meaning football I assume… no… wrestling? Ok. This just got weird. Since when does James watch wrestling?

     “What the fuck just happened?”
I’m referring to the girls and their lack of… love for us.

     “What always happens when Maya
enters or leaves the room,” James snorts and takes a pull of his beer. “Want one?”

     “Nah, I’m driving,” I cross my ankle over my knee and rest back into the
sofa. “So… you never did tell me what happened with the cling wrap.”

     James glances behind him to make sure the coast is clear and starts tapping away on his
cell. He thrusts it at me and starts laughing silently.

     The camera is pointed through a small gap in the door, aiming straight down the hall towards the entrance to their apartment. Maya walks in humming to herself, she kicks off her shoes, places her bag on the desk, drops her keys in the little bowl and turns. Wham. Straight into the cling wrap!

     “JAMES!” she screams and starts tearing through the plastic frantically, it only wraps around her more. “I’m going to kill you, you fucking bastard!” She trips and falls over, effectively face planting. Then James starts running, you can hear him laughing as he goes, the camera is pointed at the floor and moving around a lot. Not aimed at anything yet. Then the video finishes.

     I try to keep my laughter silent but I can’t do it. It’s too fucking funny. “What did she do back?”

     He shudders, “Nothing yet.” I throw his cell to him, he catches it one handed. “She’s biding her time, I just know it. She keeps giving me this look with a tiny evil smile on her face.” He gives me a wide eyed look. “I’m actually shitting myself.”

     I laugh even louder, “Fucking pussy.”

     He leans his elbows on his knees and laces his fingers under his chin, “You’ve heard all the shit she’s done. I still have to sleep with one eye open but it’s even worse now.” Told you so.

     “Yeah,” I glance behind me, suddenly feeling paranoid.
The room is empty. “She’s definitely plotting something. She would never in a million years let that one go.”

    
“I need to get her again before she gets me.” He whispers. A sudden thought enters my mind.

     “Fill her shampoo bottles with something, like
syrup or BBQ sauce.”

     “Nice,” he nods, clearly impressed. “Anything else?”

     I shrug, “I’m out of devious ideas for the day.” I’m not Maya, I don’t wake up with sadistic thoughts.

    
We watch wrestling whilst the girls squeal and laugh and bang around in the kitchen. It’s not long before we can smell the warm scent of BBQ sauce and chicken cooking. Followed by the scent of garlic bread which has my mouth watering. James has a huge smile on his face.

     “What?” I ask, oblivious to why he’s so damn happy.

     His smile doesn’t falter as he replies, “I love this. I could actually be the happiest guy on earth right now.” Christ, will I ever feel that way again?

     We sit to dinner, Maya
has made, chicken breast in a barbecue marinade with salted couscous followed by baby potatoes soaked in butter and a huge baguette of homemade garlic bread. I didn’t realize she could bake or cook non-American foods. Ask questions later, eat now.

     “Oh my god,” I can’t help it. I moan out loud. “This is fucking fantastic.”

     “Yeah, it’s fucking fantastic,” Amelia agrees and we all look at her. I’m about to chastise her but Maya gets there first. She narrows her eyes on Amelia. Uh-oh.

     “What did I say?” she says sternly. Wow, I’ve never heard Maya’s
mommy voice before. Amelia’s eyes go wide, she has heard it apparently. “What did I say about those words?”

     “That I can’t say them until I are eighteen.” Amelia responds robotically.

     James taps her on the hand, “It’s
I am
, not
I are
, sweetie.”

     “That’s what I said.”

     “You are
not allowed to say those types of words. Ever!” I choke out. “Are you two nuts?”

     “Just realistic Lucas,” Maya smiles. “My dad used to say the same to me. On my eighteenth birthday we had a swearing contest. It was really fun.” They what?

     “Your dad was crazy.”

     She raises an eyebrow and giggles, “Honey… you’
ve met me, and he made me. What did you expect?” Touché. “She’s going to swear one day whether we permit her to or not. Sometimes promising them a little freedom does wonders.” She chews on the food in her mouth and swallows, a finger poised in the air. “After that, swearing didn’t seem so naughty and random so I very rarely swear out loud.” James snorts along with me at this. “I swear a lot more in my head.” We both start laughing. “You two are mean.”

     I watch as Maya switches between feeding herself and feeding her daughter who is in one of those baby chairs that clips to the
edge of table. I notice the brown and orange mess in the baby bowl.

     “What’s she eating?”

     Maya points at her plate, “Same as us, just purified without salt and such.”

     “Can you do that?”

     She shrugs, “It says so in the baby books. Gives you a list too.”

     Ja
mes hands his daughter her juice cup, I watch as she smacks it away. Maya absentmindedly picks it up whilst chatting about random foods that babies can eat and hands it to Evelyn. The little monster takes the juice and starts drinking. James stands there open mouthed with his hands in his hair looking seriously dejected.

     “What the eff?” he snaps and slumps back into his seat.

     Maya ignores him, “Thanks for taking those clothes for me.”

     “No problem,” ah, I remember something I wanted to ask. “Why do you take your clothes to Carey’s?”

     Maya looks up towards the ceiling as if thinking, then looks back at me, “My dad used to know the man that owned it. It’s where we’ve always taken clothes since I was little. I think they were friends or something. I never really asked.”

     “Do you know the owner now?”

     “Nope, I haven’t been there in years. James took loads of stuff of mine when I was pregnant,” she looks at Evelyn and starts with the baby talk. Sigh. “With this little pumpkin. Yes I was, oh yes I was.” She starts kissing the giggling baby’s neck. James scowls even more. I laugh, that’s funny shit right there. Poor James. She suddenly looks back up at me. “Why’d you ask?”

      I shrug nonchalant, “Just wondered. I know the girl there, she’s the cousin of a friend of mine.” We also used to bully her in High School.

Let’s keep this part to ourselves.

     “Can we watch the mermaid movie?” Amelia asks. I help Maya with the plates as James attempts to sooth Evelyn. She doesn’t calm down so James and Maya swap over.

     The girls leave us in the kitchen.

     “I asked her if we could have another baby,” James says with a pained smile. “She went out and got the Nexplanon or whatever it’s called, some kind of new and improved birth control... behind my back. Didn’t even discuss it.” He rinses a plate and passes it to me a little angrily, I slot it into the dishwasher. “And then she threatened my balls.”

     “I thought she’d want another one, she’s fantastic with Evelyn.”

     “She’s a brilliant mom. Unfortunately she only wants one child.”

     I grin, “That’s what Crystal said. She’ll change her mind in a year or so.”

     I grab Amelia and we head home at about seven, it’s her bedtime. She really doesn’t like me all that much right now. It’s lame. I miss her being a daddy’s girl.

   
When we get home I give her a bath where we have a bubble fight and then I tuck her in with a bedtime story. She falls asleep before I even get to page ten. Slowly and gently I remove my arm from under her head, lean forward and kiss her little nose, I then place the book on her nightstand and head to the door. With one last glimpse at my little girl I switch off the light and head to my room.

     After a much needed shave and a long shower I head to bed and turn on the TV. Straight to the music channels. It has nothing decent and doesn’t hold my interest so I turn it off and shut my eyes.

     It’s smoky in here, lights are flashing and I can feel the beat of the music going straight through me. As if I’m none existent. So many faces, no features. Keep moving, keep going forward. She’s waiting. I can feel her, smell her, taste her.

     People move, the crowd parts. Where is she?

    There! I can see her, her back is to me. Her shining, brown wavy hair is resting on her bare shoulders. She laughs at something, I can’t hear it. I can only see her body shake and tense with it. There’s no longer sound.

    
I squint through the smoke, she turns, looks straight at me and catches my eyes. A soft smile lights up her features and I instantly heat. We take a step towards each other and another and another until we are only inches apart.

     She looks up at me through thick lash
es, her eyes sparkle in the flashing colored lights that shine all around us, coming from no direction in particular. Everyone is gone. It’s just us. I say nothing, she remains as silent as I. We reach forward at the same time, her hand grips the front of my shirt and her forehead rests against my chest, right under my chin. The top of her hair tickles my throat.

     She’s shy, I lift her face gently with a palm on her soft cheek
and give her a reassuring smile. A smile then lights up her face. Mesmerizing.

     Then she starts to turn, I don’t want her to leave.
My hand wraps around her arm of its own accord, the warmth of her skin hums through me. With a sharp tug, she slams back into my chest, I press my lips to hers without a second thought, without even a first.

    
Expecting a slap I brace myself, it never comes. Instead she grips the top of my shirt and pulls me closer so our bodies are flush with one another. I instantly harden, every single one of my nerve endings alight with a passion I have long since forgotten. Then her tongue touches mine and all is lost.

     Everything vanishes, the smoke, the lights,
the room, everything. My feet hit something soft as we land from a fall I didn’t even realize was happening. Now we are stood on a floor of fluffy pillows, lips and bodies touching, tongues dancing. I hear her heart beat in sync with my own, gradually getting faster and faster.

     She pulls at my top, we part for a moment as I lift it over my head. He
r lips press against my throat. I need her, I can’t wait any longer. My cock is throbbing angrily, I can feel her arousal as my fingers sink into her depths. She’s naked, I don’t remember this happening. I wanted to take my time undressing her.

     Before I can move or take control her hand slides down my bare abs and wraps around my pulsing length. I’m going to lose it, it’s been too long. She drops to her knees. Fuck.

    
Fuck. NOOOO! Why? Why?

     I wipe the sweat from my brow and look down at the tent my dick is making. It’s so solid it actually fucking hurts.

     Don’t lose the image…

    
I wrap my hand around myself after tugging my boxers over it and fist it tight. It’s not my hand, it’s her mouth. Her hand squeezes my balls, I groan. With a popping sound she releases me, stands and forces me down onto the cushioned ground. Shutting my eyes tight I imagine her perfect fucking breasts bounce and move as she adjusts herself and finally sinks onto me, she moans long and loud as my dick disappears into her, right to the fucking hilt. A glove, she’s like a fucking glove.