Amber Eyes (7 page)

He raised his eyebrows and whistled as if $300 came close to having Bill Gates’s fortune. I needed his help to find the station. If he was traveling to Abbeville like me, he represented my only chance. I had to make sure he’d take me with him. I’d get down on my hands and knees and beg if necessary.

“Help me get to the station,” I whined, joining my hands as if praying, “and I won’t trouble you anymore. I promise.”

Edward placed a protective arm around my shoulders. His touch felt reassuringly. “Don’t you have any friends? Maybe you can go to some friend’s place and tell his parents what happened. It should be better than traveling alone in the middle of the night. They can call your grandmother for you.” I shook my head. He grimaced. “Are you sure? No friends?”

“Mom and I used to live in Montgomery, but we moved here 3 months ago. That’s why I have no friends, I know anybody besides Jenny. She’s my girlfriend, but she’s out of town. Then Mom dumped me with Yago and his kids, and Yago kicked me out tonight. I need to stay at my grandma’s until Jenny’s back.”

I lowered my head. I couldn’t be sure if he was gonna take me to the station with him. If he wasn’t, I was doomed. I closed my eyes and prayed. Some more tears streaked my cheeks. I whispered, “Please, take me to the station. I can pay you if you wish. Told you, I’ve got money.”

He stood silent, staring at me. Then I thought of something else. It
had
to work. I ripped the sunglasses off my face and raised my head, making eye contact with him. He stopped and, for a few seconds, he seemed to be as mesmerized as before. His trembling hand reached out and cupped my cheek. His thumb wiped my tears away.

With a start, he backed off one or two steps. “Sorry! Dunno what’s happening to me. I shouldn’t have done that.”

Bewildered, he squeezed his eyes shut and counted up to 10 in a whisper and then started to talk like in a rush. “Sorry, boy. Dunno what’s going on with me tonight. I had one hell of a day. You know, my soccer team and I arrived in here a week ago to play in the Intra-High tournament. We won the championship today. Well, it was actually yesterday. Coolest thing on earth. Four to nothing. We crushed them. The couch threw a party but I couldn’t stay long because my Boy Scout troop is going camping tomorrow. We’re the Wolves, and I’m the leader, so there’s no way I can be a no show. But I’m also the team’s captain, so I couldn’t miss the celebration either. So complicated! Now I need to catch the 2:30 run back to Abbeville or I’ll never make it on time.” He paused for air. “I can’t take money for helping you. I’m an Eagle Scout.” He stood tall, thrusting his chest out. “I’ll do more than take you to the station. I’ll take you all the way down to Abbeville to your grandma’s.”

My legs almost folded when the strain vanished all of a sudden. It didn’t matter anymore if he’d mistook me for a boy, or if he was bossy. I wanted to jump and yell, but all I could do was sigh. “Thank you.”

Edward looked away, avoiding my gaze. Like he was David Copperfield, my sunglasses appeared in his hand and he fitted them back on my nose. “Don’t say thanks, boy. ‘A scout is helpful.’ It’s my duty to care about you. Duty comes first, self goes second, as my old man says. Come on, the station is only two blocks away.”

July 2, 1:59 am

The Greyhound station: few people, a small waiting room, and a tickets counter. Edward said he’d purchased our tickets. I gave him a 50 dollar bill. Midway to the counter, he turned and pointed a finger at me. “Stay there, I won’t take long.”

It wasn’t difficult for Edward to get the ticket girl talking. She was about his age and smiled a lot. Because of her dreamy stare, I bet she pictured Edward as the last drop of water in a desert. When she handed him the two tickets, he grabbed her hand and winked an eye. So pathetic! He didn’t release her and they chatted a bit. Before he left the counter, he pulled his cell phone and took a coupla notes. I’ll be damned if it wasn’t her e-mail and Facebook address. Rage crept inside me. She was flirting with Edward only because he was hot without her actually knowing him. Girls could be so stupid. My experience with Mom’s boyfriends was that a girl couldn’t trust a guy despite how hot he might look. For one moment, I wanted nothing to do with Edward so I got up, moved to a far corner and sat on the floor. I leaned on the huge window facing the buses’ dark parking lot, crossed my arms and snorted.

Edward grabbed some food and two cups of coffee from the station’s vending machine. When he realized I was no longer where he’d instructed me to wait, Edward frowned. He craned his neck and glanced everywhere before he found me.

“You shouldn’t have moved from where I left you. Always follow my instructions: it’s for your own safety.” He parked himself on the floor beside me. I wanted to tell him to get lost, but then he handed me a cup of coffee and continued as if we were old pals. “Here, drink this, you’ll feel better. It’s hot coffee. Be careful. You don’t want to burn yourself.”

His tone was so caring, I allowed the previous rage to evaporate. I held the cup with both hands and sipped the coffee—it in fact made me feel better as the warm drink flowed downwards to my stomach. “This is your ticket, boy; keep it safe. Here’s your money. Put it away. What’s your name?”

We’d reached a moment of truth. Edward had mistaken me for a boy since he found me sleeping on the street. Should I tell to him he’d been deceived by my appearance, or should I reinforce the deceit so he wouldn’t learn my true identity? The latter might be best, considering my situation. Also, I was enjoying being mistaken for a boy. Sorta new feeling I wanted to explore a bit more. I was a girl, but how would it feel to be a boy? I wondered whether it would further strengthen my relationship with Jenny. What name should I give myself? Tom? Robert? Obama? I looked to the huge signboards hanging from the station’s ceiling. They read: ‘
Meet Justin Pembroke, your congressman. Inman Park, July 4
.’

“Justin… my name’s Justin,” I said.

“Cool, nice to meet you, Justin.”

We shook hands. He squeezed mine while I barely tightened my grip around his. He seemed to disapprove because he narrowed his eyes a bit and grimaced. No wonder. My hand was cold and flaccid while his felt warm and firm. Finally, he smiled. “As I told you, I know the address you’re looking for. Does your grandma own a white Toyota or a blue Nissan?”

“I dunno. Last time I saw her, I was a li’l kid.”

I said nothing else but kept my gaze fixed on him from behind my sunglasses. I squinted. Why was he helping me? He said because he belonged to the Boy Scouts. Could it be that simple? Did people actually help people just because they are part of a club or a church? At the many schools I’d been through in my life, nobody had helped me and after fifth grade, I’d been more bullied than liked.

Jenny had been my first real friend in many years. Before her, I’d hidden during recess so I could eat my lunch before it got stolen, and I’d left fast after school so I could reach home without getting my ass kicked. I sipped from the coffee cup again but spilled some on the jacket. I grimaced for being so stupid. Was my plan to ruin it forever? How could I be so callous to seemingly care so little for the most tangible proof of his generosity? “Oh! How clumsy of me.”

“Never mind, it’s okay.” Boy Scouts seemed to be nice people.

“I’m a total loser. I can’t do anything right.” My head dropped until my chin touched my chest.

Edward passed an arm over my shoulders. Surprisingly, I liked the feeling: so reassuringly, as if nothing bad could happen when I was in his embrace.

“Hey, don’t worry, pal. It’s okay. Like, I’m sure once you’re with your grandma, everything will be fine. Remember, I’m your friend.”

“Are you my friend? No kiddin’?” I actually wanted Edward to be friends with me. I said to myself I was not acting like the girl behind the counter—falling for the first hot guy purchasing a one way ticket— and yet, with hindsight, I believe I was. I cuddled towards him, leaning on his sturdy body, feeling his warmth. I closed my eyes and breathed in. Edward’s body smell was appealing. Part sweat—it made my skin tingle—part lime cologne. I breathed in again and enjoyed the strong aroma.

“I told you, I’m your friend. You’ve nothing to worry about if you’re with me.”

His smell was the exact opposite of Jenny’s flowery perfume, and yet I breathed in for the third time, relishing it. Jennifer… The memory of our wild make out session popped into my mind. What was I doing? I was her girlfriend, not Edward’s. Five minutes ago, I’d just been proud of myself when I’d told Edward my name was Justin, delighted because of my perfect deception. Now I was behaving like a stereotypical cheerleader who dreamed of the football team’s quarterback.

I sprang away from him, shrugging my shoulders until he took his arm off them. He stared at me with a huge question mark drawn on his face. I felt like crap. Edward was trying to help me and suddenly, I was reacting as if he was infected with smallpox. After all what had happened tonight, it felt good to have another friend besides Jenny. My problem was it felt awful to compare Jenny and Edward in my mind like I had to choose between one of them. I sobbed, covering my face with both hands.

“Hey, hey! You don’t have to cry,” Edward said. “Boys don’t cry. Tell me what’s wrong, pal. We’ll figure it out together.”

I couldn’t tell him what was wrong. I couldn’t share with him I was in love with another girl, and that at the same time I found him hot.

Suddenly, the station’s sliding doors opened and a redheaded woman in a brand-new cop uniform—a girl bearing an FBI-smartass air—stood with her arms akimbo. “Alexandra Zimmerman, are you here? Alexandra Zimmerman?”

# # #

I was doomed. The cops had found me. My stomach sunk. In an instant, my palms turned sweaty and I could feel my face stone cold.

I hated myself for being so foolish. I shouldn’t have told Mrs. Olsen I was heading to the Greyhound station. I could imagine her telling the cops what I had told her when they questioned her about Yago’s dead body. All my life and hopes vanished in a second. The redheaded cop would arrest me and when she did so, my girlfriend Jenny, my new friend Edward, and the short liberty I’d experienced since two hours ago would vaporized.

Anxiety filled me like the day when Clara Benson and her gang had cornered me in the restroom. They said I needed some lipstick to look more girly, so they smeared bright red lipstick all over my face. I lay curled on the floor for hours. Today, I wanted to curl up too so the redheaded cop wouldn’t spot me. I couldn’t allow her to arrest me, at least not until Jenny could stand by my side and protect me. Then I could endure court, jail and even the death penalty, if that’s what I got.

I jumped to my feet like somebody had lit a fire under my buttocks and glanced in every direction. The restrooms, where the hell were this station’s damned restrooms? Outside. They had to be outside. I bolted to the back door and exited to the empty, dark parking lot. The air smelled like wet earth, which meant rain was about to start dropping. I discovered the restrooms to my right, two metallic doors labeled “Gents” and “Lad es”—the ‘i’ was missing.

I pulled open the Ladies restroom door but froze. No. I was a boy, wasn’t I? So, for the sake of the lie, I had to enter the Gents restroom instead. I released the door and moved in front of the Gents’. My skin tingled. It was the first time ever I’d dared enter a boy’s restroom. What would happen if some guy was inside? Hoping not, I gulped. With my hand still on the knob, I hesitated.

Okay, I said to myself, I’m a boy, and I’ll be one until all this is over. I mustn’t fear. This is my gender’s restroom.

I wished I actually was a boy. It would have solved all my problems. For sure, the cop would describe a girl to the station’s staff and ask them whether they’d seen me. If I behaved like a boy, she’d never realize the pigeon had fled right from under her nose. I flung the Gents’ door open and step inside stamping my foot. I had to pinch my nostrils right away. Bet nobody had flushed the toilets in centuries. One more step and my sneakers—Edward’s really—splashed on the waterlogged floor. Never mind. I made it to the first stall and locked myself inside. Then I gave it a second thought. They always search the first one in the movies. So I moved to the second one. There were only three of them, anyway, but I decided the last one was as conspicuous as the first one, like trying to conceal myself in the last possible hole.

Two or three minutes later somebody came into the restroom. How stupid of me! I should have turned the lights off if I wanted the cop to believe the place was empty. Then I thought lights in public restroom are always on, so it’d been better I hadn’t turned them off.

I had to stop making the wrong decisions. Even considering them,

“God, what a stench!” It was Edward’s voice. I exhaled in relief. “Justin, are you in here?”

My heart beat a thousand miles per hour while I decided if I should answer. I couldn’t make up my mind, so I stood silently, squeezing my hands with each other.

Edward knocked on my cubicle’s door. “Justin, is everything okay?”

I was terrified and not sure whether Edward had added two plus two and was about to hand me over to the cops. I bit my lip. A sweat droplet trickled down my forehead. The stench made me feel sick. I glanced at the toilet behind me. Indeed, nobody had flushed it and nauseating things floated in beige water. Edward wouldn’t hand me to the police, would he? He was a boy scout after all, whatever that meant.

“Justin, I know you’re there. I can see my sneakers. Are you okay? You vanished.” He sounded pissed. “I’m supposed to take you to your grandma’s. How can I if you run without telling me where you’re going?”

“Sorry, had to rush. Be with you in a few.”

“Okay. I’ll wait for you outside.”

He left. Just like that. Without any further explanation or request, he exited the restroom. Excitement exploded inside me. He wouldn’t hand me over to the officer. He hadn’t realized the situation. Omigod! I was safe for the time being. Still, I bet the cop would search the station, and her search would include the restrooms. She’d be on to me in no time. I left the cubicle and hid behind the door, able to see everything happening outside through the crack between the door and its frame. If anybody came in the restroom, I could immediately fake I was washing my hands.