COVET: Deceptive Desires (11 page)

The door opened, and Alvin appeared in the dark entryway. He ran a plastic Afro pick through the top of his short ’fro in annoyance. Then his eyes lightened as he noticed the pie in her hands.

“This is for your mom.”
You don’t get any.
Raven shoved the pie forward.

“She’s sleeping. I’ll give it to her.” Alvin took the pie. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” Raven turned on her heels.

“I really ain’t your dad.”

“I know.”

CHAPTER 17

“I thought we were going to see her
today
,” Raven pouted. Wind flowed through her hair as the Chevelle sped down the highway.

When she’d told Liam that Alvin confessed to being Charlene’s oldest friend, and always knowing where she was, Liam promised to make flight reservations. Pierre was on one of his treks, and he didn’t want to ask his nana to use another family jet. They were supposed to leave today, and had skipped school for this reason.

“It’s spring break in Southern California, Raven, I had to get redeye tickets for later this evening in order for us to travel together. It was too last minute,” Liam repeated.

Though he was being deceptive, he had a surprise in mind. Only a phone call was required before one of his family’s Learjets would be in North Carolina, gassed up just for him. Yet, intuition told him to stall. Stall like he’d done that one fateful day on the gorge, when he feigned more head pain than he’d really had. And look how that ended? Later on, Raven mustered enough courage to ask about her father.

A sort of sixth sense forewarned that finding Charlene might leave them in a worse fate than having a thirteen-year-old girl heartbroken over being shut down for just one simple question. Who was her dad? Who, really, was Charlene Shaw?

“We’ve got a late flight, this evening, Re. I promise we’ll get to L.A. soon enough,” he said taking a deep breath.

Raven grumbled.

“Hey, none of that frowning. I thought we were going to make this a relaxing day. No talk about family, friends, or enemies.” Liam turned to her for a split second, and added, “Just us.”

The smirk turned into a full-blown grin as she kicked off her flip-flops and crossed her legs, feet on the dashboard. Bright orange toenail polish showed flicks of gold in the early morning sun. It matched her camisole which was under an old pullover sweater.

“So where are we going?” If they weren’t going to find her mom today, she wanted to know where they were headed. When he grinned, she added, “We passed the gorge. C’mon. Tell me already!”

 He’d told her to pack a bikini, which she wore under white Daisy dukes and her top. In the past, they swam at the gorge during summer. No matter how much she loved being near the water, she was happy when they passed by that particular one. She didn’t really want to go to the place where she first kissed Chris.

“We’ve gone to the gorge thousands of times as little kids, no gorge today.” With a wink, he flipped on the radio.

When he took to the highway, heading to the beach, she asked, “Are you taking me back to the lighthouse?” They’d been there a month ago, and she wanted to go back.

 “Nope.”

She gave a slight frown of disappointment as they passed the entrance. Pulling her hair to the side, she braided it over her shoulder, then unbraided it, again asking where they were going.

“Don’t worry, ReRe. Today will be a good day.” He took her hand in his, holding it on Raven’s thigh. Just that simple touch sent a lightning bolt through her leg.

After staring at their entwined hands for a while, she looked up. They were headed toward a dock. He swooped the Chevelle in between a shiny gray luxury camper and a new Mercedes AMG. She watched as he pulled a wicker picnic basket out of the trunk. He slammed it closed, stuffing his keys in a pocket of his khaki shorts. Taking her hand, they walked down to the docks.

“Wow, these are yachts, huh?” Raven slowed down, mouth open wide. There were long pointy ones with slick designs. Some even had a Jacuzzi on the back. Her neck tilted up as she looked at the tall ones with two stories. She stopped at one with shiny orange paint and purple trim, whistling. He gave her waist a little tug, and she reluctantly kept moving.

“That’s
Elise,”
Liam said, when she looked at a multi-tier, white yacht with black tinted windows. “Grand-père Pierre got it for my mother’s birthday a few years ago.”

“Oh,” was all Raven could say as she looked the yacht up and down. It was huge. There was a side bar with silver stools and fluffy dark green seats. There were olive-green and white striped lounge chairs, and a covered Jacuzzi. To the opposite side, a round booth with cream-colored seats and fluffy dark green pillows. She stepped toward it, waiting for him to tell her how they’d get onto it.

Liam laughed and shook his head. “We’re not getting on that.”

On the opposite side of
Elise
was a small, shiny black sailboat. It wasn’t
really
small, but compared to the
Elise
, it was. By any other standards it was huge–bigger than the rowboat she’d gone fishing with Grandpa and Uncle Oscar. The glossy black color contrasted perfectly with the bright white interior. Her eyes stopped at the white cursive on the backside, he’d named it…
Raven
.

“This one is all
mine
,” he said, chest puffed out, looking all the stronger in his blue flannel shirt.

~~~

She’d tried to help him as they sailed, but her mind was just as foggy as the early morning sky, so she wasn’t able to recollect the names of all the “whatchamacallits” and how they operated. The boat kept teeter-tottering. Hands cradling her stomach, Raven pulled the sweater over her head. She felt nauseated in the salty, morning wind. The mist made her feel clammy. Raven watched as he shifted stringy thingies from the sail and prayed that her breakfast sandwich would stop flip-flopping in her stomach.

“…And then you have to…” His voice got carried away by the breeze.

Turning around, Raven leaned over the side of the boat, throwing up into the beautiful, blue-gray water. Chunks of eggs and bread twined in the sudsy sea as it hit the side of the boat.

“Raven, are you okay?” Liam’s voice sounded far away, but at least the wind was carrying it in her direction.

Screaming, she closed her eyes. Her body was being lifted from the air and she felt like she was going overboard. Strong arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her back. She stumbled back onto Liam, and they tumbled on the floor. Laughing hysterically, she wiped her lips, getting the excess throw-up splatter before he saw it.

“I’m sorry.” Raven scrambled off of him.

“It’s okay.” His voice sounded weak. There was blood coming from his nose.

“I’m
so
sorry.” Raven hurried to her sweater, trying to balance herself as she hurried to wipe his nose before the red liquid stained his shirt.

“Owww, you’re a bit rough.” He took the sweater from her. She grimaced. He gave a reassuring smile, and then dabbed his nose.

She looked away and closed her eyes with a frown.
I’m an idiot!
Cupping her hands to her mouth, she did a breath check. Not good.
I suck! This was supposed to be romantic–the calm before the storm of meeting Charlene...

“Sorry,” she apologized one last time.

“It’s okay.” His head tilted back, he pinched his nose with the sleeve of the sweater. “Let’s just get back to the dock.”

 When they got there, Liam tied up the boat. Then he told her to come onto the
Elise
and look around while he got a blanket. They were moving on to plan two. He dropped the still unopened picnic basket on the stairs at the entryway of the yacht and helped Raven climb down.

“Do you still feel like you’re on the boat?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

 He pulled the keys out of his pocket and opened the sliding glass doors.

They stepped into what appeared to be a living room as Raven took in the scene–glossy, dark wood wall-to-floor panels. Suede, beige fluffy couches were so soft-looking she was almost compelled to run and jump on it. A glass coffee table with big sea shells linked together as a stand. She felt like putting her ear to them to hear the ocean, just to see if the shells were as real as they looked.

“I’m going to look for a restroom,” she called over her shoulder, but Liam had already disappeared up the winding stairs.

Walking down a long corridor, Raven flicked the light to the first room. It was a dining room with a table for ten and leather high-back chairs, a bar with gleaming, chunky glasses. No dust.
Who cleaned this place? Or maybe they just had a party or something.
Raven flicked off the light. Curiosity had her stopping before the next closed door. She opened it and peeked her head inside. There was a grand piano to one side, and the other was overstuffed tan chairs. A wood coffee table with a fresh bouquet of flowers!
Really, this is ridiculous. Someone has to be living here. Hell, a whole crowd of people could live here!
She shook her head and walked out of that room.

A few more doors down, she found the bathroom. A large room with bright lights, a big glass shower, and two toilets–but one of the toilets was kind of weird looking with a sprout thingy. Shrugging, she went to the vanity, opening the mirrored shelves. Looking through each… Bingo, there were toothbrushes in individual packages. And…her eyes stopped on a big unused tube of toothpaste. Sighing, she brushed her teeth.
Thank God!

~~~

After he grabbed the cashmere blanket, they walked the sandy shores. They passed a group of teens playing volleyball and a couple of afternoon tanners. The crowd was light, but it was a weekday. Raven’s stomach grumbled as Liam spread the blanket on the sand. It was almost three, and they hadn’t had lunch; besides, the sea had her breakfast. As if he read her mind, Liam opened the picnic basket and took out two sandwiches in clear baggies, inspected them.

“PB and J for me.” He put down the first one on his lap. “Peanut butter, honey, and slices of peaches for my boo.”

Grinning, her eyes glistened with tears. “You remembered?” Annette used to make their favorite sandwiches when they played… Until he disappeared.

“Yes, and I made them myself.” He bit into his sandwich with a smile.

“I’ll just pray that it’s safe,” Raven joked, seeing that she had to teach him how to wash dishes when they were kids. After he’d gotten the hang of it, she’d tricked him a few times into completing that tedious chore after dinner, saying that Granny had asked.

“Not too bad,” she said, after taking her first bite.

After they finished eating, Liam slipped out of his button up, pulled the undershirt over his head, and kicked off his Converse. He tugged at his shorts and pulled those off, too. Raven looked up at him. Her eyes brightened as she took a head-to-toe mental shot of a teenage girl’s fantasy. The sun torched his hair as he turned around and ran toward the water. The water splattered around his legs as he swam further out. Then he lunged in and swam.

Raven got up and took off her camisole and jean shorts, displaying a bright orange bikini. She sprinted in the soothing sand. Stopping abruptly, she almost fell forward as the water made her grit her teeth.

 Liam’s head popped up about a yard away. “What are you waiting for?”

“It’s cold!”

He swam over. The water glistened off copper skin as he came up. It made the ripples in his arms and chest look all the more appealing.

“Stop being a big baby, ReRe.”

“Okay, ‘mud pie’ boy.” She laughed and started running away.

“You promised to
never ever
bring that up!” He ran after her along the coastline.

They were five when Granny had made chocolate fudge pie, but she’d only given Liam a small piece, telling him that Elise had complained. To make him feel better, Raven made some
mud
pies. He loved chocolate...

“Tasted good, didn’t it?” she tossed over her shoulder and kept running, feet sinking into the wet sand.

Then he lifted her by the waist, pulling her into his arms. “Are you going to take that back, Raven?”

“Chocolate-
y
and muddy? Probably a little crunchy, too.” She giggled.

“You’ll be sorry.” He waded into the water, holding her over his shoulder.

Raven finally pleaded for Liam’s forgiveness as he slapped her bottom and tossed her in.

Later on, they stopped to watch the sun go down as they lay on the blanket. The sky was a purplish blue where the sun had just been. She’d been excited when the big orange ball of fire dipped down just over the horizon, and then popped back up slightly before going down all the way. The sky turned purple quickly, and they lay back waiting for the stars to appear. Raven heard him moving around next to the picnic basket.

“What else did you pack in that thing?” she said with hands behind her head, looking up at the stars. They’d just eaten the dinner that the family chef had packed. She propped up on her shoulders as he dug into the basket. They’d eaten enough. What else was in the basket…

“Happy birthday to you!” Liam crooned. The flicker of the sparkler candle on a cupcake sent shadows across his face.

Is it my birthday?
Her eyebrows knitted together
. Oh yeah, I guess it is.
Only thoughts of Los Angeles and Charlene were swirling around her mind for the past few days. Grandpa was always the one to make a big to-do about birthdays.