Drifting into Darkness (3 page)

Well, shit, that wasn’t what I wanted to hear. “I’m sure I’ll find something. I’ll just have to spend the rest of the week looking,” I stated as Sarah approached and set our plates down.

“Can I git y’all anything else?”

I looked at Lisa then back to Sarah and shook my head. “No, I think we’re good. Thanks.”

“Enjoy, it was nice to meet ya, Sadie,” she replied.

I watched her walk away and noticed how she greeted everyone with a smile. I could definitely never be a waitress. Being peppy and happy-go-lucky every day was not me. I’d end up getting shitty tips or fired. “She seems really nice.” I turned back to Lisa who was already putting ketchup on her plate for her fries.

“Yeah, she is,” she said as she stuffed a fry in her mouth that she had doused in ketchup. “I think I might have an idea of a place you could try to get a job.”

I grabbed the ketchup bottle and poured some onto my plate. “I’m all ears,” I said as I dabbed a fry in the ketchup and devoured it.

“Well, if you don’t mind getting up at the crack of dawn or getting a little dirty, I might be able to get ya a job up at the Johnson Farm.”

I stopped lifting my burger that was halfway to my mouth. “A farm?” I scoffed.

She let out a short laugh. “Come on, it’s not that bad. Although, I’m sure it’s nothing you would be used to, being from a big city and all, but it’s good money and the days are short.” She shrugged and took a bite of her burger.

Looking down at my own burger, I contemplated what she had told me as I lifted it to my mouth and took a big bite. Working on a farm isn’t something I’d ever thought I’d do. I’m not a morning person at all, but I wouldn’t mind knowing my hours would be the same every day. You can’t really farm at night, right? If I worked at the mall, my schedule would be different all the time.

Letting the juices and spices marry with the bun and condiments in my mouth, I moaned in appreciation at how well the flavors worked together. It was so good, and not because I missed breakfast and was so hungry I could probably eat a whole cow. After taking another bite, I set the burger down on my plate and looked up at Lisa who was watching me with a smile.

“I told ya it was good.”

I laughed at how stupid I must have looked. “Yeah, this is probably the best burger I’ve ever eaten.” I picked up my coke and took a sip. “So, tell me about this farm job. Beggars can’t be choosers, right?”

“Well, basically you’d be baggin’ corn, pickin’ through beans, givin’ the horses new hay, and cleanin’ up the horse shit.”

I had just taken a drink of my coke and tried to gasp and swallow at the same time causing myself to choke and cough as it went down the wrong pipe. She laughed as she got up from the table, walked to my side, and started slapping me on the back. I spat the rest of the coke out everywhere, unable to swallow. I could feel it dripping down my chin.

“Oh, my God, are you goin’ to be okay?” she laughed, still patting my back.

I held up my hand and pushed her arm away as I got my coughing under control. Feeling slightly embarrassed and feeling the flush over my face, I reached over to the napkin dispenser and pulled one out to wipe the coke and spit from my chin.

“What’s going on over here?” a deep, sultry voice asked.

I looked up to see a good-looking guy eyeing me as he stood next to Lisa.

“Oh, hey, babe, you’re early,” Lisa said as she slid over in her booth to make room for who I assumed to be her boyfriend. He was tall with a slim build, sandy blond hair, blue eyes, and a cute face. I wouldn’t say he was sexy. He had a baby face that knocked him out of the sexy category, but I could see why Lisa would find him attractive. Even with his slim build, I could tell he was fit under his form-fitting t-shirt.

With my face clean of any leftover soda residue, I wiped at the table where I had let it all spill out of my mouth, and then I looked up at Lisa, embarrassment written all over my face.

“Yeah, Landon said he’d take care of the rest of the stuff that needed to be done today so I could come meet you,” he directed toward Lisa, and then looked at me with a smile. “I’m Derek.”

I cleared my throat. “Hi, I’m Sadie.”

“Sadie just moved here from Chicago and is going to start at A&M this fall.” She smiled at me, before looking back at Derek. “We met today at registration.”

Derek nodded at Lisa and looked at me. “That’s cool. You’ll like it. What’re you majoring in?”

“Just general for now,” I said as I shrugged. “I still don’t know what I want to do.” I wanted to throw in that I wasn’t being allowed to take the courses I wanted to take, but I kept that to myself as I looked longingly down at my burger. I felt weird just picking it up and eating now that Derek was sitting with us. I didn’t want to start shoving my face with food while he was talking, but it was too good to let it sit there uneaten. So I picked it up and took a bite as Derek continued to talk.
To hell with letting meaty goodness go to waste.

“Well, at least you get a choice in the matter. I feel obligated to major in agriculture,” he said, tapping his index finger on the table.

“Yeah, but you love it. You’re starting to sound like Landon.” Lisa raised her arm, resting her hand on his back and rubbing up and down. “How was your day at the farm?” she asked him.

“It was like any other day,” he said, looking at her as a smirk crept up on his face, “except you weren’t there for me to molest on my breaks.”

“Derek,” she shrieked as she slapped him on the back.

I sat there and watched the banter. This was the kind of thing I missed. It was the kind of relationship I had with Jason, before things turned sour.

“Speaking of work,” she said eyeing me, “I was just tellin’ Sadie that she could try to get a job up at the farm, since big tits quit last week.”

I slapped my hand over my mouth so I wouldn’t spit food everywhere as I laughed. Lisa looked at me with a laugh of her own as Derek sat there and shook his head. I swallowed my food and set my burger down. “Big tits, huh? What a name!”

“You have no idea, Sadie. The skankage that tries to work at the farm is comical. They have no idea what they’re doing. They dress inappropriately and do whatever they can to check out Landon as he works. It’s quite pathetic.”

I raised an eyebrow at her. “And this Landon guy,” I paused to take a sip from my coke, “he’s your brother?” I asked Derek.

He nodded at me as Lisa continued. “I think we’ve been through fifteen new hires in the past five years. None of them last because it’s hot and they don’t like to sweat. But the main reason is they only apply for the job because of Landon. They don’t realize he doesn’t work on that side of the farm. They’re so stupid. But if you really do need a job and you don’t mind the heat, then you’d be perfect. Plus you’d be working with me. It’d be nice to have someone else to talk to. Then I wouldn’t have to endure Marco singing Elvis songs to me all the time,” she said with a sigh.

If she was trying to convince me, she wasn’t doing a good job. I definitely didn’t want some strange man singing Elvis songs to me either.

“It’s not that bad,” Derek said with a laugh. “Marco’s just old and loves Elvis. He doesn’t sing
to
her; he just sings. He just happens to be by
her
when he does.” He laughed harder when Lisa punched him in the arm. “But seriously, it’s not bad. My mom even provides lunch every day. You should come by tomorrow and check it out. We
could
use the help. I think Dad would be happy to actually have someone there who will work and not drool over my brother too.” He said the last part rolling his eyes.

“Yeah, just come by and check it out,” Lisa persisted with both eyebrows raised.

I let out a short laugh and shook my head with a smile. She reminded me a lot of Erin. “Okay, but I’m not making any promises. I draw the line at horse shit.”

They both laughed.

Maybe it wasn’t
so bad.
I looked out of the window at the traffic passing by. The town wasn’t as small as I originally thought, but that was a good thing. I was used to the hustle and bustle of a big city so I was sure I’d get used to this new way of life.

“So,” I said to Lisa, “what is there to do around here?” I asked as I popped a fry in my mouth.

“Hey, guys,” Sarah interrupted as she came to a stop at our table. “Can I git y’all anything else?” she asked without taking her eyes off Derek. “Can I git ya something, Derek?” she asked with a little bit too much seduction in her voice.

My eyes widened in surprise as I looked from her to Lisa, who was completely ignoring her. Derek, however, was looking right at me with a bored look on his face.

“Nah, I’m good. Thanks,” he replied.

“I’m good too,” I told her with a smile.

“Ok, jus’ let me know if ya need anything,” she said with more of a southern accent than she had before. “Here’re your checks. Jus’ let me know when you’re ready.” She set down two receipts and walked off with too much sway in her step.

What the hell was that all about?
I cleared my throat. “That was a little awkward. Does that happen a lot?” I asked them both. Seeing as how they both reacted, I assumed it did.

Lisa flailed her hand at me. “Girls do it all the time. There’s just something about the Johnson boys,” she said sarcastically as she bumped her shoulder with Derek’s. He laughed and shook his head as he played with the straw wrappers we left on the table. I wasn’t sure I’d be so nonchalant about it. “We just ignore it. They do it all the time, so there’s no reason to bring more attention to it.”

She was a bigger person than me for sure; there was no way I’d let something like that slide by without saying something. I wouldn’t care if it started a fight or not.

“So,” she said changing the subject, “you asked about things to do around here. There’s the movie theater, a couple of clubs, and Stan’s Arcade. And since you’re in the south, there’s also mud boggin’, farm parties, and of course, the car club,” she smiled brightly.

What the hell was mud bogging? I was going to ask, but I honestly didn’t want to get her started. The first thing that popped into my head was girls wrestling in mud. I was sure that wasn’t it, but I wasn’t that interested in finding out. “Farm parties and the car club, what does all of that entail?” I asked as I took a sip of my coke. “What do you do at farm parties?”

“The parties are held on the family farm,” Derek stated. “There’s a portion of the land that was used as camping ground when we were little and it’s not used anymore. So Landon and I have parties out there, and we usually always have a bonfire. You just drive out there to hang out and bring your own beverage. We bring a stereo system out there too.”

I’d never been to a party that was held outside at night. Although there were those frat parties Erin always dragged me to where people congregated outside, but I was sure this wasn’t the same. “You don’t get in trouble with your parents for the parties?” I couldn’t see any parent being happy about their kids having a party with underage drinkers.

Derek shrugged his shoulders. “Nah, they really don’t care. We just have to let them know when we have one so they know we’ll be having a bonfire. You know, with the crops and all. It’s nowhere near any of the farmland, but…anyway; we just have to make sure the mess is cleaned up the next day.”

“Cool.”

“Yeah, you should definitely come to the party Friday night,” Lisa said enthusiastically as her phone dinged on the table. She picked it up and replied to whomever had sent her a message as she continued talking. “There’s goin’ to be a lot of people there with school out and all. You could get to know a bunch of people.”

I took one last bite of my burger and decided I was full. If I ate any more, I’d be miserable. “I’ll think about it. I have to make sure my mom doesn’t have any plans for me. With us just moving here, there is no telling what she’s got up her sleeves. Plus, I still need to finish unpacking.” I huffed as I took a ten out of my purse and set it on top of my receipt for Sarah.

“Are ya leavin’?” Lisa asked, watching me put the money down.

“Yeah,” I sighed. “It’s been a long couple of days and I’m tired. Especially now that I ate all that,” I said, pointing to what was left of my burger. “I definitely need to go home and take a nap.”

“Oh, okay, well, it was so great meeting you. Did ya want to come to the farm tomorrow morning and see about that job?”

Did I?
I hadn’t even gone around to see if there were any other options. So there was no telling what was available and what wasn’t. Although, finding a job in one day and not having to wait for the interview process would mean I’d get money sooner rather than later.

I nodded my head at her. “Sure, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to try.”

“Yay,” she shrilled. “What’s your number? I’ll put ya in my phone and give ya mine. I’ll text ya the address so you can look up the directions.” After we programmed each other’s number, she looked up from her phone and added, “Just make sure you come before noon if you don’t want to sweat your butt off in the heat. It’s so much cooler in the morning. Oh, and don’t forget to put all your jeans in a box,” she said, eyeing my jeans with a laugh.

“Yeah, I’ll get right on that.” I got up from the booth and lifted my purse to my shoulder. “Well, I better go. I guess I’ll be seeing both of you tomorrow.”

Derek smile genuinely. “It was good to meet ya.”

“You too,” I said, as I looked to Lisa

“Yep,” Lisa smiled. “I’ll text ya in a few.”

“All right, see you.” I said as I walked away from the table and out into the awful Texas heat.

Three

I arrived home twenty minutes later and parked on the side of the garage, sending Mom a quick message letting her know I was home. I wasn’t ready for her to be all motherly just yet, so I would go to the main house in a little while.

Getting out of the car, I walked to the stairs that were attached to the garage, which led to my apartment. When my parents looked for a place while we were still in Chicago, the question of whether or not I’d get a dorm room on campus at the college was asked. At first, the idea sounded great, especially since my parents were having problems and they would need some personal time to work them out. They didn’t need me there messing up their makeup mojo. Even though I doubted there was any ‘making up’ going on, I just didn’t want to be around it. I was still hurting from my recent break up, and being around my mom while she tried to make things work, kind of depressed me more.