Emerge (17 page)

             
“Right here.”
He pulled out a phone from his bag and handed it to me.

             
“Oh
,
no…you can’t give me your phone. I didn’t even know you had a phone.” At this point I was waving my hands, palms out, in the air like I was directing some kind of small aircraft.

             
“It’s not my phone…” He pulled an identical phone from his bag. “This is my phone.”

             
I p
awed at his bag jokingly, “Dang
,
what else is in there?”

             
He rolled his eyes at me. “This phone already has my number programmed in. I want you to call me anytime you want to or
need
to. OK?
Just keep the ringer off.
”

             
I surrendered when I looked into his eyes. How could I not?

             
“Ok”

             
“Good. That’s where I was this morning.”

             
“Huh.
.
.” That’s all I could get out.

             
“So…you want to tell me why you’ve been avoiding me all day?
Ack
.
.
.”
He put his hand out when I opened my mouth in protest. “Don’t even try to deny it
,
J.”

             
I started in a whisper because I was now thoroughly disgusted with myself for ever doubting him or us. 

             
“I don’t know. I thought maybe.
.
.maybe I wasn’t worth the trouble. I mean my life is a mess and my parents are…Hell I don’t know what they are, but
it’s
trouble. I mean if I were you I wouldn’t…”
My mouth apparently had truth diarrhea today.

             
He closed his eyes and
did that anger management thing where I could swear he was mentally counting to ten.  His knee started bobbing
,
too. He cut me off before I could finish my ridiculous explanation.

             
“Please don’t finish…please.” His eyes were still closed. “Remember the Pier?” He could see my face as I processed a snarky come back.

             
“Dumb question.
Loo
k, I…Love…You. Not just that night
on the Pier or when things are going good. We don’t have to deal with your parents for very much longer. After you graduate, you can get out of there and never look back, right?”

             
“Yeah…I can.” He smiled.

             
“Ok, so we deal with them the best we can until then. We…”

             
He emphasized his point by giving my forearms a gentle squeeze. It was then that I looked down and
saw his tattoo. The one that I noticed the very first time I saw him.  I rub
bed my thumb across it and said
,
“Is that your name? It’s kinda fuzzy.”

             
“That, y
eah.
I got it done when I was twelve at a place that wasn’t exactly a legal tattoo place. And then I grew up and it kinda grew with me.” He smiled with a far off look.  “My Mom beat my butt so bad…I didn’t sit down right for a week.”

             
“
I don’t blame her. But it’s kinda hot.”

             
He locked eyes with me and said
,
“You think
my
tattoos are hot?”

             
I
blushed
the entire spectrum of red and answered breathlessly.

             
“Yeah, I do.”

             
“Well, wait until you see the rest of them.”

             
I
raised my hands to cover my blush and hide but he caught my hands.

             
“Don’t you
dare.
I love it when I make you blush. And I make you blush a lot.
It’s not like you can hide it.”

             
We both laughed and I slapped his outer thigh to make him stop laughing at me.

             
The bell rang and we both stood up at the same time.  Our mouths and faces were inches, no, centimeters from each other and I could smell the Aspen trees and cinnamon waft towards me, wrapping my senses in pleasure. 

             
The librarian came around the corner and cleared her throat very loudly. I glared at her but Carlos put his hands on each side of my waist and
drew me out of my annoyance with her.

             
He took my hand and led me out of the library and towards the parking lot. I cocked my head to the side and said
,
“I’ve got to get the bus.”

             
“Nope, not today.
They switched my days and I have tonight off.” He saw my alarm and said while aggressively rubbing the back of his neck with his other hand. “Look, I’ll drop you off a few blocks from your house and you can walk home, ok? I’m just….I’m just not ready to let you go yet today.”

             
I just stood there like a zombie for a few seconds and almost
teared
up.

             
I relented and said
,
“
You take care of me.”

             
He nodded and then laughed while he wrapped his arm around my shoulders and kissed my temple. “I always will
,
J
. I thought we had covered this. You’re kinda slow. Jeez.”

             
I reached out and tried to push his waist away and wrangle out of his shoulder hold at the same time.

             
I balked at him, “
Oooooh
back to the insults, ok.”

             
He just continued laughing while we walked to his car. Most of the cars were gone by then and he walked me to the passenger’s side of the car. He took my bag from off of my shoulder and put both of our bags in the back seat. He looked around the parking lot and then back to me. He took a few slow steps towards me and I backed away only to find that his car
was his accomplice in his devilish scheme.

             
My eyes widened at his expression and I blurted out.

             
“What are you thinking?”

             
He stepped dangerously close and his right leg stepped tentatively then confidently in between my legs. He put both hands out on the car behind me on either side of my ribcage. He crept closer and closer
until
I thought I would melt just by his proximity.  My breaths were coming out in shallow huffs and anyone in a ten mile radius could probably hear them. He leaned down methodically and slowly to the point of torture. 
He kissed me gently on my neck right below my earlobe
, I felt his breath on my neck and in my hair
and I shivered. He whispered in my ear.

             
“Baby, you don’t want to know what I’m thinking.”

             
“Carlos, you’re killing me.”

             
He c
ontinued his whispering assault
,
“
Mmmm
…you’re just feeling a little of what I go through all the time with you.”

             
I was caught off guard
a littl
e at this new stage in our relationship
.

             
I reached out a hand and tugged at his goatee.

             
“I had no idea. I mean you’ve said I was…” I couldn’t make myself say the words.

             
“Well…” he pulled back and smiled at me, “I must not have made myself clear. I’ll have to fix that.
Plus
…Y
ou started it.
”

             
“When was that? I missed it.”

             
“You’re the one who said my tattoo was hot.
Your fault.
”
He looked down at my lips and I licked them and then my gaze floated to his lips. He was still looking at my lips when he said, “
Man, I want to kiss you like crazy.”

             
“Yeah…you should…um
…
in 2 weeks.
”

             
“Damn
…
”
H
e put his forehead on my shoulder
.
“
I’m sorry again.
We’ll make up for it.”

             
He gave me a peck on the very corner of my mouth and said
,
“I guess I’d better get you home…or 2 blocks from home.”

             
“Yeah”…I was still breathless.

             
He drove me back towards my house and d
ropped me 2 away
so no one would be the wiser.  I walked home and walked through the back door determined that I wasn’t going to let them get to me.

             
When I got home my Mom had the front closet emptied, which was really weird because all of her ‘hidey bills’ were
stored in there.
She had piles of suitcases laid out in the middle of the living room floor and she had half of her clothes out draping the couch. It looked like one of those men on
t.v
. who stands outside of the fitting room while his wife throws out the clothes she doesn’t want. She was running into her bedroom
with this goofy ass grin on her face. I grinned too because all of these cockamamie scenarios went through my head.

             
She found out that the circus is taking Medusa/June Cleaver acts. She’s hit the big time!

             
The local Pawn Shop is paying double for all luggage brought in. Today only!

             
She burst back into the room.

             
“Jenna, I have some great news for you.”

             
I almost wanted to point to myself and say
,
“Me?”

             
“What?”

             
“
Well…Great news for all of us.
Today we bought 4 tickets for us to go to Louisiana on vacation. Isn’t that great?” She was overly excited. 

             
Where would they get money to buy airplane tickets? And vacation, seriously, they don’t even work.

             
“Oh
,
yeah?
When?”
I tried to sound excited, but it came out sounding like a pop star during an uncomfortable interview.

             
“
Two
days after you graduate. You should call your Dad later and tell him that we’re coming. I’m sure he’d love to see you.
You are actually on a flight the day
before we leave. They only had
three
seats left on our plane.
”

             
I frowned a little because she hated my real Dad’s guts. She usually referred to my real Dad as ‘him’…It made me think of ‘someone who shall not be named.’

             
“Yeah…ok…I will call him after I get home from work.” I walked out of the room in a major state of confusion.

             
I put my bag down and switched to my purse and put everything I needed in it, including my new secret cell phone.

             
I walked through the living room and her mood was the same but she said as I tried to walk through the minefield of stuff on the floor, “Jenna, let’s not forget…2 weeks from Saturday. You wouldn’t want to mess that up right?”

             
“I know
,
Mom.”

             
I shut the door behind me and began my walk to the music store.

             
As soon as I got past the freeway, I looked back to make sure that the coast was clear.  I didn’t see anyone so I took my new cell phone out.  I had seen other people using their cell phones on the bus and at school so I figured it out quickly. 

             
“Hello?”
h
e answered
.