Emerge (23 page)

             
“Jenna, what are we old women?” She was giggling so hard.

             
“No, we are women who don’t like our money stolen and who have no other place to hide it.”

             
She shook h
er head and continued measuring
.  She finally finished up and wrote everything down and told me it was ok to put my clothes back on.  I did so as quickly as I could and stuffed my money back into my bra as she giggled at me some more. 

             
She asked me to sit down and I had to move some fabric before I could find a spot in the chair she pointed to.

             
“Jenna, I live here alone and I spend a lot of time up here.  I see a lot through those windows.”

             
“
Oooook
” I thought she was going to tell me all of the horrendous things my parents did when I wasn’t around.

             
“I’ve seen that boy with you. I should say young man because I’ve seen the way he treats you in gesture and the way he handles you when you’re upset.  I don’t want you to think that I’ve been spying, but sometimes I just see things.  And let me tell you, that young man is in so deep, he couldn’t get out if he tried.”

             
I raised my eyebrows. “Deep?”

             
“Deep in love with you like I’ve never seen.
  He watches you like a hawk and treats you as if you are a creature to be worshipped. 
I’ve
only seen you together about three
times but you can’t miss it.  He’s got it bad.”

             
“You think?” I giggled.

             
“Yeah, and don’t give him a hard time about it because honey, you’re no better than him.”

             
I blushed and giggled. “Yeah, I’ve got it bad too.”

             
Her face got really solemn and she came and sat on a frumpy stool in front of me and grabbed my hands and said “Then you better get away from them and I’m not talking about down the street either. They’re gonna ruin it.  Trust me.  Don’t let them ruin that kind of love.  You’ll end up alone looking through windows while you sew.” She squeezed my hands one more time.

             
There were tears welled up in her eyes and I felt her pain coming through her hands.  I nodded and she got up and blew her nose on a nearby tissue. 

             
“Thank you again
,
Rebecca, for everything.”

             
She didn’t turn towards me but said, “I’ll probably have your dress ready within the week.  I’ll come get you for some alterations.  You’d better get home before they punish you some more.”

             
She turned her face to me, looking over her shoulder and winked.
             

             
I smiled at her and turned to go. 

Chapter 18

             
I went home and went straight to my room. I didn’t even want to look at my Mom’s face anymore.  She had humiliated me beyond reproach when we were shopping.  And why would she ever think that I was even close to a slut or a whore or whatever she said?  I had never even gotten that close to someone where I would consider that kind of intimacy, much less giving it out all over town.

             
I got into my pajamas and May and I had a very intense game of go fish in the closet.  She had a new pair of pajamas on and I asked her where she got them. 

             
“Mom said
don’t
tell.”
She said it plainly and I’d never known her to lie.

             
“Why?” I pretended not to care.

             
She just shrugged and asked me if I had a Jack.  I didn’t and she had to go fish again.  She groaned and the
n
squealed a little squeal because she got a Jack when she went fishing.

             
We finished the game and I convinced her to brush her teeth.  I went and did the same and washed my face.  I reached under the cabinet for a towel to dry my face and there was so much stuff under the counter that I could barely reach the towels.  I squatted down to look and it was shocking.  There was new everything.  There was new shampoo, soap, towels and everything.  I couldn’t believe my eyes.  Everything was new and most of it still had the wrappers on or had never been opened. 

             
Where are they getting all of this money?

             
I went to bed and woke up about 10 the next morning.  When I woke up I took a shower, using my own stuff.  I didn’t even want to touch the stuff that they had bought until I knew exactly where it had come from. It just felt….off.

             
I got dressed in a tight pink scoop neck t-shirt and packed my sweater just in case, since he didn’t tell me where we were going.  I wore my favorite jeans and wore my hair down. I sprayed on some peach/cherry blossom body spray and put on
some minimal make-up.  I packed my sweater into my bag and walked out ready to go.

             
My Mom was up and was rooting around her special closet where she hid her bills and pills and God only knows what else.  I walked through the living room to get a glass of water and she looked up at me. 

             
“Where do you think you’re going?
”
s
he sneered.

             
“Carlos is
picking me up in a few minutes
,
” I
said back to her.

             
“You just couldn’t wait, huh?
So desperate to see him.
 
Just desperate.”

             
I didn’t respond because at this point I just didn’t care. 

             
There was a knock on the door about the same time she opened her mouth to say something.

             
I grabbed my bag and headed to the door.

             
She had to move all of her stuff in a hurry because the closet door blocked the front door.  She was taking a long time on purpose.  It was petty, but I guess it was how she got her kicks.

             
As she was herding all of her stuff into the closet, I noticed a very familiar envelope sticking out but as soon as I did she stuff
ed
it in along with the other piles and piles of envelopes. 
It was my cap and gown order.
She had gotten it out of the mailbox?
I just closed my eyes and let it mentally pile up with the other crap she had done to me.

             
I opened the door and stepped out.  I went to close it behind me and Mom was there glaring at Carlos.

             
He didn’t miss a beat. 

             
“I wanted to apologize for getting Jenna here late last time.  It won’t happen again.”

             
She didn’t say a word to him. She just slammed the door and the wind from it blew my hair.

             
He grabbed my hand and led me towards his car opening my door first, of course.

             
I got a hunch and looked up into Rebecca’s window as I got in and saw here there in her big bay window all by herself smiling at me.  I waved to her and she waved back and then moved away from the window.

             
Carlos didn’t say anything as he checked his side mirrors and then pulled onto the road.  I turned towards him and smiled.  I’d waited so long
for this;
the last two weeks had been hell.

             
I reached out and rubbed the back of his neck and he smiled at me.

             
“Where are we go
ing? I didn’t know how to dress
,
” I asked.

             
“It’s a surprise
and you always look beautiful
,
”
h
e said.

             
When we got to the first stop light he turned in the opposite direction of the Pier, the movies, the mall and everything else I knew to do.

             
We kept driving for about
twenty
minutes and he made several turns and all I could see were apartment buildings. 

             
Then
he turned into a complex of buildings and parked.

             
Oh, tell me this is his apartment.

             
He smiled and came around to open my door. He was practically bouncing and I wondered what he was up to.  Scratch that, I didn’t care. We were together.

             
We walked up a set of stairs and came to a door marked 7A.

             
He pulled out his keys and unlocked the door. He opened it and let me in first.  He took my bag from me and put it on the small brown leather couch.  It was clean as a pin and there was something cooking or that had been cooked that smelled
fantastic and my mouth watered.

             
He looked at me and I put my hands in the air silently speaking “Where are we?”

             
“This is my apartment. Saul is gone to the desert for the weekend with his friends.  He won’t be back until about 8 tonight.  At least, he better not.”

             
“It’s great.  Thank you for bringing me here.  Can I look around?”

             
“Yeah, of course
,
J. Consider it yours.”

             
I smiled at that thought and walked through to the kitchen and it was so clean, the counters gleamed.  There were pots on the stove.

             
“You can cook?” I was surprised.

             
“Yeah, either you cook around here or you starve.  Saul can’t even scramble eggs.”

             
We laughed and I walked away, wanting to explore the rest of his apartment. He walked behind me and I walked into a bedroom and turned around.

             
“Yours?”

             
He chuckled at that.  “Yeah, how’d you know?”

             
I shrugged and then answered. “I don’t know
; it just seems like you.”

             
I turned back and his room was as pristine as the rest of the house.  He had a chocolate brown comforter
on a double bed
, but other than that his belongings were sparse.  Either that or it was all put away. 

             
He came behind me and rested his chin on my shoulder and wrapped his arms around my waist. 

             
His chin bobbed on my shoulder as he spoke, “Are you hungry?”

             
“Yeah, I didn’t eat today. I can’t believe you cooked for me.  Thank you.”

             
“You’re welcome.  I hope you like chicken and rice.  I didn’t know what to make you.”

             
He cooked for me when there were times that my own mother wouldn’t cook for me and he did it out of love and not obligation.  I couldn’t contain myself any longer.

             
I turned around to face him.
I was tearing up and he almost started talking, probably to ask me why I was crying. But I stopped him with my lips against his.  It felt like
his kiss was
something I had been deprived of for years. I was starved for the taste of him and the heat of his mouth on mine.  He gripped the back of my shirt right at the small of my b
ack and pressed me against him.
I rose up on my toes the slightest bit to make our mouths meet perfectly.
My arms rose around his neck and my hands rubbed against that skull trimmed black hair.
By instinct alone we turned our heads the tiniest bit to deepen what we had already started.  I opened my mouth a small amount and he skillfully used it to his advantage.  We continued this way until one mouth could not be distinguished from the other and just when I thought I would never get enough of him, my stomach grumbled. 

             
We broke away slowly, revving down until we had both gotten a hold on our breaths and our want.  The right side of my face was pressed against the right side of his face and I could tell by his breathing and the heaving of his chest that he was still trying to get control of himself.
His strong arms were still wrapped around me an
d I could feel his muscles move
as he drew patterns in my back with his fingers.
It was unimaginable that I could make him feel this way.