Lifers (2 page)

Maybe I gunned the engine more than a little, before I tore out of that small town in a cloud of dust.

I drove a few miles along the shore before I found an empty sweep of beach at Matagorda Bay.

The white sand stretched for miles in both directions, fringed by wiry grass. There was no one around and not even marks left by tires to show that anyone had been here.

Abandoning the car at the side of the dirt road, I felt the sun hot overhead as the light fractured the deep blue of the ocean. I left the windows down, sure that no one was going to hotwire my car this far from nowhere. I hiked the short distance down to the shore, wishing I had more than a three-day old bottle of tap water in the car for refreshment. But wishing wasn’t having, so I dropped my ass onto the sand, pulled off my t-shirt and bra, then shimmied out of my jeans and panties.

I hated tan lines.

I must have been asleep for nearly two hours because the sun had shifted when I opened my eyes again. Somewhere in the pile of clothes, my phone had buzzed, shaking me out of a weird dream where Doreen was trying to make me go fishing for bass.

I peered at the screen: I had two messages—wow, I must have really been out for a while because the first one was from an hour ago and I hadn’t heard it.

The good news was that my hook up—Clancy—was free and eager. I’d suggested meeting at a bar in the next town over. It was more of a guys’ beer drinking joint than the kind of place I’d usually go, but I wasn’t planning on spending too much time there before taking Clancy for a ride in the back of his truck. I just hoped he was as good as I remembered. Although, to be fair, the details were a little hazy.

The bad news was that Mom had heard I’d been fired from the Busy Bee after a record two-and-a-half days. Guess good news traveled fast in a small town.

I had no idea how she could stand it.

My mom was a good person, I think. At least she tried to be. She wasn’t a huge hypocrite like some preachers I’d heard about, and she had as big an aversion to polyester suits as I did, but we still didn’t exactly see eye to eye either.

I had a pretty average, middle class life for the first 13 years of my existence. Then Mom had found God, or maybe God had found Mom, I’m not quite sure. Because she decided that she had a calling—and it wasn’t being a wife and mother. She had a mission to spread the Word of God.

Ironically, that ended up with Mom and Dad getting divorced. He didn’t much like playing second fiddle to a guy who was bigger than he was, so to speak. And I didn’t like being the child who was always waiting around for a mom who seemed to think that everyone else’s problems were more important than her own daughter’s.

Looking back, maybe we were being selfish, but I thought my mom could have looked in the same mirror and seen that, too.

Anyway, as soon as she finished her training at the Seminary, she got her first job down in the deep south. It was a world away from big city Boston, and I can only guess what the adjustment was like for her, being a woman and a liberal.

Then she moved to Texas and from what she told me, her church had been all but empty for the first six months, people preferring to hear their preaching from a man, not a woman who was also a Yankee.

In the end, her persistence paid off. I’d been here two, long, dreary weeks, and I had to admit I had a grudging respect for her. Hell, I’d never last in this state, let alone this town. And I didn’t intend to try.

My mind wandered back to the hottie in the coffee shop. I wondered what crime he’d committed to be the local pariah. Maybe he’d fucked the sheriff’s daughter. Nah, I’d met her in the diner once. She must have fallen out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down. Besides, she was so uptight, he’d have needed a crowbar to get those legs apart.

Still, whatever he’d done, it kept the heat off of me. Not that I cared what they called me, but I didn’t want to make things any harder for my mom. Damn, probably too late to worry about that now. Maybe I really was a lost cause.

I decided I’d have to try and find a new job tomorrow. What a drag.

I walked down to the water to wash off sand that had found its way into some interesting crevices. It just so happened that a couple of fishermen copped an eyeful as I cleaned up.

“Hey, sexy lady! You’re a sight for sore eyes!”

“You probably jerk off so much you’re already going blind,” I shot back.

His friend was laughing his ass off while he thumped him on the back; my contribution to the fun was to flip them off.

I think they decided to try their luck, because they looked like they were planning on beaching their boat. I pulled on my jeans over damp legs, and got my arms in my t-shirt before they made it ashore.

I burned out of there so fast they were probably breathing my exhaust fumes for the next hour.

Mom was out when I got back, which was no surprise. She was hardly ever around, day or night. God’s work kept her busy. I wondered what His health benefits were like. Did she get dental?

I took a shower and contemplated what to wear. I hadn’t unpacked any of my city clothes so I didn’t have a huge amount of stuff to choose from, but more than enough for Clancy. Although my ass looked at its best in skinny jeans, a skirt provided easier access for what I had in mind. I hoped Clancy would appreciate the sacrifice I was making on his behalf.

I chose a short denim skirt and a blue tank top that wasn’t too slutty. I teamed it with a jean jacket, made sure I had condoms in my purse, and headed out.

I didn’t bother leaving a note—I didn’t want to set a precedent.

As I drove out to the bar, I realized I was getting low on gas again and since I’d quit the only job I’d had for a while, my bank balance was less of a balance and more of a sliding scale toward zero.

I still had the handful of change in tips that I’d scored from the diner. I pulled over to the side of the road and counted out the coins: nine dollars and a few cents. That wasn’t going to buy a whole lot of gas.

I sighed and shoved the money back into my change purse. I wondered if Dad would be good for a couple of grand. Maybe if he was still blissed out from his honeymoon with his bimbette he might spring for some cash. It was worth the cost of a phone call.

It went straight to voicemail. Perfect. At least he hadn’t blocked my number.

“Hey, Dad, it’s me. Just wondering how you are and whether you and, um, Ginger had a great time in St. Thomas. I bet it was awesome. Yeah, so, the reason I’m calling—turns out it’s not so easy to get work around here as a paralegal, or as anything really, and I was wondering if you could loan me a thousand, maybe two, just to tide me over until I get a job. I’m going to head up to Freetown tomorrow, so … anyway, hope you’re both well and, um, thanks, Dad.”

Yeah, that should do it. Just enough humble pie mixed with fake sincerity. With a bit of luck, he would put two K straight into my bank account without either of us having to speak to each other.

Feeling better about the state of the world, I used my credit card to fill up the tank. At least I wouldn’t be paying for drinks tonight. Clancy had better be good for the beers if he wanted to get laid.

He was already there when I arrived. I liked that he was eager, but was less happy that he seemed well on his way to being toasted. I hadn’t driven this far for a guy who couldn’t get it up.

“There she is!” he slurred, to no one in particular. “Prettiest little cowgirl in the state.”

I rolled my eyes as I sat on his lap.

“Cowgirl? Seriously? Do I look like the kind of woman who wears plaid shirts and a Stetson?”

He laughed uproariously and fastened his hands around my hips.

“You’re funny, pretty girl.”

Great. I think he’d forgotten my name. I mean, jeez, he had it on his cell phone. It couldn’t be that hard to remember.

He waved at the waitress, and she brought us over a couple of beers. There wasn’t much conversation, mostly Clancy just trying to feel me up. Perhaps he hadn’t heard the concept of a sure thing.

He was good looking in a generic sort of way. Medium height, medium build, nice teeth. You know, just
nice
. I couldn’t help comparing him with the coffee shop guy—Clancy came up wanting.

I decided I’d get the evening’s entertainment out of the way and head back home. I was feeling tired and a little out of it.

“Come on, fella,” I said, pulling on his arm. “Come and show me some action.”

I snagged the two bottles of beer for later and watched, irritated, as he stood up and swayed. He was a lot more drunk than I’d thought. This day just wasn’t getting any better.

I hustled him outside and after fumbling his keys from his pocket, I managed to get him into the back of his truck. He sprawled out on the seat and pointed to his zipper.

“Get suckin’, baby.”

Oh hell no! I wasn’t doing all the work here without getting something out of it. I pulled open his pants but didn’t bother going any further—he’d already passed out.

Sighing with frustration, I started to climb out of the truck. Then I had another thought. I wrestled with his drunken ass, and managed to pull his wallet out of his back pocket. I was pretty sure that he’d lose his money if I left him like this, and I didn’t want to be the one getting the blame if it got stolen. Asshole would probably assume it was me and call the police.

I shoved his wallet into the split lining at the back of the driver’s seat and sent him a text telling him where it was and to never, ever call me again. Then I deleted his number.

Mom’s car was in the driveway when I got home, but the lights were off so she must have gone to bed. I was relieved. I didn’t feel like any mother/daughter bonding or discussion of my lifestyle choices right now.

I took another quick shower, my third of the day, and dropped into bed, cursing the heat and lack of a decent air conditioning unit. Well, it probably wasn’t the unit—more likely the fact that Mom had set it too high to save money. Texas in the summer was a bitch.

Frustrated and pissed at Clancy’s lack of, well, anything, I used my five-fingered friend to get myself off and wondered if I’d have a chance of better quality hook ups in a bigger town.

Something to look forward to.

Jordan 

I knew who she was as soon as I saw her. Even though no one talked to me, I’d heard the gossip. She was the preacher lady’s daughter—the wild one.

I was glad for the coffee though. Usually, I took a thermos when I headed out for work, but I’d forgotten it today and I really needed my caffeine fix. It was surprising how you could become addicted to that stuff so quick.

I fucking hated that I was her charity case. I was so tired of it. But I wasn’t in a position to do anything about it either. And that made me pissed.

I had to admit she was something to look at though. She had a sweet, heart-shaped face, framed by this mane of curly brown-gold hair that hung down to the middle of her back. A man could lose himself for days in hair like that and not even care. And damn if her body wasn’t something, too, with curves in all the right places.

It was a long time since I’d had a woman—eight, long years—and I couldn’t see the drought coming to an end any time soon. So a woman like that got me imagining all kinds of things.

Her momma seemed like a nice lady. She tried real hard to get people to accept me. I could have told her she’d be on a losing streak betting on that hand. I was born in this small town, and I was certain that no one wanted me around here. Truth be told, I didn’t want to be here either. Even so, it was way better than where I’d been. I had to stay for another four months, maybe more, then I was out of here. I’d be shaking this small town dust from my shoes and never looking back. I didn’t know where I was going to go—anywhere but here sounded good. And not one damn person was going to miss me.

I parked outside the Rectory like I’d been told, and the Reverend Meredith Williams came out as soon as she heard my truck. Usually she met me wherever she’d found me work for the day, but this morning she’d asked me to come to her home. She said her yard needed fixing up and would take a few weeks to sort out. I didn’t really care what I did.

“Good morning, Jordan. How are you this lovely summer day?”

“Fine, thank you, ma’am. You want me to start on the backyard today?”

“Actually, Jordan, I was wondering if you could do me one more favor. Hector Kees called and it turns out his car has broken down again, and you know he takes the three Soper sisters to church on Sunday. Your mom told me that you had a way with engines, so I wondered if you could take a look?”

“Um, sure. But will he want me to be fixin’ his car?”

She got a determined look on her face.

“Don’t you worry about, Hector. Leave him to me. You just worry about his car.”

I wasn’t happy with her ‘favor’ but I couldn’t say no either. I followed her in my truck, bumping down the dusty, pot-holed road. Not that I needed directions—I could have found my way around in the dark with my eyes closed.

Hector’s place was on the edge of town, near the bay. I used to drive out here with Mikey to get high or get wasted. It was kind of our place. We even had a pact not to take girls there.