The Improbable (14 page)

           
My eyes widened. “
You
think you’re driving
my
car?”

           
She pursed her lips and looked away from me.

           
I wanted badly to laugh at her expression. I covered my mouth with my fist to
keep from laughing. “So you just
knew
that I was going to let you get
away with this?”

           
“Ugh, well it was worth a try!” She threw her hands up.

           
I was laughing, she was making my day so much better with everything she did. I
stepped closer to her and cupped her pouting face in my hand. “It’s okay,
because you got me… how could I not let such a stunning face take me where she
pleases?” The proximity of our faces and staring directly down into her dark
eyes was enough to make me want to kiss her plump lips and even stick my tongue
down her throat; she turned me all the way on!

           
Her lips slightly parted but it was as if something clicked in her mind and she
swallowed, taking a step back. She smiled tightly. “I knew you’d come to your
senses.” She opened the passenger door. “Get in.”

           
I bit my lip, feeling extremely teased. Was she playing hard to get? Or did she
just not want to kiss me? I chuckled it off and shook my head, lowering myself
into the car. She dropped the scarf in my lap before closing my door.

           
“Well you’ve got to put it on or we can’t go.” Eva told me when she hopped in
the driver’s seat. She stared at me until I tied the scarf around my eyes.

           
“Happy?” I asked with weak enthusiasm.

           
“Ecstatic,” Eva answered in a flat tone.

           
“I can tell,” I snorted. For some reason, though I couldn’t see, I could tell
that she rolled her eyes and shook her head at me. “Don’t roll your eyes at me,
woman.”

           
She gasped. “How did you know? Are your eyes really covered?” It sounded as if
she was cocking her head to the side, waiting for an answer.

           
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Yes! Yes my eyes are covered, Eva-Marie.”

           
“
Hmph
.” She turned the key to start the car.

           
“This scarf smells amazing.” I noted.

           
“Oh, why thank you.” It sounded as if she wasn’t sure how to reply. She laughed
lightly through her nose.

           
“On a scale from one to ten how crazy am I considered right now?” I asked her.

           
I could basically hear her glance at me questioningly. “Please elaborate, sir.”

           
“Well look at the situation. I’ve let a beautiful woman blindfold me, drive my
car, and take me to an unknown destination. How crazy am I?”

           
Eva sighed. “Well, David, I don’t think it makes you crazy at all. I think it
just shows what an amazing amount of trust you must have in me.”

           
I nodded. “Sounds about right. Thank you for not admitting I’m crazy.” I turned
and smiled at her.

           
The drive wasn’t long, so I knew she hadn’t taken me into the city. When we
arrived at the destination, she came around to my side to open the door. I
wanted badly to take the blindfold off when I heard a creaking noise, which
just sounded like a big groaning piece of steel. Where the hell were we? She
tapped my hand when I reached up to remove the scarf.

           
“Not yet.” She said.

           
“Are you trying to kill me?” I wondered.

           
Eva giggled. “No, David.”

           
We began walking, the groaning noise getting closer and more frequent.
Sometimes the pitch would be higher, sometimes it’d be lower, and other times
there were more in the distance creaking at the same time. We stopped when our
feet began crunching down on gravel. I could feel her little hands reach up and
remove the scarf from my face.

           
I blinked, adjusting my eyesight, and looked around. “We are in a train yard…”

           
Eva looked at me and nodded slowly. “That we are.” Without another word she
began to walk down the path between the immobile railroad carts.

           
Looking around, I decided I definitely did
not
want to get lost in a
train yard and it looked as if she knew where she was going so I followed.
“What are we doing out here?” I asked.

           
Eva stopped walking and turned to face me. “Do you remember our conversation?”

           
I blinked. “We’ve had quite a few at this point.”

           
She laughed lightly and nodded. “Listen to the trains David. They’re
practically begging to get out of here, listen to them creak.” She paused so I
could listen and stepped closer to me. “They’re stuck on these tracks, David.”

           
Instantly, I remembered our conversation at the ice cream parlor and smiled
weakly. “Why’d you bring me here, of all places?”

           
Eva sighed and looked up at the orange sky. “I always come out here when I’m
angry at my parents, or myself, or just life in general. I would hope that one
day, maybe one of the trains would begin moving and I could just jump on and go
wherever it takes me.” She paused and looked at me. “And then recently I
realized that I’m not the only person in the world who feels the way I feel,
who feels like they’re stuck to one way of life…so I brought you here. Now
we’re in this together.”

“You and
me?” I looked at her.

She
nodded. “You and me.” A faint smile came to her face before she continued
walking.

           
I stared in amazement before catching up with her.

           
“I’m sorry it’s no ice cream parlor.” She said without looking at me, just
staring at the rocks she was stepping on.

           
I shook my head. “No Eva, it’s better than getting ice cream. Thank you for
bringing me out here…to your safe place.” I gently grabbed her chin so she would
look up at me. Okay! There was the moment again – the deep eye contact, the
proximity between the faces and…

           
She stepped back, accidently bumping into the side of a train. Eva’s eyes were
wide and she looked worried.

           
“What’s the problem?” I looked at her, genuinely confused.

           
Eva sighed and scratched her head, beginning to pace. “I’m so sorry, I’m so
sorry I just keep messing it up!”

           
“Eva
it’s
okay, I’m just confused as to why you keep
turning me down!” I exclaimed.

           
“I can’t tell you.” She crossed her arms, and looked away from me.

           
“I’ll take things slow, I mean it’s just a kiss.” I stepped closer to her.

           
She tried to back up but she was already backed up against the train. “Well
I’ve never kissed anybody before, and I don’t want to be embarrassing and ruin
it!”

           
Wait what? I was completely shocked. She was that strikingly beautiful and no
one had ever gotten anywhere with her? I couldn’t believe it. I sighed. “Well…
I can teach you if you want.” I rubbed the back of my neck; I’d dealt with
virgins before but not…
lip
virgins!

           
Eva scoffed. “Oh, because you feel bad for me? Is that it? I don’t want a pity
kiss as my first kiss,
David
.” She emphasized my name with a tone full
of attitude. God, how I loved when she emphasized or even said my name.

           
I rolled my eyes and closed the distance in between us and without another
thought pressed my lips against her full, soft lips. Goodness gracious how they
fit perfectly together! I didn’t take it as far as sticking my tongue in her
mouth – I didn’t want to overwhelm her. I pulled back and she still had her
eyes closed and mouth partly opened, looking as if she was in a daze. She
slowly opened her eyes and blinked. “That was far from a pity kiss,” I breathed
in a throaty voice, desperate for more. But I had to remember that it was all
new to her.

           
She placed one hand over her heart and the other caressed her lips and smiled
giddily to herself. “My, my, my.”

           
I felt like the king of the world; I had just given the most stunning woman the
best first kiss of her life! I was beaming, watching her intently. I leaned
against the train, placing both my hands on either side of her head, confining
her to the space in between my arms and close to my face. “So how was that for
your first kiss, Ms. Eva-Marie?”

           
She exhaled loudly and smiled up at me. “Nothing I ever could have imagined.”

           
“As it should have been.” I chuckled.

           
She began twiddling her fingers.

           
“What is it?” I asked, desperate to know what was going through her mind. Was
she
as
turned on as I was?

           
“Can we do it again…?” She still didn’t look up at me.

           
I laughed through my nose and gently rubbed her cheek. “Of course.”

           
Eva still wasn’t making eye contact.

           
“Eva, what is it?”

           
Her dark eyes were now clouded with something…burning hot desire, I’d say. “With...tongue?”
Nothing in her expression read that she was joking.

           
I returned the desire by kissing her mouth, hungrily, my hands placing hers
around my neck and then finding their way to her lower back, pulling her
closer. It was as if I was getting a high that I hadn’t gotten in
ages
;
I couldn’t stop! My tongue pried her mouth open, invading her space and began
massaging her tongue. I felt like a fucking animal and I was loving every
minute of it, I couldn’t get enough of her! Her fingers ran through my hair,
grabbing it and pulling at it, turning me on even more. Then she pulled back
for air. Eva unlocked her hands from my neck and leaned back against the train,
trying to catch her breath. A disbelieving smile was plastered on her face.

           
I couldn’t help but to laugh at her smile, but I was also laughing because her
joy was contagious. It seemed as if my laughter was contagious as well, Eva was
doubled over, laughing along with me.

           
“Yes!” She pumped both of her fists in the air. “Yes, thank you!” She screamed
as loud as she could. “This is what I’ve been waiting for!” Eva yelled to the
sky.

           
Laughing, I picked her up and spun her around; I was just so ecstatic over the
fact that
I
was able to bring her that amount of joy! She looked down at
me with such genuine joy that I had to lower her back down to the ground and
plant one more gently kiss on those lovely lips.

           
“Definitely the start of a great adventure.” She whispered.

D
avid
got out of the car and walked around to open my door when we pulled into my
driveway.

It
felt as if I had been on top of a cloud in the sky, stuck in a daze for the whole
ride home – the night had been purely…magical! As childish as it sounded, it
was the only way I could describe my night with David. I wouldn’t have chosen
anyone else in the world to have experienced my first kiss with! It hadn’t gone
further than kissing of course, and I was one hundred percent content with
that.

           
“Home sweet home.” David announced when he opened my door.

           
I grabbed his hand and let him help me out of the car. “But I’d rather be with
you,” I whined, locking my arms around his neck.

           
He chuckled oh so sexily and gently rubbed his two fingers down the side of my
face. “I don’t want to upset your parents.”

           
“It’s too late for all that, they hate you.” I pouted my lips.

           
“Crazy how fast things change.” He shook his head and sighed.

           
“All because of ole big headed Ray.” I rolled my eyes.

           
His jaw tensed. “He could put all the police in the city around you and I’d
still find a way to get to you, don’t think he’ll be the one that makes me give
you up.”

           
I shrugged my shoulders. “He’s got quite some hold on my parents and they’re
eating right out of the palm of his hands. Whatever we do, we always have to
make sure Ray
never
sees us together…there’s no telling what he’d force
my parents to do with me – or what he’d do to me.”

           
“I would kill him if he hurt you.” David said curtly.

           
My eyes widened. “Be careful what you say, you never know who’s going to take
it literal.”

           
He didn’t look at me. “I don’t like him. At all.”

           
“And neither do
I
.” I grabbed his chin so he would
look down at me. “But you have to promise me we’ll do our best to keep him from
finding out about us.”

           
His expression softened when he looked into my eyes. “I promise.”

           
I took a step back with my hands on my hips and playfully smirked. “But you’ve
got to say it with a smile, that way I know it’s sincere.”

           
“Taking my lines now, huh?” A half-smile came to his face.

           
“Well?” I waited patiently.

           
David sighed. “I promise.” He took a step closer to me and smiled. “With a
smile.”

           
I couldn’t help but giggle. I locked my arms around his neck and gave him a
quick peck on the lips. “That’s what I like to hear, Mr. Finley. Now when’s the
next time I’m going to see you?” I asked.

           
David shrugged. “The element of surprise is amazing isn’t it?”

           
I rolled my eyes. “That’s
not
the answer I was looking for.”

           
“If you get to take my breath away…every goddamn time I see you, can’t I at
least,
at least
get the element of surprise?” He pleaded.

           
I tried to hold back my overjoyed grin but it simply refused to be hidden. I
pulled him in for a quick kiss; I was getting good at the kissing thing, it was
as if it gave me a sort of power I never knew I had. “One more unplanned visit
and then we should try to work out a schedule. I don’t know about you but I’d
like to know every time I’m going to get swept off my feet.”

           
“Not if I’m always there to catch you.” He reasoned, piercing his blue eyes
into mine.

           
“You just always know what to say don’t you?” I shook my head, smiling.

           
“Get in the house before you get in trouble.” He gently pulled away.

           
I huffed. “Only if you say so. Goodnight, David. Thank you for agreeing to come
out with me tonight.” I started toward my front door.

           
“Goodnight, beautiful.” He called. “And just for the record, if it was possible
I’d agree to go with you to the moon and back.” He nodded at me once more
before ducking into his car. His charm was like no other man’s; he had it all
wrong because
he
was the one that always took
my
breath away!

           
I sighed and absentmindedly stumbled through the front door. Though I was
cautious in closing the door, not wanting to wake Flora.

           
“Where have you been?” My father’s voice asked.

           
I was so startled I damn near went back outside! I placed my hand over my heart
and caught my breath. The room was dim but I could still see Daddy’s silhouette
sitting on the couch in the living room, a curvy line of smoke coming from his
cigar. At that moment, I knew that my chances of living to dying were zero to
one hundred. I tried to think of a quick lie to at least
try
to sugar
coat the fact that I had broken more rules as I was on punishment.

           
“I just had to get some air is
all.
” I shrugged.

           
“This late? It’s pushing nine-thirty. We’re going to try this again – where
were you and who were you with Eva-Marie?” He demanded.

           
I sighed and thought of another lie. “I was just out with my friends, after all
it
has
been a few days since you all have let me out of the house.” I
was wishing that I could see his face so I could gauge his reaction and see if
he was buying it or not. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”

           
“You weren’t supposed to leave the house.” Surprisingly, his voice wasn’t
getting as threatening as I expected.

           
“I’m sorry…what else do you want me to say? I’m a teenager I don’t have another
excuse. I like to be around my friends.” I shrugged, desperately hoping he was
buying it.

           
My father sighed. “Come have a seat Eva.”

           
I walked over and sat on the edge of the couch, as far from him as possible as
I could get on the couch. I wasn’t sure what he was going to do but if it
involved any kind of spanking I wanted to make sure I had a definite escape
route.

           
My father shook his head. “Next to me, Eva.”

           
Reluctantly, I slid closer to him on the couch.

           
He leaned over and switched on a lamp. In his lap was an old photo album of my
old baby pictures and snapshots throughout my childhood. In one of his hands,
he held a brandy glass.

           
My heart hurt as I could see my father was reminiscing on times when dealing
with me wasn’t such a hassle. “Oh daddy, what’re you doing with those?”

           
“Just looking, honey.” He flipped through the pages of the album. “That’s the
first time I fed you solid food, not that mush your mother would always feed
you.” Daddy chuckled and shook his head as he gazed at the picture.

           
I was relieved he wasn’t angry with me for breaking the rules. I was even more
relieved in knowing that I had completely gotten away with sneaking out of the
house to have a hot make out session with David! But I was confused as to why
he decided to bust out the baby pictures – most likely to send me on a guilt
trip. “C’mon daddy these are so old…”

           
He ignored me and moved on to the next page. “Oh that was the first step you
took!” He flipped through more pages. “And the time you learned how to ride
your bike. You had us worried sick, but we would never let you fall. Do you
remember that?”

           
I sighed, it was clear that he wanted me to relive the days when life wasn’t so
hard. “Yes daddy, I remember.”

           
My father closed the book and downed the rest of his alcohol. He leaned back on
the couch and crossed his ankle over his knee and looked at me with his arms
crossed. “Look Eva-Marie, I understand that you’re growing up. But that doesn’t
mean you can go disrespecting your parents every chance you get or breaking the
rules by sneaking out the house when we clearly told you to stay home. I don’t
mind you growing up, it’s just that lately you’ve been turning into someone
that I don’t even know.”

           
“I’m sorry you feel that way.” I accidentally blurted.

           
“Excuse me?” He looked at me with a warning expression.

           
Instantly, I wanted to open my mouth and take the words back! But then I
decided that I loved my parents so much and nothing was going to get solved if
I kept throwing a blanket over how I truly felt and went about acting as if
nothing was wrong. “Well, daddy, you heard me. I said I’m sorry you feel that
way.”

           
Daddy gave me an expression that said I’d better have a damn good explanation
for the reason I sassed him.

           
I took a deep breath, feeling as if I was finally going to get a weight lifted
off of my shoulder. “Have you ever stopped to think that maybe the girl you’ve
always known me to be is the girl that you and mama
wanted
me to be and
not who I actually am? Now I know that it isn’t a reason for me to disrespect
you guys and break the rules that you set for me and for that I do apologize.
But daddy, I feel like the rebelling is just me indirectly begging for you and
mama to let me find out who I truly am and what it is that
I
want out of
life.”

           
Daddy appeared concerned. “Oh baby, what do you mean? We’ve worked so hard to
make sure you don’t go down any wrong path, and you’re thanking us by spiraling
out of control?”

           
I sighed. “That’s not what I said.” I tried to think of a way to explain it
without hurting his feelings. “I’m saying from the very beginning you and Mama
have controlled every aspect of my life and never really let me wander.”

           
His expression saddened. “We don’t want you getting into the wrong things.”

           
I snorted. “It’s a bit late for that. Daddy, you guys have been there for me my
whole life, making sure I don’t make the wrong move. What you all aren’t
understanding is that it’s
okay
to let me wander sometimes, you have to
believe that you raised me strong enough to the point where I can get out of
certain situations on my own. Life wasn’t meant to be lived without trouble,
Daddy.” I told him, watching his reaction and hoping he understood.

           
“My little girl is breaking it off with me,” he faux wept.

           
I shook my head. “Never, I love you too much for that. I just want to find my
own way in the world, that’s all.”

           
Daddy eyed me and began nodding his head. “You are your father’s daughter…you
are your father’s daughter.”

           
I leaned on his shoulder and linked my arm with his. “I love you so much,
daddy. I hope you understand what I’m saying.”

           
He rested his head on mine. “I understand that you’re damn hardheaded…just like
me.”

           
There was silence between us for a few moments, as I knew I pondered letting
another weight off my shoulders. “So Ray wants to marry me now, does he?”

           
Daddy rubbed his hand over his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m
not surprised, you’re such a catch.”

           
I snorted. “It feels a bit rushed to me…”

           
Daddy sighed. “Oh Eva, you don’t want to be caught in all this mess when it
comes crashing down, it won’t last forever. And when it does come to an end,
Ray will be your ticket out – it’ll be as if you never knew anything about our
family secret and no one will be able to take you down for it. You’ll get to
live in peace, isn’t that what you want?”

           
“Is there something going on that I don’t know about?” I sat up and looked at
him questioningly. “Please be honest with me, Daddy.”

           
He exhaled loudly, sounding like he didn’t want to deal with it. But I was his
little girl – he knew he had to. “There’s just been some talk about how the
police are beginning to investigate because of so many people overdosing.”

           
“We’ll be fine, daddy.” I went back to leaning on his shoulder. I could tell he
was stressing over it and I didn’t want to make it worse with any more
questions.

           
“It’s hard, baby.” Daddy shook his head.

           
“We’ll be alright.” I comforted him. “Back to this Ray situation.”

           
“Oh Lord, we’re back on that? Don’t you like the man?” He chuckled.

           
If only he knew… “I just don’t like him controlling who I can be around.” I
said.

           
“You’re still upset he doesn’t want you seeing that white man?” Daddy snorted.

           
“His name is David.”

           
“I have to agree with Ray on that one…there’s just something that’s off about
him. Especially if the police are investigating, you never know
who’s
spying and who’s not. So please, for your old man,
please
stay away from him.” Daddy pleaded.