What I've Done (13 page)

“Would you come with him?” I ask hopefully. The need to see this guy again is so preoccupying I can’t ignore it, even if I were to actually try.

His attention jumps from the ground to me. “Of course.”

His first full-on, genuine smile since I met him creeps onto his face. My entire body becomes alive, tingling from head to toe in response. “How soon can he come? I’ll be there again tomorrow after school.”

After the scare with the news broadcast showing our photos to the world it feels more important than ever to secure our new identities. The further we can get away from who we once had been in Minnesota the better. As much as I hate to admit it, there may come a time that we are forced to leave San Diego, too.

“We’ll meet you there around this same time. You want to show me where we’re going?”

We are just standing down the beach from the shop and I need to get back, but bringing Eli with me may cause Kalia to have questions that would concern Gabe.

“Have you heard of Tropical Pipedream?”

He dips his head in acknowledgment. “I know where that is. I’ll see you there.”

I meet his eyes again. “Thanks for saving me back there.”

He smiles at me, but there is a hint of more scolding behind it. “Just remember, you promised to be more careful next time.”

I stand watching him walk away for a moment, trying to sort through all these new, unforeseen feelings I am having. Now there is yet another unexplained attraction towards yet another total stranger. For someone who hasn’t had a real boyfriend before, it is all very overwhelming.

* * *

When I return to Svetlana’s home after work there is a sleek black car in the driveway. My pace quickens when I hope this means I will finally get to meet our new foster father. Immediately upon entering the house I find my little sister sitting on the massive leather couch by herself, looking like she is about to burst into tears.

“R- Barbie?” I ask, almost forgetting to use her alternate name. “What’s wrong?”

Her large eyes latch on to me. They are filled with building tears and her little lip is quivering. I burst forward to sit beside her and wrap my arm around her. A loud crashing noise comes from our foster parents’ room nearby, followed by a whole lot of yelling. I hold Rose protectively closer to me. All at once the room is silent again, aside from our labored breaths.

“Is Svetlana home?” I whisper.

Rose dips her head in a small nod. “She’s in her room with Markus.”

Markus is our new foster father. I immediately fear the worst—he is hurting our foster mother. I had seen it too many times with our mother and the thought of it happening again is enough to make me literally sick. If that’s truly what is happening then Rose and I will have no choice but to run away again.

“Do you know what they’re doing in there?” I ask, hoping she knows something I don’t and can explain what we are hearing.

“No.” Her timid voice sounds as if she is on the verge of crying. “Svetlanya told me to wait out here for her.”

“Stay here a minute. I will be right back,” I tell her, standing back on my feet.

I creep barefoot across the marble floors with great care so as to not make any noise. I pause outside their bedroom door to place my ear up against it. There are muffled voices apparently having some kind of quiet argument.

“Svetlana?” I ask, tapping on the door. “Everything okay in there?”

My breathing is ragged as I wait for an answer. The voices stop their heated exchange and footsteps approach the door.

An obese man sticks his head out from behind the partially open door. His chin is seemingly lost in the rolls of his neck and his round head is mostly bald with only a few patches of light brown hair sweeping across his sweaty forehead. He wears a white, pin striped dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and a dark green tie hangs loosely around his husky neck. Although he is a large man, there is a certain overall softness to him, kind of like a teddy bear.

“You must be Tasha,” he says with a timid smile. His voice is smooth like honey.

“Yes I am. Is Svetlana in there?”

He pulls his head back through the open door without a further word and Svetlana soon appears in his place, all smiles. But she can’t fool me. Her hair is wild around her face and there is a bead of perspiration at her hair line.

“Svetlana, are you okay?” As much as I like to think I can simply step in and save her from her husband who appears to be quite large, I know there is nothing I can do to help short of dialing 9-1-1. My hand begins to search my pocket for the borrowed cell phone.

“Tasha! How was your work?”

“What is going on in there?” I demand, pushing forcefully on the door.

The door swings all the way open to reveal what my foster parents are trying to hide. In the center of the sprawling room with a tremendous view of the ocean sits a large, four-poster bed that is only partially assembled. There are unused nuts and bolts scattered around in the lush carpet beside a book of written directions. A broken vase lies on the floor beside one of the post’s edges.

Markus sighs. “It is okay. I promised her I would get a new vase once we have this monster bed put together. This is a bit embarrassing, I’m afraid.”

He also has a trace of a Russian accent, although his is not quite as thick. Maybe I had been too quick to assume Markus had found Svetlana any other way than through old fashioned dating. They seem to be doing nothing other than trying to assemble a bed together. I have to remind myself there are more people like my friend Tasha who come from normal families. Not everyone has to deal with drugs and physical abuse.

“He thinks he can do this but I tell him he need carpenter,” Svetlana says with a roll of her eyes.

She is not at all distressed by whatever had been going on prior to the vase falling. I allow my breath to leave my lungs when relief comes to me in waves. The horrible events of my past had made me fear the worst of these two people that have been nothing but loving and caring.

“Okay. We just thought maybe you were having some kind of…argument.”

Svetlana’s eyes grow large when she realizes what I’m telling her. “Oh, Tasha! I am sorry! My Markus has this gift delivered to me today when you are at school. I tell Barbie to wait so we do not hurt her with the big bed parts.”

A smile eventually finds its way to my lips. “No, that’s okay. It’s a very nice present.”

Markus seems to be two steps behind. His face finally registers that he understands what I thought was happening and he draws his wife briskly to his side. “Oh no—I would never hurt my sweet Svetlana! There is nothing you need to be afraid of in this house, Tasha.”

My shoulders fall. I am now embarrassed that I had jumped to such a terrible conclusion. “I’m sorry. I really shouldn’t have barged in like that. I was just worried.”

Svetlana steps towards me with her arms outreached, but on a second thought she folds them back to her chest and smiles shyly. “Please do not be sorry. We do not want you to be scared. I make dessert and we all laugh at misunderstanding, yes?”

“Yes,” I answer, smiling back at her.

Her tender kindness brings tears to my eyes. I don’t have the stomach to watch another abusive relationship unfold in front of Rose, but it is clear our new foster parents are nothing to be afraid of. It is one less worry I have to carry.

* * *

Gabe is uncharacteristically quiet when I meet him at school the next day before our first class. He walks stiffly beside me and doesn’t even flash me his trademark smile.

“Is everything okay?” I finally ask him as we are walking to the lunchroom. I am beginning to wonder if I had offended him with something I said.

A group of redheaded girls and boys pass us and I turn to take another look when all I can see is red. I can’t decide if they are part of a sextuplet family or just hanging out together because they all have the same color of hair. Either way it is a little odd, but then again, a lot of the things I have been seeing out here have been a little off the wall from what I am used to.

Gabe takes a lunch tray and holds it out to me, but his eyes won’t meet mine. “Kalia told me you took a pretty long break yesterday. What was that all about?”

There are so many things wrong with what he just said. Why would Kalia report to him about my break? Why does he care what I do on my break and why is it any of his business? The defenses I have relied on for so many years now kick into high gear.

I take the lunch tray from him and hold it up for the short haired woman with a sad face that stands behind the counter to throw a lump of mystery meat onto it. “I had some things I needed to do. Is there something wrong with that?”

It doesn’t seem necessary for him to know what I am doing every minute of my day, even though I had been doing something he wouldn’t approve of. It is a little unnerving how he is acting all possessive for the first time. After watching my mother go through more than one relationship with a man who demanded to know what she was doing every second of the day, I am not about to fall into that kind of a pattern.

“I just worry about you. I want to make sure everything is okay, but I can’t do that if you don’t tell what is going on.”

He is trying to act casual about the whole thing but there is still this glaring vibe of distrust coming from him. I watch him for a minute but he still won’t make eye contact with me. A nervous eruption of laughter bursts through my lips even though I do not like where the conversation seems to be heading.

“You don’t have to worry about it, Gabe. Everything is fine.” I hope my calming words will defuse his mood before it escalates. He seems to be growing more irritated by the second.

He finally looks at me but I am almost fearful of the dark look crossing his face. “You told me yourself you’re afraid of something.”

”It was nothing,” I assure him, bringing my tray to the cashier.

I don’t know why I don’t tell him about the fake identifications I am trying to get, except that I don’t think he will appreciate the neighborhood I had visited on my own. But I don’t want to have to explain anything having to do with Eli, either.

We walk to the outside food court together in silence. Finding a spot in the sea of high school kids where the two of us can squeeze in does not prove to be easy. I set my tray down next to a seemingly normal girl with curly black hair and facial piercings. She looks the other direction when I attempt to smile in greeting as I sit down. Gabe is still standing so I turn to him, wondering what he is waiting for.

“You really may want to think twice about keeping secrets from me,” he says.

His words sound like a glaring threat and bring a cold chill to my skin. The dark haired girl behind me makes a quiet oooo noise, causing her friends to burst into laughter. His completely turned demeanor makes me want to laugh out loud, as well. There is no way this is the same Gabe that has been nothing but kind to me the past few weeks. I want to ask him if there is some kind of medication he forgot to take today but think better of it.

He finally sits beside me but doesn’t have any more to say as we eat together. I can feel his eyes bore through me more than once from the corner of my eye before we are finished.

We go to our remaining classes as usual, although he doesn’t shake the attitude or the dark look that has taken residence on his face. When the final bell of the day rings he mumbles something about seeing me tomorrow and he is gone.

For the first time I question if Gabe is truly looking out for my best interests or if I had made a mistake in trusting him.

* * *

When I arrive at the shop after school I am relieved that at least Kalia is her usual chipper self. We scurry to get a handful of new swimsuit displays in the toddler’s section put together before the usual after school rush of kids comes in.

I watch my boss thoughtfully as she is finishing up. If she is as close to Gabe as I think she is, maybe she can help me to understand what I could have done to make him angry. Of course I still think there may be more of a story between the two of them than neither of them is sharing. Hopefully with a little digging I will find out if Gabe has been straight with me. Our conversation about my activities earlier in the day is still bothering me.

“Kalia, how did you and Gabe meet?”

Kalia stops dressing a small mannequin when I ask and throws me a curious gaze. “You know there is nothing between us, right?”

“Yeah, I know. But that doesn’t make him any smarter in my eyes.” I want to kick myself for being such a horrible actress. Maybe I should have taken the drama classes my guidance counselor had pushed for in Minnesota.

“We met one day when he came into my shop. He was looking for a new surfboard, and I was looking for a friend in this big city. I had just moved from Hawaii to open my shop and didn’t know anyone.”

Her story seems to be pretty much the same as what Gabe had told me. At least he was being truthful about that. The nagging doubt that had crept into my mind seems to relax a little. She ties the strings of the bright green swimsuit around the mannequin’s partial neck and turns to place her hand on my shoulders.

“You have nothing to worry about. Gabe and I have been friends for so many years, I consider him more of a little brother than anything.”

She winks and walks away from me just in time for all color to drain from my face. Gabe had told me they just met just months ago. What reason would one of them have to lie about something that?

Kalia’s cell phone rings, causing me to jump. She speaks into it for a less than a minute before hurrying around the counter to grab her purse and car keys.

“A new shipment of boards came in today. I have to run to Ocean Beach to get them, but it’s not far. I am confident you can run this place on your own for a little bit. You think you can manage it?”

“Sure,” I respond, despite my temporary paralysis from her disclosure of their relationship. The thought of running this large shop on my own after only working a couple of days is also a bit unsettling, but I spot Eli and a guy slightly older than him approaching in the distance. Not wanting Kalia to see them, I tell her goodbye in a rush and turn away as she walks out of the shop.