[ - ]
Table of Contents [Report This]
Printer Chapter or Story Microsoft Word Chapter or Story
- Text Size +
Chapter Eighty-Five
Point of View: Nick


Kayla was over bright and early the next morning. We were laying on the living room floor, our heads next to each other but bodies going in opposite directions, like a two-winged pinwheel. The officer was watching every move we made like a hawk. We were laying really still, though, so he didn't have much to watch. My arm was up over my head, holding her outstretched hand.

She'd been telling me about the fight the night before, but I was getting the feeling she wasn't telling me the whole story.

"Zoe was like a mad woman," Kayla said, sighing, "I could practically see her eyes glowing red! It was like she was a freaking horse of the apocalypse or something, like steam was coming out of her nostrils."

"I'm sure it wasn't that bad." I could picture Zoe getting that pissed, though, but not for the purpose Kayla had told me the fight had been over, which is why I had a feeling I wasn't getting the whole story. Kayla had told me that Zoe had come home from work in a bad mood and started being cranky right from square one. She said Zoe had gone through her purse, but she didn't know why Zoe went into her purse. Zoe had found some birth control pills and condoms that Kayla had gotten, and flipped out.

"So she knows we're planning on having sex now," Kayla had muttered.

Zoe hadn't been by in a couple days. Now I was kinda scared for when she did come over. I had a feeling I was going to be getting an earfull the next time I saw her. Luckily, the officers would keep her from beating the shit out of me at any rate. I pictured Zoe going haywire and cracking me with her crutches Ninja-style in my mind. I sighed.

"I just don't understand what made her go into your purse," I said, "It's weird, Zoe doesn't strike me as the type that would do that for no reason."

Kayla shook her head, "She did it because she's a bitch and she thinks she can control my life, well she's wrong. I'm an adult and I can do what I want to do."

"That being me?" I asked, smirking.

Kayla laughed.

We laid there in silence for a few minutes, and my fingers started stroking her palm softly, just relishing the fact that I had some physical contact with her that the officers weren't keeping us from having. Most everything else they'd stopped. Even the hands I could feel them watching suspiciously.

I hated the feeling.

"I cannot wait for this to all be over," I whispered.

Kayla nodded, "Me either. I need you."

I closed my eyes. "I dunno how much more of this I can take," I said to her.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Being locked up and stared at all day, being alone most of the time, not having anything to do," I explained. "I lay on my back and stare at the ceiling all day..." With that realization, I rolled onto my side and stared at the side of her head, studying her ear lobe.

"At least you're at home," Kayla said, "Safe from Leon..." she frowned at the mention of her exboyfriend's name, even though she'd been the one to bring him up.

I sighed, "Sometimes, I'd take the social interaction of getting the crap beat out of me by Leon over laying here alone."

Kayla shook her head, "He could never beat you up. You're way stronger than he is."

"I'm glad you think so," I laughed, "But the truth is, he knocked me a good one in that alley that day, and if it hadn't been for the adrenaline and the anger I had in me for what he did to you, I never would've been able to match that kind of punch. He's got street skills that I've lost due to being a Backstreet Boy," I laughed.

Kayla glanced at me, rolling her eyes to the corners. "You're stronger than you think."

I didn't want to argue with her - I could almost hear the me versus Superman or Godzilla argument rolling in her mind and I didn't feel like going there.

"Are things good other than the fight with Zoe?" I asked her, "How're you feeling, beautiful?"

She shifted uncomfortably.

"What?" I asked, picking up on the body language.

"Nothing," she said, "My butt is falling asleep."

"We can get up," I said, starting to sit.

"Noooo," she whined, pulling my arm down. "Don't getup," she begged. "Stay here with me on the floor forever, please?"

"Forever? Here?" I laughed, "Maybe not forever, but a little longer, sure." I laid back down and returned to stroking her palm and wrist gently.

Kayla rolled to her side, too, and we stared into each other's upside down eyes.

"Did you mean it last night?" she asked.

"Mean what?"

I'd had a bad night after Kayla had left, and the clear memory of what had been said was completely erased. After I got in bed the night before, I'd fallen asleep pretty much immediately, only to be woken up probably every ten to fifteen minutes having just fallen into one outrageously horrendous nightmare after another. The final one, the one that had made me get up and stay up at 3:17 AM, was a bit longer and more vivid and I'd woken up in a pool of sweat in the bed, tangled up in the sheets from thrashing, my heart racing, and a cop standing over me, worrying that I'd been having some sort of seizure.

"When you said I could move in with you after all this is over," she said.

I couldn't begin to imagine Zoe's anger.

But Kayla was an adult, and I was desperate to spend every moment I could with her. And she did have the most unbelievable pleading look on her face.

"If you want to," I said.

She smiled.

The door bell rang and a few minutes later, after the officer had done a check with him, Brian was in the living room, hovering over us. We both rolled onto our backs and looked up at Brian. "His name is Desi Hernandez."

"Hernandez?" Kayla asked.

"Yup," Brian said, "We asked one of Krystal's other back up dancers, Leighanne's friend Jess, and we found an Oregon Trail that led back to Desi's cousin, Orlando, who confirmed he's the guy from Krystal's tour."

"So you found him?" I asked, excitement creeping into my voice.

Brian shook his head. "Not yet, he's been missing for a few weeks, apparently, since Krystal's tour ended according to what AJ got out of Orlando.

Kayla looked deep in thought.

"What is it, baby?"

Kayla hesitated. "I just remembered that Leon had a roomie with the last name Hernandez, but I don't think that his first name wasn't Desi. We called him Dez, but that was slang off his last name, I thought."

I looked at Brian.

"Weird," he mumbled. "That would be a really weird coincidence, a small world," he said.

Kayla shook her head, "Not really. Leon is involved in the business, too, don't forget. If Dez and Desi are the same individual, it would make sense that they could possibly know each other because Leon used to do back-up dancing before he started doing musicals around the city. He could've met Desi on a tour or at a dance competition or a class."

"Weird," Brian repeated. "So how do we find out?"

Kayla shrugged. "The only person I can think of that would know for certain is Leon himself," she laughed, "And there's no way you'd ever get it out of him. Besides that, he's in jail."

Brian sighed and laid down like we were, Kayla and I scooted to make room for Brian's head to be near to ours. Now we looked like a three winged pinwheel on the living room carpet. It didn't take long for us to fall into easy conversation, laughing and enjoying each other's company. I relished every moment of it, recording sound bytes in my mind to replay later when I was alone and the dark feeling in my stomach and heart started to spread through my body again.

I didn't want to become depressed again.