Audrey Hepburn's Pearls: Part I

Chapter 22.1: 1994, Ruiz

Chapter 22.1: 1994, Ruiz

 

"Witch nails. Wiiitch naaailsss," Ambrose cackled at me, dragging a finger covered in a pointy Bugle corn chip down my arm. His mouth got very close to my ear and he whispered it again, "witch nails?"

I gave him a small smirk, acknowledging his effort to make me laugh. He returned the smile, and began popping his 'witch nails' into his mouth, crunching the corn chips loudly. 

"You remember when we used to put these on our fingers, Ruiz? Pretending we got manicures? What was your character called? Mrs. Burberry or something, that old white rich lady?" he asked, reaching into the bag between us for more. We were sitting on a bench waiting for a bus. In a bag next to me, there was a brand new smooth brunette wig. I wanted to start cutting it and styling it as a cute pixie-like cut for a Roman Holiday themed outfit, but even this couldn't make my spirits go up. 

Ambrose was already wearing his new ponytail extension. It was fluttering a little at the end in the wind like the tail of a horse. He adjusted the collar of his frosty blue bubble coat stiffly around his jaw-line and made a "brrr" sort of noise like a bird. "Really getting chilly now, isn't it?" he continued, trying to get me to talk. 

"Yeah," I said, nodding. 

He side-eyed me and then poked my shoulder. I looked at him but then looked back at the ground. 

"What's up, Ruiz?" he asked.

I looked at him again. He stared at me, still smiling. I couldn't get how he could be acting so casual. 

"You really don't know?" I sighed.

"No, that's why I asked," he explained, grabbing another chip and beginning to crunch it loudly. His eyes traveled to the sky. I watched him chew and breathed in the cold air, my shoulders rising then dropping. 

"I'm still freaked out by that guy with that gun, Ambrose," I said frankly, staring at him with an intense look. 

"You don't need to worry about him, I took care of it," he said casually, eating another Bugle.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, still staring at him intensely. 

He looked at me, and smiled in a strange way, one I had never seen before. His eyes were relaxed, his smile very small. His hand fell on my shoulder and I didn't shove it away even though I wanted to. I couldn't figure out what was making me so mad at him. My feelings were confusing me, due to the situation which I was unprepared for and didn't know how to make sense of. 

"If I tell you this, you can't tell anyone," he whispered to me, getting closer to me on the bench, putting the Bugles on the otherside of him. Our thighs pressed together and he leaned towards me, his lips very close to my ear, in preparation for my affirmative answer. He knew I'd say yes.

"Yeah, Ambrose," I said quietly. The wind suddenly picked up, blowing on his ponytail extension, flipping his hair in the air like a fairy or something. It was breathtakingly beautiful, and I realized just how pretty he was dressed as a woman. I never knew why I didn't realize it before. His eyes, dressed in aqua colored contacts today, blinked at me and then he sighed for a long time, letting all of his air out. His warm breath in the cold warmed down my coat from my neck and it felt good. It rattled my feelings, being so close to him. Made my anger try to shrink away. But something inside of me was still kicking up like sand, wanting to be mad at him.

"I owed some guys some money," he stated plainly into my ear. My face stayed neutral. "I can't tell you why, but there's no danger. They got their money. We don't have to worry about them, they'll leave us alone."

"Why did you owe them money? You knew I was going to ask that," I answered, not changing my face.

"I told you. I can't tell you," he whispered, then began to sweep my curly brown hair behind my ear affectionately. 

"You gotta tell me, Ambrose," I sighed, feeling his familiar, warm, light blue gloved fingers grazing my neck as he continued his work. 

He parted from me and looked at the crisp robin's egg blue sky again, not answering. He looked like he was thinking, debating. Then he smiled a little again, freaking me out. I didn't like that little smile of his. 

The traffic sounds started to get really loud, so I looked down the street knowingly. The bus was coming up the street. Ambrose took my red gloved hand, still smiling to himself. He looked at me with that smile, and I realized with a small gasp in my heart that it was fake. The bus rolled up to us, letting out an exhaustive sigh as the door opened. 

"We all got our secrets, Ruiz," he sighed like the bus, a long, deep sigh.

I pressed my lips together, trying to contain an emotion I didn't recognize. Hurt or annoyance? Which was it? He hopped onto the bus like a gazelle and paid for both us. All I could do was stare at his ponytail, watching him.

He looked so unfamiliar now. Like I didn't even know him.