Havana Girl

Chapter One

The Sunday afternoon simplicity was interrupted by the honking of a car horn. Arden Dean burst out laughing as she passed through the small town streets. An old woman pulling weeds from her garden glanced up, her face irritated. A man in his fifties dressed in all Spandex and wearing - shudder - a fanny pack, biking up the sidewalk, fell off. She switched on the car's cassette player, and "Dancing Queen" by ABBA began to blast through the car's old, scratchy speakers. The girl let out a whoop, and turned the steering wheel. She pulled the car into the driveway of the Randall home and set the car in park but didn't turn it off - she wanted a reaction. 

"What the hell is all that racket?" demanded Jeanette Randall as she stormed out of the house, looking pissed off. The look faded when she saw the driver of the car. "Oh. Arden." It was no secret that Mrs. Randall wasn't Arden's biggest fan - the girl was too wild and far too much of an influence on her boys. Still, she tried to at least act civil around Arden, because her boys loved her so much. 

"Hi, Mrs. R!" Arden always pretended she didn't know Mrs. Randall disliked her, and treated her no different than any of her other friends' moms. "What's cracking?" Instead of using the door like a normal person, Arden simply hopped over the door - perks of having a convertible. She had paid for the thing herself, saving up wages from the cashier job she'd worked in high school and the job as a waitress in a diner she held now. 

"I assume you're here to see the boys." Mrs. Randall didn't seem to realize how idiotic her words sounded. She knew full well who Arden was here to see - Kevin and Colin had begged her for weeks to let Arden stay there for a few days. 

"It's the warmth and affection from you, Mrs. R. I just can't seem to stay away." Arden winked as she headed into the house. "Where are the littiest sons of bitches in this entire Godforsaken town?" Arden scrambled up the stairs, whooping. 

Kevin exited Colin's room at the same moment she got upstairs. "Hey, Dean!" He ran forward to give her a hug. He squeezed her tightly around the waist. 

"Shit, ow. When did you get so strong?" Arden laughed. Colin exited his room a moment later.

"What's up, Den?" Colin came to hug her, as well. Sean came from the room he shared with Kevin. 

"What's with all the noise?" he demanded, sounding pissed off - which was nothing new to his two brothers. He'd been acting pissed off for weeks. 

Arden chuckled uneasily. "Don't act so surprised to see me, Seanner. Aren't you at least going to give me a hug?"

Sean just glared at her. "Go the hell home, Arden." He stalked past the trio, leaving Arden in a state of shock. 

"That... was unexpected," Arden blinked, but shrugged her shoulders. "Oh, well. Let's go to Starbucks, guys. You can tell me all about what's up with my boy, Sean." 

+++

Forty-five  minutes later, Arden, Kevin, and Colin sat at a table in the middle of the mall's crowded one and only Starbucks. Kevin and Colin both had coffees, while Arden had a shaken sweet tea, which she was consistently sipping. 

"It's true, then?" Arden leaned back in her seat as Kevin and Colin finished recounting the story to her. "Mollean is over?" 

"You and your ships." Kevin rolled his eyes. "Yeah, it's true. They're done. Like, super done. And it isn't doing great for him, as you saw back at the house." 

"So, do you think this is unusual?" Arden coughed as a swallow of tea went down the wrong passage. 

"I'm not sure," admitted Colin. "I mean, it's certainly unusual compared to his usual breakup tenancies. And it's the reason we called you. It's abnormal enough that we called you." 

"What, you guys can't deal with it yourselves?" Arden raised an eyebrow. 

"He won't listen to us if we try to do anything," Kevin pointed out, "But he might listen to you, so we had you come out. We want to help, but we're not sure what to do. You always have some little plan up your sleeve." 

"Oh, you two know me too well," Arden groaned. "Look, I don't have anything solid in mind yet, but I am willing to help, okay?" 

"Thank you." Kevin fiddled with the straw in his hands to keep his fingers preoccupied, tapping his foot incessantly. God, he needed a cigarette. Arden raised an eyebrow at him, and slid out of her seat. 

"I'm going to a motel," Arden announced. "I think better in certain atmospheres, and having Sean breathing down my neck is not one of them." 

"Don't get kidnapped," Colin warned her as he stood up from his own chair. Kevin hopped onto the floor. 

"I'll make contact by tonight, no matter what," Arden promised. "Honestly, I don't think your mom would take too kindly to me sleeping over, anyway." She smiled at her friends and gave them both hugs, before she headed out to her Mustang. The boys followed her, watching as she sped away. 

"I'm glad she's here," remarked Kevin as they stood there, thirty seconds after Arden had gone. 

"Me, too," Colin agreed.