They sneak their way out of the back door. Malakai's old rusty, baby blue truck waiting like a finish line in the alleyway. All of them spring inside, Malakai and Aster in the front, Luka and Harper in the back.
The gray-clothed seats are torn up just as bad as the rest of the truck, slowly wearing away, showing pieces of the yellow cushion underneath. Along with the stench of heat and gasoline as Malakai starts it up, is cigarette smoke and heavy cologne filled in the air.
They all sit in silence. Considering what they've just listened to, what they've just heard, what they've just witnessed.
"Let's talk about this...later?" Aster suggests into the lingering shock.
The back stays quiet, Harper's confused as to why they wouldn't call anyone but she knows she doesn't have room to talk, she's already let a possible crime slip through her hands because she was just as scared as they are now.
"I think that'd be best," Malakai says as he shifts the lever into reverse and slowly pulls into the dim, empty streets.
Aster ends her worries and gives a frowny smile at Malakai and the others, "Does anyone have gum? I swear the crap on the floor somehow ended up in my mouth."
The two in the back shake their heads, still in fear. Malakai turns his head slightly to her, "How do you taste it? Did you like...lick it or something?"
"No," She peers, "it's because it fucking evaporated into the air and now I've breathed it in...taste like...radiation."
He frowns, "Gross. Floor licker. We can get you some tomorrow."
She laughs, not exactly enrolled in his joke but now his features. Her eyes wander the bridge of his nose which has a little bump in the middle. A perfect head, she thinks, he has a slightly larger forehead but it's never been a problem to her. Muscles, broad shoulders, a little tummy underneath his collared jacket, she knows every detail about him, even the way he smiles, such a pretty smile. She knows well of that smile, when he uses it, how he uses it, and what it does to her. When he doesn't smile, she still memorizes his lips, every time he talks she can imagine kissing them.
She finally strips her eyes away, digging her hand in the cupholder to bring out a cigarette box and lighter.
"Who wants one?" She asks with a hopeless sigh.
Malakai tilts his head again as his eyes stay on the road, "Me."
She sticks one in his mouth, watching his lips bite onto it as she flicks the lighter and burns it until the gray smoke starts to pour up. He puts his head back normally and she turns to Luka, he doesn't say anything, just takes the lighter and the stick, stamping it in his mouth, lighting it.
She holds one to Harper, who stares at her repulsively, "No thanks."
"Against the rules."
"What?"
"Three out of four, you lose, take it." She wobbles the stick in the air.
"I need to learn these rules apparently," Harper murmurs as she grabs it and places it in her mouth. Aster turns as Luka hands Harper the lighter.
She uses both hands and puts her thumb on the wheel and flips it. A few more times. "My god." She mutters to herself. The cigarette teeters in her mouth, even if she did get it started, the cigarette wouldn't catch the flame very easily. Again, it clicks but doesn't flash.
Luka gets aggravated. Just as stressed as her, he takes the stick out of her mouth and trades it in with his already fired one, snatching the lighter from her hands, "You're so helpless." He lights his then throws back the box and lighter to Aster who quickly lights hers and dumps it all back in the cupholder.
Harper tries to make it seem like she ignored his comment, taking it to the head without anyone noticing. Easily offended but doesn't show it.
Luka swiftly turns his head to her, "I would think as much as you were around them, you would know how to do that."
She takes the cigarette out of her mouth, and the fumes blow back to her face from the AC, "I never did what they did."
"Hm. Surprisingly." He pauses, "Doesn't smell any better I'm sure."
"Yeah, it does. Better than whatever kind of shit I was smelling."
Soon the city turns into houses, the north suburbs. The beaten-down truck drives past all the clean polished and waxed thirty-thousand-dollar cars. One tall white or black modern house after another, the lawns cut without a single piece of grass out of place. Everyone except Harper is annoyed by this neighborhood. They don't like the people here, especially the teenagers they have to go to school with. While Harper is more or less traumatized, too used to it to care as much.
"Care if we run over the Roe's?" Aster asks out, peering through the window.
"Beckley's first," Luka replies, taking the last bit of cigarette into his lungs.
The truck pulls over and stops, Malakai turns back to Harper while he burns out his stick in an old mug, "You're home kiddo! Don't mention anything."
Harper nods, picking up her backpack, "Is that another rule? Or...?"
His thick brows crease, "What do you mean?"
"Like...don't mention when we go places we shouldn't?"
"No? That's a stupid rule."
Harper blows out another cloud of smoke, "Right. Okay."
Aster turns around, hair spinning as she does, "Hope your mommy left you some special caviar in the fridge."
"I'd bet she left me nothing," Harper says with a phony smile. Her hate for this place, this place she has to live in, never does her any good, it always stays the same no matter how she feels.
Luka rips the cigarette from her mouth, rigid hands taking it back to his, "Don't want your daddy getting onto you for that."
"Probably not even here." She adds quieter. She blinks then nods her head as a "bye" as she slips out of the tall truck. Malakai waves a hand just before she closes the door.
Harper walks into the house, darkness narrows down like a tunnel to the kitchen light in the back of the room. She walks past the couches, her mother, Katie, behind the kitchen island. She's slouched over the marble counter, her hair back in a tight bun, some loose strands covering her head as it's tilted down, a phone placed on her ear. Harper gets closer to see that she's smiling, a pin in her hand twists acrobatically above a small notepad.
"No, I told you what I told you." She carries on in a quiet tone.
A manly voice says something in response, inaudible, and leads on with a curious chuckle.
"Goodnight!" She says in quick embarrassment. The voice comes back to say something again but she hangs up before it finishes.
Harper sits on the tall stool and takes away the small plate of crackers and cheese Katie had next to her.
"Who was that?" Harper asks, eating the food sloppily.
Katie's cheeks burn a swole red, wrinkles at the ends of her eyes, trying not to smile, "Just Amanda from work."
"I thought you hated Amanda." Harper debates, knowing she's lying, "Didn't she purposely try to get you fired when you worked in the NICU? That's what I remember you telling me at least."
Katie shakes her head and refuses to reply, her hand is placed flat on her forehead as she looks down, "Do we need anything else from the store tomorrow?"
"I don't know." She mumbles with food in her mouth.
Katie looks up quickly as her hand turns like a crooked fork into the air, "Why were you out so late?"
She looks around the room, remembering her necessities—to keep the thing a secret.
"Yeah..." She blinks, "I'll change the subject too. Where the hell is Kenan? I didn't see his car in the driveway. I shouldn't get in trouble for being late if the millennial with a pricey class tomorrow isn't even home yet."
Katie's eyes close desperately, trying to be calm, "Language. Please, Harper." Her eyes open again, "He's working in the garage."
Harper shoves one more cracker in her mouth before jumping off the stool and crossing into the hallway, to the garage. Inside is hotter than the rest of the house, extra humid. The choking smell of the hot air and the sound of ear-burning country music playing from his gray car radio fills the room. Kenan is inside it with a wipe, eliminating the already dust-free dashboard.
She goes into the passenger side, falling into the low-leathered seat, "Didn't you clean this two days ago?"
He continues scrubbing vigorously all around, his fluffy hair shaking as he does, "Yeah. But my friends and I passed a couple of blunts around, so..wouldn't want one of them smelling it." His eyes dart across to the door for a split second.
"You think they care? Mom would just lecture you like always."
He raises his brows lazily to her, "I'm talking about dad."
She laughs once as she leans back into the seat, "He's not even home the majority of the week."
He turns his head back to the dash, "Yeah but when he is home he's always drunk. And you know how he is when he's drunk."
She shrugs her shoulders agreeably, "Yup. Super dramatic." She pauses and watches the wipe take nothing but it poisons the air, "At least he doesn't get physically angry."
"At least," Kenan adds, huffing. Then he sniffles, once and then again and longer, thinking this off smell is coming from his car. Then his nose leads to Harper, "Why do you smell like cigarettes?"
"Ride home from friends."
His head thrusts back, brows crunched, "Your friends smoke? I thought they were all into that weird crap."
She straightens her lips, "Oh. I mean...not them, it was different people."
He questions her with his expression, studying her.
"You might know one of them." She blinks, "Malakai."
He sneers, "Why the hell are you with them?"
"Doesn't matter, but don't tell mom. I won't tell on you."
"Whatever." He sighs, "I don't care, I just...be careful around them, they aren't the brightest."
"I have been." She replies simply.
Yeah right, is what she thinks to herself.
A/N~ Just wanted you to know, I separate the chapters so you don't have to read as much and so I can post more.😏🤞
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