Chapter 7
Liz was only going to Florida for one week, but her mountain of designer luggage was more suitable for a month-long trip. We just finished packing it all into her car when she realized she forgot one crucial thing. The most important accessory. That's right guys. Liz was now rummaging around the whole house for – get this – her favorite lipstick. God forbid she goes on her trip without it! It was amusing to see her true drama-queen side come out.
"Is it really that important?"
"Um, one of the most important things. Presentation is key. And I would prefer not using my old lipstick and having to reapply it every hour," she answered from around the corner in the kitchen.
Pop-tart in hand as I watched TV on the couch, I couldn't help but nearly laugh. Don't think I'm a lazy piece of shit for no reason. Nope, I helped her all morning, but I was drawing the line at this.
I listened to drawers slamming, her riffling through her purse, and shuffling papers around. Strange places to look for lost lipstick? You bet. Despite my sister being tidy, prissy, and clean, she was not organized.
"Wow... look at the time. 10:17...." I said loudly.
"Would you shut up," she laughed.
"What? I'm just astonished how fast time is going by," I said innocently. Did I mention Liz planned on leaving at 10:30 to catch her flight?
I heard the fast rhythm of her heels against the tile. She left the kitchen and came into sight on my right, passing me in the living room to head towards to the stairs. Again. "You've checked your room so many times already. Maybe check in my bathroom? I haven't see it, but you already looked everywhere," I muffled through my pop-tart.
Glancing to me, she paused. "Jos... remember the expensive white couch you're on?"
"Oh I'm sorry. I know, I just forgot," I said, quickly finishing the pop-tart and getting to my feet. That was one rule I always forgot (because it was absolutely stupid). If she didn't want stains, she shouldn't have bought a white couch. And it was just a pop-tart, not fucking tomato soup!
Though I refused to help her anymore this morning, I couldn't take watching her run around anymore in a frenzy. I followed her upstairs and helped her search until we finally found it. I will admit, it was a very pretty lipstick – and she made the case of why it was better than her other lipsticks while we looked. That's one thing that made me more comfortable around here. Though she was gone a lot, though we were different, she was clearly trying to talk to me more and make an effort.
Since she was running late, she grabbed her purse and we quickly headed out to her car. Then, she faced me, and quickly named off the basic reminders. "Alright, so remember... David is next door if you need anything. I have a credit card on the table for groceries. No eating on the white couch," she said teasingly before giving me a quick hug and getting into her car. "Get some more scholarship applications in too. We'll check the school out and start getting you registered when I get back. Text me if you have any questions or emergencies."
"Let me know when you land, okay?"
"Sure, Jos," she smiled, slamming her door shut before she was off.
Honestly... I wasn't too upset having the whole house to myself. It was nice having control of the place. Once I was back inside, I put away her mail, opened some windows, and did a little cleaning. I even picked some wild flowers from the edge of the field. The white and purple followers were so pretty! Yes, call me lame, but I could get giddy over small and simple things like that. I took pride in being a positive person (as much as I could anyway) so sue me. Pairing them with a few lilies from around the porch, I placed them in a vase on the coffee table.
Those small tasks felt nice to do now that she was gone. I'm not saying Liz would object to any of those things anyway while she was here, but it offered a stronger sense of independence I suppose. The whole reason I was excited to move here was to start enjoying my life more anyway. It was time to embrace it, right?
It encouraged me to make plans with Jamie again. If anyone could show me a good time, he seemed to be the guy. Not to mention there was plenty I still needed to experience here!
So, the next few days when I wasn't working, we spent time hanging out. For all the things we did, I was grateful he didn't suggest anything water-related. I had a feeling he knew what happened at the beach still bothered me. Regardless of that though, he managed showing me plenty of other things around town. For how small of an area we lived in, I was surprised how capable he was of making the most mundane things fun – like when he showed me a few more hiking trails around town. The one in particular was quite memorable.
"How far up do you think you can climb one of these bad boys?" he asked, pausing in our walk to pat the trunk of a huge tree. A tree with no branches or limbs until about 15 feet up.
"Pretty far if I had a ladder." And if I wasn't scared of heights.
"All you gotta do is try. If you couldn't tell, I can do anything," he said smugly.
"Yeah? Fine big shot, let's see you scale a flat tree trunk with nothing to help you."
Jamie smiled amusingly as he studied the perfectly smooth surface of the bark. He brushed his curled brown locks back and rubbed his hands together. You know, the perfect warm-up routine for anything. Then he tried jumping, digging the tip of his shoe into the bark, and when it caught nothing, he skidded back to the ground.
I could not help but snort and hold my mouth. It was quite hilarious how much he tried though. If there was one thing I was learning about Jamie... he was easily distracted and so random. For how many more times he looked like an idiot by trying to climb an un-climbable tree, I had to admit: I admired his determination.
It even made me determined. Which was why that small joking task derailed our hike. After failing miserably, we sought after better climb-able trees. The best one we found took a hot minute to spot. We moved a few feet off the trail until I found a sparse pine tree with low hanging branches. Yes guys, to say the least, I was up for the challenge.
"Have you ever climbed any trees before?" he asked, naturally using the low branched to climb up into the tree.
"Yeah, a couple times back home. Can't say it was an intense sport I participated in," I said, watching him several feet above my head.
He stopped and stood on a branch, holding onto another above him. "Well, it's an intense sport here. Come on, get up here, I don't have all day to hang around." Then, he bent his legs and hung by his one arm holding the branch above him.
I snorted and cringed. "I don't understand how you can have such an ego and be such a fucking dork."
"Lots of practice."
I won't lie though. Seeing him effortlessly hold his tall and toned body by one hand made his strength rather impressive. I learned he was even stronger than he looked too because when I tried simply getting into the tree... it was not as simple as it seemed.
I grabbed a branch and hoisted myself up onto the low branch, but climbing any higher required a more difficult maneuver. I tried wedging my foot into a nick in the bark and using it to boost myself up to the next branch... and my shoe slipped. Why wouldn't it? My four-foot climb ended and I stumbled back to the ground and fell on my ass. Oh yes, entirely embarrassing. It made us both crack up laughing.
"Jesus god. I think I just leveled an entire ant colony." I groaned.
"Poor ants."
"Poor me, mister."
When I got up, I kept trying. Kept trying over and over to get up this stupid ass tree... and continued falling in the same spot. It was so hilarious. Especially since each attempt came Jamie's roaring and obnoxious cheering.
"Go Jos! Go Jos! Go Jos! Go Jos!" he chanted, jumping on the branch.
"Stop shaking the tree, you are not helping!"
"Excuses!"
For as athletic and flexible as I was, finally getting into that tree was a bitch. But I finally did it. God, I looked so awkward too when I finally maneuvered my way up to him. I was going epically slow for how high we were going up. Ugh, I couldn't even bare looking down without feeling uneasy. I tried not showing him though. I couldn't almost drown and be scared of how high up I was. I refused to be that much of a loser in front of him.
We hung out in the tree for a while before climbing back down. Thankfully, I survived – and even made it all the way down too without falling again. Yes, be so very proud of me. And just like that, we continued and finished our hike as if we didn't derail from it in the first place.
After our busy day, he pulled into my driveway to drop me off for the night. Putting his truck in park, the evening pink light highlighted a smile when he glanced over to me. "So what's on the agenda for tomorrow? Hmm?"
I chuckled. "Well, unlike you, I have a job and I work tomorrow."
"I have a job. My job is to live my life to the fullest," he smirked.
"I'm sure you are quite successful then."
"Whenever we do hang out next, make sure to bring a few cartons of eggs with you."
"What? Why?" I laughed.
"Because I'm taking you to the junk yard, that's why."
Oh. That explained everything. I needed eggs because he was taking me to the junk yard. Like what the fuck? Yes, Jamie was quite a character, but it made everything fun and exciting. So whatever he had in store for us next time, I couldn't wait!
We said goodbye and I hopped out of his truck. My smile didn't dim as I headed inside. Finally, I was having a damn good summer. I was having fun and my paranoid thoughts were mostly gone because of it at this point.
That was until the following day.
Spending time with Jamie was helping me become more comfortable with the area and the people too. All I could think about was what other things we could do! The junk yard could only mesmerize a person so much, right? So while at work, I asked for suggestions and even forced myself to get more personal with some of the regulars (you know, the ones that weren't pigs). My coworkers though seemed to offer the best insight. After sharing that I went hiking the other day with Jamie, they had a few suggestions.
"Have you gone north yet at all?" Zack asked me. A few of us were behind the bar, chatting in a little circle. "I take my girlfriend up to the state park sometimes and we'll go to some of these massive waterfalls and rapids. It's really sweet."
"Really?" I smiled.
"Some are difficult to get to. A few are up in the foothills, but trust me, it's worth it."
"It sounds worth it. I'm definitely going to look into it because that sounds amazing."
"Pshh, sounds like the most boring time of my life," Carla said, making us laugh. "Josephine, do you want to know what is also up north?"
"What?"
"College town. AKA: Part-ay town."
Carla was definitely a ball and made work enjoyable. For being 'the only black girl in 100 miles' (her words not mine), she was a fun and easy-going person I was learning. And though the waterfalls were definitely something I wanted to check out, she also knew how to speak my language.
"I don't know, I can't really see you being much of a partier," Zack said amusingly to me.
I guess he only witnessed my quirky and nice side thus far. I was responsible, independent, but man do I enjoy a good time when I can! "Oh, believe me, I like to party it up," I said, running a hand over my thick and curly pony-tail. "You should see me do some body shots off myself."
"Off yourself? That's impressive."
"Doesn't mean it's a graceful sight," I shrugged with a chuckle. "I need about five regular shots to do one of those."
Carla grinned. "Well then you need to take your ass to party town and shake it all over the place. Draw in some fresh meat, ya know?"
"I don't know about the fresh meat part, but I can do a little ass shaking. I party and dance, but I didn't say I was any good," I laughed. "I will be starting college there anyway this fall, so I'm excited for that part."
That was honestly the only part of college I was excited for. Meeting new people, going to parties, and just having fun. I had a small group of friends back home, but I did manage going to a couple awesome parties. As for 'drawing in fresh meat' though... I never had any luck with guys or dating.
"We'll take you to one sometime since you probably don't know a lot of people enrolled yet. They're always a ton of fun," Carla said.
"What's fun?" Madison asked, joining us behind the bar. What's fun? Not this conversation anymore.
"Checkers. I have the time of my life with that game," Zack answered.
I had to stifle a laugh. "We're talking about parties."
I realized why Zack said checkers. Que the ditsy rambling of Madison's insight on partying. I'm not saying I was bored with her commentary (even though I was). But the last thing I wanted to listen to was her brag about all the crazy parties she's been too and all the guys she has hooked up with. Good for you, Madison. One day I would love to fuck as many men as you have.
It was a slow and easy night for business. By the time we closed at 11:00, we all walked out the back door to the small side lot where we all parked. "Have a goodnight, guys," I called to them when I opened my car door.
"Goodnight, Jos, see ya fine ass tomorrow," Carla called back, getting in her car.
Soon, the lot was empty – along with the road I was driving on too. Sullivan's wasn't located near downtown, but was off a side road and surrounded in trees and a few neighboring houses. Meaning my drive home consisted of 15 minutes of nothing but woods on each side of the hilly roads. That was still difficult to get used to: the hilly and curvy roads. I was not excited about driving these in the winter time, hell no sir!
Even if I was accustomed to driving through this hilly landscape though, I doubt it would have helped. I doubt it would have prevented the life-altering event from happening. I doubt anything on my part would have.
With my headlights the only source of light, I followed the paved roads and each gradual hill they guided me over. Honestly, I enjoyed this drive and had the route home memorized by now. It was always peaceful, especially with the soft breeze that ruffled my hair from my cracked window. Nothing but the hum of my car, the green woods covered in darkness, and my headlights guiding me through the vacant hills.
After descending to more level road, I was nearing a curve in the road. I slowed down a little – but didn't need to slow much. The moment I followed the pavement to the left, my headlights flooded the new section of road – and the person I was closing in on! Only a few yards away standing in the road!
What the fuck?! There was no time to slow. I was nearly on top of this person! The second I saw them, I cranked the wheel hard with a gasp! I flew to the left, through the other lane, and though I slammed on my breaks, it was too late. I went barreling off the shoulder, going at least 40 miles per hour. Oh fuck! I plowed into the woods, running down bushes, loose branches. The rough impacts of branches, stones, and sticks rang in the air with my scream. It was so fast, so fast, oh my god! No, no, oh—
Wham!
The stretching and violent crash rung into the air. It was still. The car was still. A hard force stopped me, stopped the car, with brutal finality. It turned my ear-splitting scream of fear turned into a curt shriek of pain.