No Such Thing as a Free Ride (8 page)

“Are you nuts?” I yelled.

In a split second that felt like an eternity, she set her eyes on me, and I could feel her mood shift from territorial to psychotic. Her pale, blue eyes never wavering, she reached into her back pocket and drew out a straight-edged razor.

Oh god, oh god, oh god. What do I do now?
I didn’t wait for an answer. I launched myself off the ground and took off running down the alley.

With Bunny blocking my exit I was forced to head toward the dead end. Down near the end of the alley there was a gap between two of the buildings. I tried to squeeze through but it was too narrow. Wedged between the structures, I spied a dilapidated wooden door that led to the entrance to one of the abandoned apartment houses.

I wriggled out and checked the knob. It was rusted shut so I threw my weight into the door frame. It budged, but just barely. I kicked the bottom panel and the old wood splintered, giving me enough room to crawl through the door.

I waited a beat while my eyes adjusted to the dingy surroundings. There were holes in the ceiling where old plaster had broken away, letting in thin streams of light. Mildew clung to the walls and permeated the air. It was just a matter of time before Bunny found her way in, but if I could just find the front door, I could escape onto the street.

After a frantic search, I located the front entrance, but it was nailed shut. The windows looking out onto the street were boarded up as well, leaving me no way out.

I was about to head back the other way when I heard a loud crash coming from the back door area. I shot up the stairs two at a time and raced down the long hallway, ducking into an open apartment. I opened a closet door and settled in. With any luck, Bunny would get bored looking for me and leave.

Turns out, Bunny had a longer attention span than I gave her credit for. I could hear her creaking around in the apartment next to me, slamming doors and cursing up a blue streak. My heart was pounding so hard I thought she could hear it through the walls.

The next thing I knew, the door to the apartment creaked open and the sounds of footsteps grew louder. I stood stock still. Any moment now this razor-wielding nut case would rip open the door and slice me like a ripe melon. I strained to listen for the slightest movement but—nothing.

After what seemed like forever, I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to know what was going on. There was a crack in the door about four inches below eye level. Without a sound, I eased my way down to look though the crack. An unblinking blue eye stared back at me.

Holy shit!
I hurled myself against the door with all my might, smashing into Bunny’s forehead. The force knocked her off her feet and sent her crashing to the ground. I flew out of the closet and tripped over her army boots. She was out cold.

I stood on wobbly feet, trying to catch my breath. At that moment, Nick appeared in the doorway. He glanced down at Bunny’s prone body and then turned an appraising eye on me.

“Thought you were going to be right back, darlin’.”

“Yeah, well, I got a little tied up.”

Nick slung his arm around me, smiling. “I see you handled it. That’s the important thing.”

Less than a moment before, I’d battled a maniac in a life threatening situation, but now all I could think about was the way my stomach flipped whenever Nick looked at me.

My chin was caked with blood and I had cobwebs clinging to my boobs. Acute embarrassment took over and I raked a hand though my hair, as if
that
would make me look presentable.

“Ready to go?” he asked.

I filled him in as we walked back to his truck. “I don’t know where Crystal disappeared to, and I’m worried about what’s going to happen to her when Bunny wakes up. Maybe I should find her and take her home with me.”

“I know you want to protect her, Angel,” he said quietly, “but it doesn’t work that way out on the streets. You need to be available, but let her come to you.”

Driving around with Nick again seemed the most natural thing in the world. It was almost as if that awkward little scene in his apartment three months prior had never happened, and I was just as happy to pretend that it hadn’t. Denying unpleasant memories is an Alexander family tradition… which explains why there are huge gaps in our family tree.

Still, the sting of rejection can make even the most secure individual (for which I don’t even remotely qualify) act in regrettable ways. So, when Bobby called me on the way home, I may have led Nick to believe DiCarlo and I were a
bit
more involved than we actually are.

“Oh, hi, Bobby,” I breathed in a ‘come hither’ tone. “It’s good to hear from you.”

“Brandy, I just saw you yesterday. Why are you talking so weird?”

I made a big show of clearing my throat and asked, “What’s up?”

“Well, I was calling to see if you were busy on Saturday night, because the Phils are playing the Red Sox and—”

“Saturday night? Let me think… no, I’m not busy. That sounds
wonderful
! I’d love to—”

“Oh, uh, Bran, I was actually calling to ask if you could watch Sophia for me. See, I’ve got a date and Eddie’s mom usually baby sits, only she’s got the flu and—shit. I’m sorry. I just thought since you and I decided to cool it for awhile, that—y’know, I’d—Listen, never mind. I’ll ask somebody else.”

I sat there feeling like an ass and praying Nick couldn’t hear Bobby’s end of this ridiculously humiliating conversation.

“No! Hey, Bobby. We are totally
on
for Saturday night. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

“You sure?”

“Absolutely! Ta-ta.”
Oh, jeez. Did I really just say “ta-ta”?

I glanced over at Nick, trying to discern an iota of jealousy.
Nuthin’.
And now I was stuck babysitting Bobby’s kid. Well, that’s just fabulous.

Nick pulled up in front of my house and cut the engine.

“Thanks for the ride, Nick,” I said, looking down at my lap. The adrenalin rush I’d felt when I was fighting for my life had slipped away, and I was left with an indescribable feeling of loss. I hadn’t allowed myself to think about the girl in the hospital or Crystal’s fate out on the streets or even the circumstances that drove Bunny to the other side of sanity. But it hit me now like a punch in the face and I swallowed hard to keep from crying.

“Okay if I stick around a while?” Nick asked. He opened his car door and hopped out, not waiting for an answer. I hopped out too and felt a searing pain in my ankle as I stepped down.

“Hang on there a second,” he told me, and lifted me up in his arms.

“Nick, really, this isn’t necessary. I’m fine.”

“You’re more than fine. Indulge me.”

I made an involuntary noise, a cross between a sigh and an orgasmic moan and let him carry me up my steps.

My across the street neighbor, Heather Koslowski was just getting out of her car with Mr. Wiggles. Mr. Wiggles is her dog, but she refers to him as her ‘boyfriend.’ Swear to God. Ignoring the fact that I was being carried “Windswept” style up to my house, she called over to me.

“Hi Brandy. I haven’t seen you for a while. Want to come over and watch
What a Girl Wants,
tonight?” Normally I’d take her up on it, seeing as it’s one of my favorite movies, starring perky Amanda Bynes, but I already had what a girl wants, at least for the moment.

“Um, thanks, Heather. Maybe next week.”

Nick carried me over the threshold and deposited me on the living room couch. I took a quick look around. I’d left my bra draped over the banister.
Great.
And over in the corner was a box of old Barbie dolls I’d found in my bedroom closet and thought about donating to Good Will, but then Janine came over and we dressed them up and had a fashion show, and when I remembered how much fun they were I decided to keep them.

“I’ve got an Ace Bandage in the truck,” Nick told me, heading out the door again. “I’ll be right back.” He glanced over at the box and grinned. “Barbies. Nice.”

“Those are my brother’s. He’s really into fashion.”

“Uh huh,” Nick said, and went off to retrieve the bandage.

The instant Nick left tears welled up in me and began spilling haphazardly down my cheeks.
Oh Christ, where’s this coming from? Okay, so the day’s been a little rough, what with watching a kid die and getting the living crap beat out of me, but things are looking up now. Stop being such a baby.

I sucked in a deep breath and swiped my eyes with the back of my hand. Nick came in at that moment and sat down next to me on the couch. He was holding a small first aid kit and some bandages.

“You okay, Angel?”

“What? Me? Pfft. I’m fine.”
That’s the Alexander spirit.
I flashed him a big old smile and split my chin open again. “Ow.”

Nick carefully lifted my chin and inspected the damage. “You could use some stitches.” He opened the kit and extracted an antiseptic wipe and dabbed at the cut, covering it afterward with a butterfly bandage. Then he reached down and pulled my legs up onto his lap. Easing off my shoe he began cuffing my pants.

Oh shit! How long has it been since I shaved my legs?

Thank God he stopped at the ankle. Nick slowly rotated my foot. “There’s some swelling, but nothing’s broken,” he decided, only I wasn’t really paying attention. His touch was sending electric currents straight to my crotch.

Too soon my ankle was wrapped and my legs back on solid ground.

“You’re going to be feeling those bumps and bruises, if you haven’t started already,” Nick told me. “Where do you keep your aspirin?”

“In the kitchen, above the microwave, only I really think I could use some chocolate. Studies have shown it helps in the healing process.”

While Nick was getting the medicinal Hershey’s I put in a call to the hospital. Nurse Morrison was still on duty.

“It’s Brandy Alexander,” I said, when she got on the line. “Listen, I know you’ve got rules against giving out patient information and I totally respect that. It’s just that I can’t stop thinking about the girl who—” I stopped, choking up.

“Who died.” Nurse Morrison supplied. “Dr. Sanchez vouched for you. She says you’re one of the good guys. What do you want to know?”

“It’s just that I thought she was going to be okay. What happened?”

“Miscarriage, in all likelihood caused by the drugs we found in her system. She developed an infection and it attacked her heart.” She let out a weary sigh. “And as sad as it is, it’s a common story. My friend works in the coroners’ office in Camden. Called me up about a year ago in tears. Said this pretty little white girl had come in—she was a runaway and she’d O.D.’d. She’d just given birth. God only knows what happened to her baby.” Another sigh, then, “Well, I’d better go tend to the living. Brandy,” she added, “Dr. Sanchez was right. You a
re
one of the good guys. If more people cared about these kids, there would be far fewer that end up like this one.”

After we said our goodbyes, I reached for the Homer Simpson Pez dispenser I keep on my coffee table for moments like these when I need some quick cheering up. Homer is hilarious, especially when he’s dispensing pure sugar pellets from his neck. Only the Pez dispenser wasn’t there.

I crawled around on the floor, checking under the couch, but it was nowhere in sight. The last time I’d seen it, Crystal was helping herself to some candy.

“Weird,” I mused aloud, plunking myself back on the couch.

“What is?” Nick came into the living room and handed me a chocolate bar and some aspirin and sat down next to me again.

“I’m pretty sure Crystal stole my Pez dispenser. I had a twenty dollar bill sitting right next to it, and that’s still here.”

“Not so weird, darlin’. She wasn’t trying to rip you off, she just wanted something of yours to take with her. This may be hard to believe, but it’s actually a compliment. It shows that she trusts you.”

I sandwiched the aspirin between two bits of chocolate and popped it into my mouth.

“How do you know so much about this kid, Nick? You just met her but you seem to understand her better than I ever will.”

Nick’s normally placid face showed the slightest bit of distress, but it was enough to send a pang through my heart. “Why is that?” I pressed. “Why did you guys connect the way you did?”

He cut me a lopsided smile and my heart officially broke. “The reason I understand Crystal is because when I was a kid I lived on the streets too.”

Woah! I did not see that one coming… although, now that he’d told me, it made all the sense in the world.

“I’ve been on my own since I was twelve,” he continued, quietly. “Luckily, I had some help along the way.”

My eyes got all teary again. “Nick, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay, Angel. I got through it,” he said, pulling me to him. I rested my head against his shoulder and prayed to the universe I’d never have to move again.

“But how?” I nearly sobbed. “How do you ‘get through’ something like that?”

Nick stroked my hair, comforting me. “My maternal grandfather was Cherokee. He died when I was just a little boy, but he taught me a very wise Cherokee saying. ‘Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today.’ I try to live by that.”

“Nick,” I said, turning to face him. “I asked you something a while ago, but you never gave me an answer. Tell me about your childhood. Please.”

“Someday,” he said, returning my gaze.

“But—”

“Shhh,” he whispered, and cupped my face in his hands. “I’ve missed you, Brandy Alexander.” And then he kissed me.

“… and then he kissed me.”

“Tongue?” Janine asked.

“Janine! Please. I’m trying to eat, here,” John grumbled.

I gave a silent nod to Janine and smiled, remembering.

We were crammed into a booth at DiVinci’s Pizza; Carla, Janine, Johnny and me, AKA “The Party Planning Committee.” Mrs. DiAngelo couldn’t make it. She was having a gnocchi crisis. Janine said her mother, famous for her Italian dumplings and the undisputed neighborhood champ, was recently usurped by Eddie’s mother, who, according to a reliable source, had been perfecting a new recipe for months in an effort to capture the coveted title.