Playing the Game (9 page)

***

My mother practically threw me out of the
house when I told her of Samantha’s party. She was thrilled I’d
made the ‘right’ kind of friends and planned on doing something
with them this weekend. And I planned to let my hair down a little
and just relax. I wouldn’t worry about Jess or Gwen or my mother
tonight.

“
Mom,” I said, biting my
lip nervously. “I probably won’t be home tonight so don’t
worry.”

Her eyes narrowed with suspicion. She knew I
wasn’t much of a drinker and I could see the cogs spinning horror
stories in her head. “Where will you be?”

I shrugged, trying to be nonchalant.
“Probably just crash at Samantha’s house. She said I could,” I
lied. I felt like a teenager, looking for my mother’s permission to
stay out all night. “I am an adult, Mother. I’m trying to think
responsibly. If I happen to have a few drinks, I’d rather not drive
home. I'm letting you know so that you don't worry if I don't come
home tonight.”

“
Okay, dear,” she said,
her brow creased in worry. “I think you’re right though I’d rather
you stay away from alcohol.”

“
I’m twenty-one, not
twelve. I can go to the bar and get drunk or I can spend the
evening with some friends and not worry about strange men trying to
pick me up. Which do you prefer?”

That did it. Her horrified face answered my
question and I grinned internally at another hollow victory.
Kissing her cheek, I dashed up the stairs to pack a bag. I had no
intention of spending the night with Samantha but I couldn’t stand
to spend the night here. I had no clue where I’d go or what I’d do
but the freedom surrounding me was exhilarating. I wondered vaguely
if this was how Gwen had felt when she moved in that first, tiny
apartment with Dane.

***

Samantha’s house was already hopping by the
time I got there. She was renting a small house in a rowdy part of
town where the neighbors never complained about the noise. That’s
what she told me, anyway, when she dragged me through the door. Two
girls from the show who were sharing the house greeted me
pleasantly enough and I should have been a little wary. But my
hurting heart was desperate for a friend and I eagerly accepted
their drinks, wanting to just be a part of the crowd.

When my head started spinning early, I asked
Samantha for a soda. She frowned but dashed off to the kitchen to
retrieve one. Gary Lester, another contestant, and his friend who
was known simply as Moe, kept me company. They sat on either side
of me on the sagging sofa, bombarding me with question after
question. I answered as politely as I could, but the room was
stifling and I longed to sit outside on the steps to clear my head.
I tried to stand but they each grabbed an arm and yanked me back to
my seat. I smiled, a little queasy.

“
I just need some air,” I
explained.

“
Wait until Sam brings
your drink and then I’ll take you out back,” Gary
offered.

I nodded, setting my head off again. My
stomach rolled and I hoped I wouldn’t throw up and embarrass
myself.

“
Here you go, Aubrey,”
Samantha smiled. She handed me a huge tumbler full of ice and Coke
in which I gratefully accepted. I swallowed a large amount and
grimaced at the taste. She frowned in concern.

“
Is it flat? I’m not sure
how long I’ve had that stuff.”

I shook my head, not really caring if it was
or not, although I was pretty certain the nasty taste had nothing
to do with how old the soda was. I wasn’t an experienced drinker by
any means but I was fairly sure Samantha had added some kind of
liquor. I looked to Gary, hoping he would remember his promise to
take me outside. With a wink, he took my hand.

“
I’m taking Aubrey outside
for some air,” he explained, tugging me to my feet. I followed, a
little unsteady, and kept a firm hold on my cup.

Samantha and her group of girls joined us.
One of them had a video recorder and pointed it at anyone engaging
in ridiculous behavior. I laughed as a small group of girls plugged
in a CD player and began dancing suggestively to the music. The
whistling guys encouraged them, draining their beer glasses as
quickly as they filled them. My body relaxed even though my stomach
was still queasy and I was grateful for Gary’s presence. He settled
me on a wooden bench in the backyard and kept a hand on me, warding
off potential suitors.

“
You feeling okay,
Aubrey?” he asked for the hundredth time.

Smiling a goofy grin, I fell into his
chest.

“
Wonderful,” I slurred. I
couldn’t muster enough strength to sit my body upright. He laughed
as he helped me.

Without warning, he gripped my chin,
pressing his lips to my mouth. My eyes bolted open as my heart
pumped wildly in my chest. I froze but that didn’t deter him in the
least. His lips continued to massage mine as his tongue wormed its
way into my mouth. A wail of catcalls and cheers assaulted my ears
as my eyes watered. I managed to push him away but his hands
grabbed my shoulders, his fingers digging into my skin through my
thin blouse. I cried out as he exerted more pressure and his eyes
grew dangerously dark.

“
Don’t be such a prude,
Aubrey. Maybe if you thaw out a little bit the judges will get off
your ass,” he muttered. He leaned in to kiss me again but I twisted
violently out of his hold. Jumping to my wobbly feet, I dumped my
Coke on his head. Samantha laughed wildly from somewhere over my
shoulder but Gary wasn’t amused.

As he got up, he snatched my arm. “You
frigid bitch,” he said through clenched teeth.

“
Let go of me,” I
demanded, wrenching free again. I brushed past him and headed to
the house, Samantha hot on my heels.

“
Don’t leave yet, Aubrey,”
she called in a singsong voice. “The fun’s just
starting!”

I ignored her as I reached the front door.
Stumbling through it, I wobbled across the yard until I found my
car. My head was whirling frantically as I fired up the engine and
put it in gear. The road blurred and I had a hard time keeping my
car on the proper side of the street. I pulled over once I thought
I was a safe distance from the house and whipped out my phone. My
instincts warned me against calling Gwen, though I knew she’d come
for me in a heartbeat. Her tired, drawn out face flashed in my
mind. No, I wouldn’t call her. I flipped through the numbers on my
phone as I contemplated calling a cab to take me to a hotel. Before
I could open up a browser on my phone, I stopped on a number. I
mused for five seconds then hit send.

“
Hello?” the voice
said.

“
Kendra?” I cried. “This
is Aubrey Quinn. Do you remember me?”

“
Of course,” she said
slowly. “Are you okay?”

The tears flowed hard and fast. “I hate to
do this but is there any way you could come get me?”

After I gave her the edited version of my
predicament, she told me to sit tight – she’d be right here.
Closing my eyes, I rested my head on the steering wheel, inhaling
and exhaling slowly, trying to fight off the hysteria looming ever
so close.

“
You are an idiot!” I
screamed. “You should have known better than to trust
Samantha!”

The tears returned in full force and
streamed down my face. I didn’t bother wiping them away. My stomach
rolled again and I fumbled with the door handle, practically
falling out of the car. I ran to the other side and emptied my
stomach in the gutter. Once I finished, I sat on the curb, letting
self-pity to wash over me. What a pathetic excuse for a human being
I was. I swiped at the never ending flow of tears as I watched cars
pass. I prayed no one but Kendra would stop because I was in no
condition to fight off any unfriendly advances.

Finally I heard a car stop behind mine and
Kendra’s worried voice call out my name. I held on to the fender of
my car as I walked around the front.

“
Oh geez, Aubrey! Are you
okay?” Kendra asked as she took me by the shoulders. I winced in
pain at her contact.

“
What happened?” A deeper
voice asked. Looking up, I found a man standing behind
Kendra.

“
I told you, Kevin,”
Kendra said, exasperated. “Stop being a cop for five seconds,
huh?”

He laughed. “Get her home, Kendra. Don’t let
her drive.”

She kissed his cheek and he left us alone.
Smiling weakly, she helped me into the car, avoiding the mess I’d
made on the side of the road. Once she was buckled in the driver’s
seat, she smiled again. “Kevin is my older brother. He’s also a
cop.”

I groaned. “I didn’t drive far. I knew I
couldn’t.”

“
Don’t worry,” she
reassured me. “I know that and so does he. He’s grateful you
stopped when you did.” She took a deep breath. “I was babysitting
for him and his wife when you called. They'd just arrived to pick
up the baby. It was perfect timing.”

“
I can’t thank you
enough,” I muttered, the words not seeming to convey the gratitude
in my heart. “What a mess.”

“
Wait until I get you to
my house and get you cleaned up then we can talk.”

I nodded in the dark and let her concentrate
on the road. When we finally stopped, she helped me into the house
and to a guest bathroom. She set out a towel and started the
shower. “I’ll get you some clothes.”

“
I have a bag in my car,”
I suddenly remembered. “I’ll get it.”

“
Get in the shower. I’ll
get your bag.”

The warm water loosened my tense muscles and
eased the pain in my sore shoulders. I stood under the spray,
letting the water run over my face. Finally, I shut off the taps
and stepped out of the shower. After drying off, I wrapped the
towel around my body as Kendra knocked on the door. When I opened
it, she held out my bag with a smile. The smile quickly fell as she
gasped.

“
What happened to your
shoulders?” she demanded, pushing me back into the bathroom and in
front of the mirror. Purple bruises in the vague form of fingers
decorated my skin. My head, though not spinning as much as it had
been, tried to wrap around the vision in the mirror.

“
Gary, I think,” I
mumbled, shuddering as I remembered his thin lips on mine. “He
kissed me and got mad when I told him to stop.”

I was drunk but that didn't stop me from
noticing Kendra’s shiver. I wondered briefly about it.

“
That bastard,” she
seethed. “Wait until Jess hears about this.”

I shook my head and nearly fell. “No, it’s
okay. It won’t matter.”

“
Get dressed,” she said
softly. “I made coffee. We can talk.”

When I agreed, she left me to dress. I
slipped on my clean clothes and draped my towel over the edge of
the tub. I found her in a cozy living room with a huge fireplace
taking up one wall. Photos of her and Troy and what I assumed were
members of their family sat in frames on the mantle. A huge mass of
white nearly tackled me before I could sit.

“
Spanky!” Kendra called.
The dog’s head dropped as it turned to sit at her feet. She smiled
at me again. “She’s a good dog. Too friendly sometimes.”

I sat next to Kendra and stroked the dog’s
soft fur. I was rewarded with a huge kiss that made a laugh bubble
in my throat. “I love dogs.”

“
What happened, Aubrey?”
Kendra asked. I could see the concern and curiosity raging in her
eyes. “Jess said you don’t drink. And then you call me, drunk, with
bruises on your body. Did someone…hurt you…in some way?”

I took the cup of coffee she offered,
sipping at it slowly. When I set the cup on the table, I told her
every sad detail from my evening. When I reached Gary’s part in my
little drama, her eyes burned pure fire as her fists clenched in
her lap.

“
We should call Kevin,”
she said.

I shook my woozy head. “I’d rather forget
the whole mess.”

She watched me carefully, waiting for what,
I didn’t know. Finally she nodded as she stood. “Do you need to
call anyone? You’re welcome to stay here tonight.”

“
If it’s not too much
trouble,” I said, my voice horribly weak. I couldn’t imagine going
home in the shape I was in, although I was feeling much
better.

“
Of course not,” she
said.

She showed me to a beautiful guest room
which I was sure I’d rave over if I wasn’t suffering an aching head
and a wounded ego. When she left me, I slipped into the bed,
drawing the blankets to my chin. I thankfully closed my eyes and
welcomed the exhaustion that relieved me from a disastrous
night.

***

I found Kendra in the sunny kitchen the next
morning, carrying on a one sided conversation with the huge mass of
dog parked in the middle of the floor.

“
Good morning,” she
smiled. After she washed her hands in the sink, she fetched a
package of bagels and a tub of cream cheese from the refrigerator.
“I hope bagels are okay with you. Troy’s housekeeper, Hildy, is on
vacation and I’m not much of a cook.”

“
That’s fine,” I said, not
very particular. My stomach wasn’t exactly back to its normal,
happy self and I figured bread with a light spattering of cream
cheese wouldn’t hurt. I realized I should probably head for home
but Kendra’s company was comforting in a way Gwen’s used to be. I
didn’t want to leave.

The bagels popped out of the toaster and as
we ate, Kendra chattered excitedly, obviously trying to keep my
mind off the previous evening.

“
Jess is pitching today.
Are you going to watch the game?”