Ransom (3 page)

“That’s easy for you to say since everybody thinks you’re amazing,” I said.
 

I heard the bitterness in my tone and was sorry for it. Trinity was who she was, she couldn’t help it if everybody loved her. Just like I couldn’t help it if nobody knew I existed.

The multitude of silver bangles and various bracelets that she wore on both arms, rattled and tinkled as we drove down the potholed road that led to my house. Her straight honey-colored hair hung loose and was a little shorter than normal, only reaching the middle of her back. Her skin was tan from days spent working in her parents garden and tonight she had decided on going makeup free.
 

In contrast to my need to be accepted, Trinity didn’t care what people thought about her in the least. Where I usually tried to blend in, Trinity did just the opposite, always making her uniqueness known. Those facts alone made our friendship all the more odd. For her, it wasn’t about standing out, it was more about being true to her self. Tall and slender with an athletic figure, bordering on boyish, Trinity was the epitome of a chameleon who could be whoever and whatever she wanted to be, but only if she wanted to.
 

She didn’t buy into all the latest and greatest and instead wore her individuality with a grace that few could pull off. I admired how she threw on whatever she wanted, and how what she wanted varied every day. Some days she dressed in white vinyl go-go boots, a mini skirt with peace symbols on every part of her anatomy, and looked like someone pulled from the cover of a sixties magazine. Other days she dressed in head to toe black, complete with black combat boots, lipstick and fingernail polish. I had seen her in flowing earth tone skirts with white puffy peasant shirts, Indian saris, sarongs and just about anything out of the ordinary. No matter what she put on, she owned the look, as if she had worn it every day of her life.

Tonight she was dressed in a classic Boho sheik complete with oversized dangling silver-toned turquoise beaded earrings, and a full-length sleeveless paisley dress with shades of navy, cobalt blue with crimson and gold accents.
 

“So what are you going to do if your mom finds out?” Trinity asked with an impish grin. Unlike me she had no parental chains. Her mother and father were card carrying flower children who believed in letting Trinity do just about anything she wanted. The Robinson’s laissez-faire parenting style had produced Trinity, one of the most well adjusted, confident people I knew. I, on the other hand, with a full book of Mom’s laws of personal conduct, was just the opposite.
 

“I’m hoping I’m back home before she gets home but…” I shrugged a shoulder, “if she catches me…well I’ll just have to deal. Besides, Mitch is so worth the grief I’ll get from Mom.”
 

I smiled, visualizing the cut of his pecs and how his jeans fit the hard lines of his sumptuous butt.

“Mitch is an asshole,” Trinity said in a flat tone. “He’s so up in all his business that I think he’s secretly having an affair with his own reflection. He’s like…who’s that guy who stared at himself in the water until he actually ended up dying…” Trinity scratched her head. She chewed on her full lips as if deep in thought. Only I knew she wasn’t because she was quite aware that as I always did, I would fill in the blanks for her.

“Narcissus,” I said. I shook my head. “You can’t blame him for wanting to take care of himself,” I muttered. I stared out the window at the thick evergreen forest that lined the highway.
 

“Hey, I didn’t mean to upset you,” Trinity said.
 

She placed a warm hand on my upper arm and gave it a squeeze.
 

“I just know his kind, and that his type aren’t very nice to girls. I just don’t want you to get hurt is all.”
 

I brought my gaze back to her. Her lips curved into an apologetic smile. I grinned back, knowing that no matter what I decided to do with Mitch she would back me, despite her own reservations. Trinity loved me unconditionally; I loved her all the more for it.

“Wow, this is way bigger than even I expected,” she said.
 

I hadn’t noticed that we had already arrived at the dedicated road that led to Dallas’s family’s motel, a collection of forty or so cottage style stone cabins with terra cotta roofs. As we drew closer I noticed that the cabins were separated into four neat lines of ten, backed by a boreal forest. Multi-colored patio lanterns were strung between the cabins, illuminating the bunches of people well into the party spirit. Positioned at the front was a two-story sandy colored brick house that looked to be a common area. The place was already teeming with at least a couple hundred people, probably more.

“I hope I can find Mitch in all of this. I mean there are so many places to be…” My voiced drifted off as my heart sank at the concept that after all I had risked to be there, there was a real possibility that I might not get to see him.

“You’ll find him. I’m sure he’s got enough cologne and hair product for his scent to lead the way,” Trinity said with a chuckle.
 

She gave me a sidelong glance. When she saw I wasn’t amused, she winged up and eyebrow and gave me a sheepish look.

“Sorry. I promise that’s the last Mitch comment for the evening.”

I nodded without saying anything, though I kind of wanted to laugh at her joke.

We continued down the newly paved road that had been just a dirt track the summer before. When Dallas’s parents had bought the motel a few years back, they had spent a lot of time and effort reviving its broken down facade. As far as I could see they had done a superior job since everything looked crisp and new.
 

 
I was quite sure that all the efforts Dallas’s parents had put into the motel, would definitely take a beating before the night was over. The wrath that I might face for breaking the rules seemed like small potatoes compared to what Dallas would have to deal with, if things went as I predicted they would.

The sun was just beginning to set as we moved down the smooth road, streaks of navy and pink stretched across the sky. I couldn’t help but think about the old mariners belief that my Grampa on my father’s side, had told me about when I was five or so. Grampa had been dead for more years than I could count, but his words still rang true.
Red sky at night, sailors delight, red sky in the morning sailors take warning
. According to those words, that were true more times than not, we would be graced with good weather for the evening, the final ingredient in a perfect party.

 
Trinity parked with the other vehicles in the huge parking lot that abutted the property. I counted at least fifty cars, I was sure there would be more to come since it was still pretty early in the evening. You couldn’t get a better place for underage drinking, illicit drug use and back seat sex then the motel, since it was so far off the main highway that it was virtually secluded.

The need to find Mitch before an onslaught of more people converged felt more urgent than ever.
 

Trinity turned the key to the off position.
 

“If we get separated text Aiden and we’ll meet up,” she said.
 

She put her hand up for a fist pump and after our knuckles had connected she extricated her lithe frame from the car. The soft, early summer breeze ruffled her hair and made her dress flutter like the wings of a dragonfly. As was the norm, Trinity was right at home in the midst of strangers and friends alike; I wished I was as relaxed as she was. I shoved out of the car, as I did one more wave of unease swept through me.
 

When I was outside, I leaned against the exterior of the car, still warm from the hot sun. Every part of me wanted to get back inside and go home because I still couldn’t shake the feeling that I had made a huge mistake. Reality converged on me like an arctic wind. I wasn’t kidding anyone, not even myself, into believing that I actually had any kind if chance hooking up with Mitch. New clothes and extra eyeliner couldn’t make me someone I wasn’t, not to mention that I wasn’t even remotely Mitch’s type. He was a jock, I was a shrinking wall flower, one who was much more comfortable in the public library buried in books than cheering at a football game. I wasn’t this. Even Trinity knew it, why else would she have tried to dissuade me from going for Mitch.

“This was a huge mistake,” I said, suddenly feeling light-headed. Everything seemed to be spinning out of control. I wanted to get off the twirling vortex that the moment had become.

“Hey you.”
 

Trinity was beside me, her slender arm curled around my shoulders. She was more than a head taller than me and weighed probably twenty pounds less, another depressing fact. Though I knew she was trying to comfort me I felt fat and squat next to her; a small grey stone next to her bright jewel.

“I’m not sure I should be here,” I whispered.

Tears gathered at the back of my eyes. Not only did I regret that I had come to the party, but I also felt guilty for how awful I had treated Mom. She had always been there for me, the one constant in all the ups and downs that had been our life. I had taken her for granted too many times. The truth was she loved me more than I deserved, and no matter what I had said to her I knew that she would forgive me in a heartbeat. That I had been more than a little selfish, weighed even heavier then before.

“Of course you belong here. You’ve just got the jitters about Mitch. And I sure as hell didn’t help with all my lame-ass comments,” Trinity said.

 
She kissed the top of my head then patted my hair as though I was a puppy. Even so, the act served to unwind my strung out nerves. Like it or not, I had to accept that even though I didn’t exactly want it, I was at the party. That meant that I couldn’t be all mopey and ruin Trinity’s night. Suck it up and have fun was the motto of the next few hours.

“Sorry, I know I’m being a shit,” I said, wiping a few stray tears away from my eyes. I glanced down at my fingers and noticed black smudges. Even before the party had started I was doing a solid impression of a raccoon.
 

“It’s just, you know I feel bad. Mom and I got into it real good, and I was a total bitch to her.”

Trinity dabbed at my eyes with a crumpled white tissue.
 

“Your mother understands that you’re all raging hormones. I mean she menstruates as much as the rest of us, she knows how it is…”

“Ooo gross. I mean seriously Trinity who even uses the word menstruate anyway. It sounds like an disgusting health class lecture.”
 

I laughed, this time my residual anxiety fell away. Trinity could always lighten my mood, no matter how much of a downer I was being.
 

“And I can’t really use that excuse since I finished my period last week,” I said.

“Periods and menstruating, fitting conversation for a party,” a voice said from behind us. I spun to see Aiden standing there.

“Aiden,” Trinity said, throwing herself into his well-muscled arms.

 
She kissed him full on the mouth until I was sure that they were going to die from suffocation. When they finally broke apart they gazed at each other for a few more beats. Aiden’s dark shoulder length hair was a little more tousled than normal after the kiss, and his cheeks were flushed rosy. His icy blue eyes studied Trinity in a way that didn’t belie that he was hopelessly in love with her. Though Aiden was model gorgeous, I had never looked at him in that way, even before Trinity and him had started dating.

With tremendous difficulty I saw Aiden pull his gaze to me.
 

“Holy shit Lexie, that’s a look,” he said.

I felt my face go hot and my mouth went dry. Once again I wondered what had possessed me to try to be someone who I wasn’t. My shoulders drooped and I was down in the pits of despair again.

Trinity punched Aiden’s huge shoulder, hard enough that he had to shift his balance to keep from toppling over.

“Nice one,” she said between clenched teeth.

Aiden threw his huge hands up in front of him.
 

“I mean you look smoking hot Lexie. It’s just that I’m not used to you looking like that is all.”

A satisfied grin bowed Trinity’s mouth. Where most people would be pissed if their boyfriend called another girl smoking hot, Trinity was pleased. She gave Aiden a soft kiss on his cheek then ran the tip of her tongue over the rim of his ear. He visibly shivered then tugged her in for another breath-stealing kiss.

 
I didn’t want to feel jealous about their relationship but I did. I wanted a guy to look at me like Aiden did Trinity, as if she was the only girl in his universe. Trinity broke the kiss then pinched Aiden’s butt before she caught his hand in hers. They moved forward, and as she passed me she snared my hand with hers. The three of us moved into the melee of a party that promised to be more than a little memorable.

3. RANSOM

We blew into the small town three hours later than we’d planned. It didn’t really matter since Gabriel’s show wasn’t until 5:00 p.m. the next day. I knew that it would still be enough of a delay to tick Pa off.
 

I had no idea what the place was called only that it was somewhere between Atlanta and Tennessee. A
 
couple of flash thunder storms had been the reason for our slowed progress. As was common in the South during the peak of summer, one minute the sky was robins egg blue and the next black as the Ace of Spades. The storms we had passed had been spectacles to behold, especially when we were smack in the middle of them.

Despite the fact that Ma had been terrified of thunder and lightning, even insisting that we cower under the kitchen table when a storm pushed through, I loved crazy weather. I couldn’t help but be revved by the power of nature that was both awe-inspiring and deadly all in one. Ever since I had been a kid I had been drawn to things that were dangerous, like a moth to a flame I just couldn’t keep away. I was sure the only reason I hadn’t been killed already with all the stunts I liked to pull was because I had a stop function named Gabriel. The need to protect Gabriel, my younger brother, kicked in without fail every time, right before things were about to go very wrong.