Virginia Gone (2 page)

 “Hey Gin,” he said leaning a lazy shoulder against the door jamb. Arms crossed over his chest he studied her with such intensity her legs nearly buckled under her. No doubt she blushed. “Glad to see you made it home. Here let me help you take your things up to your room.”

 Her hand came up. “That’s okay. Brandon will help me.”

 Riley stopped mid step, frowned, shrugged a shoulder and went back in to the kitchen leaving her with her brother.  She heard drawers slam shut. Chairs squealed over ceramic tile and clattered over as if they had been kicked sideways.

 The first time Virginia met Riley was when she was fourteen. He was rudely blocking her path in to the kitchen. Virginia had just taken a shower and her hair was dripping wet matted to the sides of her thin face.

 “Do you mind?” She motioned him aside eager to get in to the kitchen, before her brother inhaled the entire box of Cocoa puffs.

 “Who’s the drowned mouse?” he asked her brother allowing Virginia to duck under the spindly arm he had braced in the doorway. She was unimpressed. Riley was lanky boy going through an awkward all-black phase.

 Brandon talked around a mouth full of cereal. “That’s Virginia, my sister. Be careful what you say around her. She’ll squeal on you in a heartbeat.” To put emphasis on his words he squealed like a little pig.

 “When have I ever told on you?” Virginia cried feeling the first sting of tears and her cheeks heat. Her brother was molding and shaping her to be quite the secretive girl. Who wants to be categorized as a tattletale?  Not Virginia.

 “It’s okay, you don’t look like a rat to me,” Riley responded punching her upper arm with a fist. She rubbed where it ached and stuck out a tongue at her brother who was shoveling the last of the cereal in to his mouth at that very moment.

 Riley was the complete opposite of Virginia in every way. Where she was pale with blonde hair, Riley’s hair was dark and as richly deep as his eyes. He was outgoing, a jokester, people gravitated to him. Riley’s overly cheerful act was the product of a broken home where neither of his parents was ever around and when they were, he tried his best to make them like him by being funny. Somehow—Virginia couldn’t imagine how—Riley’s parents had seemed to have forgotten him. She suspected all he wanted was a place to belong, a place he could get some attention and just enjoy life without all the complication. Little by little his visits to hang out with Brandon after school turned in to sleep overs. Soon, feeling uttering sorry for their newly discovered stray; Virginia’s parents had purchased another twin bed for Brandon’s room, and that was it….Riley was a constant variable in the Benet household.

 Virginia didn’t complain, in fact, she grew quite fond of the boy’s silly antics. He made her giggle endlessly. It was nothing for her to glance across the dinner table to find a string bean dangling from Riley’s nostril, or a green olive obscuring his front tooth. She liked it best when he forcefully pinned Brandon to the floor for picking on her. The three of them were inseparable: enjoying summer days swimming and boating on the lake, and winters watching newly released movies. If Brandon and Riley fought, it was over who was a better fisherman, who could score the most touchdowns in football, or whose muscles were more defined. Virginia was always the referee. “Let’s ask Virginia,” they would say.

 But after Virginia celebrated her sixteenth birthday—her presents unwrapped and her candles blown out—Riley had cornered her in the hallway. He’d forced her backwards until her shoulder blades bumped the wall. He skimmed by her, his solid chest brushing hers as if there wasn’t enough room for both of them to pass without
touching
.

 She had inhaled his masculine scent, seen the flecks of gold in his dark brown eyes, the kissable swell of his bottom lip puckered out for the taking. 

  “
Sweet
sixteen and never been touched…what are we going to do about that?” he had whispered next to her ear, the warmth of his words causing goose pimples to swamp her body. She had drawn a quick, sharp breath and held it.

 It was an innocent comment, which probably meant nothing more than teasing to Riley, but it had meant the world to Virginia. The possibility of there being more between them was kick-started in her mind. And there was no taking it back. It had caused new feelings to ignite inside her.

 She had wanted him to say more.

 
Do more.
 

 From that moment on, she found herself constantly watching Riley. She would lie in her bed late at night listening hard for the sound of his footsteps or movement in the room next to hers. She would lay awake, breathing heavy, imaging what it would be like to be
his
, completely and totally
his.
It became all she really wanted—an obsession.

 Virginia’s father must have picked up on the strange vibe emanating from his daughter for their houseguest, because shortly after her sixteenth birthday, Riley was conveniently relocated out to the unfinished room over the garage. Her father had put a sudden end to the budding romance Virginia imagined was taking place.

 “You ready to take your stuff to your room?” Brandon asked elbowing her side starling her out of her trance. “Forget him. He’s in one of his
moods.
”

 She followed Brandon to her old bedroom; always glancing back. 

 Just like the rest of the house, nothing had changed in her room. Her ratty stuffed animals were neatly placed on her perfectly made bed. Her softball and soccer ribbons hung from a pin board by the desk. It was a room for a much younger girl: fuchsia pink and white—candy land and Chutes and ladders. There were white lace curtains with ruffles and shag carpet. Virginia sank down on a corner of the mattress with a sigh, her knees pressed together. Her hands settled on top her lap. She was soaked, cold and nauseated. “So…what happened between you and Riley?”

 Brandon settled a hip on her dresser. “Nothing I care to talk about.”

 “Hey honey,” her father’s voice startled both of them, their heads turned to the doorway. He was ready for bed wearing navy sweat pants and a white T-shirt. His dark hair was damp, sprinkled with gray, and he appeared on edge almost as if he was tip-toeing in to a conversation with her.

 “I’m out,” Brandon announced leaving the room.

 Virginia picked up her favorite stuffed bear and hugged it close to her chest. Her father was quiet, awkwardly so. It had been forever since she’d been alone with him. He watched her with an intense gaze that rivaled Riley’s earlier one. 

 “Are you okay?” he finally asked. “Riley said you were soaked coming in. Maybe you should get out of those wet clothes and take a nice hot bath. ”

 “I’ll live.”

 He took a step closer, then another until he was standing in touching range. He tilted her face up with the tip of his finger. His blue eyes fixed on hers.

 “Virginia…”

 She glanced away, “I’m tired. Would it be okay if I get some sleep? I’ll see mom in the morning.”

 His hand dropped back to his side, “Of course.” He stopped at the door and glanced back. “I’m happy you’re here...with me.”

 Later in the darkness, Virginia watched shadows that seemed to scratch along her walls: snarled limbs making jerky movements outside her window catching the wind and moonlight. She could feel the soft down comforter between her fingertips, and drew the cover up to her chin clasping it snug there. Her old twin bed was comfortable enough, but she wasn’t. Inside she was trembling. It was like watching a horror film and expecting the unexpected at any moment, which made absolutely no sense at all. She exhaled a breath, and her rigid form relaxed.

 
You’re being silly.

 Close your eyes and go to sleep. 

 Red n
umbers on the clock by the bed flipped over: 12:30...12:45…1 am. Virginia’s eyes became so heavy she could no longer fight sleep, and she began to doze off nestling deeper down in to the covers. Her eyes fluttered as she slipped in to a heavy sleep, dreaming.

 1:30 am. She felt the mattress dip behind her. Her eyes opened. Arms circled her waist. His chin dug into the tender muscle along her shoulder causing her to cringe. She could hear his excited breaths coming more rapid as he molded his body against her backside.

 He whispered, “Shh, I just want to be near you.”

 Virginia screamed, and sat straight up in the bed to find herself alone. Her heart sped, the only sound in the room. She pressed palms to her cheeks slick with perspiration. Her white cotton gown clung to her skin.

 The door knob to her room rattled. She held her breath clasping the covers to her chest. She listened. One beat. Two beat. The door knob rattled again! And again! Pressure was applied to wood from the other side, but the lock held. There was a shake. A shove.

 “Honey, are you okay? I heard you scream,” her father called.

 “Go back to bed dad…I’m okay,” Virginias words came out broken.

 
Three

  “She sometimes thought she was going crazy. Her first thought when she woke up was always how to get him out of her thoughts. And she would keep watch, hoping to see him next door, while plotting ways to never have to see him again. ” –Sarah Addison Allen, Garden Spells

 Virginia had never seen her mother appear so vulnerable or broken. The left side of her face was bruised and swollen until her left eye was hardly visible in the folds of flesh. Her lips were chapped and peeling, dried blood in the thin lacerations. A hissing sound came from her mouth with every labored breath.

 The reality of her mother’s condition came rushing in like arctic air slicing deep and painfully to the marrow of her bones. She sat in a chair by the bed clasping her mother’s hand tight drinking in the sight of her still body, limp under the layers of blankets. The room smelled of rubbing alcohol and something Virginia couldn’t quite make out.

 “I’m sorry I haven’t been home. I just couldn’t….” Virginia wiped away tears from her cheeks, and tried again.  Her voice was barely a whisper, “I just couldn’t face him. I am a horrible daughter. I know it. Will you ever forgive me?” Her mother moaned, and her head lolled to the opposite side. Her mumbled words were incoherent—a bad dream maybe. She did appear slightly feverish.

 Virginia heard movement, and turned to see her father pause in the doorway. She immediately dropped of her mother’s hand and abruptly stood, a vein in her forehead pulsated matching the beat of her speeding heart. She sniffed, forced back the tears refusing to let him see her cry. “Does she ever say anything? I don’t think she knows I’m here.”