Chapter Five
Tank
Oh crap, I thought, as I watched Marla run from the room. When did that happen? How was it possible that I hadn’t noticed those long legs before? Or the curve of her waist? Or every other perfect curve, for that matter.
It was like being blindsided on the football field. It hit me out of nowhere.
The girl was gorgeous. Pure, knock you over with a feather type gorgeous.
I know I shouldn’t be thinking like this. Not about Marla. But, that was now impossible. I would never be able to look at her the same again. She wasn’t little Marla. No. Definitely not. That body, that face, oh my God, what was I going to do.
Mrs. T gave me a curious frown, making me close my mouth and focus on the food in front of me. No way did I need her knowing the thoughts racing through my brain about her daughter.
Those were the kind of thoughts that could get a guy shot.
I quickly finished my cereal and said, “Thanks, Mrs. T, I’m going to run home and get changed and pick up a few things. Thank you for letting me stay for a few days. It’s just until we get things figured out.”
“No problem Tank,” she said as she gently patted my shoulder. “You know you are always welcome here.”
I wondered if she would have said that if she could have seen what I was thinking about her daughter.
The sudden realization of what Jason would do if he ever found out sent a cold chill down my spine. Then I thought of Mr. Turner. The man would string me up from the rafters and let me hang there like a cured ham.
“I’ll be right back,” I said, fighting to get out of there before anyone could read what I was thinking.
Great, I couldn’t stay at home. Not with him there. And now, it looked like I couldn’t stay at the Turners. Not with Marla there.
Something had shifted inside of me. I don’t know how. But suddenly, things were different.
Marla had always been special. Feisty, quick with a comeback and heaven help you if you got on her bad side. But she was also sweeter than cotton candy. Kind, and gentle. The kind of person who would move heaven and earth to help a friend.
But that wasn’t what I couldn’t stop thinking about. It was those long legs.
Me and Marla had always been close. I liked watching out for her. She’d always been so tiny. Her fair hair and twinkling blue eyes had made her look like a fairy when she was little.
The kind that brought magic into the world.
She was the one person in my life who accepted me for the way I was. Big, lumbering, clumsy at times. Never looking down on me. Never teasing me when I overreacted.
I knew that I sometimes reacted without thinking. Lashing out before I had time to think. A trait that had been highly praised on the football field. But not exactly endearing in real life.
I knew that the rest of the time I was rather quiet. The kind of guy who was perfectly all right with letting other people do the talking.
With Nick and Luke, and even Jason. That had never really been an issue. Those guys could talk forever. It seemed like they each had a different opinion about everything. That was one of the things I liked about my friends, they didn’t expect me to keep a conversation going.
That was the thing about Marla. Just like the guys. I had never felt pressured to entertain her. Never felt any expectation.
The problem was. She wasn’t one of the guys. Not anymore. Not with legs like that.
Sighing, I headed for my house. My guts were tied up in a knot as I stepped inside. Why was it like this? I wondered. My own house and I felt like an intruder. It wasn’t right.
“Tank? Is that you,” my mom called from the kitchen.
Her words made my shoulders hunch like I was waiting for a sword to fall.
“Yeah, mom,” I said. “I’m going to grab some things and stay over at Jason’s for a few days.”
She stepped out of the kitchen, a heavy frown on her face. She looked at me for a long moment then slowly nodded. I could see a small sense of relief behind her eyes, like she was glad that at least one of her problems had been taken care of.
Great, my own mom was pleased I was not going to be there.
Grumbling under my breath, I rushed back to my room. Maybe if I was lucky, I could get in and out without running into him. The anger bubbling just under my skin was threatening to blow up. There was absolutely no telling what would happen if my dad and I locked horns.
Throwing on a clean set of clothes, I stuffed a gym bag with extras and headed out.
As I came out of my room, he was coming out of theirs. We stood there for a long minute looking at each other. Like two snakes crawling through the bushes, coming face to face. My stomach felt like it had turned to solid rock. The man pissed me off. Every breath he took was a waste of air.
Pushing past him, I started for the front door before I said or did something that could not be fixed.
“Where you going?” he demanded.
It was like an arrow to the back. A sharp pain right between my shoulder blades.
I hunched with the blow, hesitated for a moment, then continued on. Just get out, I told myself. Get away.
Once I was outside, and the door was closed behind me, I was able to take a full breath. The sweet clean morning air filled my lungs as I fought to regain control.
The man had been gone for four years, and he walks back into our lives as if nothing happened. My mom had to scrimp and save, work two jobs and cry herself to sleep too many nights. Or worse, drink herself to sleep. Because that selfish bastard couldn’t keep his pecker in his pants and his hand out of the till.
I shook my head to clear the fog and headed back to Jason’s. Only to find my second biggest problem waiting for me.
Jason, Amber, and Marla were outside. Standing there like silent sentries to see if I was all right. I could feel my cheeks growing red from the embarrassment. I had to tell Jason what was going on when I asked to crash at his place. So of course, the whole world had to know.
The raging shame flowing through me made me want to punch something. Anything.
“We’re taking mom’s car,” Jason said. “She has to borrow my truck. Some kind of book moving thing at the library.”
To them, it wasn’t that big a deal. Marla got to ride with us instead of the bus. But otherwise. No big deal.
For me, it felt like one more spear thrust to my guts.
Gritting my teeth, I nodded. Hey, I was lucky to have a ride. Quit your bitching and suck it up, I thought to myself, as I got into the back seat.
Marla got in on the other side without looking at me. What was it now? I wondered. She couldn’t possibly still be mad at me about that Justin creep yesterday.
The soft scent of a subtle flowery perfume pulled at me. Making me glance over at Marla. She looked as pretty as a summer sunrise. A cute pink top, golden hair, sparkling blue eyes.
The girl was heart-stopping gorgeous. Why hadn’t I seen it before now?
She was staring straight ahead, totally ignoring me. Oh well, this was Jason’s kid sister, I reminded myself. It was better this way.
Sighing heavily, I turned to look out the window. But that soft perfume wouldn’t leave me alone. It was like a magic spell that kept pulling at my heart.
Crap, it was killing me slowly. But hey, I had completely stopped thinking about my dad.
The ride to school was silent and awkward. I could see Amber keep shooting Jason questioning looks. He’d just shrug his shoulders.
It was like a heavy mist had settled over everyone, keeping them in their own little world.
I know they were each thinking about my dad coming back. About how they now had a thief living in their neighborhood. I’m sure Jason didn’t mind me crashing there. But, the fact that I didn’t want to go to my own house was not exactly a fun topic of conversation.
Instead, we each looked out our own window ignoring each other.
The silence was eating me up on the inside. I could take the embarrassment about my dad. It was what it was. What I couldn’t stand, was the idea of Marla being mad at me. It just ate at my soul.
I glanced over at her, but she continued to ignore me. It was like she’d put up a brick wall between us.
No, this wasn’t right. I had almost gathered enough courage to try and breach the wall when Jason pulled into the school parking lot. Marla was up and out of the car before he’d stopped.
“Marla,” I yelled as I rushed after her.
She stopped in her tracks but didn’t turn around. Waiting for me to catch up with her.
I quickly got between her and the front doors of the school.
She was looking down at the ground, as if unwilling to look at me. Jesus, how pissed was she? I wondered.
“Listen, I’m sorry,” I said. I didn’t exactly know what I was sorry about. All I had done was try to help her out. Like I had done for my entire life. But for some reason, I’d screwed it up this time.
Her brow creased with confusion as she looked up at me. Her eyes finally looking into mine.
“For what?” she asked.
Crap, she was going to make me grovel and crawl.
“For getting between you and Justin. I shouldn’t have done that. I didn’t think and just stepped in where I didn’t belong. It won’t happen again, I promise.”
Her confused look took on several new creases as she slowly shook her head.
“Justin?” she asked, “You think I’m mad at you about Justin.”
Okay, I could feel those very same confused creases on my brow.
“If it wasn’t Justin, then why are you mad at me?”
She slowly shook her head, “I’m not mad at you,” she said with a soft sigh. My heart relaxed as a sudden sense of relief flowed through me.
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Jason and Amber holding back. Waiting for us to work this through.
“Well then,” I said to her, “why have you been acting all weird? You won’t talk to me, you won’t look at me. Is it my dad coming back?”
She stared at me like I was an alien from outer space. As if she had never seen anything so dumb in her life.
Shaking her head, she reached up and patted me on the shoulder like I was some little toddler who would never understand. “Don’t worry about it,” she said. “It’s not you, I’m just being weird.”
As she finished, she moved past me and headed for school while my mind whirled trying to figure out what was going on.
I looked at her as she walked away. Those tantalizing hips moving to some silent beat. She turned suddenly, and I swallowed hard, praying she hadn’t seen me staring.
“Tank,” she called back, “anytime you want to help me. You do it. You wouldn’t be you unless you did.”
Her soft, sad smile tore at my guts as she turned and disappeared into the school.
I stood there like a frozen statue, confused and completely lost.
Amber walked by, shooting me a look of compassion as she slowly shook her head. Obviously, her look said, I was dumber than I thought.