Chapter Eight

Luke

The next morning I woke up with a fully formed plan. Now I just had to figure out a way to make Ruby let me carry it out.

“You up?” my mom asked through the door.

“Yes,” I yelled as I scrambled to put my sketch pad away. No way was I opening that can of worms again. I shouldn’t have taken it out last night. But for some reason, I just had to get something down on paper. Something about a girl in boots and a short skirt.

Unlike Amber, no one knew about my art. And no one ever would. My parents were set on me going to college and becoming a professional. It didn’t matter what, as long as it required a government license, paid well, and was respectable. Preferably in that order.

“Breakfast is ready, so hurry up,” My mom said from the hall.

I rushed to get ready. If I was going to pull this off I needed to get ahead of things. Grabbing a couple of pancakes from the platter, I kissed my mom on the cheek and told her I was in a hurry.

She looked back at me like I was some lost child that had forgotten everything she had ever taught me.

I laughed and hurried out the door while stuffing my face.

As I raced across town, I couldn’t stop myself from thinking about Ruby and how well she had done last night at the diner. I was proud of her. She’d been thrown to the lions and came through unscathed. All without complaining or whining about it.

That was the thing about Ruby, she never whined. She might hit and scratch, but she’d never whine.

Pulling up into Meagan’s apartment complex, I turned into a spot that gave me a good view. It didn’t take long before Ruby stepped out, saying something back into the apartment.

I smiled to myself. She was wearing tight jeans and my hoody again.

Taking a deep breath I lowered my window and yelled, “Hey, you want a ride?”

She froze for a second then frowned. “What are you doing here?”

I laughed, “I’m throwing a tea party, what doe it look like?”

Her frown deepened as she slowly shook her head. “I can take the bus.”

Now it was my turn to frown. “What? Do you like riding that freshman infested monstrosity? Do I need to remind you that yellow doesn’t go with purple?”

She fought it, but a small smile creased her lips. “Everything goes with purple. Everything but puke green waitress uniforms.”

I let it rest for a moment. Holding my breath the entire time.

Finally, her shoulders slumped in defeat as she hurried around to the passenger side and let herself in.

“You look nice,” I said as I pulled out and took a left.

She almost blushed but quickly stopped it with a deep frown.

“Where are you going?” she asked. “School’s the other way or have you forgotten where that particular black hole of despair is located?”

“We’re not going to school today,” I answered without looking at her.

“What? You’re Luke Sinclair, you don’t skip school. You haven’t missed a day since third grade and that was only because you broke your arm on the way to school.”

I laughed, “Yeah, Tank didn’t mean to, but even then, he didn’t know his own strength. And I say I still could have come to school after they set it. I’d have been back by lunch.”

She didn’t laugh, instead, her brow narrowed as she concentrated on me, obviously not falling for the quick change of subject.

“Where are we going,” she demanded softly.

Okay, here it goes, I thought, “Your house to get your stuff.”

“No!” she said as that concerned frown turned to piercing glare. “No way.”

“Listen, Ruby, you’ve got to get your stuff sometime. You can’t be borrowing stuff from Meagan and my hoody, while it looks great, it’s going to get old after a while.”

“I told you, I’d get your sweatshirt back to you this week.”

Shaking my head I desperately tried to figure out some way to make her understand.

“Ruby,” I began slowly. “I don’t want you going back there alone. I thought …”

“You don’t want? You don’t want?” She yelled. “Since when do you get any say as to what happens to me? You’re not my master, you’re not even my boyfriend. You don’t get to tell me what to do and when I do it.”

What could I say, she was right. It also didn’t matter. We were doing it my way. Besides. We were there.

I pulled into the trailer park and then into her driveway.

“He’s not even here,” I said with a smile that I desperately hoped would calm her down. Why couldn’t she see this was for the best?

“Come on,” I continued as I opened my door. “Let’s get your stuff and get out of here.”

“Where are you going?” She exclaimed as she scrambled out of the car.

“I was going to help.”

“No, you do not come with me.” She said with a fierce determination that made me hesitate. “You stay right here until I get back.”

I shrugged my shoulders. If it meant she would go through with it, then whatever.

Ruby stared at me for a long moment, like she was looking at a dog, trying to determine whether I would stay in place or not. I leaned up against the fender of my car and folded my arms across my chest.

She seemed to accept it and headed for her front door, all the while, she continually kept looking back to make sure I hadn’t moved.

.o0o.

Ruby

How could I be so mad at a man and still find him so attractive? It was something about those wide shoulders combined with the black glasses. I swear, he looked so much like Clark Kent, it was sickening.

I knew the jerk was only trying to help in his Luke Sinclair way. But still. I had just started feeling like I was out, and he pushed me right back in. I wasn’t ready for this. Not now. Probably not ever.

“Hey Mom,” I said as I stepped into what was soon to be my old home.

She was sitting at the dining table. A Virginia Slim in one hand, smoke curling up to rest against the ceiling, a cup of coffee in the other, and her favorite past time, the National Enquirer, on the table in front of her.

I could tell just by the vibe of the place that Jake and his friends weren’t there. My heart relaxed just a little.

Mom looked up and gave me a weak smile, before returning to focus on the paper in front of her. No questions about where I had been. No comment on the boy who had just dropped me off.

Nope, not my mom.

Sighing, I brushed past her towards my bedroom, but as she turned the page, I came to halt and turned to face her.

“I’m moving out,” I said, holding my breath.

Mom stopped reading and looked up at me, her expression was blank. It was like I’d just told her that it was Tuesday and I was taking out the trash.

“That’s probably best, dear,” she said as she turned back to reading her story.

My heart fell. She knew what was going on. Knew about that slime of a husband of hers. Any doubt I might have had about her evaporated. She knew, and her solution was for me to leave.

At that exact moment, I swore that no child of mine would ever feel like this. They would never know this sense of abandonment. This sense of hopeless loss that filled me so completely that I couldn’t move.

I stood there for a long minute, waiting for her to say more. To say anything. But she kept her head down and focused on some idiotic tale about UFO’s and aliens taking virgins off the streets of San Francisco.

At last, I couldn’t stand it any longer. I let out a big huff and stormed to my room. I needed to hurry or Luke, being Luke, would stick his nose into my business and come knock on the door to see if I was okay.

The last thing I needed was him seeing the inside of this crappy trailer.

Grabbing a book bag I’d gotten from Goodwill a couple of years ago, I began stuffing it with clothes. Then I pulled my pillow case off and stuffed it.

I punched those clothes in as tight as they could go, and still, the anger inside of me threatened to blow up.

Once I’d gotten all I could get into them, I pulled my clothes out of the closet, still on the hanger and draped them over my arm. There wasn’t much, but it was all I had.

I gathered everything up and headed out. As I looked back at the room one last time, I shuddered. There was nothing there that I gave a damn about. No special toys, no stuffed animals. Nothing but bad memories.

I didn’t bother slamming the door behind me as I marched back to the trailer’s front door.

Mom looked up and asked, “Did you get everything?”

I swear, she couldn’t get rid of me quick enough. Why? I wanted to know, as my stomach churned. I hadn’t ever really been a problem for her. She’d never been involved enough in my life for me to be a problem. Sure, I’d been a little wild. But she’d never cared about that.

So why? What was it about me that she hated so much?

That abandoned lost feeling washed over me again as I turned and halted before the front door, my hand on the knob, waiting for more.

Nothing, just the small swish of Mom turning the page of the newspaper.

Get over it Ruby, I told myself. It was no big deal.

But, I had to wipe my eyes before I left the house. No way was I letting Luke see me cry.

Taking a deep breath, I pulled myself together and stepped outside.

Luke pushed himself up off from leaning on the car and smiled encouragingly at me.

Somehow, this boy I barely knew, cared more about me than my own mother.

I grit my teeth and started for the car. At that exact moment, the universe decided I hadn’t experienced enough misery that morning.

Jake’s hideous black truck tore into the trailer park and slid to a stop in the driveway.

He jumped out and yelled, “Where do you think you’re going?” As if he really had any say in the matter.

I ignored the jerk and brushed past him. Just get to Luke’s car, I kept telling myself, just get to his car.

But Jake, being the deviant idiot that he is, reached out to grab my shoulder and pulled me around to face him. My heart stopped beating and my blood turned to ice as an overwhelming fear pumped through me.

Why did this man frighten me so much? What was it about him that made my knees freeze in place and my soul turn to stone.

“I asked you a question, Where …”

“Leave her alone,” my Superman said as he stepped in front of me, placing himself between me and my step-father.

Jake pulled his evil eyes off of me to stare at Luke.

“Listen punk,” Jake spat, “Get out of here before I kick your ass into next week.” The spittle at the corner of his mouth let me know just how angry he was. The hands clenching up into tight fists made me terrified for Luke’s safety.

“Come, on,” I said as I reached up to pull at Luke’s shoulder. It was like pulling on a mountain cliff, he didn’t budge.

Instead, he completely ignored me and focused on the man across from him.

I swallowed hard as I waited for these two to charge into each other like raging bulls. My breathing stopped, my heart stopped, the entire world stopped, while the tension continued to build.

“Go ahead and hit me,” Luck sneered as he pushed Jake in the chest, “Please hit me. I’m not a young woman you can push around. I’m begging you. Throw the first punch and I will end your days.” Luke added with a menacing stare.

As I looked back and forth between them, I saw that Luke was as tall as Jake and way more buff. Suddenly, Luke wasn’t that eighth-grade boy I remembered. This was a man facing down another man.

Jake stared into Luke’s eyes as his fists continued to clench and unclench. The tension felt like a heat wave washing over everything. I could see Jake as he frantically tried to figure out if he could get away with it or not. Or would this boy back up his words with hard fists?

And I saw it register, Jake was seeing what I knew. Luke would tear him apart.

Suddenly, a nightmare flashed before my eyes. Luke in prison because he’d killed my step-father. I could see it in his eyes. This wasn’t going to end easily.

“Come on,” I said as I pushed my clothes into Luke’s arms. “Get me out of here before I kill him myself.”

Luke stared back at Jake, then finally, nodded his head to me and walked me to his car. Jake stood there, staring at us the whole time. I knew that his less than adequate mind was desperately trying to come up with something. But too much weed over too many years had turned his brain into fried mush.

I threw my stuff into the back of Luke’s car and then pushed him into the driver's seat. No way was I letting him go back and confront Jake.

Sighing, he let me slam the door on him and turned the car over while I ran around to the passenger side.

Just before I slid into Luke’s car, I gave my step-father one last glance. A shiver ran down my spine. I had never hated someone so much in my entire life. The man was pure evil, and somehow, I knew this wasn’t over.

“Really, I could have taken him,” Luke said with all seriousness.

“I know,” I responded, as I slammed my door, “But then, if you are in jail. Who’s going to wash the dishes at the diner? No way I’m doing it. It would be too demeaning.”

“Yeah, glad to see you have your priorities set correctly,” he said with a quick laugh.

“This isn’t a joke,” I replied so  he would know just how pissed off I was. The idea of Luke Sinclair rotting in prison because of me filled my stomach with a cold dread that  scared me like nothing else in this world.