Between Forever, page 2
“Girl, where have you been over the last year?”
“I stay out of the drama in this town.”
“Well, you came back here for a reason, so you might as well jump back in with both feet,” she says.
“I came back to take care of mama after her stroke,” I say as Lani looks at me.
“Honey, she passed away two years ago, there’s nothing left for you here. Why do you stay?”
I shrug my shoulders, “It’s better than Atlanta. Too many people there and the smog is unbelievable. Plus, I like working in the library.”
“Right, Tru. If I’m expected to believe that, then I have got some lakefront property on Mars to sell you.”
Frankly, I have no idea why I stayed here after mama died. The turf wars still go on, even after fourteen years, North vs. South, and neither of them ever win. The mountains get cold in the winter, and there’s too much snow, but we did finally get a Walmart at the edge of town. But Virginia is home, Camden to be exact. The city was beautiful, but it wasn’t me. So once mama got sick, I came home, and for some reason, I’ve never left. “When did he get back into town?” I ask.
Shaking her head, “A few months ago, but he sure looks miserable still.”
“Still?”
“Damn girl, you really are out of the loop. His football career went to shit with a torn ACL and then his wife died three years ago. He just showed up a few months ago after going off the grid, drunk and lost.”
“His wife? Didn’t he marry that Lindsay girl?”
“Yeah, she died in a car accident.”
“Holy shit, I had no clue.”
“No Trudi, you really don’t have a clue. Evan was moving on to commentating on one of the major networks when she died, and he seems to have died along with her. He disappeared after that and just reappeared. This is the first I’ve seen him since he got back.”
“Wow, that’s sad. Evan looks so sad.”
“Yeah, he does,” Lani says as she chugs back the rest of her beer.
“Why did he come back here?” I ask.
“Not sure, when he was in the NFL he bought his parents a condo in Florida, and they left. He’s got no one else here. Maybe that’s why he came back because he’s no longer top dog and most people don’t know who he is.” She responds as the door opens to the bar and in walks her boyfriend, Kyle. He struts over and leans in, planting a kiss on Lani’s cheek.
“Ready to go?” He asks her, and her eyes light up. She grabs her coat, and he helps her into it.
“Ever the gentleman, Kyle,” I smirk.
“You want to come with us?” Lani asks.
“No, I’m gonna hang out here for a bit,” I say, my eyes cutting over towards Evan.
“Don’t go there, Trudi. He’s trouble.”
“He looks harmless,” I whisper, sad for all that he’s gone through.
“Don’t you remember all that he and his cronies did to you in school?”
“That was a long time ago, Lani. Surely he’s grown up since then.”
“Maybe, maybe not. Just be careful, okay? You’re not the same nerdy girl you were in school.”
“Oh, and what’s that supposed to mean?”
“Look at you Tru, you merged from a nerdy girl to a beautiful goddess.”
“Oh please,” I say. “I’m still the same person.”
“Maybe inside, but your dark hair and doe eyes can do any man in,” Kyle says as Lani punches him in the arm.
“Oh, you want her instead of me?” She says, a little too loud and Evan lifts his head from the bottle and looks our way.
“Lani stop, Kyle loves you. And he’s not my type,” I laugh. “Don’t let the alcohol get to you girl, I’m not a threat to you.”
“I know,” she laughs. “But you,” her eyes pierce through Kyle’s, “better stop flirting with my best friend.”
“Got it,” he laughs. Lani gives me a hug and she and Kyle head out while the bartender brings me another beer. I stay put in my little corner of the bar and watch as the band sets up and more and more people come in. But I can’t keep my eyes off of Evan, who is still sitting there alone, the bottle of scotch now half empty. He’s leaning back in his chair and watching the crowd, but he looks so alone. As he looks around, his eyes catch mine at the bar, and I look away fast, not wanting him to see me. He won’t recognize me anyway, as we’re from two different backgrounds.
I look down at my beer, but I can feel his eyes on me, but I fight to not look back at him. I decide now is the time to get the hell out of dodge. I flag the bartender down for my check, and as I wait, a body sits down next to me, his strong cologne wafting over me.
“Hey cutie, wanna dance?” The man asks.
“No thanks,” I say as my check is handed to me.
“You’re not leaving are ya?” He slurs.
“Yes,” I say as I push the check back with a twenty dollar bill. I get up, put my coat on and turn towards the door, but the man grabs my arm.
“Come on sugar, just one dance,” he says as he brushes up against me. I jerk my arm from him, and his eyes flash. “No one tells me no, sugar,” he growls as I step back.
“Apparently they do.”
Evan
“Oh yeah, pretty boy? You coming to rescue the damsel in distress?” He says as he cracks his knuckles.
“I…I don’t need rescuing,” I stutter as I turn towards the door. “Thank you, though.”
“Sure you do sugar,” he says as he grabs me again and pulls me into his side, draping his arm around my shoulder. I pull back, but he grabs me tighter, “Come on, just one dance.”
“No, thank you,” I say as I try to pull back again.
“I believe the lady said ‘no,’” Evan says as he rears back and punches the guy in the face, blood spewing from his nose and onto my coat. The guy releases me, and I step away, watching in horror as Evan body slams the guy onto the floor, knocking over a bar stool. Everyone clears back as these two men, both strangers to me, fight over me. I’m taken aback by this, as Evan used to pick on me in school. I don’t even think he knows who I am at this point. Quickly, the manager and a cop are in between Evan and the other guy, but Evan is the one in cuffs and whisked away by the police.
The creepy guy gets tugged away by another officer, but he doesn’t appear to be arrested.
“Ma’am, can we speak to you for just a moment?” The manager asks.
“Um, sure,” I respond as I follow him to the back office.
“Have a seat Miss…?”
“Landers, Trudi Landers.”
“Thank you, Miss Landers,” he says as I sit down. A few seconds later another officer walks in and leans against the desk in the office. They ask me a few questions, and I answer best I can since I’m still in shock over the whole thing. I’m excused relatively quickly.
“Were either of them arrested?”
“They both were, Miss Landers. I don’t take fighting in my bar easily, so yes…they were both arrested.”
He’s got no one else here.
“Thank you,” I say as I leave the office and re-enter the bar, the loud music and dancing goes on as if nothing happened. I make my way through the crowd and out the door into the parking lot, the cold air biting through my skin. I button my coat and dig for my keys as I walk to my car.
He’s got no one else here.
I sit in my car for a few minutes, absorbing what just happened and wait for the interior to warm up. Lani will never believe this, but I decide to wait until tomorrow to call her as she’s probably still with Kyle. I turn out of the parking lot and head down Main Street towards my small rental house a few miles down the road. I sold Ma’s house after she died and rented this smaller bungalow closer into town and to the library where I work.
I’m still kind of miffed over what happened earlier. Evan Wallace defending my honor? That just doesn’t make sense, especially since he has no idea who I am. If Evan remembered me from school, he would have just watched and let the creepy guy touch me. I’m relieved that he didn’t, but I feel sorry that he got arrested for it.
I walk inside, dropping my keys on the counter and take my coat off before grabbing the bottle of wine out of the refrigerator like I need another drink. I pour a small glass and climb into the window seat and stare out the window at the darkness. Small lights twinkle against the mountain ahead, and the stars are bright in the sky, but it’s so dark. I can only imagine the kind of darkness Evan is feeling right now. He lost his career, his wife…and now he sits in a jail cell.
He’s got no one else here.
I finish my wine and close the drapes before locking up and going to bed.
Chapter 3
“Wallace!”
I sit up on this old dusty cot after hearing my name, my head pounding and my vision still blurred. I feel the swelling in my left eye where that asshole took a good punch. The guard comes to the cell and rattles his keys, “Guess who’s been bailed out?” He says as he unlocks the door.
“Who the fuck bailed me out?” I rub my hands through my hair, finding the rubber band that was falling out. I pull my ponytail back up, tie my shoes and stand up.
“Dunno Wallace, some chick.”
“Some chick?” I ask, wondering who in the hell knew I was here in the first place. No one in my family even knows I’m back in Camden; no one knows where I am actually. He nudges his head to follow him and as we walk down the hallway, the guy from last night is standing by his door.
“How the fuck are you getting out of here, loser?”
I ignore him and keep walking, eager to see who bailed me out, but as we enter the lobby, there’s no one there waiting. The guard hands me a brown envelope with my wallet and keys in it, and I thumb through to make sure everything is still in there before stuffing it into my back pocket. “Who paid the bail?” I ask.
He shrugs his shoulders and slips me a document to sign, “You’re to appear in superior court on November eleventh, eight a.m. I suggest you bring your attorney.”
I sign the document, and he hands me my copy before I hear the door lock click and I’m motioned to the door.
“Hey, Wallace! I don’t want to see you back here.” The sheriff says.
“I’m making no guarantees,” I laugh as I leave.
Fact is, I’m a nuisance to society now. I had it all once, but it all fell apart. Karma for all the ruckus I caused when I lived here, I guess. Happily from the North side, beating up kids from the Southside and Lindsay. God, I miss her. I never even got the chance to apologize for missing our anniversary. She got so angry and left…and never came back. I think of her as I spin the wedding ring on my left hand. I’ve never taken it off, I can’t. It’s all I have left of her.
I walk outside, the bright sunlight blinding me. I look around, but there’s no one there, so I have no idea who bailed me out. I’m thankful but confused. Since my car isn’t here, I have to walk back to the bar and hope my car is still there and that the manager didn’t tow it. As I turn the corner, I breathe a sigh of relief that my truck is still there. I fish the remote out of my pocket and unlock it, climbing in and starting the engine. It’s the only car in the parking lot, so I know the bar isn’t open, but I need a drink after the night I just had.
“Who the fuck bailed me out?” I ask myself as I turn onto the main street towards the liquor store on the corner. Thankfully they’re open, so I go in and stock up on scotch and tequila, the entire time wondering who paid my bail. Unless….
Nah, surely not. She looked like a deer caught in headlights after I slugged that guy. I may be a piece of shit, but no one manhandles a woman when I’m around, and she was so tiny and fragile, I know she couldn’t have stood up for herself. I wonder who she was and if I’ll see her again, so I can thank her if, in fact, it was her.
I can’t think of who else it would’ve been, so I tuck that inside and hope I see her again. I take my purchases and climb back into my truck and head towards my parent's house. They’re in Florida at the condo I bought them, so all is quiet when I walk inside. I’ve got a fierce headache, and it’s only ten a.m., so I crack open the tequila and chug back a long draw, the hair of the dog and all that.
And now that I think about it why in the hell was she there alone anyway? Grungy’s is no place for a woman to be by herself on a Saturday night. That in itself pisses me off, but then again…she’s not my problem. I chug back another swig of tequila and kick my shoes off and flop into the recliner, taking my bottle with me.
I lay back and stare at the ceiling, “Boy Evan, you sure have taken a dive in this world.” I say to myself as I turn the TV on. Sunday football. That should be me right there on that field, but my fucking knee decided to be an asshole, and now I’m done. All that work throughout high school and college shot down the drain, my business degree incomplete as I was drafted before I even graduated. Lindsay followed me wherever I went, from Green Bay to New York, she didn’t care. But my focus on her failed, and now she’s dead. I feel a stray tear rolling down my cheek, the guilt still so unbearable. Had I paid more attention to her, she’d be with me now, and I wouldn’t find myself back in this God-forsaken town. The only reason I came back here is that I had nowhere else to go.
I watch the game while sipping the tequila until my eyes get the best of me and I close them, finally falling asleep. But I don’t stay asleep, as the nightmare that haunts me continues like a movie behind my eyes. That moment the door slammed, that moment the doorbell rings, and the moment I’m told that Lindsay was dead, that her car ran off the road near the old bridge and flipped into the river. That nightmare is on repeat in my head, and I’ll never get over it.
My father would kick my ass if he knew the man I’d become. I’ve not seen either him or my mother since Lindsay’s funeral, three years ago. I kind of vanished from the face of the earth after that. I know I should touch base, but I can’t face the disappointment in my father’s face for blowing my NFL career. Shit happens, and I couldn’t control the injury. It happens to the best of players; only it came to me far too early.
The more I sit here and drown my sorrows, the angrier I get. I swallow the last of the tequila, and before I can control my emotions, I throw the bottle against the wall, the glass shattering into a million pieces.
A million pieces, exactly where my life is right now. There’s not enough glue in this world to put me back together. I clean up the mess and decide it’s time to go out, but this time I won’t come home alone. I need someone classy, so I shower, get dressed and head down to the classier sports bar in town rather than Grungy’s, which is a total dive bar. I could’ve found someone last night, but that asshole ruined my evening.
The parking lot is full when I pull in, which isn’t unusual for a Saturday night. After circling the lot three times, I finally see someone pulling out, and I jump into their space and kill the engine. Once inside, I see one stool by the bar and flop down, motioning for the bartender.
“What’ll you have?” The cute girl asks as she sets a coaster down on the dark wood bar top. Her brown eyes flicker in the light of the neon sign behind me.
“Give me a rum and coke, and keep them coming,” I say as she turns back to make my drink. The effects of the tequila from earlier still lingering and I know I need to take it easy, all I need is to end up back in the slammer.
“Run you a tab?” The bartender asks as she slides my drink to me. I nod, take a sip and smile, before turning to scan the bar. The place is packed with mostly locals, but a few outsiders sit in the booths along the back wall. The music is blaring from the DJ, and you can hardly hear yourself think, which is good because I need to not remember tonight.
After about three drinks the room starts getting fuzzy, but I’ve never had an issue with my beer goggles. As the dance floor fills up, I see her…it’s the same girl from last night. Her dark hair is down and flowing behind her as she dances with some guy. She’s not smiling, but you can tell she knows the guy so I don’t bother with her, but I find I can’t take my eyes off of her. She looks so familiar, but I can’t place her…probably the booze.
I watch her hips swing and her hair flow and her bright smile, but she has this innocent look about her. She’s beautiful, no doubt…but she’s not my type. Tonight, I need a hard fuck, and I can tell I’d need to take it slow with her. She’s not your typical fuck ‘em and leave ‘em girl, so I move my eyes around, and my eyes catch a hot blonde at the end of the bar ordering a drink. Her dark brown eyes are seductive with a spark of intensity that has me intrigued. Her ruby lips will look amazing wrapped around my cock, so I tip my drink at her, and her lips curve into a smirk. Her pink tongue darts out and licks her lips as she takes her drink and heads back to her friends. She slips into the booth, and her short skirt rides up, exposing her long tan legs. My dick jumps and I mentally will it back down, imagining my neighbor Ms. Jackson in a bathing suit. I chuckle internally at that thought, but my dick is still wide awake and in need of something hot and tight to take off the edge.
I keep my eyes on the blonde, watching her laugh and smile. But that brunette keeps jumping into my line of vision. She’s entirely not my type, but I can’t keep looking at her. Her familiar features hold my attention, but only until I smell a sweet and sensual perfume behind me. I glance to my left, and the blonde is perching herself on the barstool next to me.
“You come here often?” She asks.
“You should know, cheesy pickup lines don’t work on me.”
“Oh, so what does work on you?”
I scan her face and turn forward, tipping my glass back and finishing my drink. I set the glass down and instantly, the bartender sets another one down. “What are you drinking?” I ask, looking at her pink drink.
“Sex on the beach,” she purrs as she stirs her drink with her index finger before sucking the liquid off, those ruby lips suggesting more than just a finger suck. I nudge my head towards the bartender and motion for her to get the blonde another drink. I get the feeling that the more alcohol in this woman, the more freaky she’s gonna be. Liquid courage goes a long way with me.
