Focused, page 20
part #2 of True Images Series
“Do you guys get good business? My uncle’s place is crazy sometimes.”
“It’s decent. We get a lot of online business. The owner handles most of that though. He keeps me up front, mostly. He says I have a talent with the customers.”
“I’ll bet,” I said. The sarcasm in my voice seemed to echo back at me as I realized my dad was looking at me, surprised. “I mean, you’re a people person – especially if you get any female customers.”
“A few,” he said, his expression flickering between suspicion and gratification.
Luckily, Olivia came over with our food and saved me from myself. She was still setting our plates in front of us when Parker strolled over to us from the front door. I nearly choked on the hash browns I’d put in my mouth, but Mari didn’t look at all surprised.
“Hey, babe,” Parker said, smiling at Olivia.
Her whole face had somehow brightened, though she was trying to frown at him. “Great. Just what I needed.”
“What? Aren’t you glad to see me?” he asked. Then he looked at my dad, silently asking permission to join us.
My dad raised an eyebrow, but shifted his plate and himself down the table. Meanwhile, Olivia was saying, “I would be if I wasn’t at work.”
Parker sat next to my dad like he’d done it a million times. Now looking up at Olivia instead of down at her, he winked and told her, “Don’t worry. I’m not going to get you in trouble. I’m a paying customer.”
“But it always makes me nervous when I know you’re watching. The last thing I need to do is dump someone’s food in their lap or spill hot coffee on their hand.”
“Glad to know I have such an effect on you. Can I have a menu?”
“Like you don’t have it memorized already.” She huffed and turned to get him one.
Parker’s eyes lingered on her for a moment before he turned and smiled at us. “Thanks for the invite.”
“What invite?” I asked him. He nodded at Marisol who held up her phone and wiggled it. “Oh,” I said.
Parker looked sideways at my dad—who was pretty much ignoring us as he ate. “Hope you don’t mind me joining you, Mr. McGuire.”
“Good thing I don’t since I didn’t have much say in the matter,” he said, not looking up from his pancakes. His voice was dry, but there was enough humor in it that I relaxed.
Parker grinned at Mari and me before asking, “So, what are your plans after this?”
I shrugged. “I guess I’ll go home and pack.”
“I have a better idea. Let’s go buy some junk food and rent some movies. It’ll be like old times. I’ll even eat all the popcorn so Mari can yell all her favorite insults at me.”
“Sounds good,” Mari said, “I won’t be hungry for a while anyway.”
Then, my dad surprised us by laughing. I’d never heard him laugh like that before. It was a sudden burst of warm amusement, not the smooth chuckle I was used to. We all looked at him like we didn’t get the joke. Because we didn’t.
He pointed at my plate and the fork Marisol had raised half-way to her mouth, where it hung suspended in the air. “I’m not surprised she won’t be hungry. Sienna, she’s eaten your whole breakfast.”
Mari and I both looked down at my plate and I saw that it was cleaned off except for some gravy.
“Sorry, chica.”
I sighed. “When did you…? How …? Never mind. Give me your toast.”
***
“Why are you so nervous?” Mari asked me.
I looked over at her from the driver’s seat of my mom’s car. “In case it’s escaped your notice, these could be dangerous people in there.”
She waved her hand dismissively. “We don’t know that. And what would we have to worry about if they were? We’re going to be shopping. If this is a cover for their operation, they might get suspicious of someone who might be an undercover cop – not two high school girls checking out their jewelry counters. Come on, chicken.”
I smiled despite myself. “Okay, I’ll come if you promise not to switch calling me chica to any form of poultry ever again.”
Mari’s sunny laugh floated on the breeze as we got out of the car. It helped me relax as we went inside, though I jumped when a buzzer went off as we went through the door.
Big Ernie’s Pawn Shop was oddly disappointing in that it looked exactly like it was supposed to look – a pawn shop. It was in an old brick store that smelled faintly musty and oily, but a fresh coat of paint and clean, commercial carpet made it look more inviting. There were rows of counters filled with everything imaginable, but no other customers.
“Can I help you?” A guy asked us from behind one of the counters. He was a wiry guy wearing a black t-shirt for some band I didn’t recognize and a newsboy cap. Colorful tattoos wound up both of his skinny arms.
“No thanks. I’m good,” Mari responded, completely absorbed by a display of costume jewelry.
The guy nodded, but kept looking at me. Maybe, I realized, because I was looking at him. “Actually, do you have any photography equipment?”
“Sure. I’ll show you where it is.”
I followed him to the corner on the back wall where the florescent lights didn’t seem to shine as brightly. In a small glass case I saw some lenses and cameras arranged haphazardly with little white tags attached to everything. More of their inventory was stacked on shelves along the back wall behind the case. I glanced over it all, but nothing caught my attention. Time to get this thing going anyway.
“Do you know my dad, Bruce? He works here I think.”
“Bruce is your dad? Holy crap.” He let out a laugh that could easily have been called a giggle. “I didn’t know he had a daughter.”
A voice in my head was saying, “Nice to know he’s so proud of me.” I ignored it though and said, “Yeah. Anyway, he gave me an awesome lens he said he found here, so I was wondering if you had anything else I was interested in. I don’t see anything though. Do you have any prime lenses?”
He shrugged. “What we have is out here. Mostly. So, are you still in high school or are you older than that. Man, I would’ve thought Bruce the Deuce was too young to be your dad.”
“Bruce the Deuce? Why do you call him that?”
“I don’t know. We just do. Maybe because he’s always dropping a deuce.” The guy’s giggle laugh erupted again and set my nerves on end. “Man, I’m going to give him hell when he gets back.”
“Oh, is he not here right now?”
“No. Boss man sent him to do something. I can help you with anything you want though, baby girl. Except primo lenses.”
“Prime.”
“Whatever.”
Okay. He was definitely giving me the eye now, and his calling me “baby girl” gave me the creeps. “Mari,” I called. “Can you come here a sec?”
“Sure,” I heard her call from the opposite side of the store. “They have a cool pair of turquoise earrings over here,” she said as she walked towards us.
“My dad’s not here and they don’t have any lenses I want. Are you ready to go?”
She’d been looking the store clerk up and down, obviously not impressed. “Anytime you are.”
“Aw, come on. I can show you something you’ll like,” he said.
I felt contaminated by his slime. Time to go. The only thing that stopped me was a door opening nearby, and a voice I knew. A voice that chilled my blood. Caleb.
His eyes locked on mine. “Well, well. If it isn’t my favorite person in the world. Has Tony been taking good care of you?”
I now knew what a bird felt like when confronted by a snake. Complete paralysis took over my muscles, including my mouth.
“Jerk alert,” Mari said from beside me. “Let’s go, Sienna.”
Caleb laughed. “Who’s a jerk? Me?”
“Maybe I should have said reject.” Mari was never one to back down from a fight. Watching her squaring up to the behemoth in front of us was impressive, but his expression turned dangerous as the word loser left her lips. It was time to get out of here, whether my muscles cooperated or not. I took Mari’s arm, stiff and unyielding as it was and began pulling her backwards.
“Huh. Let’s see,” Caleb said. “I don’t have to go play school with the babies anymore, and I’m making some serious money.”
“Yeah? You’re a drop out getting a hand-out from your daddy. That’s way awesome.”
Caleb smirked down at Mari. “You’d know more about hand-outs than I would. Is your daddy still busing tables at Los Chicos? Bet you have to buy your beans and tortillas with food stamps, don’t you?”
I stared slack jawed at him. I could feel the heat washing over Mari.
Mari’s eyes narrowed and her chest expanded as she took a deep, swelling breath of air. “And you are the most ignorant, vomit-faced, slug-brained jerk-wad to ever crawl out of a sewer. What’s more, I know the real reason you’re glad to be done with school. You couldn’t take the heat after you blew the playoff game, so you crawled off to hide like the coward you are.”
His fists clenched and he leaned toward Mari. I stepped in front of her before I realized what I was doing and said, “Don’t. If you touch either one of us, you won’t get away with it so easy this time.”
Caleb didn’t drop his fists. He looked like every muscle on his body was about to burst out of his skin. He leaned down even more until his face was inches away from mine. “I saw your pretty little face on the monitor back there and it made me sick. You already messed up my life. Now, stay out of it.”
A thought came to me then and I grabbed on to it, remembering why I was here. “I’d love to Caleb. I had no idea you were here. By the way, why are you here?”
His looked down quickly and then over at Tony. “Business.”
“That’s what I thought. Come on, Mari. Let’s go.”
Mari followed me outside, but I could feel her tension as we got into the car. I pulled carefully out of the parking lot, trying not to wreck my mom’s car. I was shaking everywhere though.
After a few minutes of silence, Mari said, “That creep is unbelievable.”
“I found him completely believable.”
“What do you mean?”
“I believed him when he said he was there for business. He wanted me to think it was their security business, but that’s not it. They’re running all their stolen stuff through this pawn shop for sure.”
“Think your dad knows?”
“I hope not.” But in my heart, I was afraid.
“What now?”
“We tell Parker.
Chapter 21
Lee
Being back in Arizona was strange. It was home, but it wasn’t. I’d grown up in the drier air and higher elevation, but I wasn’t used to it anymore. My morning runs had proven that. But it wasn’t just the climate that made it clear that my life had gone in a different direction.
As I listened to my grandparents and parents talk on the porch after dinner one night, my thoughts kept turning to Oklahoma. It wasn’t that I couldn’t stand to be away from Sienna. After all, it was just a week. But part of me was always aware of the distance between us. That’s how I knew that while a week was okay, a semester wouldn’t be.
My grandpa’s voice startled me out of my thoughts.
“You’re sure quiet tonight, Lee.”
“Huh? Oh, sorry.”
“Thinking about tomorrow?” he asked.
“I guess so,” I said. Actually, I was avoiding thinking about it. I was going to Arizona State tomorrow to meet with the coaches again. I hated not knowing what to do. I still hadn’t heard from Arkansas so it didn’t seem likely they were going to want me. I needed to tell Arizona I would sign with them, but everything in me shied away from it.
I glanced over at my Dad for help. He knew this was a tricky subject for me.
He caught my look and winked. He looked over at my grandpa and said, “You know, Dad, there’s a chance Lee may be invited to play for the Razorbacks.”
“Arkansas? Well, they can invite all they want, but he’s a Wildcat.”
Thanks, Dad.
I gathered my courage. My grandpa was a force of nature. “Actually, I may not have a choice. Arkansas hasn’t offered me a spot.”
“What? You mean you’d actually prefer to go to Arkansas?”
“Yes.”
My grandpa’s eyebrows reminded me of two hairy caterpillars meeting in a head on collision. “But you’ve always wanted to play for Arizona.” Before I could say anything, he pointed at my dad and said, “This is your fault. I knew it was a bad idea for you to move his senior year.”
“Maybe this is what’s meant to be,” my mom pointed out. She looked calm. So did my dad. They always seemed to ride through my grandpa’s outbursts like they were floating down a lazy river.
“I’m not playing for Arkansas,” I reminded everyone.
“Yet,” my dad said. “There’s still time. They want you. They just have to work things out.”
My grandpa was pacing the length of the porch now. “Humph. Well, you’ll change your mind when you get to the campus tomorrow.”
“I doubt it,” I said.
He threw his hands in the air. “What does Arkansas have that you can’t find at Arizona?”
My dad laughed and I glared at him.
“What?” my grandpa asked again.
“A girl,” my dad said.
“A girl? What girl? A boy his age doesn’t need a girl. And there are lots of girls in Arizona.”
“Not this one,” my dad said. “This one is going to the University of Arkansas.”
“That’s not the only reason,” I pointed out. “You know that, Dad.”
“Sure, sure.” He got up and walked over to my Grandpa. “Look, Dad, it’s a great program. Their facilities are some of the best in the country and they have a good coach. He’s been doing some great things the last couple of years, building up the team. They’re headed for big things. Lee will be great there.”
“They haven’t asked me to play for them,” I said, again.
“Plus, I’ll be able to make more of his games,” my dad continued as if I hadn’t spoken.
I groaned in frustration making my mom and grandma laugh.
My grandma patted the arm of the rocking chair next to hers that my grandpa had left empty. “Come and tell me about this girl.”
***
I was exhausted.
It felt like I’d been tired all week. I hadn’t even been doing that much. I think it was the stress getting to me. My day at the University had been difficult. The coaching staff and players I’d met had all seemed excited to have me there. Even worse, it was clear that they considered my signing with them a foregone conclusion. I’d felt like I was being dishonest the whole day. Of course, maybe I wasn’t. Maybe I’d be playing for them after all.
It was 10:00, so no one cared when I excused myself to go to bed. My parents and grandparents never seemed to run out of things to talk about.
My parents had firm opinions on staying off of phones while we were visiting, so I’d left it in my room so I wouldn’t be tempted by it. The first thing I did was check my messages. There were several, but I scrolled through Sienna’s first. She wanted to know how my college visit had gone.
I didn’t know how to say everything in a text.
Fine. How was your day?
It was less than a minute before she responded.
Great. I got a lot done.
Still packing?
Haven’t started yet. Haha Putting it off I guess.
What have you been doing then?
Doing photo shoots and running around with Marisol mostly. Helping her get ready for prom.
Ah.
R U ever going to ask me?
I laughed. It was driving her crazy that I hadn’t asked her to prom yet. I wanted her to think I was going to do something special. And I was. I just hadn’t figured out what yet.
Don’t be so impatient. I’ll be home in two days.
Okay. But if you don’t ask me soon, I’m going to ask you. I miss you.
Want me to call you so we can talk?
No. Marisol’s already asleep and I don’t want to wake her up.
Okay. Love you.
Love you too. Goodnight.
I dropped my phone down on the bed. Man, what was I going to do? Now that I’d built it up to be such a big deal, I needed to think of something good.
First, though, I needed to sleep. I kicked off my shoes and put on some sweat pants and a t-shirt. The nights here got cold and my grandparents’ heater wasn’t the best. They kept a space heater in their room, but not in their guest rooms. After brushing my teeth, I turned out the light and crossed in the dark to the bed. Just as I pulled the quilt down, my phone buzzed with a text. I couldn’t see it though and I realized I’d buried it in the quilt. I dug for it and finally found it when I caught a glimpse of the glow from the screen. It was lying face down. I turned it over and saw a text from Sienna.
You’d better not let Caleb see you. We don’t need him to suspect anything.
What the….
Another message followed quickly.
Um… I guess you figured out I didn’t mean to send that to you.
She guessed right. You’d better go somewhere you can talk because I’m calling you. I gave her a minute before hitting the call button.
She answered immediately. “Hi, Lee.” Her voice betrayed her nervousness.
“What’s going on?”
She sighed and hesitated, but finally said, “Parker is staking out Caleb.”
“Okay, but how are you involved?” In the silence that stretched between us, a horrifying thought occurred to me. “Sienna, tell me you aren’t going with him.”
“What? No! I’m not doing much at all, I promise.”
Fear clawed at me. “What exactly are you doing, Sienna?”
“Look, don’t worry about it.”
“I thought you were done keeping secrets from me. Do you remember what happened last time you got tangled up with Caleb and didn’t tell me everything?”
“Yes, but that’s not going to happen again, and I have to help Parker. You don’t understand.”
