Gem, Himself, Alone, page 22
At lunchtime, Ruby and the other girls went over to the senior high half of the school to look for some guys to join up with. Kate would never have been able to interest any of the guys by herself, and Marty didn’t really care to, but Ruby had something that attracted the older boys.
“It’s because you look so much older,” Kate said. “They don’t think they’re dating a kid, then.” She sighed. “I don’t look a day older than I am. If I at least had a body like Marty...”
“You’re welcome to it,” Marty grumbled. “I sure don’t want it. But that’s not what makes the guys like Ruby. She’s almost as flat as you are.”
“You just look... more mature,” Kate told Ruby.
Ruby shrugged.
“There’s Brian. Let’s see what he’s doing.”
Brian looked happy to see them. Tall, slim, with longish hair, he had a handsome face and was almost always smiling and relaxed.
“Hey, girls,” he greeted cheerfully. “Looking for some action?”
He put his arm around Ruby’s shoulders and gave her a quick hug.
“Got any plans?” Ruby questioned.
“Nope. You wanna go to my place and order a pizza?”
“Sure.”
A couple of Brian’s friends and Kate and Marty all agreed, so they headed for his house. Brian broke out a couple of six-packs when they got there, and they lounged around drinking and watching kid’s shows on TV while they waited for the pizza.
It was almost one when the pizza delivery man got there, but nobody really cared. Missing the first class after lunch was no big deal. In another hour, though, most of them were done eating and getting set to go back to school. Ruby didn’t move from her spot on the couch beside Brian.
“You going back?” she asked Brian.
“Not if you’ll stick around,” he said, giving her a squeeze and kissing her on top of the head.
“Good. I’ll see you guys around,” Ruby told Kate and Marty.
“Okay. See you later,” Marty agreed.
The others went back to school. Tanner, one of Brian’s friends, stuck around for another hour watching TV with them. Then he got bored, and suggested they all go somewhere.
“The arcade?” Brian suggested.
“For a while,” Ruby agreed. She knew how it would go. They’d play for a while, but Brian would be off his game from drinking for three hours, and he’d get frustrated.
Ruby played a few games herself, but the games or the booze were giving her a headache. She watched Brian play for a while, but he wasn’t getting anywhere near his high scores and she could see his frustration mounting.
“Why don’t we go shoot some pool,” she suggested.
Brian slammed his hand down on the control panel and let the game end. He turned to face her.
“Yeah. Let’s blow. I’m totally useless at this today.”
Tanner had disappeared at some point. The pool hall was more relaxing. Ruby and Brian shot a leisurely game together, without caring who got the better shots or who won. Brian cajoled a jug of beer out of the management, and they smoked and drank and shot into the evening.
“You know, your friends are sort of strange,” Brian commented.
Ruby smiled.
“Yeah, I know it. They’re misfits, like me.”
“That Marty—she gives me the creeps. I get the feeling she’s got a voodoo doll somewhere with my name on it.”
Ruby pictured it, and laughed.
“Don’t mention it to her, she might think it’s a good idea,” she giggled.
“She hates me, doesn’t she?”
“It’s not you. She doesn’t like any guys. I think she’s got a short-circuit somewhere.”
Brian looked thoughtful.
“No, it’s more than that. She doesn’t look at the other guys like she looks at me. I think it’s because you like me. I think she’s actually jealous.”
“Jealous?” Ruby repeated, surprised. “Nah. If she was jealous, why go back to school? She could have said: ‘let’s go somewhere’ and we could have gone somewhere without you. She could’a’ skipped one afternoon of school to do something with all of us. We would’ve done something with her.”
“She doesn’t ever get you to herself, does she? Just the two of you?”
“Well, not much...” Ruby admitted. “You’re nuts, you know? Marty isn’t like that, she just doesn’t like guys.”
“Maybe... but I don’t know.”
They dropped the subject.
“I gotta be getting home,” Brian commented, looking at his watch.
“It’s not that late,” Ruby protested.
He gave her a couple of gentle kisses, softening the parting.
“I know. But I got things going on tonight,” he apologized.
“You gotta go home? Right now?”
“Sorry.”
Ruby shrugged.
“All right.”
“You want me to drop you off somewhere?” Brian suggested.
“No. I’ll hang around here a while.”
Brian took a glance around.
“I get nervous, you hanging around places like this by yourself,” he said.
Ruby looked over the crowds.
“They’re just kids, Bri’. And it’s not like it’s a gang hangout or something.”
“I guess,” he agreed reluctantly. “You look after yourself, though.”
“Sure. See you ’round.”
“Okay, babe.”
He kissed her again briefly, and left. Ruby hung out there for a while before going to the bar where Chuck would meet her if he was picking her up. The bouncers knew her, but they never let her in because she was too young. If she was a few years older, they might have bent and let her in, but as it was, she had to stand outside. If it was cold out, they’d let her stand inside the door periodically to warm herself up, but otherwise she stood outside with the hookers, watching for Chuck.
“Hi, Ruby,” Betty greeted cheerfully.
“Hi, Betty.”
“How’re you doing, girl?” Grace questioned.
“Good. Chuck ain’t been by, has he?”
“Nope. You expecting him tonight?”
“Maybe. Saw him last night, so maybe not.”
“Does he ever pay you anything?” Grace demanded.
“No. It’s not like that,” Ruby protested with a laugh. “I like to be with him.”
“He’s taking advantage of you.”
“No, he’s not. Any time I felt like that, I’d just stop coming here,” Ruby pointed out.
“She’s just too young to know the difference,” Betty interposed. “She thinks she loves him.”
“No...” Ruby said, frowning, “I just... like being with him. I don’t like being alone.”
“Well, you could get company that paid a lot better than that,” Grace grumbled.
“Aw, leave her alone. She’s better off not getting into this business.”
Grace lit a cigarette, and they were quiet for a while. A car pulled up in front of the bar. Betty went up to talk to the driver.
“Hi, honey.”
The man indicated Ruby. Betty glanced over at her.
“Oh, she’s not interested, honey. But Grace or me...”
“No. Her.”
“She’s not working.”
“I’ll make it worth your while,” the man said to Ruby, holding up a wad of cash.
Ruby shook her head.
“She’s just waiting for her friend,” Betty explained.
He screeched his tires when he pulled out, and shot down the street. Betty went back to stand with Ruby and Grace.
Grace shook her head.
“You stand there in shorts and a tee and sneakers and get more pick-ups than we do. I just don’t know what you do.”
“She’s young. Men like’em young,” Betty said.
“I started at her age, and I never got the attention she does.”
Betty looked at Ruby and shrugged.
“Some people just got what it takes.”
Ruby watched for Chuck’s car. If he didn’t show up, she’d have to try and find somewhere else she could spend the night. But she wasn’t going to take up a new profession to do it. An hour passed, and Ruby knew he wasn’t going to show up. She said goodbye to the girls, and started to walk away. She got about half a block down, and a red convertible pulled up beside her.
“Hey, sweetheart.”
“Not interested.”
“Slow down. How’d you like to make a little cash?”
Ruby stopped and looked at him. A small, ferret-faced man in a red convertible. She’d seen him before, but she couldn’t remember where. He was well dressed, but she got a bad vibe from him.
“What’re you going to pay me for?” she demanded.
“To work for me,” he said vaguely.
“Doin’ what?”
“Leave her alone,” Betty said, catching up to Ruby. “Ruby doesn’t need any help from you.”
The man looked at Betty.
“Stay out of it, Betty. This doesn’t concern you.”
“Ruby’s my friend, you’d better believe it concerns me. Ruby, you ever met my boss?”
“No. Guess I haven’t.”
“Well, he’s a snake, so stay away from him. You see this rat, you go the other way.”
“Thanks.”
Ruby turned and walked away. She could hear the pimp getting after Betty as she walked away, but Ruby didn’t look back. The last thing she needed was to get involved in that scene. She went back to the pool hall, but no one that she knew was around. Ruby stayed there until the small hours of the morning before admitting to herself that her choices were either sleeping on the street or going home. She left the pool hall and started for home. Halfway there, a squad car pulled up beside her.
“Hi,” the police officer said, through the open window.
“Hi there,” Ruby acknowledged.
“A little late to be out wandering, isn’t it?”
“I’m on my way home.”
“How about if I drive you?” he offered.
“Yeah, okay.”
“Hop in.”
Ruby got into the squad car and shut the door. He pulled away from the curb.
“What’s your name?”
“Ruby.”
“Where do you live, Ruby?”
She gave him her address.
“Good. The name’s Brown. What were you doing out so late?”
“Just hanging out.” Ruby shrugged.
“There’s lots of crazies out there. You shouldn’t be out alone.”
“I know.”
“Your folks know where you are?”
“No.”
“You do this often?”
Ruby shrugged.
“No. Not a lot.”
Brown didn’t say anything else. They pulled up to the house a few minutes later. Ruby glanced at the cop to see if he was going to insist on escorting her in and talking to her parents, but he was relaxed and didn’t move to get out.
“Thanks for the lift,” Ruby said.
“No problem,” Brown took a business card out of his pocket. “If you’re ever out late alone or need something, you call me. I’d rather be a taxi for a couple minutes then find you dead by the road somewhere.”
Ruby took the card from him.
“Hey—thanks. That’s cool.”
She got out and went up to the house. The key was on a ring on her knapsack, and she waved at Brown and let herself in.
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Ruby, Between the Cracks, Book #1 in the Between the Cracks series by P.D. Workman is available now!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
For as long as P.D. Workman can remember, the blank page has held an incredible allure. After a number of false starts, she finally wrote her first complete novel at the age of twelve. It was full of fantastic ideas. It was the spring board for many stories over the next few years. Then, forty-some novels later, P.D. Workman finally decided to start publishing. Lots more are on the way!
P.D. Workman is a devout wife and a mother of one, born and raised in Alberta, Canada. She is a homeschooler and an Executive Assistant. She has a passion for art and nature, creative cooking for special diets, and running. She loves to read, to listen to audio books, and to share books out loud with her family. She is a technology geek with a love for all kinds of gadgets and tools to make her writing and work easier and more fun. In person, she is far less well-spoken than on the written page and tends to be shy and reserved with all but those closest to her.
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Please visit P.D. Workman at pdworkman.com to see what else she is working on, to join her mailing list, and to link to her social networks.
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P D Workman, Gem, Himself, Alone
