The gang headed down to the quieter part of the beach, finding an abandoned fire drum and made themselves comfortable on the sand. David handed Zaskia a beer, which she took gratefully, even though she didn't really like beer all that much. At that moment, anything would've been good.
"So Zaskia, how long have you been in Santa Carla?" Marko asked.
"About three months."
"What made you decide to move here?" Paul wanted to know.
Zaskia was silent for a few moments before she answered. "You remember that big earthquake that hit a few months ago?"
They nodded.
"Well, I came home that afternoon to find a pile of rubble where my house used to be. Both my parents were killed," she finished quietly. "Anyway, my best friend suggested that after a month of me not coping, we should move somewhere together and start fresh. I'd always wanted to visit Santa Carla and I used to talk about it quite a bit. Sophie made some enquiries and before I knew it, she, my boyfriend Connor and I had moved into a three-bedroom place just five minutes from the boardwalk. I still have days when it's really hard. I mean, not a day goes past when I don't think about them."
"Wow, that sucks," Marko said.
"Wait for it; here's the kicker. I came home last night to find the two that were supposed to be helping me get my life back in order screwing each other."
"Asshole," Paul said.
"Bitch," Dwayne muttered.
It was the first time Zaskia had heard him speak. "So yeah, now I have no parents, no boyfriend and no best friend. Cool huh? Sometimes I wished I'd stayed in San Jose. At least I knew people there," she said, taking a large gulp of beer.
"Would you go back?" Marko pressed.
"No. A couple of months ago I would've, but I like it here. Santa Carla is my home now."
"Good. Besides, you have us now." David said, lighting a cigarette.
"Yeah," the others agreed.
It was nice to know she still had people that wanted to be with her. Zaskia downed the last of her beer in one gulp, causing her head to spin slightly, but she didn't care. She was just going to have fun and enjoy herself with her new friends. They were a little on the strange side, but no more than anyone else in Santa Carla. David puzzled her though. He always seemed as though he were hiding something.
Paul handed her another beer, which led to a chinking of bottles between all and each sculling a large mouthful. Paul coughed and spluttered beer everywhere, which sent the rest into bursts of laughter.
"What's wrong, Paul? Beer too strong?" Zaskia teased.
"Yeah, maybe we should get you a cocktail instead," Marko said with a laugh and gave him a brotherly shove. Paul shoved him back, which almost started an all-out brawl.
An hour or so later, David jumped up. "The boys and I gotta go and take care of some stuff, so how about we meet you back on the boardwalk in half an hour?"
Zaskia furrowed her brow. "Uh…OK. Why?"
"Guy stuff."
"Guy stuff? You follow me around, wanting me to be hang out with your 'gang' or whatever this is and now suddenly you want to go and do 'guy stuff'?"
"It's not like that, Zaskia," Marko offered.
"Then what is it like? You want me to be a part of this when it suits you, otherwise it's just 'Go amuse yourself while we go off and be men and we'll come back for you when we're ready. Well you can stick that!"
"Zaskia, you don't understand …" David began.
"Damn right I don't! Whatever, I'm out." She turned and headed down the beach in exasperation, knowing her reaction was a bit extreme, though considering what had just happened, her nerves were somewhat frayed.
"Zaskia wait!" David called, running after her, standing in her path.
"What?" she said, folding her arms across her chest.
David's usually hard face softened a little. "We do want you with us. There's just…things that we always do that only the four of us do. It's nothing personal."
Zaskia noticed he looked genuinely disappointed that she would walk away. She didn't know why she was so desperate to give him a chance. Probably because they were all she had left.
"Alright David."
He smiled. "See you soon."
Zaskia headed back to the boardwalk and wandered around, waiting for David and the boys to return. She really liked all of them but why all the secrecy? Zaskia resigned herself to the fact that she would probably find out eventually.
She stopped and looked at one of the jewellery stands, thinking she might buy a new choker. One jumped out at her; black velvet that had small deep green rhinestones set into it that matched her belly ring perfectly. Zaskia removed her old necklace and put on the new one. As she was admiring her purchase in the mirror, she noticed a familiar figure walk up behind her.
"It looks good on you."
She turned around to find Connor standing in front of her, eyes remorseful. For the first time in two nights, Zaskia didn't walk away from him.
"What do you want, Connor?" she asked quietly.
He made a move toward her, but she backed away.
"I just want to talk to you."
Zaskia shrugged her shoulders. "So talk."
"Can we go somewhere a little more private?"
Not answering him, Zaskia turned and walked towards a quieter part of the boardwalk and folded her arms across her chest.
"Zas…I am so sorry I hurt you. I feel awful about what happened."
Zaskia stared at him. "Yeah, sure you do. I have one word for you Connor. Why?"
Connor looked down at his shoes and shifted nervously. "I was an idiot. I really want to try and work this out. I don't want it to ruin our entire relationship."
"You don't want this to ruin our relationship? You screw my best friend, but you don't want this to ruin our relationship? As far as I'm concerned, there is no relationship anymore. With either of you. I just don't get it Connor. All I keep asking myself is why? What did I do?"
He tried to take her hand, but she snatched it away.
"Just tell me the truth."
Silence.
"For someone that wanted to talk, you haven't got a lot to say!"
He shrugged his shoulders and looked up at her. "I don't know what else to say except I am truly sorry. We were both pretty drunk at the time and..."
Zaskia fought back tears, her lip trembling. "Connor, I heard you two arguing yesterday morning about how 'you should've said something' and 'you weren't expecting me to come home early'. I don't know, but that kinda tells me that something had been going on before last night."
She saw the panic cross Connor's face.
"You didn't think I heard that, did you? So, you just lied to me again. I mean, for frick's sake, you're standing here supposedly trying to apologise, yet you're still lying to me! And here I was thinking we had something…"
"We do Zaskia…"
"No, we don't anymore. It's over Connor. You're pathetic." Zaskia turned to walk past him, but he grabbed her arm.
"Let me go Connor. It's over. I'm going to pack my stuff and find somewhere else to live as soon as I can. I don't want to be involved with or around either of you." She tried to leave again, however he tightened his grip on her arm.
"Don't make this any harder than it is."
He shook his head. "I'm not ready to let you go, Zaskia."
"Oh really? Well, you might've thought about before you decided to sleep around!" She moved to leave again, and again Connor resisted.
"Zaskia, come on, don't do this. Please."
"I am not going anywhere with you. Read my lips Connor. It. Is. Over. Finished. And don't beg, it isn't a good look. My friends will be back soon. I suggest you let me go before they get here. They're not the kind of people you want to piss off."
"What friends?"
"I've moved on, Connor. Making new friends here. Can't rely on my old ones, can I?"
Suddenly, a roar of engines and bright lights surrounded them, shining into their faces.
"Everything OK, Zaskia?" came a voice, which she recognised as Dwayne's.
"Fine, Dwayne. My friend here was just leaving."
"Not without you," he whispered in her ear. Neither of them moved for a few seconds.
"Let her go Connor," David said calmly.
Connor furrowed his brow in confusion. "Hey, how the fuck do you know my name man?"
David emitted a low, evil laugh. "I know a lot about a lot of people. Now let her go and no one will get hurt."
"Well, you don't waste time do you Zaskia!"
"Oh get over yourself."
"Ohhh, so this is what you've been doing for the last couple of nights. Hangin' out with the local boardwalk trash. Classy, Zaskia."
Paul moved to hop off his bike and pound the guy, but David signalled to him not to.
"Connor, I'm going to ask you nicely one more time to let her go." David stared hard at him, his eyes warning him not to go too far.
"Trust me Connor, you don't want to piss him off," Zaskia warned.
Connor made no attempt to let her go, so Zaskia took things into her own hands, knowing David would hurt him a lot more than she would. She manoeuvred out of his grip and pinned him to the ground. Connor coughed, as the wind was knocked out of him. He looked up at her, eyes wide. They stared at each other for a few seconds, before Zaskia finally spoke.
"Goodbye Connor," she said quietly, and with that pulled herself off him and climbed onto the back of David's bike.
The boys all nodded in admiration and sneered at Connor, before they all laughed and whooped and zoomed off down the boardwalk.