Okay. I know I know. I'm late as hell getting this out. I took on a HUGE undertaking switching to POV to Happy this chapter. I'll never let that happen again. The challenge did help me plan on where this is going to be taken and how I'm going to get some action into it as well. Crazy twists and turns coming ahead. And I'm working on getting pictures of the places mentioned. I'll probably make a website for an end of story special with them.
Happy reading and please review.
P.S. I know it's a little crazy with Aly's back story but I needed to get it out there to set of the rest of the story.
Chapter 9
Flu and Indian Magic
Most of my days were spent at the shop. Lately the guys had been giving me shit on how I was 'hung up' on this girl as they put it. I wouldn't say that though. She was alright though. Easy to get along with.
She could hold her own with the guys at the shop. I brought her over here last night after she got off work. Koz and I kidnapped her. We were gonna go to a bar, but she said she could hold her own here. And she wasn't lying. She could definitely drink with the best of them and didn't take no shit when it came her way. I liked that in her.
She told me her daddy raised her like she was a boy instead of a girl so I guess that's where she gets it. She wasn't what I was used to being around. Not like the damn slutty crow eater hang arounds. I guess that's what's attracting me to her so bad. She's just… not what I would expect. Keeps me guessing.
I sure do know how to push her buttons though. And damn is she smokin' when she's pissed. A little red-headed fireball.
I was surprised when she agreed to drive all the way to Tacoma to hang with us too, since she had to work in the morning in Olympia. She was a hard worker. She came from California and was only off for about a week before she was right back at work. Kept saying she was going crazy being at home all the time. I couldn't blame her. I hated being at home. Guess that's why I had such a small place. Kept me out.
While I was at work though I found it hard to keep my mind of her. Her ass just stayed on my mind. Not that I'm just into her ass… it's just a nice ass. Around noon I decided I was going to call her and see what she was up to tonight. There was a burger joint in McKenna near her house I thought she might like. When I called though the guy that picked up the phone said she hadn't shown up for work though. It perked my attention for sure.
So I called her house phone and there was no answer. It just wasn't like her not to answer. Not to mention the fact that her grandmother should have been there too. I was starting to worry that something had happened to her Grams. I know she moved up here to help her out and that she was older in age.
The next person I could call that might know what was up was Juice. His phone had one of those stupid ring back tones that had the voice of that perverted dude from Family Guy. Fuckin' retarded bastard. "Hello" he answered.
"What's up with Aly? She didn't go to work and she ain't picking up at home."
"Nice to hear from you too Mr. Cheerful."
"Cut the shit. Have you heard from her or not?" I like Juice, but sometimes the little fucker could get into some weird shit. Had to scrap his ass off the floor on more than one occasion.
"I haven't heard from her, but I talked to her girl Kat this morning and she said something about Alyssa being sick. The flu or some shit I think."
"Damn. Well hell. I just seen her last night. Didn't seem like she was sick to me."
"Yeah, well. Just be care with her. I'd might have to kick your ass if you fuck with her. She's a good kid. Finally getting her shit together." I didn't like the attitude the little shit was giving me.
"Stop fucking complaining. She's a big girl and can make big girl decisions. What does it matter to you anyways? You fuckin' her in Cali?"
Juice made a choking sound on the other line. "Jesus no! She's just like a lil' sister to me and I don't want to see her get back into some crazy shit with you. Don't think she could handle another guy fucking with her like that again."
"None of my business man."
"Yeah, well, your gonna find out your making it your business. That girl has some fucked up scars so tread carefully."
"Uh huh. Call you later." I hung up. Didn't want to hear his shit anymore. He was starting to piss me off. Little fucker needs to remember who he was talking to.
I went back to work after the conversation with Juice. What he said really bugged the hell out of me and I didn't know why. I found myself just wanting to know what happened to her.
~*~*~*~*~*
When I got out of the shop I went by my house to get some shit to take to Aly. My dad was Native American and was into all that live off the land home remedy bullshit. Had to admit it actually worked most of the time. Once I grabbed what I was looking for I threw it one of the bags on the back of my bike and headed out to her house.
When I got there I parked my bike next to Aly's Vue in the gravel driveway. The place wasn't bad. Just a little bit bigger then my place. The front yard was lined with evergreens that were about ten feet tall like a fence. No grass behind them though. It was bark with a small willow tree in the middle and random shrubs like lavender. I followed the rock path to the front door and go figure; it was a bright ass red. I gave it a good three raps and waited.
Her grandmother opened the door and oddly enough she didn't look at me like I was a hooligan. "Hello. Can I help you?" She was short as hell. Maybe 5'2" or 3". She didn't look the seventy nine that Aly told me she was. She wasn't bent over or slow.
"I'm here to see Alyssa. I was told she's sick." I suddenly felt like I was a teenager again. This isn't me. What the fuck am I thinking.
She didn't seem startled. I guess that was a good sign I guess. "Yes, yes. She in her room sleeping. I don't know if you'd want to come in though. You might get sick too."
I shrugged. "Don't matter to me."
She opened the door the rest of the way and let me in. She led me to Aly's room which was about ten feet from the right of the door. The door was cracked and she said I could just go on in.
Aly's room wasn't her. It definitely looked like she has just gotten here still. There was a queen sized bed with a golden metal from at the head and foot. An older looking dresser and a wood television stand in the corner. It was decorated with porcelain dolls and flowers. There were some things that screamed Aly, but not enough to make it seem like she actually lived here.
On the bed was Aly's cat curled next to a lump under the huge pile of blankets. I walked up to her and pull the blankets away from her head. Brushing her hair back I could feel the fever her body was fighting. I didn't like the fact the she was like this. She wasn't someone that seemed like a stay in bed all day type of person.
When my hand touched her she turned up and looked at me. "Happy? What are you doing here?" God, her voice was so scratchy and low. It must be hurting her to speak.
"Heard you were sick. Brought you some shit that should help." I set the bag I had on the nightstand next to her bed. "Scoot your ass over." I was kicking my boots off as I said it. She complied with my request and I laid down next to her on the bed. I snatched her shoulders and pulled her to me.
"How'd you find out I was sick?" She curled into chest and laid her head on my shoulder. I started brushing her hair back repeatedly.
"Didn't show up at your job. When you weren't answering the phone I called Juice."
"Ohhh… Kat must have told him." She gave a little cough. " I talked to her this morning when I was at the clinic."
"They say what you got?"
"Yeah. I got the flu." She looked up at me. "You what some of this."
Her little smile was infectious. I laughed. "Keep that shit to yourself sweetheart."
She put her head back down on my shoulder. "Sharing is caring."
"Hold on a sec. I'm gonna light this stuff I brought over. Just some shit my dad used to use on me when I was younger. He's a Native American, so he's into all that herbal remedy bullshit." I got up off the bed and grabbed the bag. Unwrapping it I pulled out some bunched up sage and other stuff and laid it on a dish on her nightstand and lit it. The smoke slowly rose into the room and the scent filled the air.
She sat back up to let me lay back on the bed next to her and presumed her previous position on my chest. "What's it going to do for me?" She asked looking over at the sage.
"Should help open up your airways and make it a little easier for you to breath and sleep."
"Oh."
I grabbed her hand in mine and brought it to my lips giving it a quick kiss. "I'm starting to really like you. I don't want you to think I'm treating you like your just some other hang around whore."
"Carlos talked to you didn't he? I tried to tell him to stay out of it. Not his business." She squeezed me hand a little. "I'm not looking for something more than where we're at now. I don't want to force you into anything. I'm just picking myself up from a long relationship from hell and don't want to hurt anything I could have with you by not being fully over what I just had."
That was the opening I wanted. I wanted to know about this past guy Juice brought up. So I went with it. "Tell me about it. Tell me about this guy."
She shifted uncomfortably. "You really want me to tell you about some other guy I dated?"
"Yeah. He obviously hurt you pretty bad. I want to know what happened. I want to know what you went through so I can understand you better." Honestly I did. I wanted to know this chick. I really was starting to like her. She was so much different then the rest of this girls I hung around with. She was real. She didn't try to put a face on for everyone else. Never hid the way she felt about a certain situation. She told you what was up and didn't hold back. There were insecurities there though and I wanted to know why. She shouldn't have a reason to be insecure. At least not from what I'd seen so far.
"Well. It started when I met Rob when I was working for the paint store. At the time I was dating my high school sweetheart, Justin. I was nineteen then. I had taken over as lead sales in the Manteca store after working with the company for about one and a half years.
"When I started Rob was there as one of my inside sale employees. He had just transferred in from one of our Oklahoma locations and from day one he intrigued me. After a week I found myself sleeping with him and had broken things off with Justin.
"Rob quit the paint store about three months of us sneaking around because he was worried we'd get caught and that I'd lose my job. He had trouble find another job after that so he did odd jobs painting house or fixing cars. In January 2008 I started looking for a place of my own because I was turning twenty and didn't want to be at my parents house anymore.
"After about a week of looking I found out Rob's roommate was leaving and he was going to lose his place. So I told him we could get a place together. So in February we found a place and moved.
"Not long after that he started getting letters from Contra Costa County about his ex-wife trying to get child support for not only his son but her other two kids she had after she left him. So I helped him with that, keeping the court dates and paperwork in order and making sure he got there. After awhile of that we finally got his ex to come in and take paternity tests on the kids. I had urged him to call her so that he could start seeing his son Robby again. He did.
"The first time Sopheia brought Robby over he was with us for a week. Man did I just fall head over heals for him. He was so much fun. He was five years old and just a ham. I made it a point to just do kids stuff. We had picnics in the living room watching movies and went to see Rob's parents.
"By this point Rob had gotten a job as a truck driver for Central trucking. He had been working with them for about four months and was a cross country driver. So I only got to see him about every other week or longer.
"The day after Sopheia got Robby we got the results in the mail on the paternity tests. Opening that just broke Rob's heart. I was sitting on the porch when he came out and gave it to me. It said that not only were to two not his, but neither was Robby. His only son wasn't really his. He said he'd still be his dad though if Sopheia would let him. She did.
"The December we had started getting a little rocky because I was mad at the fact that all my money went into the house and most of his went to Sopheia for a kid that wasn't his. Then when she brought Robby for a visit in December Rob dropped that she had no place to stay on me and me being me said she could sleep on the couch for a night or two. Next thing I know she was living there with her kids.
"In early January Rob went to Oklahoma on a run and was going to pick up Sopheia's best friend and bring her back so Sopheia could get her own place and work while Christina watched the kids. He told me he'd be back in time for my birthday on the 29th.
"About mid-month Sopheia had started putting doubt in my head asking if I thought him and Christina were sleeping together. That threw me for a loop because I never would have suspected that. After that I didn't know what to think. The seed of doubt was there. I had asked him about it, but he denied it.
"The night he got home it was about two days before my twenty-first birthday. He came to the door and basically told me that he didn't want to be with me anymore and that he and Christina were together and that they were going to be staying at the house till they could find a place to live. So I found myself living in a house with Rob, his ex-wife, her three kids, and his new girlfriend.
"I basically had a nervous breakdown one night and took a bunch of somas, vicadin, and drank a bottle of captain. My cousin was there that night so that's the only reason I remember what happened. She said I beat the hell out of Robert then went to kick Christina and Sopheia's ass. Turned out Sopheia knew the whole time that Rob and Christina were sleeping together and even he and Sopheia slept together while I was at work a few times.
"That's when I took what I could fit in my car including my cat and moved back home to my parents house. Then I moved here about seven months later. Here I am." She looked so beat after all that. I gave her a squeeze.
"I'm sorry you had to go through that. That's some rough shit. I appreciate you sharin' it with me."
"Thanks for listening. And for coming over with your magic smoke shit."
"Anything darlin'."
