Chapter 15: You a Cop?
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July woke up the next morning totally refreshed. It was a half past eight, and she got up out of bed, taking a quick shower. She left her hair down not feeling like messing with it. Dressing in a pair of jean capris, a black auto shirt from the shop and her beat up sneakers, she headed down stairs and had a bowl of cereal for breakfast. She walked through the swinging door into the dining room and stood by the window.
The sun was already halfway up the sky and glinted off the cars in the driveway over, catching July's attention. Sitting in the drive way was a bright red Mazda RX-7, a blue Nissan Maxima, a dark red Nissan 240sx, a yellow Nissan Skyline, a white VW Jetta, and a turquoise Acura Integra. They were nice cars, racing cars, she added as she made out the various part decals. They'd probably know where to get car parts.
As she finished her cereal and was about to turn away, she saw the girl from the store come out of the door. Mia walked over to the Acura, got in and drove away in the direction of the store. July almost gave a laugh at the irony of it all.
She cleaned up what little mess she had made from the night before and washed the dishes. She looked at the clock and saw she still had about two hours till Arnold came. Having nothing else better to do, she decided to go check on her 'baby' and see how everything was after the long trip.
Walking out side and stepping into the sunshine, July stretched a minute and turned her face to the sky. It felt nice, starting over, a fresh start. She walked over to her car and popped the hood. She checked the pressure on the tires before moving towards the engine and giving it a look over.
When she was almost finished, she held still for a second. She could feel eyes on her. Her hair shielded her face and she slowly turned her head slightly to the side, looking through her hair at the person. While her hair blocked most of the view, she could make out that it was a guy. He was pretty tall; his hair was brown and his beard was scruffy looking. He was well built and was wearing a pair of jeans and a red wife beater. She could tell he was looking at her skeptically, like he was wondering to himself why she was even under the hood of a car.
July finished checking the engine and then stood up, wiping her hands on a rag she always kept in her car. She turned towards him and found his blue eyes staring at her.
"Can I help you?"
"What do you think you're doing?" the guy asked.
"Checking my engine. What does it look like I'm doing?" she snapped back.
"You sure you know what you're doing?"
"Of course I know what I am doing. I wouldn't be messing with an engine if I didn't know what I was doing. I'm not that stupid, " she said getting mad that the guy assumed she didn't know what she was doing since she was a girl.
"Right," he drawled sarcastically and July felt her hands ball into fists.
"Look, I know what I am doing so just leave me alone." She closed the hood with a little more force than necessary and walking to the driver's door. She popped the trunk and put away the rag and the pressure gage. She closed the trunk to find the guy still standing there.
"Look, what the heck do you want?" she asked getting fed up with the guy.
"Are you a cop?" he asked in all seriousness.
"What kind of question is that?"
"Just a question."
"No, I'm not a cop. Now get off my property before I call the cops," she replied, glaring at him. She didn't even give the unknown guy time to respond before she shouldered past him, making him stagger just the slightest and stormed into the house.
What the heck was that all about? That guy was acting really weird, asking if I was a cop. Yeah you just go up to normal people and ask them if they're a cop, she ranted in her head.
She tried to shake off the anger but couldn't.
Who does this guy think he is?
July paced in the living room and then settled on the couch, turning on the television and hoping it would distract her. She ended up watching some movie she didn't even like before she heard the doorbell ring. She shut of the set and got up, opening the door to find Arnold on the other side.
"Hello."
"Hey," she replied.
"Are you ready to go?" he asked.
"Yeah, let me just grab my wallet." July left Arnold at the door and ran up the stairs. She grabbed her wallet and as a last thought grabbed both sets of keys from the top of her dresser. She ran back down and found Arnold standing in the foyer.
"So ready now?"
"Yeah," she answered, following him out the door and locking it behind her. They got into his BMW and then were off.
After heading to the bank and finding out she was more than financially secure, Arnold took her out to lunch. Once lunch was over, he took her to a few other placed she need to go and got all their business done before 2.
They spent the rest of the afternoon cruising around town, Arnold showing her places to go, where the mall was, and some of his choice restaurants. By the end of the afternoon, July had a good feel for the city and learned most of the layout, and her anger from earlier was almost non existent.
They picked up Charlotte around six and went out to dinner on the pier. July had a great time and found herself laughing half the time. She told them a little more about herself but not much. She didn't know what all to tell them since she didn't even know what was real and what wasn't. They seem to understand that though and didn't push her more than she was willing to give. Arnold pulled up to her house around eight that night.
"Well thanks for showing me the town," she said, getting out. Arnold opened his window to talk to her.
"You're welcome."
"July?" She could hear Charlotte call.
"Yeah Charlotte?"
"We were wondering what you were doing on Sunday. Amy is going to be home and we usually all get together on Sunday. You could come over and meet everyone. Max comes over on Sunday, so he will be there too. We would love for you to come."
July debated over it. In a way she wanted to because she wanted to meet Amy but at the same time she was scared. Scared to learn the true because that meant really having to say goodbye to everything she knew. She was different now though, and that wasn't going to change. She would be the one to decide who she was and if talking to Amy was going to help then she needed to do it.
"Yeah sure," she answered.
"Great, we'll come over and pick you up around two."
"Ok."
"Do you think you'll be okay for the weekend?" Charlotte asked in that concern mother tone and July smiled.
It's been a while since I heard that tone. But as soon as she thought that she thought of Mary and all she had lost. Instead of voicing anything, she kept her voice cheerful.
"Yeah I'll be fine. If I need you I have your number, remember?"
"Yes, I know dear, I just worry. Well, we will see you Sunday then."
"Bye," July said waving. She watched as their taillights disappeared into the night before turning back towards her house. She needed to do something. She could feel the anger at everything that had happened rising inside.
She went into the house and went to her room, changing into a pair of shorts and a tank top. Grabbing her CDs and her newly acquired stereo, she went down to the basement. She put in her Papa Roach CD, switched the song, and cranked the volume up. The lyrics of "Last Resort" flooded the room.
July started running on the treadmill. She just kept running, all that mattered was keeping herself moving. She ran for a long time, trying to tire out herself enough so her brain would stop thinking. She eventually slowed her pace half way through the CD and was down to a fast paced walk as "Last Resort" finished playing for the second time.
She stopped completely and took deep breaths, trying to replenish the missing oxygen in her body when the next song came on. It was "Broken Home".
July carried the stereo with her up to her bathroom and let it play as she took a shower. Soon, she stepped out, and shut off the stereo, feeling clean but utterly and totally exhausted, not only physically but emotionally too. Wrapped in a towel, she carried her clothes and stereo into her room, discarding them in a pile on the floor. She slipped on her comfy pajamas and as soon as her head hit her pillow, she was out.
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tbc…