Chapter Twenty-Nine
AJ
The mayor’s place is just as I always expected it would be. Fancy gated white house with its own intercom and private driveway. Lit up from the outside at night. Prolly a double staircase and crystal chandelier on the inside.
No generator required. No sleeping naked because you’re so hot you might boil in your own skin. So fancy, even the roaches prolly know to stay away from a place like this.
I shouldn’t be surprised. Next to Electric Hills, Boulder Creek is the most high-class neighborhood in Canyon. Yet, looking up at this place, it still leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
I think of my mother, scraping by. People out here, they don’t know what privilege is.
I draw closer to the intercom on my motorcycle. Behind me, Hollie reaches out and presses the button. A moment later, the gates begin to open.
I ride in, then pull up in the driveway outside the house. Hollie dismounts before I kill the engine. We both remove our helmets. When I see her face, she looks terrified, because her stepbrother’s car is already parked up.
‘Hey,’ I say, fixing her gaze, which remains unfocused. ‘Everything is gonna be fine.’
Her chin bobs up and down as she nods her head, like she’s tryna convince herself I’m telling the truth.
‘Let’s just go inside and get this over with.’
I thought about dressing up some. But I’m proud of who I am.
Of where I come from, even if I accept that Rapture cannot survive for much longer in its current state.
So, I put on my ripped jeans that have seen better days, my scuffed biker boots, my pale gray cotton T-shirt that looks just about the same as every other tee in my closet, and my leather jacket with the skull embroidered on the back that I won fair and square in a game of eight-ball. Because they all represent who I am.
The things about me that have changed are all on the inside.
Couple months ago, being in a serious relationship was not on my bingo card.
Never thought I’d fall hopelessly in love with a girl I’d do anything for.
But mayor’s stepdaughter or no, Echo’s belief that our relationship is gonna start a civil war is pure, unfiltered bullshit.
And I plan on proving that, right about now.
Hollie walks up a couple of steps and rings the doorbell. I linger behind her, still holding onto my helmet.
She glances back at me and gives a hopeful smile, so I reach out and give her fingers a squeeze.
The door opens.
Evelyn Wallace stands in the threshold. The mayor of Canyon looks down her nose and fixes Hollie with a steely gaze, before her eyes dart to mine. The look she gives me is stone cold.
I should have warned Echo I was coming here. He prolly would have tried to talk me out of it.
‘Hollie,’ she says dryly. ‘How timely. You’d both better come in.’
I follow Hollie inside.
Once the door closes behind us, I look up. Curved double-staircase, one chandelier. There’s even a glass vase full of pink and purple flowers in the center of a round table, which prolly cost more than my mom pays in rent for a month.
Hollie puts down her helmet beside the door.
A figure appears at the top of the stairs. The guy from last night, Hollie’s asshole of a stepbrother. He’s leaning on the railing and smirking down at us in the hallway.
The mayor looks between us. Still holding onto my helmet, I slide my free arm purposefully around Hollie’s waist as she places her hand over the fabric of my jacket.
‘This is my boyfriend, AJ Callahan,’ Hollie says, her voice laced with uncertainty. If that’s what being in her stepmother’s presence does to her, it makes me hate the mayor even more than I already do.
‘I would say it’s a pleasure to meet you, AJ, but let’s not pretend that either of us find this encounter pleasurable. I know where you come from.’
I clench my jaw and say nothing. If Echo was here, he would tell me not to rise to the bait.
‘Where’s my dad?’ Hollie asks.
‘In his study. Watching in complete disbelief the video Dougie just brought to us. Dare I say it, my dear girl… likely drowning in disappointment.’
I hold onto Hollie tighter. I feel like we should have better prepared ourselves for a frosty reception. It was only ever gonna be this way.
‘Well, I suppose I ought to invite you both to sit down and have something to drink.’
I put down my helmet beside Hollie’s. Hollie pulls away from me but then takes me by the hand. ‘I’m going to find Dad. I want to introduce him properly to AJ.’
She pulls me further inside the house, but then, from a back room, Hollie’s dad appears. He’s tall, slender, with a straight nose. Kind of how I imagine a middle-aged British dude looks. He’s holding a phone in his fingers.
‘Dad,’ Hollie says, with a smile. ‘I want to introduce you to someone. This is my boyfriend, AJ.’
He looks me up and down, not with a scowl or anything, but maybe a little surprised by my style. Maybe it’s the jacket, or I put too much product in my hair. Either way, he looks wary, but still, he holds out his hand.
‘Nice to meet you, AJ,’ he says stiffly in that same British accent that Hollie has, and I shake it. Honestly, he’s got kind of a weak grip.
‘Nice to meet you, sir,’ I say.
‘I’m sorry I didn’t say anything before,’ Hollie says. ‘About this. About us.’
‘You’re from Rapture, I hear,’ Hollie’s father says, clearing his throat.
‘I grew up there.’
‘AJ was in my class at Eastvale High, Dad. That’s how I know him.’
Her father’s eyebrows crawl up his forehead, like this information has taken him by surprise.
Evelyn Wallace’s voice cuts in from behind us. ‘Rick. Why don’t you make everyone a drink?’
‘You two go and take a seat,’ Hollie’s dad says softly.
That’s when I notice the hurt in his eyes, when he looks over at her. Then I realize that I’m the first guy Hollie’s prolly brought home to meet him in, like, ever. I’m that guy.
I glance up above our heads. Doug has disappeared. Slunk back to whatever dark, stinking hole he emerged from.
We take a seat in the fancy living room. Stain-free couches, three of them, in white leather. I wonder if the mayor went through some kind of catalogue for rich people’s furnishings when she got elected, ordering whatever she liked and getting somebody else to pay for it.
I remove my jacket and lay it over the back of the couch. Lower myself down next to Hollie, opposite Evelyn Wallace. I feel Hollie reach for my hand, and she squeezes my fingers tight, like this is torture for her also. This time, the mayor’s eyes home in on my tattoos.
‘So. AJ. What is it that you do for a living?’
I lean forward. Rest my elbows on my knees but keep hold of Hollie’s hand. ‘I’m an auto mechanic. I fix up motorcycles.’
‘Is that in Rapture?’
There’s no point in me trying to conceal the truth. ‘Yes. I work for Echo Salinger. He’s my boss; he owns the business.’
For a moment, she fixes my stare. Her chest rises, like she’s inhaled sharply. But she’s careful to conceal her true feelings – I can see that now.
‘I see,’ she says. ‘Did you go to college?’
‘No, ma’am,’ I tell her, but I guess that’s not news to her.
‘Do you have family in Rapture?’
‘My mom. My half-brothers and a half-sister.’
‘Do you have many half-siblings?’
She didn’t need to put any emphasis on that word. I already know what kind of woman she thinks my mother is. And my guess is that the name ‘Noah Brady’ in connection with car theft in Canyon would mean nothing to her, but I keep things simple, just in case.
‘Several. Yeah.’
‘And your mother… she doesn’t feel the need to move to the city?’
I bite down on the inside of my cheek to stop myself from saying what I really think. ‘She can’t afford the rents out this way.’
‘I believe she would have been offered financial assistance.’
I could tell her straight. What we in Rapture think of her relocation scheme. But once I got started, I wouldn’t stop. And I’m here for Hollie, no matter how much Evelyn Wallace looks down her nose at me.
‘The children…’ she continues. ‘They’re in school?’
I feel my pulse start to pound. My guess is she knows there’s no longer a school in Rapture, because it got shut down years ago, when I was still a kid, and that there’s the same dilapidated yellow school bus that still brings Rapture kids over to east Canyon to go to schools here in the city. ‘They take the bus,’ I say tightly.
‘And what about your father?’
I feel Hollie’s fingers squeeze mine.
‘He left when I was nine.’
‘I see. Does he still live in Rapture?’
‘I don’t know where he lives.’
‘That must be difficult for you.’
I’m happy if I never see that sorry ass motherfucker again. ‘It don’t really bother me.’
‘And the situation in Rapture? Does that bother you?’
I swear I see her eyes flash. Like she’s daring me to give my view on the one issue that has defined her time as mayor of this place.
‘Evelyn, that’s not fair,’ Hollie interrupts, her mouth set in a tight line. ‘It’s not fair, and it’s not welcoming.’
Evelyn leans her head to one side. ‘Oh, my dear girl. I’m not the one who decided to go slumming it on the wrong side of the tracks to find myself a so-called boyfriend. I sense there’s something going on behind the scenes here, that perhaps you haven’t been alive to.’
Hollie shoots to her feet, letting go of my hand, just as her father enters the room carrying a tray of drinks. ‘And what is that supposed to mean?’ she bites out.
Evelyn Wallace keeps her eyes trained on me. ‘Did Echo Salinger put you up to this? To pursue Hollie just to spite me? I’m guessing you knew how it would look?’
Hollie’s dad comes to a halt. ‘What’s going on?’ he asks.
My racing pulse just turned into a pounding inside my chest. ‘I would never do somethin’ like that,’ I say in a low tone. ‘And I know Echo, I respect him. He would never stoop so low either.’
‘Oh, I wouldn’t put anything past that excuse for a man,’ Evelyn says.
I get to my feet. The mayor remains seated. I glance at Hollie and take her hand again.
‘Maybe you should go,’ Hollie says to me decisively, then glares at her stepmom. ‘I’ll walk you out.’
I watch the mayor closely, my chest rising and falling. I’m not gonna argue with her. If I stay here any longer, I’ll only say something I’ll later regret.
‘You’re sure?’ I ask her.
Hollie looks at me like she’s gonna cry. ‘Honestly? I think it might be for the best.’
I nod lightly in agreement and lean over, grabbing my jacket from the back of the couch. I follow Hollie, but I stop in front of her father. He’s put down the tray of drinks, so I hold out my hand to him. ‘It was nice to meet you, sir,’ I say. ‘Sorry I couldn’t stick around.’
He mumbles something at me before I follow Hollie toward the front door.
Outside, my jacket on, my helmet under my arm, we say nothing until I reach my motorcycle. Under the spotlights in the driveway, Hollie keeps her eyes to the ground at our feet.
‘I’m so sorry,’ she whispers. ‘That was mortifying. I should have contacted my dad. We could have met him elsewhere. It was a mistake to introduce you to her.’
I tip her chin. There are tears in her eyes.
‘It’s not your fault,’ I tell her. Because none of this political bullshit is. ‘And I want you to know… in case there was any doubt. Echo didn’t ask me to date you.’
Hollie puts her arms around me. Buries her face in my shoulder.
I brush my lips against her ear. ‘You and me…’ I tell her.
‘We were meant to be. From the first time I kissed you in that closet, I knew we shared a connection. And now that you’re back in my life, I have no intention of letting you go again.
Just so we’re clear. I love you, Hollie Palmer.
From the very bottom of my heart. And I never told anybody that before.
I never felt this way about anybody before.
I thought I’d always be, like, this lone wolf until you crashed back into my life.
Now I have a mate. So, forget Evelyn Wallace, she can go to hell.
I’ll figure out what to say to her later.
All that matters is how we feel about one another. This changes nothing. Okay, kid?’
Hollie pulls back. Her eyes are still swimming. ‘I love you,’ she sniffs, wiping her face. ‘It’s always been you.’
‘Hollie,’ I whisper. I slide my palm around the back of her neck. Pull her toward me.
Our kiss is everything. Just like the other night. Electric. Another affirmation. A contract between us. I’m hers and she’s mine. Nobody else’s. And I’m happy because I know she knows it too.
‘I’ll never love another,’ I tell her.
She’s full-on crying now. She nods her head in agreement. I kiss her tears away.
‘Will you go back to Rapture?’ she asks.
I nod my head. ‘Should I come back for you? Later?’
‘I’ll see how this conversation goes. I should talk to my dad tonight. Besides, it’s getting late.’
‘Okay, but first thing tomorrow, I’m coming to get you.’
Through her tears, a smile tugs at her mouth. I kiss her one more time.
‘I’ll talk to Echo, all right?’ I tell her. ‘Tomorrow we can start looking at apartments, too.’ I glance back at the house. ‘Maybe don’t mention that.’
‘I won’t,’ she says, and her brows pull together. I worry for her, being there tonight.
‘So, see you tomorrow?’ I say.
‘I love you,’ is her reply. ‘See you tomorrow.’
‘Don’t let Evelyn Wallace make you believe any of her BS.’
‘I won’t, I promise.’
‘You’re sure you’ll be all right?’
‘Yes. I need to face this. My dad can take me home.’
I let go of her and put on my helmet. Start the engine.
Then I’m outta there. I glance back through my visor. My heart aches at leaving Hollie behind.
Right now, it feels as though I can live without anything, even my motorcycle.
But not her.