Ch. 50 – Layla
T oday is going to be a beautiful day because…
Layla looked across the landscape at the dark silhouettes of the mountains against a bruised sky. On the horizon, the rosy fingers of dawn presaged the coming sun.
“I’m freezing my balls off,” Alanna grumbled next to her. “And I don’t even have balls.”
Layla smiled at her. “You’ll warm up soon enough.”
“Don’t remind me,” her sister muttered. The two women stood a few feet from the large START banner of the Yucca Hills 50k/Marathon/Half-Marathon.
After two solid months of training, the day was finally here. Something flickered in Layla’s belly like the brush of moth wings. She looked past the sign at the dusty trail that quickly disappeared into darkness. In just a handful of minutes, she would be on that trail, running for just over 32 miles.
The moths multiplied in her stomach. They called their moth friends over to party. A moth rave commenced in her gut. Layla laughed at her nerves as she rocked on the balls of her feet and crossed her arms over her chest to try and stay warm.
Today is going to be a beautiful day because you’re ready for this, she told herself. You’ve trained for this.
So true. In fact, if anything, over the last two weeks, she might have overtrained. Probably because running had turned into her primary outlet for stress relief. Suddenly, Layla wasn’t smiling anymore.
Her heart still ached from Prem’s rejection last night. He obviously still loved her. Why couldn’t he be brave enough to forgive her? To take a second chance on them?
It took you 26 years to be brave, Layla reminded herself. She reached for her braid, and her fingertips brushed across the tips of her short ponytail. She pulled in a deep, steadying breath. Don’t think about Prem . Not right now. This day is for you.
The first lip of sun lifted over the horizon, throwing a soft glow into the sky.
“Why do I have to pee again?” Alanna said next to her. “I peed five minutes ago.”
“It’s your nerves,” Layla reassured her.
“You hear that bladder?” Alanna looked down at herself. “You’re not really full of pee. Stop being a whiny bitch!”
Layla laughed at her sister.
Alanna glanced at her watch as her teeth chattered. “We’ve still got 10 minutes. I’m going back to the pop-up.”
“Good idea,” Layla said and ambled after her sister.
The starting/staging area of the race was located in a large dirt lot now peppered with pop-ups. Beneath them, runners, team members, and onlookers sat in camp chairs next to coolers, foam rollers, and other race supplies. While a few pop-ups boasted colorful streamers or hand-lettered team name signs, they all paled in comparison to a pop-up in the middle of the cluster.
CRAZY CAT LADIES ON THE RUN! announced a huge, sequined sign affixed to the front of the pop-up. Glittery cat silhouettes dangled across the front, spinning gently in the breeze. Two sphinx lawn ornaments guarded the entrance, and cheetah-print throws hung from three sides to keep in the warmth.
Apparently, the women had done more than down mimosas during their post-run brunches. After the plates were cleared, Everly had armed her team with glue guns, stencil sets, and marching orders for her design vision.
Speaking of their decorating dictator, Everly paced nervously within the small confines of the pop-up wearing adorable cat-print leggings and a sweatband with cat ears embroidered on each side.
“Is there still time to back out?” she asked as soon as Alanna and Layla entered.
“If you need me to jump in…” Sully offered, half standing from his camping chair.
“Nope,” Alanna told her boyfriend. “Crazy Cat Ladies only.”
“He’s a crazy cat dude. That has to count for something,” Rico stated from his chair next to Sully’s. The handsome reporter was swaddled in a thick black sports coat, wool scarf, and green beanie.
My people don’t do cold, he’d grumbled when they’d first arrived.
“I’m not the one who’s posted a billion Insta selfies proudly walking a cat,” Sully retorted now. “If anyone’s a crazy cat dude, it’s you.”
“No way. I’m a crazy rat dude,” Rico responded, then frowned. “Wait, that sounds worse. Does it? Yeah, it does.”
“You love Styles, and you know it,” Jax said to Rico. “They bro out together. Styles will sit on his lap while Rico plays video games. It’s disgusting.”
Rico rolled his eyes. “Maybe the cat’s grown on me…a little”
“Stop taking over my freak-out with your blatant adorableness,” Everly snapped at them. “Can we PUH-LEASE return to the fact that I am most likely going to perish in the wilderness?”
“You can do it, Everly,” Tess said. “Rah, rah, go, Everly!” She waved the small Crazy Cat Lady pennant Everly had presented to each of them. Tess was practically swimming in an oversized gray hoodie, her face half covered by a checkered scarf and her swaddled foot propped on the cooler.
Layla ignored them. She was only truly worried about one member of the team. “How are you feeling, Willow?” she asked gently.
The shy girl started at her name. Blue leggings showed off slender, taut limbs, and a white beanie starkly contrasted with her midnight hair.
“I… I can do it,” Willow said softly, but her eyes flicked down as if she wasn’t sure she believed her own words.
Layla crossed the pop-up and squeezed Willow’s arm. “Just walk as much as you need to,” she said. “You’ll do great.”
Willow offered a shy smile and nodded.
“Alright people, gather round, gather round,” a chipper voice boomed from the start line.
The moths in Layla’s stomach decided to flap in unison. Were they doing some kind of retro flashmob in there?
“Oh shit, this is happening,” Alanna groaned.
“You’re going to kill it,” Sully said as he stood up and pulled Alanna in his arms. He kissed her long and softly.
Everly whistled. Rico groaned. Jax smacked him in the shoulder.
Layla smiled as she slipped off her jacket and grabbed her water pack.
When the kiss ended, Alanna smiled at her man. “You’re right. I’m going to murder this race. I’m going to curb-stomp its skull, bury the body in the desert, and never get caught. Cause I’m Alanna fucking Sandoval.”
“A little weirdly violent,” Rico muttered.
“Come on,” Layla grabbed her sister’s hand.
“Let’s all go out,” Everly suggested.
Layla and Alanna moved toward the start line, the Crazy Cat Ladies following in their wake.
“Look at all these bright, happy faces,” chirped a tiny woman, swathed in a bright green coat, who stood on top of a boulder near the start line.
“Someone had a little bump of cocaine with their morning coffee,” Alanna muttered. Layla playfully slapped her sister on the arm.
“Can everyone hear me?” the woman called.
About 100 runners were beginning to gather around the start line, and many nodded and called out in the affirmative.
“Great!” the woman said, her voice carrying impressively despite her small stature. “My name is Michelle, and I am your race coordinator. I’m looking to talk to individual and team ultra-marathoners. If you’re here for the marathon or half marathon, you are way too early.”
A few small chuckles greeted her announcement.
“How many of you are running your first ultra?” Michelle asked.
A few hands went up. Alanna grabbed Layla’s arm and jacked it up.
“Give these brave individuals a round of applause,” Michelle said, practically bouncing up and down on her rock. “Godspeed.”
All around Layla, runners clapped and chuckled. Everly gave a shrill whistle. The moths in Layla’s stomach flapped even harder. Lordy, now she had to pee.
“All right, so before we begin, I just want to go over everything, though I’m hoping you read all the rules in the email you all received after signing up,” Michelle began. Her cheeks were rosy from the cold. “Here’s the deal. The course is made up of an eight-mile loop that begins and ends right here at this staging area. Ultra-marathon individuals will run this loop four times. Relay teams, each member will run a single loop. At the start of each loop, you’ll always pass under the start sign. Do NOT go in the opposite direction. And before you even ask, yes, people have done that in the past.”
More chuckles.
Excitement grew inside Layla as Michelle continued the race instructions. Behind the small woman, the sun continued to amble up the horizon, throwing more light into the sky. Layla could now see a palette of grays, greens, and browns emerging across the landscape.
The trail was more visible, snaking down across the gently rolling valley. It curved in the distance, a vein of brown weaving between thickets of trees and through flat, golden plains of brush.
“Finally, these are public trails,” Michelle was saying. “You may see other runners just out for their normal Saturday jog or mountain bikers on the trail. Use good trail manners. If you choose to listen to music, we ask that you keep one earbud out so you can hear cyclists and other runners coming from behind. Always keep to the right of the trail and pass on the left. Lastly, let’s keep these trails as beautiful as we found them. Please don’t throw water bottles, extra clothing layers, or anything else on the trail. We have porta-potties here at the staging area and at our water and fuel station at the four-mile point. That’s it. Five minutes until we start. Hit those restrooms.”
“Oh my God, this is happening,” Everly whimpered. “Snakes. She said there might be snakes on the trail!”
“She also said they’d be more afraid of you than you of them,” Tess offered gently.
“Yeah, tell that to my snake-bitten corpse once they wrestle it from the coyotes,” Everly retorted.
Energy hummed from the group of runners. Some performed last minute stretches or pulled off their jackets. Quite a few jogged over to the porta-potties.
Jax stepped up to Layla, looking fresh and alert in her black hoodie and thick sweats. “So, I know this goes against my character and will ruin whatever fumes of street cred I have left, but I’d like to unironically hug you.”
“Yes! Please unironically hug me,” Layla cried, immediately throwing open her arms.
Jax rolled her eyes. “Don’t you dare tell anyone about this,” she warned before stepping into Layla’s embrace.
Layla squeezed the younger woman, rocking them side to side as joy bloomed in her chest.
“Hey, can I get in on this?” Tess asked.
“Yes!” Layla squealed.
“Can I think about it?” Jax replied at the same time.
Too late. Tess added herself to the hug. Everly didn’t even ask before throwing her arms around Layla’s back.
“What the hell,” Alanna muttered. “Might help me not freeze to death.”
She joined the hug.
Layla peeked through the cluster of arms. “Willow?” she asked.
The young woman floated toward the knot of women. Slowly, she extended her arms and added herself to the outside of the hug.
“Two minutes!” Michelle hollered.
“All right, CCLC,” Alanna barked somewhere on the other side of the hug. “This is utterly fucking crazy, but we’re here. It’s going to be long. And painful. And it’s going to royally suck. And we might all get bit by snakes or attacked by mountain lions, but we’re going to finish this thing. And we’re not going to die. Most likely. Probably.”
“Is this…like supposed to be a motivational speech?” Everly asked.
“And if we do die, we’re all going to blame Layla and haunt the shit out of her,” Alanna continued.
“Hey!” Layla chirped.
“S’only fair,” Jax admitted.
“One minute!” Michelle called.
“Here we go,” Alanna barked. “On three. One…Two…Three!”
“CRAZY CAT LADIES!” Layla screamed at the top of her lungs joining the chorus of her friends, her sisters.
All around them, onlookers and team members began to clap and hoot as the runners assembled beneath the start banner. The Crazy Cat Ladies stepped away from the hug, and Layla and Alanna made their way to the back of the starting pack.
Layla’s hands shook as she snapped the buckles on her water pack and tightened the straps across her chest. Goosebumps rose along her arms. She smiled and held out her hand to Alanna. Her sister rolled her eyes as if to say, Only you could be this sappy, but she took Layla’s hand.
I wish Prem were here . Sadness bloomed in Layla’s chest, and she forced the thought away. The sun had fully climbed over the horizon and now cast its golden rays across the landscape.
Layla closed her eyes. Let out a slow, steady breath. Today is going to be a beautiful day because I’m alive. I’m here, she told herself. And I’m an F’ing butterfly!
“Five…four..,” Michelle began. The other runners picked up the chant. Layla squeezed her sister’s hand. Alanna squeezed back. “Three…two…” they sang with the crowd.
“ONE!”