Chapter 17
SEVENTEEN
JESSICA
The swishing wipers struggle to keep up as rain hammers the window. We rarely experience such heavy downpours in Bleakmoor, but as I left the house to drive to the burger joint near the bridge connecting the Falls to the Heights, the skies opened up.
Dancing along and singing at the top of my lungs to Ain’t It Fun by Paramore, I pull up next to one of the pumps and turn off the engine.
The music stops, and I check my phone, wondering why Kane hasn’t replied to any of my messages today. I don’t understand why he sometimes goes silent on me for days.
All I know is I don’t want to do this again. I don’t know if I can wait around for him to reach out without feeling pathetic.
I’m tired of this sickening feeling inside my stomach. This constant feeling that something’s wrong.
I type another message, think better of it, and delete it before getting out to put gas in the tank.
Beyond the roof, puddles tremble under the weight of the falling rain as they catch the warped reflections of the pumps.
I close the door and pause as I notice Ava outside the convenience store. What is she doing in the Falls? She looks out of place in a silver satin slip dress and heels, clutching a tiny pearl handbag.
I watch her out of the corner of my eye while refilling the tank, wondering if she’s waiting for someone. But who could she possibly be waiting for here in the Falls?
The tank is full. Heading inside to pay, I stop by her side, and Ava looks up at me and wipes her cheeks. It’s only now that I realize she’s crying.
The lights inside the convenience store glow too brightly behind her, which is why I didn’t see her shadowed, tear-streaked face until now.
“Are you okay?” I ask, cringing inwardly because she’s obviously not okay.
She sniffles. “You’ll think I’m stupid.”
“No, I won’t.” I glance back at the car. If I don’t pay for the gas soon, the owner, Mr. Peterson, will come storming out with his shotgun. He’s never been a patient man.
“Stay here?” I say to Ava. “Let me pay for the gas, and then I’ll be back.”
I head inside and come back a few minutes later with a six-pack of Mike’s Hard Lemonade. I hand one to her, and she says, “Thanks,” while she removes the lid.
“Want to tell me what happened?”
She looks lost. I can’t leave her out here alone. It’s not safe for someone like her. I bet the pearl necklace around her neck is worth a fortune, for starters.
“Can I give you a ride somewhere?” I ask softly as she stares blankly at the bottle. Something clearly happened tonight for her to be crying outside a gas station in the Falls.
When she stays quiet, I loop my arm around hers and walk her to my car. I don’t know where I’m taking her, but I won’t leave her out here alone in the rain.
Five minutes later, we’re parked farther down the dark road so we don’t hog the pumps at the gas station. The streetlights are spaced far apart, and the yellow pools of light barely hold their ground against the heavy rain, each one a fragile halo in the dark.
“What happened tonight?” I ask Ava as I gesture for the bottle. She hands it to me, and I take a quick sip before giving it back, and she drinks almost half of it in one go.
“You’ll think I’m overreacting.”
“Why don’t you try me?”
“I was at a family function, and my father introduced me to one of his colleagues, Mr. Hoffman.” She takes another sip. “He’s twice my age. Father wants us to marry.”
A burn rises in my throat as I watch Ava drink more alcohol. The girl looks wrecked.
“So how did you end up here?” I ask.
She stares at nothing while rain hits the windshield like bullets.
“I was upset. Mr. Hoffman took pity and offered to drive me home after my father said he’d disown me if I embarrassed him.”
“Then what happened?”
“We were in the car when he put his hand up my skirt, and I told him to stop touching me. He pulled over by the side of the road and explained that he wanted to try ‘the product’ before committing. That I was an ungrateful bitch. When he tried to touch me again, I slapped him, and he got angry and drove me out here before kicking me out. Told me to rot with the rest of the scum.”
“Ava,” I whisper, and I hate how sorry I sound.
She looks away. “I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t phone my father and I’m too embarrassed to contact my friends.”
“How long had you been out there?”
She raises one shoulder and tilts back the last of her drink, the liquid sloshing inside the bottle. “An hour, maybe? More? Some guy asked how much I charge for a blowjob.”
I wince because I can clearly see that happening. The working girls sometimes hang around that part of town, which drives Mr. Peterson up the wall. I’m surprised he didn’t chase Ava away. Thank heaven for small mercies.
“I don’t want to go home,” Ava says in a small voice.
“Okay.”
She wipes her cheeks again before glancing at me, and I stroke her hair behind her ear.
I’m sure it was a beautiful blowout, but now it’s been ruined by the rain.
It doesn’t matter because she’s still beautiful.
“I was on my way to the burger joint to meet Rain and a few of our friends. Wanna tag along?”
She worries her cuticles. “You don’t think she’d mind?”
“No,” I lie. She’ll definitely mind, but she’ll just have to deal.
Ava looks like a kicked dog, and, woman to woman, I’m not pushing her away when she’s feeling this low.
We’ve all been there, made to feel worthless by the opposite gender.
No, she can come with us, eat an unhealthy amount of unsaturated fat, and enjoy what our side of town has to offer.
We might not have money to spare, but the food is to die for, and we know how to have a good time.
Ava fidgets. “I look like a mess.”
“You couldn’t look like a mess if you tried.”
A small, watery smile lifts the corners of her lips as she quickly wipes away more tears. “Thank you for being so kind to me.”
My chest tightens. “You don’t have to thank me.”
She has trouble looking at me, so I say, “Okay, let’s get some food and forget about men,” and start the engine.
Speaking of men, I pick up my phone to check for messages. There’s still nothing from Kane, and my last message remains unread. I quickly type out a new one as a familiar ache presses against my ribs.
Jessica:
I miss you.