Chapter 45
CRUTCH
“I’m glad things went well with Caleb. I know it must hurt to see him leave. You were really close to him for a long time.”
She swings her legs back and forth, sitting on the back of my tailgate in the warm, morning sun. We just visited my grandma, so we’re sitting in the parking lot of the nursing home before going our separate ways for the day. I position myself between her legs, running my hands across the tanned, smooth skin of her thighs.
“He’s such a great guy. I did love him. I mean, I just knew he would be in my life forever, you know? My brother. Part of my family. He’s still devastated over Carrie. He’s tired of being alone, but he’s too scared to date someone else. He feels like he’s cheating on Carrie. I don’t know how to help him through that. Moving to Atlanta will be the best thing for him. New city. New job.” She squints into the sun. “He had some of her clothes. Makeup. Extra cell phone charger. School notebooks. I haven’t gone through it all yet, but it didn’t seem like anything that would give me any further clues as to what happened.”
“How’d your last meeting with Marcum go?”
She shrugs. “You know how it went—the same as always. I sit there and stare at the pictures, thinking something’s gonna reach out and slap me upside the head, mocking me for missing it for so long. The only thing that’s ever caught my eye was that her mint container was missing. But, like you and me talked about, she could’ve broken it and thrown it away and just not gotten a new one yet. Heck, maybe she was taking the drugs so fast before her disappearance, there wasn’t even a need to hide them in her mint container. Maybe she sold or took everything the second she got her hands on it.” She sighs so deeply she hurts her chest. I watch as she gives her sternum a quick rub. It’s the same thing she did when she had a panic attack—or near panic attack—at the charity brunch when her parents basically announced Carrie’s death to the world. “And there’s nothing new on his end, especially since we decided to wait about submitting more evidence from her car for further testing. I mean, DNA testing is progressing so freakin’ quick, year after year. I don’t wanna mess up what evidence we do have if something better is just around the corner, you know?”
Lulu knows way more about forensics than me so I just nod in silent agreement. Besides, despite my desire that she find out the truth about her sister, I’m more concerned with keeping her safe… from Trey and everyone in his world. I know she hasn’t mentioned the drugs to Marcum or any of the other detectives yet. How do I know? Because I’m fairly certain one of their first stops would have been to me. To ask me what I know about my brother, about the drugs, and about the gas station. And in spite of the guilt that’s slowly eating away at my soul—the guilt I have for asking her to keep this information to herself—I wouldn’t change a thing.
Why? Because four days ago, one of Trey’s pushers went to the emergency room with two broken legs and a fractured skull. The “official” story is he fell off his roof when cleaning out the gutters. The “unofficial” word on the street is that he owed Trey some money. Apparently, Trey felt like beating the man within an inch of his life was the appropriate recompense. And the thing that worries me even more…this guy wasn’t some lowlife from my side of the county. This guy has a wife and three kids and works in some accounting office. I mean, what the fuck. The guy wears a tie and goes to parent-teacher meetings.
I tuck a piece of bronzed hair behind her ear, quickly deciding to change the subject and bury the burning need to scoop her in my arms and run away from this whole shitty mess. “I’m sorry we can’t spend the day together.”
“Don’t worry about it. Doesn’t absence make the heart grow fonder?”
I grumble. “More like the balls grow bluer.”
She bursts out laughing. “Forty hours doesn’t constitute that much of a dry spell.”
I grab her waist with my hands, squeezing tightly. Bending down, my hot breath rolls across the shell of her ear. “Your tight walls around me is heaven on earth. Four hours constitutes a dry spell.”
She shivers. She blushes. But because she’s My Lulu, she doesn’t shy away. She stares deeply into my eyes. “Maybe I’m not that tight. Maybe you’re just that big.”
My dick jumps. I’m in agony. Kill me now.
She laughs, noticing my pain. Little minx.
She tries to get us back on topic. “Besides, you’re right. Jackson, Mississippi, is too far for Harlan to drive on his own. I’m just glad y’all found the part you were looking for.”
White lie. Hopefully, she’ll forgive me.
I hold onto her as she jumps down from the tailgate. “So, what will you do today?”
She shrugs and then tilts her face back into the sun. “It’s gorgeous. I’ll probably just lay out by the pool and read.”
I lift my eyebrows. “Read what?”
She ignores me.
“I guess that means your case file on Carrie.”
“Maybe.” She opens the back door of my truck and grabs a bottle of water from the cooler for the road.
“You should be studying for finals,” I scold her.
“I’m Salutatorian. I could fail my finals and still pass. And they’ve already printed the graduation program. Stripping me of that title is the least of their concerns.”
Like a lovesick school boy, I follow her to her car, watching her climb behind the wheel.
She furrows her brow. “Did you hear Grandma ask about the orange roses again?”
“Yeah, she misses her flowers. Can’t remember to blink her own eyes, but she sure remembers those roses, knows they should be blooming now.”
“We should get her a bouquet of orange roses next time we come.”
This woman.
I lean into the car, kissing her goodbye. “I’ll call you when I’m back in town.”
“If you stop for food, don’t let Harlan get anything too greasy. His acid reflux has been acting up.”
I throw my hands in the air. “How the hell do you know how bad Harlan’s acid reflux is? Do y’all really have nothing better to talk about at the garage while I’m working my ass off.”
Once again, she ignores me. Slamming the door shut, she teases me with a wave as she drives away.
***
$145.
I was worried about what to do with my future. Worried how I could provide for Lulu. Build her that big house. Fill it with furniture. Fill it with kids.
Now, I know.
Own a damn tuxedo rental business.
This day is burning through my checkbook like a wildfire, giving me my own set of heartburn. Tux, corsage, food, and a whole new round of floating water lanterns. Harlan was still working at getting them all ready when I left. I’ll text him when we start to head back that way so he can light them. With any luck, he won’t burn the homestead down.
I straighten the lapel of my suit and knock on Lulu’s door. “It’s me, Lulu. Open up.”
I hear the patter of her feet and the scramble of the lock. “Ry, I thought you were gonna call—”
She flings the door open and her jaw promptly hits the floor. After she digests her shock, it’s pretty obvious she likes what she sees. Her eyes dilate, and her breath catches in her chest, expanding her large bosom like a balloon.
So, maybe the $145 wasn’t such a bad investment after all.
“Ry,” she reaches around, rubbing the scar on her neck. “What are you doing?”
I scan her pink shorts and white tank top, complete with blue sports bra straps peeking out of the top. Her cheeks are rosy and her lips are pinker than normal. She did lay out today. She looks good enough to eat. And I plan on doing just that in the not-too-distant future. “Well, you know I think you look great in anything, but you may wanna put on something a little more formal. You know, in case you wanna take pictures.”
She shakes her head. “But we can’t go to the prom. The school’s rule? Everyone knows you’re older.”
I snort. “Who said anything about that bitch-ass school?” I smirk. “You deserve better. And I think I have just the place.” Apparently, my smile is infectious because it quickly spreads to her face, and she jumps into my arms. I hug her tight, lifting her feet off the ground just the way she likes.
She wraps her hands around my neck and kisses my lips. She tastes like sunshine and chlorine and strawberries.
“You look so handsome.”
“I’d better. I had to sell a kidney to rent this thing.” We stumble through the door and I kick it closed with my shoe. I gently place her feet back on the ground. “You better go get ready. I’m like Cinderella. I turn back into a greaseball mechanic at midnight.”
“Good thing I like greaseball mechanics.” She folds her arms over her chest. “But I didn’t get a prom dress because I knew I wasn’t gonna go.”
“You’re telling me that out of all the stupid, fancy functions your parents drag you to, you don’t have something that will work?”
She bites her cheek, fighting a smile. “I can find something.”
I shoo her away. “Well, go. I’m setting a timer for forty-five minutes. Alarm goes off, and this chariot leaves.”
She doesn’t even make a smartass comment. She’s already racing down the hall. Forty-two minutes later, she emerges. And forty-two minutes and fifteen seconds later, I officially turn in my ‘man card’.
I’m over. I’m done.
I’ve stopped being a person of my own mind, body, and soul. Everything I have, everything I am, belongs to Lulu. She carries my heart around in her hand like a talisman, dragging me from place to place. I meant what I said to her. Never before. Never after.
Just like the first night I met her, everything about her screams money. She’s curled her hair and piled it high into some sort of messy bun. Her eye makeup is a little heavier than normal, gray and smudgy, like she just woke up from a nap. Her black lace dress is short, but not obscenely short. Not like what most girls her age would wear. The straps on her dress are those string things that look like they may break if I tug too hard. Normally, Lulu would wear a sweater over something like this, favoring modesty in case she runs into one of those people she has to be ‘Ella’ with. But not today. Not tonight. And her heels are some of the highest heels I’ve ever seen her wear. She has to be nearly as tall as me.
I turn off the TV and flip the remote somewhere into the abyss of the room. She moves with such grace, such beauty. I can’t take my eyes off her. Not even for one second.
“You’re quiet. Do you like what you see?”
“Lulu, you’re breathtaking.”
She squares her shoulders and tosses her chin in the air. “And I still have two minutes to spare.”
I press myself into her. She’s so tall. With legs for miles and miles. “And just what can we do in two minutes?”
She presses her nose against mine. “Why don’t you stick your tongue in my mouth and I’ll show you.”
Damn good plan with me.
Eventually we have to stop kissing. Literally. I’m dizzy. Low oxygen. “Alright, grab your things. It’s time to get this party started. Mine or yours?”
“Yours! The truck is what we always have to drive for surprises,” she says, confirming what I already knew she would say.
As soon as we’re in the truck, I slide the white calla lily corsage on her wrist. She wraps her fingers around mine, refusing to let go of my hand. I have to drive the entire way one-handed. She’s confused when I go past the turn for the homestead, though.
“Ry?”
I lift her hand, kissing her knuckle. “Just a little detour.”
I pull onto the shoulder when we get to the small yellow house with white shutters. The long driveway is lined on either side with blooming orange rose bushes.
Her throat makes a strange noise before she whispers. “Orange roses.”
“This was my grandparents’ house. This is the place where I spent the best years of my childhood.” A cynical chuckle rumbles low in my chest. “And, of course, Grandma was right…” my voice trails off as I wave a hand at the hundreds and hundreds of roses.
She remembers plants but not me.
Fuck Alzheimer’s.
She touches the windshield. “It’s a beautiful house. Which room was yours?”
I point. “Window on the left. And you don’t have to say it’s beautiful. It’s small, nothing spectacular. But Grandpa took care of it. He took pride in everything, no matter how small. It was home. And it was filled with love.”
“I’d rather live in a small house filled with love than a mansion filled with indifference.” She turns, giving me a small peck on the cheek.
I need to find a way to give Lulu a mansion filled with love. She deserves both. I need to man up and provide that for her. Pulling back onto the road, I do a U-turn and drive to the homestead. Harlan is still there when we park. I should’ve known that he wouldn’t sneak out early.
“Ry! Water lanterns.” Lulu sits forward, literally on the edge of her seat in excitement. “Is that food?” She gasps. “Oh my god, Ry, the firepit has blue fire.”
Normally, I’d back into my spot, but she’s having too much fun looking at everything. I just turn the truck off, laughing. “I know. I soaked the wood in copper chloride. It does that.”
Harlan opens the passenger-side door for her, holding her hand as she climbs out. “Harlan, the firepit is blue.”
“I know; I see it. And you look beautiful, sweetheart.”
Smiling, she wraps him in a hug, giving him a kiss on the cheek. “Did you help with my prom?”
“I’m the official water lantern boy. If I never see another lantern in my life, that will be fine by me.”
“Well, thank you. So much.”
I lean against the hood of the truck, watching her as she walks around the campsite. My eyes are glued to her every move. How did a poor bastard like me get so lucky?
She bursts out laughing when she gets to the food table. “A four-foot-long Philly cheesesteak? Really?”
I bite back my smile. No salad here. I’ve got all her favorites—the sandwich, pickle-flavored potato chips, gummy worms, and cantaloupe. Weird. I know.
She walks down to the dock, studying the glowing lanterns as they float around. Dusk is coming and the lights glisten off her skin like gold. Harlan slaps me on the shoulder. He winks, climbs into his truck, and drives away. I grab a beer from the cooler and walk down to one of the side tables. I open my laptop, turn the volume as loud as it will go, and hit ‘Play’ on the slow song playlist I made last night. It’s really hard to find two hours’ worth of slow songs that sound somewhat decent. The eighties proved very helpful.
She turns, watching me as I slug back half my beer. “So, what do you wanna do first? Eat? Dance?” I lick my lips. “Get naked? It has been a full forty-eight hours now.”
“I did not spend all that time getting this good-looking to be undressed in less than an hour.”
I pout, tossing back the rest of my beer. “Fine.”
She holds out her hand, motioning for me to join her on the dock. “Let’s dance.”
We dance, we eat, we laugh, we talk. Trust me, there is no one on the face of this earth who is having a better prom than Lulu and me. And the songs aren’t that bad; I get to hold Lulu close as I listen to them. That makes everything better.
Three hours in, it gets even better. She pushes me down onto one of the patio chairs and slowly removes her dress. Teasingly slow. She’s playing our game just right tonight. Underneath, she’s wearing a black lace strapless bra and black lace boy-cut panties. Those drive me crazy. And I guess, black lace is our theme for the night.
I chuckle to myself. If Lulu did believe in symbolism, something may be said for wearing the color of death to her prom.
She props her high heel up on the seat, allowing me to trace my fingers up the length of her leg, from ankle to crotch. When my fingertips skirt past the edge of her panties and into her moisture, she moans, but quickly lowers her leg before I can go any farther. Grabbing a seat cushion, she tosses it on the ground at my feet. Bowing before me on her knees, she slowly unbuttons my shirt, exposing my chest. She charts every line and muscle, before undoing my pants. I raise my hips, helping her free my throbbing cock. Folding me into her mouth like I’m the only flavor she’s been craving for days, she forces me to the brink, but I stop her before I fall.
“No, Lulu. Tonight, I come in your pussy. Not your mouth. Let me go get a condom.” I gently push her away, making room for me to stand up when she stops me. She reaches into the cup of her bra and pulls out a condom.
I can’t help but smile. “Packing ahead of time. Presumptuous, don’t you think?”
She stares into my eyes, tossing her chin in the air. “I figured you were a sure thing.”
Oh, how you figured right, My Lulu.