37. Kinsley
37
KINSLEY
1977
12 years old.
“ H ave a good night, Kinnie,” Mom says from the front seat. I notice there isn’t much excitement in her voice. At least not as much as I’m feeling. “I will be back later to pick you up.”
“Okay.” I unbuckle my seat belt and hesitate, waiting to see if she’ll lean into the backseat to plant a kiss on my cheek. When she doesn’t, I swallow hard and force a smile on my face as I swing the back door open. “I’ll see you later.”
Stepping out of the car, I gaze up at the large house. Woah, is this place a mansion? It looks like it would have six bedrooms and four bathrooms with many other rooms in between. Many plants line the pathway to the front door and the grass is cut short and smells fresh like a warm summer’s day after heavy rainfall.
“Kin!”
My head snaps to the side in time to see Travis approaching from down the sidewalk. He’s dressed in black chinos and a crisp white button-up. His black shoes are polished with not a single scratch or speck of dirt on them. The blonde curls atop his head are styled away from his face neatly, likely with lots of gel to tame the strands.
In one word, he looks handsome.
Travis stops in front of me, a warm smile touching his lips as he peers down at me from behind long eyelashes. “As usual, you look great. Is this the nice dress you were telling me about yesterday?”
My cheeks flame at his words as my eyes fall to the baby pink dress flowing around my knees. The material is soft with thin straps holding it in place on my shoulders. I found a pair of black, leather strap-up shoes in the back of my closet and paired them with white, frilly socks. I had forgotten I owned them until I pulled everything out last night in search of something to wear.
“Thanks, Trav.” I clear my throat and point toward the house. “Should we head in? I don’t want to be late.”
Travis nods and gestures toward the front door. “Ladies first.”
He follows me along the pathway that leads to the front door and up onto the wooden porch. Before I can knock on the door, it swings open to reveal Reggie. He’s not dressed in his usual shorts and stained T-shirts. Instead, he’s wearing blue jeans and a short-sleeved button-up.
“Kinsley and Travis!” he announces loudly. “I’m so glad you could both make it. Please, come in. I have some people I want to introduce you to.” The beer bottle in his hand acts as an object to direct us into the house.
“Thanks,” I murmur quietly as I enter with Travis hot on my heels.
As Reggie guides us into the living room, I notice the wooden furniture placed throughout the house and the light green walls that kind of remind me of boogers. The beige carpet beneath my feet is shaggy—I just know it would be soft if I were barefoot. Reggie’s house is so much nicer than my house in Hart or even the hotel we’re staying at.
In the blink of an eye, Reggie is introducing us to older men in the living room whom I have never met before. They don’t even look remotely familiar as they shake my hand and smile wide at me. Their gazes are intense as they peer down their noses, making me squirm slightly. Having Travis beside me though puts me at ease enough to make it through the introductions—although, I don’t remember a single name that was told to me—before we’re moved along by Reggie.
We greet the other children working on the show with us and some of the make-up artists and wardrobe designers. Seeing their faces has me excited to see where the night will go.
“Would you two like a drink?” Reggie asks as we enter the kitchen. It’s a large space with wooden countertops and light green cabinets like the walls throughout the house.
“I’ll have a drink,” I murmur.
Travis says he wants one too.
Reggie walks to the refrigerator and pulls out three bottles of beer. He holds them in the air in front of him, shaking them slightly with a sly smile. “If you promise not to mention this to either of your parents, I’ll let you have an adult drink.”
My eyes widen at the yellow liquid floating in the glass bottle. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
Reggie shrugs as he lowers the bottles and pops the lid off them one by one. He walks across the kitchen to where Travis and I stand by the island. When he hands me the beer bottle, condensation slicks the inside of my palm, and I nearly blanch at the stench coming from it.
“I won’t tell if you don’t.”
I look to Travis for guidance, but he isn’t paying me any mind. Instead, he sniffs the odd-smelling liquid and smiles. “Come on, Kin. One drink won’t hurt.”
Reggie raises an encouraging brow at me and lifts his beer in the air. “Cheers to a great night. You’re both going to have so much fun.”
I swallow hard and lift my glass to match theirs. What else am I meant to do? I don’t want to be the odd one out in this situation, especially if an adult says it’s okay for us to drink this alcoholic beverage.
One beer won’t hurt, right? My mom never has to know about it. It’ll be a secret between the three of us.
“Drink up!” Reggie wraps his lips around the lip of the bottle and takes a long sip from it. Travis follows suit and doesn’t gag at all when he consumes the liquid.
If Travis can do it, so can I .
The beer tastes as bad as it smells when it touches my tongue. But I power through it, making sure to swallow a few big mouthfuls to match Reggie and Travis. I have to fight the urge to gag when I pull the bottle away from my mouth and the liquid settles uncomfortably in my stomach.
“All right, let’s get this party started, shall we?” Reggie says with a large smile. He points behind us to the living room. “Come on. I have some more people I want to introduce to you. They are very powerful men, okay? If you get on their good side, they could have a lot of influence over your career in the coming years. They have the power to land you any project you want and make you so wealthy you wouldn’t know what to do with all the money.”
“Okay,” Travis says as we follow Reggie back into the living room.
Music blasts from the record player in the corner of the room when we enter. The kids my age are dancing and laughing together without a care in the world. I would love to join them, but Reggie has other ideas. He wants to introduce us to more of his friends, but I can’t focus on the men in front of me because I’m preoccupied with wanting to hang out with my friends.
Thankfully, after Reggie is done with the introductions, Travis and I finish the rest of our beers and leave to hang out with our friends. I don’t know what’s going on with my head, but it feels heavy and slightly foggy, and my legs are wobbly, but thankfully I have Travis to keep me steady.
My lungs grow tired from laughing and singing, while my feet begin to ache as I dance around the living room. But I don’t care. Not when I have Travis by my side, laughing along with me and making me smile until my cheeks hurt.
For an adult party, it’s pretty fun.
A hand on my shoulder stops me from dancing, and I glance back to see Reggie standing above me. He smells of stale beer and sweat, almost making me gag. But I swallow it down. He has his hand on Travis’s shoulder too, a smile touching his lips.
“Would you care to follow me upstairs? There is something I want to show you.”
Travis and I gaze at each other from around Reggie’s large belly. He offers a careless shrug before turning to look up at Reggie. “Sure. We can come back to dance afterward, right?”
Reggie smiles and pats his shoulder. “Of course! I won’t keep you from your friends for too long.”
Travis and I follow Reggie out of the living room and up the staircase to the second floor. I watch my feet with each step, curious as to what Reggie wants to show us.
A hand on my shoulder forces my eyes up from the ground and into forest green ones. Travis offers me a calm smile and whispers, “It’s okay, Kin. Everything will be all right. He just wants to show us something, and then we can get back to dancing, okay?”
I smile at his comforting words. “Okay,” I whisper as we reach a closed door.
Reggie turns the round knob and pushes it open. He steps into what appears to be a bedroom, but it doesn’t look lived in. My bedroom has clothes on the floor, stuffed animals on the bed, and random things on top of the dresser. But this room only has a large bed in the center with a window above it, revealing the stars shining bright in the night sky.
The two men sitting at the foot of the bed stop me in my tracks just inside the doorway. Reggie closes the door behind us and points at the two older men. “Kinsley and Travis, I would like you to meet two of my good friends. This is Michael.” He points to the man with slightly gray hair and a thick mustache on his upper lip. His gray eyes meet mine.
“And this is Arthur.” The man sitting beside Michael lifts his hand to wave at us. His hair is dirty blonde with a bald patch visible atop his head. His blue eyes are a little kinder than Michael’s when they find mine from across the room.
“Hi,” Travis says, waving at the men from beside me.
I jump at the feel of Reggie’s hand on my lower back. “Aren’t you going to say hi, Kin?”
“Hi,” I squeak. My nails dig painfully into my palm to calm my racing heart. “W-why are we in here?”
“Well, I told my friends we could all have a little fun together,” Reggie says from behind me. His hand slips lower down my back. When his palm grazes over my backside, my eyes widen as fear spikes in my chest. “I think it could be a lot of fun, don’t you?”
“What kind of fun?” Travis asks, his voice shaking slightly.
“Why don’t you sit down on the bed between Michael and Arthur and you’ll find out.”
Travis nods hesitantly and joins the two older men on the bed. My friend looks uncomfortable between them, but he doesn’t say anything as he rests both of his hands on his knees and peers across the room at me.
My body stiffens when Reggie lowers himself to my level, his smelly breath fanning across my face. He looks between me and Travis with a smile I haven’t seen on him before. “Just so you both know, if you tell anyone what happens tonight, no one is going to believe you. We’re powerful men in this industry, okay? Remember that.” His hand once again finds my backside and I have to swallow down a cry when it slips beneath my dress.
What is going on right now? I’m so confused, but I’m frozen in place, unable to move a muscle.
My eyes lock with Travis’s from across the room as Michael begins to unbutton his white shirt while Arthur watches, his fingers fiddling with the buckle on his belt. My best friend’s eyes are filled with fear, and I’m sure mine mirror his.
But there isn’t anything I can do to help him. We’re trapped with no way out, and all I can do is just stand here with my mouth shut and watch it happen.