Chapter Eleven #2
He follows, kicking up dust under the soles of his sneakers, which blows away on the breeze. I glance across at Hollie, who’s looking at me kinda funny. ‘What?’ I mumble.
‘Nothing. I didn’t know your real name was Ajax, that’s all.’
‘Only people who call me Ajax are cops and the DMV.’
‘And your aunt. How come the teachers didn’t call you Ajax in high school?’
Fuck, am I blushing? ‘Because if they ever called me Ajax, I’d always be sure to set ’em straight. Why, what did you think it stood for?’
‘I don’t know. Anthony James or something.’
‘Yeah, well, now you know.’
We follow Rita through the house, then out the other side onto a veranda, containing a circular table and chairs. Dreamcatchers of all sizes hang from the beams above our heads. Hollie looks up and starts admiring them all, one by one.
Lunch is hard-boiled eggs, a salad with buckwheat and diced tomatoes, homemade guacamole and roasted zucchini. Noah rests one elbow on the table, his chin on his hand, and uses his fork to push the food round his plate.
‘Not hungry, Noah?’ Rita asks.
‘It didn’t come in a grease-stained paper bag,’ I say, while Noah just looks up and glares.
Rita is unperturbed. ‘Noah, the only fast food in these parts is when we’re talking about how quickly it reaches the table.’
There’s a clank as Noah drops his fork against the ceramic plate.
I look at Rita. ‘He’ll get used to it.’
‘Lotta eggs come from this farm, Noah. Sometimes we hatch ’em. Got a fresh flock just hatched last week if you wanna see ’em.’
He gives her a look like he’s interested. Maybe Rita’ll teach him some manners.
‘I’d like to see them,’ Hollie says softly with a smile.
‘Well, of course,’ Rita says. ‘So, Hollie, how does a pretty girl from England end up in Canyon?’
From the look on her face, it’s plain as day to see she don’t like talking about this stuff.
‘Well, I… my parents got divorced when my mother ran off with a French wine expert. Dad was working as a legal advisor to the Mayor of London’s office.
He met my stepmother when she came with an American delegation looking at revolutionising Canyon’s transport strategy.
I was pleased, in a way, that he’d met someone new.
I thought my father would have a long-distance relationship until I finished school, but she insisted on him relocating to Texas.
Then my parents’ divorce got messy, and I was given a choice.
Either spend my last two years of school in France, when I barely spoke a word of French, or finish my education in the American system.
So, I chose to move to Canyon with my dad. ’
‘Her stepmom is Evelyn Wallace,’ Noah tells Rita, and it pisses me off that he’s just blurted it out like that.
I see Hollie’s cheeks flush pink.
Rita’s expression darkens. ‘That must have been hard for you, sweetheart,’ she says in Hollie’s direction. I didn’t know that stuff about Hollie’s past.
‘Yes. Evelyn likes me about as much as I like her. We tolerate one another. She has a son who also hates me. But that’s fine, because I don’t like him either.’
‘Hollie was in AJ’s high school class,’ Noah then says to our aunt, and I swear this kid deserves a smack in the mouth.
Rita looks between us. ‘Oh, so you two knew each other?’
This time, it’s my cheeks that are burning up.
‘We knew of each other,’ Hollie says.
‘They weren’t friends. AJ used to bully Hollie in high school,’ Noah says.
I look at the remainder of my food on the plate, drop my fork and sit back. ‘Noah,’ I snap. ‘Jeez.’
‘What? It’s true, ain’t it?’
‘Can you stop?’ I mutter. I can’t see Hollie’s expression because she keeps her head down. I grimace, raise my brow in Rita’s direction.
‘Who’s for dessert?’ Rita asks, breaking the tension. ‘AJ, you sure you won’t be staying over tonight?’
‘Nah. Thanks though. We need to get back on the road.’
‘What?’ Hollie snaps from the other side of the table. ‘You’re not serious. We only just got here.’
‘I got work tomorrow.’
Okay, now she’s pissed. She stabs a quarter boiled egg with her fork and shoves it into her mouth.
‘Told ya,’ Noah says to Hollie, and I hate this little bond they’ve developed in the car, just because she was generous enough to buy the little brat a few extra chicken nuggets. ‘Didn’t I say he’ll wanna turn around and drive straight back?’
Hollie says nothing. I figure she hates me, and I wish that didn’t bother me quite as much as it does.
Rita starts to clear plates. ‘Come on, pair of y’all shouldn’t drive tired. We got plenty of beds.’
‘Can’t. Gotta get back to Rapture or Echo’ll fire my ass.’
Rita rolls her eyes. ‘Echo Salinger will be the death of that township. And, yes, AJ, I am permitted to disagree with you and your mother, and the rest of them folks left to rot in that godforsaken town.’
‘You’d have us all living in condos?’
‘Nobody wants to see that, darlin’, but there were plenty of opportunities to negotiate. But Echo was always too stubborn for his own good. He’s a firebrand, and there are too many idiots listening to that mouthpiece.’
‘Yeah, well, I’m one of them idiots.’
Rita blows out her cheeks, shakes her head. ‘I have a gift for your mother. At least let Hollie see the house and the chicks before you head on home.’
There’s something appealing about the way Hollie Palmer squeals at a bunch of four-day-old chicks in an incubator.
‘Oh, look at them,’ she gushes as Rita reaches in and brings out a yellow fluffball, letting Hollie hold onto it. Hollie gasps, and for some reason, that sound does odd things to me. ‘Are you going to hold one?’ she asks me.
‘Nah, I’m good.’
She rolls her eyes at me. ‘Oh, that’s right, of course the biker boy is too cool for baby chicks,’ she says.
‘Biker boy?’ I repeat. ‘That just sounds dumb.’
‘Fine. The boy who rides a motorcycle is far too cool for ickle fwuffy chicks.’
I look away. I’ve never been great with animals. ‘I just don’t wanna drop one. Have you chew me out for being a butterfingers. That would be way worse.’
Hollie cups her hands, imprisoning the jittery ball of fluff. She moves it closer to my face, and I can see the thing moving in her grasp. ‘Admit it, they’re adorable.’
‘All right, they’re kinda cute.’
Hollie brings her hands closer to her mouth, whispering to the chick. ‘Don’t listen to him,’ she says. ‘You’re way cuter than he is.’
I bristle, and question whether that means she thought I was cute in the first place, or maybe not at all. And I don’t even know why my brain is going there. I glance over at Noah, who is out in the field, hands in his pockets, his hair blowing in the breeze.
‘Rita, I promised Mom you’d try and keep him here,’ I say, thinking out loud.
Hollie is replacing her chick inside the incubator. She seems focused on that.
‘All I can offer him is a life here,’ Rita says. ‘It’s up to him whether he chooses that life, or whether he turns his back on it.’
She always was a straight talker. ‘Just… go easy on him. Least for the first couple weeks.’
‘I’ll have him learning the ropes in no time.’
‘That’s what I’m afraid of.’
‘Maybe if you didn’t have to leave so quick—’
One of the farm hands comes to tell Rita she has a phone call. She heads back to the house, leaving me alone with Hollie.
‘Would Echo not understand?’ Hollie asks. ‘If we stayed another night?’
‘No,’ I state. ‘He wouldn’t.’
I hear her sigh. ‘Yay to the next ten hours,’ she deadpans.
We’re silent for a moment, both watching Noah.
‘Could you do me a favor?’ I ask. ‘Would you talk to him? Try to get him to stay here, even when we’re gone and reality hits. He seems to listen to you.’
When she looks at me, I swear my heart pumps a little faster. ‘Plus, you’re really nice, you know. And I’m sorry I didn’t figure that out that in high school.’
She nods her head. ‘I can talk to him. But you need to talk to him with me. Make him realize that you’re doing this because you love him and that you care about him. He needs to hear that from you too.’
My throat goes dry. ‘I’m not too good at that stuff.’
She smiles sweetly. ‘Well, now’s your chance to practice.’
She walks ahead of me. I follow behind, hands in my pockets like a total doofus.
‘Noah,’ Hollie says, and she has his full attention. ‘AJ and I wanted to talk to you before we go.’
‘Oh yeah?’ he asks.
‘We wanted to say that, when we’re gone, and you’re left here with Rita…
everything is going to be okay. She’s going to take good care of you.
And it might feel weird, or strange, but that’s all right.
It will take time for you to adjust. And you’ll miss your mother, of course you will, and that’s all right too.
One day she’ll be able to come and visit, and you can show her how grown up you are. ’
I swallow nervously. Noah looks like he’s about to bawl his eyes out.
‘AJ?’ she says.
My eyes shift to hers. She’s looking at me, her expression saying your turn.
‘Oh, yeah,’ I say, and step forward. ‘I love you, man. We’re doing this because we care about you. So, don’t fuck around, okay? Be good for Aunt Rita.’
I wrap my arms around Noah. He hugs me back and I tighten my grip on him. When I let go, Hollie is wiping away tears.
Before we head, Rita insists on showing Hollie the house, and some of her artwork on the walls. In the hallway, framed portraits line the stairs.
I’m itching to get back on the road, dragging my feet as Rita stops and gives a little background to each painting, except her phone begins to vibrate and she takes another call.
‘Hey, this one looks kinda familiar,’ Noah says, halfway up the staircase, when Rita has excused herself for a second time. ‘Don’t cha think, AJ?’
I note that he tilts his head to one side, grips his chin, then gives me a playful look like he thinks he knows something, jackass little bro that he is.
I climb the stairs. Hollie joins Noah.
I look up. And he wasn’t kidding. It only resembles our high school prom queen, Amber. And by the look on Hollie’s face, she’s thinking the exact same thing.
‘Looks like that girl you were sucking face with in high school,’ Noah says. ‘What was her name again? Your girlfriend.’
For a short moment it feels like something is blocking my throat. ‘Girlfriend?’ I say, though it comes out like a splutter. ‘She was never my girlfriend.’
‘Sure, she was. Amber, that was her name. And it was after graduation. You said she was the kinda girl who ate men for breakfast. You brought her home to meet Mom.’
Hollie’s turned her back. She climbs the stairs and looks at another painting, and I feel lightheaded.
‘That was one time,’ I say, all casual, although it might not necessarily be the whole truth.
‘Man, she was hot,’ Noah says. ‘What was her last name again?’
‘Uh,’ I say.
‘Bradshaw,’ Hollie finishes for me, her eyes fixed on a different painting. ‘Amber Bradshaw.’
‘Amber Bradshaw,’ Noah hums. ‘That’s the one.’
The hallway goes silent. I clear my throat. Why the fuck did Rita insist on showing Hollie her paintings?
‘Yeah, well, it’s not her, because Rita never met Amber Bradshaw.’
‘Sure looks like her though,’ Noah chimes.
I wanna tell him to can it, but I know it’d be too obvious. So, I don’t.
I so need to be gone from this place.
When the time comes to say goodbye, Noah is crying in Hollie’s arms. She’s whispering something in his ear that I can’t hear, and when she finally lifts her head, she’s crying too.
‘Stay outta trouble,’ I say to a tearful Noah. He clings to me as I say goodbye. ‘Everything will be all right,’ I add, echoing what Hollie told him earlier. He nods his head. He’s too choked up to respond.
Rita insisted on making sandwiches for Hollie and me, further delaying our departure. It’s gone five. The sun sets in three hours, though we’ll lose an hour crossing the state line.
Echo is straight up gonna kill me if I don’t make it back to Rapture by dawn.
‘AJ you cannot drive through the night,’ Rita says to me for the third time in about twenty minutes. ‘At least stop someplace so you can get some rest. For Hollie’s sake.’
‘I’ll be fine,’ Hollie interrupts.
Since the Amber Bradshaw painting moment, seems like she hasn’t been able to look at me.
‘Bye, Rita,’ I say, wrapping her in an embrace. ‘Don’t let Noah give you any BS. Thank you for doing this.’
I feel her practically crushing my ribcage. ‘I know you’ll miss him,’ she whispers, her breath tickling my ear. ‘I’ll take good care of him. You’re a good brother, Ajax.’
‘Thanks,’ I say to her, pulling back. ‘I’m glad he’s got you too.’
I look at the ground when it’s Hollie’s turn to embrace her. Hollie offers Rita a ton of thanks, and it feels like maybe a part of her is making up for a perceived lack of gratitude on my part, because we’re heading off so soon.
Then I wait for Hollie to get in her car and get settled, before pulling on my helmet. Wait for her to start her engine before I rev mine.
I wave to Rita and Noah, then Hollie follows me back down the drive, toward the main strip, the sun dipping low on the horizon.
We make good progress, until ten clicks north of Roswell, on the highway, I hear a bang.
I look back and see a plume of smoke spewing out the hood of Hollie’s car.