Tommy
Ipull up to FreshMart on Saturday night with Bax and Remy in my blue Camaro as it rumbles to a stop.
Yes, that Remy.
Last night he told me everything…and I mean everything. He told me how Talia was the one who killed Daniel Jenkins, and why he covered it up and took the blame. He told me about the Order of the Shadows—the group I was certain was a myth.
He explained the Codex and the rules we must live by.
Now that I know, I’ll be expected to take my blood oath.
Both mine and Remy’s old man murdered their high school sweethearts in cold blood and inherited a fortune.
We talked for hours, like we used to. None of it surprised me… I always knew this town was messed up.
I sat and listened, and when he was done, I told him in no uncertain terms that Didi was mine. Like hell would I ever let Remy kill her. He never gave me a clear answer.
We changed the subject and talked about the good ol’ days. For a few hours, I had my buddy back.
I stumbled home at six AM. The door to my dad’s office was open, so I dug through my dad’s desk trying to make sense of this. He has a picture hidden deep in a drawer. I always wondered why he had a photo of another woman in his desk, and it wasn’t my mother.
I stared at the photo. With her blonde hair styled in tight curls, she wore a simple white laced nightgown and posed on the bed, gazing at the camera as if smitten by the photographer.
Then I noticed an obituary clipping from a newspaper tucked under his ledgers, and my stomach did backflips. Everything Remy said was true.
My father was a murderer.
1956 - Mary Swinton went missing after leaving a parish social.
She was presumed dead three weeks later when her body was never recovered.
Local authorities found pools of her blood in the woods, by the cave in the nearby forest. She was survived by her loving parents, Ruth and William Swinton, and her high school sweetheart, Peter Landry.
After I nursed my hangover, I woke up at two in the afternoon, picked up Bax and Remy to get drunk all over again. This is a lot to take in. Even though Bax isn’t one of us, and they could kill us for telling him, we swore him to secrecy. He’s part of this too, now.
I let Remy take shotgun, forcing Bax to crunch in the back even though his legs are long and gangly. I pull into FreshMart telling them I need to make a quick pit stop for snacks and beer.
I pull my keys out of the ignition as a dust cloud puffs up beside us in the dirt parking lot. I don’t trust these creeps. “Stay here. I’ll grab some beer.” Bax jostles from the back. “Hey, let me out. I want to come in, man. I’ve got the munchies.”
“No… No way. Mrs. Holly doesn’t like you, dude.” Mrs. Holly hates everyone, but she seems to like me. If any of us can get some beer, it won’t be Bax. “I’ll grab you something.”
FreshMart is the only place that will sell us beer and smokes, and since it’s Saturday, we want to party again tonight.
“Whatever, dude,” Bax says, pulling out a joint and lighting a match. He stares at the match for a few long seconds as if he’s transfixed by it. “Get me some Cheetos, man. And a Twinkie.”
Remy grins at me and I roll my eyes. Dude smokes too much dope. His brain’s getting all mushy.
Shutting the door, I leave Bax and Remy in the car and head inside. Mrs. Holly waves at me and smiles as I walk in. Her eyes light up like a slot machine, and she pushes her arms into her cleavage, so it pops as she leans over the counter.
“Hi Tommy,” she coos.
Let’s call a spade a spade. FreshMart is a dump, and she’s inappropriately flirty, considering she’s old and washed-up and I’m in high school, but who am I to deprave a horny old woman?
I grab a pack of smokes, beer and Bax’s snacks and head to the till.
Mrs. Holly smiles at me, her yellow teeth gleaming in the ray of sun shining over her face, which only makes me see how wrinkly and washed-up she really is. Her lips are extra puckered.
I place my smokes and beer down like it’s no big deal.
“You gonna make this town proud at the track meet, Tommy?” she asks ringing in the items in the cash register.
I smile back at her, the kind of smile where you show your tongue and bite your bottom lip. “That’s the plan, Mrs. Holly.”
She throws me a wink, looking at me up and down playfully. “There’s a good boy, Tommy.”
Good boy… Ugh. Sick.
“I will, Mrs. Holly.”
The withered old bag holds out her hand. “That will be five dollars, then,” she says. I reach into my pocket, grab a five, and slide it across to her.
Suddenly, a loud bang echoes behind me. I whirl around to see a startled Didi standing in one of the grocery aisles, a broken glass jar of pickles at her feet, pickle juice spreading across the floor.
My jaw hits the floor at the sight of her.
For once, she’s not wearing a Sunday church outfit, the ugly wool skirt, or the ivory dress she usually wears to school. The uniform hugs her body, showing her curves, and her hair is down for the first time since I undid it, flowing over her shoulders in soft waves that remind me of winter.
She looks almost…normal and surprised to see me.
Mrs. Holly gasps from behind me. “Another one? You’re going to have to work that off, girl,” she says in a scratchy voice.
Didi drops to her knees to pick up the broken pieces of glass. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Holly, I’ll clean it up,” she says, visibly shaking, and I think it’s from seeing me.
I pause for a moment as she peers up, and I’m not sure if she wants me to come any closer.
Why do I scare her so much? It’s been almost a full week since I kissed her on the cheek.
Shit. The kiss…
Did that scare her off?
I throw another ten on top of the counter. “I’ll cover the jar for her, Mrs. Holly.”
Mrs. Holly’s eyes narrow, then gleam as she grabs the money and stuffs it into her apron. “Suit yourself,” she mutters, then goes back to focusing on her crossword. I grab my beer and bag of snacks and walk over to where Didi is working with her back to me.
Her body stiffens at the sound of my footsteps.
“Hi Didi.”
She cranks her neck to face me, then goes back to cleaning. “Hi Tommy.”
I stand awkwardly with my six-pack. “How’s work going? I didn’t know you worked here.”
Dumb ass. Of course it sucks.
She rises and faces me, wiping her hands on her uniform. As usual, my breath gets caught in my throat when she looks me in the eye. She has no clue how stunning she is.
.
Oh man, did it suddenly get hot in here?
“It’s going well, I guess. I started here this week. Figured it was a good way to get food.”
My eyes drift to the red mark on her face. Why the hell is there a red mark on her face?
I frown. “I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable the other day. I never would have kissed you if it meant you’d never talk to me again.”
Her eyes soften, her hand moves to her cheek, as if she can still sense the kiss lingering on her pearl skin.
“I thought it was for the best if I avoided you—for your sake more than anything. You shouldn’t be seen at school with me. People are noticing.”
I tense, clenching my jaw, remembering Remy’s words about me keeping her hidden. “I don’t care about what people think of me. I sure as shit don’t want to stop having lunch with you.”
I wish I could get inside her head to understand exactly what she’s thinking. Instead, she stands there in silence, with her arms crossed until Mrs. Holly coughs.
“What do you need, Tommy? I have to finish this up, or I’ll be here all night.”
I cast a quick glance at the mess, then at Mrs. Holly, who glares at us. “Do you want to get out of here, Didi?”
Her eyes light up, then she glances at the ten boxes of supplies piled into the corner. And a whole shitload of potato sacks. “I can’t…I’m working.”
“Well, when are you off?”
“She’s not off until those are put away,” Mrs. Holly yells from the corner.
Old hag.
Didi sighs and runs her hands down her pants. “I’ll be a while, yet. She got a shipment of potatoes that need dealing with. Plus, this box of jarred pickles.”
I hop over to one box and pull it down. “Pickles and potatoes, got it.”
She lets out a squeaky laugh, covering her mouth. “What are you doing?”
I give her my best grin. “Helping you so you can finish faster and hang out with me.” I eye the massive amount of potatoes that just came in. Damn, how many sacks of potatoes does this woman need?
“Why would you do that?” she asks carefully.
“Because I want to take you out tonight, firefly. Away from school and everyone. Not to hide you, just to spend time with you.”
Her eyes sparkle in a way that makes my heart hurt, almost as if no one’s ever been kind to her.
She bites her lip, and all I can think about is slipping my tongue into that mouth, trying to ignore the fact that Remy and Bax are still in the car, probably wondering where I am. The only reason they haven’t noticed is because Bax rolls obese joints, and they are too busy getting high to notice.
“Tommy, I can’t go anywhere with you. Mama will be waiting for me to come home.”
I line up the jars on the shelf before she can protest.
She lets out an exasperated breath. “Tommy…”
I give her puppy dog eyes, only out of pure desperation because it seems to work on everyone else. “Pretty please?”
She casts her eyes down as if she can’t handle my cuteness. “You’re not going to take no for an answer, are you?”
I give her a sly smirk and shake my head. “I don’t know what that word means.”
She folds her arms. “Fine, but there’s lots to do.”
I shrug. “Leave that to me. I bet I can get this done in a quarter of the time, and your mama won’t know any difference. I’ll take you home at normal time.”
Her eyes dart to Mrs. Holly, who’s staring at us with one eye. That damn woman is gonna be an issue.
The door chime rattles as a sudden gust of wind sweeps through the shop. Didi darts her eyes in the direction of the voices just as Bax walks in.
Bax looks out of his damn mind as he runs his hand along the stand, grabbing a bag of chips and dropping a few. “Hey man. You’re like taking forever, dude,” he says in his usual slow drawl.
“Hey,” Mrs. Holly barks out. “You better pick those up.”
Bax glances at her and gives her a puzzled expression like he had no idea she was there. “Oh hey, sorry, Mrs. Holly.”
She presses her lips together and Bax chuckles. Bax turns to face me but pauses when he notices Didi. “Oh, hey there, pretty snowflake girl.”
Didi smiles softly, and that’s when Remy walks in behind him, his presence taking up the entire room.
I follow Remy’s eyes as he looks right at Didi, and what little color in Didi’s face drains when she sees him. The tension between them is thicker than smoke.
“Didi, this is Bax and you already know Remy.”
Remy bites on his bottom lip. They can’t take their eyes off each other. “Yeah. We’ve met.”
I jerk my head hoping he takes the hint. “You two can scram. I’ll be a while.”
“What the hell, man?” Bax says oblivious to the tension in the room just as Marty pulls up in the bus, the wheels hissing to a stop. Perfect timing.
“Just take the damn bus home,” I say gruffly. Remy finally looks at me, and I plead with him…beg him with my eyes.
Let me have her tonight.
His eyes flicker, and it’s the first time he’s looked alive since Talia left. Now at least I understand why. Didi is making him feel again.
“You’ve got to be kidding, man,” Bax whines.
Remy raises his dark brows at me, giving me a look just as Marty walks in.
I know that look—I’ll owe him something.
Marty heads to the back to grab some burned coffee in a Dixie cup ignoring us.
We know Marty well. He drives us to our out-of-town track meets.
He sees everything and says nothing, just the way I like it.
I shove the beer and cigarettes in Bax’s face. “Here. Take these. I’ve got something I have to do. Go with Marty and don’t ask questions.”
Remy adjusts the collar of his jacket, and tilts his head. “I guess I’ll see you around then, Didi.” He smirks when he says her nickname.
Shit…the nickname.
Didi looks unsure about him. Although can you blame her? Everyone is unsure of Remington Vital.
Her gaze lingers on Remy a second longer than I like. “I’ll see you around, Remy.”
“Whatever, man. Dick move, dude,” Bax says. “Let’s go, Remy.”
To my relief, they turn and head outside, and Bax blows a kiss to Mrs. Holly on his way out swinging the beer around.
Once they are gone, I turn and grab the box and start unpacking.
“Sorry about my friends,” I mumble.
A flush hits her cheek. “It’s fine. I see you and Remy are friends again.”
What the hell? She never blushes with me like that.
“Yeah. We made up last night. Coach made us hash out our shit with some Whiskey.” I really don’t want to talk about Remy. Or the fact, he wants Didi for himself. I’m wrestling with the fact I just got him back and there is already something that could come between us.
Clearly there is something happening between the two of them and part of me wants to warn her. To tell her to get the hell out of town while she still has a heartbeat.
But I’m too damn selfish, and I haven’t properly kissed her yet.
I continue unpacking and we work in silence.
Once I’m done, I turn and face Didi, who is working on her own boxes, and I grab her hand.
“Come on, firefly. You can’t hide from me anymore.
Let’s get outta here.” The last few days of her ignoring me have been torturous and spending time alone with her is just what I need.
Her eyes light up. “Can I just do one thing first?”
I angle my head. “Yeah, as long as it ends with you leaving with me.”
She gives me a shy smile like she knows her days of not being kissed are over. It’s inevitable.
After picking up a few food items and putting them in a paper bag, she turns her head, aware that I am watching.
“You ready to go, firefly?”
She nods. “I’m ready, but I can’t be too long.”
My heart aches for her. She did all that work just for a bag of groceries. I eat that much food an hour after practice.
I reach out and grab her hand, pulling her toward the exit. “I’ll get you home on time, I promise.” Her hand is like silk and fits into mine perfectly. In fact, I’m thinking everything about this girl is perfect…and I really don’t like her mama.