Chapter Twenty Eight
June Thirteenth
Juniper
June stared at herself in the mirror for too long, “I think I want to cut my hair.”
She talked over the shower running for Wolfie.
“Well, what were you thinking? You wanna go somewhere?”
His voice was loud.
“No.”
Her palms face down on the vanity counter, “I want you to do it.”
“What?”
he turned the water off and opened the curtain, June looked down at his wet body as he grabbed a towel and responded, “I can’t cut your hair.”
“Why?”
Her eyes met his as he covered up.
“I can’t cut a straight line, and you want me to cut your hair?”
“I just want a change, maybe get rid of some of this weight it’s holding.”
He rubbed his towel against his beard, soaking up the water beads. “Juniper.”
“What? Start long, you can always go shorter.”
“Do you really have faith in me?”
She watched as he dropped a leg in each side of his underwear.
“Yeah, if you mess up, you're the only one who has to look at me. No pressure.”
He kissed her as he walked past to exit the bathroom and find his clothes in the bedroom. “You’re nuts.”
She followed him into the bedroom, “Come on, it'll be easy.”
She coaxed him.
“Juniper,”
His wet hair hung off his head “Do you really want me to?”
“Yes, get dressed and meet me in the kitchen.”
She left the room and walked downstairs. June shifted items in a cluttered drawer, grabbed scissors and a comb and collected her hair into a ponytail.
She sat at the kitchen counter with scissors in her hand, Wolfie solid footsteps jarred coming down the stairs.
“You know, maybe I should ask Brittanya for some pointers first.”
He opposed.
“No,”
Her face scrunched down, “that will take too long, just come do it.”
He walked around behind her and she handed him the scissors. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
He gripped her ponytail, “You’re sure, sure?”
“Yes.”
“So right here?”
he pointed at the elastic band half way down her hair.
“Yeah, just cut my ponytail off.”
She heard him calmly exhale and felt the scissors against her neck.
“You’re positive? There’s no going back.”
“Wolfie!”
She could hear the dry grit of each strand cut against the old scissors until she was finally free. She ran her hand through her hair as it ended unexpectedly. The fresh blunt cut and healthy ends.
“Wait,”
he said, combing her hair and pushing her head forward. “You've got all these little baby hairs.”
He cleaned up her haircut while the little bits of hair itched against her neck. She felt freer than ever and that's all that mattered. She looked in the blurry reflection of the refrigerator. “It looks a little uneven but I kind of like it, thank you.”
She said, “What do you think?”
“I think you look beautiful no matter what.”
He kissed her on the lips. “What should we do with this?”
He held up her old hair.
“Let's throw that away.”
She took it from him. June had thought if she could bathe herself in acid to remove the touch or anything from Ben she would. This was close enough.
Wolfie pulled her in close, “I wanted to ask, what was it about Ben in the beginning that drew you to him?”
“I mistook him for the sun when he was really the flames of hell.”
He ran his hand through her hair, “I'm sorry he happened to you.”
“He brought me to you, I would walk through the flames of hell again to get to you.”
Wolfgang became inches from her face, “You already did.”
Wolfgang
Wolfie inspected her haircut after her shower, the weight of her hair was gone creating a wave in her strands. He liked it, especially being able to see her neck. She couldn't hide behind her hair anymore. He was actually impressed with how well the haircut turned out. Brittanya always made it seem so difficult. Maybe it was just his haircut.
He was happy to be with June, but the last two weeks he's been internally begging to be inside of her. He wouldn't make the first move, not when the last time she was with somebody he forced himself on her. Wolfie couldn’t really see those scabs anymore, since they were more of a surface wound but he would never forget what they look like. Just like he wouldn't forget watching Ben take his last breath. There's been a few times he wished he didn't have to kill Ben. But when he saw her scratches on herself, the way she jumped when he would walk in the room or the few times he had felt her tense up under his hand, he wished he could kill him again.
He never understood how somebody could be so sadistic towards somebody who had never done anything wrong. Fuck Ben, he didn’t regret it.
He sat quietly on the couch watching her as she shuffled through the old records. He saw a cover flip to him and read the title.
“What is Zeppelin?”
he asked. “That's a weird name.”
“No,”
she smiled, lining the borders of the antique, "that's a band not one person. They're also, like, one hundred years old.”
He shifted his weight and adjusted his jeans. “Well, are they any good?”
“I don't know. Should we play it?”
June looked up at him.
“Why not? We don't have anything else to do.”
The speaker buzzed as she flicked it on, and the needle scratched as she placed it. She knew what to do from one of her mom’s favorite movies but never had the chance to do it herself. Arithmetic beat played over the speaker as an animal wailed.
“What is this?”
He looked at her confused.
She flipped the cover back over “Immigration song.”
He rubbed his face, “It's awful and amazing at the same time.”
She pulled out another stack naming them one by one. “Wow,”
she said, “this one says nineteen seventy seven on the back.”
Juniper
She looked up from the record, catching Wolfie watching her, knowing she was his entertainment and the reason he was here. She felt bad; she felt like she needed to give him something as gratitude. June was scared of what feelings may come up because of her last interaction. It was unfair for him, but she warned him months ago, telling him she was damaged and now he had seen what she had been through. Wolfie had seen the way Ben treated her, the way he acted towards her, like she was disposable.
She would never be able to repay Wolfie for saving her. “Thank you.”
She looked at him.
“For what?”
He looked confused.
“Coming and getting me, even if you left me here, I would be safe. Even if I got caught and charged with however you left him. I would be safe, I would be safer in prison than with him.”
He grinned, “I don’t think they would believe you could have done what I did to him. You don't have to thank me, I didn't have to come here.”
“But you did, I owe you my life.”
“No, you don't, the island was getting boring.”
He crawled down to June, sitting next to her.
“Are you sure your life is not ruined yet?”
“If this is what ruined looks like, my life is absolutely destroyed.”
June touched his knee, “What if you never found me?”
“Considering that impossible, let's pretend I don't find you by July. I either go back with Jay and live my sad life on the island or I spend the rest of forever without the technology I have looking for you, I couldn't imagine it if I didn't find you. What if you married him or had a child with him?”
“Would you raise his child?”
He thought for a moment, “If it means that I got you in the end, yes. I would also love that child and focus on the half that is you, I would do everything to not have another Ben on this planet.”
He leaned into her, feeling her lean into him and kissed her softly.
Her mind, body and heart all argued whether or not to try being physical with Wolfie, she wanted to and June remembered what they had. He was so patient compared to Ben. She was afraid of unexpected emotions or feelings that might come up, the wrong movement, the wrong words.
She pulled away, “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.”
He pressed his eyebrows together confused.
“I’m not ready, I shouldn’t be leading you on.”
“You’re not.”
He grabbed her and landed a hard kiss on her lips pulling back with the smacking noise. “I get it.”
Wolfie collected himself to his feet and lent a hand to Juniper, “Alright, what are we doing for dinner? What weird thing are we eating today?”
“Have you ever had canned spaghetti?”
June Fifteenth
Wolfgang
Wolfie sat on the porch watching the sun hit Juniper perfectly as she leaned on the railing overlooking the hillside. He loved that she chose a dress to wear, a slight breeze and a little luck, he had a great view.
She spun around, “Can we go for a walk or something?”
“Sure.”
He smiled at her and followed her down the stairs. His eyes traced her silhouette as she explored a few feet ahead of him on the back property of the cabin. The sparse green vegetation spread under the canopy of trees and the smell of dirt kicked up with her steps relaxed him.
“Look.”
She stopped hiding behind a tree, pointing to a chipmunk. He stepped behind her, gently wrapping his hands around her stomach, waiting for a reaction that didn’t come.
“Wow, what kind of rat is that?”
She turned to him quickly, throwing a punch at his arm, “That is a chipmunk, not a rat.”
He smirked down at her, placing his forehead on hers. “It’s cute.”
He kissed her and June wrapped her arms around his neck, not letting go. He waited to receive a cue, any cue. June’s lips parted and gently caught Wolfies lip in her teeth momentarily before letting go. Her hands on the back of his neck, she led him back to her pushing her pelvis into him. That was all he needed.
He pressed her against the tree and broke away, “You know what this reminds me of?”
“What?”
“Breakfast with my mom.”
He paused.
She laughed, interrupting him, “Wow, that’s not what I thought you would say.”
He held her waist, “Well if you let me finish I would have said, when we went into the backyard. You were in that sundress, in a different situation, I would have taken you under that tree but this one will work.”
His lips met her neck as her hair brushed his face, he pulled her strap off her shoulder kissing along her collar bone.
Juniper
She wanted him, Juniper had to try and test her limits. Her arms over his shoulders she drove her hands into his back to shove him into her. Wolfie returned to her lips and she slid her hands around his sides feeling his lower back. He propped one hand over him digging into the texture of the bark and the other ran down her side and back up, engulfing her chest, one side at a time.
His hand slid down her stomach fingers first and between her legs while they helplessly split apart. She was ready and knew he could feel it as he hiked up June’s dress out of the way. Tugging her underwear down, he slipped his fingers in and pulled his face back, catching her gaze as he practiced what she taught him. Her breathing grew faster and louder until she began to moan. He pushed her body into the trunk of the tree with his to stabilize their ground and began kissing her again. June’s breathing quickened out of her nose, landing on his face and the vibrations of her moans stilled in his mouth as she tightened around his fingers.
“Shit.”
She whispered, practically climbing his shoulders but ready for more.
“Shit!”
He became alert, pulling her dress back into place. June heard the voices after him, as they got closer and she giggled out of embarrassment. “Let’s go.”
Wolfie murmured, grabbing her by the hand and dragging her back to the cabin as two female hikers crossed their property behind them, unaware of their presence.
Wolfgang
Marilyn ‘You found our old family cabin and they still own it? That’s incredible. If you could send pictures that would be amazing. I’m glad June is safe and that things are settled with her nasty ex. Just stay low until Jay arrives. I love you Wolfgang. Mom’
Brittanya ‘I can’t believe you found her! Where are you now? I am keeping Whitney updated too. I also talked to your mom yesterday. She seems to be doing better when you keep contact. See you soon. B’