The tub thing lasted only five minutes after I got out.
Taz wanted to do something else.
He jumped out of the tub and left Violet and Les alone.
Violet tried to get out on her own and she ended up slipping and almost falling back into the water.
Les caught her.
There was a moment.
Then Taz ruined it.
Other than that, we kept drinking here and there, talking, laughing, telling old stories to new people.
Violet loved talking about the guys she hooked up with.
I loved the way it pissed off Taz and Les.
But now it was almost midnight and this distraction is over.
Violet grabs my hands. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yes,” I say. “You got to see it. And it’s not for long, Violet. But, listen, I have to tell you something. You have to listen…”
“Okay.”
“Not a word,” I say. “You have no idea what could happen if you say something.”
Violet nods. “I can fake sadness. I mean, it won’t be that fake. I miss you. I can’t stand that I can’t call or see you.”
“I know,” I say. I jump forward and hug her. “Just please listen to me.”
“I will,” Violet says.
The bedroom door opens and Mac steps inside.
“It’s time,” he says.
“I’ll miss you, darling,” Taz says from the hallway.
“I’ll miss you too,” Violet says back.
Taz touches his chest and exhales.
Les just stands cool and calm.
Mac looks at me just before he takes out the blindfold and puts it around Violet’s eyes.
That part makes my heart hurt.
He ties it and then leads her from the bedroom.
That’s when Les makes his move, grabbing her hand.
He holds it, squeezes it, caresses it, until he has to let her go.
Mac walks Violet to the steps and that’s all I can watch.
I slowly shut the bedroom door.
The fun is over.
Reality sinks in.
It’s the first time I almost miss my old life… the one before Mac.
5
MAC
I watch her sleep and I know she’s sad.
I know this entire thing is hurting her. And confusing her.
What she doesn’t know is that it’s going to end soon. As soon as tomorrow.
Well, today.
There’s something happening and I’m going to be there.
Once we know the truth about her father - and the story of her mother - then everything will be okay.
I mean, in reality, it won’t be okay at all.
Nothing will be normal or okay in the sense of what Jolie has known for her entire life.
But she and I can get back to normal. She and I will be okay.
That’s what matters most to me.
I put my nose to her shoulder and I smell her skin.
I shut my eyes.
When the morning light wakes me, I find the bed empty.
I sit up and look to the corner of the bed.
That’s where Jolie is sitting.
I stretch my neck and clear my throat.
“Morning, sweetie,” I say. “What are you doing?”
Jolie looks back at me.
She smiles.
She slowly turns and shows me her hand.
There’s a cigarette in her hand.
“What’s that for?” I ask.
“I was thinking about taking up the habit,” she says.
I push the covers off me and slide up next to her. “What?”
“Why not, right? Can you picture me smoking?”
Jolie puts the cigarette between her lips.
I won’t lie, she looks fucking beautiful like that. She’s still got this perfect, innocent look to her. Add in a cigarette and it’s just… damn.
“Are you serious right now?” I ask.
Jolie plucks the cigarette out of her mouth and puts it into the palm of her hand again.
She’s holding it like it’s a tarantula or something.
Like she’s afraid of the cigarette.
I lean toward her and kiss the side of her head.
“I know this is all fucked up,” I whisper. “Soon, sweetie.”
“How though, Mac? How do I get kidnapped and then just show up again like normal?”
She looks at me.
She’s put a lot of thought into it.
I touch her face. “Who knows about it? That’s the question. Missing. Kidnapped. They’re two different things, Jolie. For all anyone knows, you got burned out and took off. Threw your phone into the ocean and went on a road trip. By yourself. The word kidnapped wasn’t done by you.”
“Mac, there’s legal implications…”
I smile. “Then the lawyer in you will figure it out. You’ll know what to say and how to spin it.”
“I already have enough things spinning,” Jolie says.
She stands up from the bed.
She holds her hand out.
“What do you think?” she asks.
“I think you’re fucking perfect and beautiful and sexy no matter what you do,” I say. “Cigarette or not.” I stand up and move toward her. “If you do this though, you have to get used to it. You might throw up.”
“Really?”
“You never tried a cigarette before?” I ask.
“No.”
I laugh. I touch her face. “Just when I think I can’t love you anymore.”
“Over a cigarette?” Jolie asks.
I steal the cigarette from her hand.
I walk to the dresser and get my lighter and light the cigarette.
After I take the first drag, I hold the cigarette out for Jolie to take.
She shuts her eyes and shakes her head.
I smile and walk toward her again.
I take another drag of the cigarette and then put my mouth to her neck and gently kiss her, letting the tip of my tongue flirt with her neck while a cloud of smoke blankets her face.
I take one step away from her and her hand grabs my left wrist.
Her other hand grabs something else.
She looks up at me.
Now we all know the best way to start a morning, right?
I stand in the doorway to the secret cash room.
Ado looks back at me.
He swallows hard.
“What?” I ask.
“Taz’s bag is short,” he says.
“What?”
“The cash… it’s short. It looks short. It’s not all there, Mac.”
I step into the room and shut the door.
I lock it.
“Show me,” I say.
“I… I can’t,” Ado says.
“Why not?”
“I put everything away,” he says. “But the bag count and cash… I mean, unless it was some old shit. Or a discount. Or something else I don’t know about. I’m just going by eyes here.”
“Move out of the way,” I say.
Ado slowly stands and puts his back against the wall.
I crouch down and look at the cash.
I’ve been around this game long enough to know when something isn’t right.
And something isn’t right.
It’s all around me though.
Not just within the crew. Or the cash. Or shit on campus. Or the beach. Or the skatepark. Or anything else I have to deal with on a daily basis.