A Pretty Pill (22 page)

Right now she’s finishing up braiding a second
plait in her hair.  She’s got two, either side of her head, trailing over her shoulders.

I’m staring... she’s wearing the same clothes she did the first ride we had to Sugarloaf Mountain.

“I used to have short hair.  From the age of 14 till after my parents died.  I had pretty short and funky styled hair.  After they died, I just let it grow.  Sometimes I think of getting it shaved off.” She says.

I must look like I
just got punched in the nuts, because I know my eyes have a pleading, please don’t do that look, and I’m wincing.

She laughs.

“I gather you like long hair.” She suggests.

“You gather correct.” I answer.

“It’s just a bit more work to do something with and it gets tangled and shit.” She reasons.

“I wouldn’t know... I’ve never had long hair.” I reply.

“Yours is pretty long right now!” she points out.

“I s’pose, but it’s not lengthy enough to plait.” I argue.  “And I can get away with the messy, tangled look.” I counter.

“Yes you can!” she says softly.

“Is that a blush I detect there Miss Tayte?” I tease.  No seriously, she’s blushing... and now that I’ve called it, she’s brightened.

“Shut the fuck up Reynolds.” She chides, smiling.

I chuckle
, it’s nice that she’s beginning to come around; I just need her to make a jump... a leap of faith.  This is way too slow for me!

We make our way to my house so Silas can visit my Mum.  For some reason, they’ve really hit it off.  I think Mum sees some of me in him.  The anger, the aggressive need to fight; and Silas really likes her too.

When we enter, Silas is the first one to lean
in and give her a big warm hug; as she’s seated on a recliner.

“Sabrina
, you’re looking good today.  I like your hat...” he says, “It’s refreshing to see a woman who knows how to wear a cap!” he reasons.

Come to think of it, why is Mum wearing a cap backwards?

She laughs vibrantly.

“Good, because it happens to be your present.” She explains, taking the
cap off and presenting it to him... revealing her scarf that she has tied around her head instead.

“Sabrina, I really love it.” He says, trying it on.

It’s an emerald and white DC cap she bought online.

“Let me see.” She requests, tugging on his sleeve.

He crouches so she can see him face to face.

“I was so hoping that the colour would be right for your eyes
, and wow!  It is!  Your eyes look like a cat’s green eyes.  They’re so... green!” she enthuses.

Silas gives her a massive grin, and seats himself on the floor, crossing his legs.

“They’re the same as Jade’s eyes.” He states.  “They’re the same as our Dad’s eyes.” He explains.

“Well, you two are very lucky!  To have such beautiful eyes!” she says.

“So Mum, I don’t normally leave you alone in the morning... are you going to be okay?” I question.

“Yes...” she groans, “we’ve been over this already.  Dana is going to come over for morning tea
, and she has your number!” she argues.

“I know.  But it’s the mornings we do our stuff together.” I argue.

“I need the change.  You’re getting on my nerves.  I need to see someone else once in a while.” She jokes.

“You
’re sure?  I mean we could dump Jade here and you can pillion with me up to Dungog and get drunk in the pub there with us.” I say, indicating Silas and myself.  Jade punches me in the arm.

Mum is laughing.

“I wouldn’t make it out of this street without falling off.  And besides, I need Jade to go with you.” She states.

“Why?” both Jade and I say in unison.

“She’s the only woman in the world that might be able to keep you from doing something stupid.” She explains.

“I won’t do anything stupid.” I argue.

“Benjamin Sacha Reynolds, I think your nose just grew a whole inch right now.” She scolds me.

“You have a girl’s name for a middle name?” Silas asks.

“No, it’s Russian... and you can’t talk,” I smile, “you’re named after a greedy toad from a cartoon.” I joke.

Silas shrugs... “I’ll have you know he was an evil genius.”

We all laugh.

“You know
, Mum named us for our green eyes.” Jade says.

“How did she know your eyes would be green?  Baby’s eyes change.” My Mum asks.

“I don’t know, I guess either ours were really obvious, or she suspected we’d have Dad’s eyes.  She had blue eyes anyway.” Jade surmises.

“So Jade is a green stone, what does Silas mean?” Mum asks.

“From the forest.” Jade answers.

“Well that’s nice!” Mum replies, nodding.  “Benjamin was named after his father, as you know, and his name means
‘son of the right hand.’
” She explains.

“Fitting
, since he was named after his Dad.” Jade replies.

“And he certainly copped a lot of the right hand of justice from him too.” Mum laughs.

Silas and Jade laugh, but I just stand there doing the
‘ha de hah hah’
thing.

“Well you three better be off.” Mum directs us to leave.

So of course we stay for another half an hour saying goodbye and making sure she’s got everything she needs to hand.

Jade.

I feel fairly confident being doubled by Ben, but because of my recent concussion, I’m going with holding onto him as he doubles me.

I gather he doesn’t mind, because as I get on the back again at his place, he grabs my hands and places them on his hips for me.

“If you hold me here
, we won’t fall off from you tickling me.” He says grinning, looking at me side on.

He jumped twice on our way over, because apparently he has ticklish ribs.

I grin widely.

“No seriously, I don’t want to die today!” he argues,
turning away; his visor flipped up at the present, as is mine.

He’s not looking at me, and he’s just about to
take off on the bike.  So I lean forward and press myself into him.

“Okay.” I
say in a breathless tone, albeit loudly over the noise of the bike; scrunching up his jeans in my hands as I pushing myself up into his back.

He stops doing what he was doing, and turns to stare at me sideways.  I can’t help but let out a laugh.

“Don’t do that either, or I’ll have a heart attack, and the results will be the same.” He pleads.

And then we’re off.

Ben told Silas, that he’ll stick to him.  So whatever speed Silas is doing, Ben will match.  We pretty much stick to the speed limit all the way, because before we’re even half way there, we’ve seen six cop cars; all highway patrol, it’s amazing.  I haven’t seen so many before ever.  And it’s not even a long weekend or public holiday.

We make our way through Hexham, up to Maitland, and then through Patterson on our way to Dungog.  We plan on returning via Raymond Terrace and the Pacific Highway.

The whole way I have my hands on Ben’s hips, feeling the way he moves instinctually with the bike, as I sit there like a stone and allow him make the necessary movements and adjustments to make the bike twist and turn through traffic, around bends, round-a-bouts and corners; and any sudden shifts to avoid a pothole or two that creep up.

The whole time I know the drill, since I ride too; but I can’t help thinking how nice his hips feel in my hands
, how perfect they fit between my legs, and how sordid my thoughts can actually get in this moment.  At one stage, when we lift off a bit over a rail crossing, and my hips are jutted forward into his butt, such that my pussy is pressed hard up against the back of him; he reaches back and pats my thigh, before replacing his hand on the handle bars.  In response, I leave myself in that position for a while, until I feel like moving again, in order to get some feeling in my arse cheeks.

We make good time, and we’re pulling into the main drag of Dungog by noon. 

“You’re a good pillion passenger!” Ben states, pulling stray hair from my face and tucking it behind my ear
s.

“You’re a good rider!” I respond.

“Anytime Red.” He chuckles.

I draw
in breath quickly.  He hasn’t called me Red since before we came to an understanding of a truce, since before he kissed me.  It used to inflame me, and annoy me beyond description, but this time, it makes me feel warm in an entirely different way.

He smiles at me and turns away to place his helmet on the tank of his bike, and give his head a good old two handed scratch... making his hair stick up everywhere.  It makes me laugh, because now he looks like he’s just been rolling around in the hay
, he just needs some random sticks and grass throughout his hair.

Silas quickly establishes
that he does indeed want lunch at the pub.  And he’d love to have a beer, but he’s got to ride home, and on his green provisional licence, it’s a zero alcohol tolerance.

So we all go without a beer, and stick with soft drinks
instead, like Coke.

“Ben likes you, you know!” Silas tells me when Ben goes to take a piss.

“Um... yeah, I know.  Remember, I’m his Jade?” I say sarcastically, but smile.

“Yeah, I remember.  You’re the chick who broke his heart.” He states, “So how is that so?” he asks.

“I don’t know
, we kind of got close I s’pose, before I knew he was your instructor, and well, he fell for me I suppose, but it’s not what you think.” I explain.  “We weren’t sleeping with each other or anything.”

“I think he’s either in love with you, or he’s infatuated with you.  Either way, he wants you bad!  So stop playing a princess and give him a go!” Silas insists.

“I’m not being a princess!” I argue.

“You so are.  You’re behaving like a school girl and leaving him hanging.  You’re a bit of an idiot if you think you can do better than Ben
; and I’m not saying that in a derogatory way to you, at least I’m not trying to; but I mean it as in there just aren’t that many guys like him out there.  Believe me, I’m a guy, and I know!” he says.

I’m still stuck with my mouth open at the
‘can’t do any better’
part, but I get it.  I know he’s telling the truth.  And I kind of plan to give Ben a go, one day... soonish!

Ben strolls back into the dining area, and plonks back down at the table.  His knee is brushing up against my leg.

“I’m just gonna take a piss, and then we should head back.” Silas says, jumping up and heading for the toilets.

“Okay, I better go to the toilet t
oo.” I say, going to leave; but Ben holds my hand for a brief moment to stop me from rising.

I raise my eyebrows in question to him.

“Don’t run away from me tonight, please!” He requests.

I want to say I won’t, but I can’t.  I have no idea what he’s saying, yet at the same time I absolutely understand what he’s saying
, so I nod.

“Okay
? I won’t make things too hard for you, I promise!” He says, smiling his dimpled grin.

Again I nod.  And then he lets me go and I make my way to the ladies.

Ben.

Again, today... I chased her and made my intentions clear.  I was thankful that after she returned from the toilet, she hadn’t begun treating me differently, that in fact; she remained her normal self around me, as things have been improving lately.

Tonight may be different.

I’m already waiting, with Seb and Beau, for the birthday boy... and my girl; at least the girl I want to be my girl!

I’ve been nursing a beer, and explaining to the guys that we don’t want Silas to get trashed tonight, since he’s got issues with his meds.  They’ve apparently seen him go a little mental before, and they’ve already known him to end up in hospital, so they seem pretty cool about it; and I’m glad, because when he arrives with Shae and her parents, Jade bringing up the rear... he’s got that wild look in his eyes... a kind of excitement that could snap and turn on a dime.

We settle in to our tables... and I manage to get squeezed in between Jade and Beau.

The conversation around the table is fluid, and Jade and Mr and Mrs Leveritt, Shae’s parents, and her; are sharing the one bottle of wine.  I originally took Silas up, along with the guys to the bar and bought them all one drink... Silas chose a beer, the boys both chose Bourbon and Coke.  Of course Shae is just drinking soft drink, but I’m now onto a second beer.

Dinner is fairly nice, but standard fair... nothing themed or out of the ordinary.  However, towards the end, we get to sing Happy Birthday to Silas, as a white chocolate mud cake arrives with candles on it.