Arianna's Awakening (Arianna Rose Part 1 & The Awakening Part 2) (12 page)

“And then there was the time I let you cook for me and a friend,” she said with a laugh.  “You were maybe five and I was with, I think his name was John or Joe, something with a J, and we had you make us some fried chicken.  You were doing all right until you started frying the breaded pieces.  You pulled a chair up and started tossing drumsticks and wings into the frying pan and scalding hot oil splashed all in your face.  I thought for sure you’d disfigured your face, that not only would I have a daughter no man wanted around, but an ugly one at that.”  Her mother paused to laugh again, as if the story she told were somehow a funny or cherished memory.  “Luckily, your face was fine.  I have no idea how that happened because when I touched that pot, I burned my hand, see?” she pointed to a minute scar on her left thumb.

“Yeah, I see it, mom,” Arianna replied.  The tingling had spread and grown.  She felt as though a current of electricity had charged every part of her.  Suddenly, she felt as though she needed physical distance between her mother and herself.  “Look, we can stroll down memory lane some other time.  Right now, I have to get ready to go out.”

“Oh, okay,” her mother said.  “I guess I’m just so lonely and starved for companionship, I didn’t realize I was holding you up.  I’ll let you finish getting ready.”

Arianna felt her body begin to tremble.  Her mother was actually attempting to guilt her into taking her along on her first night out in months on the heels of bragging about being a negligent parent.

“Shut the door behind you,” Arianna said coolly.

“Think of me while you’re out having a good time,” her mother added pitifully and Arianna wanted to shut the door in her face.

“Okay, mom,” was all she could manage.
 

The door shut finally and her mother was safely on the other side of it.  Arianna blew out a breath of air then inhaled deeply again.  After several deep breaths, the trembling had subsided and her hands felt steady enough to handle a mascara wand without poking her eye out.  That is, if her lucky sign had
not, in fact, failed her.  The thought of such nonsense riled her again slightly.  She quickly pushed it to the back of her mind and tried to concentrate on the task at hand, and the night ahead of her.

She applied two coats of mascara and some eyeliner before grabbing an empty purse from her drawer, stuffing some cash, her cigarettes and her fake identification in it and leaving.  She passed her mother sitting on the couch in the living room as she headed toward the front door.  Her mother sat with a blanket draped across her shoulder sipping a large glass of wine.  Her intention had surely been to guilt her further, a final look-at-me-I’m-so-depressed effort.   But Arianna would not bite.  Instead, she called a quick “See you later!” to her mother and closed the door behind her. 

Outside, the air was crisp and cool.  The distinct autumn chill promised an even colder night.  She pulled a cigarette from her purse and lit it while she waited for Luke to arrive.  As she smoked, she tilted her chin upward and looked to the sky above.  Constellations ornamented the navy expanses like innumerable diamonds affixed to a velvet backdrop.  The sky was so stunning, the stars so bright and numerous, she felt dizzied slightly, but smiled regardless.  She’d see a great many things in her short life, had experienced far too much even, but none of it had etched away at her appreciation of nature, at her sense wonder.  She’d wanted to be an astronaut when she was a little girl.  That was why she had been atop the trailer when she was eight.  And the little girl had not been Amy, Emily or Mary.  Her name was Avery.  She had been Arianna’s best friend.  Her conversation with her mother prompted her to remember an event she’d blocked from her mind for many years.  Her best friend Avery’s serious injuries, and the trailer climbing that had caused it, had been the reason Avery’s parents had forbidden her from playing with Arianna ever again.  They had blamed Arianna.  After all, Arianna had not been harmed.  But their daughter had been.  The only eyewitness to the fall had been Arianna’s drunken mother. 

Arianna’s heart raced wildly in her chest, her memory suddenly vivid.   She was about to turn and walk back in to the house and forget about going altogether, feeling that her mood had been irreparably soured when the rumble of a truck engine stopped her.  Headlights sliced through the darkness and approached slowly then stopped in front of her trailer.  The door opened and the overhead interior light illuminated Luke’s face.  And he wasn’t alone.  

Stephanie occupied the passenger seat looking impossibly beautiful despite the unflattering lighting and the sour expression she wore.

“Hey,” Luke said as he rounded the front of his truck.  “You look nice.”

“Thanks,” Arianna replied and wondered why he didn’t kiss her on the cheek or anything.  A day earlier they’d shared an intense and passionate kiss, but since then, there hadn’t been any hand-holding, hugging, nothing.  Now, with his sister perched in the front seat and her relegated the back seat, there was no chance of even an accidental brush of hands.  Between her mother’s reminiscing and attempted guilt trip and Luke doing nothing short of pretending like what happened between them in his garage had never happened, Arianna found herself missing her bike more than ever.  If she had her bike, she would have canceled with Luke in favor of a nice long ride to clear her head.  But she did not have it.  Instead, she bumped along in Luke’s pickup truck for twenty minutes until they reached Blue Ivy nightclub in Shadow Hills, a seedy town in an even seedier neighborhood that straddled the border between theirs and the next. 

Two cars had followed them the entire trip.  Ryan and Christa had trailed in his Honda CRX with Bulldog, Beth, Mike and Carrie not far behind.  Stephanie had planned to meet friends there and had hitched a ride with Luke.  After parking in a small lot just past the entrance to the club, everybody jumped out their cars, eager to get inside.  Bass rumbled deeply, growling like thunder from beyond the walls of the club, pulsing like an immense heart issuing its rhythmic beat. 

“Let’s do this!” Ryan said enthusiastically and Christa rolled her eyes at him.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to get my drink on!” Mike said.

Everyone started moving toward the club slowly.  Stephanie hung back and pulled at Arianna’s arm to stay.

“Hold on a sec,” she hissed.  “I got something.”

Arianna couldn’t imagine what, and was afraid to ask.  She waited as Stephanie searched her purse then finally produced two white tablets in a plastic bag.  “Thought you might want to do a little ex before we go in,” she said and offered a tablet to Arianna.

Ecstasy was not a drug Arianna was interested in trying.  She’d smoked pot before
, but that had been the extent of her experience with drugs.

“No thanks,” Arianna said and handed Stephanie’s bag back.

Stephanie studied her for a moment and Arianna anticipated a snide comment or pressure, but none came.  Instead, Stephanie shrugged, popped the tablet into her mouth and caught up with the rest of their group. 

The line to get into Blue Ivy was long, but moved quickly.  Within ten minutes, they were inside wading through a sea of people grinding and writhing to the roll of booming bass.  Bulldog led the pack, and much like a bulldozer, pushed his way past people until a path had been cleared for them that led straight to the bar.  His intimidating size and appearance
, complete with a square jaw, deep-set eyes and countless scars, discouraged anybody from protesting their prime position.  Pressing his luck further, as well as his substantial form, Bulldog managed to secure a small table for them to stand around close to the bar. 

In the far corner of the club, they had a view of the dance floor.  Packed with scantily clad girls gyrating and rubbing up against eager guys, the dance floor was crowded.  Arianna was not known to dance and she doubted Luke was much of a dancer either.  She preferred drinking at clubs and watching others dance. 

“What’re you drinking tonight?” Luke shouted in her ear over the loud music.

“Beer,” she answered.

Luke smiled then shouted, “You’re a cheap date.  I like you more and more every time I see you!” and smiled.

Arianna smiled too, but not because of his joke.  She smiled at his use of the word date.  Luke disappeared toward the bar with Bulldog.  Though the bar was just a few feet away, they were immediately swept away on a wave of people and carried in the current.  They returned several minutes later with a round of drinks for everyone.  Luke sidled up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.  His body moved to the music faintly and rocked hers pleasantly.  She enjoyed the feel of him pressed against her, feeling his heartbeat against her back, his hard body. 

After the second round of drinks had been finished, Luke left her with Stephanie to go get another.  She watched him as he left then allowed her eyes to scan the crowd.  As she did, her breath caught in her chest.  In the distance, near the wall farthest from her, she spotted a familiar face.  The man she’d seen on the side of the road not once, but twice, in the last three days watched her.  She wondered what the hell he was doing there, why he was following her, so she grabbed Stephanie by the elbow and urged her forward.

“Come on Stephanie,” she said and tugged her arm.

“What the fuck!” Stephanie protested. 

“Come on!  I think I see someone I know,” Arianna said.

“So? What the hell does that have to do with me?”

Arianna didn’t want to argue.  She just wanted someone with her when she confronted him, a witness that he existed, that he was real.  She quickly searched her mind for a reason that would motivate Stephanie.

“It’s a guy I know.  He’s single and loaded, but I guess I’ll see him another time.”

She could practically see Stephanie’s brain working.   She tossed a lock of platinum blonde hair over her shoulder and took Arianna’s hand and began moving through the crowds.  A sea of swaying bodies, changing faces and snippets of shouted conversations became disorienting.  Unsure of which corner she’d seen the mystery man in, she stopped.

“What are you doing?” Stephanie yelled.  “I thought we were going to see your rich friend.”

“I think he left already,” Arianna fumbled for an excuse.  “Since
you
took so long to come with me,” she added and worried she would suffer Stephanie’s wrath at any second.  When it did not come, she nearly sighed aloud in relief.

“I need a smoke,” Stephanie said.  “Let’s dip outside, okay?”

Arianna glanced around nervously.  “What about Luke and the others?” she asked.

“We can’t take our drinks outside, and I’m not leaving them lying around here,” Stephanie cautioned.

“Gotcha,” Arianna replied.

Stephanie turned and began leading them toward the perimeter of the club in search of an exit door.   They stumbled through throngs of people until they found one and opened it. 

“Wait,” Arianna said to Stephanie as she stepped out.  “What if we can’t get back in this door?”

“We’ll go around to the front if we have to.  Our hands are stamped.”

The door led into a dimly lit alleyway.  Sodium vapor lamps provided meager light as well as an eerie jaundiced glow.  Dumpsters lined the walls and added to the depressing ambience. 

“This is gross,” Arianna said.  “Let’s go back in and go out front to smoke, you know, where there’s no garbage or rats.”

“Whatever,” Stephanie answered curtly.

Arianna tugged the handle to the metal door and, as she expected, the door had locked from the inside.

“Great.  We’re locked out,” Arianna said sarcastically.

“Who gives a shit?” Stephanie said with a slurred voice as she lit her cigarette clumsily, the ecstasy and alcohol clearly affecting her coordination.

“Um, I do.  It’s not safe back here.”

“Don’t be such a chickenshit.”

“Call me whatever you want, we’re not staying back here,” Arianna said then added, “One of us has to use her brain here.”

Arianna took a step forward to lead her and Stephanie out of the alleyway when a sound halted her.  She stopped and listened intently.

“What the fuck! First you wanna go.  Now you wanna stay.  Make up your mind!”

“Shh!”

Arianna listened again and heard footsteps approaching.  Fear slithered like a serpent down the length of her spine and raised bumps on her skin.  Her heart began to race, adrenaline flooding her system to flee from what she perceived as danger.

“What?” Stephanie questioned belligerently.

“Shut up!” Arianna hissed as the footsteps sounded closer.  “Someone’s coming,” she whispered.

“Someone’s already here,” a male voice called.

“We were just leaving,” Arianna said and ducked her head down.  She grabbed Stephanie by her wrist and yanked her along.

“What’s the rush ladies?” the voice said again and two men stepped out from the shadows.

Grungy and bedraggled looking, both men looked as though they could benefit from a shower with soap and a stiff-bristled brush.  Heavily tattooed and clad in jeans, they looked as if they’d seen and committed their share of violent acts.  One wore a gray bandana on his head and a black leather vest while the other had illegible tattoos scrawled across his neck.