Barbie World (Baby Doll Series) (23 page)

I stand up. “Look, Dylan,” I say to the wall. “Thank you for last night. For being there for me, but… “ I take a deep breath. The bed creaks with his movement and I know he is out and coming for me. I walk away, scooping up my clothes and clutching them to my chest.

“Barbie, don’t do this,” he says behind me.

My shoulders sag. “Dylan, what did you think was going to happen? That I would forget what happened between us?” I say, realizing I had already forgotten why I was so mad at him. I clutch the damp clothes that smell stale of rain tighter.

“Yes. No. I don’t expect you to forget anything that I did that was wrong, but I thought we could work through it,” he says. I swallow hard and pivot to face him. Damn, could he at least put on a pair of pants? He stands still in his navy blue briefs, his arms holding the same protective stance I have, trying to protect the one thing that could kill me the breaking of the remainder of my heart.

“Dylan, I just can’t.” Hurt flashes in his eyes.

“You cannot or you will not?” he asks.

Really, what is the difference? “Both,” I admit.

I leave him standing there, clutching his heart.

###

I stare at my backpack, the contents spilling out. I came in when Roxie was in the shower. I decided on my way back to my room that I am going to go back to savannah and confront Josephine again. I am going to tell her everything about my mother. How she hurt her so bad. How mother needed her and she was not there for her. It is a gift to my mother to set her free from the clutches Josephine has on her. Something she cannot give her and something to help me move on from the family I never had.

The water shuts off and I hear Roxie’s high pitch giggle and, despite my sadness, I smile. The sound reminds me, once again, that despite everything that happened this year there was some good. I have made real friends. Friends that are willing to truck it across state to help me find an estranged grandmother. To be there for me through the good and bad. Even Dylan has been there through it all.

The bathroom door opens and out spills a very wet, very naked, Third. “Third!” I squeal, covering my eyes.

“Barbie!” He is just as embarrassed as I am. I can tell he is still standing there, naked, too shocked to move.

“Towel. Now.” I point blindly to the table that holds a stack of fresh towels the maid must have brought over. “I think I might have just gone blind,” I tease, smiling because, if there is a happy, naked Third in my room then that means there is a happy, naked Roxie in the bathroom. Maybe I didn’t get what I wanted on this trip, but at least someone I love is getting what they want. “Roxie are you naked in there?” I open one eye, making sure Third is properly covered. He is and he is staring at his feet like a little boy who just got caught doing something he shouldn’t be.

“Yes,” she pipes up. “Can I have a towel please?” she says, shame in her voice. I laugh and pick up a towel, tossing it in the bathroom to her. A moment later, Roxie walks out, towel wrapped around her, looking at her feet, too.

“Well, well.” I say looking at them both, trying to suppress the smile that is creeping up my face. I purse my lips together, holding in a laugh. “I hope you two used protection.” Roxie’s head snaps up, glaring at me, but her face cannot hide her embarrassment; her pale face is bright red.

“We didn’t,” she gasps.

“Hey, sex is fun. I am not judging. I am just saying that if you are going to give away a present, wrap it first.” I wag my eyebrows at them.

“Oh, you would know all about that.” Roxie rolls her eyes. The room suddenly feels cold.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I ask, waiting to hear from her what everyone thinks.

“Never mind.” She crosses her arms and goes back to looking at her feet.

Third, feeling the sudden tension between us, brings in his two cents worth. “Roxie dropped the soap and needed help to retrieve it.” Third smiles, shrugging his shoulders. Now we both gape at him “What?” he asks innocently.

“Go. NOW!” Roxie points towards the door.

“But.”

“Go.” Roxie pushes him towards the door.

“I am not dressed. I might catch a cold.”

“Don’t worry; I will get one of my mom’s to write you a prescription.”

“But… “

“Goodbye.”

“Okay, but if I go out there, it is on you if I get attacked by a mob of women after my sexy body.” He smiles.

“I will live with that somehow.” She shuts the door and leans up against it, sighing.

Now that it is just the two of us, the coldness settles back in between us. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”

I sit on the bed. “No, you shouldn’t,” she says coldly. Brrr.

“Look, I am sorry,” I say defensively.

“Whatever; just drop it.” She crosses the room and goes back in the bathroom, shutting the door.

Chapter 35.
Dylan

I lie on my back, counting the rings from the water marks on the ceiling, doing simple math usually helps me think clearly, but all I can see is Barbie. I thought I could show her how I feel for her, but as close as we were, she is still skittering on the edges, just out of reach. She is the one problem I cannot solve.

The room’s door opens and slams shut, so I sit up on my elbows and look at a panting, almost naked, Third. “Did you know that the guy at the front desk has a pit bull named Daisy?” He gasps. I shake my head no, laughing. “Well he does?”

“Third?”

“Yeah?”

“Where are your clothes?”

“I dropped them, hoping they would give Daisy something else to chew on besides my tasty ass.” I laugh. “Hey, it’s not funny, I almost died and it would have been all your fault.”

“Yeah, how’s that?” I ask.

“Because according to my mom, every time I get in trouble it’s your fault.” That is so true.

“So did Daisy offer you a towel?”

“If only. No. Barbie gave it to me when she walked in and saw me in the buff. I am sorry to say this, but when you two, you know-” Third makes a thrusting image “-she is going to be thinking about all of this.” He gestures down his body.

“Well, I will not have to worry about that if Barbie gets her way.” I sigh, dropping back to the bed.

The blanket puffs out as Third drops down on the other side of me. “But I thought you two… when I came back to the room, I saw you guys tangled up. I assumed… “

“Yeah, I assumed, too, but every time I think I am closer to having her back, she takes ten steps away from me. I don’t know if I am ever going to get her back,” I confess.

“Ah, man, that sucks. I thought for sure you two were back together. I couldn’t wait to see the look on douche boy’s face.”

“So, I am taking it you and Roxie?” I ask, changing the subject.

“I am not sure. I mean, I want to. She is all that I think about. I think about her until I’m sure I am crazy and need to be institutionalized. You know?”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Last night, I was closer to her than I ever thought I would be.” He sighs “She has serious commitment issues. I think it has to do with her ex, but, you know, what if this is all I ever get from her. As fucked up as it is, the pain is better than feeling nothing from her. I will take it.”

It all makes sense to me now. I get it. If pain is all she can give me, I will bleed for her until there is nothing left of me. I know this and if that is all she wants from me, I will give it to her. I jump out of the bed, grabbing my still damp jeans off the floor and pull them on.

“Where are you going?” he asks.

“Dude, your rambling actually make sense, ya know that? I am going to go tell her that I will take whatever she has to give to me.”

“That’s what I am talking about, man. If you come to me, spouting that shit to me, I would have sex with you.” I roll my eyes and head for the door.

I stop, turning to Third. “Thanks, man. Oh, and bro, will you put on some clothes?”

“I would if I could. If you see Daisy, will you ask for them back?”

I go to the girls’ room and knock on the door, but no one answers. I pound on the door with my fist, calling out to her. “Barbie I need to talk to you.”

The door swings open and Roxie stares back at me. She looks scarier than usual. I wonder if it has anything to do with what happened between Third and her last night. She wears a floor length, black dress with a belt that has metal spikes on it. Her lips are painted black and her hair is gelled back into a sort of Mohawk/ponytail.

“Can I talk to Barbie, please?” She looks me over for a moment.

“She is not here.” What? She must have gone to Kai’s room. I will bust down the door and try to kick his ass if I have to; nothing is going to stop me. “She left just a few moments ago,” she says. “I gave her enough money for a taxi and a bus ticket home.”

“What? Why?” I ask.

“She said she had to do something by herself before she went home.”

“And you just let her go?” I turn to what? Go chase her down on foot?

“Dylan, sometimes people don’t want to be caught. Sometimes it just hurts too bad,” she call after me.

“Yeah, and sometimes people are so afraid of the pain, that they don’t want to feel anything. Third is a good guy he would never hurt you,” I call over my shoulder.

I get back to the room and call for a taxi. She is going back to her grandmother; I know it. She wants answers for her mother. Despite all the shitty things Barbie’s mother did to her, she still loves her, which is how Barbie works, putting those she loves first. Her mother, Everett and even me.

It must have killed her to see me with Katie. I know it killed me to see her with Kai, but that is what she thought I wanted or what I needed.

I grab my back pack and Third comes in right before I leave. “What the hell?” I ask, taking in Third’s attire. He looks like a thrift store just threw up on him. He has on a flowered, silk blouse that is unbuttoned, exposing his chest, and a pair of acid washed jeans that are cut off at the knee. Brown leather, orthopedic shoes complete the look.

“So, Daisy ate my clothes, but luckily, they had these behind the front desk.” He pops the collar of the shirt and it flops limply back down. “Can you believe it? People just left all this great stuff behind.”

I shake my head. “I don’t know if I would call that lucky.”

“I would. These shoes are kick ass; they are so comfortable. How could anyone leave these babies behind?” He shakes his foot, showing off his new find.

“I would,” I say, rolling my eyes.

“Dude, it is called being a hipster. It is called not caring what you wear. So, I can wear a shirt that looks like it belongs to my grandmother and be confidant that I look good,” he says.

“I think you have to actually be hip to be a hipster.” I snicker.

“I am hip. Not everyone can make this look sexy.” He gestures down the length of his body. We now both crack up laughing.

“Okay, if you say so,” I say.

“So are we leaving?” he asks, pointing to my backpack that I have not finished packing.

“I am leaving. Barbie left this morning. Roxie gave her the money to go back to her grandmother’s.”

I stuff my hands in my pocket. I want to tell him thank you. Thank you for always being there for me even when I am being a complete ball sack. I want to tell him thank you for being Barbie’s friend when she needed one and for being there for her when I wasn’t.

“Third.” I look at him, serious. “Thanks for everything. You know, with Barbie and everything,” I trail off because there really are no words for his friendship.

“I know.” He hugs me, which would normally be really awkward and, if we were in the halls of Central High, would get our asses kicked, but here, in this hotel with Third in his geriatrics attire, it couldn’t be more normal. “So, shit, B went back to her grandmother? I thought that bitch basically told her to go fly a kite in a lightning storm?” Third says.

“Yeah, she basically did, but you know Barbie. She feels that she somehow owes it to her mother. Like if her grandmother comes back into the picture, it will erase all those years of abuse and neglect. That somehow she will be the mother that Barbie and Evie needs,” I say.

“Damn, that’s pretty messed up.” Don’t I know it! I don’t think her mother can ever sober up long enough to be the mother they both need and deserve. “Well, let’s go get my woman and we will leave,” Third says.

“Dude, go find Kai and get him to give you guys a ride home. This is not going to be pretty. Barbie is not going to get what she is searching for from Josephine.” Josephine is a selfish woman and she always will be. She should be so lucky to have a granddaughter as kind and beautiful as Barbie.

“Bro, she has seen me at my worse on more than one occasion. I can handle seeing her broken and a little messy. Besides, she is like a sister to me. I am coming.”

When Third tells Roxie we are going after Barbie, she insists that she comes along too. Third talked Kai into agreeing to take us back to Savannah somehow. I know the only reason Kai actually agreed to take us is that he hopes to get Barbie for himself. I would have rather taken the taxi that I had to cancel, however his car will get me to Barbie faster as well as not costing me an arm and a leg. I sit in the front seat, staring out the window, watching the trees blur together.

Roxie and Third sit awkwardly in the backseat, not talking to each other. It is like a wall has been put up between them. If Roxie could ride on the outside, she would. She is so plastered up against the door. Well, this is fun. I am so antsy to get to Barbie that I bounce my knee frantically up and down. Shit. Can he drive any slower? When it was Barbie sitting in the front seat, the guy was practically flying, but now, he is going painfully slow.

“Can you go any slower?” I ask him sarcastically.

“Can you shut your fucking face?” he retorts.

“Look, I know you are pissed at me for crashing in on your little trip with Barbie, but she is going to need saving even if she doesn’t know it. So can you go just a little faster? Besides, I don’t like you any fucking more than you like me, but we are both here for the same reason. I would love nothing more than to duke it out with you, but right now, the girl I love and the girl you… whatever, is about to do something she is going to regret.”

“Hey, I care about her.” He looks over at me, glaring. “If I didn’t care about her, I wouldn’t be taking her loser ex who didn’t realize what he had when he had it or the Liza Minnelli wannabe and the walking dead back there to find her. Okay? So don’t go assuming you know anything about me or how I feel for Barbie because I would love nothing more than to drop the loser mafia off on the side of the road and go to save the day myself, but she has the right to choose.” He turns back to the road.

“Um… excuse me. If you talk about my woman like that again, I will have to resort to using my badass Jedi moves on you.” Third leans forward.

“For the millionth time I am not your woman,” Roxie snaps.

“What? You stamped my V card, not once but twice, and then once again in the shower. You are too my woman,” Third says. We all groan.

“Dude, seriously.” Kai shakes his head at Third.

“What?”

The car ride does not get any better for the rest of the way. Besides Roxie’s comment of not being Third’s woman, he is in a cheerful disposition. He even sings along to Billy Joe
l’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire. Ignoring the somber mood the rest of us are in. Maybe it has something to do with getting his V card stamped?

We pull into Savannah around noon, stopping at Josephine’s singing gig first. However, like last time, it’s not open yet.

“She’ll have to show up here at some point,” I say. We decide to go get some fast food and park in a nearby park to kill some time. There is a nervousness in the air or maybe it is just me.

I watch Third push Roxie on a rusty swing as I lean up against the passenger side door. Kai sits on the hood, trying to take a nap.

“That outfit is so fucked up, in more than one way,” Kai says to my back.

“Yeah, I think my grandmother owns that outfit” I shake my head at the attire Third is still wearing.

“Look, don’t go taking this the wrong way, we are not going to be friends at the end of this road trip, but I give you credit for going after her.” I nod my head because I, too, respect Kai for going after her. “Whoever she chooses, I just want you to know, no hard feelings.” I don’t say anything, I just watch Third tumble down a twisty slide because there is no doubt in my mind. She is coming home with me. I hate him for his maturity and for me showing my age because if she does choose Kai, I will not bow out graceful like he will. I am fully ready to fight for my girl.