Lost in the Moment (A Savioe Family Novel) (4 page)

“Hells yeah! See you in a few then.” She exclaimed before hanging up the phone.

I changed back into my jeans and placed my phone in my pocket. I grabbed my silver ID case from on top of my dresser and placed the three bills mom gave me with my other money before sliding it in my front pocket. With Beau’s keys in hand and a smile on my face, I headed out my door and to the truck.
This should be interesting.

             
                                          *****

After finding two pairs of heels and a pair of knee high boots on clearance, we headed to the food court to grab a bit
e to eat. We walked down the short flight of stairs and headed over to Pink Sugar Confections. They had a Boston Cream Pie shake that could make me drool just thinking of it.

“While we are here I think you should get a few more skirts and maybe some new underwear.
Get you out of those granny panties.” Jess blurted out while we were standing in line.

I glanced around anxiously to see if anyone heard her. A skinny guy with glasses winked at me after looking me up and down. My cheeks started heating up when I turned back to Jess.
“Sure why not. Oh, you still want me to take you to the clinic tomorrow to get your results from that test you took to see if you had syphilis?”

Her eyes widened in shock as her mouth dropped open seconds before she busted out laughing. “That was good. I take it I embarrassed you again?”

“Now what makes you think that?” I gave her a droll stare and pointed to the shake I wanted when the worker asked for my order. “Medium Boston Cream Pie and whatever she wants.”

“I’ll have the same.” She
purred at the pimply faced kid.

After I paid, we grabbed the shakes and walked over to an empty table. She sat with her back toward the store facing the rest of the mall. “I was serious about getting you new underwear. I
t might sound silly, but if you have on something that is lacey and silky, you will feel more comfortable in your own body. Take the stunt you pulled on Charles at the end of August with the ‘caramel apple’.” She held up her hands and made air quotes when she said caramel apple. “It may have looked good on the outside but once he bit into it nothing but onion. But with a real one. Yeah you know it’s going to be good. Well wearing pretty underwear is kinda the same thing.”

My forehead wrinkled in confusion. “How’d you know about that?
And by the way that made no sense.”

She smiled at me
before shrugging her shoulders. “Roxy. She would people watch. Not that she had much choice in the matter. You know the whole RA thing.” She must have seen my curiosity over that comment because she elaborated. “RA. Roxanne Amnesia. Most people would ignore her anytime she came into a room. It started back in middle school after a party at Angie’s house. For some reason Angie hated how people flocked to Roxy so she started spreading rumors about her and threatened to ostracize those that continued to hang around her. Thanks to your family, Roxy is finally getting the social standing that she once had in middle school.”

“Why weren’t you ostracized?” I asked taking a sip of my shake.

“Oh I was. So I reinvented myself as the party girl. With the new popularity, Angie had no choice but to be nice to me.”

“Doesn’t it bother you that people call you a whore though?” I set my cup down on the table and leaned back in my chair.
I took my hair out of the bun and shook my curls loose.

“Why sh
ould it? I don’t care about what people say. I just do what makes me happy. If that means hooking up with a few guys here and there then why should it matter as long as I don’t hurt anyone? Now enough bullshitting about me. Let’s go get you some more things.” She stood up and tossed her drink in the trashcan with the flourish of an NBA star.

             
                                          *****

Drez

At the laundry mat, it took almost ten dollars to get all my things washed and dried. That’s
ten more than I could spare. I shook my head and turned on my turn signal as I waited for the light to change. Hopefully, Mr. Cox will have heard something from his brother about that part time gig at the shop. I really needed to get some money coming in. I pinched the bridge of my nose and squeezed my eyes shut in frustration.

The light turned green and I made the right into the mall carpark. Joe’s place was on the other side and cutting through the lot saved me from dealing with all the traffic. I zipped past the movie theater on the left and spotted a deep blue truck that looked like Beau’s sitting in the back row away from all the other vehicles. I slowed down and crept close to it. It had the
maroon-parking pass on the rearview mirror that signaled the owner was a student at Jefferson County High School. So it must be Beau’s truck. I parked next to it and shut off Grace. The sooner I tell him what I overheard the quicker they can put a stop to it.

I sat there and stared off in the distance
as I waited for him to show up. I scanned the lot, watching the people scurry to and from their cars. A small family caught my attention. They had just walked out of the mall entrance doors, a woman with two small kids in tow carrying piles of shopping bags talking on the mobile. She ignored the children who looked to be no more than three or four years old. They ran behind her as fast as their chubby legs could carry them. The smallest tripped and fell in the road. He laid there for a moment and looked up stunned before wailing in pain. She turned around and shouted at him. He stayed where he was as she opened her car door and shoved the other kid in the backseat with all of her bags. She hadn’t even ended her phone call.

Still on the bloody mobile, she stormed over to the child and jerked him up by his arm. She held
him up, dangled him in the air and smacked his ass so hard his little body jerked with each blow. My fingers tightened around the steering wheel as I suppressed my anger. I clenched my jaw and closed my eyes turning my head away from the scene. After a few calming breaths and telling myself it wasn’t my place to intervene, I looked back at the scene.

The girl from lunch with the frizzy auburn hair stood in front of Beau’s sister pushing her back as she yelled at the mother. I opened my door quickly and
began to over to them. Her light brown hair fluttered around her flushed face as she growled at the woman. “Wha’ da hell do ya tink ya are doin’ ta dat child? Can’t ya see dat he’s hurt? Looka his knee! Gawd! How’d ya like fo’ someone ta hold ya up by ya arm and get da hell beat inta ya? Lemme go, Jess. I gotta teach dis cooyon a lesson.” She struggled to get past the ginger.

“Marie, calm down. Someone’s going to call the cops on you.”
Jess hissed as she tried to hold her friend back.

The mother picked up the kid and ran back to her car. She shoved him in a
car seat and jumped in the driver door. Only after she was safely inside her vehicle did she yell back to the girls. “Fuck you, bitch. It’s none of your damn business. You’re lucky I have to be somewhere or I’d kick your ass.”

Marie pushed past Jess and held her arms out in invitation. “Bring it, peeshwank!”

The woman sped out of the lot and flipped them off. Jess picked up their discarded bags after taking a picture of the car and tapped Marie on her shoulder.
Where was Beau?
If I can’t tell him directly, the least I could do is relay the information to them.

I stood by the
front of my car and shrugged my shoulders before I walked over to them. “Hey. You’re Beau’s sister right?” I asked placing my thumb in my belt loop.

Marie placed her hand on her hip and spun around. “Yeah. Wha’ of it!” Her golden eyes widened in surprise when she spotted me. I think her already fl
ushed cheeks deepened in color.

My lips twitched to a half smile. “I spotted his truck and needed to talk to him. Is he here, pet?”

She brushed a lock of her hair away from her face and shook her head. “No. He’s still at home. Do you have his number? You can call him. I’m sure he won’t care.”

I stifled a grimace. “I don’t have a mobile.” I looked over her head to Jess and admitted. “I found out some information today about Bus and hi
s plans for your little friend. I wanted to tell him about it.”

Jess pushed past Marie in her eagerness to
find out what I knew. “What’d you hear?”

I glanced around the lot and motioned for them to head over to our vehicles. They looked at each other and shrugged before walking to
ward the truck. They both carried a few bags as we maneuvered through the parked cars. My gaze kept traveling down Marie’s body to those legs. Up close, you could tell that they were sleekly muscled and toned. Her ass and hips were equally sculpted. She had just enough for a guy to grab hold of and enjoy a good ride. I looked up and saw the truck looming. Instantly my ardor was cooled even at the mere thought of her brother.

I cleared my throat as I leaned against Grace. “I was in the locker room after school….”

Jess interrupted me. “Hold on. I’m going to call Beau and put him on speaker, so we don’t have to repeat anything and get it wrong. Marie can I use your phone? Mine is almost out of minutes.”

I nodded in
agreement, as she dialed his number. My gaze flitted back to Marie. She stood against the truck sans bags with her arms across her chest chewing on her bottom lip. She had a pert little nose that looked like a miniature version of her brothers’. Her eyebrows were perfectly arched over those enchanting topaz eyes. Since Jess was quickly updating Beau, I thought this might be a good time to have a friendly conversation.

I walked over and leaned against the truck door beside her. Her pulse beat
a steady rapid pattern at the base of her throat. She let out a small gasp and darted her eyes to me before shyly ducking her head. I hid my amusement and cocked my head to the side to get a better look at her.
So she’s a bit on the bashful side.
I thought as I rubbed my chin before I decided to have a bit of fun. I leaned close to her and asked softly. “So you’re the little sister huh? How old are you, pet?”

She kept her gaze downcast and let out a snort. “Only sister actually. I’m sixteen.”

I slyly grinned at her reticence and leaned a little closer to her. “I bet that’s a bit of a hassle.”

Her breath faltered before she swallowed hard. “You have no idea.” She peeked up at me pushing her hair behind her ear.

The lingering scent of her shampoo drifted in my direction. I’d recognize that sweet scent anywhere. Primroses. I leaned back abruptly, my eyes widened in discomfort as memories of my father assaulted me. Regent’s Park in the spring laughing with him as we played cricket. Long arduous walks to church every Sunday passing by the rows filled with the bright yellow blooms. My inner torment must have shown on my face. She gently touched my arm with her long slender fingers barely brushing against my skin. Her brows were drawn together in worry. That honeyed voice of hers laced with so much concern it set my teeth on edge asked, “Are you alright? You look a little pale.”

I roughly jerked my arm away from her, took a step back and clipped out. “Yes. I’m fine. Just want to hurry up and discuss this matter. So I can go home and get some sleep.”

I heard Jess snort behind me. “I’m serious, Beau. Drez is right here. If you don’t believe me, fine. I’ll put you on speaker like I initially intended to do in the first place.” She held the mobile out after pressing a button. “There. You’re on speaker.”

“Drez?” Beau said hesitantly.

“Yeah, I’m here.” I moved over to Grace and leaned against her.

“Why are you hanging around… that girl?” He slowly
whispered.

“I saw your truck at the mall and thought you would be here. Trust me I would not have stopped if I had known it would be them.
But that’s beside the point. I needed to tell you that after school today, I overheard Bus and the starters talking about Roxy in the locker room. That wanker’s intentions are to get her in that bloody book by the end of the week. He still plans on keeping up the purity points by buggering…. Well I can’t say with the ladies here but I’m sure you get my meaning.”

I heard his swift intake of breath. “Damn bastard.
I wouldn’t put it past him to take what he wanted. Shit, we need to get everyone together and plan how to deal with this. We have to make sure that she stays safe. The hour for lunch just won’t cut it.”

Marie rolled her eyes. “Plus Luke won’t have h
is full attention on the topic at lunch. So what do you suggest, frère?”

“Drop Jess off and head home. Drez take me off speaker.
I can’t stand it.” I pressed the button and held the mobile to my ear. “Follow Marie here after she drops off that girl. She’s probably going to have to put gas in the truck. Make sure she puts the 93 in and have her top off your tank as well. Tell her to use my card in the glove box. Once you both are here I’ll get my brothers and we can plan out what we will do.”

I groaned inwardly. If I headed to his house and discussed all of this, it would be too late when I got back into town to head to Joe’s.
The standing agreement with him was if I stay there, I have to be in the door by eight. So that means I’ll be sleeping in Grace if I go along with this and not eating today. But I will have a full tank in Grace. “Okay. See you then.” I hung up and handed Marie her mobile.