The Den (7 page)

After she’d slipped into a fresh sundress, her outlook brightened.  She meditated on where her relationship with Alex was going.  She thought about last night and decided she was not remorseful in the least, nor was she embarrassed a bit.  She was combing through wet hair when she heard the key in the lock.  She turned and saw him balancing the coffees, and she skipped over and grabbed the top one.

“Thanks,” Skyla said.

“That one is mine.  Cream and sugar in it,” Alex said.

“Switch, please,” she sang out.

Skyla held her cup out for Alex as she grabbed the one he held out for her.  She squeezed the one in his hand too hard.  The lid popped off, and coffee poured onto his hand and arm.

“Damn!”  He dropped the cup and ran to the sink.  He turned the cold water on and let it run. 

“Oh, no!  Oh, I am so sorry.  Are you all right?”  Skyla hovered, trying to be of some assistance.

He looked up from the sink slowly and glared.  Skyla didn’t recognize the face.  It was a stranger’s face, and it made her step back.  She took another step for good measure.  She was outside the bathroom looking in now.  Alex seemed to move in slow motion.  Skyla’s ears began to ring, and she froze. A shiver ran up her spine.

Alex looked back down at his hand as if it were a foreign object.  He held it up in front of his cringing face.  His lips pulled back, and Skyla thought that a snarl would escape.  His eyes slowly moved in her direction.  Black light emanated from his body, and Skyla felt his eyes glue her to the spot outside the bathroom door.  He took a step toward her.  Then he stopped, took a deep breath, and recovered.

“It’s fine,” he said.  Skyla didn’t move.  “It’s fine,” he repeated in a softer tone.

Skyla looked down and noticed that her coffee was still in her hand.  She tore the little tab, and she brought it up to her face, glad for something to do.  She breathed in deeply.  She took that first greedy sip.  She blinked and tried to rationalize the situation.  She took another sip and the fear began to slip away.  She sat on the bed.  She sat very quietly, held the coffee with both hands, and stared straight ahead.  She reminded herself to take sips.

Some time went by, maybe five minutes or possibly ten.  Skyla began to panic.  Alex was a stranger.  Why did she feel as if she knew him so well?  They had just met.  She thought about running, but her body would not respond. 

It was too late.  Skyla could hear Alex walking over to her now.  He stood over her.

“Wow.  Well, that sucked.  I am fine now,” Alex said, trying for levity in his voice.

“Sorry about that,” Skyla was finally able to whisper.

“No worries.”  He smiled a little and bowed his head to try to catch her eye.  She wouldn’t look at him.  “Hey.  Let’s get going.  We have a busy sightseeing schedule.”   Alex nudged Skyla with his knee.

Skyla looked up into his beautiful face.  His gleaming gray-green eyes sparkled.  He gave Skyla a big smile with his perfect white teeth.  The incident was pushed right out of her head. 

What was the big deal?
  She couldn’t remember now.  Skyla made a mental note to call Brooke as soon as they got on the road.  It would be nice to hear a sane voice.  The one inside her head was stuttering and muddling her thoughts. 

Skyla and Alex strolled all around D.C.  They held hands and visited the plotted sites from Alex’s map.  Skyla occasionally glanced over at Alex.  She thought he was quite adorable.  He was always very sweet—except for that one time.  And one nasty look was hardly enough to freak out about.  Still, there was this nagging feeling at the pit of Skyla’s stomach.  She put her hand over it to try to ease the queasiness.  Her other hand was hidden in his warm grasp. 

Alex’s fingers laced through Skyla’s, and he gave a little squeeze every once in a while.  They came to a bench and he gestured for her to sit.  She did, and it felt good to rest her feet.  She slipped her heels out of her shoes.  He put his arm around her and kissed the side of her neck. 

“Mmmm, you smell good, Skyla Jane.”

  She liked the way he said her name.  The nagging doubt was replaced with a different kind of flutter in her stomach.  She was so happy she’d bought that vanilla-bean body mist.  It was well worth the expense.  He kissed her neck again, looked her in the eyes, and then kissed her on the lips.  Skyla heard a child snicker nearby and another child answer with a laugh.  Skyla didn’t care.  She kissed him back.  When they were well rested, they got up to continue their walk.

They seemed to be swimming against the current.  Many people were walking toward them with matching T-shirts and lawn chairs.  Hand-held banners reading “The Plan”
flapped in the wind.  The masses were leaving some kind of rally.  Skyla and Alex walked toward the large crowd that was still assembled.  They could hear a booming voice followed by cheers.  They couldn’t make out what the voice was saying.  From the looks of all the paraphernalia around them, the event concerned God’s role in America.  They walked deep into the crowd, and Alex held her hand tighter as others shoved past them.  They looked up and could see the Washington Monument watching over the crowd. 

The message of the day had clearly ignited the masses.  A man cheered, “God save America!” into Skyla’s ear.  The voice from the speakers continued to yell and demand responses from the men, women, and children who sat on the grassy hills.  Skyla and Alex weaved their way toward the front.  They cut between a group of college students wearing Georgetown T-shirts and a news camera. 

The camera was aimed at one of the students.  “The most important thing our president could do… ”  The student considered how to finish the sentence as the camera man’s assistant aimed a microphone at his face.  

Alex and Skyla kept moving until they came to a wall of people and could go no farther.  They sat in the crowd next to a little girl waving an American flag and jumping up and down.  Her mother said “amen” every few minutes as the man on the speaker carried on about taking America back.  Alex leaned on his elbows, and Skyla lay flat on the cool grass.  The air was about 95 degrees, but the grass remained cool.  She closed her eyes and tried not to listen.

-Nine-

Déjà Vu

Too soon, the afternoon in D.C. came to an end, and Skyla and Alex were back in the Jeep.  Skyla turned to see the monument behind them and gave a little wave.  Alex leaned over and grabbed her hand as he drove. 

They continued their drive south, and the scenery began to change.  The trees became taller and thinner.  Skyla imagined what it would have been like when the whole of the land was covered in trees.  How courageous people must have been to start a life here.  She would have been too frightened, she imagined, to ever have settled in such a place.  Then the towering trees gave way to a hill covered in what looked like large clover.  It was a brilliant green that filled her heart with awe.  Then large bushes grew out of the clover.  They grew out of the earth and stretched up and out like large bears coming toward them.  She shivered. 

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Alex said. 

Skyla couldn’t look away to answer him.  She observed the landscape as it vacillated between tall trees and plush hills. 

Skyla and Alex decided to drive straight through to Savannah.  The two didn’t talk much.  First they listened to some more music Alex had selected, a band that mixed folk and rock perfectly.  The calm melody induced Skyla to nod in and out of a dreamlike state.   They stopped only to refuel and to take bathroom breaks.  They munched on french fries and drank diet Coke after every rest stop. When they drove into Savannah, it was dark. 

Skyla didn’t know what to expect, but Alex was as relaxed and confident as always.  She followed his lead.  How brave she’d been in her mind when she was planning this trip.  Now, at each leg of the journey, she was suddenly frightened.  Everything from room numbers to dark parking lots caused her trepidation.  She took a deep breath and tried to channel her inner explorer. 

When they reached the hotel in Savannah, Skyla got out of the Jeep and took a good look at the place.  Things went much as they had in D.C.  She was grateful Alex was so glad to take charge.  After checking in, they walked through the town.  They chose a nice restaurant on Congress Street.  One item on the menu was New York strip steak.  The newscast they’d watched yesterday had highlighted the dangers of eating fish from oil-polluted Gulf waters, the result of a disastrous explosion of a drilling rig in April.  It also reported a large recall of beef—something about E. coli.  Should she remind Alex about that?  Would he think she was paranoid?  Better, she thought, to come off as relaxed and easy.  She ordered fish and avoided beef.  She would stick to a nice Atlantic salmon.  No need to explain.  He ordered a shrimp dish.  Her stomach sank, hoping the shrimp was local and not from the Gulf coast. 

Dinner was lovely.  Skyla insisted on paying.  Alex had done all the driving and had paid for gas.  They were going to be together for two weeks, so Skyla argued that all funds should be considered communal.  Alex finally said he agreed after an awkward few minutes during which the waitress hovered a few feet away.  Then he casually went to the bathroom and took care of the check anyway. 

After dinner they walked around, wasting time, until it seemed to have been long enough for them to go up to the hotel room. 

Holding her hand, Alex guided Skyla out of the elevator and down the hallway.  He did not let go when they entered the room.  He led her straight to the bed, but they didn’t sit down. 

Alex could hear her quick shallow breaths.  He placed a hand over her heart and under her thin cotton shirt. 

“You’re beautiful.”  He blew the words into Skyla’s ear. 

He placed his other hand under Skyla’s skirt and between her legs.  Her head tilted back and her eyes rolled.  He heard her breath whoosh out.  She was his now.  He could tell.  He steered her to the chair beside the bed.  He pushed her against the cool leather, and she didn’t resist.  She plopped down. 

Alex knelt in front of Skyla.  They were the same height and could be face to face.  For a second, he saw fear, but she couldn’t hold on to it.  She let go for him.

Alex grabbed Skyla, one hand on each leg, and dragged her closer to him.  She slumped back and grabbed hold, with both hands behind her head, so she wouldn’t slide all the way out of the chair.  Her panties slipped easily off, and Alex took care of unzipping his own jeans.  He didn’t kiss her this time but instead kept his eyes on her face, watching her carefully. 

Skyla held him close with her legs and tried over and over to focus on his gaze.  She did not succeed. 

Afterward, Alex scooped Skyla up and placed her on top of the covers and walked to the bathroom.  On his return, he stopped at the minibar.  Two cocktails and some small talk later, she fell fast asleep. 

Alex was looking down at her when she woke up.  “Good morning, beautiful,” he said.

A gravelly purr escaped from Skyla.  She blushed as she remembered how Alex had told her she was beautiful the night before—right before he got her into the chair.  She peered over at it and saw her clothes draped over the arm.  He was an early riser, she guessed. 

Skyla propped herself up and smiled weakly.  She wanted to tell Alex that he was the beautiful one—she was lucky to have him next to her in bed.  She thought better of it, though.  If he thought she was beautiful, she did not want to point out that she actually was not.  She attempted to tame her tangled mane and tried to remember Brooke’s positive-thinking mantra.  Brooke had insisted Skyla repeat it in front of the mirror whenever she was feeling low.

I am beautiful.  I am strong.  I know my worth.
Skyla recited the mantra in her head but then noticed that she had a cup of coffee on the nightstand.  Drinking coffee would be more productive.  She grabbed the coffee and thanked Alex.

He leaned down and gave her a kiss on the forehead.  “I think we should start on our way as early as possible,” he said with a smile.  “We have a lot of road to cover to get to New Orleans.”

Skyla brought her coffee into the bathroom with her.  She turned and looked in the mirror.  She was a bit of a mess.  Her eyes seemed to have little black circles underneath them.  Her face looked pasty.  She would have to remember to eat something healthy today.  A few fries and chicken tenders cannot keep a person going for long.  She would try to pick up some yogurt and fruit.  She sat on the edge of the tub and turned on the water.  She drank her coffee for a few minutes and ran through the details of the night before.  They swirled and stormed about in her cloudy mind.  She remembered it was Katrina’s anniversary.

They started out again on I-16 going west.  The hum of the road was soothing to Skyla.  She held her iPad and helped Alex with the directions.  The trip from New York to Savannah followed I-95 south the entire way.  It would get a bit trickier now, he warned.  She had purchased some audio books before the trip.  He chuckled when she suggested they listen to a Stephen King book. 

“It will make the ride go faster,” she said. 

He agreed, and she began to play
Salem’s Lot.
  He looked a little uncomfortable, and she worried that she’d insulted him.  

“It’s not that I mind sitting in silence with you.  I really enjoy your company, and I am having a real good time, too.  I just thought driving might be easier for you if we had ... entertainment.” 

He smiled at her stammer.  He said listening to the story about vampires would be fine.  They followed the road to a sign that read “Macon.”

“We’ll be getting onto U.S. or Georgia 22 going west,” Skyla advised.  He became noticeably sullen again.  The energy in the car was heavy.  “You okay?” she asked him while trying to look occupied with reading directions.

“Fine.  I just had a bit of déjà vu, though.” 

“Really.  About what?” 

He just shook his head and shrugged.

Well, it will probably come to him later
.

Alex nodded his head in agreement.  Skyla looked out the window to take in the view.  The book was still droning on in the background, Stephen King’s words hinting at a home for the undead.  Could rural Maine really be so different from this place?  She noticed that the look of the houses along the two-lane local highway began to change.  She saw an old plantation and could imagine how life must have once bustled on that land.  Now it was old and beaten down.  Tiny dilapidated shacks bordered the road.  Skyla assumed they were old sharecropper housing.  The scenery seemed to be straight out of an old black-and-white movie.  Other barns along the way had been boarded up and left to die.  In the distance she could see a grand white house that was obviously lived in.  A swing set stood in the unfenced yard, and three cars and a pickup truck were proof that it was inhabited.  There didn’t seem to be any people, though.  She strained her eyes looking for any other evidence of adults or children.