Wheels of Steel, Book 1 (16 page)

Robin paced several feet away from them, not sure how she should let her presence be known, or even if she should. They were having a personal moment and why had she assumed that Jason was single? She had come out of the bathroom in time to hear him telling her how much he wanted her. Obviously their earlier fight had almost broken them up.

She now found herself intensely curious about the girl; Amberly. She moved a lot better than Jason. She was petite almost to the verge of being too thin; with small, almost non-existent breasts. She was the type of pale that others described as porcelain. Her hair was dark and fine; wispy strands that seemed slightly unruly. She had dark eyes that were almost black and she was pretty and fragile looking. They made a very lovely couple. And that thought made Robin slightly sad because she had never known anything like that for herself.

She finally made her presence known because watching them holding each other seemed voyeuristic. She cleared her throat and Amberly looked up.

“I gotta go.” The girl said while standing up.

“I’ll call you.” He intended to have a good talk with Link.

“Okay.”

Jason glanced at Robin as Amberly limped away. He sighed, a slight frown on his face. “Lunch.” He said.

“Lunch.” She repeated.

“We have over an hour before my physical therapy appointment. We can go eat off campus. No reason to hang around here.”

“I’m game. What sounds good?” They headed out of the building together.

“I don’t know. You’re driving.”

“Hmmm. Chinese?”

“Yuck.” Rice tended to cause him to choke.

“Okay…how about pizza?”

“I have that all the time. Come on, Robin. Think. What do
you
like?”

“Me?” It was Friday. There was one place that black folks in Cincinnati went on Fridays. “Well, we could go to Alabama’s?”

“ Alabama’s? What is that?”

Oh wow, she couldn’t believe that there was a person from Cincinnati that didn’t know about Alabama’s. “Do you like fried fish?”

“Um…I can’t do bones.”

“Filets; no bones. It’s battered, deep fried filets.” And the best damn fish bar in the state. Her Mama called it ‘ghetto fish’ but even being all bourgeoisie, her Mom ate there often enough.

“That sounds good, actually.” He didn’t eat much fried fish unless it was a McDonald’s filet-o-fish sandwich when he was out and about with his friends. The thought of his friends caused a grim expression to fall over his face again. But Robin’s enthusiasm caused him to momentarily forget his angst.

“Alabama’s is like the most popular fish bar in Cincinnati! I can’t believe you’ve never heard of it.”

“Well I think we have a place for lunch.” He said.

She stopped before opening the door to help him in. “One problem, there’s no place to eat inside.”

“Hmmm, we could take it back to my place but my Mom-”

“Or we could go to the park.” She interrupted. No offense but his mother was the last person she wanted to be around.

“As long as it’s wheelchair accessible then I’m fine with that.” It was the end of summer and he hadn’t had much opportunity to spend time outdoors at a park.

While she waited for her order, Robin chastised herself for this stupid idea. How smart was it to leave a boy prone to seizures in a car alone? And in Over the Rhine of all places! What if someone tried to carjack him?! One of the many aggressive panhandlers could knock on the window and Jason would probably roll it down and get jacked!

She was a nervous wreck by the time she had the two brown paper sacks containing steaming hot fish filets and fries. She let out a relieved breath when she returned to the car and saw him bobbing his head and listening to his MP3 player.

“Mmm, that smells delicious.” He said while taking the food from her as she climbed into the car. There were several parks in close proximity of the restaurant and she selected one that she remembered to be easy to maneuver by someone in a wheelchair. He allowed her to wheel him while he held the food and two cans of soda.

Jason people watched until they got to a picnic table. Most everyone he saw was black—not that he cared. He just had never been to an all black park before. Robin sat down facing him instead of the table and removed her meal form the now greasy sack. He mimicked her. Her fish was laddened with hot sauce and ketchup while his was plain. There was also a strange bundle nestled between the filets and he looked at it curiously.

“That’s sautéed onions and peppers. It’s really good, but kinda smelly.” She took her plastic fork and unfolded her sodden, wax paper packet and dug into the spicy looking sautéed vegetables. Then she munched her fish with fervor. Her fish and fries were coated in spicy smelling hot sauce and ketchup, the tantalizing aroma of the condiments stinging his nose. He frowned. Why was his fish was his plain?

“Where’s my hot sauce and ketchup?”

“Well…I didn’t think you’d want it like this.” Frankly her mom always made fun of her for covering the taste of the fish with condiment goop. ‘How about a side of fish with your ketchup, Robin?’ “I got you tartar sauce…”

He wrinkled his nose. “I want it the way you have it.” Using her fork she picked up two of her oversized filets and placed them on his plate and then she took two of his plain ones. Now satisfied, he picked up a chunk of the fish with his fingers and placed most of it into his mouth, the part that didn’t make it to his mouth found its way to his shirt.

“Mmm.” He hummed. He picked up French fries and shoved them into his mouth, and again, some actually made it in. She popped the top from his can of soda and after he’d swallowed the items in his mouth, he reached for it carefully and drank.

“That’s good fish.” He had hot sauce and ketchup all over his mouth and chin, as well as crumbs on his shirt.

“Can I-?” She reached out with her napkin and brushed off his shirt and cleaned his lips. He didn’t protest and tried to stay still while she did it. But soon he had grabbed more fish and was continuing the mess. He unwrapped the bundle of onions and peppers and tried them.

But they wouldn’t go down his throat, caught there as his throat muscles froze. Before he knew it, he was choking up gobs of partially chewed fish, fries and slimy onions. Robin jumped up, her unfinished meal flipping onto the ground. She grabbed Jason by the shirt front and yanked him out of the chair. Unsure of how she had managed it, she had herself positioned behind him and was attempting to administer the Heimlich maneuver.

As she applied fist over his solar plexus she heard him trying to say something, yet the words were masked by the strong force of air being pushed from his body. His hands went to her wrist.

“Drink-”

Robin paused in her attempts to save his life. “What?!”

“Drink.” He tried again.

She dropped him back into his wheelchair and quickly grabbed the can of soda from the picnic table. He snatched it from her hands and gulped it down, belching and gulping in air, but no longer choking. Like she would do to a kid that had just recovered from a choking spell, Robin rubbed his shoulder and watched his face turn from red to its usual freckled white.

She waited until he stopped clearing his throat before she asked if he was alright. He nodded and rubbed the wetness from his eyes. She reached for her purse and got tissues to hand to him and he wiped the remains of the ketchup and hot sauce from his fingertips and face. Then he looked at the ground where all of their delicious fish lay trampled in the grass.

“Damn.” He pouted. “That was really good.”

“Jason, you almost choked to death.” She stared at him remembering to remove her hand from his shoulder, but still not getting how he just let things like this bounce off of him.

“Well…that happens all the time.” He reached down nonchalantly, and began cleaning up as much of the mess as he could from the ground. Robin took it from him and deposited it until the trash. She noticed for the first time that the two of them were the center of attention. Not that it was surprising considering that she’d bodily lifted a man from a wheelchair in order to give him the Heimlich maneuver!

He was already wheeling back to the car. “My physical therapist is going to wonder why I stink of onions and fish.” Once back in the car she sniffed. Yes--perhaps not a wise lunch choice right before a massage session. He gave her directions to a Sports Therapy Center inside of a strip mall.

“So you get a massage once a week?”

“Well depending on the weather. When it’s summer I won’t have to go as often.”

“Why is that?” She asked while following him into the facility.

“The temperature helps to keep me limber. The massages help keep my joints from locking up. I’m really lucky to have a lot of mobility. But sometimes my hip joints hurt.” He knew some people relegated to wheelchairs got frozen in one position due to lack of movement. “A massage will also ensure that my muscles don’t cramp and that they stay loose.” He signed in at the front desk and Robin looked around. This was not the average sports therapy facility; she didn’t see anyone else in a wheelchair, but she did see people that looked like professional athletes. Jason evidently had money. He had his own apartment—and a nice one, physical therapy once a week and his own personal assistant.

“You’re here early.” The smiling receptionist said to him.

“Yeah. Lunch kinda…fell...” He and Robin exchanged looks. “…on the ground.” She tried not to smile but he laughed first and then she couldn’t help but to join him. Again she was surprised at how much his face changed just by smiling. “I’m going to get in the hot tub since my aid is here.”

“Ok. Enjoy.”

He wheeled to the locker with Robin following. “Wait here. I’ll be out after I change.” She stopped short, chuckling to herself.

“Right.”

Jason wasn’t long in the locker room. When he wheeled himself out he was wearing athletic shorts and nothing else. Robin’s brow rose. He had two tattoos; a band of barbed wire around his sizeable bicep and a tribal circle on his shoulder.

“Wow…” She said.

“What?”

If she could have blushed she would have. “I…um, always wanted a tattoo.” She lied. She’d actually been admiring his big biceps. He was buff! Damn, he really looked good.

“Why don’t you get one?”

“Oh, no. My Mom would drop dead; literally.”

“Come on.” He led her to the back room where there was a Sauna and private jacuzzi’s. She wondered again about money and how much it would cost to come to a place like this. They bypassed the one-man jacuzzi’s because you’d have to step up into them. But there was one set into the floor meant for four people. It was currently empty.

He locked the wheels on his chair and then easily lowered himself out of it and to the floor. He turned and scooted himself to the edge of the Jacuzzi. Then he swiveled his hips until his legs were into the water. He lowered himself carefully into one of the seats and then moved over to the controls. After he’d gotten the jets the way he liked he leaned his head back and sighed.

“Ahhh.” He said softly, eyes closing. “This feels amazing.” He looked at her. “You should come in with me.” She just smiled. “Seriously.” He responded to her dismissive expression.

“Do you see what I’m wearing?”

He grinned, eyes lingering on her shapely form. “Yeah I noticed.”

“So I’m not exactly dressed for the Jacuzzi.” She looked behind her for his chair and then sat down in it.

“Okay, well your loss.” He dunked his head underwater and when he reappeared he pushed his sopping wet hair back and then closed his eyes again.

“Don’t fall asleep.” She warned.

“That’s why you’re here; to make sure I stay alert.” After about five minutes of quiet her cell phone began to vibrate. She checked it and saw that it was the restaurant. Damn, she had hoped to put this off at least until her shift ended with Jason.

When her phone continued to vibrate loudly and unanswered, Jason peeked at her. “Did you need to get that?” He was a stickler but he wasn’t so hard not to allow her to answer her phone.

“Um…I better.” She quickly moved to the far side of the room, her eyes resting on him as she talked in a low voice. With eyes still closed, he strained to listen.

Robin was happy that Jason wasn’t looking at her because she was cringing. Mike, the daytime manager was reading her the riot act. “Robin, where have you been? You missed your entire shift; no call-”