Zoo (19 page)

“
Look, that’s James for
you. Why do you think I’m here?”

“
Because he wouldn’t have
sex with you. He didn’t want to get you pregnant,” I
respond.

She shakes her head and
for once sounds like a levelheaded young woman and not a helpless,
yappy puppy. She says, “No, that’s not why. He had both me
and
my sister. The
Keepers warned him about his behavior, but he didn’t care. He’s
used to getting whichever woman he wants. Or so he told me over and
over again.”

I’m confused. “But why are you here then? It
doesn’t make sense,” I ask.

“
I’m another part of his
punishment. He got me pregnant. If I’m here carrying his child,
they thought he’d have twice as difficult a time as anyone else.
He’s been doing a great job taking care of me, wouldn’t you say?
The Keepers didn’t take into consideration that he doesn’t actually
care about what happens to me or his child.”

I’m speechless . . . totally speechless. And
so are Kale and Kansas. I take back every awful thing I’ve said
about her. I had no idea what was really going on with her. I
should have asked her.

“
I’m so sorry, Victoria.
Are you okay?” I respond honestly to her tragic
confession.

“
I’m just hungry. So
hungry.” She smiles. Serious Victoria is gone in a flash, and her
childlike persona comes back out to play.

Behind us, James moans. We all turn to look
at him, lying on the floor as he starts to regain
consciousness.

“
So what do you want to do
with him?” Kale directs the question to me.

“
I really think Victoria
should decide that, since she’s pregnant with his baby.” I look to
her for an answer.

I can tell she isn’t emotionally invested in
him or his fate by the quickness in which she delivers his
sentence. “Give him a can of beans and kick him out. I don’t need
him around, and I know y’all don’t want him here. I’ll be okay on
my own. Good riddance.”

“
Sounds like a plan,”
Kansas says. She disappears into the kitchen and returns in seconds
with a can wrapped in a brown label. She tosses it over to Kale,
who puts it inside of James’ button-up shirt. Then, he peeks
through the blinds that cover the window overlooking the front
porch. He’s making sure it’s safe to go out. Before Kale drags the
semi-unconscious cowboy outside, he pulls James’ leather boots off.
James decided to put them back on once we realized we were going to
stay a while with Kansas. I’m surprised he ever took them off in
the first place. I know he’ll be really upset to see them
gone.

Kale tries the boots out
on his feet, nods a quick yep, and then throws open the front door.
James is moaning as he’s being dragged down the steps of the porch.
He’s not fully awake yet, but it won’t be long. Kale leaves him
sprawled out in the open. The manicured grass cushions his exposed
body and bare feet. It would be a funny sight if I weren’t so
confused
and
shocked
and
appalled
and
disgusted
and
heartbroken.

LIFE AFTER JAMES

“
Emma!” Victoria shouts
from upstairs. “Emma! Come help me!”

I pry myself off
the
oh-so
comfortable living room sofa and ascend the wooden staircase.
I walk along the landing and enjoy the familiar feel of carpet
beneath my feet. When I enter the room, I see the lavender
comforter trailing behind Victoria. She’s marching into the
bathroom like she’s on a mission.

“
What are you doing?
Stop!” I cry out.

She freezes in the doorway and waits for me.
I peer around her and see water pooling on the tile floor. It’s
getting closer to the bedroom’s carpet every second. I quickly
discover that it’s coming from the sink. It’s spilling over the
countertop in sheets.

I push by her and turn off the tap.
“Victoria, what are you doing?”

“
I was going to bathe, but
the water wouldn’t stop coming out of the spout,” she huffs. “I was
going to use this to dry it up.” She holds the comforter up to show
me.

“
You don’t take a bath
from the sink. You use the shower.” I point to the walk-in
shower.

“
Well, how was I supposed
to know that? I’ve never seen anything like that
before.”

Oh yeah. She
was
from the 1800’s.
Wow, she probably doesn’t know how to use the toilet
either.

I spend the next 15 minutes mopping up her
mess and showing her how to use the shower, bath products, toilet,
and sink properly. When I finish, I lay the comforter back on the
bed and flop down on top of it, waiting in case Victoria needs help
again.

She eventually emerges with a towel wrapped
around her tiny body. “I’m done,” she chirps. “Just waiting on my
dress to dry. You don’t have to wait for me.” She walks over to the
bed and perches on the edge. Then she adds, “That was fantastic. I
like it here.”

I sit up too quickly and get a bad head
rush. When the spinning stops, I reach out toward Victoria. “Here,
hand me your wet things. I bet they have a dryer. I’ll go throw
them in for you.”

“
A what?” she
asks.

“
A dryer . . . to dry your
clothes. Just go get them.” I thrust my hand out further and wait
for her to retrieve her things.

Victoria hands me a
soaking wet ball of green and white material. I nearly drop it
because of the weight the water adds. The clear liquid is running
down my hands and forearms, as I carry the dress and petticoat
downstairs. It’s dripping on the carpet, so I hurry to find the
dryer. As I’m about to round the corner, I hear Kale and Kansas
talking in hushed voices. I lean in closer to eavesdrop.
Who wouldn’t?

Kansas laughs. “I’ve been there before.
Totally guff,” she says.

Kale laughs too.
“
Okay?
Well, now
I don’t know what to do or where we stand. From the second I saw
her—I knew—and everything I’ve done since was for her, but she has
no idea.”

He must be talking about
Victoria. He
has
been at her side since we got here. Gosh that was quick. I
don’t think I like the idea of him liking her. I’m cool with her
now, but something about it doesn’t sit well with me.

He continues with another chuckle, “I even
moved that damned hut for her, and she thanked Greg for it. I’m
completely invisible to her.”

“
No, I bet you’re not. She
was just so wrapped up in that imbe that she didn’t
want
to see you. It’s
not that she actually didn’t. Give her time. She’ll come
around.”

He says, “I’m not so sure. I know she thinks
I’m so nice to her because of the Keepers demands that we mate, but
it wasn’t because of that . . . it’s not because of that.”

Oh my
goodness
. I quietly back up the stairs,
replaying our encounters at our previous enclosure over in my mind.
My inner monologue is going something like this:
He tried to take the blame for me for the stunt I
pulled with the writing on the glass. He moved my hut. He held me
after we were punished. Was that Kale blocking the public from
seeing me cry—that day that I lost it out in the open? It was all
because he likes me and not because the Keepers wanted him to mate
with me. Is that true?

No.

Maybe?

Oh my goodness.

I mean, I guess I had an
idea, but he’s never said it—out loud. I am not hearing
this.
Not now, only hours after James
tried to force himself on me.
I stomp down
the stairs, announcing my arrival to Kale and Kansas. “Hey Kansas,”
I call out, louder than I need to. “Do you have a
dryer?”

I turn the corner and walk into the living
room. They are sitting next to each other on the tan, leather sofa.
Kansas smiles at me. “Yeah, sure,” she answers. “The laundry room
is by the kitchen. It’s the door on the right.” She points to the
back of the house.

Kale smiles at me as well, but I try to
avoid eye contact with him as I make my way past them. “Great,
thanks. Just going to throw Victoria’s dress in, if you don’t
mind.” I show her the wadded up dress.

“
No, not at all. Make
yourself at home.”

Padding lightly on the glossy wood floor, I
try not to draw too much more attention to myself. Behind me, Kale
rises from the sofa and lets us know he’s off to shower. If I
weren’t holding a dripping ball of clothes, my hands would be
sweating for sure.

The dryer is just like what I’m used to. I
toss Victoria’s laundry in, turn the dials accordingly, and press
the start button. When I stand back up and turn around, Kansas is
standing next to me, smiling. Her sudden appearance startles me. I
gasp.

The teal streak in her hair is accentuating
her mesmerizing eyes. They crinkle up as she grins. “Calm down.
Just wanted to make sure you found it okay,” she says, her voice
smooth.

“
Yeah. Got it going just
fine. Thanks,” I answer as I try to squeeze past her. She doesn’t
budge, but I manage to slip around her thin frame. “Do we need to
take turns keeping watch tonight?” I ask, trying to break the
awkwardness of the moment.

“
No need. I’ll be down
here on the couch if you need anything. I gave Kale a gun—not that
you’ll need it. The others don’t know about it, so you can keep it
when you leave tomorrow.” Kansas follows me through the living room
as I try to escape. She’s intimidating and kind at the same time.
It’s an odd mixture, and I’m not sure how I feel about
it.

She stops me before I make it to the stairs.
“How are you doing after what happened earlier?” she asks.

“
Um. Okay, I guess,” I say
with a shrug. That’s not really true. I’m still in shock. In fact,
can I really trust anyone here? No, I can’t start that line of
thought. Kansas has given us so much already, Kale has been there
for me since the beginning, and well, Victoria really is a helpless
puppy. I can trust
them
, but how did I let James fool me? I feel like such an
idiot.

Kansas isn’t fooled by my tepid response.
Her face softens, losing its tough mask. “Look, we’re in a place
with situations that we were never meant to experience. The worst
in us emerges here. Unfortunately, the worst of James was not just
a bad attitude. Don’t blame yourself for the horrible, perverted
person he’s always been deep down. Okay?”

I nod yes.

“
Oh and try opening your
eyes and really seeing what was there all along.” Kansas leaves me
with that puzzle as she heads off for the kitchen. Well, it would
have been a puzzle if I hadn’t overheard her and Kale’s
conversation.

The hike back up the stairs is over too
quickly. I stand inches from the door of the room that I will be
sharing with Kale and Victoria for the night. Kale.

Everything is different
now
, I acknowledge as I reach out to turn
the knob.

AWKWARD

Victoria is already fast asleep in the
queen-size bed. She’s curled into a little ball, near the edge,
with half her head covered by the lavender comforter. I’m happy
that she’s able to rest peacefully before we’re once again sleeping
on the hard ground outside.

I cross the room to climb
in bed on the other side of Victoria. As I’m about to crawl in, the
door to the bathroom opens. Steam billows out along with the scent
of vanilla. Kale walks out with a ball of wet clothes in his hands
and a towel wrapped around his waist. I’m trying my best not to
look at his exposed chest, but I can’t help noticing the artwork
that covers his left pectoral muscle, left arm to the wrist, and
part of his back. It is truly amazing and must have taken a very
long time to complete.
Is it strange that
I find it attractive?
I quickly look
away.

“
Going throw these in the
dryer. Be back in a sec.,” he says as he leaves the room, never
once looking at me.

I don’t answer him. Instead, I hurry to the
bathroom before he gets back. When I finish, I move to the sink to
wash my hands. I’m confronted with the black handgun that Kansas
gave Kale. It’s laying there—right next to the soap—staring at me.
I’ve never really been afraid of guns, since they’re pretty common
in the south, but it’s completely different once you’ve been shot
at.

A hand reaches around me and snatches the
gun off the countertop, as I stand frozen, staring at it. “Don’t
worry about it. I’ll take care of this,” Kale assures me.

He’s exchanged his towel for a pair of boxer
shorts, which is making me flustered in addition to the weapon. Is
he really going to sleep next to me in the bed dressed like
that?

“
Are you okay?” Kale asks
me with concern thick in his voice.

“
Mmm hmm.” I nod as I wash
my hands.

“
Is this about the gun,
because I promise not to shoot at you,” he jokes.

I smile as I walk past
him, back toward the bed. “Oh, yeah. Just makes me a little
nervous.” I don’t tell him that
he’s
also making me nervous. I climb
into the bed and scoot to the center, expecting him to take the
edge. Instead, he grabs a blanket off of the dresser that wasn’t
there before and spreads it out on the floor at the foot of the
bed.