Plausibility

Chapter 16

Aquilla continued to do her own thing which consisted of Law and Order and reading everything she could about dirt track racing. She figured if she was going to become a regular, she may as well learn the game.

She was sitting out on the front porch reading on her laptop when her mother came out with a glass of lemonade and sat beside her, handing her one.

“Guess what I got in the mail today,” she smiled.

“What?” Aquilla asked, sipping her drink.

“Your test results. You’re kind of a genius,” she smiled, proudly.

“Does that mean I don’t have to go to school?” she asked, hopeful.

“Nope, I still want you to experience that,” she assured her.

Aquilla started to argue when Reese pulled up with Lil and her brother. Reese introduced her to Blain with a big smile. Quill could tell that she was crushing on him. VOMIT…

“Blain is a senior too, Quill,” Liz explained.

Aquilla only nodded. She already didn’t like him. He looked at her like he wanted to devour her. His wandering eyes didn’t go unnoticed. He was cute in a baby kind of cute. She wasn’t the least bit attracted to him. She suddenly wanted to go for a walk when she heard the roar of an engine in a distance.

“What are you doing, Reese?”

“We’re going to the movies.”

“You’re welcome to come along if you want,” Blain offered, smiling at Quill.

“Yeah, Quill. Why don’t you go hang out with your sister and her friends tonight?”

Reese’s disapproving look didn’t go unnoticed either. She didn’t want her to go, Quill could tell.

“No, I think I’m going to go for a walk,” she said, closing the laptop and walking in to get her shoes.

Liz followed her inside.

“I’m going to step out for a bit. You going to be okay here?” she asked.

Freaking Reese, who was two years younger, spent every waking moment running with her friends, and she was the one treated like the five year old.

“Yes. What is it that you think I am going to do?” she angrily asked. And why the hell did she think she had to hide her boyfriend? Aquilla could have cared less what she was doing.

“Nothing, Quill, I was just asking.”

“Sorry,” she said, tying her shoes.

She didn’t look at Blain, knowing he was watching her as she jumped the two steps and headed toward the track.

Patchette wasn’t there. It was another car running laps. She felt a little disappointment for whatever reason. It wasn’t that she found him attractive or anything. She didn’t even really know what he looked like. He had been in some sort of jumpsuit the first and only time she had seen him.

She leaned against the fence with one shoulder as she watched the guy spin around the track.

“Hey feather,” she heard the male voice and turned to see Patchette in low rise jeans, wearing a t-shirt with the sides cut out. His hair was dark and sweaty, messy, probably from a helmet.

“Feather?” Aquilla asked.

He smiled, tilting his pack of M&Ms, letting them pour into his mouth.

“Sorry. I know it has something to do with a bird. I forget your name.”

Aquilla laughed. “Quill,” she offered. “Glad a made an impression,” she teased.

“Oh you did, just not your name,” he admitted, looking her up and down, not trying to be discrete about it.

He took a step toward her and offered his candy.

“No thanks. I saw you race the other night,” she admitted.

“You did?” he asked surprised. “You were here?”

“Yeah, you did okay,” she said, not sounding impressed.

“Okay? I came in second. That’s more than okay. There were 21 cars on that track,” he informed, nodding toward the track.

“But you could have taken first if you wouldn’t have been riding the outside of turn four. I was watching you. You took the inside of every turn except that one,” she nodded, “and that was the only one he was able to pass you, pretty stupid when it’s the last turn before the finish line, eh?”

“How many races have you attended?” he asked, sitting on the bottom bleacher, resting his elbows on his knees.

Quill noticed the bulkiness in his arms. “One,” she smiled, sitting beside him.

“Then you’re an expert,” he assured her, bumping her shoulder.

He smelled of manly sweat and some sort of lingering cologne.

“Wanna go for a ride?” he asked.

“On the track?” she asked, a little too excited.

“Yeah, where else did you think I was talking about?”

“Hell yeah,” she exclaimed, not trying to hide the excitement.

He smiled and stood, leading her back around the bleachers by his hand on the small of her back.

“Where are we going, I thought we were going down there?”

“We are,” he nodded toward the dirt bike. “You didn’t think we were going to walk all the way down there did you?”

She shrugged. “I just walked two miles to get here,” she replied.

Patchette threw his long leg over first and started the bike. He nodded to the back of the seat after kick starting the bike.

Aquilla kept her hands on her legs until he told her to hold on. She gripped his tight abs and he tromped on the throttle, bringing the front wheel off the ground. She screamed and tightened her grip.

He laughed. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to wreck you.”

Patchette drove them to the middle of the pits where a few other guys stood around talking about engines.

“Quill, this is Ricky, Kemp, and Chaz,” Patchette said, nodding to each one of his friends. They were all friendly to her and she was happily surprised that they didn’t ask about her kidnapping and being all over the news.

“I’m going to take Quill for a ride,” he informed them.

The one that he introduced as Ricky tossed her a helmet. “You should probably wear that if you’re riding with Patchette,” he assured her.

“Fuck you, where’d you come in Saturday night?” Patchette asked.

“My sway bar broke,” Ricky said as an excuse.

“I’m not going to wreck you, but put it on anyway,” he ordered.

Patchette started out slow, only picking up speed on the straight stretch.

“You ready for some speed?” he asked, smiling over at her.

She nodded with a big smile.

He smiled back and gunned the gas pedal. Her head was gravity forced to the back of the seat. She squealed in pure adrenalin excitement.

He did five, very fast laps before slowing down.

“That was fucking awesome!” she exclaimed.

He laughed. “And you have a potty mouth,” he countered.

“I do have a potty mouth. I can’t help it.”

“What do you mean you can’t help it? You can’t help what you say?”

“I could. I don’t want to. I love the word fuck,” she admitted, staring at him with narrowed eyes. What the fuck was she doing? Was she attracted to this guy?

He laughed. “I’m glad you’re honest,” he said, sliding out the window and coming to her side. He unsnapped the net window and took her hand to help her out. “I like to fuck to, I mean the word fuck,” he rephrased in a low voice.

“I like to do that too,” she replied in her own sensual tone, as she placed her hands on his shoulders and slid down his body, climbing out. She noticed the shocked expression that he was trying to hide. She didn’t care. She wasn’t playing this small town damsel game. She was who she was, and if he didn’t like it, she would move on. Kemp was pretty cute.

Aquilla hung out with the four guys all afternoon, mostly watching them work on cars and talk about engine parts that she had no clue what they were. She and Patchette stared at each other more than once. Okay. She was definitely attracted or horny, but nonetheless, he would do.

By seven o’clock, the two of them were alone in the pits as the sun started to disappear behind the trees. Patchette leaned against his car with crossed ankles. He removed his ball cap and ran his fingers through his hair.

“You’re only 17,” he said, studying her.

“I’m 18. Shelby Rimmer is 17. I haven’t been her since I was three,” she assured him, leaning against the car parked beside his. “How old are you?”

“23, and you’re still 17, according to your parents, who I am sure wouldn’t approve of me.”

Aquilla boldly walked toward him, leaning into his body and looked up to him. “I don’t really tell my parents anything about me,” she assured him. “We don’t really talk at all, actually.”

“What are you doing here, Quill?” he asked, looking down at her.

“You want the truth or would you rather I lie?” she asked.

“Truth, always.”

She ran her hand behind his neck, playing with his curls. “Remember our conversation about fucking earlier?” she asked. She didn’t care. She wasn’t doing the whole love, emotional shit again. She wanted one thing and he could give it to her.

“Jesus, girl!” he exclaimed, ducking away from her.

She snorted. “Yeah, I kind of figured as much. I’ll see you around,” she said, turning to leave.

He grabbed her wrist. “Slow down, Quill,” he softly spoke. He wasn’t sure why he did it. It wasn’t what was on his mind at all, but he bent and kissed her lips, softly at first and then more forcefully. She parted her lips and brushed his lip with her tongue. He moaned and devoured her mouth with his tongue.

She didn’t feel the fireworks or get that jittery feeling in her stomach like she did when Julius kissed her. She wondered if she would ever have that feeling again.

Patchette pulled away, and stared into her blue eyes. “I’m not going to fuck you,” he assured her in a low tone.

“Okay,” she said nonchalantly, shrugging her shoulders. She didn’t care. He wasn’t the only guy around there.

“Let me take you out to eat or something,” he offered. He couldn’t help it. He wasn’t raised that way. He wasn’t about to bend her over the hood of his car and fuck her. Plus, he had questions. Was she this promiscuous because of something that happened to her while she was with her captor?

Fuck. She didn’t want to go eat with him. She just wanted the sex. That’s what Seri did. She wanted to do that too. “It’s okay, Patch. You don’t have to wine and dine me. I get it. Don’t worry about it. I should go.”

“Will you come back tomorrow?” he asked.

“Don’t you work?” she asked, wondering why he spent all of his time at the track.

He laughed. “Yeah, I work. I keep the grounds mowed, the track up, the restrooms clean and working, pay the bills, order all the food for the concession stand, and whatever else needs done around here.”

“Where’s your uncle?” she wondered.

“He lives in Michigan; he doesn’t really come around here much anymore.”

“Oh,” she wasn’t sure what to say. She was, however, sure that she had just insulted him.

“Come on. I’ll give you a lift,” he said, gesturing toward his big truck. He must make money. He had a nice truck.

Aquilla hopped in, having to climb up into the thing. It was huge.

He drove her to her door. She was glad that the lights were still off. She didn’t want to have to explain him to her mother. It would have been bad. She was sure she wouldn’t have been able to keep from telling her to mind her own business.

“You coming around tomorrow?” he asked before she hopped down.

“Maybe,” she replied. She wasn’t working on his or anyone else’s clock, although she knew she would go.

He smirked. “I’ll see ya later.”

“See ya.”

Aquilla did see him the next day, and the next and the next. She didn’t go for the gold again, and decided to back off a little. She’d win. She wasn’t expecting to like him as much as she did. He was funny, cute, and raced cars, which she found extremely sexy.

“Go out with me tomorrow night,” he coaxed before letting her out of the truck on Thursday night.

“Go out with you where?” she asked, seeing the porch light and then her mother’s nosey eyes through a crack in the curtain.

“I don’t know. We’ll go eat a steak or something.”

“Um, I don’t really eat meat,” she explained.

“Fine, we’ll go eat rabbit food. Go out with me,” he begged.

“Where do you live?”

“Over on Whirl. I’m not taking you there,” he assured her.

“Why, you live with your mommy or something?” she teased.

“No. I live in a house. I’m afraid of you. I can’t be alone with you.”

Aquilla laughed. She moved over and kissed his neck. “You should be afraid of me,” she whispered hot words to his neck, hoping like hell her mother couldn’t see in the dark truck. “Pick me up at seven,” she ordered, and slid out of his truck.

“Who was that, Quill?” Liz asked still standing at the door waiting for her to come in.

“Just a guy from the track, he’s taking me out to eat tomorrow evening.”

“Don’t you think we should discuss this? Who is he?”

Oh boy. Here it comes. “No. I don’t think we need to discuss anything. I assure you, I can take care of myself.”

“Quill, I’m not going to let you just go off in some truck with a guy that I don’t know.”

“It’s Eugene Patchette,” Reese offered. “He runs the track. Blain says he’s a pothead.”

Really? Fucker wasn’t sharing with her.

“I know who he is, and he probably is a pothead. His uncle Mack was always a pothead. I went to school with him. No. Quill, you’re not going out with him.”

Aquilla snorted and walked up the steps. “Try to stop me,” she said with a vengeance and continued on her way.

She showered and then saw the four missed calls from Seri. She was going to dress and call her back. Seri didn’t give her time.

“What the hell, Quill? I thought things were going good there,” Seri started as soon as Quill answered.

“Let me guess. Liz called you?”

“Yes, she did. You’re not going out with that guy. Your mother says he’s a druggy.”

“My mother doesn’t even know him. And furthermore, he’s never done anything in front of me, so how does she know anything? She knew his uncle.”

“Who is this guy, Quill? I thought you told me everything.”

“He’s just a guy that I have been hanging out with at the track. He’s nice.”

“Do you like him? It didn’t take you long to get over Julius. What the hell?”

“Fuck you, Seri. Julius doesn’t want me. I like him just fine. Is he my can’t live without guy? Fuck no. I’m going to use him, just like you do. He’s going to fuck me tomorrow night whether he wants to or not.”

“Shit, Quill. Don’t do that,” Seri begged. She knew she shouldn’t have disclosed that information. Monica was going to kill her.

“Why? You do.”

“And I’m not normal. Give the Blain guy a try. Your mom said he was hot on your tail, and he was cute. Go out with him. His dad is a dentist.”

“Fuck that. That boy wouldn’t know what to do with me.”

“How old is this guy, Quill?”

“23, what does that have to do with anything?”

“Let me come and get you tomorrow and you can hang out with me for a week.”

“Okay, and I will just wait a week before I fuck Patch. Stop it, Seri. I’m a big girl; I can take care of myself.”

“You’re going to go let some grown man use you for a piece of ass, Quill?” Seri yelled, trying to talk some since into her thick skull.

“No. That’s not what I’m doing. I’m going to use him, just like you do, Seri. What? Now you’re a hypocrite?”

“Oh my God, Quill. Will you stop with that? You’re better than that. Don’t degrade yourself like that.”

“I’ll call you tomorrow. I want to get dressed.”

“Quill, please don’t do this.”

“Goodbye Seri.”

Really??? Seri was going to jump on the bandwagon now too. Grrrr.

Quill wanted to stay in her room and not go back downstairs, but she was starving and the shared bag of Frito’s with Patch had worn off a long time ago.

She went to the refrigerator and took out a yogurt and peeled a banana, of course Liz had to follow.

“Can we talk about this, Quill?”

“Talk about what? It’s dinner for God’s sake. What do you think I am going to do? I grew up with drugs, I know what drugs are. I probably know more about them than you do, and if its sex you’re worried about, you really shouldn’t be. That too, I am sure I know more about than you do.”

“Quill, you don’t have to be disrespectful to me. I didn’t come in here to tell you that you couldn’t go. I came in to tell you I’d like to meet him first.”

Well, fuck.

Aquilla sighed and dropped to the chair in front of her mom.

“I’m sorry. I just get mad when you try to tell me what to do. I don’t need that.”

“I am your mother, Quill. I’ve given as much as I can give. Do you honestly think I like calling you Quill? I hate it. You’re not Quill. You are Shelby Rimmer. I have given you your way with that. I don’t mention how much I despise the man that took you because I know that you loved him. I don’t say one word about this Julius guy, and I am sure you know so much about sex, thank you to Julius Chavez. I’m doing all I know to do here, Quill, which is pretty much give you your way.”

Quill suddenly felt guilty. It wouldn’t last. She’d learned that pretty quickly. She’d be back to being Quill the very next morning, but at that given moment, she did feel bad. She knew her mother was trying to bend over backwards to please her, and she squashed it every chance she got.

“I’m sorry. He’s a nice guy, and I swear I have never seen him doing drugs. He doesn’t seem like the type to me,” she replied, not that she knew what type of people did drugs. She smoked weed with Seri and she worked for the feds. She smoked weed with Monica and she worked for the feds and had a PhD.

“Can I meet him? And, I would like to know where he is taking you.”

“Sure. I’ll tell him he has to come to the door, and I don’t know where he is taking me. He said something about rabbit food.”

Liz smiled and patted her hand. “Would you like to go shopping tomorrow for a new outfit for your date?”

“Hmmm, maybe, yeah I think I would. Thanks,” she offered, dipping her banana into the yogurt.

“Why do you do that? That’s so gross,” Liz assured her.

Quill laughed and did it again.

Great, the whole fucking family had to tag along. Quill was pissed when she witnessed the conversation over breakfast. Not only was Reese tagging along, so was her dumb little friend. Not just Lil, some girls named Molly, Shawna, Jena, and Sierra too. Not to mention the boys, including none other than Blain. Quill didn’t want to go anymore.

She didn’t understand. Her mother wanted to spend quality time with her but was making her go hang out with a bunch of teenagers. Yeah, forget the fact that she was a teenager herself; she didn’t see it that way.

“Relax, Quill. Blain and Lil are picking Reese up, and you and I are going in my car,” Liz said, easing the trepidation that she could read all over her face.

“What? I don’t care,” she lied. “Can I get my driver’s license?” she asked, standing to pour more coffee.

“I wish you wouldn’t drink coffee, you’re going to stunt your growth, and we can talk to your dad about getting your license.”

“I’ve always drank coffee, and why do we need to talk to him? He doesn’t even live here.”

“Your father and I have always discussed things like that. Just because he doesn’t live here doesn’t mean he’s still not your father.”

“I said I wanted bacon for breakfast. Why isn’t there any bacon?” Reese interrupted.

“Quill doesn’t like bacon and it’s not good for you anyway.”

Reese rolled her eyes. She was so sick of everyone bowing down to Quill. “Of course,” she sarcastically spoke. “Let’s stop eating pizza too. You know how much I hate that.”

“Fuck you, Reese. Eat fucking bacon. I could care less what you do,” Quill snapped.

“Shelby!” Liz yelled.

“Don’t fucking call me that!” Aquilla turned with a reprisal glare.

“You stop talking like that. We don’t use that kind of language in this house, and by George, you’re not going to either!” Liz had enough. She cracked. She couldn’t help it. She had been doing everything under the sun to please this girl, nothing worked. Nothing she did seemed to get through to her.

“Oh, okay, LIZ…I will just use words like by George,” Aquilla retaliated, slamming her chair into the table. She stormed out of the kitchen and up to the bedroom that she hated.

She dug into the closet and pulled the thick envelope full of money from a jacket pocket. She hadn’t touched it since she hid it there when Seri was still there. She ran her thumb over the hundred dollar bills, wondering how much money was in a one inch stack of hundred dollar bills. She was sure it was enough to get her the hell out of here.

Aquilla shoved the envelope in the back of her jeans and ignored her ringing phone with the word DAD displayed across the screen. Of course, call the man you call my father. Fuck this shit. Fuck all of you.

She ignored Seri’s and then Monica’s calls as she shoved her cellphone in her pocket and walked downstairs.

“You’re not leaving this house, Quill,” Liz warned.

“Yes, I am,” she demanded, going to the door.

“Really? You think your fuck buddy is going to stop me. I could kill him with my bare hands,” she assured her, seeing the black pickup truck pull into the drive.

“Quill, stop this. We don’t need to do this,” Liz begged.

“Let her go!” Reese yelled.

“What’s going on, Quill?” Connor asked from the door.

She really called her boyfriend to come and calm her down. Quill couldn’t believe that she called him. What did she think he was going to do?

“It’s obvious that I’m not wanted here. Just let me leave, and you can get on with your happy little family.”

“You’re not leaving, Quill,” Liz stood her ground.

Aquilla shook her head in total outright disbelief. Who the fuck did she think she was?

“Reese, your ride is here,” Liz announced, looking past Connor.

“I’m not leaving you here with her,” Reese determined.

What the fuck? Was she really afraid that Quill would hurt her? Stupid little cunt.

“Seri’s on her way to get her for few days. I’m fine. Go be with your friends,” Liz coaxed, wanting her out of there and away from the Quill drama.

Aquilla couldn’t believe it. She walked past Reese, deciding to go back to her room. “Yeah, Reese, I’m going to go with Seri for a few days. Don’t worry about it, it’s what she does. When the going gets tough, she pawns her kids off on somebody else to deal with.”

Reese swung at her and of course Quill was a lot faster. She grabbed her arm, spun her around and lifted her arm toward her shoulder blades.

“AHHH!” Reese squealed in pain.

“Let her go, Quill!” Connor demanded, coming after her.

Quill let her go and tossed her toward Connor.

“Don’t fucking touch me,” she demanded in a karate stance, ready to take him down.

“I’m not going to touch you, Quill. Calm down and go to your room.”

“Humph, I think you may just be the smartest one in the whole fucking bunch,” Quill replied, turned on her heels and went upstairs. She heard her mother tell Reese to go again. She hesitated, listening at the door. She heard her mother sob, and knew that Connor was holding her. She quietly moved to the top of step to listen.

“I don’t know what to do, Connor,” Liz cried.

“What happened?” he asked, stroking her hair.

“I have no idea. She and Reese got into it and she just went off. She’s right, Connor. I don’t want Seri to come and get her now. I don’t want her to think that I am shoving my responsibility off on someone else.”

“Let her go for a couple days. That doesn’t mean you are passing your responsibility on someone else. It just means you need a breather.”

Aquilla hid her stack of bills back in the jacket pocket and stayed in her room until she saw Seri pull up about an hour later. She watched Connor get in his truck and leave when Seri arrived. She cracked her bedroom door to listen to the bullshit that her mother was going to disclose to Seri.

“What the hell happened, Liz?” Seri asked, closing the door.

“I have no idea, Seri. She was fine. We were planning on going shopping for her date with this thug that I don’t approve of. Nothing good hangs out at that track, but I wasn’t going to stop her. I asked her if she wanted to go shopping for her date and she said she did. She and Reese got into it at breakfast and she just exploded.” Liz spent 20 minutes telling her the things Quill had said and done.

“I was almost afraid of her for a second, Seri. Does she fight?”

Seri made a grunt noise. “That girl should be made to register those damn arms and legs as lethal. I’m going to go talk to her,” Seri announced. Quill closed her door and sat on her bed. Seri didn’t knock and slammed her door as she entered. She was pissed.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“Don’t, Seri. This has nothing to do with you.”

“Pack a bag,” Seri demanded. She couldn’t talk to her yet. She was too mad.

Aquilla could tell she was pissed. She had never seen her so pissed. She did as she was told and threw some clothes into her bag. Shit. She wished she would have gotten the money from the jacket. What if she decided to run and not come back? Could she take the heavy jacket without Seri being suspicious? It was the middle of June and unneeded. No. She couldn’t take it without Seri being guarded. She would ask.

“Quill, I will see you in a couple of days. I’m not pawning you off on anyone. I want you here. I love you so much, and I want things to be good between us,” Liz said, holding both her shoulders for her to look at her. Quill wouldn’t do it. She kept a clinched jaw with her eyes turned toward the fire mantel and all of Reese’s happy little growing up portraits.

Quill moved around her without a word and walked out to Seri’s car.

“I’ll call you,” Seri assured her.

Seri didn’t say a word for at least 20 minutes.

Quill texted Patch while she waited for the silence to be over.

Quill – Sorry… Rain check.

Patch – What? Why?

Quill – Had to go to New York for a few days.

Patch – You’re not going to watch me race tomorrow?

Quill – Not unless you’re going to be on TV. We’ll get together next week.

Patch – Can I call you later?

Quill – Probably, I will text you.

“Who are you texting?” Seri finally spoke.

“What? You’re talking to me now?”

“I shouldn’t be. What the hell, Quill?”

“I cussed a little, big fucking deal. You talk like that all the time.”

“Not around your mother, and you did more than just say a couple of bad words. Did you grab Reese and put her in a Kimura?”

“She fucking swung at me. Why are you taking their side? You weren’t even there. I put her in a Kimura to keep from hurting her.”

“And what did you say for her to want to swing at you.”

Well fuck….

“Nothing, just forget it.”

“You know that temper is going to get you into a whole heap of trouble, don’t you.”

Aquilla didn’t want to be with Seri anymore. She didn’t want to be with anyone. Why couldn’t she just be 18? She stared out the window and refused to answer any more of Seri’s stupid questions. Seri gave up after a bit and turned the radio up loud, blaring Molly Hatchett.

Seri bypassed the busy part of New York City and pulled into a parking garage of an older, tall building.

“You live here? I thought you live in the city?” Quill asked, surprised by the slum looking neighborhood.

“I never told you I live in the city. I told you that I lived in Coral. It’s still part of the city, just out a bit. What do you want to eat? I’m starving,” Seri asked, as they exited the car.

“I don’t care,” she replied, deciding that she too was starving.

“Let’s take your bags in and we’ll go across the street to Bangers,” Seri offered.

“Bangers?”

“Yeah, it’s a Japanese joint with a sushi bar.”