It was early afternoon, so not many people were out on the roads. He drove them out of the city where the light traffic dwindled down until they only passed a car every so often. The scenery lulled Vida into forgetting her problems; the drawback was it increased her awareness of Colton. Sitting against his back with her thighs so close had her wanting things her mind refused to acknowledge. Her body on the other hand had a mind of its own.
He handled the bike expertly, making Vida wonder how he had learned to ride the bike so well in the city.
Eventually, they rode through a small town where Colton stopped for gas. It was next door to a restaurant where they went through the drive- thru. Vida sat on the bike as Colton stood next to it, eating their food. When they finished, Colton drove down a small, paved road on a large piece of land. They found a farmers’ market, which had been set up on the side of the road.
“Let’s check it out,” Colton said suddenly.
Vida agreed and they spent an amusing couple of hours going to the various booths. Vida bought some fruit while Colton purchased drinks and a couple of sandwiches. Finding a spot on the ground away from the booths, they ate quietly as they watched the customers shop.
“I love being out of the city,” Vida said, looking at the countryside surrounding them.
Colton paused at eating his sandwich. It was the first thing Vida had shared about herself. The woman kept herself so contained, you never knew what she was thinking.
“You don’t like the city?”
“I hate it. I like being out in open spaces. The idea of having just a few neighbors and having a small town sense of community where they actually care about one another appeals to me.”
“But you have that in the city. Your relationship with Sawyer proves that,” Colton argued.
Vida shook her head. “Sawyer, Callie and I all lived on the fifth floor in a low income housing building. Sawyer’s mother would babysit Callie and me while my mom worked or Callie’s was busy. But none of them shared anything about their lives. The apartment building was filled with people who weren’t even supposed to be living there. Everyone minded their own business because they didn’t want anyone sticking their nose into theirs or the possibility of getting evicted.”
There was definitely no sense of community where she had grown up. Vida watched the people at the farmers’ market greet each other, standing and talking amongst themselves before continuing with their shopping.
“I see your point.” Colton recognized that she wanted a tight community to replace her lack of family until she had one of her own. Colton didn’t know why that thought bothered him, only that it did.
Her dark hair was pulled back, showing her high cheekbones and green eyes. Her red lips bit into a piece of melon that had juice running down her chin. Giving her a napkin, he watched as she wiped away the juice from her face and licked her lips to catch the stray droplets. Her unconscious sensuality hardened his cock. Colton shifted on the hard ground.
Taking an apple for himself, he watched her pick up another piece of melon and had to force his attention back to what she was saying.
“In a town like this, a child like Callie would never have suffered. A neighbor, school or friend would have reported her mother. She might still be alive if she hadn’t had the misfortune to live where she did.”
“You don’t know that, Vida. Maybe she would still be alive or maybe something else could have killed her. She might have died some other way and never known what it was like to have such wonderful friends as you or Sawyer.”
“She was so special, Colton. Her mother would drop her off as often as Sawyer’s mother would take her during the day. All three of us didn’t realize we weren’t sisters until we were about five-years-old; we spent so much time together. Especially Sawyer and me because our mothers were friends and they would swap out babysitting. Brenda, that bitch, would only let Sawyer’s mom babysit when she was coming off her high. She wanted Callie by her side all the time, even when she was...” Her voice broke off.
“My mom and Sawyer’s mom both reported her to social services when the bruises became worse, but they always gave her back to that bitch, then she started threatening our moms. She held a knife to my mom one night when she tried to talk to her. She even threatened Sawyer and me if they didn’t mind their own business.”
“Vida,” Colton tried to stop her, knowing where this story ended, seeing no need for her to take this trip down memory lane. Goldie had told him about Callie’s mother. He had wanted to have a talk with her himself, but Goldie had been terrified that the woman would disappear with Callie.
She continued on, lost in her own story, “The first time Sawyer and I saw Marshall, he scared us; he was so frightening.” Vida could still see the white haired, muscular man who had been as large as a giant to the small children they were then.
“He scared me, too, and I wasn’t a little girl.” Colton tried again to regain her attention unsuccessfully.
“The sad part is, I think he really cared for Callie; she gained weight and didn’t have as many bruises. Sawyer and I were happy that he’d moved in with her mom. Do you think he meant to hurt Callie when he killed Brenda?” Vida buried her face in her hands. “I still see her face every day, Colton, wishing I had smelled the smoke sooner, got to her door faster, knocked louder. There should have been something I could have done.”
“I heard about that fire, Vida. It was in all the papers and it was all anyone could talk about for weeks in the neighborhood. There was nothing you could have done. When Marshall caught Brenda in bed with another man, he went crazy and killed them both. Callie must have managed to escape out of the window because they found her body hiding in one of the vacant apartments. She was probably so scared from what she’d witnessed that she had run and hid, and was too frightened to come out when she heard the sirens.”
“She was only eight-years-old.”
“Sweetheart, you were only a year older. You did exactly what you were supposed to do. You tried to alert them then got outside with your mom. That was why you lived,” Colton tried to reason with her.
Vida came back to the present with her hand in Colton’s. Self-consciously, she pulled it away and began cleaning up the remains of their impromptu picnic.
They passed back through the booths as they left and a young girl with a woman standing by a cardboard box drew Vida’s attention. She paused and looked into the box where a reddish-blond ball of fluff stared back at her.
“Awe, isn’t it cute.” Vida bent down and petted the squirming puppy that promptly started smothering her in puppy kisses. Giggling, Vida stroked the curly soft fur. “Is it a girl or boy?”
“It’s a girl,” the little girl replied. “It’s the last one I have left. Mama wouldn’t let me name her cause we have to sell them, but I think she looks like a Chloe.”
The little girl cast her mother a sidelong look. Shaking her head at the little girl with a soft smile, the mother reached into the box and handed her the wiggling puppy. Burying her face in the soft puppy fur, this was what Vida wanted out of life, normalcy. It sounded boring, but Vida could easily see the love and happiness shining from the mother and child.
“I’m selling her for two hundred fifty dollars. She’s a malti-poo.” Vida stroked the soft fur one more time before regretfully giving it back.
“I wish I could buy her, but right now I don’t have a permanent home. It’s going to be a while before I can have a puppy.” Reluctantly, Vida gave the puppy back to the little girl, who took it back with a relieved smile.
“I wish you could have taken her. I can tell you two would have made a great match.” The woman smiled. Vida glanced down at the little girl who didn’t try to hide her joy at having her puppy back.
Vida said goodbye with a last look at the wiggling puppy in the little girl’s arms. Her stomach clenched as she tried to gather her emotions around her while they walked back to the bike. Colton stiffened as they drew closer, not understanding why until she saw t
wo men touching his bike. One kicked the wheel while another messed with the handlebar.
“Get away from my ride,” Colton said as he moved toward the men.
“We’re just lookin’ at it.” The man had tobacco in his mouth, spitting a stream of juice near Colton’s foot. Vida assumed the man was an idiot until her gaze went to the side and saw another large man leaning against the side of an older model truck.
“Go find something else to look at, like your wife fucking your brother.”
The man cockily pulled up his saggy pants and raised his hands in the air.
“I don’t want no trouble. What make is it? You get plenty of pussy ridin’ on those nut busters? Been thinking of getting me one. If it gets me a piece of pussy that looks like her, I might need to buy one.”
“Shithead, you couldn’t afford what a bike like that costs, but you go ahead and buy one you can afford because a dumb fuck like you would be road kill in a hour.”
The man turned red. Vida thought he might have swallowed the wad of tobacco in his mouth, instead he let go of another spew of juice and this time it landed on Colton’s boot.
Vida was watching it and still didn’t see it happen. One minute the man was standing there and the next his face was planted in Colton’s boot with Colton’s hand in his hair. He was using the man’s face to wipe the offensive stuff off his boot.
“What the fuck.” His friends rushed forward.
Colton used his other foot to kick the downed man away from him. The first man to reach him had a fist shoved in his nose and blood flew as he was knocked back into his other friend that was also coming at Colton, causing them both to lose their balance. Before they could right themselves, Colton beat the men mercilessly.
Vida stood there, open mouthed, as people from the farmers’ market tried to break the fight apart.
“You need to get the hell out of here,” the friendly mother told Vida and Colton. “Those boys have several friends in town. They won’t like it that one man beat up all three of them.”
“We’re going.” Colton waited until Vida was on the bike before he got on and started the motor.
Colton drove them back to the city, and as each mile brought them closer, Vida felt the return of all her worries that she had been able to briefly put from her mind.
As soon as they were back in the apartment, Vida took a quick shower before going back to her homework. The life that mother and daughter shared was the future she was working so hard toward. She had to keep her mind on that, not the reaction Colton aroused in her. He was nothing more than a one-way ticket to reliving her mother’s life.
***
Colton had watched Vida shut down her emotions when she walked away from the small girl and puppy. She had wanted that small dog so much it was almost tangible. Colton had begun to notice during the short time Vida had been around him that the more strongly she felt about something, the more she shut down her emotions.
He couldn’t understand it. Goldie had been a good mother, she had constantly talked about Vida when they had been at the same party or hung out with mutual friends. He was sure that she hadn’t secretly abused Vida, so he couldn’t understand why she was so closed within herself. The only thing he could think of was that with her mom dead and Sawyer gone, she was overwhelmed and closing down was her way of dealing with the situation she had found herself in.
He had to respect the way she handled herself. Vida was determined to make a successful life for herself, wanting her friend by her side when she accomplished her goals.
Colton remembered seeing Sawyer before he went to prison. She had come into his shop for a small tattoo on the inside of her wrist. She was tall and curvy. He could easily see why she had been kidnapped with her fresh-faced beauty. Others of a more corrupt nature would seek to destroy that beauty and innocence that was easily discernable, even if all she was wearing were cheap jeans and a t-shirt.
He didn’t know why, but for some reason, her tattoo came to mind. He had given hundreds and actually remembered only the ones he had created or he had done extremely well in spite of their difficulty. Sawyer’s had been simple and straightforward. She had only wanted a simple word on her wrist. Freedom.
Colton was beginning to think that the three young girls he remembered playing outside when they were little had been imprisoned much longer than he was.
Deciding to take a shower, he left Vida doing whatever it was she did on her computer. Washing his body then his hair, he thought about getting it cut, he always wore it long, but now it was brushing his shoulders, and he was becoming aggravated when he forgot to tie it back.
He leaned his head against the shower wall. His cock was driving him insane after feeling her lush body against his back all day. He had known it would be a mistake to spend the day with Vida, but hadn’t been able to resist the temptation to get to know her better.
Colton got out of the shower, drying himself off and wrapping a towel around his hips before going into his bedroom. Forcing himself not to check out what Vida was doing, he shut the bedroom door behind him.
Picking up the cell phone on the table beside his bed, he made a call that he hoped would keep him out of trouble.
***
Vida heard the knock on the door and was rising from the table to answer the door when Colton’s bedroom door opened and he came out dressed only in jeans. Sitting back down, Vida lowered her eyes back to the computer, already knowing it was a woman at the door; it just remained to be seen which woman he’d called.
Vida recognized the voice of the woman that he had given a tat to last week.
“What’s she doing here? I thought it was just going to be the two of us. I’m really not interested in a threesome.” Vida would have laughed if she weren’t so miserable.
“It’s just us. Vida is just my temporary roommate. Let’s go back to my bedroom.”
Vida couldn’t resist looking up for a second to see Colton take Lara’s hand and lead her down the hallway to his bedroom. She turned away before they could catch her staring. Vida continued working for another hour, having to turn up the volume on her headphones to drone out the female screams and moans coming from the bedroom.
From past experience, Vida shut down her computer and made her bed, determined to be asleep before the woman left. Inexplicably, she didn’t want to see her after she had been in Colton’s bed.
Leaving on her headphones this time, Vida didn’t put the pillow over her face. She lay quietly, listening to her music, pretending she was far away in a new home with Sawyer as her roommate.
For once, her plans of the future didn’t comfort her.
Chapter 8
Vida had just finished scheduling an appointment when her cell phone rang.
“Hello?” she answered hesitantly, not familiar with the number on display.
“Vida?” a woman’s voice she recognized answered.
“Jazz?”
“Yes, Vida I need a big favor. Cody fell off his bike and broke his arm. We’re in the emergency room. Vida, I can’t leave him.” Vida felt bad for the young mother who worked as a body shot girl to keep a roof over her two young children’s head. They had a deadbeat dad who refused to pay his child support, but Jazz wasn’t deterred her from going to school part-time during the day to get her kids a better life.
“What do you need?” Vida asked.
“I’m scheduled to work a party. It’s a divorce celebration.” Vida could hear the hiccup in her voice where she had been crying. “If I miss it, King will fire me. I had to miss so much work lately with the kids. He warned me if I cancelled again, he would let me go. I can’t lose this job.” Another hiccupping sob and Vida caved.
“What time is it?”
“In an hour. You don’t have to worry about a costume I have an extra one; it’s in my locker. Juliet is working it too, so you won’t have to do it alone.”
“I’ll cover you. Don’t worry, Jazz. Just take care of Cody.”
“Thanks, Vi
da.” The worried mother hung up the phone.
“Ready?” Colton asked as he came into the lobby with his keys in his hand.
“Yes. Can you give me a ride to Kings?”
“You’re not scheduled for tonight.” Colton stated angered that King was making her work an extra night.
“I’m not, but a friend’s child got hurt and I told her I would work the party for her,” Vida explained.
“Have you worked a party before?” Colton asked sharply.
“No, but if I don’t, King will fire Jazz, and she has two kids, Colton.”
Colton lips tightened as she grabbed her backpack. Closing and locking the doors, he let his silence speak as to what he thought about her working the party. The silence continued even after he dropped her off at the back door. Assuming he would go on to the apartment, she didn’t watch as he drove around the side of the building.
Hurriedly, with not much time left, Vida went to Jazz’s locker, taking a step back when she saw the outfit staring at her. It was a thong with a little black skirt that every time she moved would sway to show her ass. The top was a sheer black lace bikini top that tied closed between the breasts. Anyone barely tugging the string would expose her breasts.
“Hurry up, Vida.” Juliet came into the dressing room, already dressed. Applying her make-up, she gave Vida a cold glare. “I’m not working those horny bastards myself. I already told Jazz when she called you that you better pull your weight.”
Crap. Vida disliked Juliet out of all the staff King had. She used her body and wiles doing anything and everything to score the big tips.
Taking the costume from the locker, Vida went into the restroom to get dressed, not wanting to get changed under Juliet’s scrutiny. Looking in the mirror when she was dressed in the costume, Vida almost changed her mind. Stiffening her shoulders and remembering the two children depending on their mother had Vida stepping back into the dressing room to brush her hair and apply her make-up.
“Hurry up.” Juliet held the door open and Vida followed her up the steps to the VIP room where the party of men were waiting.