"There is this new night club in town that we have to go to," Isaac told me animatedly as we drove downtown. I smiled.
"Isaac, we're under age," I reminded him. Isaac flashed me a brilliant grin.
"You're forgetting that I'm in The Business. I've got connections," he informed me. I merely nodded at his assuming words. We found a parking spot downtown and walked aimlessly in the direction of the club Isaac had mentioned earlier. When we arrived, there was a line of people out front. Ike grabbed my wrist and guided me into an alley two buildings down. I gave him a strange look.
"Isaac, where are we going? The club is back there." I waved my hand in the direction of the street, but Ike kept walking.
"We're going in the back way. My connection, remember?" he said. We turned left down another alleyway and stopped. Ike grinned at me as he reached up and knocked on a dark door beside us. The door opened and I saw a young man in an apron on the other side. He smiled when he saw us.
"Hey Hanson, I was beginning to wonder if you were going to show up," he stated, ushering us into the building. Isaac turned to me.
"Russ, this is my best friend Willow Carter. Will, this is Russell. My connection," he introduced us, grinning. I shook Russell's hand and smiled politely.
"Any friend of Isaac's is a friend of mine. Nice to meet you," he greeted. He and Isaac chatted for a moment and I took this time to look around. The room we were in was the smallest kitchen I'd ever been in. Everything was cramped together, and it was hot and stuffy in the room. I looked back at Russell. He had a Spanish appearance, with black hair slicked back into a low ponytail. I smiled again when he made eye contact with me. "Listen to me, I'm babbling on when you two are here to see the club. I have no manners."
"No, that's okay. We don't mind," Isaac assured him, putting his arm around my shoulders. Russell guided us through the maze of a kitchen and we reached a door that opened up into a dimly lit hallway.
"Just go out here and take a left, then follow the music," he told us, smiling at us. We thanked him and headed off. Isaac instinctively rested his hand against the small of my back as we walked, the loud music pumping in my ears.
"Your friend is very nice," I told Ike. He laughed and shook his head.
"I can't hear a thing you just said!" he shouted.
"I said that your friend is very nice!" I yelled back. He smiled and nodded. We danced a little bit before heading over to the bar. Isaac gave me a whimsical look.
"Do you want something to drink?" he asked. I nodded.
"What are you having?"
"I don't know. Something with alcohol. Do you drink?"
"No, not usually," I answered. I thought for a moment and decided on a Shirley Temple. Isaac ordered a Screwdriver, and I gave him a dubious look. "You think you can handle a Screwdriver?"
Isaac did that "manly nod" to assure me, but I still didn't believe him. The bartender returned with our drinks and I watched Ike closely as he raised his glass to his lips. Then he laughed. "What? What are you looking at?"
"You, trying to be manly and impress me by ordering a drink made purely from alcohol," I teased, sipping the sweet liquid of my drink. Isaac sampled his drink and his face turned a shocking shade of red. I choked as I laughed, and Isaac started to cough. "What's wrong? A little bit too strong for you?"
"No!" Ike choked. I asked the bartender, who was watching with an amused look, for a glass of water to rejuvenate Isaac. He gulped down the water thankfully, and it was all I could do to suppress my laughter. He gave me a stern look. "You knew that would happen."
"I tried to warn you," I stated simply, then walked away playfully. I found an empty table beside the dance floor and sat down. Minutes later, Ike rejoined me with a new drink in his hand. I smiled tauntingly. "What do you have this time?"
"Rum and coke. I know for a fact that a sip of this won't choke me," he answered, sliding into the seat beside me. We talked for most of the night, danced a little, and drank a lot. Lucky for me I know when I've had enough to drink. I had only experienced drunkenness once in my senior year of high school, and it wasn't the most pleasurable thing. Besides that I didn't really drink much, and I knew when enough was enough. Isaac, on the other hand, didn't hold his alcohol very well. I'd already learned that lesson well a few years before. By the time midnight rolled around, it was time to go. It took a good amount of time to get Isaac to go with me outside. I had to practically wrestle his car keys from him, an action I'm positive he enjoyed much more than I did. We finally made it back to his parked Xterra.
"You just had to get a stick shift, didn't you?" I grumbled, starting the car. Isaac turned to me with happy, droopy eyes. He nodded solemnly, then laughed and looked back out the window. Attempting to pull out of the parking space, I stalled. It happened again at a stop sign 20 feet down the road. By the time we made it back into the Broken Arrow suburb, I was starting to get the hand of driving stick.
"You don't drive well," Isaac slurred, putting his hand over mine as I stopped at a red light. I grinned.
"I don't normally drive standards," I answered simply. He took his hand away when the light turned green. By the time we reached his driveway, he was asleep.
"Good afternoon, sleepy head," a soothing voice greeted me. I grunted a reply, diving back under the covers of the bed to shelter myself from the harsh pale yellow light. I felt the person with the soothing voice sit on the bed beside me and rubbed my back through the blankets. "How are you feeling?"
"Like shit," I grumbled, poking my head out of my asylum from the sun. Willow smiled down at me, and I grinned weakly. "You're here. What are you doing here?"
"Playing nursemaid, evidently," she answered with a soft sigh. I looked around and noticed that I was in my parents' room. Will took my hand and rubbed her thumb over my knuckles. "You had me really worried. You've been passed out for almost 12 hours. I couldn't get you to wake up."
"I'm sorry I troubled you," I told her.
"It was no trouble," she assured me. She smiled. "Zac was sure you had alcohol poisoning and wanted to take you to the hospital to have your stomach pumped. If you hadn't woken up by 2:00 I was going to give in."
"He must be disappointed," I said. I sat up slowly, fighting a wave of nausea. I rubbed my eyes and blinked a few times. "What time is it?"
"About 12:30 in the afternoon," Willow informed me. I made a face. "Are you hungry?"
"Kinda, yeah."
"Let me go get you some crackers and juice." She stood up to leave, but I tightened my grip on her hand. She stopped and looked back down at me. I smiled.
"Thank you, Will. I appreciate this."
She shrugged. "It's really nothing. You'd do the same for me too. I hope," she teased. I nodded honestly. Will leaned down and kissed the back of my hand softly before letting go and leaving the room.
"And your point is…?" I trailed off, then opened my eyes. Megan's flame red hair was dripping wet and she was wrapped in my dark green bathrobe. I smirked. "Well well, make yourself at home."
Meg giggled and kneeled over me, then started to tickle me. I reached over and grabbed her hands to prevent her from tickling me anymore. She grinned and tried to wrestle her hands away, but failed.
"Come on, Taylor, let go. I need to go get dressed," she whined. I pondered this dramatically.
"Hmm, what do I get if I let you go?" I asked. Meg only smiled.
"I dunno. But I'm sure we can come up with something if we put our heads together," she replied. I brushed my nose back and forth across hers, giving her an 'Eskimo Kiss.'
"I'm sure we can," I agreed. I closed my eyes and was about to kiss her when a loud, annoying voice startled us apart.
"Oh please. That's gross. Get a room!" Avie screeched from in the doorway. I glared at her, giving her an irked look.
"What does this look like, a movie theater? We are in a room! Now scram," I told her. Avie stuck her tongue out at me and ran away, making gagging noises.
"She's a riot," Megan giggled.
"She's a pain," I contradicted. "So anyway, where were we?"
I returned my attention back to her. Meg shook her head, smiling. "Forget it Tay, the moment is ruined," she admitted, climbing off me.
"Great," I mumbled. I lay back, putting my hands and arms behind my head, and closed my eyes. About ten minutes later, then was a noise in the doorway. I heard a sigh.
"Taylor! Get up already!" Zac exclaimed. I opened my eyes and stuck my tongue out at him like our younger sister had done earlier. Zac walked away shaking his head and Megan came back fully clothed. She grabbed my pants off the floor and threw them at me.
"Get up and get dressed," she ordered. I saluted her.
"Yes sergeant," I quipped, throwing the blankets back and pulling the pants on. I grabbed a white tank top off of the chair beside the bed and pulled that on also. As Megan went about making the bed, I wandered into the kitchen to get something to drink. Willow was standing at the counter pouring a glass of juice. I smiled innocently at her and snatched the glass as soon as she was done. "Thanks Will, how did you know I wanted some juice?"
"Lucky guess," she shot back, grinning. She poured another glass and set it aside.
"Who's that for?" I asked.
"Isaac," she answered, putting the juice back into the refrigerator.
"What, he's got you into being his personal maid now? That's not right," I said. Willow smiled and shook her head.
"No, Isaac's ill. He had a little too much to drink last night," she explained. I feigned a shocked expression.
"Willow Carter, did you keep my brother out till the wee hours of the morning getting drunk in some Irish pub?" I accused her. Will giggled.
"No."
I nodded seriously. "Okay, good. Just checking." Willow gathered a package of crackers and the glass of juice, then left the room laughing.
"Isaac, you have a problem," I told him.
"I know. It's called an annoying 15-year old brother who thinks he knows best," he shot back, draping his wrist over his eyes. I clenched and unclenched my jaw to keep from saying something I knew I shouldn't.
"How many times do you think Willow is going to put up with this and continue taking care of you when you're drunk? And you're not even the legal age!"
"Zac, will you please give it a rest? I am already paying for what I've done, and I never want to even look at another bottle of alcohol again," Ike grumbled. Will came into the room just then and smiled at me.
"Hey Zac, I guess we won't be needing the hospital after all," she stated.
"Unfortunately," I muttered under my breath. Willow set a glass of orange juice and a package of crackers on the bedside table before sitting down beside my brother on the bed. I shook my head at them. "You two amaze me. I will never understand you."
"You'll understand the bonds of friendship when you get older," Isaac told me before taking a drink of the juice. Willow nodded in agreement.
"Oh God don't say that! You sound like Mom and Dad!" I exclaimed, hurrying from the room. I went into the room I shared with Taylor and Mackie, throwing myself down onto my bed. When Isaac had moved out, Mac got his top bunk. I rolled over onto my back and looked up at the ceiling, trying to figure out something to do. Reagan had an orthodontist appointment at one, so she couldn't do anything. My friend Jamie Conoran, who lived up the street, went camping with his family for the weekend. Nearly all of my other friends had gone away to summer camp, including the guys I'd played football with a few days earlier. I sighed and decided to go play basketball in the driveway for a while.
"Did you win?" a voice asked, interrupting my plans for going back inside. I turned around to see a girl walking across the yard, my basketball in her hands.
"Uh, yeah," I answered, stepping back onto the front walk. The girl tossed the ball back to me and I set it on the steps, then turned back to her. She looked around awkwardly.
"I'm sorry for intruding, but I was just outside saw you playing, and then the ball rolled over…" she trailed off, avoiding my look. I shrugged.
"It's no problem. Thanks for bringing it back. Stupid ball, it always tries to run away like that. I think that it might actually succeed someday," I cracked, grinning. I liked this girl, she seemed nice. She introduced herself as Hannah. She and her family had just moved into the house next door a few days ago. I welcomed her to the neighborhood and offered to show her around the area a little.
"Let me go check with my parents. I'll be right back," she promised, running back across our yard. I grinned as went back into the house to tell someone that I was going out.
"Ike? Is something the matter?" Willow asked. I shook my head and cleared my thoughts, then smiled at her.
"No. I was just thinking of what a great best friend I have," I told her. Willow smiled. And beautiful too, I thought.
"I'm not being great, I'm just trying to fix the mess I got you in," she replied.
"You didn't do anything wrong," I disagreed. Will shrugged and finished rinsing the glass that she had just washed. I wiped the kitchen counter clean before sitting at the table and sighing. "Where is everyone? The house is really quiet."
"Um, I think Tay and Megan brought your sisters to the library and Zac went off somewhere," Willow informed me, sitting beside me. I rolled my eyes.
"With Reagan, I'm sure," I added. Will made a strange face.
"No, I don't think it was," she corrected. We sat silently for a few moments, Willow wringing her hands awkwardly. "So, what are your plans for the day?"
I shrugged. "I don't know. Whatever you want to do." Will smiled brightly at me. "Would you like to go se my home-away-from-home?"
"Sure," Will agreed. "Do you feel up to driving?" I nodded and grabbed my car keys off the hook by the front door, and we were on our way.
"Hey Hanson, you never told me you had a girlfriend," Aaron prodded me quietly as we headed over to the pool table while Ashley and Willow went to get our poolsticks. I grinned at him.
"You never asked," I replied sarcastically. Aaron gave me a nasty look. I grinned. "Just kidding. Will's not my girlfriend, just my best friend. I've mentioned her to you before, I think."
"Oh, Will is a she? Every time you talked about Will, I always thought you meant a guy," he stated, realization dawning on him. I shook my head.
"No, Will is certainly a she. Definitely," I corrected. I smiled at Will as they headed back towards us, poolsticks in hand. She returned my smile fully.
"Okay boys, let's get this game over and done with so I can eat," Ashley announced. She and Aaron started racking the poolballs into place. Will gave me a nervous look.
"I've only played pool about twice in my life," she admitted.
"Don't worry, we'll go easy on you," Aaron assured her. Ashley gave him an offended look.
"We don't need your charity," she scoffed. "We can win on our own, can't we Willow?"
Will gave her a meek smile and nodded. We started the game, and Ashley was right; they didn't need our charity. They almost won the game, and had Willow played a little more often, they probably would have. The girls accepted their defeat and we headed to our booth where our food waited.
"I'm glad you had fun. I don't normally hang out with Aaron that much; he's got another group of friends who dominates his time, and I've got my group of friends," Ike explained.
"Well, why don't you join your groups and all hang out together?" I suggested.
"It's not as easy as it seems," Ike began. I gave him a questioning look in the light cast by a streetlamp overhead. "Well, Aaron and all his friends are all members of the Black Awareness Group on campus. The group I hang out with isn't black, and they are. I don't know how well that will go over."
I shook my head sadly. "I wish people would start looking past the color of other people's skin. That so annoys me," I stated. Isaac stopped and grabbed my hand.
"Will, I'm not judging them by the color of their skin. They're judging me by the color of mine. I want to be friends with them. A friendship has to have effort from both sides," I informed her.
"I know that," she replied quickly. "I wasn't talking about you. I was talking about society in general. The fact that your college has a Black Awareness Group just gives them reason to be treated specially and causes segregation," she explained. I stared down at our hands, not saying anything. Will gave my hand a light squeeze. "Maybe you should talk to him about this."
I nodded silently. Will tugged on my arm. "Let's head back. I'm starting to freeze." ç÷ïïïï