01 Untouchable - Untouchable (8 page)

He looked mildly entertained as he
leaned toward me from my window, “How old were you?” he
repeated.

There are times when I don’t like
honesty. “I—I was nine. No, wait. I was ten. It was at my fifth
grade dance and he kissed me when we were on the dance
floor.”

“
And,” he
prodded.

“
And what?”

“
Was it on the
lips?”

“
It would have been if I
hadn’t turned my face,” I retorted.

“
What happened after
he
tried
to kiss
you?” He was making sure that I knew it didn’t count as an actual
kiss.

I took a deep breath, annoyed that he
had to have the whole truth. “I punched him. I think I may have
broken his nose,” I finished miserably.

His warm hand reached for my
chin and tenderly turned my face toward his. It felt as if my
resistance crumbled to dust. “So if I kiss you here,” he said
letting his thumb gently brush across my lips. “I’ll be the first
guy to
really
kiss
you?”

I looked deeply into those distressing
green eyes and replied, “If you survive it. I am a black belt,
after all.”

His face lit up as if I had just handed
him a present. “You’re not serious, are you?”

“
Yes, I am. Don’t test
me.”

“
You know I think you’re the
funniest mystery I’ve ever tried to unravel.”

I didn’t say anything, but I grabbed a
piece of paper from my binder and scribbled down my address and
handed it to him.

He looked pleased, but still
mystified.

“
For church tonight,” I
clarified. “You did say you wanted to come, right? You do like
music, don’t you?”

“
Yeah—yeah sure; AC/DC, Led
Zeppelin, Metallica,” He looked at my shocked expression and
laughed. “What time do you want me to show? Is this the address of
the church or your house?”

“
Six-thirty, and that is my
home address. Bev and Matt will want to meet you first.”

There was an expression on his face
that I simply couldn’t read. I didn’t know if it was pleasure or
pain, but it bothered me. It reminded me of his face yesterday when
he was trying to get me to accept a ride from him, but then he
smiled and said he’d see me at six-thirty.

At six-twenty five, a sleek, black 370Z
pulled into the crowded driveway at Bev and Matt’s. I smiled and
waved from the porch swing as he stepped out onto the concrete. He
motioned me toward his car, and I shook my head while motioning him
to the porch.

He gave a little grimace as he
approached, “I really have to do this ‘meet your parents’
thing?”

“
Aunt and Uncle,” I reminded
him. “And yes you do.”

I opened the door and walked inside
with my reluctant prisoner in tow. Kimmy was the first to meet us
and she seemed very surprised when she saw him.

“
Hi,” she said shyly. “I’m
Kimberly. I’m Leese’s sister.”

He smiled and put his hand out. “Hi
Kim, I’m Evan. You’re just as pretty as your sister.”

She giggled and her cheeks pinked as
she finished shaking his hand. Matt Junior came toddling down the
hallway, apparently having gleefully escaped from getting his hair
combed. He stopped short at the sight of the big stranger standing
in his foyer.

“
Kimmy,” Bev called from her
bedroom, “Would you bring him back here, please?”

Kimmy started toward him and he turned
and began his short-legged, waddle-run back toward his parent’s
bedroom. “MA MA!” he yelled, excited that Kimmy was chasing
him.

“
Come on in,” I said,
pulling him into the living room.

I heard Kimmy down the hallway very
excitedly announce, “Leese’s boyfriend is here!”

I wanted to cover my face and hide. I’d
told her he was just a friend from school, but I guess that equated
to a boyfriend in her book. I didn’t have to look at his face; I
could feel the smile on it without a visual.

“
So where’s your room?” he
asked in a quiet voice.

“
Right there.” I pointed to
the double-doors leading from the living room. Bev and Matt had a
three bedroom home, but when we moved in with them, Bev decided
that a teenager really needed a little privacy. Kimmy got the third
bedroom and they turned their den into my room. I told them they
didn’t have to do that, but they insisted that it was no problem
especially since Matt wasn’t with his engineering firm anymore, he
didn’t need it as an office. And, I had to admit that I was used to
having my own room, but the thing I missed the most from home was
having my own bathroom. Bev and Matt had a private bath off the
master suite, but Kimmy and I had to share the other. That had
taken some getting used to.

I was a little mortified when he headed
into my room. It wasn’t that it was a mess, except the fact that
the den didn’t have a closet so I did have a few things hanging on
an open rack, my clothes were picked up and my bed was made, but I
didn’t expect him to just stroll right in there. What would Matt
and Bev think if they came out and we were in there? I stood at the
doors and tried to coax him back out, but he ignored me as he
looked over some sketch books that I had open.

“
Very nice,” he mouthed
silently as he picked up a cherry-blossom water color that I had
been working on. He pointed to me and then back to the painting. I
nodded, still nervous that he was walking around my room. He came
to a stop beside my bed and his hand was reaching for something. My
heart all but stopped when I realized it was a picture of my
family—my real family. I wanted to go in there and snatch it from
his grasp and tell him to get out of my room, but I think he
realized that my feet wouldn’t carry me into that private space
while he occupied it. I heard Matt and Bev coming down the hall so
I motioned for him to get out of there and then I headed for the
couch. He emerged a moment later, seating himself beside me just in
time as they came around the corner.

I couldn’t help but see the surprise on
Matt’s face when he got a look at Evan. I stood quickly, “Matt this
is Evan Lewis. Evan this is my Uncle Matt McKinnis.”

Matt was a slender 5’10” so he looked
kind of shrimpy as he shook Evan’s hand. “Hi, Evan. I thought Leese
said you were a junior, but you’ve got to be a senior,
right?”

“
No, Sir. I’m a junior, I
just take after my dad, size wise.”

“
Wow, you could have fooled
me. I don’t think you’d have any trouble passing yourself off as
someone in their twenties.”

“
This is my aunt Beverly,” I
continued.

“
Hi Evan, it’s really nice
to meet you.”

“
Thanks, it’s nice to meet
you both. So which one of you is actually related to Leese? I can’t
pick out the family resemblance.”

“
Oh—me,” Bev answered before
Matt could speak. “I’m Nadia’s sister.”

“
Nadia?” Evan
questioned.

“
My mom,” I answered and
then moved on to the final introduction, “And this is Matt Junior,”
I said sweeping him off the floor and growling into his exposed
neck. He burst into tiny peals of laughter as I nuzzled against his
baby-scented skin. I put him back down on the floor as it was clear
that he wasn’t familiar enough with Evan to permit him to come too
close.

“
So are we ready?” Matt
asked, looking a little uncomfortable.

I watched Evan’s eyebrows raise and I
realized that he hadn’t understood that this was a family event,
not an opportunity to go out on our own. He shot a quick glance my
direction. “Yeah, sure. I’ll take—do you want to ride with
me?”

“
I do!” Kimmy quickly
volunteered.

“
Oh, I’m sorry Kimmy, there
are only two seats in my car,” he said apologetically.

“
That’s okay,” she answered,
“Leese can ride with Matt and Bev.”

“
No,” Bev laughed, “I think
Leese should ride with her—her friend.”

“
Aah! No fair,” Kimmy
whined. I was hoping she wasn’t getting ready to pitch one of her
fits. She was normally well tempered, but every once in a while she
could be an average six year old.

Evan shrugged, “I don’t mi…”

I quickly shook my head no, to stop him
from saying what would encourage her begging. My biggest worry
wasn’t that I wouldn’t get to ride with him, but that she might get
her way and then he would be free to ask her plenty of questions
about our lives—our real lives that is.

“
Please
,” Kimmy emphasized, batting her eyes.

“
That’s okay, we’ll ride in
my car,” I said, ending the awkward moment.

Evans mouth opened to rebut, but Matt
quickly replied, “Great, I’m glad that’s settled. Now, let’s go
before we’re late.”

As we filed out the door, I whispered
in Kimmy’s ear to remind her that people didn’t know why we were
living in Pensacola and, for Mom’s sake, we had to keep it that
way. She nodded solemnly.

It was a short ride to church, barely
enough time for him to ask many questions. I walked Kimmy to her
class as Matt and Bev took Matt junior to nursery and then we met
in the fellowship hall where the band was warming up. We normally
had about forty to fifty people in our music worship, and that
included the two youth pastors and the younger adults like Matt and
Bev, but tonight it seemed extra crowded as everyone said their
hellos. Then the lights dimmed and the band fired up. Everyone
started clapping and yelling as the music got louder. I looked over
and noticed that Evan was smiling, but I could tell he was still
uncomfortable as people started to show their enthusiasm. Pastor
Shawn got on stage and opened us in prayer and then introduced the
first singer. Mike Hendry, a senior from PHS started off the night
with some Matthew West hits. He was finishing up his last song as I
squeezed Evan’s arm and smiled, “My turn.”

“
You’re going to sing?” He
knew Jewels said that I sang Christian rock, but I don’t think he
expected to hear me. “Cool,” he said turning loose of my arm and
walking closer to the stage.

I could feel the glow coming over my
face. Singing was one of my favorite things. I wasn’t vain, but I
was glad that it was something that I could do really well. I just
felt so free when I sang. It was like the world and all its
problems completely vanished and all that remained was the ability
to make people happy.

“
Hey, everybody! How about a
little Natalie Grant tonight?”

The shouts and cheers began
as I turned to the band. “Let’s start with
I Will Not Be Moved
.”

That got a big smile; they really
enjoyed a challenge.

The spotlight came on and the first
steady hum came from the keyboardist as I gripped the mic in one
hand and the mic stand in the other. Then the electric guitars and
the drums kicked into high gear as the music pulsed through my
veins. And that is when the music seemed to take over and the
performance began. I had it nailed down as well as if I were
Natalie Grant herself. I could see the sea of heads bobbing up and
down as they jumped and danced to the beat. “…I will make mistakes,
I will face heartaches” I sang. “But I will not be moved…” All the
while Evan’s stare was intent and he seemed oblivious to the throng
moving to the beat and surrounding him. As the music died, the
cheers and shouts rose, I watched him put his fingers between his
lips and let out a loud whistle and then began to clap.

“
One more. One more,” was
the chant coming from the group.

“
All right, one more.” I
turned to the band, “
Perfect
People
, can you guys do that one?” They all
nodded and I turned once again to face my audience. I lowered my
gaze to the floor as the slow and steady beat began. This song
didn’t start like the more rocking melody I’d just sung, but it
quickly became one of my favorites because of the silky strands of
the music and the desperate and soulful sounds of the words as they
flowed. “Never let ‘em see you when you’re breaking, never let ‘em
see you when you fall…Tell the world you’ve got it all together,
never let them see what’s underneath…”

He seemed mesmerized.

I usually look around at the faces in
the crowd, but I couldn’t take my eyes from his as I continued to
pour out my soul into the song. “There is no such thing as a
perfect life. Come as you are, broken and scarred, lift up your
heart; be amazed and be changed by your perfect God.” The look on
his face was telling me that this song was hitting him where he
lived, but I actually chose it because I felt it helped to tell my
own story. Yet, as I sang, I knew the words were digging deep into
his flesh, “He knows where you are and where you’ve been and you
never have to go there again.” The look on his face was heart
shattering, but it only gave me more fuel to pour onto the fire in
my performance. The song ended and I hopped off the
stage.

“
Great job,” Bev was yelling
at me over the din. I smiled and grabbed his arm as we moved away
from the stage.