Avra's God (9 page)

“Cisco.” Jesse jerked his head for Cisco to
follow him.

Cisco shot a grin at Avra. “I’m coming, man.
I’m talking to my girl.” He walked back to the instruments with
Jesse.

A Cuban girl in sprayed-on jeans and a
low-cut Lycra top leaned a palm on each bongo, talking rapidly to
Cisco. Cisco returned monosyllables with a clenched jaw. She spun,
her thick, dark hair arcing behind her to brush the bare skin
between her jeans and her blouse. She marched away, her shoulders
rigid.

Kallie shot a glance at Avra, but her face
was blank.

Jesse yelled, “One, two, three, four,” and
sliced his hand across the strings of his guitar. Cisco’s curls
danced with the beat. Billy hunched over the keyboard, his thatch
of hair hanging in his face like a real rocker. Jesse strutted back
and forth across the yard without a hint of the fear he’d just
shown her.

Of course, exposing his music to his peers
for the first time frightened Jesse. Why hadn’t she anticipated his
fear?

Kallie held her breath. She heard every
missed note. But the kids wouldn’t notice—the positive of playing
your own music.

In the split second after the song ended,
Jesse’s eyes darted to Kallie’s. She smiled faintly and nodded.
Good job
.

Sixty kids hooted and clapped their approval.
Jesse laughed and grinned. As the noise died down, Jesse launched
the group into “Happy Birthday, Jenna.”

Jenna giggled and feigned embarrassment. She
twirled a finger in a mahogany tress. In the middle of her
applause, Jenna threw her arms around Jesse and planted a kiss on
his lips. Jesse fell back a step, surprise written on his face. The
crowd laughed.

Kallie trailed a finger through the
wind-ruffled water and watched the squiggly lines of light radiate
outward like the chill moving through her body. Smartest thing
she’d ever done—choosing not to trust Jesse with her heart.

Cisco scooted closer and slid his arm around
Avra in the backseat of Jesse’s Neon. Everything inside her warmed
and ran together like butter and cream and brown sugar swirling
into caramel.

Jesse and a silent Kallie rode in front as
they headed toward Avra’s.

The picture of Isabel facing off with Cisco
flashed through Avra’s head. What was their history? She had a good
guess and she didn’t want to think about it now.

Jesse drummed nervous energy on the bucket
seat near Kallie’s shoulder. He broke into
You’re Callin’ My
Name.

Kallie’s soprano joined him on the chorus
.
“You’re that mysterious pond in the woods.”

Cisco jumped in with his Donald Duck voice.
“No one knows you’re even there.”

Everyone dissolved into laughter.

Wherever Cisco went, fun happened
.
She
still couldn’t believe he wanted to go out with her. She relaxed
against his side. His fingers squeezed her shoulder. Happiness
pinged and popped inside like Vernor’s Ginger Ale bubbles.

Kallie peered over Jesse’s arm, still
stretched across the seat, at Avra and Cisco. Longing showed in the
shadow-light-shadow on Kallie’s face as the car motored down State
Route 44. Her jealousy of Kallie flopped over, lifeless.

“Yeah, man, this is the life,” Cisco said.
“The kids loved our stuff. Got my girl in the backseat of the
pink-mobile. Sweet.” He squeezed Avra close. “Oughta try it, you
guys.”

“Did.” Jesse shot a sideways glance at
Kallie. “Didn’t work.”

“Little crowded with me and Jesse and half
the groupies in Jesse’s Neon,” Kallie blurted.

“Whoa. I’m not getting in the middle of your
issues. Just pointing out that life is sweeter together.” Cisco
pasted a loud kiss on Avra’s cheek.

His lips were soft and moist on her skin. She
felt the roughness of his cheek against hers, and the kiss was
over. Avra’s stomach turned over. Would she get her first real kiss
tonight? It looked so complicated on TV. She should
so
know
how to do this by now. She rubbed her clammy palms on her
jeans.

Cisco’s chest expanded and contracted against
her arm with the rhythm of his breathing. His head lolled against
the seat. Kallie stared through the windshield. Jesse darted
glances at Kallie, but said nothing.

They pulled into Avra’s driveway.

Cisco didn’t move. Avra nudged his
shoulder.

Cisco’s eyes slid open and he mumbled
something unintelligible. He rolled out of the car and stood
groggily. He yawned, knocked knuckles with Jesse through the
window. “Thanks, Jess. Good show.”

Avra threw an I-can-see-what’s-going-on look
at Kallie and scooted out of the car.
Help them talk it out,
Lord.

She stood in the driveway with Cisco and
watched Jesse’s taillights disappear down Faulkner Street.

Cisco moaned and stretched. “I’m beat. Gotta
go sleep. Pulling early shift tomorrow.”

So much for the big event
. All the
nervousness whooshed out of her.

“I’m glad you were there tonight. Thanks for
comin’. We were good, huh?” He looked at her, eyebrows raised.

“Yeah, you were good.”

A sleepy smile curved his mouth. His gaze
traveled to her lips and back to her eyes.

Her breath caught. He had to hear her heart
pounding.

His smile widened. “Don’t stress, Avra.” He
pulled her into a hug. “Good night,
mí vainilla
.” He kissed
her hair and released her. The spot he’d kissed felt warm. Her
fingertips were warm where she’d touched the back of his
sweatshirt—everywhere they’d met in that short hug felt like she’d
sat in front of Jenna’s fireplace all evening.

“What’s that in English?”

He grinned at her. “My vanilla.”

She scrunched her nose, puzzled.

He ran his knuckles over her cheek, rubbed
her hair between his fingers. “Your pale skin, light hair.”

“Oh.” She snickered.

“What’s so funny?”

“Your eyes are the color of hot fudge.” She
turned and jogged up the porch steps. “Night, Cisco.” She pivoted
with her hand on the doorknob.

He shook his head. A slow smile stretched
across his lips. He turned and headed for his Geo parked on Murray
Street.

Her first kiss was coming. Soon
.
She
felt like such an idiot. Cisco had had sex and she hadn’t even
collected one real kiss. Would a few respectable kisses over the
years have been too much to ask?

Amazing Cisco even bothered with her. But he
did. She ran up the stairs writing the words in her head she’d
scribble in her journal
. I
t’s so incredible to always
feel his eyes on me, watching for my reactions, smiling when I
smile. And he really wants to know what’s in my head, like it’s
important to him. And his touch ...

The silence in the car drummed against
Kallie’s nerves.

Jesse braked at Canal Street and motored
through the intersection. Streetlight warmed his face. He shot her
a wary look. “Tonight was incredible.”

She didn’t own Jesse. She needed to let
Jenna’s kiss go. She blew the resentment out of her lungs. “Oh, I
don’t know. I heard a few mistakes.”

Jesse tossed her a frown. “You know what I
mean. What a rush to have all those kids yelling and clapping.
Those are my songs. They love me. Wow. Unbelievable.”

“I told you so.”

Jesse eased into her driveway. “I love it
when you’re right.”

At least Jesse talked to her. And Jenna’s
kiss had been stolen. Jesse had chosen to kiss Kallie. She reached
for the door handle.

Jesse grabbed her hand. “Wait.” His eyes bore
into hers, more serious than she’d ever seen them. “Thanks for
believing in me. Without you, there’d be no band.”

Kallie drank in the glimpse of Jesse he
exposed. “I was only telling the truth.”

Jesse squeezed her hand and released it.
“Just, thanks.”

The sun slipped behind the dunes. Avra paused
with Cisco, their tennis shoes dangling from shoelaces in their
hands as a rosy tinge washed over them.

Cold sand squished between Avra’s toes. She
shivered and squirmed into the sweatshirt she’d tied around her
waist. They turned, hand in hand, to retrace their steps up the
beach.

Cisco slowed their pace. “I’d like to kiss
you. What do you think?”

She sucked in a breath.

“If you’re uncomfortable, we can do this some
other time. I’m a patient guy. I’ve been waiting a long time
already. It’ll keep.” He slowed and met her eyes. “I don’t want you
to be afraid of me.”

“I’m not afraid of you. I’m just
embarrassed—twenty years old and never been kissed.” She planted
her feet and lifted her chin toward him. “Let’s just get it over
with.”

Cisco laughed. “You’re beating on my ego.
‘Get it over with.’ Sheesh.” He tugged her by the hand and they
started walking again. “I think I’ll wait for a better offer.”

Their arms swung between them, a gentle
pendulum.

Cisco stared at the graying sky where it met
the dark water, his forehead creased. “You know, there’s nothing to
be embarrassed about. A first kiss is a rite of passage. It should
be an event to celebrate.”

So, Cisco understood this was a big deal to
her. Her feet stilled. Facing him, she drew in a deep breath and
let it go. “Okay, I’m ready.”

Cisco searched her eyes. “You’re sure?”

She nodded. She’d never been more sure.

Cisco dropped his shoes in the sand. “I’m a
happy guy.” He stepped close and slid his fingers into her hair,
his palms framing her face.

Her scalp tingled where his fingers touched.
She felt his breath on her cheek. His lips pressed soft against
hers. Warmth suffused her. And it was over much too soon.

“You’re just as sweet as I imagined,” Cisco
said huskily. His fingers drifted through her hair and rested on
her shoulders. “Was it a good first kiss?” Uncertainty hung in his
voice.

Good? That kiss was worth every second of the
twenty-year wait. “Perfect.”

Cisco bent to grab his shoes and hesitated.
He plucked a white cowrie from the sand with two fingers. He
dropped the tiny shell into her palm. “To commemorate the
event.”

Like she could forget. She slid the shell
into the pocket of her jeans.

He dropped his arm over her shoulders and
guided them down the beach.

Her arm slipped around the soft cotton of his
T-shirt, recording the solid feel of his body.

Cisco paused with his hand on the doorknob.
The
Saturday Night Live
theme song spilled onto the front
step. He’d have to kick his sisters off the couch and put his
pillow over his head to get any sleep.

He sank down onto the cement slab to wait for
silence.
Saturday Night Live
and kissing Avra for the first
time didn’t fit together.

Stars salted the licorice sky. Gardenia scent
drifted toward him from the bush at the corner of the house. He
could almost believe Avra’s God loved him. He’d never even had a
conversation with a girl as fine as Avra, much less a kiss. He
didn’t deserve her.
I’m going to do it right this time.

Kallie slid into Jesse’s Neon idling in her
driveway. Sunset had siphoned the heat from the day and there was
no wind—a good night for the band’s outdoor concert.

Jesse peppered her with words before she
could even say hi. “What have I gotten myself into? I’m going to
make a fool of myself. We’re not ready. What if nobody shows up at
Beachin’ Willie’s?”

Nervous much?
She arched her brows at
him. “They’ll come. The kids at Jenna’s party loved you guys.
They’ll come and bring friends.”

Jesse stared through the windshield, his lips
a thin line. “The music’s crap.”

Get a grip, Jess.
“What’s the matter?
Didn’t Jenna and her peeps give you enough attention this
week?”

“What they think doesn’t mean squat. They
don’t know music. You do.”

Now she regretted being so snarky. “You’ve
got it, Jess—the music, the lyrics, the pipes. Just go out there
and do it.”

Jesse’s eyes clung to hers as if he wrestled
with whether to believe her or not. Finally, his chin moved up a
fraction, then down. He turned the key in the ignition.

She sat a little straighter in her seat. She
didn’t know why a born musician and leader like Jesse needed her to
inflate his confidence, but it sure felt good. So he lapped up the
bobbleheads’ praise. When he was desperate, he came to her.

Kallie sat beside Avra at a card table loaded
with sound equipment in the middle of Beachin’ Willie’s carless
parking lot. The beat from Cisco’s drums throbbed toward them,
tumbling with the crash of the surf behind them. A cluster of girls
danced nearby. Couples gyrated in the yellow haze of the
streetlights. Beachin’ Willie’s neon sign glared behind the band.
The rancid-sweet scent of marijuana blew in off the beach. Kallie
wrinkled her nose and eyed the police cruiser parked in front of
Inlet Charlie’s Surf Shop.

The set ended. Avra stood and stretched
behind the sound board. “Watch the equipment while I get a
Coke?”

“Sure.”

Avra strode toward the snack bar half of
Willie’s arcade.

Kallie’s gaze idly skimmed the kids standing
in groups talking. Jesse shook hands with a man whose yellowing
gray hair swiped around a bald dome into a ponytail. Jesse’s eyes
found hers and he crossed the distance between them.

Kallie ran a hand over her wind-blown
hair.

Jesse planted his palms on the table and
leaned toward her. His smile reached his eyes. “I guess we brought
in the bucks for ol’ Willie. He’s giving us a regular Friday night
gig—for money.”

She jumped up, her arms lifting, body leaning
toward him before she realized she was going for a hug. Her thigh
bumped against the table, and she dropped her arms.
“Congratulations!” She flashed a smile instead. “I told you
so.”