Barbie World (Baby Doll Series) (19 page)

Chapter 27.
Dylan

“I think you were supposed to take that exit back there,” Third says, holding up the map.

“No, my phone says to stay right here on the highway.” I shake my phone at him.

“Yeah, well, I hope your phone tells you how to revive your friend who is going to pass out from low blood sugar because that is what is about to happen to me if I don’t eat soon,” Third whines. He has been crying every time we drive passed a sign with golden arches on it.

“I already told you, we are not stopping until we get to the girls. Did you text Roxie to see where they are?” We decided to play it safe and have Third act like he is really interested in their trip. I am afraid that Barbie will get skittish if she finds out that I am on my way to get her.

“Yeah, all she said was, ‘can’t talk. Caffeine withdrawals.’ The girl does love herself some coffee.” He smiles.

I roll my eyes. “I don’t see what you see in her, really.” I admit to him because I really don’t see the attraction in either direction. I know I have no room to talk, that Barbie and I are completely opposite as they come, but Third and Roxie… that is just weird.

“Dude, she is the chime to my bell, the bee to my bonnet and all that good stuff. I don’t know, just when I look at her, I get this feeling… “

“Gas?” I offer.

“No. It is something more like a bahzing or a shock. I don’t know, it’s weird.” He shakes his head. “When I see her, it is like she is the only girl in the world, ya know?” Yeah, I know.

###

I sit in my truck with the windows down, letting the heat swim around me as sweat beads down my back, wetting the thin fabric of my shirt. I stare down at a picture I took of Barbie and me, my hair is a mess and I am smiling like a fool. Barbie is kissing me on my cheek, her mouth
smashed up against it, her arms wrapped around my neck, pulling me closer. It was the last picture I took of us.

“Hey whatcha you got there? Mrs. December? She is so hot.” The truck shifts under Third’s weight as he deposits his bounty onto the seat and some kind of wrapped cake tumbles to the floor board.

“What? No snickers?” I tease.

“No worries, I got them.” He shifts, reaching into his back pocket and producing a fist full of candy bars. He unwraps one, stuffing it into his mouth. “Mmmm… I thought I was going to die from starvation.” I place the picture of Barbie and me back on my dashboard, a reminder of what I am driving towards.

###

“Wooooo! T
urn this up, it is my jam.” Third cranks up the radio, ignoring the popping that comes from the small, fragile speakers, and does an air guitar to an AC/DC song.

“Dude, knock that shit off.” I turn down the radio, trying to preserve the last speaker I have.

“Stop the car!” Third shouts.

“Look, I am sorry, but I only have one speaker left-”

“STOP THE CAR!” he bellows again. “There are the girls!”

I slam on the brakes, smoke rolls passed the window and the smell of burning tires fills the cab. We both choke, but I still manage to slam the truck in reverse. Tires squealing, we back up and I keep her in my review mirror. She looks right at me; standing on the driver’s side of the car, one black boot is on the gravel the other planted on the black top. The wind blows stray pieces of her hair across her face from the high bun she wears. She is wearing a cream, knee-length, lace dress with a black belt that cinches it tight across her waist, showing off her curves. Her arm is littered in the black, plastic bracelets she loves to wear.

I park behind them, that’s when I notice the hood popped up, they are broken down. A small flutter forms in my chest. I might have saved the day; the Knight she needed, riding to her rescue.

Third is the first to stumble out of the truck, tripping, he pulls up his pants and jogs over to the girls. “Where’s my woman,” he bellows, pounding his chest.

“Dying from either a heatstroke or caffeine withdrawals and I am not your woman.” Roxie leans forward. She is lying on the ground behind the trunk that offers little shade.

“Don’t worry, Daddy’s here.” Third reaches out his hands, opening and closing his fists at her. What’s he going to do pick her up like a baby?

“Seriously?” Roxie says, shaking her head and lying back down in the gravel.

Smiling, I walk towards Barbie She must be relieved to see me. I wonder how long they have been broken down for. Her lip twitches at the sight of me, a smile playing on them. Yep, she is happy to see me.

“What the hell are you doing here?” She crosses her arms over her chest and juts out her hip, her face changing expression. I skid to a stop. Uh-oh. She is pissed.

“We came to find you.” I take another step towards her.

“Well, you found me, now go.” No way. I came too far to find this girl and I am not about to let her go, ever. Ignoring her, I walk around her to the front of the car.

“How long have y’all been broken down for?”

“None of your business. Now leave, Dylan. I don’t need you trying to play knight in shining armor.” She follows me to the front of the car.

“Yes, you do.” I say back.

“I do. I am about to die here,” Roxie quips from somewhere on the ground.

“It looks like you might have a blown head gasket.” I unscrew the cap to the radiator and stream rises out of the small opening.

“Well, thanks for the info.” Barbie crosses her arms again and leans against the front of the car.

“I can fix it. There is a town about ten miles from here. I am sure I can get the parts from a-” She turns towards me. “I said we don’t need your help.”

“Look, I can fix it.”

“No.”

“God, you are being ridiculous.” She juts out her chin and glares at me. “Just let me fix it. If you say no, I am still not going to leave you along the side of the road like some people-”

“Kai went to go get help.”

“I am not leaving you on the side of the road and that is it. So you can either let me help you, and you get rid of me faster, or we can post up here and wait for dream boy to get back, which could take hours. I sure am not about to leave until the car is safely on the road, though. Hey, Third, do you have any more of those candy bars?” I turn and start walking back towards my truck. “Yeah, but I think they might be a little melted. I think I sat on them by accident.”

“Okay,” she says. I stop and smile then quickly wipe it from my face before turning back to her.

“I have the tools in the back of my truck, but we need to go get the parts.” I wait for her to respond with an okay lets go, but instead she glares at me. She is so mad I can practically see the anger rolling of her. “Well” I gesture towards my truck.

“Oh, no.” She shakes her head.

“Like I said, we can either do it the easy way or the hard way, and angel, it looks like we have a lot of time to kill, no one is going anywhere anytime soon.”

Chapter 28.
Barbie

I refuse to look at Dylan. I am practically shaking, I am so angry at him. What did he think? That he could just ride in, scoop me up like a damsel in distress, and I would go with him? Okay, so I am kind of damseling it at the moment, but still. I am not going home with him, like he thinks I am going to. I am on a mission and nothing is going to deviate me from my path. Not even cute boys who ride in trying to save the day.

I glance over at him. Crap, why did I have to look at him? He is wearing that stupid smirk of his that he wears when he gets his way. God, he thinks he is so cute. I peel my eyes away from his face and glue them to his arms. His biceps flex as he grips the steering wheel, they are slick with sweat. Warmth spreads up my legs, pooling in the pit of my stomach. I want to reach over and touch his arm.

“So have you and Kai been having fun?” That infuriating smile on his face. If he wants to play games then bring it. He might have put on a few pounds and think he is the shit, but I will knock him right back down.

“Yeah, we have been havin’ a real good time, if you know what I mean.” I wink at him and bite suggestively on my lower lip as if merely the thought of Kai is getting me all hot and bothered. He cringes. “Why do you do that?” He grits his teeth and the steering wheel a little tighter. “Why don’t you just admit you still have feeling for me?”

“No, I don’t. Why can’t you just admit it; that I am completely, one hundred percent, over you?”

I reach over and poke him in the bicep, no longer able to resist. I am only human. In one quick movement he grabs my hand, lacing his fingers in mine and that rush is back, running up my fingers, tingling my palm. I stare at our interlocked hands, breathing heavily as he brings our hands up to his face, rubbing them along his jaw line and then to his mouth. He hesitates for a moment too long before he encloses each one of my knuckles between his lips. Each time I inhale deeply, wait with anticipation for the next kiss. It is all I can do to keep my eyes from fluttering closed.

We ride the rest of the way in silence. I leave my hand in his, enjoying the small, stolen moment

Chapter 29.
Dylan

After I fix the car we grab something to eat at the restaurant in the gas station before hitting the road. Kai is pissed that we are here, but he is not saying anything. We leave my truck at the gas station and pile into Kai’s car with the excuse that it could break down again. Kai and Barbie sit in the front seat while Third, Roxie and I are crammed into the back. I am surprisingly happy, despite our sitting arrangements.

“Pull over.” Roxie leans over the front seat. “Quick.” Kai jerks the car off the road.

“If she pukes on my seats-” Kai begins, but Roxie opens the door, heaving, nearly missing the immaculate interior of Kai’s car, before he can even finish the sentence.

“Shit.” Kai scrubs his face. I bet he is thinking twice now about taking this little road trip. Roxie scrambles out of the car with Third on her tail. “Come on, can she be anymore melodramatic?”

I look in the review mirror as Third rubs her back in small circular motions and I almost envy him for being able to take care of the girl he is in love with while the girl I love is pushing me away. I catch her eyes in the mirror, concern written in those oceans.

“Do you think I should go and check on her?” She bites at her lip nervously.

“She didn’t get any on the interior, did she?” Kai asks. Barbie’s mouth drops open.

“No, asshole, she didn’t,” I say, unable to stop myself.

“You know what? Fuck you,” Kai says, pouting. I don’t get what she sees in the kid. If she doesn’t want to be with me, fine, but she can at least find someone who is less of an ass-hat. I grab a bottle of water from the floorboard and get out of the car.

Roxie is bent over, dry-heaving. “Here” I hand Third the bottle of water and sit down on the side of the road. I would rather be out here with Roxie up-chucking than spend another second in the car where I can’t figure out what hill I am on. One moment, I am thinking about Barbie climbing out of the lake; the next, I am pissed off and I can’t get a hold of my anger. If I had known girls would be so much trouble, I would have forgotten about them a long time ago.

Roxie plops down next to me, wiping at her nose with the back of her hand. “I should have listened to you about not eating gas station food.”

“My mom drilled that into me after seeing one too many food poisonings in the ER.” I toss a rock into the ditch.

“You are not as bad as I thought,” she says.

“See, I told you,” Third says next to her.

Chapter 30.
Barbie

We finally make it to a hotel. Kai is checking in for us since he is the only one with a credit card. Roxie, Third and Dylan are leaning against the hood of Kai’s car. I can no longer hold in my frustration of the day. I corner Dylan before he escapes to the safety of his room and avoid my wrath.

“What the hell are you really doing here?” I ask.

“We told you; we came to get our women,” Third says, standing next to Roxie with googley eyes.

“Women?” Roxie raises her eyebrows she still looks green, and might puke again.

“I mean, Dylan’s woman.” He smiles sheepishly.

“Oh no, Dylan, I am not going anywhere with you two! You need to go back home and,” I begin before I turn to face Third and continue, “I am not Dylan’s woman!”

“Barbie things between me and you-” “Are over!” Kai is now flanking my side, looking dark and dangerous. I know he is ready for a fight now and Dylan might not be so lucky this time.

“They have been over.” I look up at Kai reassuringly.

“No, it is not.” His jaw is set and he speaks more to Kai than me.

“Look, dude, I am about sick of this. What? You think after the shit you put her through that you would ride up on your white horse and what; she would come back to you.” Kai snorts.

“Really? What do you think? She is going to choose you with your lame rocker gimmick? Well, you don’t know Barbie like I do and she can see through your bullshit.”

“Okay, that’s enough.” I step between them. I feel like my head is going to explode at any moment. “I just learned I have a cousin. I might have a real family. One that I did not know existed and no one is going to ruin that. Not you or you.” I point to Kai and Dylan. “Dylan, if you are hanging around, I suggest you shut up and deal with Kai. And Kai.” I turn to him and he holds up his hands in mock surrender. “Ugh, just don’t do anything stupid”

“Wouldn’t dream of it, angel face.” He smiles a mischievous grin at me.

I grabs key from Kai’s hand and my bag of the ground. Third.” I turn to Third who jerks his head in my direction. “You come with me.” I storm off towards the hotel room. “How could you let him come? You know how important it is that I get some sort of closure from my grandmother.”I say to him when we are safely I empty out my bag on the brown comforter and shift through the contents. Why didn’t I grab one of those new outfits that Mrs. Knight brought me? I sigh and sit on the bed.

“B, you are not mad at me, are you?” Third sits on the floor Indian style, biting at the skin on his thumb.

I sigh and flop back down against the bed “Yes. No. Why did you let him come?”

“Because it didn’t matter what I said, he would go anyway and also, it was kind of my idea,” he adds impishly

“Third!” I grab a pillow from behind me and toss it at him.

“B, you two are meant to be together; you are just too stubborn to see it. He is meant for you and you for him. You two, not being together, is like saying Romeo and Juliet should have never been in love.”

“They shouldn’t have; they killed themselves to be together!” I shout at him.

“Okay, bad example. Everything just seems right when you two are together. Plus, it gives hope for guys like me that there might be a girl out there that can love me for me.”

I sigh again all my anger at him evaporated. “Third, I am not sure what I want. Being with Dylan is complicated.” I bury my face into my hands.

“Yeah, well, suck it up. Life is complicated.” I peek at him through my fingers. “Sorry, life is not that complicated, only crazy woman like you are complicated. Dude, what’s the hang up? Dylan is a smoking hottie and if you don’t pounce on that fine piece of man flesh someone else will.”

I groan and flop down to the floor. “It is not that easy! You make it sound like all I have to do is choose and then everything will just magically work out. I know that life doesn’t happen that way for me. What happens to me and Everett when his mom finds out I am dating her son if I were to choose him?” I add, pretending for Third, who is not fooled that I wouldn’t choose to be with Dylan. I think about are stolen moments and I groan again, rolling onto my side and pulling my knees up to my chest.

“No one is going to let you or Everett live on the streets and be separated. Everyone knows how important Everett is to you and we love the little booger as much and we all love you. Now, all you have to do is get rid of Kai when we get back to Dylan’s truck.” He smiles at me.

“I never said I would choose Dylan,” I lie. “Let me first get through this. I cannot think straight. I have too much on my mind, like trying to find the grandmother I’ve never met and the truth about why she left.”

He flops back on the floor next to me. “Fine, but when this is over, you tell Kai to kick rocks!”

“I am not about to tell Kai to kick rocks, Third.”

“But…”

“No but’s. I am not about to make any decisions about my love life.”

“But… “

“I love you, Third, but I need to figure out my family first. So please, be my friend and stop pushing this Dylan thing on me.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

###

I let my nerves get the best of me and let Roxie dress me, who is feeling better, in one of the dresses she brought; a black, spaghetti strapped sundress with a red dragon up the thigh. The black material hangs loose around my frame.

I feel like a little kid on Christmas as I stand on the front steps of the trailer. I knock on the door, full of anticipation of what is waiting for me on the other side. Inside, music plays from either a TV or a radio. Roe is the one who answers the door, still wearing her cowboy boots; however her sun dress has been replaced with short, jean shorts and a thin, white tank top.

“Ya came,” she says with an attitude to her voice. Maybe she thought I wouldn’t come.

I hand her the bouquet of daisies I picked up from the gas station. It felt wrong just showing up empty handed with nothing but a ‘hello,’ you are my step-grandmother and you made my mom’s life a living hell. Do you know where I can find my real grandma, so I can get closure from a part of my life that never existed?’

“Of course,” I let out the breath I was holding. Roe steps aside, inviting me in; I take another deep breath and step inside. The trailer is narrow with dark wood paneling on the walls. I can cross the whole thing with ten big steps. I stand in a living room where a large couch lines the side of the trailer and a TV blares MTV2 music videos.

I take another attentive step forward and continue to explore my new surroundings. Is this where Momma grew up, in this small trailer with its wood paneled walls? Was she ever happy here or were her memories correct and filled
with nothing other than hurt? Suddenly, I feel like the walls are closing in on me and I want to curl up in a ball and cry. Why did I come here? This is the woman that made her the way she is. That made her sick. That made her love the pills and liquor more than me and Everett.

The lights of the TV disorient me and I feel light-headed. Please don’t let me pass out. I flop down onto a dark rocking chair, willing the room to still.

“Hey, ya okay? Ya not gonna’ hurl are you?” Roe is watching me with cautiousness in her eyes.

“I think I might have made a mistake. What am I doing here?” I say my thoughts out loud. Tears burning at the back of my throat.

“I thought ya wanted to meet your step-grandma and the rest of your family?” Roe looks annoyed again.

“The rest of my family?”

“Yeah, didn’t you know? I am guessing you are Aunt Ashley’s daughter since Daddy only had one sister…” She looks at me like she is speaking to a dumb little kid and I feel like one.

“My mother had a brother?”

She rolls her eyes. “A twin.”

“A twin,” I repeat, trying to process this new piece of information. Roe walks over to a dusty shelf and plucks a small, gold frame off it before shoving it under my nose. It is a picture of my mother. She looks to be my age with her long, mousey brown hair shinning against the sun. She is free of the wrinkles that flank her eyes now and the dark purple circles are gone. She is sitting on the stairs that I climbed to get here, but there is a guy that wears her face, he has his arms around her. They are laughing at something my uncle has said. My uncle. I have an uncle. A family. I was not alone like I thought. Why did Momma keep this from me? Why didn’t she tell me the truth? We could have been happy.

“What’s his name?” I choke against the tears that threaten to spill now for a different reason. I could have had a family all this time. I didn’t have to go through what I went through alone. What if all those nights that I ran to a neighbors, I could have been running into the arms of an uncle.

“My daddy?” Roe asks and I nod my head. It feels too heavy on my shoulders as it bobs around. “Adam,” she says, a sadness filling her small face. “He died,” she adds.

A weight settles onto my chest at the news and I silently mourn an uncle I never met. “Oh, when you said family, I assumed… “ I trail off.

“I meant my asshole, older brother, Ryker,” she says.

The trailer door swings open and it is suddenly filled with people, teenage boys to be exact. They walk right passed me, not noticing me in the corner, clutching the picture to my chest.

“Y’all mind.” Roe kicks one of the boy’s feet off a table they just propped them on. “We have company.” She rolls her eyes and walks towards the oldest boy with a shaved head. “Her name is Barbie. She’s Aunt Ashley’s daughter.” She smiles as the boy’s eyes go wide.

His hand stills; he is in the midst of shoving a sandwich in his mouth. “Out.” He points to the door dropping the sandwich to the counter.

“What? Nana is making chili and she invited us,” one of the younger looking boys whines.

“Out, now,” he demands again before turning to Roe. “Does Grans know?” She shakes her head no, her black curls bouncing around her. Okay, so I have another cousin and he is kind of intense. “Out,” he commands again, grabbing one of the kids by the scruff of his neck and pushing him towards the door.

“Okay, man, I am going, I am going. No need to be all rough with me.”

Once the house is cleared, Ryker drops to the couch and stares at me dumbfounded. I feel really weird. “Hi, I’m Barbie,” I offer him my name even though Roe had already told him.

“Do you know how long my Grans has looked for your momma? We grew up hearing stories of our aunt Ashley.” He shakes his head.

“I didn’t know.” The tears are back, threatening.

“You never knew?” He scrubs his face. Roe looks back and forth between us.

“She is looking for Josephine.” She sings. Roe goes and sits on the armrest of the couch next to Ryker.

“What!” He sits up. “Why?” I am taken aback by his sudden shift in moods and the intensity of his stare.
Damn, we look just fucking alike.

“She is my grandmother!” I bristle.

“Yeah, and she was a damn bitch that rode out on our parents.” I stand up. What right does this kid have to judge me?

“But Roe said… “

He lets out a sharp laugh. “She is a damn liar. She has been trying to find her for the last year in half. She thinks that she will actually give a damn about her dreams of becoming a country singer and help launch her into stardom. And you coming around is just stirring the thought she might find her, too.” My head is spinning as I try to process this new piece of information. No matter what, I need to find her. I came this far and I am not going to let anyone stop me. Not him or Roe. For once in my life, this is about me and no one else.

“It is not just a dream Ry, I can sing, that talent man that came to town said with the right kind of coaching I can make it!” She hollers at him. He grabs her by her thin arm and starts to yell back at her. They both try to scream over the others words. I cringe as his big hand is wrapped tightly around her and her hair bounces wildly around her tiny tear streaked face.

“Stop! Let her go!” I grab onto his arm. They both stop and blink at me as if they just realized I am in the room.

“I don’t know anything about no singing career and I didn’t come to get her all riled up. I just need to find Josephine, now do you know where I can find her, or not?” I ask defensively. He lets go of Roe and spins towards me, he is big and try’s to us that to be intimidating, but little. Does he know I have taken on bigger? I square my shoulder at him ready for a fight. Finally he answers me.

“No, and if I did, I wouldn’t tell you.” He crosses his arms across his chest.

“Ry, tell her about Josephine,” Roe begs trying to help.

I am in some weird standoff with two of my cousins that, just a few hours ago, I didn’t know existed. “I am not telling her a damn thing. She is supposedly our cousin that we don’t even know, to an aunt we don’t even know is still alive-” he throws his hands in the air.

“She is alive.” Barely. I think about how my mother looked in that orange jumpsuit. So fragile, like she could break at any moment. I have to do this for her. I have to find the mother that gave her up and find out why. Maybe if my momma knew that her mother truly loved her, it will fix whatever is broken inside of her. What is broken in me? “Please, I need to find her. If you have any idea where she might be… please.”