Black Tuesday (19 page)

“I can't take that, Meadow. You bought it. It's yours.”

Meadow took a mall shopping bag from a stack they were standing by. She put the shirt in it and handed it to Jayne.

“Who said anything about buying it?”

30

YOU SMELL NICE.” Darian leaned over and brushed his lips against hers.

“Thanks.” Jayne fastened the seat belt and adjusted it so it wasn't cutting her boob in half. Not exactly the look she was going for. “It's my own blend. A little Clinique Happy mixed with some Dove body wash.”

Darian kissed the corner of her mouth. “Whatever it is, it makes me want to lick you up.” Jayne felt his tongue dart out. “As sweet as I thought.”

Jayne wound down the window and the warm night air swept across her face. Thoughts about the credit card and Meadow's five-finger discount were still swirling around in her head.

“You're sure it's okay that I'm coming? Meadow was a little pissed at me today.”

Jayne had all but called Meadow a thief. She wouldn't take the bag with the shirt inside, either.

She could pierce her belly button, tattoo her skin, be rude to her mom, tell it like it was to her dad.

But she couldn't steal.

“She likes you plenty. Especially after she sees the gift we're both giving her.” He jerked his thumb behind him.

“You should've told me you were getting her something.” She fidgeted with the clasp on her bracelet. Darian's bracelet. “I could've helped you look or something. I'm pretty good with girl gifts.”

“All's good.” He turned onto a street that started to incline sharply. They were on one of the few hills that were in the city known as the Valley. “Mom picked it up for me. She's known Meadow since we started first grade.”

Jayne tried to make out what was in the backseat of the sedan, but all she saw was a plastic grocery bag. “What is it?”

“A Louis something or other. It's some kind of big-deal purse girls like.”

Meadow was getting a Louis Vuitton? From Darian? Jayne twisted the bracelet around her wrist a few times. She looked down at the bracelet. It looked like he gave all the girls he knew expensive gifts.

“How much do I owe you?” Jayne's stomach twisted.
Stop it, Jayne. Darian's her best friend. Best friends give nice gifts. Tom's given you nice gifts before. Remember that signed Richard Avedon book he got you?

The memory was little consolation. It made her start thinking about Tom.

“My mom paid for it, so don't worry about it.”

His mom picked it out and paid for it. Darian didn't. It was his mom
. Jayne felt her heart ache a little less.

“Mom always spends too much money on stuff. Knowing her, she probably spent half of her alimony check on that stupid bag. Wanting people at Nordstrom to think she's still rich, like when her and my dad were still married.”

She could tell he was looking at her as they slowly maneuvered up the steep street. Jayne checked. He was.

“If it was me, Meadow would've gotten a birthday card.” He grinned at her, his teeth showing white in the inky darkness. “An e-mailed birthday card.”

Jayne immediately felt the boulder that had lodged in her throat shift. She looked at the houses that crawled by and started to breathe normally again. “Meadow lives up here? This is pretty nice.”

“No, she's out in Gilbert, where it smells like horse crap. Which is really unfortunate, since she lives in the biggest house I've seen in my life.” Darian stopped in front of a three-story square house, floodlights shining on the adobe. “This is just a pit stop.”

He got out of the car before leaning back in. “I'll be right back, darlin'. The key's still in the ignition if you want to turn on the air conditioner or the radio.”

As he made his way up the cement sidewalk, the only sounds Jayne heard were his footsteps and a three-tiered fountain. The air was a tiny bit cooler up here, and Jayne closed her eyes. The running water, the leather seat, and the lingering memory of “darlin'” made her feel like she was living the best moment of her life so far.

About five minutes later, the driver's-side door opened again.

“Got what you needed?” Jayne opened her eyes, a small smile still plastered on her face.

“Hell yeah.” Darian was sucking on a cigarette, the orange glow at the end of it getting brighter as he inhaled.

When he exhaled, she realized it wasn't a cigarette.

“I've got some fine, ge-nu-wine skunk here.” He held up a brown paper bag.

“Skunk?” The word was barely audible. Somehow, she didn't think he was carrying a carcass in there. The smell kind of told her that.

“Marijuana, darlin'.” He started the engine and gently put the bag behind her seat. He took the joint from between his lips and puffed a ring of smoke toward her. “We've gotta bring something to cover up that nasty smell out in farm country.”

Jayne jammed her hands between her thighs and the seat. For the life of her, she wanted to look inside that bag. To see if it actually contained what looked like a bag full of pot.

But if the police stopped their car, she didn't want her fingerprints all over it.

Then again, fingerprints would be the least of her worries, what with her probation and all. Just being in a five-foot radius was going to get her in trouble.

The sound of a window going down interrupted her thoughts. Darian flicked his butt outside, and he puffed one more perfect ring in her direction. He looked like a little boy who'd just done something cute.

This was
so
not cute.

“Darian, I don't know if it's such a good idea to have that bag back there what with me on probation and all.”

He punched the “1” on the CD changer, and the soft sounds of some ballad started up. It sounded a lot like what the student body voted on for the theme of last year's homecoming dance.

Jayne didn't know whether she thought Darian's song choice was cheesy or endearing.

“I don't plan on getting pulled over, darlin'.” He pulled her hand up on the armrest between them. He clasped it in his larger, stronger, very comforting one. “Just sit back, enjoy the ride, and we'll be at Meadow's in no time.”

Jayne tried to relax. She really did. She rolled back her shoulders, stretched her neck to the right, then to the left.

But the tension was there. And so was that bag.

“I can't do this, Darian.” They were on the U.S. 60, going a good twenty miles over the speed limit.

She didn't brave a look in Darian's direction. Her head felt cemented in place as she stared at the dark abyss of the floor in front of her.

Jayne kept waiting for him to pull over. And make her walk home.

He lifted her hand and she felt warm, moist lips press against the inside of her wrist. She chanced a look up.

Darian was looking at the road, which was a good thing since they were barreling down the freeway at a good eighty-five, ninety miles an hour. He had a smile on his lips, and he pressed her hand against the smooth, tanned skin of his cheek.

“That bag o' trouble is about to be history.” He let go of her hand and pressed the button that released the top of the convertible. It unlatched and started sliding down. Darian reached an arm between the front seats.

He switched to the carpool lane, with its wide shoulder. “Any last words for that troublesome bag of ours?”

She shook her head. She was going to make him a batch of the famous Thompkins chocolate chip cookies. No, make it two.

And maybe even with real sugar.

“Okay then. Off it goes.”

Jayne darted a quick look behind them. Nope. No cop cars. At least no marked ones.

“Maybe we should get off the freeway and . . .”

Before she could finish the thought, Darian lifted his arm and let the wind pick up his offering.

Jayne turned to see a thousand-dollar purse fly out of the car.

 

“Are you crazy?” Jayne screamed over the wind. The car was going close to ninety-five miles per hour, causing currents of air to whip across her cheeks.

“Darlin', what
would've
been crazy was if I'd thrown away that grade-A weed.” Darian shot her a look that made her think of the time rotten Aaron Belser had kicked the chair out from under her in Mrs. Tate's first-grade class. “Anyway, Meadow's got a ton of those damn purses that she sells on eBay because she'd rather have the money for her own poison. She'll get loads more fun out of that brown paper sack back there, trust me.”

Trust him? Jayne was too busy trying to remember how to breathe and keep her heart from bursting out of her chest like some kind of alien spawn.

But freaking out was the old Jayne. She was now the new and improved Jayne.

The one who was in control of her destiny. The one who had her own mind. And who made her own decisions.

The one who still didn't know what she wanted. Well, who knew that she didn't want drugs in the car. But didn't want to piss off the boy who liked her. What a day.

What a life.

She reached in back and pulled out the bag, using her knuckles and not her fingers. She looked inside.

The bag was almost full of pot. How much did one girl need on her birthday?

“Darian, you got all of this for Meadow?”

“Some of it.”

“What's happening with the rest of it?”

Darian took the bag and rolled it back up. He put it back behind Jayne's seat. “Jayne, don't act like you're six.”

Jayne twisted the bracelet on her wrist. It felt like a hand-cuff. A shackle tying her to this guy she didn't even know. She remembered her first day at Outreach, when she asked what Darian was doing there.

“I take it you'll be selling this marijuana?”

“Ding, ding, ding, give the girl a prize.”

31

JAYNE WENT AHEAD of Darian into the party. If she stayed anywhere near him, she was going to smack him. Or worse.

But she didn't smack him. Instead, she smacked into someone as soon as she entered the dimly lit house. Ellie. And whatever was in her cup sloshed onto Jayne's bare toes.

“Elle?”

“Jaynie.” Ellie giggled as she said the word. A tall blond boy stood behind her, his arms around her waist—and touching the underside of Ellie's breasts. “You remember Derek. He's a senior over at East Phoenix High. The one who had that houseboat party, remember?”

Jayne gave him a quick glance. Nothing special there. “I thought you went to the movies with your friends?”

Her sister, slightly unsteady on her feet, said in an overly loud whisper, “As far as Mom and Dad know, I'm at the movies. And I only partially lied. Derek here is a friend.”

Ellie wasn't just having problems with her balance. Her words were all slurred. “Friend” had come out in three syllables.

Jayne pulled the drink out of Ellie's hand and sniffed it. She about threw up smelling the stuff. “You could fuel a car on whatever's in here.”

Ellie grabbed the drink back, sloshing most of it down the black tank top she was wearing. “You're always such a downer, Jaynie. And just when I thought you'd gotten cool.”

Cool? Finding out you're dating a drug dealer, getting belittled by said drug dealer, and getting cheap alcohol spilled onto her all within the last ten minutes had her feeling like the biggest loser in the room.

“Why don't you go home and study or something?” Ellie pointed toward the exit.

Her words plunged straight into Jayne's stomach. First Darian, now Ellie?

Jayne plucked the cigarette out of Ellie's hand. Those breathing exercises were a load of crap. Nicotine, now there was a problem solver.

She took a drag. And felt like she was burning her lungs and the inside of her nose. She dropped it into Ellie's drink.

“Have fun, Elle.”

“Hey! Why'd you ruin my drink?”

Jayne put her lips against Ellie's ear. “You're a diabetic, idiot. You will die if you drink too much.”

Jayne turned and started toward the front door. Darian was standing there. She turned back around. She felt trapped. She didn't want to stay in here and watch her sister swapping DNA samples. That left the pool, which she saw through the back windows. She headed that way.

And didn't turn back.

Jayne regretted her decision almost immediately.

Lori and Jenna were smoking on two chaise longues. And Missy Travers, her tennis nemesis, was digging through a cooler and pulling out a bottle of water.

This night just kept getting better and better.

“Jayne? Jayne Thompkins? Is that really you?”

“Missy. Hey.”

Missy bounced over, unscrewing the top of the bottle. “You cut your hair. And colored it. And . . . God, you just look so different.” She took a swig. “You look like a different person altogether.”

Jayne gave her a wan smile and started walking around her. She'd decided about ten seconds ago, when her options out here went from bad to worse, to go back inside, find Ellie, and end the horrible portion of this evening.

“You look really great.”

Jayne slowed down. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. Really. I mean, you looked pretty before, but now you're like . . . striking. Gorgeous.” She took another drink. “I hope you don't think I'm going all lesbo on you. I just love those makeover shows on TV, and you've had one heck of a makeover.”

This was the first time anyone had really said anything nice about her changes. Ellie hadn't liked the change. Tom didn't see why she had to change. Her mom just went postal. Her dad ignored it. Everyone else who liked it hadn't known her for too long.