Lost in Flight (36 page)

Mandy was also staring at Christina in wide-eyed, open-mouthed, shock.  To her credit, Mandy was trying not to laugh and making “don’t worry” gestures at Christina.  Nula, however, was looking her up and down like she was the whore of Babylon. 

Bonnie buried her face in her hands in sympathetic shame, but she was the first to react.  Taking the serene approach, Bonnie said, “Dina, here let me help you down from there and we’ll get you dressed.” 

Bonnie’s comments inspired Asha to take control as well.  “What a good idea, Bonnie.  Come, Christina, sweetheart.  You don’t need to stand there in your underwear in front of us all.” 

As Bonnie needed to have her dress hemmed, Asha led Christina out to Mandy’s bedroom.  When she was leaving, Asha rubbed Christina’s shoulder and then squeezed it in sympathy.  Christina was so embarrassed.  Right now, she hated Riley and herself. 

Quickly getting dressed, Christina returned to the sitting room where all eyes were on Bonnie.  Nula gave Christina a filthy look when she returned which she studiously ignored.  Keeping her eyes on Bonnie, Christina caught Mandy’s signal.  Looking over she saw Mandy mouth the words:  “What the hell?”  Christina shrugged her shoulders and shook her head.  There was quite an uncomfortable silence in the room and no one knew what to say.

After the bridesmaids had been fitted, Mandy put her wedding dress on.  It was a white strapless Princess Wedding gown, with a soft satin shimmer, and a full organza skirt.  She had satin gloves to go with it and a tiara.  Yes, a tiara, and Mandy was an absolute vision.  She was going to be the most beautiful bride one could possibly imagine.

********************

When Christina arrived home from Mandy’s, Johnny had arrived and was in the garage.  She heard voices and stiffened, but relaxed when she realized it wasn’t Riley.  Her relief didn’t last long, when she heard part of the conversation.  It was Dave Warnock, Mandy’s soon to be husband, giving Johnny the low-down on what happened last night.  “Have you seen Riley?”

Johnny said, “Uh nah.  I just got here.” 

“He and Dina hooked up last night,” Dave said in an annoyed tone.  “I told him, but he won’t listen.”  When Johnny made no response, Dave continued.  “Dina has hickeys all over her.  Like all - over-her and…”

Christina heard Johnny interrupt him sharply.  “Hey-man, that’s my kid sister you’re talking about.  Stop telling me this shit.” 

She heard Dave apologize.  “Oh, sorry man.  Yeah.  Sorry.  I forget sometimes.” 

Trying not to die of mortification and exit before she was discovered, Christina didn’t know what to do.  She certainly didn’t want to go into the garage and see Johnny now.  She was about to run into the house when Johnny came out.  His face lit up and he opened his arms.  “Come here, Dina.” 

She ran to him and hugged him, noticing how thin he was.  He’d grown his wavy dark hair to his shoulders and had a slight goatee, but he was Johnny.  Tears came unbidden and she started to sniff. 

Johnny pulled her close saying quietly, “I got you.”  As they put their arms around each other and started walking to the house, Johnny called over his shoulder.  “Dave, Dina’s here.  We’re going in the house now,” effectively ending Dave’s visit. 

Dave came out looking a bit sheepish.  “Ah, hey – hey, Dina.  How are you?  See you later” and took his leave.

She could tell Johnny was irritable, which was unusual for him.  He’d always been a pacifist and mellow, violence was un-cool to Johnny.  Always popular and well liked, everyone wanted to hang out with him.  He had the ability to calm people down through the fear of disappointing him if they acted out. 

Christina realized years later that this was a trait he and their mother shared:  that and a love of family.  But right now, Johnny was agitated and acting out of character.  There was something brittle about him that she’d never seen before and she wondered if it was the stress from being on the road.

Knowing she was down, Johnny did the heavy lifting on the conversation, which was also unlike him.  He usually disappeared into his own world imagining music, but he kept a running commentary of what he’d been doing since they last saw each other.  He’d drift off halfway through their discussion and then go off on random tangents about the world. 

********************

The Martins were sitting at the kitchen table when Christina saw Riley’s truck pull up and she scowled.  All eyes slid to her and Gabby said, “UH OH.”  Johnny waved at Gabby.  “Shush.” 

Dad cleared his throat.  “Now, Dina,” but she cut them all off by getting up from the table. 

“I’m going to stay at Mandy’s tonight, so I’ll see you later.”  She stormed into her bedroom, slammed the door shut and packed a bag.  Gabby was grinning at her like a Cheshire cat when she walked out of her room, but Christina put a stop to that with a look.  Dad and Johnny were nowhere to be seen, so she assumed they’d gone to divert Riley into the garage, and away from trouble.

Mandy’s was about a 20-minute walk away, so she crossed the road and turned left, heading out to cross the park to the Robinson’s.  About halfway there, Riley’s truck pulled up alongside her, but she ignored him.  Rolling along beside her, he wound the window down saying, “Dina, get in,” but she shook her head and carried on.  

When he said, “I came to see you,” she still didn’t respond and kept walking.  They were nearing the park when he asked a question she couldn’t ignore.  “Why are you so mad at me?” 

Christina stopped and turned to face him, he had a half smile on his face, and his eyes were glinting with amusement.  “Why am I so mad at you?  I could write you a list, but it’d take too long.  How about the hickeys you left all over me last night, you douche?”  Riley laughed, so she snapped. “Go away – just divorce me and we’re done.” 

His response was to laugh harder.  “Are we back on that?” 

Christina rounded on him.  “BACK ON THAT?  There’s something wrong with you – in the head.  THAT, you know, the whole divorce thing has never gone away - unlike you.” 

He shrugged.  “I was just taking some time out to think.” 

Christina glared at him.  “Wow.  Nearly three years?  Your cognitive faculties are impressive.”   

Laughing, Riley said, “Bet you missed me every day.”  

Christina snorted.  “I did not.  I hardly thought about you at all.” 

He grinned and his lips twitched.  “It seemed like you missed me last night.” 

The man had no shame
.  “I did not,” she snarled.  “Now – just – go away.” 

They were silent for a bit until the park came into view and Riley said, “So it’s okay for me to go beat up the guy to get the tape back, but you won’t talk to me?”  

Christina groaned.  “What?  You were on it too.” 

Riley pulled a face.  “Yeah, but I didn’t care.  I just didn’t want anyone else looking at my woman.” 

She turned to look at him in exasperation and shouted.  “I AM NOT YOUR WOMAN.”

He wrenched the handbrake on, stopped the truck, and opened the door.  His eyes were blazing with intensity and he growled, “YES-YOU-ARE.” 

Christina bolted.  She wasn’t far from Mandy’s and she could get there quicker if she cut diagonally across the playground.  She got as far as the swings before he caught up with her and tackled her to the ground.  They rolled around wrestling and fighting, while parents pushed their kids on the swings, watching their exhibition with vocal calls for them to stop. 

He was heavier and stronger than Christina, but she was determined.  When he lay on top of her, she rolled him off with her leg and hip.  She heard Riley laugh and he grabbed her again, this time lying on top of her holding her arms by her head.  She knew all evidence was to the contrary, but she didn’t actually want to hurt him, even though she knew she could and vice versa. 

Riley said, “Dina, look at me” and when her eyes flew to his face she saw his eyes were dark with emotion.  She felt her own pupils dilate and as he leaned into kiss her she raised her head to meet his lips.  Riley let her hands go and clasped her face.  Her arms went up around his chest pulling him toward her. 

She tugged his shirt out of his jeans and ran her hands up inside, feeling his skin.  He rolled her on top of him and sat up, so she was straddling him, holding her to him.  It was when his hands slid up her shirt to her breasts that an irate father interrupted them.

“For god sake, can you knock it off and take it someplace else?  There are kids here.” 

Looking around, there were indeed “kids there” and horrified parents.  One mother had her hands over her son’s eyes, but he was trying to push them away to watch, while other parents were forcibly dragging their children away from the park.  She jumped off Riley and helped him up.  He said, “Sorry man” to the father, grabbed her hand and started taking her to the truck. 

“We can go back to the farmhouse, Dina,” but she said, “I have to go to Mandy’s tonight.” 

He grinned.  “Truck it is then.” 

They picked up in the truck where they left off with Christina straddling Riley in the passenger’s seat slowly taking off their clothing.  Riley was shirtless and she was in her bra, kissing him passionately, when he pushed her back.  “Have you been with others, Dina?” 

She glared at him.  “Have you?” 

They stared at each other for a long time.  The name was between them and neither of them spoke it. 
Stephany Gilmore
.  He had slept with Stephany Gilmore – someone she hated - to hurt her when he came back and she wouldn’t forget it.  Stephany made a point of telling Bonnie and Mandy who, of course, told Christina. 

She knew it was inevitable they would sleep with other people, but that?  More than once and in the farmhouse - their
home
?  It had ripped her open like a knife wound and left her bleeding.

His response was to grab her and kiss her so hard, she thought her mouth would bruise.  He traced the hickeys on her chest with his finger and as his eyes met hers.  “Whether you like it or not, we’re going to love each other forever and there’s not a damn thing we can do about it.”  They then set about proving Riley’s statement, not through words, but actions. 

********************

She had no idea how long they were in the truck except it began to get dark and the windows were steamed up.  Christina drew a smiley face on the window, making Riley grin.  After 5:00 p.m., the park became a local make out spot and other cars had arrived in the park, which they’d been oblivious to.  Hauling their clothes on, Christina waited in the truck while Riley went to use the bathroom. 

When he opened the truck door, lights flicked on and off in a form of salute from some of the other cars.  Riley grinned and put a hand up in acknowledgement.  He then jogged over to the bathroom, leaving a mortified Christina trying to hide her identity by ducking down and covering her face.

They arrived at Mandy’s and Riley got out with her.  He tucked in some of her clothes trying to make her presentable, but she feared it was a failure.  They may as well have had ‘WE HAD SEX AND DEFILED YOUR PARK’ written all over them. 

Riley grabbed her bag from the back of the truck and carried it up to the Robinson’s front door.  Christina tried to wave him away, but he insisted and pointed her on.  At the door, Riley leaned in and put his forehead against hers.  He put her bag down, kissed her gently on the lips saying, “I love you”, and left before she could respond.

********************

There wasn’t a lot for Bonnie and Christina to organize because Asha was in charge.  Christina suspected that if Asha had been in charge of the evacuation of the Titanic, everyone would have survived.  The two bridesmaids were given a list to do and encouraged to get on with it.  Her day was divided into 1) bridesmaid duties in the morning, 2) song practice in the early evening and 3) night-times spent with Riley.  Christina was undecided on which was more harrowing.

Asha had taken over the organization of the bridal shower and the bachelorette party because she didn’t want Mandy to drink too much, which made the three friends miserable.  They promised each other they would make up for it another way, but Asha was a force of nature none of them wanted to cross.  Mandy asked them to just go along with it, so they did.  The night was awful.  You could tell someone’s mother had organized the party and they couldn’t offer words of comfort to Mandy, so they just hugged her.

To make matters worse, Asha had presented the Martins with a list of songs to sing at the wedding that were more reflective of her tastes than Mandy’s.  For some reason the music edict annoyed Christina on Mandy’s behalf more than anything else, even the horror bridal shower/bachelorette party.  She called Dave and asked him to meet with her family to discuss it. 

Although wary and reluctant, Dave turned up.  They settled on some of Mandy’s favorite songs that the Martins would perform for her.  Dave was worried about Asha’s reaction, but Christina said, “Blame it on us.  This is our gift to Mandy and we want it to be for her.” 

Grinning Dave said, “I never thought I’d say this Dina, but right now I love you.” 

Then, there were the nights spent with Riley where they were supposed to talk, but didn’t get very far.  Words were dangerous; full of recriminations and impasses.  They would start arguing about their present and future while lying in each other’s arms, and end with Christina walking home in the early hours of the morning.  Riley and Christina couldn’t communicate with one another about how to reach some form of compromise, so they always ended in a furious stale mate. 

“Come on, baby.  Stop living someone else’s life.  Move to Seattle with me.  If you want to finish your degree, then you can do it there.”

“I’m not living someone else’s life.  I’m living mine.  Why can’t you accept my choices?”  Christina argued. 

He groaned and ran his hands through his hair.  Trying to reason with him, Christina said, “I started my degrees late.  I’m trying to finish them early.  Transferring now will jeopardize that.”