Plausibility (30 page)

“I did. I will talk to your mother this week and arrange it. It can’t be for a couple of weeks because of work stuff, but I promise, I will organize it.”

“I have to go. Liz is yelling for me. I’ll call you later,” Aquilla said.

“Alright, go have fun with your dad and sister,” Seri tried.

“Yeah
, okay,” Aquilla replied with the best sarcastic tone she could muster.

“Dad, this party has been planned all summer. You always do this. You don’t show up for a month and then expect me to just drop my plans and do what you want when you show up out of the blue,” Reese complained as Quill descended the stairs.

“Your mother was supposed to tell you,” he countered.

“She did. LAST NIGHT! That’s hardly a notice.”

“I think you should let her go with her friends,” Quill coaxed, more for her benefit than Reese’s.

“Thanks,” Reese offered.

“Where is this party, and who’s going to be there?” he asked, giving in.

“It’s at Chloe’s house. A lot of people are going to be there and yes, it will be supervised. The boys have to leave by ten and the girls are all camping out.”

Emmanuel looked to Liz to see if he was doing the right thing. She stood with crossed arms and nodded.

“Fine,” he cracked.

“Yes!” Reese exclaimed, throwing her arms around his neck.

“Do you need a ride?” he asked, hugging her back and kissing her hair.

“No. I’m going to call Lil and tell her to stop and get me on her way. Thanks dad,” she added, disappearing upstairs to gather her things.

“Looks like it’s you and me, kid,” he said, turning to Quill.

“Do you mind if we don’t go out to eat or to a movie?” she asked.

“Not at all, did you have something in mind?”

“I kind of wanted to go to that race track and watch the race.”

Emmanuel raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Really? Okay, we can do that. I wish you would have told me. I would have gotten us tickets to a real race.”

“I’m fine with that one,” she assured him.

“Well, let’s go racing then,” he smiled. “You ready? We have time to eat before the race. I thought we would go to that little Italian place by the school, figured they would have more pasta and green stuff for you,” he joked about her vegetarian status.

“Yeah, I’m ready,” she said, grabbing her jacket.

“Are you staying in town tonight, Manny?” Liz asked.

“No, I have to head back. Why?”

“Just curious, if you’re home before me, lock the door,” Liz told Quill.

“Okay,” Quill replied, trying not to sound as sarcastic as she felt.

“Where are you going?” Emmanuel asked, turning to Liz.

Liz gave him a look without an answer, warning him that it was none of his business.

<><><>

Emmanuel didn’t let Quill have a nice quiet dinner. He talked her ear off, asked a million questions, and rattled on and on about his job that she thought sounded tedious and boring.

Aquilla was surprised by the amount of cars in line for the race. She didn’t think there would be that many people at a place like that.

Her dad paid their way in and followed her to the middle bleachers, front and center. She found herself looking to the pits for the green number 18. She didn’t see him, but there were so many cars down there now that he was probably in the middle or the other end or something.

The first race was some kind of like dune buggy cars that her dad explained were called midget cars. It was fast, loud and exciting. She loved it. The next race was a truck race, which she didn’t care for, and then finally, the stock cars, which her father had to also explain.

Aquilla saw the fluorescent green 18 against the white car door, but it wasn’t the same car. She wasn’t sure if it was Patchette or not. Maybe he was just practicing in an old car. This one looked nice, like a real race car should look.

She knew it was him when the announcer called out the names and the positions of the 21 cars.

“Sitting in the 4
th
position is Patch Eugene Patchette, but don’t let him hear you call him Eugene,” he announced. Aquilla smiled when she saw his middle finger out the side of his window net.

Aquilla felt like she was in a horror movie. The cars were so fast and she was silently rooting for
Patchette. Her adrenalin was pumping like mad, watching the speed in front of her. Patchette was back and forth with car number 3. He would get around him and then get passed. Aquilla was inaudibly cussing and calling him an idiot every time he let the other guy pass him, always in turn four. Turn four, which on the last lap, he let number 3 do it again and came in second. What an idiot.

Aquilla’s dad asked if he wanted her to come in, seeing the dark house, and knowing her mother was probably with her teacher friend.

“No, I’m just going to take a shower and watch television. Thanks for taking me to the race. I enjoyed it,” she smiled.

He smiled back. “You’re welcome. I was thinking of not taking a shower. I think I might just plant grass seed in my hair and see what happens,” he teased.

Aquilla laughed and thanked him again.

She knew what he meant by the grass seed when she looked into the mirror. No wonder her mother complained about the dust. She looked like a raccoon and could feel the layer of dirt on her skin. She didn’t care. She loved it, and would be back there every Saturday night for the rest of the summer.

Aquilla continued to do her own thing which consisted of Law and Order and reading everything she could about dirt track racing. She figured if she was going to become a regular, she may as well learn the game.

She was sitting out on the front porch reading on her laptop when her mother came out with a glass of lemonade and sat beside her, handing her one.

“Guess what I got in the mail today,” she smiled.

“What?” Aquilla asked, sipping her drink.

“Your test results. You’re kind of a genius,” she smiled, proudly.

“Does that mean I don’t have to go to school?” she asked, hopeful.

“Nope, I still want you to experience that,” she assured her.

Aquilla started to argue when Reese pulled up with Lil and her brother. Reese introduced her to Blain with a big smile. Quill could tell that she was crushing on him. VOMIT…

“Blain is a senior too, Quill,” Liz explained.

Aquilla only nodded. She already didn’t like him. He looked at her like he wanted to devour her. His wandering eyes didn’t go unnoticed. He was cute in a baby kind of cute. She wasn’t the least bit attracted to him. She suddenly wanted to go for a walk when she heard the roar of an engine in a distance.

“What are you doing, Reese?”

“We’re going to the movies.”

“You’re welcome to come along if you want,” Blain offered, smiling at Quill.

“Yeah, Quill. Why don’t you go hang out with your sister and her friends tonight?”

Reese’s disapproving look didn’t go unnoticed either. She didn’t want her to go, Quill could tell.

“No, I think I’m going to go for a walk,” she said, closing the laptop and walking in to get her shoes.

Liz followed her inside.

“I’m going to step out for a bit. You going to be okay here?” she asked.

Freaking Reese, who was two years younger, spent every waking moment running with her friends, and she was the one treated like the five year old.

“Yes. What is it that you think I am going to do?” she angrily asked. And why the hell did she think she had to hide her boyfriend? Aquilla could have cared less what she was doing.

“Nothing, Quill, I was just asking.”

“Sorry,” she said, tying her shoes.

She didn’t look at Blain, knowing he was watching her as she jumped the two steps and headed toward the track.

<>

Patchette wasn’t there. It was another car running laps. She felt a little disappointment for whatever reason. It wasn’t that she found him attractive or anything. She didn’t even really know what he looked like. He had been in some sort of jumpsuit the first and only time she had seen him.

She leaned against the fence with one shoulder as she watched the guy spin around the track.

“Hey feather,” she heard the male voice and turned to see Patchette in low rise jeans, wearing a t-shirt with the sides cut out. His hair was dark and sweaty, messy, probably from a helmet.

“Feather?”
Aquilla asked.

He smiled, tilting his pack of M&Ms, letting them pour into his mouth.

“Sorry. I know it has something to do with a bird. I forget your name.”

Aquilla laughed. “Quill,” she offered. “Glad a made an impression,” she teased.

“Oh you did, just not your name,” he admitted, looking her up and down, not trying to be discrete about it.

He took a step toward her and offered his candy.

“No thanks. I saw you race the other night,” she admitted.

“You did?” he asked surprised. “You were here?”

“Yeah, you did okay,” she said, not sounding impressed.

“Okay? I came in second. That’s more than okay. There were 21 cars on that track,” he informed, nodding toward the track.

“But you could have taken first if you wouldn’t have been riding the outside of turn four. I was watching you. You took the inside of every turn except that one,” she nodded, “and that was the only one he was able to pass you, pretty stupid when it’s the last turn before the finish line, eh?”

“How many races have you attended?” he asked, sitting on the bottom bleacher, resting his elbows on his knees.

Quill noticed the bulkiness in his arms. “One,” she smiled, sitting beside him.

“Then you’re an expert,” he assured her, bumping her shoulder.

He smelled of manly sweat and some sort of lingering cologne.

“Wanna go for a ride?” he asked.

“On the track?” she asked, a little too excited.

“Yeah, where else did you think I was talking about?”

“Hell yeah,” she exclaimed, not trying to hide the excitement.

He smiled and stood, leading her back around the bleachers by his hand on the small of her back.

“Where are we going, I thought we were going down there?”

“We are,” he nodded toward the dirt bike. “You didn’t think we were going to walk all the way down there did you?”

She shrugged. “I just walked two miles to get here,” she replied.

Patchette
threw his long leg over first and started the bike. He nodded to the back of the seat after kick starting the bike.

Aquilla kept her hands on her legs until he told her to hold on. She gripped his tight abs and he tromped on the throttle, bringing the front wheel off the ground. She screamed and tightened her grip.

He laughed. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to wreck you.”

Patchette
drove them to the middle of the pits where a few other guys stood around talking about engines.

“Quill, this is Ricky, Kemp, and
Chaz,” Patchette said, nodding to each one of his friends. They were all friendly to her and she was happily surprised that they didn’t ask about her kidnapping and being all over the news.

“I’m going to take Quill for a ride,” he informed them.

The one that he introduced as Ricky tossed her a helmet. “You should probably wear that if you’re riding with Patchette,” he assured her.

“Fuck you, where’d you come in Saturday night?”
Patchette asked.

“My sway bar broke,” Ricky said as an excuse.

“I’m not going to wreck you, but put it on anyway,” he ordered.

Patchette started out slow, only picking up speed on the straight stretch.

“You ready for some speed?” he asked, smiling over at her.

She nodded with a big smile.

He smiled back and gunned the gas pedal. Her head was gravity forced to the back of the seat. She squealed in pure adrenalin excitement.

He did five, very fast laps before slowing down.

“That was fucking awesome!” she exclaimed.

He laughed. “And you have a potty mouth,” he countered.

“I do have a potty mouth. I can’t help it.”

“What do you mean you can’t help it? You can’t help what you say?”

“I could. I don’t want to. I love the word fuck,” she admitted, staring at him with narrowed eyes. What the fuck was she doing? Was she attracted to this guy?

He laughed. “I’m glad you’re honest,” he said, sliding out the window and coming to her side. He unsnapped the net window and took her hand to help her out. “I like to fuck to, I mean the word fuck,” he rephrased in a low voice.

“I like to do that too,” she replied in her own sensual tone, as she placed her hands on his shoulders and slid down his body, climbing out. She noticed the shocked expression that he was trying to hide. She didn’t care. She wasn’t playing this small town damsel game. She was who she was, and if he didn’t like it, she would move on. Kemp was pretty cute.

Aquilla hung out with the four guys all afternoon, mostly watching them work on cars and talk about engine parts that she had no clue what they were. She and Patchette stared at each other more than once. Okay. She was definitely attracted or horny, but nonetheless, he would do.

By seven o’clock, the two of them were alone in the pits as the sun started to disappear behind the trees.
Patchette leaned against his car with crossed ankles. He removed his ball cap and ran his fingers through his hair.

“You’re only 17,” he said, studying her.

“I’m 18. Shelby Rimmer is 17. I haven’t been her since I was three,” she assured him, leaning against the car parked beside his. “How old are you?”

“23, and you’re still 17, according to your parents, who I am sure wouldn’t approve of me.”

Aquilla boldly walked toward him, leaning into his body and looked up to him. “I don’t really tell my parents anything about me,” she assured him. “We don’t really talk at all, actually.”

“What are you doing here, Quill?” he asked, looking down at her.

“You want the truth or would you rather I lie?” she asked.

“Truth
, always.”

She ran her hand behind his neck, playing with his curls. “Remember our conversation about fucking earlier?” she asked. She didn’t care. She wasn’t doing the whole love, emotional shit again. She wanted one thing and he could give it to her.

“Jesus, girl!” he exclaimed, ducking away from her.

She snorted. “Yeah, I kind of figured as much. I’ll see you around,” she said, turning to leave.

He grabbed her wrist. “Slow down, Quill,” he softly spoke. He wasn’t sure why he did it. It wasn’t what was on his mind at all, but he bent and kissed her lips, softly at first and then more forcefully. She parted her lips and brushed his lip with her tongue. He moaned and devoured her mouth with his tongue.

She didn’t feel the fireworks or get that jittery feeling in her stomach like she did when Julius kissed her. She wondered if she would ever have that feeling again.

Patchette pulled away, and stared into her blue eyes. “I’m not going to fuck you,” he assured her in a low tone.

“Okay,” she said nonchalantly, shrugging her shoulders. She didn’t care. He wasn’t the only guy around there.

“Let me take you out to eat or something,” he offered. He couldn’t help it. He wasn’t raised that way. He wasn’t about to bend her over the hood of his car and fuck her. Plus, he had questions. Was she this promiscuous because of something that happened to her while she was with her captor?

Fuck. She didn’t want to go eat with him. She just wanted the sex. That’s what Seri did. She wanted to do that too. “It’s okay, Patch. You don’t have to wine and dine me. I get it. Don’t worry about it. I should go.”

“Will you come back tomorrow?” he asked.

“Don’t you work?” she asked, wondering why he spent all of his time at the track.

He laughed. “Yeah, I work. I keep the grounds mowed, the track up, the restrooms clean and working, pay the bills, order all the food for the concession stand, and whatever else needs done around here.”

“Where’s your uncle?” she wondered.

“He lives in Michigan; he doesn’t really come around here much anymore.”

“Oh,” she wasn’t sure what to say. She was, however, sure that she had just insulted him.

“Come on. I’ll give you a lift,” he said, gesturing toward his big truck. He must make money. He had a nice truck.

Aquilla hopped in, having to climb up into the thing. It was huge.

He drove her to her door. She was glad that the lights were still off. She didn’t want to have to explain him to her mother. It would have been bad. She was sure she wouldn’t have been able to keep from telling her to mind her own business.

“You coming around tomorrow?” he asked before she hopped down.

“Maybe,” she replied. She wasn’t working on his or anyone else’s clock, although she knew she would go.

He smirked. “I’ll see ya later.”

“See ya.”

<><><>

Aquilla did see him the next day, and the next and the next. She didn’t go for the gold again, and decided to back off a little. She’d win. She wasn’t expecting to like him as much as she did. He was funny, cute, and raced cars, which she found extremely sexy.

“Go out with me tomorrow night,” he coaxed before letting her out of the truck on Thursday night.

“Go out with you where?” she asked, seeing the porch light and then her mother’s nosey eyes through a crack in the curtain.

“I don’t know. We’ll go eat a steak or something.”

“Um, I don’t really eat meat,” she explained.

“Fine
, we’ll go eat rabbit food. Go out with me,” he begged.

“Where do you live?”

“Over on Whirl. I’m not taking you there,” he assured her.

“Why, you live with your mommy or something?” she teased.

“No. I live in a house. I’m afraid of you. I can’t be alone with you.”

Aquilla laughed. She moved over and kissed his neck. “You should be afraid of me,” she whispered hot words to his neck, hoping like hell her mother couldn’t see in the dark truck. “Pick me up at seven,” she ordered, and slid out of his truck.