Stand Alone (12 page)

Justine walked around for a while, until the rage finally started to dissipate. Her thoughts started to slow down, her body started to relax. She started to get distracted by the things that were going on around her, instead of being locked into the confrontation with Em. Justine wasn’t sure why it had come to a head today. She’d seen Em lie before. She knew Em was a liar. But seeing her lying so boldly, without any conscience or regret, had triggered something inside of Justine. She felt the betrayal keenly. All of the years that Em had spent lying to her, about big things and small. Trying to control her, to keep her acquiescent, by lying to her.
 

Justine watched the water fountains outside of the food court. The water danced to the music and the lights beneath them changed color with the beat or mood of the music. She’d seen them a hundred times before and still felt captivated by them. She sat on the edge of one of the pools and trailed her fingers in the cool water. She gathered up a handful of coins from the water, and went into the food court to buy a coffee. She put the coins in her pocket to dry them and make it less obvious that she had swiped them from the fountain. While she waited for her coffee, she looked around the food fair casually.

There were a couple of security guards eating cinnamon buns and drinking coffee at the long counter that ran the length of the food court with stools in front of it, and she walked over to them, picking the empty stool next to them.

“Mind if I join you?” she questioned with a big smile.
 

They looked at her, and both smiled back and nodded.
 

“Have a seat,” the older one invited.
 

Justine sat up on the stool and took a sip of her coffee.
 

“Taking a coffee break?” she questioned flirtatiously, batting her eyes at them.
 

“Yes,” the younger one answered with a laugh. “How about you? Where are you taking a coffee break from?”

Justine shrugged.

“From the parental unit,” she said, wrinkling her nose. “And if you had something a little bit stronger than coffee, I wouldn’t turn that down!”

The young officer pushed his cinnamon bun toward her.
 

“Have you tried these?” he questioned. “They should be a controlled substance!”

Justine used her fingers to tear a piece of the confection off and ate it delicately.
 

“Mmm,” she approved. “Just what I need. You sure you’re authorized to distribute it?”

He smiled.

“Just don’t tell anybody,” he said in a low voice.
 

Justine laughed. She helped herself to another bite.
 

“So what’s your name?” he questioned. “I’m Manning, and this is Philpot.”

“Justine. Don’t you guys have first names?”

They exchanged glances. Manning looked back at Justine.
 

“Danny,” he said, “and this is Terry.”

“Hey,” Justine greeted. She put her hand warmly over his, and he didn’t pull away. “So
  
…
 
you been working here long?”

“A few months,” Danny said. “I’m hoping to get a job as a real cop, and I thought this would be a good starting point. Something for the resume, you know.”

Justine nodded.

“Sure,” she agreed, “that’s sounds like a good idea.”

“I’ve been here for a couple of years,” Terry Philpot offered. “It’s an okay job. You don’t actually see a lot of security guards becoming cops, though,” he said, aiming the comment at Danny. “Generally the guys who work here aren’t that stable. Come and go in a few months, can’t actually make the grade as real cops.”

Danny brushed the comment away with a wave of his hand. He took a sip of his coffee.
 

“How about you,” he questioned Justine. “You work in the mall?”

“I don’t have a job,” Justine said. “I’m just a bum.”

They both laughed. Danny moved his hand to curl around Justine’s, rubbing the fingers gently.
 

“You’re the prettiest bum I’ve ever seen,” he observed.

Justine batted her eyes at him, her face getting warm.
 

“Justine!”

Justine startled at Em’s abrasive voice. They looked around, and Danny withdrew his hand, busying himself with the cinnamon bun.
 

“Your parental unit?” he suggested out the corner of his mouth.
 

Justine nodded, pressing her lips together grimly as she watched Em’s approach.

“I’ve been looking everywhere for you!” Em snapped. “I don’t appreciate you taking off like that.”

Justine shrugged.
 

“I needed to take a break,” she said. “Catch my breath. Control my temper. You know, like you tell me to do.”

“I don’t tell you to take off like that. It’s irresponsible. What am I supposed to do, leave without you? Have you paged? Report you as a runaway? You’re a bit old for a missing child page, don’t you think?”

Justine felt her face redden further. She tilted her head forward, letting her hair shade her face from view.
 

“I didn’t run away. And you found me. So what’s the problem?”

“I’ve been looking for you for nearly an hour! Do you know how frustrating that is? Come on. Time to go home!”

Justine didn’t move.

“Move, Justine. Thank you officers for looking after her,” Em said sweetly to the two security guards. “I’m glad to know that she was safe with you.”

Justine gave Em a horrified look.

“
Em
,” she growled in embarrassment.
 

Em raised a questioning eyebrow.
 

“Well, we’ll see you around,” Danny said lightly. “Nice talking to you.”

Justine slid off of the stool, shaking her head. She walked through the mall and out to the parking lot with Em, her insides writhing with fury. That was the last time she was going anywhere with Em without her board. The last time that she got trapped somewhere she couldn’t ride out of, and treated like a child. She wasn’t going to let it happen again.

C
HAPTER
6

U
NABLE
TO
SLEEP
, J
USTINE
lay in bed, giving in to memories of that last day with Christian. It had been a beautiful day, sun shining, mild weather, two kids out to have a good time on a lazy summer day. Christian was in a high mood, hamming it up in an effort to cheer up Justine, who was definitely not in a good mood.

“Come on, Just! How can you not be having a good day today?” he demanded.

Justine shrugged.

“It’s just
  
…
 
Em. I can’t stand how
  
…
 
how phony she is. She’s always pretending, acting nice and sweet and being the perfect June Cleaver mom, when inside, she’s
  
…”

Justine sputtered, unable to find the words. She tried grinding the bench that they had waxed, and hit it at the wrong angle. She recovered and made a big loop back to watch Christian try it.

“She’s what?” Christian prompted.

“She’s all rotten inside. Like a nice ripe fruit, that looks so sweet and juicy, and you bite into it, and it’s all rotten and wormy inside. Like Alien.” Justine popped an ollie while she waited for Christian to take his run. Christian ground the bench perfectly and landed smoothly, showing off like an Olympic gymnast on a dismount. Justine rolled her eyes. “She pretends that she’s all perfect and lovey and that she cares, and then she turns into mom from hell when I do something she doesn’t like.”

Christian watched Justine take her turn, grinding the bench properly this time, but still not nailing the landing like Christian had. He waited for her to skate back.

“So you’d rather she was nasty to you all the time?” Christian suggested, grinning.

“No, just
  
…
 
I dunno. Why does she even pretend anymore? Why doesn’t she just
  
…
 
take off and never come back? Why keep pretending to take care of me and to want me around? She could call Child Services and just tell them to take me away. It’s not like there’s no documentation. She’s got plenty of proof that I’m incorrigible. Why put up with me any more?”

“Hang on a sec.”

Christian took another run at the bench, and muffed his jump this time, hitting the side of the bench and wiping out. He got up and picked up his board, walking back to her.

“You okay?” Justine questioned, looking him over.

“Nothing broken,” Christian confirmed. “So maybe she really does like you,” he suggested, continuing the conversation.

“What, Em?” Justine’s brow furrowed. “What’s to like? I don’t like her, and she doesn’t like me. Why keep pretending?”

“Maybe she really does like you,” Christian repeated. “It happens, you know. That one person loves, and the other person hates. Maybe even though you don’t like her much, she still loves you.”

“That’s like
  
…
 
no,” Justine shook her head. “I know she doesn’t like me.”

Christian shrugged. Justine looked at the bench.

“Okay, I’m bored here. Where do you want to go?”

Christian considered.

“Haven’t been downtown lately. How about it?”

“Mmm,” Justine looked at the sky. “The sun’s fighting to come out, and it’s going to be a scorcher if it does. I don’t want to be downtown with it reflecting off of all of that concrete.”

“Where then?” Christian prodded. “The big park?”

“Maybe.”

“Cooler there.”

“Lots of little kids around with school out.”

“Doesn’t bother me.”

Justine shrugged and acquiesced. She’d already vetoed one plan, and she was the one who wanted to go somewhere else.

“Let’s go,” Christian said, and he was instantly on his board and picking up speed, racing Justine.

Justine hopped her board, grinning.

“No fair!” she protested, pumping her leg as fast as she could to catch up to him.

Christian laughed in delight, looking back over his shoulder at her for an instant. He kept going, cresting the hill in front of her and bombing down the long, steep incline on the other side at super speed. Justine crested the hill and looked down at him, as he again checked to see how close she was behind.

“Look out!” Justine screamed. Christian was going too fast and not watching ahead of him. He didn’t see the garbage truck pulling out of the lane. The huge dark chunk of metal loomed like a dinosaur in his path.

Christian’s face changed and he looked. Justine squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting to see the impact; but instantly opened her eyes again. She was also speeding down the hill and needed to see where she was going. Christian had disappeared. Justine looked in horror at the garbage truck, looking for any sign of him.

“Here!” Christian shouted, and she swerved and instantly launched into the grass beside him where he’d bailed out. She landed with a jarring crash and went flying off of her board. The whole world twisted and turned around her, and she hit both her jaw and the back of her head with a force that made her head spin. Righting herself, Justine crawled over to Christian.

“Are—you—okay?” she puffed, reaching for him.

“I’m fine,” Christian giggled. “Did you know you did a somersault?”

Justine rubbed the back of her head tenderly.

“You’re okay?” she repeated, looking him over intently. He seemed to be in one piece. No obvious broken bones. He had a cut above his eyebrow, but it was barely bleeding. Christian was, however, as white as a sheet.

“That was close,” he admitted. “Thanks.”

“If you ran into that garbage truck, I never would have forgiven you,” Justine told him severely. She dropped beside him and lay in the grass, staring up at the sky, cushioning her bruised head with her hand. She felt nauseous, and the world lurched unexpectedly this way, then that.

“Are you okay?” he questioned. “That was a pretty sick landing.”

“Uggh,” Justine groaned. “That was crazy.” She stirred, trying to sit up, but getting too dizzy. “Is my board okay?”

“Yeah, it’s fine.”

Christian got up and retrieved his own board and Justine’s, laying hers beside her on the grass.

“You ready? Let’s roll.”

“Gimme a minute,” Justine told him.

Her heart was still racing like a sports car engine. She had been sure that Christian was going to collide with the dump truck. She had seen it happen in her head half a dozen times in the few seconds she was barreling down the hill. And here he was, ready to get right back to it again. Justine, on the other hand, was still feeling the effects of both the scare and the fall.

Christian sat watching her. He shifted, eager to be on his way again. His restless energy made Justine anxious, and she levered herself slowly into a sitting position, hoping that once she was up, she’d feel better.

“Walk it off, Bywater,” Christian quipped.

Justine grimaced.

“I’m trying,” she said.

“It’s okay. Take your time,” he said, not wanting her to take his rebuke too seriously.

“Yeah. I’m okay.” Justine drew a deep breath. “Help me up, here.”

Christian got to his feet and bent over to help Justine up. He grabbed hold of her elbow and levered her up. Justine leaned heavily on him, trying to get her equilibrium back.

“You sure?” Christian questioned, watching her face intently.

Justine breathed, willing the giddiness to recede. She tested her legs, tried to calm the shakiness.

“Yeah, let’s walk,” she said.

They started off, arm in arm, like an elderly couple. Justine found her head clearing and the steadiness starting to return. She eased her grip on Christian’s arm, and he glanced up at her.

“Getting your legs back?” he queried.

“Yeah, just about.”

They walked on in silence. Justine tentatively let go of Christian, and still felt okay.

“You gonna be able to skate some more, Just?”

“Just about,” Justine said with a smile.

Christian set his board down, and skated slowly beside her.