Wheels of Steel, Book 1 (39 page)

“All this just to hear some fucking music…” The other spoke. Jason ignored them. He was rubbing the back of Robin’s neck.

“You!” Patty said to the first guy. “Look, we’re sorry…and thank you.” He waved without looking back and they crowded into their car and drove off.

“Is she okay?” Amberly asked. Her words were very slurred she didn’t know how Jason managed to understand her but he did. He was the only one that could when her speech got very bad.

“I don’t know.” She wouldn’t look at him.

Amberly rubbed her arms anxiously. Why would Jason want to be with a trouble maker like her? Why would she get so drunk that she couldn’t even lift her head up…and end up just sitting on the curb of the street like a bum? Amberly’s face took on a dark cast. Jason would see that this girl was not for him; a drunk and a drama queen. He deserved so much better.

Jason continued to rub Robin’s neck. “Robin, baby, does your stomach hurt?” She nodded slowly. “Do you need to throw up?” After a minute she nodded again. Amberly rolled her eyes and looked up and down the street for whoever might be watching.

Patty crouched down beside her. “Robin, do you think anyone might have put something in your drink?” Robin didn’t answer. Jason and Patty’s eyes met. She looked at the black girl again. “Robin, can you stand up?” No answer.

Patty had a scared look on her face; the first that Jason had ever seen. “I can’t carry you both…” The three friends looked at each other helplessly. Then Robin slowly pulled herself up, however she didn’t straighten. Once she was on her feet, she placed her hands on her knees, still in a crouch. Spit started streaming from her mouth and then finally she puked.

“Ewww!” Amberly exclaimed while turning away. “It smells like Hennesey...and pizza.” Patty clutched Robin’s arm to prevent her from falling into her own mess, when she went weaving on her feet. She glanced at the vomit and then her eyes locked on to it. She looked at Robin slowly.

“Can you stand up?” Robin nodded. She felt a little better now. Her stomach still burned and her head still hurt but she managed to straighten.

“I’ll help her.” Amberly said. “Just get Top.” She placed her arm around the stooped girl. Amberly just hoped that Top would break up with her after this disgusting display.

Patty reached down and pulled Jason up to his feet with ease. She tossed him over her shoulder and led the way back to the house. Chauncy looked at Robin and Amberly and tried to stop them from following.

“Hey, she can’t come in. She’s drunk and she not a student-”

“Go to hell Chauncy!” Amberly said angrily. “She could have been raped! You let a drunk girl go off with three guys! You’re a creep!” Amberly pushed her way into the house after Patty, ignoring Chauncy’s weak protests. She walked the drunk girl to one of the lower level bathrooms, which was fortunately unoccupied. Then she turned on the water at the sink. Robin immediately began splashing her face and rinsing her mouth. She lurched over to the toilet and vomited again.

Amberly was shuddering and trying not to gag at the sounds and smells in the little bathroom. “Oh my god…that’s so gross. Hey, are you going to be okay?” Robin sat on the floor, panting, her back against the wall. Her stomach hurt, it burned so bad.

“I want to go home,” she whimpered. She covered her face and started crying. She felt so bad; so sick and so stupid.

“Don’t cry.” Amberly said miserably. She twisted her fingers. “You shouldn’t drink so much if you can’t hold your liquor.” Robin wiped her eyes and nodded in agreement. “I’ll get Patty.” She hurried out of the bathroom grateful that Patty was better at these things than she was. Patty always got drunk.

Patty had deposited Jason back into his chair. She looked up at Link who was watching them in confusion. “Top, you go on up there and finish out. I’ll watch Robin. I won’t leave her.” Jason looked at Link up there holding it down for the both of them and felt instantly guilty. He nodded though he wanted to be with Robin—yet he still felt frustrated and afraid and didn’t know where to direct it. So yeah, he wheeled himself back up to the equipment and followed Link’s lead. For the first time in his life he had no joy in mixing music.

Patty met Amberly in the next room. “Where is she?” Amberly pointed to the bathroom. Patty headed in that direction and Amberly called after her. “She needs an intervention. She just ruined this party for us!” Patty ignored her and knocked on the closed restroom door.

“Robin.” She didn’t hear a reply so just entered. Robin had her head resting on her bent knees and was sitting on the floor. Patty turned off the water and then reached over to flush the toilet. She hesitated staring into the bowl. She flushed it and sat down next to Robin on the floor.

“Hey? You’re vomiting blood.” Robin looked up weakly and gave her a confused look. She shook her head in denial.

“Yes. There’s blood in your vomit. Not a lot, but enough. So…why?”

“I don’t know. I don’t normally vomit-” and with that said, she quickly scrambled to the toilet and vomited again. This time she stared into the bowl. It was unmistakably blood.

“Your stomach hurts?” Patty asked.

“I have irritable bowel.” She tried to find a reason for the blood.

Patty reached over and flushed the toilet then she got a towel and wet it and dabbed Robin’s sweating face. “Robin, you need to go to a doctor.”

Robin took the towel from her and dabbed her own face and neck. “I’m okay. I just had too much to drink. I’m no drinker, and I guess I over did it.” She gave Patty a direct look. “Is Jason mad? He’s probably so angry at me.”

“Don’t worry about Jason. He’s back up playing with Link.”

She looked relieved. “You’re not going to tell him about…the blood? Please don’t, okay? That is not something that normally happens.”

“I’m no busy body, Robin. If he don’t ask, then I won’t tell.”

Someone knocked on the door. “Hey, there’s a line out here. Can you hurry up?!”

“Use a different one!” Patty bellowed. She stared back at Robin. She was a pretty girl; dark skinned, short hair and eyes that were like Asian eyes except not slanted and with jewel coloring. She was shapely; no thin stick girl. She could see why Jason was crushing on her.

“You like Jason, maybe even love him?” Robin met her eyes and nodded. “If this is a game for you, please find someone else to play. Jason acts tough but he’s not; it’s just his hard outer shell that protects his cushy innards.”

“I don’t want to hurt him. I’m…just happy he lets me love him. In the beginning he pushed me away a lot and I didn’t know what he really felt, I thought he hated me actually. But I guess, I passed whatever test and he let me in.” Robin didn’t know why she was talking so openly to this girl that she had barely exchanged ten words with since they had first met. Maybe she was still drunk. The world still had that hazy not-quite-real feel to it.

Patty nodded. “Once he lets you in, he won’t let you go so easy.” She looked away. “I just wish Link was more like that.”

“You and Link are…?”

“We’re fucking. But whether we are ever going to be…well that depends on him.”

“Oh. You don’t think he feels the same way about you that you feel for him?”

Patty took a deep breath. “I don’t really know what I feel about him.” She gave Robin an earnest look. “I always see him with these cute girls with tight bodies and big boobs. Even after his accident he attracts those girls that laugh all of the time and bounce on their toes. Fuck…I’m just…me.” She ran her hands through her short hair and gave Robin a sharp look. Robin didn’t look away. She waited patiently for Patty to finish. After a moment Patty’s expression softened.

“My real name is Belinda, not Patty. And I’m not gay, or bi. And I know I look hard like a guy. But if you look hard like a guy, people won’t fucking pick on you. If you’re willing to back it up, you don’t have to go through life defending yourself—people just know to leave you the fuck alone.” She cussed a lot, Robin noted. She ran her hands through her hair again and stood. “Look I need to go outside and have a smoke.”

“I’ll go with you. I think I’m done puking.” Patty nodded and Robin took a moment to splash her face and rinse her mouth again. The two young women went outside and sat on the porch stairs. Chauncy looked at them as if Patty would beat him down but she ignored him and so did Robin. After a moment he retreated into the house to act as security from there.

Patty lit a cigarette and rested her arms across her knees. “I want Link to see me the person and not just some glammed out CHICK. I’m no CHICK!” Robin was sitting next to her. Her stomach still hurt, but she was used to this type of pain. She wasn’t going to barf again and her body wouldn’t allow her to have a bowel movement in that foul toilet, so for now she was in a physical state of limbo. She watched Patty/Belinda and nodded. Their two fellows were still playing music and the crowd was still going crazy.

“Are you going to tell Link how you feel?”

“No.”

“Do you love him?”

“…maybe. He was the first guy I ever did it with. Maybe that makes you love someone. I certainly wasn’t planning for this to happen. I just wanted to know what all the hype was about. But…god his dick was so good!” Robin blushed at her frankness.

“W…was it good even the first time?”

“Yes. It was awesome.”

“Didn’t it hurt?”

“No. Girl, I got rid of that pesky hymen years ago when I first got my period. Broke the damned thing myself. I wasn’t going to let some guy have all that power over me. I’ve been getting my body ready for fucking, using my vibrator. No, I made sure my first time wouldn’t hurt and that I’d be good at it.” Patty smirked. “I think I was successful because I sure got Link sniffing after me. He says my pussy is like magic.”

Wow, she could talk so honestly about it. Robin took a deep breath and plunged forward. “It really hurt the first time we did it. I don’t really know if I want to even do it again.”

“You and Top already did it?” Robin covered her face in embarrassment. Patty placed her hand on the girl’s wrist. “It’s okay. It’s no shame in that. But it’s going to get better.” Robin peeked at her and then lowered her hands. Patty was nodding. “It gets…much much better. I’m still new at it. I only lost my virginity a few weeks ago but we do it all of the time and every time is better.” She grinned. “We even do it in the van between classes.” Robin laughed.

Patty’s expression went grim. “Girl’s are always trying to get next to him. I guess I’m just waiting for him to slip up. And when he does, I’m done. It’s over.”

“But what if he thinks it’s just…casual since you never told him your true feelings?”

Patty shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. I don’t want to fuck another guy, and if he wants to fuck another girl then I know how he feels about me and we’re done.”

Robin sighed. Patty was tough and unyielding, but she could already tell that it was because something from her past had hurt her. If Link was another in a list of people that hurt this girl, then no telling how she would turn out. Robin hoped that the two would have enough sense not to destroy what they had before it even had a chance to grow.

They talked for a while longer before hearing Link announce the end of the show. They dragged themselves off the stairs and made their way back into the house. Two girls were sitting in Link’s lap as he laughed and thanked them. Robin glanced at Patty who did a good job of ignoring him. Jason was wheeling past people that tried to talk to him. His face was closed and most took it as a sign not to bother him. His attention was completely on Robin and as he wheeled to her she met him half way.

“Robin, how are you feeling? Does your stomach still hurt?” She had to ask him to repeat himself. He was very slurred and jerky.

“I’m…feeling better.” She lied. Her stomach felt like there were rocks in it. He stared at her. “Come here baby.” He gripped her hand and sat her in his lap. His hands clutched her face firmly, their foreheads touching.

“You scared me so bad. I couldn’t find you-”

“I’m sorry Jason. I tried to get back but they wouldn’t let me in-”

“I was so scared. When I saw you on the curb I couldn’t get to you, I couldn’t lift you, I couldn’t carry you.” He was trembling. “I was-I was-I was…helpless.” He stuttered. He had never felt so helpless in his life. She hugged him.

“I’m sorry. Oh Jason, I’m so sorry-”

He roughly gripped her upper arms. “Why did you go off with those guys?!”

“I…” She stared at him stunned at his sudden anger. She had just gone into the other room for another beer and had decided to try the Hennessey. It was strong, it felt like fire so she had mixed it with coke and then it had tasted good. So she had another because the music sounded so good and the people were having so much fun. And when she drank everything got better. Then she saw the guys from Jason’s apartment.