Page 2 of Waiting Game

I met Ren’s eyes again in the rear view mirror, only for a second before he looked away. His thumb stroked the palm of my hand as he drove, and I closed my eyes and exhaled deeply.

It was just under an hour long drive until we got to the field.

It was an abandoned cattle property with an attached creek and sprawling hills. Ren let go of my hand as he turned off of the main road, and drove under the bridge. The recent rain had caused the red dirt track to turn into sludge, and we bounced and rocked down the steep hill until he parked underneath the rickety old bridge, right next to the creek.

I got out of the car, stretching my neck and looking up towards the sky.

Ren got out of the car too, grazing my waist with his fingers and giving me a knowing look before he walked around to meet Antoni on the other side of the car.

I could feel the heat rush to my cheeks as I watched him.

He was so tall, so handsome, and so warm.

His light brown hair was a mess of waves, and I felt my stomach flip when he pushed it back out of his face, his bicep flexing as he did it. I tore my eyes away from him, knowing from the action that he was aware that I was still watching him.

I pulled my flannel jacket tighter around my body as the cool breeze picked up.

The boys went for their usual stroll down to the narrow end of the creek, where they could pretend they weren’t smoking. Antoni thought that I couldn’t smell it on him. He also thought that I was too young for the habit, even though I was barely twelve months younger than him.

Larissa stubbornly followed them, her sandals sinking into the sludge as she hobbled behind and calling out for them to wait.

And then I was alone.

I let down the back of the ute’s tray, and heaved myself up to sit on it.

It was silent, not like the city.

The only noises that could be heard were crickets, the muffled sound of the boys talking, and the occasional loud clacking of another car driving over the bridge above me. I laid back on the cold steel, putting my hands behind my head and closing my eyes.

We had been coming here every Thursday night since the boys got their licences. Sometimes, even before then if we managed to get hold of a car. Every single Thursday night we would gather here, and pretend to be normal teenagers. We would drink, smoke, listen to loud, shitty dance music.

Here, we could pretend.

Though we all went to a private school surrounded by other rich kids, it wasn’t quite the same. Wealth was not the only asset attached to the Santino name. We were more guarded, more sheltered - different. It was near impossible to relate to the kids who had no idea about the world in which we lived.

Many of the parents had already told their kids the stories, and warned their children to stay away from us because of who we were. Or who our parents were. We were dangerous in their eyes, even those of us who had nothing to do with the evil that my family represented.

I wasn’t just Val from school.

I was Valerie Santino, daughter of the Don, heiress to the Santino crime family - whether I liked it or not.

The tray of the ute groaned under a new weight, and I smiled.

His hands drew themselves across my torso lightly, pulling me close to his warmth. I turned to my side, propping myself up on my elbow to look at him. He smiled down at me, tucking a stray curl behind my ear.

“Where’s Toni?” I asked.

“Larissa wanted to go for a walk,” he rolled his eyes, “that guy has the patience of a monk, I swear.”

I trailed my hand up his jeans, feeling the small box in his pocket and I retrieved the packet of cigarettes. He shook his head as I flipped the top open with the tip of my nose, and pulled one out by the butt with my teeth.

“Your brother’s going to kill you,” he shook his head, but used his lighter to spark it anyway.

I threw the packet back at him, rolling onto my back and taking a long drag.

“Things are gonna change now, aren’t they?” I exhaled a large puff of smoke and it curled up into the dark sky.

Ren didn’t reply, he only reached out and stroked my hair.

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