Page 32 of Pit Stop

Twenty-Four

Odette

The ride to Lyle’s is nerve-wracking for me, but with Tillman around it doesn’t seem as bad. His hair is perfectly styled today. All purposefully messy and sticking in every direction. His ice blue eyes always hold me captive. However, when he pulled me into him earlier, I could have melted. Something about Tillman made me feel safe in a way no one else ever had. It wasn’t just his sheer size or the fact that he was a wall of muscle. It was more. Something deeper. You could feel his need to protect. I’m not foolish enough to believe that he hasn’t seen and probably done things that I can’t even begin to imagine. From what I’ve gathered from Onyx, Tillman was a part of the SK, the one everyone whispered about and tried to ignore. So, I’m sure his past is a little tainted but there’s something about him. It feels almost as if he’s trying to prove he’s good, which I can already see he is.

He’s stopped everything to help me today. I’m sure he had things to do, but instead he’s helping me get Odin’s things. Hardly anyone I know would go to those lengths for someone they barely know, barely met. I glance at him as he drives. Completely focused yet calm, maneuvering with ease. He’s definitely comfortable behind the wheel of a car. “Do you street race?” The question blurts out. My mouth snaps shut the minute I realize what I did. He seems like a pretty closed book, so asking questions might not be the best idea.

Slowly, his head moves up and down. “Yeah, I do any kind of racing I can. If it’s a working car I’m there for it.” Shaking my head, I feel his eyes on me. “What?”

“It just seems scary to me. You’re literally putting your life on the line and for what? A few moments of high-speed racing?”

His eyes meet mine briefly. “I take it you don’t race.”

“Nope, that gene skipped me. Onyx and Odin both do though. They’re great at it. I’m more of a stand on the sidelines, blend in with the crowd, type of person. I don’t really like attention.” My explanation makes me feel kind of pathetic but it’s also true.

Tillman chuckles, deep and throaty, and the sound dances across my skin so lightly it causes goosebumps to rise. My heart tumbles around in my body. “I’m pretty sure you can’t avoid attention.”

I scoff. “You’d be surprised.” I learned a long time ago that I was the one that got overlooked. Mousy brown hair, simple face, nothing stood out about me. Onyx, my friends... they all held people captive for one reason or another. People would normally forget I was there.

“I think you’d be surprised,” Tillman comments. However, his voice is so low I’m not sure if he actually meant for me to hear it.

Silence falls between us once more. The music from the radio playing softly in the background. His comment makes me feel like a schoolgirl I read about in books. All tingly and silly. I feel the heat on my cheeks, a blush has settled there once again—just like the moment before I got in the car. His comment makes me feel like so much more than I’ve believed or had before. As quietly as I can, I try to take a few deep breaths and calm the butterflies in my system. “So why do you race?”

“That’s kind of hard to put into words but for you I’ll try.”

Instantly, I feel like I overstepped by asking so I shake my head. “Oh, you don’t have to. If it’s personal I understand.”

“For you... I will.” He looks at me as we pull into Lyle’s neighborhood. “You have no clue the effect you have on people, do you?” I don’t get to answer him before he begins answering my question. “It’s like a moment of pure freedom. You are basically flying and it’s better than almost any feeling you can ever imagine.”

His words move through my head as we make our way to Lyle’s. Too soon we have reached our destination. Lyle’s parents bought him this beautiful light gray, two story house. Bigger than any young, single boy could need. From the outside it looks picture perfect. Perfect manicured lawn, flower beds are in full bloom, bright and colorful. A large tree sits in the middle of the circle driveway. The porch is something that belongs to someone who would actually take the time to enjoy it. It’s a family-type neighborhood. There’s a swing on the porch, something I always loved. I used it all the time when I was home alone, which was often. I sigh heavily. “I still have my key, so we don’t have to break in.”

“That’s helpful although I could have gotten us in without drawing attention even if you didn’t have your key anymore.” I look over and Tillman shrugs. I guess there’s no denying the truth. “Are you okay?” he asks.

“Yeah, I was just thinking what a shame it is that he has a house like this. He doesn’t deserve it.” I hear the sadness in my voice, but I hope he doesn’t. He climbs out of the car and I follow. We head up the porch steps to the front door. I’m actually surprised that my key still works. You’d think Lyle would have changed the locks at least. The moment we’re inside I recognize the stench of alcohol, cigarette smoke, and marijuana. Cigarette butts, empty alcohol bottles and beer cans, fast food wrappers, pizza boxes, litter the floor as far as I can see. Disgust runs through my blood at the sight. How could anyone live like this? How can Lyle not appreciate what he’s lucky enough to have? I step towards the living room, the glass coffee table still broken. Blood stains the couch and I’m sure the rug beneath if you could find it. Cigarette holes are burned into the furnitureand the rug I purchased to try and make the room feel more inviting. The house is trashed and there’s just no excuse for it.

Tillman walks further into the room kicking trash out of the way. “This is ridiculous.”

“Yeah, it is,” I reply quietly.

I watch as he walks around, shaking his head and taking in everything he’s seeing. Honestly, I kind of feel the same way. I knew that Lyle had a tendency to get a little wild and he definitely partied way too much, but I didn’t think I’d ever see it like this. Maybe some part of me did expect this but I just turned a blind eye to keep everything okay between us. “Let’s just get the stuff we came for,” Tillman says as he turns around to face me.

Tillman follows behind me as I lead us up the stairs. I go to Odin’s room first. Heading straight for the closet, I rummage until I find the travel bags. Tillman is standing behind me ready to take one when I turn around. “Put as much as you can in these. Try to get everything necessary like the clothes and stuff. We may have to leave some of the other belongings.”

For the next twenty minutes we work on emptying out the closet and chest of drawers as well as the bathroom and nightstand. I locate Odin’s backpack tossed under the desk and stuff all the books I can find inside. I’m torn because I hate the idea of leaving any of his stuff, but I don’t have enough bags to bring the comic books, desktop computer, gaming system and all that. “I guess that’s it for Odin.”

From across the room Tillman turns towards me. His eyes scan the room. “What about all of this stuff?”

My shoulders shrug as the feeling of defeat settles within me. “I don’t have any more bags to pack it all in.”

After a few moments he nods his head. “Why don’t you go ahead and start on your things, and I’ll take these bags down to my car.”

I nod my head and head down the hall to the opposite side of the house. The master bedroom is large. The California king size bed sits in the middle, large and inviting with the navy-blue bedding, although it’s a bit of a mess right now. Directly across from it is a rock accent wall with a large screen TV hung. The doors across from me head out to the balcony. There used to be a table and set of two chairs out there, but they seem to be missing. Another thing I bought in a feeble attempt to make this house feel like home. It was always no use. Nothing could make this place feel like a home. I did love that table and chairs. If I wasn’t on the porch swing, I was up here, working on schoolwork. Some part of me will miss that even if I don’t miss Lyle. Shaking that feeling away I head for the walk-in closet to grab my travel bags, but I stop abruptly. My entire side is vacant. Completely and utterly empty. Absolutely nothing of mine is in here. Spinning around I make a dash for the master bathroom. I open the glass door to the shower, nothing. Check around the large soaking tub, nothing. Open the cabinets underneath the sink, nothing. Everything I had is gone. Nausea coils in my stomach and a sick sweat coats my skin as I try to figure out where my stuff is. I’m not sure what draws me to the balcony, but I find myself there, opening the doors and stepping out. As soon as I do I know exactly where my stuff is. One look down and you can see everything I had to my name floating in the pool below. My hands wrap around the railing, white knuckle grip as I fight back the wave of emotion that hits me. I won’t cry. They were just material things I remind myself, but another piece of me wants to scream. That was all I had; how could he take it away?

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