Page 35 of Pit Stop

Twenty-Seven

Tillman

After we finish with our food and Root Beer floats, we head back out to my car. As I open the passenger door for her, I ask, “So, what’s something you like to do for fun?” She looks up at me and gives me a bashful smile before biting her bottom lip and shaking her head. I nudge her shoulder with mine, my body comes to life with the slightest touch from her. “Tell me.”

Odette shakes her head again. “No, it’s embarrassing.”

“I promise it’s not,” I encourage her.

After sighing heavily, she says, “Get in.”

My eyebrows raise in question at her request. “What?”

“Get in. You want to know what I like to do… I’m going to show you.” She turns away from me, the scent of her shampoo catching in the breeze, and slides into the seat. I shut the door and make my way to the driver’s seat. As I do I notice a car sitting across the street. Something about it catches my attention, the hairs on the back of my neck stand at full attention. For a moment I stand at the trunk and stare, trying to decide why it feels so familiar. I haven’t been in Los Angeles in years, so I highly doubt it’s a car I’ve actually seen before. Eventually, I shake my head and move towards the driver’s seat. Once I’m situated, Odette looks over at me. “I’ll give you directions if you think you can keep up.” A flirty smile comes over her face. When she’s like this, unguarded and playful, I forget that her face is bruised and healing under the makeup. When we leave Pike’s, I find myself checking the rearview mirror more than usual for the navy-blue Chevy Impala that had been sitting across the street. It doesn’t seem to be following us, so I guess I’m just paranoid. I should have expected that coming back here considering how I left things. Trying to shake off the funk I’ve suddenly found myself in, I follow Odette’s directions. We’re just outside of downtown Los Angeles when she tells me to park anywhere. As soon as I’m parked Odette is out of the car. She might have been worried about it being embarrassing but that seems long forgotten. Excitement comes off her in waves.

I jog to catch up to her. “Where are we going?”

Odette looks over her shoulder at me, a sparkle in her eyes. “Finders Keepers.”

Okay, I definitely don’t know where we’re going but I’m curious. A little ways down the block, we enter a building. It’s large and the name is above it, but other than that I have no clue what it is still. However, as soon as we enter that all changes. Finders Keepers is a secondhand store, or thrift store as some people refer to them. Racks of clothes take up a huge portion of the area. Dressing rooms with red curtains are against the far wall, about twenty of them. Sizes are in the middle of each circle rack to let you know where you need to be. Beyond the clothes are tall shelves full of shoes, sizes marked on the side of the shelf. “Wow, this is huge.”

“It’s great, right? Past the shoe area is furniture and home décor, and in the far corner is a book section. It’s like a miniature library. It’s amazing. Finders Keepers literally has something for everyone. They even have a car section out back with used tires and parts.” Odette grabs my hand and we move into the store. My body reacts to hers instantly. Excitement rushing through me as she leads us towards the clothing area. “This is where I get all my clothes. Onyx and Odin too. It’s the cheapest way when you need to save money and you can really find some great stuff in here.”

“A store this size, I can imagine.” She comes to a stop in front of a rack of her size, most of it looks to be sundresses. I wonder if it’s something she likes. She thumbs through a few hangers and I notice she pauses on a couple of them. One is a white eyelet lace with a ruffle along the sweetheart neckline, and another is a deep pink, almost magenta, with little white polka dots on it. She continues to look while I pull the two dresses.

From the other side of the rack she stops and gives me a curious look, her eyes narrowing in on the dresses in my arm. “What are you doing?”

“You stopped on these two so we’re going to get them.” I state it as a fact instead of asking because something tells me that buying Odette anything is a difficult task.

She shakes her head. “No you aren’t. I don’t need them.”

I laugh. “I beg to differ. I think it’s safe to say you definitely need them.”

“And why do you think that?” She stands there, barely visible over the rack from her petite height and glares at me, arms crossed over her chest.

I stare back, unflinching. “Because I’m pretty sure most of theclothes we got back from Richie Rich are ruined. You need replacements.”

She looks away and I start to look through the rest of the rack, pulling a few more dresses. I move to one of the other racks with her size above it. If she wears dresses year-round, I’m sure she’ll need a couple cardigans. I grab a couple of neutral-colored ones and add them to the pile in my arms. I scan the area, but Odette is nowhere to be seen.

My heart sinks and I feel that familiar adrenaline and panic begin to rise in my blood. I start to move away from the racks back towards the door. The Chevy Impala didn’t follow us from what I saw but I didn’t look back after a few blocks. What if she’s been taken because of me? What if something horrible happens to her? I’m racing towards the front door, storming past people when I hear, “Whoa, where are you going?”

I spin around and see Odette standing there, a shopping basket in front of her. Air rushes out of my lungs and my entire body suddenly relaxes. “I didn’t see you…”

Odette gives me a peculiar look. “Yeah, I went to grab a shopping basket since you seem determined to buy all of those clothes in your arms. I figured a shopping basket would be easier.”

I huff out some air, forcing my body to try and relax some more. “I’m sorry. It’s just when I didn’t see you, I thought something might have happened to you.”

“What’s going to happen to me?” she asks with a lighthearted laugh.

Shaking my head, I reply, “You have no idea.” Guilt riddles me as I stare at her innocent face. She has no idea the kind of danger I could be putting her in because I want to know her, be near her, bask in the light she puts off. It’ll always be dangerous because of my past. You can’t outrun your past, your decisions. Decisions always have consequences and mine come with a heavy price. Maybe coming back here, even if it was for a good reason, was the wrong idea.

Odette closes the distance between us and places a hand on one of my arms. A sense of calm instantly washes over me, trying to push the fear and guilt I just felt moments ago away. “Tillman, I’m okay. I’m sorry I didn’t mean to scare you or anything like that.”

I look away and bring my arm up so that I can pinch the bridge of my nose. The movement causes me to lose Odette’s touch. She sighs and steps away and I try my best to shake the feeling I have. When I feel a little more together, I take the items in my arms and place them in the shopping basket. For the next hour we look around, add stuff to the basket and laugh. My laughter is kind of forced but Odette keeps trying to lighten the mood. I appreciate it, but she doesn’t understand. Eventually, we make it to the book area and it’s easy to tell by the way her eyes light up that she is a book lover. There’s something about that, that I love. It seems fitting. I grab a couple of books that she stops to read the back cover on. By the time we make it to the checkout we have a basket full, but to me it’s money well spent. The smile on her face makes my whole day.

We load everything into the trunk of my car, on top of Odin’s things. Odette turns to me. “Thank you. I’ll pay you back as soon as I can find a job that will work with my schedule.”

“I don’t want you to pay me back. Honestly, I have more money than I know what to do with. I’m happy to buy stuff for other people, especially someone who deserves it.”

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