AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Too many memories were crowding in. The shitty room I’d rented after Livia kicked me out. The empty packs of cigarettes piling up in the corner. The sea of booze that never let me forget.
Chase offered me a beer. I shook my head.
“You and Rufus ever leave that back door?” I asked him. “Or do you live out there now?”
The band finished with a crash of cymbals, acknowledged the applause, and got their gear off the stage. A new one took their place, tuning up and calling out to their adoring fans. Girls, half-drunk, surged toward the stage, their necks craned to see.
After Livia, I’d stumbled the streets of Rome over and over, squinting at the statues under the hot sun, their stone faces flashing in and out of my vision. I’d toured the Coliseum countless times, alone in a summer that felt like a bad dream.
I wanted control. I wanted the distraction of Christina. Now.
Palming my phone, I turned toward the door.
“So who's this Ramirez?” Parker broke in.
“C’mon, you know who she is.” Chase elbowed Parker. “Cheerleader, hair down to her ass, showed up last spring to bake Ulloa cookies.”
“Riiiiight.” Parker grinned. Ulloa turned his drink around in his hands, uncomfortable. I turned back to face the guys.
“She’s not a cheerleader anymore,” I said.
“Could’ve fooled me,” Chase snickered. “Shit, I can hear her yelling all the way down the hall. She's not quiet. What're you doing to her in there?”
I straightened up. “That’s enough.”
The guys grumbled, but the flare died down. Onstage, the new band kicked in. I scanned the crowd, barely registering the lead singer’s whiny voice.
Ulloa leaned in. “Thanks for respecting Christina,” he said in an undertone. “I’m glad you’re together. Her last boyfriend...I mean, he was the nicest guy in the world, but it seemed like he was more into her than the other way around.”
I turned my soda can around in my hands. “Yeah, that never ends well.”
Ulloa pointed to the stage. “That’s actually him up there. Dexter Barrett. You know him?”
I hadn’t looked closely. There was Christina’s ex, strutting and peacocking onstage, his lank black hair hanging in his face. He ran a hand through it and gazed around with hooded eyes. Some girl screamed out an indecent proposal.
“I met him once,” I said noncommittally.
“Nice, right? But yeah, things never end well when it’s one-sided.” Ulloa finished off his drink. “I went through that last spring. I was so broken up over my girlfriend leaving, and Christina was there for me. She tell you that? Man, she listened to me for hours, talked me down from the ledge. I don’t know what I would’ve done without her. Probably dropped out of school.”
It was hard to imagine Christina listening to someone else for hours. The girl needed to talk like she needed air to breathe.
“So you guys grew up together?” My club soda was finished. I’d drunk it without noticing.
His curly hair bounced as he nodded. “Our families live a few blocks apart. Christina always looked out for me. And hersister. Alexis?” His voice went reverent in the tones reserved for acts of God. “That woman is unreal.”
“That's what I've heard.” I folded my hands behind my head.
“Once you meet her, you never forget her. And she’s unbelievably nice. She’ll do anything for anybody.”
“I’m interested in Christina.” And I wasn’t ever going to meet her sister.
“Of course,” Ulloa said hastily. “I didn’t mean it like that. Alexis is special, that’s all.”
The band finished their first number to shrieking applause. Christina’s ex caressed the mic, raking the crowd with heavy-lidded eyes.
“Thank you so much,” he purred. “We love you guys. Now we’re going to take things down a notch with a brand-new song I just wrote. It’s called ‘Good-Luck Charm.’ People come into your life, and I believe they each have a purpose. But some people, once they’re there, you hope they never leave. ‘Cause they’re special, and you can’t imagine life without them. This one’s for my good-luck charm.”
There was a stir in the room. I followed the ripple in the crowd, and on the far side, near the front, I saw Christina.
