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“Yes, Dan. I’m coming.”
“I don’t want you coming. I want your damn sorry ass here RIGHT NOW!”
“Sorry hunny, just let me grab my sunglasses.”
Dan mumbled something sourly under his breath and snatched a pair of keys
off the table. “You’d better be down here in ten seconds, or else I’m leaving
without you.”
Rushing into the room, andy smiled at Dan in attempt to sooth his rotten
temper. "Ok, all ready. Where are we going again?” she questioned as they
headed out the door.
In a fury, Dan whirled around and clamped his hands down on Mandy’s upper
arms. “How many time do I have to tell you? You’ll find out when we get
there!”
Eyes wide, Mandy nodded weakly and slipped silently into the passenger
seat. Thoughts swarmed through her head. A month ago Dan wasn’t like this.
He was caring, understanding, and sweet. He was nine years older than her
seventeen years, and her very first boyfriend, so she loved him dearly. Even
now. Even when he got mad. Mandy knew that Dan lived a rough life, so she
overlooked when he acted this way and yelled at her for no reason. Mandy
thought she understood that Dan just needed someone to love him, and she
would do anything for him.
Tears leaked from Mandy’s eyes, leaving pale streaks down her red, wind-burned cheeks. The memories were almost too much. In the beginning, it had seemed so perfect. But now, looking back, Mandy saw how stupid and naive she had been. It had never been perfect, she had only thought it was. And it had only gotten worse. Leading up to her running for her life from the people she had once thought cared for her. Wiping her hand under her nose and rubbing her eyes, Mandy pushed herself to her feet. Five minutes had passed. Surely it was safe to venture out now. Pausing, Mandy realized that most likely the people currently searching for her were ones who did not know her personally. With this thought in mind, she shrugged out of her well worn favorite purple jacket and pulled her curly blonde mane into a messy bun. Maybe someone looking for a curly blonde in a purple jacket would mistake her simply for a brunette in a greenstriped v-neck.
Mandy cautiously stepped out of the ally and back onto the well lit street. Too well lit. To Mandy’s dismay, she spotted several slow moving jeeps with young men in the driver’s seat, cruising up and down the streets. They were still there, still looking for her. Panicked, Mandy practically dove into the nearest building. A dim bar, almost packed full. Breathing heavily, she fought the urge to hide under a table and forced herself to, at least visibly, calm down.
Noise swirled all around her as people tried to drink and dance away their problems. She made her way around the dance floor towards several booths. She slipped into the one in the farthest, darkest corner. Letting out a shaky breath, Mandy lowered her head into her trembling hands in attempt to block out the boisterous sounds. She had never been in a bar, although this was not really out of her contempt for them. It was more due to the fact that Dan wanted her to stay home. At seventeen she wasn’t even legal yet. She had never had alcohol, never really wanted to. Although it’s effects were nothing new to her. Dan drank all the time. Experencing the results of his substance abuse was enough to keep her far fom the bottle. Despite, or perhaps because of, Mandy was used to fending for herself and fitting in. Growing up and being shuffled from relative to relative taught her to roll with the punches. Living with Dan gave this term a more literal meaning. After her parents fatal car crash at age four, Mandy had basically been on her own. Which was why Dan had meant so much to her, despite what she had thought were minor glitches in their relationship.
“Do you always invite yourself over to other people’s tables?”
A deep voice shook Mandy out of her depressing thoughts. Eyes wide, she spun her head around and found herself sitting across from a twentyish man holding a half-empty glass.
“I, umm, er.. no,” Mandy replied, heart racing. Who was this guy?
The man lowered his tinted sunglasses and gave her a long look over. Feeling awkward under his gaze, Mandy stammered, “I mean, I thought this table was empty.”
This man was obviously not with them. If he was, she would have already known it, most likely by a drugged handkerchief over her nose or a gun hidden under a jacket.
The man didn’t reply, not changing his expression.
Ideas raced through Mandy’s head. Was this a stroke of luck? Perhaps no one would notice a couple on a date, all alone in a dark corner. She’d be easier to spot alone. Yes. She would stay here for awhile. Awkward though it may be. Her life, and freedom, were worth some discomfort.
“How old are you?” the man asked, keeping his eyes locked on hers.
“Twenty-one last week,” Mandy lied with ease. She had learned half-lies, as she silently called them, would only lead to trouble. When trying to deceive someone, it was better to make it believable.
“Really.” The stranger’s reply remained dry and detached, although Mandy had an eerie feeling he was analyzing her answers.
“Yeah. Tuesday was my birthday. It was pretty wild, if you know what I mean,” Mandy attempted a knowing smirk.
The stranger didn’t pick up on her blatantly obvious flirting and just swirled his fingertip around his mug before speaking up, “So you want something to drink....” he let the sentence hang, not knowing her name.
“Oh. I’m Sarah. Sorry. And you are?” Mandy leaned forwards on her elbows, as if eagerly anticipating his response.
“A.J. Short for nothing. Just A.J. What would you like?”
“Umm,” Mandy paused, not knowing any specific alcoholic beverages. “I’ll take whatever you’re having.”
A.J raised an eyebrow skeptically. “I don’t think you want what I’m having.”
“Are you saying that I can’t handle my liquor? I can out drink you any day, ”Mandy boasted, secretly hoping that her challenge wouldn’t be put to the test.
A slight smirk formed on A.J’s lips, an action that Mandy overlooked as she peeked around her shoulder towards the door. No one seemed out of place. Slightly relieved, Mandy turned back towards her table mate, who had already given the order to a waitress.
“Do you come here much, Sarah?” A.J questioned sipping from his cup.
“Oh, every now and then. You know,” Mandy said shrugging her shoulders. The waitress returned with her drink and Mandy eyed it warily before looking up at A.J with a fake smile. “Mmm. Looks good.” With that she picked up the glass and took a generous gulp.
Oops, that was a mistake. Her eyes teared up and the liquid seemed to burn her throat as it made its way through her body, doing God only knows what unseen damage. What the hell was this stuff? A second wave of discomfort hit her as the room seem to tilt at a slight angle. This is what men enjoyed so much? How feeling like a car-sick puppy was fun, Mandy was clueless. After a few seconds of deep, gasping breaths, Mandy managed to look up and met A.J’s amused expression.
“Woah there. That’s, umm, strong.” Mandy wavered a weak grin, while mentally beating herself up for being so stupid. “I bet I look pretty stupid now, huh?” Mandy giggled. “But don’t worry, it’s really good.” She picked up her glass and drank some more.
“So,” AJ cleared his throat, “what is a good-looking girl, like yourself, doing here all alone?”
Mandy blushed on cue. “Just having a good time,” she replied in a sly voice. About time. I was afraid I was going to have to flash him to get him interested, Mandy thought curtly.
“Not hiding from anyone?” Panic flashed quickly across Mandy’s face as she struggled against her automatic facial reaction to his words. “Like a heard of admirers?” AJ finished with an evil twinkle.
Catching her breath, Mandy managed another shaky smile. “No. No herds of admirers.”
Her nervousness had returned and she wobbly picked up her glass for another drink. Her eyes darted around, searching for escape routes and anyone unusual. If AJ noticed anything unusual, he said nothing. Mandy’s emotions began to blur together. She was scared of being caught, terrified of facing Dan, weary about AJ, and very, very tired.
“Huh? What?” Mandy said startled, realizing that AJ was asking her something.
“I said isn’t this a good band?” AJ nodded towards the stage.
Mandy stared at him for a moment. “Oh, oh yeah. Sure,” she finally replied, shaking her head slightly, annoyed at her own delay in replying.
“Are you feeling alright?” AJ asked, his tone tinted with humor and concern.
“I umm, yeah. I just feel kinda...” Mandy trailed off, as if forgetting what the question was.
A.J reached across and pulled the drink away from her. When she protested, he calmly replied, “Let's just talk awhile, alright?”
“Okay,” Mandy replied, feeling slightly confused. Why did this guy want to talk to her? Wasn’t she supposed to be doing something important?
“How old are you really?”
“I told you already. Twenty-one. My party, remember?” Mandy replied, emphasizing her wordsas if AJ was to dumb to understand what she was saying without the extra help.
“Hmm. Yes. Ok, let's try another question. Who are you hiding from?”
Mandy’s head snapped up and things cleared a little. “Excuse me?”
“I said, who are you hiding from? Don’t try to say that you’re not. I saw you rush in here and hurry into a corner. And you’ve been looking over your shoulder ever since you came in.”
Mandy’s jaw dropped open, and she looked at him stupidly. She tried to think of an excuse, but her mind seemed all blurry, and wouldn’t work fast enough. This made her mad. Who was he to question her?
“No one. Geez, what’s your problem? I’m just sitting here, and you come along and...”
“Actually, I was sitting here and you came along,” A.J corrected.
Mandy couldn’t remember who had come long, so she just ignored him and continued, “...start making all this trouble. And give me back my drink!” Mandy snatched her glass and downed the rest of the liquid in one gulp. Grinning triumphantly, she smacked the glass down on the table. “Ha!” That’ll show him, she thought, oddly ecstatic with her actions.
AJ raised an eyebrow, but decided to ignore her abrupt actions. “I think you need to calm down.”
“Calm down? I am calm,” Mandy protested with a hiccup. She stood up quickly and found the room swaying. She put her hands on the table for support and lowered herself back into her seat. “Wooaaah.”
A.J reached across and put his hands over hers. “Just keep sitting, ok? You downed that a bit too fast. But while you’re here, I want to know who you’re hiding from. If you’re sober enough to talk intelligently.”
“I’m hiding from,” Mandy looked around and lowered her voice, “Santa Claus. SHHHHH! Don’t tell anyone!” Mandy giggled. Whirls of colors spun around, it was so pretty. Maybe the streaks of appealing lights were fairies. If only she could catch one... then she could keep it in a cage... she’d always liked fairies. Mandy clutched randomly at the air, as if trying to catch a fly.
“Oh geez, you are so wasted. Ok, come on little girl. Lets go,” A.J said, standing up.
“I’m not little. I’m twenty-one,” she insisted with another hiccup.
“I’m sure you are, now let's go.” A.J gently pulled her to her feet, supporting her when she leaned against him for balance.
“Hey! Wait a minute, are you a fairy?” Mandy stared wide-eyed at him, as though she’d never seen anything like him. “You’re a pretty fairy. But I can walk, you don’t have to...” and with that, Mandy passed out.
New Beginnings