Olivia parked her dad’s car in the underground parking space, we took the elevator to the main floor. The ceiling was decorated with beautiful carvings and art deco arches. I’d been there before. In a drunken stupor, a few friends and I tried to sneak in and break out onto the balconies on the top floor. We’d been caught by security before we even made it to the elevators.
I held her hand as we wandered down the main street, lightly debating on what to have for dinner. We settled on a Chinese buffet, which suited my growling stomach and Oliva’s vegetarianism.
I paid for dinner, and we left. We wandered a few blocks down to a movie theatre and went inside. Olivia had shivered, complaining of the cold. I moved my arms around her and rubbed her arms gently to warm her.
She smiled and fit herself into my body perfectly.
I paid for our tickets to the movie we decided on, ordered two drinks and a bag of popcorn to share.
The movie was a chick flick and during a few parts, I had to struggle to stay awake. Olivia was very interested in it, and was glued to the screen for almost two hours. At times she would lay her head on my shoulder, or her hand would meet mine in the bag of popcorn like we were in a tacky movie. Each time I couldn’t hide a grin.
At the end of the movie, I pulled on my coat and waited patiently for Olivia. I helped her with her coat, and watched as she put on her gloves and scarf again.
We walked out to the lobby of the movie theatre, she stopped. “Oh, wow. It’s really snowing out there.” She mused, peering through the glass doors.
“Maybe we should cab it back to your dad’s place. We could stop there, and I’ll take the cab home.”
Olivia shook her head and shrugged lightly. “It’s just snow. I think we’ll be okay to walk to my dad’s and I’ll drive you home. It’s not a big deal.”
“Are you sure? It’s kind of a long drive… I could always go back to your place and call one of my parents to come and get me.” I shrugged.
This was such a pain in the ass. I hated to have to call my parents for a ride. Having my license would have really been a lot easier. It was at times like this probation seemed unfair. Just taking away my ability to drive would have been punishment enough without probation tacked on top of it.
“It’s okay,” Olivia looped her arm through mine and we walked out into the falling snow.
She smiled. “I must say one thing; this town is very pretty in the snow.” She mused, looking up at the tacky snowflakes, decorated with lights and garland.
“I love the snow.” I mused.
“Me too.” Olivia hugged my arm lightly. She smiled at me.
“Well, well. Look who it is.” A voice came from behind us.
When otherwise I would have simply ignored this, I somehow knew that this sentiment was meant for me.
I turned around and realized why I knew the voice. The girl who’d gotten me into more trouble than I ever thought possibly was standing next to one of my best friends, and my former drug dealer.
I didn’t have to be a rocket scientist to know that these two were trouble, and this chance encounter was not going to end well.
Pinkie’s bright pink hair was standing up in all directions, like she’d cut it herself again. She had on an ill-fitting men’s combat jacket, which she’d drawn on a pentagram in black nail polish. She’d added two more piercings to her face; one in her nose and the other in her lip. She looked like she’d drawn on her eye make up with a sharpie.
Jimmy’s mohawk was long enough for him to pull back with the shaved part showing. He looked as though he hadn’t showered or shaved in a few days. Instead of wearing a coat, he was wearing two sweaters and a plaid flannel hunting coat. A lit cigarette dangled from between his lips.
“Oh, hi, Jimmy… Pinkie.” I said awkwardly. I reached for Olivia and carefully moved her behind me.
I knew enough that even though I hadn’t ratted on these two, I would be viewed as no longer an ally; therefore I would have been automatically branded an enemy. I wasn’t going to take any chances with Olivia there.
Pinkie narrowed her eyes at Olivia. Pinkie was trouble, and I knew by the way she was looking at Olivia, she was looking for a reason to fight. She was reckless and determined to prove herself. She would fight anyone and everyone without consideration for her own safety.
“So you’re out of the big house, then huh? I heard you were going away for a long time.” Jimmy smirked crookedly.
“Uh… yeah. Still on probation though, so I’ve got to be getting home.” I shrugged. “Sorry. I’ll give you a call though; we could maybe hang out or something… still at the same number?”
Pinkie scoffed. “No. Don’t you pull that horse shit. We know you’re probably some sort of a narc now, There’s no way they’d let you out of the slammer like that.” She snapped her fingers. “And you show up back here with valley-girl-Barbie over here and act like everything is cool?” She pointed her finger at Olivia.
“Excuse me?” Olivia asked in surprise. She tried to move away from behind me, but I moved to block her further.
“That was uncalled for, Pinkie. Really. Look, I’ve grown up a lot in the past couple of months. I don’t have time for this. I’ve changed.”
“See, that Green?” Pinkie smirked. “Told ya he went soft in rehab. I think you should hit him, lets see how soft he really is.” She encouraged, hitting Jim in the arm.
Olivia gasped behind me.
“Nah, I’m not going to hit him.” Jim said. “He knows too much about us. If he tells the cops we’re done for. I’m not doing more time.” He took a long drag of his cigarette and let out a lazy puff of smoke.
I breathed an internal sigh of relief. I knew that Jimmy was probably higher than a kite. And I knew that when he was stoned, he wouldn’t back down. He was reckless and would either take me down or kill me trying.
Olivia let out a strange sounding sigh of relief behind me.
We were interrupted by the sounds of sirens and a panicked look crossed Pinkie’s face. “Green, we gotta go!” She tugged his arm. I noticed when she turned that there was clearly something shoved into her jacket that didn’t belong. They were probably shoplifting and returning stolen items for extra cash.
“Shit. See you around,” Jimmy smirked at me. They both turned and took off down the street, pushing through bodies of pedestrians.
I turned around quickly and turned Olivia around. “Lets go. We’ve got to get out of here.” I moved my arm around her and ushered her across the street.
“Who-?” She began to ask.
“I’ll explain later.” I insisted. “We just have to go before they come back, okay?”
Olivia nodded and let me tow her along.
After we were almost a full block and a half away, I slowed my pace to a walk. I could feel Olivia’s eyes on me. “Ike… can you explain now?”
I nodded. “When we first met, do you remember me telling you the story of the girl who’d gotten me into a ton of trouble at school?”
Olivia’s eyes widened. “That was her?”
“Yeah. And the guy she’s with? He goes by the name Green on the street. He’s a small time drug dealer, who makes most of his money on the smaller drugs like acid and pot, but he does also push the harder substances. I used to get high with that guy all the time. He’s hardcore, you do not want to mess with him. Or her for that matter. She’s a small person, but she’ll kick ass when she needs to. And if she’s in trouble, she usually packs a knife on her.”
Olivia gaped at me in disbelief.
“They were probably stealing from the stores down here, which is why they’re running when they heard sirens. A lot of time they steal from stores and return the items for the cash. But they might have even been swiping cough syrup.”
Olivia frowned. “To get drunk?”
I shook my head. “No, you need cough syrup to make meth. His buddy is one of the biggest meth pushers in town. Another reason you don’t want to mess with Jim. If you mess with him, you mess with the meth dealer.”
Olivia pursed her lips.
“Who knows, they might have even been selling. He usually gets Pinkie to sell for him; she doesn’t raise as much suspicion as he does.”
Olivia was silent for the remainder of the walk. We reached the lobby of her dad’s building and I stopped her just inside the door.
“Liv, I’m sorry. I didn’t want to bring you into this stuff, I’m sorry. You’re too good of a person to be brought into all of this stuff, and I’m sorry it ruined our evening. I… I can understand if you don’t want anything to do with me… but you have to believe me that I’m not like that anymore. I’ve changed, that isn’t me.”
Olivia nodded. She laid her hand on my cheek gently. “I know. I understand completely. You’re not that person anymore… It was just a little scary for me. I’ve never been that close to a drug dealer before… and she’s… well, she’s a piece of work.”
I smirked. “I really am sorry, Liv. I hoped I could protect you from that, but clearly the universe had other plans.”
Olivia nodded. “It’s fine!” She smiled. “Come on, we can talk about it on the way to your place. I’ll need to know how to get there for tomorrow when I get to meet your parents.” She beamed happily, taking my hand.
“Right,” I mused.
We walked through the lobby to the elevator and once inside, Olivia turned to me suddenly. “You don’t really think I’m a vally-girl Barbie do you?” She asked.
I laughed. “You are the complete polar opposite of Barbie.” I grinned. “I’m pretty sure Barbie ate meat.”
Olivia laughed and playfully shoved me.
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