Page 3 of Jax: Untamed
My feet scatter, playing hopscotch as I tiptoe over the trash and dirty clothes and head down the tiny wood stairs. I walk carefully so I don't kick up the dirt and ruin my only decent pair of sneakers.
I occupy my time for the three-block walk by scanning my phone settings to see how much data Danny and I have left on our plan. Luckily, there’s still a week before payment is due and plenty of data. Then, I scroll through my texts and respond to Alyssa.
Me: Yes ma’am, taking the bus today. Be there in about 30.
Alyssa: Yay, I need my bestie with me tonight!
Alyssa: Oh, and there’s a party tonight at Justin’s. You wanna come?
Me: Probably, I’ll have to check with my brother.
Alyssa: K
Thank God for Alyssa. Between my limited friends at school and this job, she's been a saving grace. Sheisthe reason I even have this job because normally people don't quit Joe's unless they are leaving town. Everyone knows the best place to get tips in Cane Bay is at the diner.
Since my dad wasn’t the best of providers, I’d been finding odd jobs since I was 13 years old to get anything extra I might need. Now that I was about to be a senior though, and Danny and I were moving, I had to find something steady. When I mentioned it to Alyssa she put in a good word for me and begged Joe, who is her 3rdcousin, to fit me in the schedule…which he did.
I almost make it out of the trailer park when whistles reach me from the side of the road drawing my attention to the three creeps sitting in metal fold-out chairs around a piece of junk car with the hood open.
Ugh, my dad’s friends.
I scowl their way as my stomach clenches a bit.
They started early today. I thought I’d be able to walk in peace. Guess I was wrong.
Obscenities fly my way from each of them along with tongues wagging in the air and kissy faces displaying their rotten or brown teeth and I look away gritting my teeth and picking up the pace.
“Come here girl, daddy approves.”
My head jerks back over my shoulder wondering what in the hell they are talking about and I see my dad walking down the deck, looking at me, listening to their cat calls, and doing nothing about it.
Chills run down my spine and I break into a jog. I don’t slow down until I get to the bus stop, still looking over my shoulder from time to time, wondering if they’ve shut the hood of the car and caught up to me in the junker.
They didn't though. I'm safe. And the bus is already in sight, inching along to the traffic light. I don't even have time to catch my breath but I don't mind, I just want on that bus and out of here. Once I find a seat, I pull the headphones out of my purse that Danny got me for Christmas, untangle the wired buds, and put on some music. Finally, a smile comes back to my face as I daydream about our new life, in a new home. A better one. A safe one.
The bus stops less than a block away from Joe’s and I skip down the steps with renewed thoughts and hopes. Every minute I spend here brings me closer to getting out of there. The little square brick building is already loaded with cars but that’s pretty normal for a summer afternoon.
I run to the side of the building, yanking the door open that leads straight to the locker room, and Alyssa just happens to be getting something out of her own.
“Bout time you got here,” she flashes a smile as she smacks her gum.
I blow out a sigh and grin back, “I see it’s a typical Friday already.”
“Yup. So get your apron on and get your booty out there.”
“What section is mine today?”
“B.”
“Sweet!” I love that section because the big booths bring larger parties.
I would have taken a job with Danny at the golf course but you had to be eighteen to work there, and I had just turned seventeen in April. So Joe’s it was. But I didn’t mind working here. You could even say I liked it. This place was a cash cow because it doubled as a hangout for the Cane Bay High kids, as well as everyone else in town. And my best friend being here was just a bonus.
That didn’t stop me from dreaming though. I had hopes of getting a job with Danny once I turned eighteen. It sounded so exotic, and he usually came home with loads of stories about snooty people who spent thousands like they were twenty-dollar bills. And famous people that would come through from time to time. Not to mention the pay was steady. Sometimes, we’d stay up late imagining we lived like that, fantasizing about all the ways we’d spend our riches, the cars we’d have, the homes we’d buy.
The first few hours were steady but the real surge would pick up soon now that the sun was down. I took a short break, checking in with Danny and talking to Alyssa about the party. I decided not to text him about it and just ask him in person when he gets me later because he’s pretty protective over me since mom passed. If he says no, I could give him my best sad face.
Danny’s been way more of a dad than my actual father and I just go along with it. I guess technically, I could do what I wanted, but I kind of liked having someone look after me. It felt good to be loved.