Chapter 2 Two

2

It did not take long for the guy to leave, but I could not help but notice how many people were staring. Seriously, people, stop staring; a lady in an electric wheelchair cart was heading our way. I am not in the mood for another conversation, and for all I know, that lady could be Mis Marge. I look closer, and sure enough, it is her, "Hey Marge, how are things going?" She smiles, showing her three missing teeth. Marge is a big girl with white curly hair, blind as a bat, and a watch dog who helps her when she needs to leave the house. She lives in my neighborhood, and the woman is similar to my grandmother, but a little more open-minded. "I thought I heard a Hispanic teenager giving a guy a hard time; how is my Latina gal doing today? I smile at her antics. I never take her words as insults, she is awesome like that, "Trying to make a point, what are you up to today, Doña Marge (Madam Marge)?" She chuckles in her deep voice and begins to catch, she qualified for cannabis use for her condition, but hearing her caught made me take a step back because of the fumes she emits; I am not a plant fan, I assure you. Leo takes my arm and asks, "Can we go?," as I wave my hand to diffuse the smells. I am free to go home if you come with me." I blinked, slightly nervous; what if he wants to take me for another reason? Or perhaps we will go our separate ways? Maybe he will be nice enough not to ditch me? That last thought made me hate myself; of course he is going to leave me. The guy was stalking me, and now he is simply trying to get out of his friendly little Hispanic helper, way to self-label Nitty. Turning back to Marge, I say my goodbyes to her when I see her golden retriever, "Well, I will see you, and Goldilocks around, do not get lost now Marge, I need your cookies for that special event." I waved at her even though I knew she had no idea I was waving; it is a habit of mine, and Marge knows I do not mean any harm by it. Walking away just enough, Leo decided to talk to me more. "Okay, that was pretty cool. I am not going to lie, you can pass for a teenager; I thought you were my little sister, but autism? Really? What else could you have told the guard? I was smiling at his admiration until he said guard. As I passed by to get the last few things, I looked at the guy and said, "Guard? "How did you know they were guards?" He paused for a second before letting his tensed shoulders relax; he did not say anything, so I watched the video to get what I needed; one way or another, this guy was getting what I needed; I am not paying a dime to that apartment complex, Jose. Bending down to get a piece of the video repeated, Leo begins to speak, "Well, I would feel more confident if I could tell you in a more private way; I would usually converse with you in a more professional manner, but you are definitely not what I would expect in a woman." He spoke in a low tone, his voice was low and seductive, and my sanity was slowly slipping away. Why does this guy need to enter my naughty side of imagination? Getting up, I almost slip, but he catches my hand and pulls me up, we slam on each other, a small groan leaves me, with my hands open on his chest, I say bashfully, "sorry, I swear that was not intentional," he helps me get my balance while saying, "it is alright, but I trusted you with this, I just want you to trust why I needed this, but I can not if we can not be alone, yes it is that important," I nod slightly. I am still very ashamed of losing my wired foot, but I never feel ashamed. I mean, if I was ashamed of half of my, oh please do not open that door, Nitchelle, and save yourself from the shameful things you have done. I closed my eyes and tried to think of anything to elicit the small memories that were attempting to surface from my deepest consciousness. "Okay fine, let us go, but only if you pay for my stuff; I can not go home without these," I walk to the cart when he asks, "Is there anything else or is this it? Because I can get you everything you really need on a budget." I smiled sinisterly as I pulled the cart to different locations on Walmart, "Okay, looks like I missed a lot of stuff." After an hour of shopping, we arrive at the cashier when I hear a cellphone from Leo. He picks it up and places it on his side, holding it between his ear and his shoulder blade to take out his credit card, which he hands to me when I notice it is a black card. "What the?" he said, taking a few steps away to a more quiet spot. They rang up all of my stuff, which I was afraid to do, but then my eyes nearly popped out of my head when the big digger numbers of $417.57 fell to zero the second I placed the card on the reader, putting everything back in the cart. Leo returns, and just as I was about to finish something, some people dressed casually approached where my belongings were, saying, "They work for me, do not worry, they will not steal any of your stuff." I furrow my brow, "exactly how is it that they are here getting things now when you need-" He stops me by gently grabbing my hand and pulling me away; as I get out, I notice they are loading the items into a BMW. I thought that was the car I was getting into, but instead, Leo leads me to a really cool bike, "What is that bike?" He sits on it and starts it, "Sit behind, and it is a Suzuki Hayabusa, we will not be long, I have a proposition for you," he smiles as he raises his sunglasses, and I am met with the most beautiful bright blue eyes, "sweet Honey ice tea. I love your eye color," he smiled his pearly whites with small dimples on his cheeks, and I swear I felt moist for a moment, "get on," I did not think about my response, and just blurred it out, "with pleasure I will get on you, I mean!" I immediately tried to hide my embarrassment, but it was a complete waste because he laughed at my mortified expression, my failed attempt to save my dumb ass. I swear he will never let me out of this, sitting behind him, I realize I have to hold tight to my blessing, I felt firm toned abs, okay so this could be a good payback for laughing at my embarrassing moment, he takes me to a really fancy penthouse, he parks his bike, when his cell phone rings again, he takes it, looks at me, and gives me another card, "hit the word Zu, that is where I live." I nod in response to what he said, just in case I take out my phone. After a short walk, I stay vigilant about him and text three people: my mother, Ted, and Arnold, who all gave me a big thumbs up. If I die, I tried to notify my so-called'support groups' in advance. "God, protect me from this bad moment because I need to get out of this celibacy before I go out with a bang," I say aloud as I press the first Zu button. I keep looking at my phone, hoping to see something when my mother begins texting, to enjoy myself a little, to see the bright side, if not to call her later, grate, so that if I die now, she will simply say the typical vows of a grieving mother, "she was so young." When the double doors ding, I flinch; the doors began to move slightly as my phone received a text from Ted; looking down, I hear the doors open; and I look up.