Jaws of Love
(Chapter 4)
Work was
finally over and everyone was going his or her separate way, most likely headed
towards home or going to fool around somewhere far from their jobs. The sun would
set in an hour and family time would begin. That was the moment where the
stress of work was retold to others at the dinner table and preparation for the
next day began. It was a never-ending process that went on all 365 days of the
year. (366 if there was leap year). Work, get stressed, come home, talk to
family, and prepare; this was life and, as poet Edna St. Vincent Millay once said, “Life isn’t just one damned thing. It’s
the same damned thing over and over again.” [1] Crude as it sounded to some, it
was true. Most people’s lives were the same damn process over and over again.
Tiffany Donnelly and Tabitha Powell were no exception to the rule. They were
both ready to leap into the ‘come home’ part of the process. Problem for
Tiffany was that Dylan, damn him, left without telling her. Both of them were
in charge of some after school activity. Dylan advised the school newspaper;
Tiffany was the varsity cheerleading coach. He probably assumed that she was
coaching her girls again and decided to go home without her. But Tiffany was
actually late because one of her students needed help in math. The tutoring
took only fifteen minutes, which made her happy...until she saw that her
boyfriend had locked his room and fled the area without her.
Needless to say, Tiffany nearly lost it when she saw that his car wasn’t in the
parking lot. She tried calling him but got his voicemail. She could have left a
lot of nasty comments but (barely) resisted.
Thankfully, Tabitha hadn’t left work yet and she gladly gave Tiffany a ride
when she saw her friend didn’t bring her car today. But while Tabitha was happy
to help her out, she wasn’t going straight home. Instead she was headed to
downtown
“Trip’s going to be there again.” She said, mentioning her twin’s name.
Tiffany, who had been re-applying her makeup all this time, paused and looked
at Tabitha. “He’s hoping to break the ice and get through to her.”
“How long has Debra been avoiding him?”
“I don’t know. I just hate seeing my brother like this. If Deb doesn’t
love him anymore, why doesn’t she tell him? They’ve always been open with each
other. And why has she cut off connections with all of you?”
‘All of you’ referred to Tiffany’s seven best friends: Dylan Grier, Trip
Duncan, Debra Laird, Suzanne Crenshaw, Cole Sawyer, Alex Ruteger,
and Rosemary Bowden. True, she loved Tabitha like a sister but those seven were
the ones that Tiffany would jump in the line of fire for. She grew up with none
of them yet she treated them like they had been born friends. Of course, the
girls couldn’t help but fall for the four young men they befriended. It wasn’t
long before Trip and Debra were an item. Then Tiffany
and Dylan got together. Immediately after that, Rosemary and Alex fell for one
another. When Suzanne and Cole started dating, they finally decided to know
each other better and the rest was history.
The eight people of them even lived in one place, four couples
total. Each couple had their own private space but they all were under one
roof. They weren’t that far apart in age, all between 24-28,
but they did not have the same interests or personalities. They fought a lot
with each other but, through think and thin, they stayed close. It was a good
thing too. Times were tough these, economic wise, and they needed each other
more than ever. However Debra Laird, the third youngest in their group, hadn’t
been acting close to anyone. She was a high-spirited, bubbly young lady but now
she was being anything but. Trip knew it was serious because there were too
many afghans and pillows lying around in the room.
Debra made things like this whenever something was bothering her and, if she
had made too many afghans and pillows, then it was something
big.
“So many things are going on here. First these weird cannibal murders, now
Debra acting all depressed...” Tabitha was saying. Tiffany finished curling her
eyelashes and then pulled out a compact mirror.
“How do you know she’s not acting it?” She asked.
“Why would Debra be depressed?” Tabitha pointed out. “There are people out
there who have less than she does. There are people who are worse off than she
is. She’s never suffered from anything terrible. She shouldn’t be depressed.”
*/Untrue, Tab. So untrue. If you only knew.../*
Tiffany thought. Unlike most people, Debra had gone through a lot in
twenty-four years. Debra knew what it was like to suffer, probably better than
the people Tabitha was talking about. But there was no point in arguing about
that. Tabitha didn’t know how much Debra suffered and now was not a good time
to tell her. First off, it was almost Christmas, which was a time to be happy.
Secondly, Debra’s life was something that Tabitha would be better off not
knowing about. When the right time came (or if it came),
maybe then.
They drove on in silence, occasionally talking about the murders and what they
were planning to do over the holidays. Naturally, Tabitha was more interested
in people eating people than in the happier times. Tiffany tried her hardest to
steer her friend away from that subject but to no avail. She let out a sigh of
relief when they entered downtown
It was a very large and unmistakable building, made of marble, concrete, and
glass. “
They entered the building, which was packed parents and older siblings coming
to take the dance students home. It was one big lobby with a lot of doors that
lead to different rooms. It was like one of those game show stages only behind
every door there was a teacher teaching children instead of the fancy car or
vacation. Tiffany started scanning the room until Tabitha poked her in the arm.
“He’s there.” She glanced over to the right where her brother was.
Tiffany followed Tabitha’s gaze to where Trip Duncan was standing. He was also
another one of her friends. He looked very much like a male version of Tabitha
except for one thing; his wavy dark brown hair was streaked with blond
highlights. According to Dylan, he looked like he took a shower in a lightning
storm. He also had a silver hoop earring that dangled from his left ear, making
him look wilder than his sister. But he had the soft jade eyes and perfect skin
that Tabitha had been blessed with. Like Tabitha, he was a nice person with a
fun nature (but no obsession with tabloids). However, due to his girlfriend
suddenly ignoring him, he seemed less spirited than usual.
For example, right now he was looking at Debra teaching her students. He had
one hand shoved into his pocket and the other one pressed up against the door
where her classroom was, as if he wanted to break through it and touch her. It
was clear he had just come from an important day at school cause of what he was
wearing; black jacket, matching slacks, and a white shirt with the top opened,
revealing a nicely toned chest underneath. In addition to his earring, he was
also wearing a black choker with a black and silver cross hanging from it.
To make a long description short, he was beautiful. But he wasn’t a stupid guy.
In fact, he would earn his PhD in a few more months. He was actually more calm
and well organized whereas his sister and his girlfriend were both energetic
and *very* disorganized. It was true. People often called Trip the “Eccentric
Looking One” while Tabitha and Debra were the “Eccentric Ones”. Both women were
prone to lose things on a regular basis and do things such drive away while her
purse was still sitting on top of the car’s roof. (In Debra’s case, it had
happened on more than one occasion with food rather than her bag).
“Has she opened up to him?” Tiffany asked.
Tabitha shook her head. “He misses her like crazy, Tiff. He wants everything to
be just like it was before. I wish Debra would tell someone what’s wrong.”
Suddenly, Tiffany got a thought. “Do you know if Debra already had her period?”
“Uh…no.” Tabitha looked questioningly at her friend.
“I don’t know when she has it. Why are you asking me that?”
“Well, this might be a hunch but…” Tiffany lowered her voice and pulled Tabitha
close to her so Trip wouldn’t overhear them. “…if Debra hasn’t had her period
yet, there’s a possible chance that she could be...”
“Pregnant?” Tabitha finished off. “Tiff, sometimes women skip a period when
they’re stressed out or something. That doesn’t necessarily make them
pregnant.”
“Yeah, I know. Like I said, it’s a hunch. But that could explain why she’s been
avoiding your brother as well as the rest of us.”
“I don’t think she’d be teaching ballet if she was. And Debra’s not the type of
girl to have premarital sex with my brother! Dylan’s been influencing your
thoughts way too much.” Tabitha scolded. But she was right. Debra had been
raised in a very strict household and was like her parents in some ways. There
was no way in hell Debra would have unsafe sex with Trip. If she did, she’d
tell someone.
“True.” Tiffany bought the argument to a close. “You’re right, Tab. She’d tell
someone if it was this serious.”
Then again, Tabitha didn’t know Debra very well. She knew that the girl was her
brother’s lover and she knew the things everyone else knew: birthday,
occupation, personality, and so forth. But she didn’t know what Tiffany and
their other six friends knew. They could only pray pregnancy wasn’t the reason.
“Let’s talk to him. He definitely needs the company.” Tabitha suggested.
Without waiting for Tiffany to reply, she walked over and touched her brother’s
shoulder. “I figured you’d be here.”
Trip
“What the...Tab! Tiff!” He finally exclaimed. “What
are you doing here?”
“Dylan ditched me again.” Tiffany said, suddenly
remember what that idiot boyfriend of hers did. “He left without me. Don’t be
surprised if you hear screams from our room tonight.”
Trip wanted to ask more but decided it was wise not to. “Uh...sure.
Whatever, Tiff.”
“So how was your day?” Tabitha asked.
Trip looked up at the ceiling, moving his head side to side, as he remembered
his day. “Went to school, studied, thought a lot about
what my dissertation is going to be about, puttered around school, and finally
came here. Oh, and Mom called! Turns out that Tina left her phone in someone’s
car and there’s no way to contact her. She’s wandering somewhere in New Jersey
and Mom is having a fit.” Tina was Trip and Tabitha’s younger sister.
“Oh great!” Tabitha rolled her eyes. “Well, couldn’t
she at least call Mom using someone else’s phone and tell her that she’s all
right? What the hell is she doing in New Jersey anyway?!”
“I don’t know! I’m only praying she’s okay. Let’s see...what else? Oh yes! You
won’t believe me but everything that I’m about to say did happen.” Trip started
out. “I was on my way to buy your gift, right? I finally found something that I
know you’ll like and I decided to buy it. Somehow, I dropped it on the ground
by accident and I bet over to pick it up. I had no idea that this lady had
stopped in front of me...and this is a *huge* lady! I’m not trying to be mean
but she was *fat*!” Trip held his arms far out to the side to emphasize how
huge the woman was. Tabitha began to giggle and Tiffany groaned.
“I’m serious! She looks like she stuffed herself with two hundred tons of
cotton or something!” Trip exclaimed. “Anyway, she had stopped in front of me
as I was picking your gift off the floor. I started to get up and I put my hand
up to grab something for support...and I grabbed her...” Trip turned bright red
as he whispered the last bit of the sentence. “I grabbed her tits by accident.”
Tiffany’s hand flew to her mouth as she tried to stop laughing. “Trip! You didn’t!”
Trip nodded, ashamed of himself. “I did.”
“Oh my God! You grabbed her...” Tabitha lowered her own voice in case any of
the children decided to come in early and without warning. “You grabbed her
tits? How could you?”
“I didn’t mean to! But that’s not the weird part of this story. So I find
myself touching her tits, which are almost hanging down to her knees, and I
feel really bad about it. I got my hands off them immediately and apologized. I
told her I didn’t mean to grab her tits. Then she looks at me and asks ‘You
touched my breasts?’ and I said ‘Yes, I’m sorry’. Here I am, expecting to get
slapped and I’m waiting for the blow. Instead she smiles at me, throws her head
back and says ‘Oh thank you!’ Yeah, she thanks me.”
“She thanks you for touching her boobs?”
“I know, it shocked me too. But before I can say a
word, she says ‘Not very many people noticed the fact that I have breast
implants now. You’re the first person who did so thank you’. I apologized one
more time and left her.”
“Thank God!” Tabitha exclaimed. Then she smiled. “So what did you buy me?”
Trip pulled away from her. “I’m not telling you!”
“Oh, c’mon! Tell me! Please?” Tabitha clasped her hands together.
“No, sis. You have to wail till Christmas.”
Before Tiffany could break up the argument that was headed their way, the door
to one of those rooms opened. A million giggles poured out from that room as
all these girls gathered around Debra who had something important to tell them.
From outside the room, everyone was listening.
“Okay, that’s it for today.” Debra smiled down at the twelve little girls who
had formed a circle around her. They waited for her to formally dismiss them.
“I’ll see you all next week. And remember: a good ballerina *always* stays on
her toes! You can go now!”
“Bye, Miss Debbie!” The girls scampered around the wooden floor, grabbing their
bags and jackets from the corner. Debra helped some of the younger girls get
into their jackets before sending them out into the lobby. She had an hour
before her next class, jazz dance for kids 12 and above, began. Unlike the
little girls in this class, they’d be easier to handle. Then she had one more
class to teach, a ballet class for 12 and above, and she’d be done for the day.
She seemed unaware that her boyfriend and two friends were waiting in the
lobby. Trip looked at her one last before turning away.
“She doesn’t like me anymore.” He decided, his face darkening. “I’ve done
something and she doesn’t like me anymore.”
“That’s not true! She just...” Tiffany paused right there, mainly cause she
didn‘t know what to say.
“Did she tell you guys what’s wrong with her?” He asked.
Tabitha shook her head. “I’m stumped just like you. Either she doesn‘t like all
of us or we_”
She was cut off by the sound of footsteps coming towards them. All three turned
around. It was Debra, standing in the doorway, still dressed in her dance
clothes. She had only replaced her ballet slippers with sneakers and had thrown
a jacket over her black leotard. A few strands of cinnamon brown hair fell out
of her tight ponytail and the pink bow in her hair was coming undone. She even
had circles under her hazel eyes from the work she had done in the past few
days. Even Trip didn’t recognize her at first and he was her boyfriend!
“So what are you guys talking about?” She asked.
“You finally decided to speak to me, Snooky?” He
muttered. Debra winced. Trip called her “Snooky”
whenever he was feeling extremely affectionate or he was worried about her. She
personally hated that nickname though she never told him that. It just seemed
corny to her.
“What are you guys talking about?” She asked again, ignoring the semi-hurt look
on her boyfriend’s face. Tabitha and Tiffany didn’t know what to say. Debra
hadn’t spoken to either one of them in a while. Somehow, it was hard to act
civilized around her.
“Um...” Tabitha, seeing that no one else was going to say word, tried to make
up something. “We were just...talking about...you know...stuff.”
Trip rolled his jade eyes. “Way to go, Tab. I’m sure she knows exactly what we
were talking about now.”
“Shut up, Thomas Stanley Duncan!” Tabitha snapped, calling Trip by his real
name. She did it only when she got irritated with him. “At least I’m trying to
answer Debra’s question! I didn’t see you making any attempts to clear up your
girlfriend’s confusion.”
Trip frowned. “She’s not confused, Tab. She only wants to know what we were
talking about. EXACTLY what we were talking about.”
“Then tell her.” Tabitha challenged. “You’re her boyfriend.”
Oh yes. Tiffany could feel an argument coming on. She had to think fast. First
off, she wanted to get Debra and Trip talking with *each* other. Secondly, she
wanted to stop the two of them fighting. Poor Debra looked so confused,
watching them.
“I need to call home.” Tiffany said quickly. “I want to make sure Dylan is
there so I can chew his ass out. And you”, She grabbed Tabitha’s arm, “are
going to help me.”
“But Tiff...”
“No buts, Tab! Let’s go.” With that, Tiffany grabbed
Tabitha and dragged her off. This left the two lovers alone to talk with one
another. Of course, Debra and Trip knew why the other two left. Tabitha was
still protesting as she was taken out of the building.
“I hate them.” Trip and Debra said at the same time. After realizing that, they
began laughing. Trip was feeling better now that his Debra was acting more like
the girl he loved. She smiled at him but didn’t what to say. It felt
uncomfortable since it had been so long since they’d exchanged glances, much
less words. Feeling happier than before, Debra had to urge to do something.
Besides, maybe Tiffany did a good thing by taking Tabitha away. She wanted to
talk to Trip now. But not here. Not where someone
could overhear them.
“Let’s go somewhere else.” She suggested. “Anywhere.
But it has to be close by cause I have to be back here in an hour.”
Trip nodded. He wasn‘t psychic but he knew just what she was feeling. “If
that’s what you want...”
Together, they left the studio. Everything seemed normal. People were driving
by them while a few were hanging around the corners. The moon had finally come
up though the sky was still bright blue. No one was doing anything wrong. No
one had a reason to. And no one was aware of the light gray eyes following the
two lovers as they disappeared around the corner.
These gray eyes belonged to a young woman who had been sitting in her car,
watching them for a while. She let out a sigh of relief as they left. One ivory
hand reached over to where her car keys were dangling and turned the ignition,
bringing the vehicle to life. It roared like a dragon that had awakened from a
long nap.
Then she began to follow them.
TBC...
* * *
[1] I’m not sure if it’s EXACTLY the way Edna St. Vincent Millay
said this quote but it’s close enough. I’m probably a word or two off.
I know this chapter seems irrelevant to the story but it isn’t.
Well that’s enough for now. And I know, this chapter
seems slow and nothing interesting happened. That’s the problem with these
kinds of chapters. They take longer to write. I know I said I’d bring Alex and
Rosemary in here but I changed my mind in the last minute. Sorry about that.
They WILL appear in the next one, I guarantee you that!
And if you were reading my ujournal and noticed some
parts weren’t in here, that’s cause I changed everything in the last minute.
Sorry, this story makes me do that.
I ran through a quick spelling and grammar check. I think I’ve gotten most of
the major problems. If not, sorry. I wrote this either early in the morning or
late at night when I had free time.
Those reading “Figments”, that’s the story I’ll work on next! I have an idea
what’ll happen now.
Everything here is fictional. This is a work of fiction. If anything seems
close to reality, it is only coincidence and nothing more. (Believe me, this is in a lot of books. Or something like this is).
Go back
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Email me:
sweetandsourcyanide@excite.com