Skye turned over the
truck and revved the engine once or twice simply because she loved the sound of
a revving engine. As she was about to pull out of the parking lot she looked
across the street at the girls on the corner again, a car stopped and one of
the girls leaned over and put her head in the window. Her pink skirt was so
short that the bottoms of her cheeks sat under the hem.
“In broad daylight…” She mumbled to herself and
then shrugged it off. “I guess you have to make money somehow.” She hit the
road driving back towards home. Once she was able to stop at a light she took
her cell phone and called Leigh quickly and turned on the hands free. She picked
up after the second ring but said nothing. “Hello?” Skye prompted and looked in
the rear-view mirror. “Oh…it’s you…hey!” Leigh sounded strained but she was
putting up one hell of an act.
“Hey you, I’ll be
there in about 15 minutes are you ready to go?” She tried to sound light and
happy but she could tell something was up. Leigh’s voice took on a happier
note. “You bet I am. I’ll be waiting outside for you.” She replied.
About 20 minutes
later, Skye pulled up in front of Leigh’s house close enough to when she said
that she would be there, not that Leigh cared but she surprisingly was waiting
outside of her house, sitting on the front step with her cell phone to her ear
and a sour look on her face. When she
saw Skye pull up she gave her an awkward smile and a slight rolling of the
eyes. That meant only one thing…
She was talking to Marcus.
Leigh stood and walked
towards the truck. As she reached out to open the door, her hazel eyes looked
straight into Skye’s but she wasn’t looking at her. When she stopped short of
opening the door… her voice grew louder.
“No!” She said and
her voice was forceful unlike the rest of her body language. “I will not tell them anything for you!” She sounded strong right now but Skye could
see her hand starting to shake as she held onto the door handle, struggling
hard with trying to make sure, he could not hear her voice falter. Leigh
listened, “Screw you Marcus” and she disconnected the call.
Looking at Leigh’s profile
just as she took a deep draw of air into her; Skye did not say a word when
Leigh finally decided to get in the truck. She wanted to give her a moment to
collect herself; to stop before she broke down into the puddle Marcus always
seemed to make her.
With a deep sigh
Leigh turned to Skye and her words were slow and controlled. The look in her
eyes was one of sadness mixed with anger like she was trapped in a cage and the
two were at war with one emotion wanting to give up and the other raging to
fight for her sanity. Marcus was not even there physically and Leigh was
trapped inside herself. He was in jail…always in and out of it. Leigh could say
anything she wanted to while he was inside even though he would still make her hate
herself for it later.
The man was a thug and had
no respect or regard for Leigh or anyone else for that matter and she was never
an equal to him, only a possession to be used. The emotional abuse he subjected
her to was worse than any physical hit he could have ever given her.
Leigh’s voice broke what seemed like endless silence. “I’m sorry,” Leigh said softly. “He just gets me
so worked up.” She looked at her hands shaking and she wrung them tightly,
trying to stay calm. Skye said nothing, only moving to reached into her purse
and took out her cigarettes holding them towards Leigh in case she wanted
one. Leigh went to take one but
hesitated. Her hazel eyes looking at Skye as she half smiled, Skye could almost
feel Leigh relax as she took the pack from her and pulled one out. All she
needed was a sounding board and a chance to recoup. A heavy sigh escaped her as
she lit the cigarette.
“I don’t know why I let him get to me” she looked
at her hands again. “I can’t shake him; every time I think that he has done or
said something that should give me every reason to cut him loose he tries to
turn it around on me.” She looked at Skye again and this time seemed to be
looking for a response or maybe it was strength.
Leigh knew exactly how
Skye felt about Marcus it was no secret that she had no respect, remorse or any
other feelings except contempt and hatred for Marcus. For any man that would do
this to his wife and their children. Whenever Skye was near him it was as if he
fed off her hatred for him and would purposely to try and provoke her. At
first, it worked and then, she learned quickly that he would take it out on
Leigh if she gave in.
Once at a party, they got
into a debate about women in the workforce, the glass ceiling and whatnot. He
toyed with Skye and her opinion, never quite saying that he thought it was a
crock of shit but needling at Skye until she was so enraged that she just gave
up the fight not wanting to cause more of a scene in front of the guests there.
The self-satisfied smug look on his face almost sent her over the edge as he
reached out and put his arm around Leigh. The only reasoning with Marcus was his
way.
Leigh was the closest thing to a sister Skye ever had and she would
never abandon her…
Ever.
Leigh continued to talk
about Marcus. How demanding he was that
she was to make an appointment and take the kids to the prison to see him. He
knew this would never happen but he would call every week regardless, try to
get her to do it and Leigh argued with him every time. Leigh didn’t want her
children to see their father in prison orange or the other inmates either. Skye
knew that he enjoyed to torture Leigh anyway he could and once he got out they
would be back in the same situation all over again. So she set her sights on
trying to calm Leigh down at this moment so they could get to the trade fair
where Anna was waiting.
A few minutes later Leigh
was on the radio dial turning up the volume as an old House of Pain song came
on and the Marcus talk was over until the song was over and as Leigh brought up
Marcus and his demands once more Skye tossed her the cell phone and asked her
to call Anna and let her know that they were on their way. Leigh knew that this
was a distraction tactic and gratefully accepted it.
Skye listened to Leigh give
Anna an ETA and but Skye could not shake the earlier meeting at the bank. Something
didn’t sit right and she replayed in her mind the conversation that she had
with the bank manager. She must have tuned out because the next thing she heard
was Leigh. “Skye…” She yelled “Watch the road!”
Skye blinked, stiffened slightly and corrected. The SUV had been slowly
creeping into the next lane. Thank god, the road was light on traffic.
Skye swerved back into her
lane. “Oh my god, I’m sorry!” her eyes started to swell up but she swallowed
the approaching tears. Her emotions were all over the place today. “I don’t
know what got into me, I was thinking about something else, sorry” She glanced
at Leigh who was breathing a sigh of relief. “Something else?” she questioned.
“Like what, how to scare the shit out of me?” Skye smiled at that. “No but did
it take you mind off of Marcus?” Leigh mockingly thought about that for a
moment and said, “Well for a second…yes.”
The road stretched out before them. Dry grass and
open fields on the left with the more woodsy areas to the right of the asphalt.
Large Cottonwood trees loomed over them close to the riverbed that ran even
further alongside of them. The dogs knew there were near somewhere to play but
Skye couldn’t stop yet. Leigh got quiet and stared out the window, every now
and then she would take a glace into the side mirror, not looking for someone behind
them but looking at herself. Yet another soft sigh escaped her when she lowered
her head, blonde hair drifting down from the loose ponytail she wore. Skye knew
that she was weighing things in her mind as she tried desperately to believe
that whatever Marcus told her was not true.
The endless fight within her
continued and Skye struggled with what to say. It had all been said before and
it was up to Leigh to end the cycle herself. Leigh must have sensed where Skye’s
thought’s so she put a smile on her face and perked up.
“What are we looking for today?” She asked, “Are
you looking for something specific or is this just a browsing session?” Skye’s
shoulders dropped a little as her muscles relaxed at the break in the silence.
“I’m not sure…” she replied, “I need to find something or things that are going
to turn a quick profit for us.” She paused as she thought about Mr. Moody’s
last words to her.
Leigh did not know about the
problems with the bank yet and Skye hoped she would not have to tell her the
whole story. She felt awful as it was that things had slipped so far behind. She
knew that the shop was having problems, now only learning the degree of how
badly things were about to get for them.
“Just look for something that looks like it will
be worth a lot to someone else.” she smiled with a shrug at Leigh. Leigh’s face
took on a confused look with only half a smirk, “I can’t tell what people like
or don’t like, and I just came along for something to do! I couldn’t watch
anymore daytime TV.” Skye laughed full and rich. She knew that coming to the
trade fair with her and Anna was just a way to get her out of the house for a
bit while the kids were in school.
Up the road they came towards a crossroad; dirt
road, no stop signs and flat fields stretched out before them on all four
sides. Skye scanned the road for traffic half expecting a horse and carriage to
go by and saw nothing. “We’re almost there.” Leigh looked almost happy for the
distraction as they came closer to where they could see cars parked in an
open patch of dirt where people were milling around large tables and some even
had trailers with larger patio umbrellas for some much-needed shade.
Sky
pulled off to the side of the road to call Anna and find out where she was
before they parked the car. Anna picked up after the second ring. “OMG finally you’re here!” She squealed, “I have something fabulous to
show you!”
Anna told them to walk past the front three
tables and down a small trail to a grassy patch by a Willow tree and did just
that after pulling Leigh away from a table full of crafty knickknacks that
caught her eye. Skye weaved between the
bodies that were all around her, most looking like farmers and homemakers
trying to sell their homemade goods. She found Anna standing in front of a long
fold out table. The breeze rushing past rustled the leaves on the tree and Anna’s
hair. On the table were statues lots and lots of them. Some made out of wood
and porcelain, others made of marble and brass. The one Anna was excited about
stood about a foot tall and was made of a stone that was black and laced with
ribbons of golden flecks so unlike the rest of the ones on the table.
It
was a woman holding a sword; it was one of 3 things on it that were silver. She
was wearing a corset with a shield on her back, kneeling down on one knee her
hands were feathered through the fur of a large wolf. The eyes of the woman and
the wolf were also silver. “Wow…” Skye
became breathless, “That... is... beautiful…” her words trailed off as she
stepped closer to it transfixed but the smoothness all she wanted to do was
touch it. Anna looked pleased with herself and the find as she hugged Leigh and
dragged her off to look at a large oak cabinet leaving Skye at the table alone.
Just as she was reaching out to touch it, Skye heard someone clear his or her
throat.
“Can
I help you?” A rough voice from behind
her said.
Skye turned to see a short, hunched over older
woman standing behind her. The woman’s hair was mostly gray but you could still
see the blonde layered within it. Her eyes were big and as blue as the ocean but
there was a hint of cloudiness reminding Skye of sea foam to them showing signs
of the woman losing her sight.
“Um…yes,
how much for this statue?” She was reaching out and about to touch it
when the woman grabbed her hand in a firm grip and stopped her. She looked Skye
up and down the old woman tentatively before her hand was released. “You should
wear gloves when you touch this…it is very old.” The old woman said. “Very old
indeed.”
Skye
rubbed her wrist but could barely take her eyes off the black and gold. “How
old is it? She asked unconcerned with the woman’s warning. Those ocean blue
eyes continued to stare at her and Skye didn’t notice, completely taken by the
art in front of her. “Who made it?” she asked without realizing or caring that
the woman never answered the first question she asked. Of its own compulsion
her hand reached out to touch it again just when Anna and Leigh returned with
arms full of god knows what.
“Well?” Anna asked, “What do you think? Anything
here appeal to you?” Only then did Skye turn around “Yes…” she said drawing out
the word and turned to the woman with eyes like the sea and asked “How much?”
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