Complete Chaos

091

Quinn had bad luck in the love department.

He had his first kiss in the second grade. He thought it was great, and he was happy he thought he had a girlfriend, but the little girl had other plans.

She embarrassed him in front of the whole class, saying his breath stank and he was a sloppy kisser.

In his defense he was 9 years old, and he had eaten a tuna sandwich. For a long time he was remembered as the stinky kisser.

He got past that and dated in middle school, but she was only with him to later date his sister Priscilla, that relationship ended fast.

His first high school girlfriend cheated on him with his best friend. He lost his girlfriend and best friend that day.

Luck was not in his favor.

Then he went to college and thought his luck would turn around. New women were everywhere he had never met; they didn't know about his past.

He had a few girlfriends, but nothing ended well.

He dated twins; it got messy pretty quickly. He was dating both girls when he thought there was only one of them. He got slapped twice on both cheeks, his sister took a picture of him and laughed so hard she almost peed herself.

Then Quinn dated his college professor for a month before finding out she was married and was beaten up by the husband.

He knew how to take a few punches and return a few too. He was left single and with a bruised eye and a busted lip.

He had given up. Love was not for him.

His parents found each other in high school. They were in love even when they were in their 30s, and his father would keep buying expensive purchases or spend all his money on new hair products. His mother still loved his father.

Every so often, they went on dates. The way they looked at each other hasn't changed since Quinn was little.

He wanted that kind of love.

He wanted to find his other half; his siblings were happy with their partners.

His twin sister was happily single, but he was miserable.

Where was his happy ending?

He told himself love would find its way to him. He tried to believe it; maybe it wouldn't hurt so much all the lonely nights he spent in his apartment. He was done looking for love.

To not hurt his heart anymore, he stopped going out.

It was drastic, but he took after his father in being dramatic.

For a year and a half he didn't date anyone. It was therapeutic in a way he learned a lot about himself. His twin sister gave him some tips on what to do with his time.

Quinn was still in college during Thanksgiving break in 2015.

He left college and drove to spend some time with his family.

His older siblings were already there, and Prisiclla was going to meet them there the next day.

He listened to music full blast as he drove. He hit the steering wheel with his left hand, copying the rhythm from the song.

The road he was passing by was empty; there was nothing for almost two more miles. Luckily, his tank was full he didn't have to worry about it.

The twenty year old notices smoke in the distance straight ahead. An old model red car was on the right side of the road. Smoke was coming from inside the hood of the car.

He slowed down and lowered the volume of the car.

A young lady around his age. Her skin was autumn brown, her hair was long and she had butterfly locs.

He wanted to help her out he stopped his car behind her. He turned off his car and got out.

The young lady moved in front of the closed door in the back. Inside of the car was a young girl no older than two. The rest of the backseat of the car was full of boxes with clothes and a few toys.

"I mean no harm," Quinn said as he stopped walking. Leaving space between both of them.

"I saw the smoke and thought you could use a hand," he explained.

She pushed her locs behind her shoulder, leaving her face exposed. Under her eye there was a small purple bruise.

"I'm fine, I don't need help."

The smoke from the car continued. He looked at it, not fully convinced she didn't have it under control. Besides, there was something else going on. She was avoiding eye contact and seemed scared.

"Have you called someone," he asked her.

Her brown eyes widened, and looked up at him. "Don't call anyone," she said paranoid.

By the tone of her voice he definitely knew something was wrong.

"Where are you headed?"

She was hesitant at first. She looked down at her hands and moved her head to the left. In her peripheral vision, she saw her young daughter.

"Lemon Hill," she answered. The little girl with curly hair looked in his direction.

"It's by Sac-"

"Sacramento, yeah, I know where that is. I'm headed that way."

Lemon Hill was only twenty minutes away. There, they could find a tow truck driver.

The young woman opened the car door. She unbuckled the little girl's seatbelt.

"Come on, Zara." She carried her daughter in her arms. When she turned around to face Quinn, she introduced herself.

"I'm Zariah," she said with a shy smile.

Zariah didn't know why she trusted this random man, but there was something in the way he approached her that looked harmless.

She wasn't the best at judging people. Time and time again, she had bad instincts when it came to guessing the intentions of people, but this time she knew she was right. He was a good guy.

She was in a difficult situation. She thought she was going to go back to the life she was trying to escape, but then he appeared like an angel.

He smiled brightly, "I'm Quinn."