Somewhere Behind

Angelica Part VI

"This is my grandma's house," Zach said. "She's in an old people's home now. I'm supposed to be looking after the place. Gives me a good reason for getting my father to give me the car," he added.

"C'mon," he said, opening the car door.

I got out of the car feeling warmer and even a little numb all over. For a moment the Earth turned and settled down. It made me laugh, the laugh coming unexpected, as unexpected as a burp. Hunter laughed too.

Zach went to the front door, looked under a mat and produced a key. He held it up for Hunter to see and then opened the door, and we followed him into the house.

The house had a musty odor that almost turned my stomach. It was gurgling anyway from all the vodka I had consumed. Zach turned on a lamp in the hallway and a couple more in the small living room on the right.

The floor was dirty and the furniture had a coat of dust covering it adding years to its old and worn look.

"How long has your grandma moved out?" I asked.

"I don't know a couple of weeks, I guess," Zach replied.

"Make yourselves at home," he told us.

All of a sudden we heard a knock on the door. All of us jumped and turned to the door.

"Open the door!" came a shrill voice.

"Leah, is that you?" Zach asked.

"Yeah open the door will ya," she said.

Zach went and opened the door, and standing in front of it was a short girl wearing a short blue T-shirt and denim cut-off shorts.

She immediately sprang into Zach's arms as soon as the door was open enough for her to get in and kissed him instantly. Lifting her into his arms he closed the door shut with his legs and carried her over to the sofa. She laughed and they fell onto the sofa. Then they started making out, Zach put his hand on her rear end and looked up at Hunter and me.

"C'mon," Hunter said, "Let's give them some privacy," he told me, and took my hand. He had the bottle of vodka in the other hand.

I let him pull me along.

"Where are we going?" I asked as he started up the steps.

"Upstairs, where we can talk and stuff," he said.

I hesitated, but his grip on my hand was tight. He went up the staircase and he turned into a room, obviously knowing exactly where to go. I thought it was probably Zach's grandma's room. I saw a pair of pants and a shirt strewn over a chair, a hairbrush and a comb on the dresser, and a pair of shoes and some old slippers next to the bed.

On the dresser was a picture of a young woman, under a tree, the woman looking small and frail. It was taken decades ago.

The blanket on the bed was pulled down, and the pillows creased with the imprints of a head or heads. Hunter sat on the bed, stared at the floor a moment, and then looked up at me. He smiled and handed me the bottle of vodka. I shook my head.

"I think I've had enough," I said.

"No, you didn't. You didn't have more than a few shots. Believe me," he said, pumping the bag at me.

I took it and sipped some more.

"See? No problem."

He looked at me hard and then took another long drink. He wiped his lips with the back of his palm.

"This is the first time you've been with someone, right?" he asked.

"What do you mean, 'been with someone'?"

He nodded. "Yup it's the first time. You like being with guys though right?" he asked.

"Yes," I said getting angry. "You don't have to ask me that."

"How do you know if you've never been with one like me," he said laughing. "You gotta experiment to learn what you like, don't you? If you hadn't tried that vodka, you wouldn't have known if you like it or not, right?"

"I guess so," I said.

"Sure, it's only logical. No big deal. I'm an expert when it comes to experiments."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a black leather wallet. "See this?" he said, holding it up so I could see.

I looked at it. There wasn't much to see I thought, except for tiny slices cut deep into the leather.

"What?" I asked.

"Look closely," he said. "Count the marks. Eleven. You'll be the twelfth," he said, pointing the bottle at me and then taking another drink.

I shook my head. The room was spinning a little, and I was feeling a little nauseated.

"I'm dizzy," I said.

He reached for my hand. "Here lie down and you'll feel better soon," he said, pulling me towards the bed. He put his hands on my hips and guided me beside him. I sat, and then he lifted me under my arms so I was further on the bed.

"Just lie back and relax. Close your eyes for a while," he said.

I felt his hand on my cheek. His fingers moved down to my neck while his other hand lowered the zipper of my jacket. Then he opened the jacket.

"That's it relax. Nothing to worry about," he said his voice calm.

I opened my eyes but the room continued to spin. It felt as if the whole bed was spinning. I closed them quickly again.

I could feel Hunter slowly unbuttoning my blouse, but it almost felt as if it weren't me as if it were happening to someone else. He opened my blouse, reached under my back, undid my bra and exposed my naked breasts to the cold air.