Chapter 2: Layla-Eric Clapton
I made sure everyone was out of the break room before I went back and clocked out. After the strange encounter with the new guy Max, I needed processing time before any more potential awkward run ins. He caught me off guard this time but next time I would be prepared for anything he threw my way.
It was late in the evening which meant Ruby was off of her shift as well. I made my way to the golf course to try to catch her before she went home for the day. Out on the course I saw her and Pierce riding around in one of the golf carts. She was driving crazy while Pierce was flailing about, laughing his ass off.
“Hey sexy!” Ruby called out to me. Pierce leaned over and honked the horn.
“Want a ride on the love mobile?” he asked wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.
“You’re going to get fired if they catch you.” I warned.
“Please, like they could fire me. I’m an asset to the team.” Ruby bragged.
“Did Ms. C tell you that?” Pierce asked.
“Not in so many words. She told me to quit flirting with the noobs and get back to work but her face was full of admiration.” Pierce and I laughed at Ruby’s ridiculous story.
“Right. Admiration.” I said.
“Well, are you going to hop on or just stand there?”
“We really shouldn’t.”
Ruby groaned in frustration as she and Pierce exchanged looks. Pierce, seeming to read her mind, nodded and then jumped out of the cart to pick me up and place me in the front seat.
“Strap her in tight!” Ruby yelled as she whirled around the course on full speed.
“Speaking of noobs.” Pierce segued back to what Ruby said, “Theres a hot one in my training group. Her name is Jackie and her legs go up to here.” He moved his hand to his forehead.
“Was that the blonde girl I saw you with?”
“Yup. You checking her out too, Lay? I didn’t know you swung that way.” I turned around and punched him hard on the chest. “Ow. Geez I was just kidding. I’m going to have to put in work with this one though. All she and her friend talked about was this dude named Max.” I stiffened in my seat.
“Max?” Ruby asked. “Never heard of him.”
“He’s this guy from out of town. All the chicks think he’s hot but personally, I don’t see it. Isn’t he in your group Lay?”
My hands fumbled on my lap. I wasn’t sure why but for some reason I felt nervous.
“Yeah.” I answered. “He is.”
“And? Is he hot? Come on St, James, give me something.”
“He’s good looking I suppose. He doesn’t say very much.”
“The silent type. I like it!“
“Cynthia did say he was your type.”
“Cynthia? That wannabe poseur. How would she know who I liked? We went out the other night and she kept trying to keep up with me. Like she could ever compete with all of this.” Her hands gestured down her body.
I met Ruby a couple of years ago and from day one, I’ve always admired her confidence. She was rail thin with a pixie haircut that not everyone could pull off but she managed to. Her face was caked with heavy eye make up everyday and when out of uniform, she wore anything short, tight and leather. I met her on my first day of work here. She was court ordered to find a job because of some trouble she got in to. I didn't know what for because she never talked abut it and I never asked. We didn’t acknowledge each other until Pierce entered the picture. He was initially outcasted due to his appearance which drew him and Ruby together. Turned out Pierce had a crush on me and Ruby served as his accomplice to get to me. When they found out I had a boyfriend they plotted to steal me away but the plan backfired when Pierce met Drew. The two of them some how hit it off and became close friends and Pierce quickly got over me. Even though we hung out at work and occasionally outside of it, I never let them in to my world. Like everyone else in my life, I made sure to always keep them at arms length, that way no one got hurt.
“Lets go to Tavern tonight. I could really use a drink.”
“Hell yeah! I’m in! Lay?”
“Can’t.” Was my automatic response.
“Of course you cant. I don't know why you keep asking her to have fun.”
“I don't know why either.”
Ruby stopped the cart when we reached the employee parking lot and answered Pierce. “Because one day, you’ll say yes.”
I got out of the cart and grabbed my keys. “Make sure to return the cart back to the golf course.”
“Yeah yeah. See you later St. James!” I stood there, shaking my head, as I watched her and Pierce drive to the opposite direction of the course.
***
Home. That’s what normal people call their place of rest after a long day, their place to hang their hat, their sanctuary. The St. James family, however, was nowhere near normal. I stood outside the yellow painted house with white shutters and overgrown, yellow grass and recalled the last time I was happy to be here. The answer was easy. It was five years ago when my dad was still alive. That was the last time we were a family but when he died, a mere six months after being diagnosed with stomach cancer, everything fell apart.
My mother started drifting away from my sister and I. She started drinking heavily and spent hours gambling all of dad’s life insurance away. I was only thirteen when all the household responsibilities fell on me.
Two years after dad passed, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer which meant being responsible for both her and my sister now. My mother was in and out of the hospital and the bills were piling up which meant I had to find a job. Luckily, Mrs. Caulfield took pity on me and offered me a job at the yacht club. Recently, my mom went in to remission but the damage to our relationship had already been done and I didn’t see any plausible way of repairing it.
I walked in to the house with a familiar smell wafting from the kitchen. It wasn’t the comforting smell of a home cooked meal or cookies baking in the oven, instead, it was the smell of my mom getting baked at the dining room table.
“You're home late.” She said as she took another puff. I was getting use to seeing her high as a kite after her doctor issued her a medical marijuana card to help gain her appetite back after chemo. She didn’t need it anymore. She was already in remission for a year now but she enjoyed it too much to put it down.
“I always come back around this time.” I answered back. My voice monotone. “You’re just too high to notice.” I passed by her cloud of smoke and opened all the windows and the backyard door. “Can you at least crack a window when you do that? I don’t want Desi smelling it.” It was the least she could do for her eight year old.
“Desiree is fine. I sent her upstairs to finish her homework while I cook dinner.” She exhaled and coughed in to her hand. I cringed at the sight. She managed to gain a healthy amount of weight after finishing her chemo and a bit of her brown hair peeked underneath her head wrap but any progress she made was made pointless due to her lifestyle choices.
“You’re cooking?” I asked skeptically. “I don’t see any food.”
“Check the oven.” Her tone smug.
I sighed deeply in disappointment when I made way to the oven and pulled out the raw chicken.
“Mmm just what I wanted, salmonella.”
She rubbed her joint out and examined the uncooked piece of meat. “What happened? I know I turned it on.”
“The oven has been broken for a month now. You said you would get your friend Vinnie to fix it when I told you about it.”
“Shit! I completely forgot. I’ll do it tomorrow.”
I was too frustrated to hear another one of her empty promises. “Just leave it alone. I’ll take care of it.”
“I said I would take care of it Layla. I’m the mother, not you.”
“Really?! Since when?!” I yelled. I couldn’t contain my anger after that. I usually had a calm demeanor but every bit of calm I reserved was useless when it came to my mother. “I have been taking care of this household for years!”
“I was sick Layla! I couldn’t help with anything!”
“So what has you’re excuse been for the last year?”
She shrugged off my comment and lit up another joint. “I don’t know what you want from me.”
“I don’t want anything from you.” I said turning my back to her. “I’ll order a pizza for dinner.”
“I will get the oven fixed.”
“Sure you will.” I dumped the chicken in to the trash before grabbing my belongings and headed upstairs.