Читать книгу The Other Side Of The Lies - Callie Ansar - Страница 2

The payphone outside of the Seashore Motel was mine for the taking. I sat on the green bench that stood beside it, put quarters in and dialed David’s phone number for hours. Nobody ever answered but I continued to do it anyway, hoping that I’d eventually hear his voice on the other end. I never did. Instead, it was a different David’s voice that surprised me on that hot, June afternoon.

“Are you Karen?” the voice asked.

Startled, I looked up, blinded a little by the Jersey sun. I saw a tall, dark and handsome guy standing there, smiling at me with the biggest smile I had ever seen. I was just staring when he asked again, “Are you Karen? Lauri’s friend Karen, from Queens?”

“Um, yeah, and you are?” I asked with a confused sniffle.

“Cool. I’m David. David Ramsey,” he said putting his cigarette in his mouth so he could hold out his now empty hand to shake mine. I curiously extended my arm and placed my hand in his, never really making eye contact with him. We shook hands as he said, “Lauri told me that you were coming down here with her. I’ve been looking forward to meeting you.”

Once he said his name and moved out of the glare of the sun, I realized that I had met him before. David was an upstate guy, whom everyone referred to as Ramsey, and if you knew one of them, you knew them all. But Ramsey was different, he stood out. He was very tall and extremely handsome. From what I had heard, his body was built like a God and when he smiled he could light up a room. He was the pitcher for his high schools baseball team and one of the most coveted guys at Middle Woods High School. He had liked my friend Jenn for a little while and met us at a club one night a few months back. I remember watching him put his arms around her waist while he stood behind her, whispering something in her ear. I remember being jealous of her in that moment, not because I longed for love, I had my David at that time, but there was just something about him that was enticing. Their love affair however, was short lived. It actually ended that night when Michael, Jenns ex boyfriend, showed up at the club. I guess old boyfriends bring up old feelings because Jenn wound up going home with Michael that night, and David was soon forgotten.

And seriously, his fucking name was David.

“I wish I could say the same, but it’s nice to meet you, Ramsey,” were the words that flowed out of my mouth. I couldn’t bring myself to call him David. It would just make me want to cry.

“Can I ask what you’re doing here, crying?” he asked in a tone that implied he found humor in what I was doing.

He popped another Marlboro Red in his mouth, and faced the open box in my direction offering me one, as he waited for my answer. I reached in the box and grabbed the soft brown filter of one of his cigarettes. I wasn’t a smoker, but I enjoyed a cigarette every once in a while. Ramsey held his lighter up to the tip of the cigarette that was hanging from my lips. After I inhaled my first drag, I looked over at him. He was just standing there smiling at me, patiently waiting for me to speak. He looked amazing in a white tee shirt and red shorts, which was most likely a bathing suit. He donned a red baseball cap with the letters MW embroidered in white, probably standing for Middle Woods.

When I thought about why I was actually sitting there crying, tears began to stream down my face.

My vision was blurred by my feelings but I could see Ramsey coming closer to me. He crouched down right in front of me so that our faces were somewhat level to each other. Again, he popped his smoke in his mouth and used both of his free hands to gently cup my face. He proceeded to gently wipe my tears with his thumbs. He kept his hands on my face for a few more seconds and just looked into my eyes. In those few seconds, I forgot about how much I hated when people touched my face, but instead took in what was going on.

I closed my eyes and took in his scent. His hands smelled of cigarettes, but his cologne also lingered on them. As I breathed him in, I could smell the slightest hint of beer. My mind was racing trying to figure out what he was doing there with me. Why was this gorgeous stranger sitting on a payphone bench with me, when he should have been enjoying his prom weekend? I let him keep his hands on my face until I opened my eyes, only to see his brown eyes staring straight at me. He smiled. I smiled back.

“Thank you,” I said as I placed my hands around his forearms and lowered them from my face. “I feel like such an idiot,” I said, and as the words came out of my mouth I began to cry, again.

He got up from his crouched position and stood straight in front of me. I sat there and puffed on my cigarette while he extended his hands above his head to stretch. “What am I going to do with you, Karen?” he asked as his tee shirt lifted ever so slightly, revealing only a tiny bit of tight, tan abs and the beginning of his happy trail.

“Karen,” I heard him say again, as he caught me staring at his stomach.

Embarrassed, I flicked my cigarette on the floor and looked up at him. I felt myself blushing, but I could only hope that the redness was masked by the tan I had hopefully gotten by sitting on that damn bench all day. He held his hands out in front of me, palms up, and I put both of my hands in his. He gently closed his hands around mine and lifted me up off of the green bench that I had occupied for hours that day.

Ramsey stood almost a whole foot taller than me, so I had to literally look up when I wanted to look at him. Squinting from the sun I said, “Oh God, Ramsey, I’m so embarrassed. I’m so sorry that I keep crying.”

Trying not to break our eye contact, I shielded my eyes with my hands to block the sun. I continued to look up at him when he said, “Don’t apologize, kid, just promise me that you’ll stop crying. Listen, Lauri kind of told me what happened between you and your boyfriend.”

“Ex,” I interrupted.

“Right, you and your ex. Anyway, I told her that I would love to show you a good time this weekend and get your mind off of him. What’s his name again?”

“David,” I responded.

“Jesus,” he said with a laugh. “Please don’t ever call me David again, ok?” he demanded.

“You got it, as long as you never call me Karen again, ok?” I demanded right back as he gave me a cockeyed look. I was given my name by my mother who was the Carpenters biggest fan the year I was born. Sure, Karen was a pretty name, but when Ramsey called me Kid, it did something to my body that made me know I never wanted to be referred to as anything else by him.

Ramsey spoke again, “So, then we have ourselves a deal. How about we make another one?”

I was still standing, blocking the sunlight from my eyes to look up at him, when I found myself extremely curious. “What’s that?” I asked.

“Promise me that you won’t cry for the rest of the day, and I promise that I’ll show you a great time for the rest of the weekend. You won’t even remember that dick’s name by the time you go home,” Ramsey proposed.

I lowered my right hand and held it out to him and we shook on it.

“You got yourself a deal.”

“Well come on then, let’s get the party started,” Ramsey said, seeming pleased with my response.

With that, I grabbed the coin purse I had brought down from my room that morning. I collected the five dollars in quarters that I had gotten from the arcade on the boardwalk earlier that day, and lamely placed into a giant D on the bench. As I put them back into the purse one by one, I couldn’t help but be grateful that Ramsey didn’t see that I had shaped them into the first letter of my ex-boyfriends name. Jesus, I was a loser. Once I snapped the top of the purse shut, I stood back up and faced Ramsey.

“Got all your stuff?” he asked.

“Yup. So what are we going to do?” I inquired.

“Well, what are you working with under there?” he asked as he gently tugged at my jean shorts. To my surprise, his touch tugged on more than just my shorts.

“What the fuck did you just ask me?” I hissed defensively.

Laughing, he responded, “Calm down, Kid. I was just wondering what you have on under your clothes. Do you have a bathing suit on? Do you want to go in the pool?”

“I don’t have my suit on, but it’s hot as shit out here and I’ve been in the sun all morning. I’d love to go in the pool. Do you mind if we just stop by my room quick so I can change and grab a towel?”

“Of course,” he said with that unbelievable smile. “What room are you in again?”

“208,” I told him. He held out his hand for me and once I placed mine in his, he started walking toward the stairs that led up to the second floor of the motel.

I never did stuff like this. By that I mean let a stranger lead me up to my motel room. I wasn’t afraid of Ramsey, but I didn’t really know how to act around him. I mean the last guy whose hand I held was David’s and that didn’t turn out too well. It did lead me to Jersey that weekend though. Maybe some things were just meant to be. After quickly coming to this realization, I was becoming excited to spend the day with this handsome stranger.

He walked in front of me as we ascended the outside stairs of the Seashore Motel, never letting go of my hand. Once we reached the top of the stairs, the outdoor hallway was crawling with teenagers, and it made me reminiscent of the week that I recently spent in Cancun during spring break. That was another thing that didn’t turn out too well. This was supposed to be fun for me and that’s why I was there with Lauri and that was my new intention. I was going to forget about David and start having fun.

Of course room 208 was on the opposite end of the hallway from where the staircase was. As we weaved in and out of the scantily clad teenagers, I cringed every time a girl approached Ramsey. “Maybe another time,” was always his response, and again, he never let go of my hand. We also heard shouts of, “Ramsey, who’s the new piece?” as we passed, but he simply ignored everyone and headed straight to my room.

Once we finally arrived at my door, we stood there for a second while I retrieved the plastic, orange, diamond shaped key chain that held the key to my room. As I placed the key into the key hole, I glanced down the crowded balcony and most eyes were on us. I hated the fact that all of these people now thought I was bringing Ramsey into my room to do God knows what. Now I was going to have a reputation upstate, a place that was normally my salvation. Great.

Noticing my turned head, Ramsey placed a hand on my waist and leaned down to whisper in my ear, “Don’t worry about them, Kid. Nobody thinks you’re a slut. The girls are jealous of you and the guys are jealous of me. Think of it as a win-win.”

I couldn’t believe that he knew exactly what I was thinking, but it made me laugh and with that I turned the key and opened the door. I stepped inside first, only to find Lauri and her boyfriend, Danny, lying in the exact same spot I had left them in hours before. They were sprawled out on the bed they had been sharing, noshing on a bag of chips.

“Wow, this room is a lot nicer than mine,” Ramsey said as he approached the unoccupied bed and sat down. “Hey Kid, your bed is a lot more comfortable than mine,” he said with a laugh as he lay his body flat and put his head on my pillow. He turned his body toward Lauri and Danny. “So, what have you two been doing cooped up in here all day?”

Danny replied with a lazy, “What do you think, bro?”

“You’re an asshole, Danny,” Lauri snapped. “Ramsey,” she excitedly shouted as she jumped off of her bed and jumped next to him on mine. She placed her body exactly as his was and said, “I’m so glad you found Karen. What have you guys been doing?” she asked.

I was still standing fairly close to the door, once again taking in my surroundings. Our room was a stereotypical gross motel room fashioned with tacky furniture and bed spreads that looked like they were decades old. And don’t even get me started on what the bed spreads were probably infested with. The room had a musty smell mixed in with cigarettes and pot. The bathroom was pink and black and had a leaky faucet. And Ramsey thought this was nicer than his? I could only imagine what his room looked like. I also couldn’t take my eyes off of the two bodies lying on my bed. Ramsey looked amazing laid out in all of his gloriousness and Lauri looked perfect lying next to him. Lauri was a natural beauty. She had dark hair that fell to the middle of her back with the slightest of waves. She had dark brown eyes and a perfect little nose that sat right above a huge smile. Her body was long and lean and toned in all of the right places. There, lying next to each other, they looked like the perfect couple. Danny didn’t seem to mind, so why did I?

I came out of my fog when I heard Ramsey speak. “Well, not so much. We just came up here so Karen can change. We are gonna go hit the pool. I see you have your bathing suit on, want to join us?”

I waited for her answer.

I loved Lauri, and Danny was ok too, but I kind of wanted to be alone with Ramsey. I didn’t want them there. I was so happy when she said, “Maybe later. We’re gonna smoke first. Do you want to join us?”

“I could always go for a smoke, sure. Hey Kid, what about you?” Ramsey asked.

“No thanks. I’m just going to go in the bathroom and change,” I answered as I walked over to grab my duffle bag. I picked up my white bag and made my way across the small room to the bathroom. I closed and locked the door behind me before I started rummaging through my bag to look for my bathing suit. I had brought a few suits down to the shore with me, but I wanted my orange bikini. It made my boobs look great. When I finally found it, I quickly undressed and put on my bathing suit. After tying both strings on the top of the suit, I lifted each of my boobs, one at a time, to ensure that I was showing maximum cleavage. I stood there and looked at myself for a few minutes in the full length mirror that hung on the inside of the bathroom door.

I don’t know why I always put myself down. Standing there staring in the mirror, I took myself in. I had thick, light brown hair that was curly. I usually wore my hair straight, but it took so long to straighten, so on days like this where I would be in a pool or at the beach, I left it curly. It was just easier. I had inherited my father’s green eyes and my mom’s great smile. My body, like Lauri’s, was toned, however, I wasn’t as tall as she was. I didn’t have huge boobs, but they were big enough and my butt was the perfect bubble. And I had a savage tan at the moment. I was looking good. I guess everything that happened with David ruined me and everything about me. Not that I was ever overly confident in myself, but after that ordeal, I lost the person that I used to be. I needed to find her and get her back.

I could hear muffled voices through the door and realized that I had been in the bathroom way too long. I grabbed the jean shorts that I had on all day and slipped them back on. I found a white tank top and threw that on as well. I put the contents of my duffle back in the bag and opened the bathroom door.

Ramsey was off of my bed and now sitting on a tweed chair, smoking a cigarette. Lauri and Danny were sitting up in their bed, taking turns smoking out of her bowl.

Lauri exhaled as she said, “Want some, Ka?”

“No, not right now. Maybe tonight,” I answered as I wondered why Lauri continued to ask me if I wanted some because I always turned her down and I always would turn her down. My father always said that marijuana is a gateway drug, and he branded this statement into my brain. I quickly turned to Ramsey and asked, “Almost ready?” I couldn’t wait to get out of there. I knew it was only pot, but I was always uncomfortable around drugs, maybe because my father is a former addict. I hoped Ramsey wasn’t really into this scene because I wanted to have fun today, not sit around and watch people get high.

“Sure thing,” he said as he put his cigarette out. He stood up and stretched his hands above his head again, and again, I caught a glimpse of those abs.

I grabbed my beach towel off of the back of the chair and placed it in my beach bag. I threw in my wallet and room key as well.

“So, we’ll see you guys later?” I asked.

“Yeah, you’ll be down by the pool, right?” Lauri asked.

“Yeah, and I have my key so you don’t have to sit in here and wait for me, ok?”

“I know, Karen. Try to have some fun.”

Ramsey chimed in with, “Seriously Lauri? She’s hanging out with me. Of course she’s going to have fun.”

“Don’t have too much fun, Ramsey,” Danny demanded.

“Whatever you say boss. Let’s go, Kid,” he replied, and with that Ramsey grabbed my hand and headed for the door.