Love and Conspiracy

“Oh, really. Like, where?” Mike asked.

“You’ll see,” I said looking up at him, smiling. He gave me a questioning look, but didn’t push it.

“Well, in the meantime, tell me about yourself, stranger.” Mike said as we began our walk.

“Okay, what do you want to know?”

“Hmm, well, what do you do? You know, since I have the whole band thing. What’s your… thing?” He struggled explaining. I giggled at his attempt.

“Hah, well I don’t really have a ‘thing’.” I said. “I don’t really even have much of a life,” I mumbled to myself. Not hearing the last part, he continued on.

“Come on, you got to have something that you do in this place for fun!”

“Not really. I’ve been waiting for the college years to change that,” I replied without thinking. He looked over at me with a puzzled expression. “I haven’t chosen a school, yet.”I covered quickly. He accepted the answer by nodding.

“What do you want to go to school for?” He asked, causing me to shrug.

“That’s what I haven’t decided,” I said truthfully.

“Eh, you’ll figure it out soon enough. All I can say is to follow your dreams,” he said with a sincere smile.

“That’s probably the best advice I’ve heard in a long time. Thanks,” I said, smiling back. We walked in silence for a few moments.

“So, who is it that you live with?” He asked a little warily. My stomach churned as I was
reminded of my reality.

“My so-called dad,” I said flatly.

“Ah, he seems like a pretty rough guy,” he said, not knowing how true his words were. I remained silent, looking at the ground. “Is that the ‘counter’ you ran into?” he asked quietly. I slowly looked up at him with pain evident in my eyes. He sighed. “Fuck, I’m sorry,” he said, putting an arm around me, “No one deserves that shit.” He rubbed my shoulder in a comforting way.

“Eh, what can you do,” I said, trying to brush it off although I was fighting back tears. We walked the last few minutes in silence, not knowing what to say to each other, but soon arrived to our destination.

“Isn’t it a little early to be going back to school?” He joked, making me laugh.

“This is my old elementary school. I haven’t been here in years,” I said. We casually strolled through the miniature school until we reached the playground.

“What made you want to come back here?” He questioned, still unsure why we were there. I shrugged.

“I guess I just wanted to feel innocent again,” I paused, “I’ll race you to the swings!” I said before I raced off. Thinking he wasn’t following, I slowly came to a walk again, but I was wrong as he flashed by me. I quickly bolted to try and beat him, but he defeated me.

“Give me a heads up next time!” he said a little out of breath. I laughed.

“I didn’t actually think you’d go along with it,” I replied, breathless myself.

“I never pass up a challenge,” he said with a smile.

~~~

After swinging and talking occasionally for the next half an hour, we decided that we should start heading back. Once we got back to the motel, we found Tre lying in bed, watching cartoons.

“Where the hell have you guys been?” He asked, not taking his eyes off the screen.

“Out getting some exercise. Something you should consider doing sometime,” Mike teased. Tre glared at him for a moment, but then smiled.

“I like my fluff, thank you very much. There’s more of me to love!” he said quickly returning his attention back to the TV. Mike shook his head, laughing.

As we sat down at the table, Mike asked, “So, what other exciting places are there to go around here?” He smiled.

“I’m going to Carrie’s!” Tre interrupted.

“I’m not talking to you, dip!” Mike joked back, causing me to laugh. Tre frowned, but continued watching cartoons.

“Hah, like I said before, there’s not really much to do here. Arizona is boring as hell,” I replied.

“Well, I guess we’ll have to make our own fun, won’t we?” he said as he got up. “Come on, asswipe. You’re getting dropped off first.”

By the time we left the motel and got on the road again, it was about two o’clock. Music blasted on the radio as we drove down the highway, filling me with adrenaline. However, once we got into the neighborhoods again, Mike turned it down a bit. It was no more than ten minutes by the time we got to that same trashy house again. Before the car could even stop, Tre was flying out the door.

“Hey! When do you want to get picked up?” Mike yelled out the window. Without turning around, Tre put his hand in the air showing all five fingers. He disappeared inside the house within seconds.

“Why doesn’t he just stay the night there if she’s his girlfriend?”I questioned. Mike let out a laugh.

“Hah, well she’s only seventeen, so I don’t think her parents would be too happy to find out she’s dating a twenty year old. However, her parents both work during the day, so they get a little bit of time by themselves,” he said.

“Oh,” I hesitated, remembering that I had lied to him about my age. “Does he come see her often?” I asked, trying to continue the conversation.

“Not really. I’d say once every other month, if that,” he shrugged. I was shocked to hear that.

“How can they handle not seeing each other for that long?”

“Eh, it’s more of an open relationship between them. They used to be more serious when she lived in California, but since she moved it’s been more of a ‘casual fuck’ sort of thing to them when he comes into town. I’m shocked it’s lasted this long, honestly,” he explained, “Tre isn’t usually one to stick with something for long.” I laughed, nodding my head in agreement. He quickly changed the subject by asking, “Well, what do you want to do? Do you need to get home?”

“No,” I looked up at him, “unless you want to drop me off. Then that’s alright,” I said, hoping that wasn’t the case. He quickly shook his head.

“Nah, I like having you as company. I wouldn’t know what to do if you weren’t here,” he chuckled at himself, causing me to smile. He looked up and smiled back. “Well, we’ve got until five before I have to pick up the child, have any suggestions on what to do?”