Would You Bargain With Hell?

I remembered his number, for whatever reason it stuck in my mind. I pressed each number into the phone, and balanced the phone between my shoulder and ear while I stood and walked aimlessly. The phone beeped a few times before someone picked up. It was noisy, but one old crackly voice was louder than the rest.

“You got Scrappy from Dino’s Bar. What can I do for ya’?” He sounded like he came recently from the south and had a few missing teeth. He had a faint lisp on his words
.
“Uhm, hi. Someone gave me this number to reach them at.” I replaced my shoulder with my hand, pressing the phone closer to me ear.

“Unless you wanted to reach me little lady you’ve been doofed.”

“Uhm, you don’t know Mason Connors?” The street signs taunted me, there was a reason I stayed at the house almost always.

“Oh, Yeah, I do know Mason, are you a friend of his?”

“I guess so yeah, is he there by chance?” I almost wanted him to say no, to avoid the embarrassment when Mason would realize I was lost and had no one else to call.

“Errr,” he stepped away from the phone and I heard the entire bar laughter and clinking glasses. “Yeah lady here he is.”

“Hello? Who is this?” I could tell it was Mason, the masculine voice with some kind of sadness buried in the rasp of his words.

“It’s Rayder, do you remember me?”

“Of course, so, what’s the emergency?” In my mind I could picture him leaning against the bar, looking non chalant and cool while groups of biker’s downed glasses of beer.

“I’m, uh, well, I’m lost.” I swallowed.

“Lost?” He stifled a chuckle. “What street are you on?”

I ran back up to the corner where green inlaid street signs faced many directions. “Taylor Ave.”

“Hmmm, want me to come get you? It might be easier than explaining directions.”

I felt my cheeks grow warm with flush. “If that’s alright.”

“I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

I sat at one of the tables outside of an overpriced café, and waited. I set my head in my hands and closed my eyes. I never wanted to go back to the house, especially after things like this happened. I didn’t want to have to walk back in pretending like nothing ever happened and I was fine. I was so not fine. I felt like an aged pillow, sewn carefully but after many years of overuse the seams were coming unwrapped and soon enough the filling inside me would burst.

“Hey.”

I lifted my head. Mason stood above me and I cracked a smile. He offered me his hand, which I used to get up. “Hi.”

“Why’d you call me?” His eyes were curious, his mouth pursed tightly and his hair the boyish mess I remembered.

“I’m lost; I don’t know how to get back.”

“No, I mean why did you call me?”

I blushed. “I called Scrappy. He just gave the phone to you.”

He through his head back and chuckled clear that he like my attempt at the joke and that made me smile. A real smile. I stopped widening my eyes and bringing my hand to my mouth. It was frightening, an involuntary reflex. My mouth had curled up at the corners. I had smiled, because I was happy. He had made me smile. I looked up at him, he was tall but he didn’t tower above me. He looked different now. No one had ever made me smile, but he had.

He smiled down at me. “Alright, let’s get you home.”

I nodded. He took my hand in his. That caught me by surprise; his fingers weren’t intermixed with mine which I thought made a difference. I was sure he was just holding it to guide me but I felt unusual.

“Why were you there if you didn’t know how to get home?” He looked straight ahead, as he had been.

“I uhm, went with my sister but she must have accidently left without me.” He stopped and looked at me, he could tell I was lying, and with his brilliant eyes staring into me I felt more vulnerable than ever.

“Maybe you shouldn’t go back.”

I had already thought of that, but the repercussions would be greater if I didn’t. They would put me on the news and have a reward for my return. “No, I really should.”

He dropped my hand. “Your house is just down that road.” He smiled a fake smile.

“Thank you so much.” I bowed my head.

I walked away.

“Rayder!”

I turned around. “Yeah?”

“Stay safe.” He smiled. I did too, another foreign real smile. He was doing what I had done when he left my house. I nodded and kept walking.

“Rayder!”

I turned again, seeing him in the distance now, his hands cupped around his mouth to project his voice. “Are we still on for Wednesday?!”

I smiled, “Yeah!” All the way home I couldn’t stop smiling. There was something about him, or maybe it would be the same for anyone who treated me nicely. All I cared to notice was I felt happy. Walking back into my house, that faded.

Celine was sitting on the couch on the foyer, she looked at me, and she wore one of her new dresses. “Do you have my phone?”

I tossed the phone beside her where she picked it up and started messing around with it. I was walking past her when she yelled “Stop!, who did you call? Mom!!”

My face was stuck, my heart was pounding, and my brain was no longer functioning. I had no excuse for using Celine’s phone and I knew today was going to be bad.