Never Going Back Again

The last time Valencia went to her classes she hardly knew Billy Darley. All she knew about him was that he was a bad ass who used to fool around with Adalae and wasn't afraid to shove a gun in your face. He scared her to death but she was constantly finding herself over Adalae's apartment just to see him. The last time Valencia was in class, she and Adalae were best friends. They talked to each other everyday, they saw each other every other day, and they couldn't even think of a reason to argue. Then Adalae introduced Valencia to the monster known as Billy, and Valencia fell in love with him.

Now, a few months later, Valencia was back in class. Being in school was the only thing that stayed the same. Everything changed. Her whole life changed in a matter of months. She was living with her mother and younger brother now. She gave up her apartment after her falling out with Billy. She didn't feel safe there, even after she threatened him. Adalae wasn't her best friend anymore. They don't even speak to each other. Valencia wishes she could blame Adalae for everything that has happened to her these past couple of months, but she honestly can't. It's not only her fault. It's Billy's. He kept things from Valencia. Things no one would keep to themselves if they honestly loved someone.

Valencia shook her head at the thought. How the hell do you always end up thinking about him? She thought to herself. She often asked herself this question. She could be thinking about buying socks and somehow her thoughts would turn to Billy. "Just stop it," she said out loud. She didn't realize she did until a few people around her looked in her direction. Even her teacher shot her a look. She just put her head down and went back to her notes.

She thought school would be a lot easier to maintain since she didn't have to worry about Billy. It wasn't though. It was the same, if not tougher. She couldn't keep her mind off of Billy. It wasn't that she missed him, she didn't. She was better off without him threatening her, telling her what to do, or leaving bruises on her face. What Valencia missed was the warmth from the other side of the bed, how he always tried to keep her safe, and even if it was just for a second, the corners of his lips would curve up as if he were happy. That's what Valencia missed.

As soon as her class was over, Valencia hopped in her car and began driving home. She needed to go to the library so she could get some studying done. That's the only place she could concentrate... sort of. She should try her hardest to get work done at her mother's house, but Armondo wouldn't let her. He would always be right up under her, lying in her lap, or bouncing around her. She could never get a moment to herself, and when she did go to the library all she would do was think of Billy. "Billy," she breathed out without thinking anything at all. She was at a red light and the people in the car next to her were smoking. How pathetic, she thought. The smell of smoke even brought her mind back to Billy. She shook her head as the light turned green and continued on her way home.

The last thing Valencia thought she would see when she pulled up to her mother's house was that old black mustang with the red tribal markings. "Oh my God," she sighed as she parked behind it. She could see that there were two people in the car, and she could tell that neither one of them was Billy. Valencia fumbled with her keys as she tried to take them out of the ignition. Her hands were shaking, her lips were trembling, and her eyes began to tear up. As soon as she opened her door, the door to the passenger side of the mustang flew open.

Joe Darley.

Valencia placed her hand on the hood of her car to steady herself. There he was, Joe Darley, standing there smiling at her as if they were the best of friends. He actually looked happy to see her. "Hey Val," he said. Valencia opened her mouth, but nothing came out but air. She just stood there, her mouth agape, frantically trying to find the words to describe how she was feeling. "Val," Joe said again.

"Who the fuck do you think you are?" Valencia managed to bellow out. The welcoming smile that was on Joe's face was now gone. Now he looked confused, almost disappointed.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"What are you doing sitting outside of my mother's house? You're lucky I haven't rushed in and called the cops."

"Your mother said it was fine," Joe said. Now Valencia looked confused.

"What?"

"We knocked on the door when we first got here. Your mother answered. She said we could come in and wait, but we just decided to sit out here."

"We?" Valencia asked.

"Bodie and I," Joe said nodding towards the car. Valencia looked through the back window and could now visibly see Bodie. "How have you been Val?" Joe asked. Valencia's eyes quickly moved to his face.

"What do you want Joe?"

"It's about Adalae," he said. "She's-"

"Fuck Adalae," Valencia said. "I don't want a damn thing to do with her."

"Val," Joe sighed. "She overdosed. The day after you and Billy-" Joe stopped and looked up at her. She didn't look completely surprised. "We went back to her apartment and-"

"You and Billy?" Valencia asked. Joe nodded and looked back down.

"We went back so Billy could... talk to her about what happened." Bullshit, Valencia thought. Billy was going to do some damage control. "When we pulled up, we saw her being pulled out of her apartment on a gurney. As soon as they got her to the ambulance, she just started shaking. Her hands balled up into fist, she started choking on her own spit and..." Joe stopped when he looked up at her. She was leaning against her car now. Her cheeks covered in tears. Joe stepped towards her, but Valencia took a step back and began wiping away her tears. Joe looked at her for a little while longer before stepping back. "I can't go and see her," Joe said harshly.

"You mean she's-"

"She's in down at Memorial," Joe said. "She's in detox. I can't see her."

"Why?" Valencia asked, her voice sounded dry and unused.

"Billy would kill me if he knew I went to see her," he said. "He'd kill me if he found out I was here."

"Did you come here to tell me about Adalae?" Valencia asked. Joe nodded.

"And to ask you something," he said. Valencia kind of nodded her head. "I need you to go visit her," he said.

"What?" Valencia fumed. "What the hell did I just tell you? I don't want a thing to do with her."

"Val," Joe sighed again. "Have a fucking heart. Billy left her, I can't see her... she's got no one. She's up there by herself all fucking day. No one comes to visit her, no one calls. You're all she's got." Valencia shrugged and looked down at her feet as Joe continued to stare at her.

"That sucks," Valencia said. Joe frowned and shook his head. "I don't see why you can't just sneak up there to see her, like you're doing right now. Everything that happened, none of it was your fault," Valencia said. Joe shook his head again.

"It was Val," he said. "Some of it anyway."

"No it wasn't Joe," she said. "You didn't do anything. Don't let Billy make you think you did anything wrong."

"Joe," Bodie said from the car. Valencia and Joe both jumped. Bodie hasn't said a word or even looked back in her direction since she's gotten there.

Joe looked at Valencia for a long moment before looking down. "I've got to go," he said. "Bodie's getting anxious. We've got to hurry before Billy notices we're not working."

Valencia nodded. "It was sort of nice seeing you, Joe," she said. Joe kind of laughed before he did something Valencia never thought she'd see a Darley do. He blushed. "Next time you could just call."

"Sorry," Joe said still blushing.

"How'd you know where my mother's house was anyway?"

Joe shook his head and chuckled. "You think we didn't know where your mother lived?" He asked like he was genuinely amazed. "Billy knows everything about you. Hell, he probably knows your blood type."

"Joe!" Bodie called again. Joe frowned as he looked over his shoulder.

"Chill Bodie," he said. Joe turned back to Valencia and took a step forward. "Please," he said. "I know you don't want to, but please try and go see Adalae."

Valencia shrugged. "I'm not making any promises Joe."

"I'm not asking you to," he said. He leaned forward and kind of hugged her. He didn't even wait for her to hug him back when he pulled away from her and headed for the car. Before he got in, Valencia noticed Bodie lean over towards the passenger side and say something to Joe. Joe looked back over to Valencia and kind of smiled. "What did you say to Billy to have him so spooked?" Joe asked her. Now Valencia was the one smiling.

"I told him that if he came near me, or if any of you guys did, I would go to the police and tell them everything I knew."

"Shit Val," Joe said a little shocked.

"Damn," she heard Bodie say.

"You won't say anything about this will you?" Joe asked. Valencia shook her head.

"Just call next time."


"Look at this shit Joe," Bodie said as he tossed him his phone. "Eleven fucking missed calls." Joe looked down at the phone to see that there was eleven missed calls. All of them were from Billy. "I can guarantee you that you've got twice as many on yours," Bodie huffed. Joe gave Bodie his phone back and looked out the car window. He knew Billy was going to be pissed and asking a ton of questions when they got to office. "Be prepared for an interrogation."

"Maybe I should just tell him," Joe said as he looked at Bodie. Bodie looked at him for a second before looking back at the pavement in front of him.

"You're not going to tell him a damn thing," Bodie said. "For one, he would be all over my ass for taking you to see her. Two, he'll just about murder you, and three, he still sort of pissed off at you for what went down." Joe sighed as he ran a hand down his face. Bodie was right. If he told Billy he went to see Val, Billy would surely kill him. He would kill them both. Billy has been so on edge lately. You slip up, just slightly, and you would end up with a shitty shift, no money, two black eyes, and a busted lip. Everyone was walking on eggshells whenever he was around. Now they all enjoyed being on random corners just to get away from him.

"I can't believe I let you talk me into taking you to see her," Bodie said shaking his head. Then he cracked a sly smile. "I swear, if she wasn't Billy's girl..."

"She's not Billy's girl anymore," Joe said. "She doesn't want anything to do with him."

"Bullshit," Bodie said. "She could move to fucking Mars and she would still be Billy's girl." Joe just shrugged as Bodie continued to drive. It didn't take long for them to get to the office, which meant it didn't take long for the two of them to get anxious.

"We can't tell him we were selling," Joe said as they got out of the car. "We haven't sold a thing."

"Just tell him it was slow," Bodie said shrugging. Bodie knew that wouldn't work though. Billy wasn't dumb. "If we have to, we'll tell him where we were," Bodie said. "Don't get too excited and tell him too soon, all right?" Joe nodded as they began to walk on the steps of the abandoned building. With each step he took, his heart beat grew faster. He ran his sweaty palms down the side of his pants. "Don't fuck up Joey," Bodie warned. Joe nodded again. They could hear Billy's loud yelling from outside.

"Shit," Joe groaned. This wasn't going to be easy. When they walked inside, they saw Heco turn the corner. He was walking towards them, his lip busted and bleeding. He didn't say anything to them as they walked past, but he gave them a knowing look, letting them know they were in for it.

"And don't fucking come back until I fucking say so!" They heard Billy yell. As soon as Billy caught sight of them, he went from pissed to irate. "Where the fuck have you two been?" He asked as he stepped toward them.

"At the underpass," Bodie said. "We were there trying to sell all day."

"I doubt that," Billy said. He looked at Joe. "Where were you?" Joe looked at Bodie, who was still looking at Billy, before he looked at everyone else. All the other guys had their heads down. "Joe, where were you?"

"We were selling at the underpass Billy," he said with a shrug. "Just like Bodie said."

"How much did you sell?" Billy asked. Now Joe's throat felt tight, his jacket felt like it was two sizes too small, and he was sure he was sweating bullets.

"Not much," he choked out. "It was slow."

"Here," Bodie said to Billy as he pulled out some money from his jacket pocket. "This is all we made." Joe looked down at the money. They haven't made a sell all day. He knew that was Bodie's money. Bodie looked at Joe before looking back at Billy. "That's it," Bodie said. Billy took the money and began counting it.

"It wasn't that fucking slow," he said to himself. He looked at Joe before putting the money in his pocket. "Why weren't you answering your phone?"

Joe shrugged. "Left it in the car." Billy looked at him for a long moment, then he looked at Bodie. "What else would we be doing Billy?" Joe asked. Billy didn't say anything as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his cigarettes.

"Don't fucking do it again," he said to them as he turned around and headed in the direction of the chapel. Joe looked over at Bodie, who looked like he just began to breathe.

"You fucking owe me," he whispered to Joe before he pushed past him.