The Babysitter

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“I cannot believe she just fucking left.”

“She's seventeen dude, what'd you think she was going to do?” Tre decided it would be wise to not point out that Billie was playing a role usually reserved for fathers “Besides, she'll be back,” he shrugged at the hopeful look in Billie's eyes. “She's gotta have some place to crash.”

“I'm not letting that little bitch back in my house,” Billie lobbed an empty beer bottle at the garbage can. Tre looked mildly surprised.

“Ava?”

“Fuck no. Cara. That little bitch is more trouble than she's worth.”

“She's also your girlfriend's best friend. You kick her out and Ava'll never forgive you.”

Billie glared and Tre knew he'd made his point.

“S'one thing I'll say for Adie, though,” Billie punched the counter top halfheartedly. “She never pulled this shit.”

Tre looked at him like he was crazy. “Paolo Alto not ringing any bells for ya, buddy?” He took a long, considering sip of his beer, “Besides, you and Adie never got together when you were thirty-four and she was seventeen. Changes things a bit, don't it?”

“Don't say I told you so, okay? She just, I mean, dammit-” Billie ran his hands through his head and let out a frustrated noise. “She makes me crazy, man.”

Tre shrugged, “Young girl, get out of my mind-”

“Don't start, man-”

“My love for you is waaay out of line-”

“Tre!” Billie glared and turned on his heel”

“You better run girl, you're much to young girl, for meeeeee!” His friend sang after him. The sound of the doors to the music room slamming shut were his only answer. Tre shrugged again, downing the rest of his beer and reaching for Billie's discarded cell phone. The clock read 2:30 a.m. He sighed, scrolling through the contacts menu. The things he did for friendship.

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Ava was in the back room of the club, delightfully buzzing from the liquor and eyes wide open, brain completely awake thanks to the coke. Sitting on some person's lap she was grinning over the pounding music at Cara, head buried in a random guy's lap. And said guy was not her latest comestain because he was on stage. Supposedly singing.

The man she was sitting on passed the joint he was smoking to someone else, he shifted his weight, “Dude,” he had to yell to be heard over the music, “It's, like, your ass is vibrating!” He turned to his friend, “Her ass is vibrating!” They laughed.

Ava realized her phone must be ringing. It was a testament to the material of the pants Cara let her borrow that she couldn't feel her cell phone through it. She hopped off the barrel and fished the phone from her pocket. She saw 'Rachel' on the caller id and realized the coke was wearing off. “What?!”

“Ava?”

“I can't hear you!” She cast around for Cara, her friend's jaw was working hard, hands buried in the boy's open jeans. No help there. A kid she thought was named Steve handed her a red plastic cup- nearly empty. “What do you want, Billie?!”

“It's Tre, Ava! Where are you?!”
“She took the shot that was left in the red cup and handed it back to the kid Steve. He laughed appreciatively, “Dude, there were like three hits of acid in that cup, man!”

“Ava, where the hell are you?!”

Ava shook her head, “We're at some hole-”

“Hey, the Hole is the best club in the Valley!” Steve interjected.

“-But the fuck you care where I am, anyway!”

“Don't go anywhere, Ava, I'm coming to get you!”

“What?!”

“I'm coming to get you!” Tre didn't try to keep the irritation out of his voice. Ava shrugged.

“I still can't hear you! Talk to Cara,” Ava dropped the phone next to her best friend's sucking mouth. Cara glared up from the boy's lap. The kid's hands tightened convulsively on her blonde hair and Cara slapped the phone away. Ava shook her head and turned away.

“Matt?” She stared up into her ex's face. Confused. What was he doing here? “What're you doing here?”

“Hey girl,” Matt Parker couldn't believe his good luck. “What're you doing?”

“I'm, like, almost tripping.”

“Yeah?”

“Totally.”

He tried to snag her wrists, pulling her toward one of the darker corners where there was a couch. “Well come with me, I gotta show you somethin'.”

“What? No way! I hate you!” She pulled her arms half heartedly, but he was more sober than she was.

“I know, baby, but I'm gonna make it better!”

“Oh.”

Ava went willingly.

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Tre pulled into the parking lot of the dive forty-five minutes later. If Billie wasn't going to do anything than he would. “I can't hear you, my ass,” he muttered. He hoped the acid hadn't kicked in yet. Actually, he hoped he wouldn't have to do with a bad trip. He shoved his keys in his pocket and shouldered his way inside.

Cara was straddling some guy, a beer bottle in hand. He rolled his eyes. “Yo, freakshow!”

She looked up at him, bleary eyed, “Hey, it's the funny man! Funny man, meet comestain!” She giggled.

He grabbed her by the forearm, hauling her mini-skirted behind off the boy and the bar stool. “Where's your girl!”

“Ava?! She's in the back with some guy.”

“And you just left her back there?” Tre couldn't believe he was putting up with this shit.

Cara laughed, “Well, it wasn't really a three person party-”

“Come on,” he wrapped his fingers around her upper arm and dragged her off, inwardly seething. Cara pointed the way and all of a sudden they were in a fucking drug den. “Fucking shit.” The pot smoke hung in a thick cloud and people were alternately sprawled or fucking everywhere. Ava lay on her back on a table, legs spread wide open and completely topless.

Her hands waved in the air, making lazy patterns. She didn't recognize Tre until he stood over her. Something dribbled down the sides of her mouth and into her hair. “Drummer.”

“Ava, come on, we should get you home.”

“How're you doing that?”

“Doing what, baby?” He cast around for her shirt and shook Cara hard. “How the fuck are you just going to stand there?”

“How're you in the water and not drowning?”

“There's water, doll?” He released Cara, shoving her maybe a bit harder than he intended to and reached for Ava. Cautious to touch her. She let him ease her up into a sitting position.

“We're under water, you know,” she told him conversationally. Her pale skin shown drowning victim blue in the black lights. “And it's okay for me- I'm a mermaid- but you're drowning.”

“I am?” the stuff on her chin dribbled down her neck, snaking between her breasts. He pulled the tee shirt over his head. Ava's eyes widened.

“Ooh- how'd you do that?” Her hands skimmed through the air, palms flattening on his bare chest she pulled them down, over his skin. Her hands were clammy. “You're a dolphin, drummer-man.”

“That's great, Ava, put this on, huh?” He was going to kill Cara. Ava's eyes widened and she scrambled back on the table, fingers clawing the wood.

“I can't, I'll- drown. You're all drowning, you're drowning in your-” her hands covered her ears and she squeezed her eyes shut, rocking, “I'm a mermaid. Mermaid. Mermaid. I drank the salt water. I can't drown.”

“Ava-okay,” he tucked the shirt in his back pocket, his hand cupped her bare shoulder, “Let's go swimming, okay? Do you want to swim with me?” Whatever it was around her mouth had a yeasty smell. He shook off the thought forming and gathered her in his arms, ignoring the fact that her bare breasts were pressed against his chest. Her nipples were cold.

Cara could fucking get fucked for all he cared.

“Where are you going with her?” Cara scrambled after them, having the presence of mind to snatch up her purse with what was left of the coke.

Tre was in the parking lot by the time the girl caught up with him. Ava huddled to his chest and threatened to freak clean out when he tried to detach her. He tried not to curse out loud. He couldn't drive like this. Cara caught up to him and grinned at the sight. Ava rocked in his arms, tears tracking steadily down her face. Cara laughed outright.

“Mad fucking cow.”

Ava was muttering against Tre's neck, “And the witch gave me legs like condoms and I couldn't breath and I can't breath now, I need the water and there was... the water.... and, and I'm a mermaid. Mermaid. Mermaid. And I'm not, not, not drowning.”

“Shh,” he murmured against her hair, “You'll be fine, I'm not gonna let you drown.” He glared daggers at Cara. “Get. In. The. Car.” Cara wilted under the righteous thunder in his eyes, but the smile didn't leave her face. “What'd you take?” He asked her.

Cara shrugged, “Just the coke, but it's warn off.”

“Have you had anything to drink?”

Cara looked at him like he was crazy.

“Fuck.” He eased himself and Ava into the driver's seat.

It took him twenty minutes to coax her, but eventually Ava crawled into the passenger seat of the SUV, but she wouldn't break contact with him. He drove with her sprawled across the center console, her head resting on his upper thigh, her arms wrapped around his right thigh like it was a life raft.

It would have been comical if he weren't so pissed off. As it was, Cara was lucky Ava was dead weight in his lap.

He put the Land Rover into gear, praying Ava didn't get worse.

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By the time they pulled into Billie's driveway Tre felt vindicated, Cara was pissed off, and Ava was still muttering to herself, or rather, muttering to his thigh. Every light in the house was on and by the time he turned off the ignition Billie was coming across the lawn. Tre muttered a curse under his breath. The next thirty seconds happened to fast for him to do anything about them anyway.

Billie ripping the passenger door open and the dome light coming on.

Ava scrambling across the console and back into his lap, fingers clawing his bare chest as she latched onto his neck like a monkey.

Billie's curses.

Cara's laughter.

Ava's terrified screaming.

Tre glared threateningly at Cara and looked apologetically at Billie, “She's tripping, man.”

“Why's she topless?”

“Fuck if I know.”

“Why're you topless?”

“Long story.” And all of this over Ava's breathless, mewling cries. “Help me get her out of the truck, huh?”

“You know she wouldn't be like this if you people hadn't turned her into a fucking nun.”

“Shut. Up.” Tre was about ready to fucking roll over Cara with his car.

“I'm serious! If he hadn'ta gone all daddy dearest on her, fuck he woulda gone off with that Matt kid.” Cara straightened her skirt, her heels making hollow sounds on the concrete. Billie'd opened Tre's door. He was reaching for Ava, but he looked at Cara over his shoulder.

“The fuck are you talking about?”

“I don't know, Matt with some P-word for a last name. They used to fuck. Anyway, she like, never does this shit. Usually it's just some beer, something recreational, and then home. But acid- that's on you, man- Hey, FUCK!”

“Billie-”

“The fuck did they do?”

Ava was shaking in Tre's lap and he realized she was crying again. Billie had Cara by the shoulders. Ava's mutters were quieter, but more urgent.

“Look at her, man! The only reason they didn't fuck was because she was too ripped to get those pants off! But hey, at least she knew his name, huh?”

Billie came very close to slapping Cara. He settled instead for shoving her hard into the Land Rover's door. She yelped. He stalked over to the driver's seat, grabbing Ava's hair at the base of her head and pulled her back. Her eyes were dead. But there were tears streaked down her face. And the stuff on it that had dried in the car was sticky again. He stared at it, at her, then shoved her back into Tre. “Get her in the house, I'm sick of this bullshit.”

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Ava woke up in a guest bedroom, wrapped in a duvet. She winced. Most of the night before was a blur. But she was back at Billie's. Even if she didn't remember how she got here, that was good. She was in a guest bedroom.

That was bad.

All the clothes she'd kept here, in the bottom two drawers of Billie's bureau and hanging in his closet were in a heap on the overstuffed chair next to the bed.

That was really bad.