Chapter
thirty three:
Isaac
walked with Christy towards the entrance of the mall. Outside the entrance, a
crowd of people had gathered around an obviously homeless man, who was shouting
obscenities.
Isaac made an attempt to move her to his other side, to stand between her and
the bum, but instead she let go of his hand, fished into the front pocket of
her jeans and removed a few dollars, handing them to the man.
Isaac
raised his eyebrows questionably.
She
instructed the man to “get help.”
She
smiled at Isaac and took his hand again.
“Do
you um… normally give money to crazy people?”
“Honey,
he isn’t crazy… he’s high.” She clarified.
“There’s
a difference?”
Christy
nodded. “There is.”
“So
my question is then; do you normally give money to heroin addicts?” He opened
the door for her.
“He
wasn’t a heroin addict. He was definitely a crack addict.” She passed through
the door.
“What’s
the difference?”
“Well,
in my experience, cocaine addicts are sloppier. They’re more impulsive, and
they ramble and rant and generally freak out. Heroin addicts are usually more
subdued and slightly more creative…”
“In your experience?”
Christy
sighed heavily. “I didn’t tell you about that?”
“No…”
“When
I… ran away from home, I lived with some people who were heavy drug users… and
I started… using heroin. Before that, it was just pot and sometimes ecstasy…
but I only used heroin a little, and I quit years ago and… its in the past…”
She stopped walking and tugged at his hand. “I swear, I
haven’t touched anything like that in… years.”
He
smiled. “I believe you.”
Christy
sighed. “My past is a horrible thing… I don’t like telling people about it
because I’m afraid they’ll judge me… label me some junkie whore and not give me
a chance… I should have told you before…”
“No,
that’s okay.” He smiled. “Everyone has something that they’ve done wrong in
their lives. I care about you now, not for who you were then.”
Christy
smiled at him, looking nearly close to tears. “Thanks, baby…”
“Umm…
is there anything else I need to know?”
“No.
I don’t think so.”
“Okay.”
He smiled. “Any place in particular you want to go?”
…………………………………………………………………………………………..
After
the movie, Jenna and Luke sauntered back towards the bus from the movie
theater. It wasn’t a great distance; the bus driver had parked at the back of
the mall, so it was just a matter of walking through the parking lot.
Luke
smiled and took her hand firmly, with the remainder of the popcorn bag in his
other hand.
“I
had such a great time.”
Jenna
smiled. “Me too. It’s such a pretty night, too bad we have to get back so
early…”
“Early?
It’s after eleven.” Luke chuckled.
”I know… I just wish we could stay out a
little longer and enjoy the evening.” She brushed her hair away from her face
with her free hand.
“We
could open a window.” Luke tried.
Jenna
laughed out loud at that.
“We
could go out tomorrow night. We’re supposed to have the day off... and we’ll be
staying at a hotel that night…”
Jenna
nodded and they stopped outside the bus. “Yeah, but then the day after that,
you fly back to
Luke
sighed. “I know. It sucks… I wish I could stay longer, but I have a job lined
up for the summer…”
Jenna
sighed heavily. “I’m going to miss you.”
Luke
smiled. “I’m going to miss you like crazy too, but we still have another good…”
He looked at his watch. “Twenty hours together?”
“Is
that long enough?”
He
smiled. “No. I don’t think so.”
Jenna
briskly rubbed her bare arms.
“Do
you want to go in?” He smiled, touching her arm. “You’re freezing.”
Jenna
nodded and smiled. “Okay. I’m kind of tired anyway.”
“Alright.”
Luke
held open the door for her and she climbed inside the bus. She changed into her
pajamas and found him laying across the sofa in the back lounge.
”Hey,” She said. “You’re still up?”
”Yeah, I want to catch the football scores before I go to bed.”
”Oh cool. I’ll stay up with you.”
He
chuckled. “Do you like football?”
“No.”
She sat next to him, “But I’ll keep you company.”
“Cool.”
He smiled, grabbing an extra blanket and pulling it around them.
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