Read Kevin O'Brien Bundle Online
Authors: Kevin O'Brien
Kevin O'Brien Bundle (2 page)
But Ray saw something else on the shore, too—something or someone.
The pinpoint of light in the darkness was far away, maybe in the meadow or perhaps in the parking lot. He couldn’t tell if it was someone with a flashlight—or a single headlight. Whatever it was, the thing seemed to be coming toward them and getting brighter. Then suddenly it disappeared.
Ray stared off into the darkness for another few moments. But he didn’t see the strange, solitary light again.
All at once, everything was quiet. He couldn’t hear Jenna singing or splashing in the water anymore. Ray swiveled around and gaped at the end of the aborted roadway jutting over the lake. Jenna was hoisting herself up to one of the support beams. “What are you doing?” he called. “Jenna, are you nuts?”
He swam toward her as fast as he could. But he wasn’t the best swimmer. He lost all sense of direction when his head was underwater. After several frenzied strokes, Ray paused to catch his breath and see where he was going. He’d veered away from the bridge. But he spotted Jenna climbing over the guardrail to the unfinished section of road.
She paused at the abrupt edge, about ten or twelve feet over the water. Headlights from passing cars on the bridge briefly illuminated her lean, nude silhouette. She looked so defiant, uninhibited, and utterly gorgeous as she stood there. Ray was mesmerized—until she slowly raised her hands over her head. He could see she was preparing to dive, and a panic swept through him.
His dad’s best friend in high school was paralyzed after diving into a quarry and hitting a boulder. Ray imagined blocks of concrete under the water by that unfinished road. “Don’t dive in there, Jenna!” he called, swimming toward her. He got water in his mouth and nose, and he began to cough. “You—you could get hurt! It’s too dangerous. . . .”
“I don’t care,” she replied, a tremor in her voice. It sounded like she was crying. “It doesn’t matter. . . .”
Helplessly, he watched her push off from the edge. She executed a flawless dive, plunging into the lake’s placid surface with only a small splash. Ray anxiously waited for her to emerge again, but there was no sign of her for several, long, unendurable moments.
He imagined having to carry her limp nude body all the way to the car, and then speeding to the UW Hospital.
“Jenna?” he called out, glancing around. He didn’t see her near the shore. But he noticed the little point of light again—closer than before, yet still too far away for him to figure out what it could be.
Right now, he was more concerned about Jenna. He knew she was drunk; but her mood swings were absolutely nuts. Just five minutes ago she’d been so excited, laughing and singing and flirting with him. Then up on the edge of that unfinished road, he could have sworn she was sobbing. Was she trying to commit suicide again?
For all he knew, she’d just succeeded. It had been at least a minute since Jenna had plunged into the inky water—and she still hadn’t resurfaced.
“Jenna?” he yelled, frazzled. “Goddamn it, Jenna . . .”
He turned at the sound of splashing water and saw her clutching on to the rope again. This time, there was nothing sexy about it. She was crying and gasping for air.
“Are you okay?” Ray asked, swimming toward her.
She didn’t answer him. She started to pull herself up the rope.
“Jenna, what the hell is going on?” he called. “Why are you acting like this?”
She didn’t even glance at him. A determined expression on her face, Jenna continued to shimmy up the rope. He was amazed at her strength and agility. He knew guys back in high school gym class—even a few of the jocks—who had trouble with the rope climb. Yet Jenna pulled herself up, passing the lower branches. He heard her sobbing the whole time.
“What are you doing?” Ray called, heading toward the shore now. “For God’s sake, Jenna, you’re going too high!”
She disappeared amid the top branches of the tree. But he could still hear her crying.
Naked and shivering, Ray staggered onto the muddy bank. He spotted her again, standing on one of the high branches. Jenna was shivering, too. She still held on to the rope and braced herself against another limb. She hoisted up the thick, braided cord, and then took the slack and wrapped it around her neck.
“Oh, Jesus, no,” Ray murmured, horrified. He raced to the tree and began climbing it. The branches and rough bark scratched his bare feet and scraped against his naked torso. But he pressed on, grabbing one limb and then another, struggling to reach her before she jumped. “NO!” he yelled with what little breath he had.
She gazed down at him. The rope was twisted around her neck.
“Please, Jenna,” he gasped, climbing to a higher branch. “Even if you’re kidding, cut it out. You’re giving me a heart attack here. I don’t want—I don’t want anything bad happening to you. Why are you doing this anyway?”
Numbly, she stared back at him. “Why not?” she muttered. “Who would care?”
“I would, I’d care!” he answered, pulling himself up to the same branch as her. She backed away—farther out on the limb. He didn’t want to scare her off, so he stayed close to the base of the tree. “Listen, if you’re doing this for some kind of attention, you don’t need to. You’ve always had my attention, Jenna. If—if I see you in a room, you’re all I see. I gotta tell you, I—I’m crazy about you.” He clung to the tree branch and let out a frightened laugh. “And I’d be really pissed if I lost you this early in the game. . . .”
Jenna cracked an uncertain little smile. “You like me?” she asked quietly.
He nodded. “A lot—even when you’re acting weird, like now. In fact, it makes me like you even more. How screwed up is that?”
She wiped the tears from her eyes and managed to laugh. “Pretty screwed up . . .”
“We make a terrific pair,” he said. Despite the fact that she stood precariously on that limb with a rope wound around her neck, Ray couldn’t help looking at Jenna’s beautiful breasts, her long limbs, and that triangle of dark pubic hair.
He noticed she was looking him up and down, as well. She started to unwrap the thick cord from around her neck.
Then she suddenly lost her footing.
Ray heard a branch snap. Jenna let out a shriek. Her arms flailing, she teetered to one side. The rope was still partially looped around her neck as she started to fall.
Paralyzed, Ray watched her careen down toward the lake. Twigs cracked and broke as her body hit them on the way down. For a few moments, everything was a blur. Ray didn’t recall scrambling out on the limb and then diving into the lake to rescue her. He just remembered plunging into the water, then bobbing up to the surface and gasping for air.
Jenna was only a few feet away, amid a whirlpool of leaves and twigs. She held her forehead and laughed while treading water. Somehow, the last loop of the rope had uncoiled during her fall. He noticed some blood on her elbow—and fresh scratch marks on her arms. But her neck and face were unmarred.
“My God, are you okay?” he asked, wiping the water and snot from his nose.
Nodding, she drifted toward him. “I can’t believe you dove in after me,” she murmured. “Do you know how high that was? You risked your life for me. . . .”
She put her arm around him, then kissed him.
Ray was too numb to feel aroused. Exhausted, they clung to each other and made their way to the shore. He kept checking her arms for cuts and scratch marks. Jenna said she’d be okay. As they both emerged from the water, they paused to catch their breath. They gazed at each other.
Her eyes seemed to focus on his torso. She gently touched his hip. “You nicked yourself, poor baby,” she whispered.
Ray glanced down at a scrape mark along his right rib cage.
“Should I kiss it and make it better?” she whispered.
Before he could answer, she bowed down. He felt her warm breath against his cold, wet skin as she planted kisses along his rib cage. Ray shuddered gratefully. He was about to close his eyes.
But he noticed that solitary light again—coming closer.
“Wait, no . . . wait, Jenna, no,” he whispered, pulling her up. “Someone’s coming. . . .”
She looked out toward the meadow—toward the beam of light. “What is that?”
Ray urgently pulled her toward the base of the tree, where they’d left their clothes. “Let’s get dressed, c’mon. . . .” He reached for his undershorts.
“What is that?” she repeated. Then she called out, “Who’s there? Is somebody there?”
Ray put on his boxers, then grabbed her bra and shook it at her. “Y’know, Jenna,” he whispered, “it might be a good idea to put some clothes on.”
With a perturbed look, she took the bra and slipped it on.
Ray swiped up her panties and handed them to her. He glanced toward that eerie, single spot of light again. Now he could see a person behind it. Someone with a flashlight was coming toward them. Ray quickly stepped into his jeans and threw on his shirt. To his utter frustration, Jenna was taking her sweet time getting dressed. She stood there in just her bra and panties, squinting at that lone figure with a flashlight.
Ray tried to get a good look at the man, but the flashlight was blinding him. He heard the man’s feet shuffling as the light got closer and brighter. Ray shielded his eyes. “Who’s there? Can I—can I help you?”
The light shined on Jenna. She sneered at the man behind it. “What the hell do you want?”
Now Ray could see the lean, tall man in a police uniform. He was about thirty-five, with black hair and a thin, weather-lined face. His police cap was tucked under his arm. “Seattle Police,” he announced. “Are there any more of you out here? Or is it just you two kids?”
Ray swallowed hard. “It’s just us. . . .”
“Is that your red Volkswagen in the lot?” he asked.
Ray nodded. “Yes, that’s my car. I’m sorry. Were we making too much noise?”
“It’s not a case of too much noise,” the cop said, directing the light at him again. “This park closes at ten p.m. So it’s a case of trespassing—and indecent exposure.”
“Oh, for Christ’s sake,” Jenna hissed, defiantly standing there in her bra and panties. “Don’t you have anything better to do? It’s not like we—”
Ray swiveled around. “Shut the hell up!” he said under his breath. “You want to get us arrested? Let me handle this. . . .” He turned around and shrugged at the cop. “I’m sorry, it was my idea that we come here. If we’ve broken any laws, it’s my fault. I wasn’t thinking. . . .”
The cop switched off the flashlight. “I’ll let you folks finish dressing,” he said coolly, “and then I’d like to have a word with you.”
“Yes, sir,” Ray answered.
The tall policeman wandered back a few paces. He took a pack of gum from his shirt pocket and unwrapped a stick.
Ray grabbed his socks and shoes. “Get dressed, and don’t say a word,” he whispered to Jenna. “I know I’m sucking up. But why antagonize him? I don’t want to spend the night in jail or have an arrest record with indecent exposure listed on it. That would kiss off my plans to become a teacher. Please, just let me talk to him. Maybe he’ll let us go with a warning if I apologize and grovel enough.”
Jenna stared at him for a moment; then she nodded. “You handle it.”
Ray apologized profusely while the cop escorted them back to the parking lot. Lagging behind them, Jenna didn’t utter a syllable. The policeman let them go with a warning and a few cautionary tales about the different muggings, rapes, and murders that had occurred at the Arboretum after dark.
An hour later, over pancakes at the Dog House—one of Seattle’s most popular late-hour roadhouse-style diners—Ray and Jenna discussed whether or not any of the cop’s horror stories were really true. Ray felt so elated to have survived the night’s adventures with just a few scratches. All his terror and all of Jenna’s craziness—he’d never felt more alive. And the pancakes he wolfed down were the best he’d ever had—even though they’d been served up by a haggard, geriatric waitress, and the place was a dive. Despite the dim lighting, he could detect a grimy layer of grease and smoke covering everything—from the blown-up sepia photos of old Seattle on the walls to the silver tops of the salt and pepper shakers on their table.
Beneath that table, Jenna had slipped off one shoe, and her foot kept touching his. Her toes wiggled under the cuff of his jeans and worked their way up his shin. “You saved my life tonight,” she said, while nibbling on a piece of bacon. “You rescued me from myself, Ray. I don’t know why I do stuff like that, I really don’t.”
He didn’t dare ask her if she’d truly intended to kill herself earlier. He didn’t want to spoil the moment. He smiled at her. “You know, the Chinese say that once you save someone’s life, you’re henceforth responsible for them.”
“
Henceforth
, huh?” she asked, sipping her glass of milk through a straw. “Well, I kind of like that.” Beneath the table, she scrunched her toes, playfully tugging at the hair on his shin. “Looks like you’re stuck with me,
henceforth
.”
Henceforth
, huh?” she asked, sipping her glass of milk through a straw. “Well, I kind of like that.” Beneath the table, she scrunched her toes, playfully tugging at the hair on his shin. “Looks like you’re stuck with me,
henceforth
.”
“I kind of like that, too,” Ray said.
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