Letting Love In-Ch39

Chapter 39:
We ate breakfast outside on the little patio behind the house. His back yard was small. There was a pool off to one side, above ground. Then there was a swing set to the other side. After we were done eating he did his chores while I took a shower. I was blow-drying my hair when he came into the bathroom. “How much longer do you need to get ready?” he yelled. I shut off the blow dryer. “Um… 20 minutes?” I half asked. “Hurry up. We have a big day today” he said, then turned and shut the door. “Whatever” I said to myself in the mirror, then continued to dry and straighten my hair.
I stepped out of the bathroom into the hallway and made my way to Sidney’s room to get my clothes. When I went into his room he was standing there holding something and staring blankly out the window. “Sid what are you doing?” I asked. “N-nothing” he said. He stood up quickly and whatever was in his hand disappeared. “Where are we going today?” I asked him. “I am showing you my home town” he said matter-of-factly. He smiled at me and I started rummaging through my suitcase.
I slipped on a grey-green tank top with a crème colored sleeveless vest. Then I put on a pair of dark wash jean capris. I grabbed a pair of crème heels that would match my vest but Sidney stopped me. “We are going to be walking today; heels are not the way to go” he said. So instead I took out a pair of hunter green flats and slipped them on. “Ready” I said standing up.
**
We got in his car, a silver Range Rover. “It’s new” he said when I asked him when he got it. We drove about 10 minutes down some side streets to the main part of the town. It was a main road that was filled with stores. He parallel parked the car with others in front of a set of stores. Then he put his hat on and pulled it down. He was actually not wearing anything from Rbk. I was surprised. He had on light wash jeans, a navy blue Abercrombie and Fitch shirt, and a tan baseball hat. He looked like any other 18 year old boy. He looked at me funny when he saw me looking him up and down. “Problem?” he asked. “No. I was just admiring how you look normal and aren’t all decked out in Reebok stuff. He laughed. “I can be normal. And hopefully not a lot of people will recognize me” he said. Then he opened the door and walked around to the sidewalk. “Let’s go” he said. He took my hand and we started walking down the street.
*
We went to about 10 stores so he could say hello to old friends. Then he took me to a park and we walked around and he showed me the statue him and his friend accidentally broke one time. I laughed at him. Then he showed me a bench where an old man used to sit everyday with his rosary beads praying for his wife to get better, she had cancer. Then we left the park and walked down to the harbor. He took me to a dock and told me how he was dared to jump in one summer with only boxers on, and he did it. Then he showed me where one of his friends stole a paddleboat and brought it to the middle of the harbor and flipped it over. I laughed again. “Were you ever caught?” I asked. “Nope” he said. I continued laughing.
We stopped at this little sand which shop for lunch. I went to sit down but he pulled me away. “No time to sit, we only have an hour left before we need to be home” he said. We walked down a side street with no houses and then he took a turn at a dirt path. The whole place was surrounded by trees. “Where are you taking me?” I asked him and stopped in the middle of the street. “Don’t worry Kay. It’s only like two minutes from here” he said and kept walking. I hurried along after him and laced my fingers with his as we walked. The trees thinned out and we came to the edge of the ‘forest’. I looked ahead and saw water. Then I saw a gazebo, like the one at home. Only it was smaller and looked like it was about to fall apart in the next big gust of wind.
We walked over to it and sat down inside. I looked out and saw that this place was surrounded by water and trees. “What is this?” I asked him. “This is my favorite place. Besides the rink” he added. “I came here all the time when I was a kid. I would just come and sit, watch the sunset and stuff. Mostly to think” he said. I smiled; this was just like what I used to do at home. I turned to him and kissed him on the cheek. We were more alike than I thought. After a few minutes he stood up, and then he froze in mid step. “It’s still here” he whispered. “What’s still here” I asked him standing up. “Nothing. We should get going” he said. I started to worry. He was acting very weird and when I reached for his hand he held it, but not like he usually did. Now his hand felt cold and loose around mine.
We walked in silence for a few minutes then, like he was shaken from a dream, Sidney’s hand became tighter around mine. He leaned over towards me and kissed my forehead. I was still worried though. “So do you like it here?” he asked. “I love it” I said, “Everyone is so nice. And they don’t mob you like the rest of the world.” “They know me as Sidney, the boy who lives down the street” he said. “And the kid that commits crimes but gets away with them” I said and half-laughed. He laughed too, “I’m not so innocent as you thought eh?” he asked. “No” I said.
By that time we were back into town, and were walking down the main road to the car. We got in and went back to Sidney’s house. “We aren’t sleeping here tonight” he said. “What?” I said and turned around to look at him. “Pack an overnight bag before dinner” he said and walked past me. I stood there dumbfounded as he went to the fridge and took out a bottle of water. He turned around and looked at me. “Trust me” he said, “We leave in 2 minutes to go get Tay.” He walked back down the hallway and disappeared into his room. Then a million thoughts came to my mind. “Are we going to be in the woods? Where are we going to sleep? We aren’t going to some party are we? What should I bring? Will there be a shower where we are going?” I was still standing in the same space when he came back down the hallway. “Hello? Earth to Kay?” he said and waved his hand in front of my face. “Where are you taking me?” I asked. “I can’t tell you that” he said, “Now let’s go.” He pulled me out the door and to the car.
“Are we going to a party?” I asked. “Nope.” “Will there be a bed for me to sleep in at this place?” “Yes” he said. “Is it just going to be us?” “Yes.” “How long will we be there?” “A day maybe.” “It’s not outdoors is it? Because if it is, you can go by yourself.” That got him to laugh. “No it isn’t, I know you better than that.” Just then we pulled up to a cul-de-sac where there were about 6 other cars parked. There were a mixture of mothers and fathers waiting for their kids. I went to open the door. But he stopped me. “Not a good idea” he said. “Why not?” I asked settling back down. “If you don’t want to get yelled at for accompanying a person who egged, toilet papered and maybe silly stringed their houses, then I suggest you not go out there” he said, in all seriousness. “What?!” I half yelled. “Hey I was thirteen, and I fell into peer pressure” he said. Then I laughed. “But how can they yell at you? You are Mr. Hockey Star, and that was like 5 years ago” I said. “Some people never let things go” he said. Then the bus pulled up.
A gaggle of kids exited the doors and Taylor looked around for the car. She spotted us and ran waving goodbye to the other kids. We brought her home and made an after-school snack of peanut butter and graham crackers. She made us watch TV with her until Trina got home. She asked Sidney what he wanted for dinner and he told her Chinese. Troy picked it up on the way home, and we ate. The Crosby’s must have known about Sidney’s plans of whisking me away to a mystery place for the night because after dinner she asked when we were leaving. “Well if Kay is ready soon we can leave in like 10 minutes” he said. I packed a small bag of overnight things in a Louis Vuttion bag and said goodbye to the family. “See you tomorrow night” we called and then went out to the car.
**
After about a 20 minute drive we pulled up at a house on the harbor that was off a dirt road. “Are we trespassing private property?” I asked. “No” he said and got out of the car. We walked up to the front door and the automatic light came on. “Who’s house is this?” I asked when he picked up a flowerpot and pulled a key out of the underside. He didn’t answer. He opened the door and put his hands on my lower back and pushed me into the house. It was dark inside, but a reflection of the setting sun was shining through the back French doors. He switched on a light and the foyer was illuminated.
It was big. There was a staircase right in front of me, it was all open and you could see the rooms on the second floor. The whole foyer had a cathedral ceiling. To my left there was a sitting room with hardly any furniture and to my right there was what looked like a guestroom and bathroom. He started to walk in front of me and down the open corridor. There was a door to my left, which I guessed was either a closet or a stairway to the basement, if there was a basement. There was a door to my right which I thought was a doorway out to the 2 car garage. The corridor led right into the kitchen. On the left of the kitchen was a doorway that led to the dining room. On the right was a big living room. There was a staircase on the right side of the living room that led to the upstairs. He walked over to the doors behind the kitchen table and slid the door open. We walked out onto a stone patio and looked down the property to see that it had its own dock and a small ‘beach’. I wouldn’t call it a beach though; it was more a piece of land that just happened to be sandy. There were about 4 trees scattered around the back yard, two had a hammock tied around the stumps, but the rest was surrounded by trees. He sat down on one of the all-weather couches on the patio. He reached for me and I sat down next to him. “Do you like it?” he asked. I nodded. “But who’s is it?” I asked. He smiled, “Mine.” “Are you serious?” I squealed. “Yes. I bought it around the beginning of December” he said nonchalantly. “And you didn’t tell me” I said, a little angrily. “I love surprising you” he said. My anger melted away as he stood up and pulled me to follow him into the house.