His Lucky Charm

Just Listen

She sat on the side walk outside of the telephone booth. People walked by and scoffed, assuming she was homeless or just a girl who was undesirable.

She felt like both of those.

She stared at her feet as tears went down her face. All she wanted was her relationship with Jackson to work. To actually feel some semblance of love with him.

She just wanted it... to work.

A blue car pulled up and parked in front of her. She didn't even bother to look up. She knew who it was.

A car door opened and then closed promptly. Someone just sat down next to her. A hiss of discomfort came from them, but they stuck by her.

"I thought you'd sent Tex." she said as she sniffled and wiped her eyes.

"You called me.... Right?" Strip said. As he messed with the bruises on his knuckles. They sat in silence for a few more moments.

"What happened...?" He asked calmly, letting her take her time to respond. Lynda just teared up more.

"We got into a fight... he basically accused me of cheating, yelled at me, he pushed me, and then I blew up and told him I'm not happy with him." She said as she started cry again.

Strip looked up slightly from his bruises and looked at her. "He pushed you?"

"Yeah... he just shoved me and I fell." She said as she continued to stare at the ground, refusing to look at Strip.

"Are you okay?" He asked suddenly concerned. She just shrugged. "Physically sure... this isn't the first time he's been violent, so it isn't a big deal."

Strip clenched his fists slightly but released them. That's a different conversation to have.

"So..." he rubbed his neck.

"Why aren't you happy with him?"

That was a question she didn't have an issue to answer. She stood up and started pacing as she answered him. She touched on his controlling behavior.

"He would tell me what dress to wear... and it would get me so mad. Cause everything he picks is uncomfortable or meant to make me look like eye candy!" She clenched her fists and then got mad.

"His family would be blatantly racist to me, and would be like 'oh I should've know people like you can't live this life'" she nearly shouted as she looked for soemthing to hit.

"You can kick the tire." He said pointing to his car. She immediately turned and kicked the tire a few times but then stopped when she hurt her self.

He raised a hand to ask if she was okay. Just just raised her hand at him and nodded. "I'm fine."

Strip kinda concluded it was just his job to listen for right now. He nodded and lowered his hand.

"And to top it all off, he doesn't act like he loves me. He just holds my hand or kisses my head. Not once has he ever actually kissed me. Not on the lips. EVER!" She sat back down next to him.

Strip was surprised by that. "Really?"

"Yep. And we've been dating for four years-"

"Four years!?" Strip said shocked. She nodded a bit. "Yes... four long exhausting years."  A sigh escaped as she sat there, her gaze glued to the ground again.

"He promised to marry me... but he would never go against his parents, especially his mom." She said quietly. She looked so small sitting there.

Strip stayed quiet, just listening.

"His mom even told me, I could never make a boy as good as him happy. Hell... she said I'd make no one happy." Tears started to prick her eyes again.

She made sure to leave out that Strip was the topic of conversation. She didn't want him to feel guilty.

"May I ask a question?" He asked.

"Yeah."

"Why didn't you leave then?" He looked at her. She didn't dare look at him.

"Because... I actually wanted to see if I could get the relationship to work." She said so quietly.

Strip looked at his car. He simply stood. He walked over to his car and opened his door. She thought he was gonna leave.

Suddenly a hand appeared in her view. She looked at his hand and then followed it up to his face.

"Come on."

"You're not leaving?"

He chuckled. "Why would I leave you here sunshine?"

She teared up more and reached up to his hand. He pulled her up carefully and quickly went over to the passenger side and opened the door for her.

She stood on the sidewalk looking at him confused.

"Come on sunshine. Let's get you around some more friends."

She wiped her eyes as she got into the car. She sat down as he closed the door. He walked around and got into the drivers seat.

"Before we go where Tex and Chick are, wanna do something fun?" He looked at her with a mischievous grin.

"Like what?"

"You have to say yes first." He said as he started his car. She raised a brow but nodded. "Yeah sure."

"And promise you won't get mad at me." He said making a serious point, but the smile still on his face.

"I won't get mad" She said with a laugh.

"Good." He put the car in drive and took off. She jumped a bit as she realized he was driving fast. "I don't know if you noticed, but this is my race car." He said as he easily drove one handed.

"What!? Real- holy shit it is." Her eyes lit up. "Are you taking me for a drive?"

"I'm taking you, for a race." He said as he pulled into an abandoned parking lot. She got excited.

He drifted the car and spun it around. He did doughnuts in the parking. She laughed as he did. He booked it out of the parking look and booked it down a straight road.

"How fast you going ?!" She asked.

He glanced down. "About 110."

She just laughed and cheered as he kept going. He eventually slowed down. He didn't want to wreck his car cause of someone else on the road.

"Have fun?" He asked as he came to a red light.

She just chuckled and nodded her head quickly. "Big time."

"Good."

"Can we do it again?" He looked at her. She had an excited look on her face. Her eyes were glittering from the adrenaline.

How could he say no.

"Of course."

The light turned green and he took off down the highway.