Love in Darkness (Castles on the Sand 2)

Ten

For a moment I don’t know what to say. I just lean against the door frame and stare. Madison’s lips are pale and her face lined from stress. It’s midmorning and the breeze off the sea isn’t too biting today.

“It isn’t anything illegal,” she says. “It’s just something I’d rather do than go to college, and John’s all about how I have to go to college. He won’t listen to me.”

“He’d kill me if I helped you hide something from him.”

“Which is why I need to point out again that you owe me, okay? Because you do. You can’t just freeze me out. We’ve meant too much to each other to just let it all go, and I’m not begging, okay? I’m not. I’m telling you, get in my van and come spend time with me and help me out. It’s the least you can do.”

Now, this should be an easy “no.” There’s no logical reason for me to go along with her plan except that she’s right, I more than owe her, and she’s beyond gorgeous right now. I always loved the way she gets when she’s laying down the law and telling me how it is. More than once I annoyed her on purpose to make it happen. I’m like the kid who tugs a girl’s pigtails to make her chase him. In fact, I’m at about that maturity level in a lot of ways. “I shouldn’t,” I say. But what if this secret of hers changes things somehow? I can’t imagine how that’s possible, but not knowing gives my imagination all kinds of fodder.

“Go tell Hiroko where you’re going. I’ll wait.” Madison folds her arms.

“Fine.” I do exactly what she says and minutes later I exit out the front door and follow her up the steps to the driveway, where John’s van is parked. The last few nights have been rough for me, sleep-wise, so I feel a little ragged around the edges. It’s hard to think straight, and I have the sense that I’m not even really awake. This all feels like a dream, or like something I’m watching from a long ways off. I try to shake the feeling as I climb up into the van. Siraj’s sisters sit in the second row of seats, and I notice that the rest of the seats have been taken out.

“Hello,” I say to the twins, whose names I don’t recall.

“This is Lalitha and Mahati,” says Madison, right on cue, as she climbs into the driver’s seat. “Guys, this is Alex.”

“We know,” the twins chime in unison. I will never be able to tell them apart at this rate. They don’t dress alike, but their faces are indistinguishable and I still haven’t heard which one belongs to which name.

While Madison’s not a particularly small person, behind the wheel of this vehicle, she looks tiny. I grip the handle in the ceiling with more force than necessary as she backs the van down my driveway and out into the street, but wonder of wonders, she steers with no trouble. It’s obvious that she’s driven this thing before. “Lalitha and Mahati are my excuse for having the van today. My car only seats two.”

“The sports car is yours?” I say, remembering the little rustbucket I saw parked by her house.

“That really old, corroded one, yeah. I got it for free.” She rakes her hair back from her face as we pull away from my house and head off down the road towards Main Street.

The weather is glorious with blue skies from the redwood forest treetops to the ocean horizon. It’s no surprise to find traffic on Main Street as people, driving up the Pacific Coast Highway, stop for gas and to get coffee and breakfast at the various little cafes in town. The beat up old van looks like a battle scarred behemoth next to everyone’s little sports cars and convertibles, but Madison guides it through with a practiced hand.

Lalitha and Mahati chatter away in a language that sounds mostly like burbles, and it feels good to be near other humans, to hear them talk and laugh. I look over at Madison who wears a determined frown. She’s stressed, but that doesn’t make her any less beautiful. A wisp of hair sticks lightly to her cheek.