The A-Game (new version)

Chapter 7.

"MISTY, I HAVE BEEN WORRIED SICK!" a woman was jogging into view. Her hair was long and falling out of the thick messy bun that bobbed at the top of her head. She held the visage of a caring, citizen who could snap a bone if she needed too, with her eyes burning as hot as a brand, pinpointing mine with more precision than Sage's fingernail. The woman cantered into view, her  brilliant blue eyes reflecting the unseen color of a raging storm. At that time I could've sworn that electricity crackled within them. "YOUR FATHER AND I HAVE BEEN WORRIED SICK!" I felt confused and funny inside. Was this woman really claiming to be my mother? She certainly didn't look like my mother.

     My memory came in patches from them on, first of me running through the forest, with her gripping my hand as if I were under her custody. 

     "Who are you? You're not my mother," I had said. My world was spinning, and my head was reeling.

    "Pretending I was your mother was the best excuse I could come up with in order to get you out of there in such a short amount of time." The woman yanked me onto a boat. I was, for the first time within that time, aware that we were on the lake. 

    "Why?" I asked dumbly. The dark waters had no contour against the black sky, and with the white of the boat so prominent against the black, I felt as if my world were spinning with it bobbing on black's continuous field. 

     "You are obviously too naive for parties like these, honey," the woman said as she untied the boat and kicked off from shore. "I was camping in this area when I heard the party going on. I thought I'd check it out. I've been observing you for a little while. I didn't like the feeling I got when I saw you with that boy. Call it motherly instinct. Turns out, I was right. That boy slipped something into your drink. I don't know what, but it's definitely working."

     "Kevin slipped a drug into my drink?" suddenly, even with my sluggish brain, it all fit into place: why I felt so strange, and why he had earlier asked how my drink tasted. I started crying. I felt so hurt and betrayed that Kevin would do such a thing. He had seemed so nice.

     "Can you tell me where you live? I'll drive you there once we get to the mainland," the woman flipped on the boat's motor. Through the dark I could make out her form: the halo of curls that had shaken loose from her bun, and the thick lump of hair that formed her messy bun. I shook my head.

     "I was here with a friend. I was supposed to go to her house after," I shouted over the motor. I felt tears nibble at the corners of my eyes. Dread gnawed while the tears nibbled. How was I to get home?

     "It's okay. I'll take you to my house, and we'll call your mother. I'll explain everything to her." 

     "I'm going to be in so much trouble."

    "This is just my judgement as a mother, but given the fact that you have been drugged, I know that I would ignore any trouble you're in, given the current situation. I know that that's what I would do, if this happened to one of my sons."

    "You have sons?" I asked her. The woman nodded.

    "Yep. One who's thirteen, and another who's all grown up and moved out."

    "What are their names?" I asked her, trying to strike up conversation.

   "My oldest's name is Rickard or Rick for short. He goes to Iowa State University in Ames. My youngest's name is Galileo, or Leo for short. He's still in Des Moines with my husband, so you and I don't have to worry about waking anyone."

   "Why are they in Iowa while you're here?" I asked the woman. The woman sighed.

   "You ask an awful lot of questions," she sighed again, and I closed my eyes, feeling tired and sluggish again for the one thousandth time. "We're all from Iowa, but we're moving here for work. I'm kind of scoping out the territory. Leo has to finish school, so he won't be out here for another six months or so."

     "What's your name?" I asked the woman. "Usually I don't ride with strangers." This made the woman laugh. She didn't take her eyes off of her driving, but she took one hand off the boat wheel and shook mine.

     "You can call me Janice, and you're Misty?" I nodded before I realized she couldn't see me.

    "Yes," I shouted.

    "That's a beautiful name," Janice replied. "It's great to meet you, despite the circumstances."

   "It's nice meeting you too," I shouted back. A storm of deliriousness had settled itself like a whirlwind in my head. I didn't even get a chance to say 'thank you' before I slipped into unconsciousness.