Something for your Mind

chapter 5

     "You're fucking kidding me, Shay."

Carmen couldn't believe her ears. Shay promised her a place to stay for as long as she needed, which was a better offer than Mason's 'one night only.'

"I'm sorry, okay? It's not my fault my parents don't want a drug addict in their home." The voice came from the other end of the phone.

Even with the choppy signal, Carmen heard the venom that coated her tone. She bit her lip to prevent the snarky remark boiling inside of her.

"Don't get full of yourself, I'm not a drug addict just because I smoked weed a few times," she said coolly. She wished Shay could see her smirk through the phone.

"Don't give me that bullshit, Carmen."

She yawned. "As much as I'd like to continue this pointless bickering, I've got other things to take care of." She smiled sweetly, although her friend couldn't see her. 'Bye bye now!"  She hung up before Shay had time to react.

Her phone's sparkly case glimmered in the sunlight, and she slammed it down into the grass. "Fucking bitch!" she shrieked out at the ocean in front of her. 

Before long, the sun would set and Carmen had no shelter over her head. She lit a cigarette.

Mason.

No. Mason was a sweet guy and all, but he shouldn't be sucked into Carmen's life. He had enough stress already, didn't he say something about his mom going missing or whatever? She'd go somewhere else. She had an idea in mind, a particularly bad idea, but one she was sure would work. He definitely wouldn't say no.

Carmen picked up her phone, and set it back down again. It had been days since she'd been able to shower, and a pang of regret shot through her for not using her aunt's luxurious shower and products while she could. The freshwater tap outside the abandoned beach house would have to do.

She picked up her phone again and stuffed it in her backpack before walking the five minutes to the beach house. It sat on the very end of the mile-long stretch of sand. During the short trek,  Carmen felt grateful that her spot on the beach was so close to the beach house. She slid all over the place in her sneakers, which were clearly not meant for the sand.

Once Carmen arrived, she peeled off her leather jacket and immediately felt the chill against her skin. She grimaced. It was late May, it shouldn't have been so cold out. She pulled shampoo and conditioner out of her bag and turned on the tap. Carmen leaned forward so her hair hung down in front of her and put her head under the stream of water. She gasped as the freezing water poured onto her scalp, and she worked quickly.

First, lathering the shampoo in her roots, then massaging the conditioner into her ends. She pulled her head from under the frigid water within two minutes. Still, she felt as though she contracted frostbite all over her head. It was numb and throbbing, but at least her hair was clean and smelled nice.

Carmen pushed the door open into the beach house's bathroom, and didn't bother locking herself into one of the repugnant stalls. She was scared to see what hid behind those doors, and no one would walk in on her anyway.

She stripped to her underwear and slathered herself in her vanilla scented body lotion, which she had stolen from a small shop nearly a year ago. In Carmen's defense, she'd never found a scent that she'd fallen in love with like the scent of that lotion. And she'd been broke. She'd always been broke.

Following the lotion, Carmen sprayed herself into a mist of perfume, leaving her smelling like expensive vanilla, plus a hint of coconut from her shampoo.

Perfect.

She inhaled deeply. It was time to face him.     

After a fifteen minute walk that truly must've lasted an eternity, Carmen arrived at his house. A middle class house, made of red bricks and almost completely enveloped in vines. A black iron handrail led the way up three steps to the porch. Her heart was in love with the house and it's cute, welcoming features. Her brain, on the other hand, warned her to stay the hell away from it.