Running my hands through Diego’s rough stubble made me want to ride off into the sunset with him, just like in the old cowboy classics. My daydream was burst by a late biomedical class where we were examining cultures and blood types in the lab.
“Hey, hot stuff. What’s cracking with you?” Shauna with her bouncy jet black curls and fresh lip gloss was lined up behind a microscope. We were in the clinical labs with a handful of other students.
“Oh, plenty.” The whites of her eyes became more prominent as she scanned me dramatically.
“You were with the biker hottie, weren’t you? Why haven’t I met him?”
“Oh, you will in time. He asked the same thing about you. He wants to see you. I told him next time you can meet.” The dreamy smile couldn't be wiped off my face, and I felt like I could just drift on out of the classroom. Mrs. Sanderson, a redheaded middle-aged woman with curly hair said:
“You’ll notice you each have two slides in front of you. I simply want you to describe what you see and tell the class. One is blood plasma and the other is bacteria. Your turn.” She flipped over a whiteboard and the squeak of her blue marker filled the room. I squinted my eye through the microscopic lenses in front of me and drew back. I was looking at the bacteria. An orange ring of intricate circles joined together and a mustard yellow ring on the inside with a purple blob in the middle. Some were a sickly shade of green. When you looked at the liquid on the glass itself, it just looked like a blob.
“Check that out. It’s amazing,” I said, pointing.
“Lemme see. Lemme see.” I stepped aside and let Shauna take a peek. “That’s crazy. I don’t know what it is but I hope I never get it,” she said loudly.
Mrs. Sanderson laughed, along with a couple of others in the class.
“I mean, am I wrong, guys, come on, right?” She shrugged her shoulders and made a face like the Cookie Monster from Sesame Street.
“You’re not wrong. Funny you should mention you hope you never catch it…because what you’re looking at is influenza.”
The whole class gasped, including me.
No way!
That’s crazy!
Ewww.
The class ended up being a really interesting two hours and we received an assignment on identifying clusters and different types of blood plasmas for our trouble.
“I’m glad to get out of that lab. I always feel like I’m trapped when I’m in there,” I said.
Class was done for the day and I was heading home. Huge puffy clouds crossed the Cali sky and it looked as if she was about to unleash her tears on us.
“Girl, I’m not trying to get wet. I’m about to run to the car right now. You need a ride home right?”
“Yup. I do,” I said hesitantly. Shauna took off her jacket and put it over our heads like a blanket as we skittered off. I loved listening to the patter of rain falling. Students ran past us. Looked like they forgot their umbrellas too. I wasn’t in a hurry to get back home, but it was inevitable. I had a real estate pamphlet in my bag that I’d picked up. I planned to make good on the promise I’d made to myself. I wanted to move out of the house. I was starting to feel stifled.
A break in the weather and a peek-a-boo from the sun let me know it was just a passing Cali shower. Shauna and I walked with her to her car. Mainly, I was dreading getting home to an onslaught from Palo. He’d been looking at me strangely ever since the Santa Cruz ride. Shauna and I were both silent most of the way. We’d talked enough in class. She dropped me right at my door.
“Okay, girl. I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said giving me a quick hug.
“Thanks Shauna. Don’t study too hard,” I told her with a smile.
“I won’t. I’m taking a break. My brain’s fried,” she replied in a tired voice.
I walked in the door and headed to the kitchen. I could hear Palo talking in the den. The door was cracked and I saw a shadow of his bald head. He was tapping something on the desk.
“What did you do? Are they gone now?” Palo asked in an exasperated tone. I flattened myself against the wall so I could hear what he was saying and who he was talking to. “You don’t know what happened to them? I told you to scare them enough to get rid of them. Now we got a situation, right? I can’t take the chapter forward if we have this situation.” The daggers of anger were sharply directed to the person at the other end of the line. “I got to go check out this Diego guy.” I felt my chest rise and fall from anxiety. Why the hell was he talking about Diego? “He needs a warning. I’m about to go find out. I know my sister, she gave up too quickly. She’ll find a way to see him.”
I wrinkled up my nose in disgust. Another vote for leaving my brother’s house. I didn’t want him tracking my whereabouts. I tiptoed on the balls of my feet to the kitchen and picked out some cheese and crackers from the pantry. A red wine was sitting on the counter and I poured myself a glass. It would help while I studied bacterias. I made myself the plate and headed to my room. I wanted to warn Diego about my brother. If he wanted something, he would be ruthless enough to go after it. I texted him as soon as I sat my evening snack down on my desk.
“Heads up my brother might pop up to talk to you. I overheard.”
The phone vibrated with a blue screen, Diego was calling me.
“Hey, what the hell?” His exasperated tone made me nervous. “I thought he didn't know about us?”
