Victoria elbowed my side.
Over the past few weeks, the afternoons and weekends that Victoria worked at the garage were the highlights of my days. I’d made it a point of ignoring her after I started working here, but I still tracked her presence. Somehow, she became prettier every time I looked in her direction, and I tried like hell to reason it away as a silly crush due to loneliness. When she’d offered to read my comic book, I’d planned to tell her no, but an all too eageryeshad fallen from my lips.
My comic was forme. It wasn’t as if I had the means or money to do anything with it, and what I was sketching was personal. It was my tale of avenging my own life and making restitution to all the people I’d hurt. The important ones had forgiven me, but I carried that burden around anyway. I didn’t mind, though. The burden made me better, both in jail and when I’d gotten out.
Sharing it with her was like cutting myself open and showing her my insides, but every time I drew a new page, I couldn’t wait to show her. Her eyes would dance, and she’d get into the story and help me plan the next part. It was infectious, and I wanted more of it. I wanted more ofher, even though I couldn’t have it.
We’d plot over text and sometimes over the phone, the most recent call lasting well into the early hours of the morning. Victoria even found a website with tutorials on how to create a real comic book. I was high on how much she believed in me, and that only deepened the shame of my past.
“Not a friend maybe but at least someone to help him out sometimes. It’s supposed to be dark, and I love that, but having someone back him up gives the story a little hope. No one is darker than Batman, and even he had an ally from time to time.” She lifted an eyebrow, pursing those full lips that haunted me as much as her gorgeous eyes. “Maybe he has a superpower that becomes useful later on.”
A laugh slipped out of me at her excitement. Why she was wasting her time with me? She was a sophomore at New York University, on partial scholarship, yet she was as anxious to see my new pages as I was to draw them for her.
I didn’t think she’d stop speaking to me when she found out where I was before Falco’s, but instead of that sparkle in her emerald gaze, I was afraid of seeing pity or worse, disgust.
“It all comes back to Batman with you. I never met a girl who knew comics this well. You’re something else, Falco.” I shook my head and jotted down “add a friend” to the top of the page in pencil, not that I could forget anything she said. Later, in my apartment, I played our time together over in my head, reasoning it was for the sake of plotting my comic. But instead, I was thinking about her lips and the stolen glimpses of her perfect body I’d take when she was reading.
“When you’re a lonely only child, you have time to do plenty of reading and writing.” She shrugged, a sad smile pulling at her lips.
“I thought you said you had a brother and a sister other than Chris.”
Josh’s eight-year-old son came by the shop sometimes and cracked me up. His arms were full of fake tattoos, and he trailed his father all around the garage. I couldn’t remember ever following my father anywhere since he was never around long enough.
“I do, but they’re a little younger than Chris. For a long time, it was just my mom and me until I met my father.”
“Until youmetJosh?” I narrowed my eyes at her.
She laughed, nodding slowly. “It’s an unusual story, let’s put it that way.”
“You could tell me if you want.”
She lifted a reluctant shoulder.
“Until I was eight years old, I only had my mother. We had no other family. No grandparents, aunts, or uncles. When my mom wound up pregnant by a guy she’d only known for a night, her mother threw her out and never wanted to see her or the baby. We lived in a tiny apartment, and I spent most of my nights with babysitters while she worked three or four different waitressing jobs at a time. We had a roof over our heads and food, but not much else. You know how kids always want more.”
I nodded, because I sure as shit knew that. You don’t know how valuable basics like food and shelter are until you lose them. Wanting more had cost me everything.
“We literally ran into my dad one day, and he saw my weird eyes and knew I was his. He had to fight my mother to be in my life. It was tough for a while being in the middle of all of that but …” She sucked in a breath and trailed off. “I’m glad he won. He’s the best.”
“He is,” I agreed, hoping she’d continue.
“Anyway, I couldn’t have friends come over because our apartment was tiny and not in the greatest of areas. I’d hardly see my mother because she was working so much, and on late nights, she’d cry when she didn’t think I saw. Probably out of exhaustion.” She sighed before she darted her eyes around the room.
“So, I always pretended I was happy and that I didn’t care that no one invited me over to play, or that other kids would come to school on Monday blabbing all about the great things they did over the weekend that we couldn’t afford.”
She put down the pen she was fiddling with. “Books, writing, and comics were my escape. My way of doing everything I wanted to do but couldn’t in real life. I grew up with a lot of love. Please don’t feel sorry for me or anything. In fact, both sides of my family can sometimes drive me a little crazy trying to make up for what I missed out on back then.”
I laughed at her exaggerated eye roll.
“But I suppose that stuck with me. I still like escaping to fictional places or creating my own.” A shy smile crossed her lips. “Probably sounds ridiculous for me to say. Guys usually think I’m weird once I admit my comic book addiction.”
“You’re absolutely not weird.” Her eyes found mine, and I yearned to pull her into my arms and tell her how amazing she really was, but I couldn’t. This was as far as we could go, and even this was too close.
She shook her head with a chuckle. “I’m sure even Howie at Comic Cave thinks I’m strange when he sells me my regular haul.”
“First of all,” I began, allowing myself to get just a centimeter closer. “I’ve known Howie for a long time. If anything, he’s confused that a beautiful girl loves comics so much. You aren’t his usual customer.”
It wasn’t until her cheeks flushed red that I realized what I’d said.
