“Quill, I’m sorry about what happened yesterday. I know you’re fighting a difficult battle, and I want to help you,” Liz finally spoke after fifteen minutes.
Aquilla only smiled over at her with a sad weak smile.
“What do you want, Quill? How can I help?” Liz asked, sincerely.
“Find Julius for me,” Aquilla answered in a monotonous voice, staring back to the guardrail along the highway.
Liz didn’t speak. She didn’t know what to say. She drove in silence until Aquilla finally spoke an hour later.
“How can you be okay with her doing your husband?” she asked, turning to her mother with constricted eyes.
“Quill, he’s not my husband. We’ve been divorced for over 12 years. I’m fine with him seeing Seri.”
“Her name’s Sarah,” Aquilla proclaimed.
“I’m actually glad that he is dating someone. He hasn’t really been in a relationship since we divorced,” Liz stated, ignoring her remark about Seri. She knew she was just angry with her. “And I kind of like Seri. I think she is capable of pulling the need to work out of him. She’s a lot more exciting, I’m sure, than I ever was.”
“She’s not who you think she is. She’s done things,” Aquilla assured her.
“Like what?”
Aquilla was so close to telling her about their little sexual encounter, her smoking weed with her, and revealing her secret about fucking men for her own pleasure. She didn’t. She was still a Chavez even if she was furious with her. She would be loyal because she said she would.
“Never mind,” Aquilla deflated. “Can I see Patch tonight?”
Liz took a deep breath. She didn’t like it. She didn’t like it one bit. “Yes, Quill.”
“Where’s Reese?” Quill wanted to know when she opened the door to the empty house.
“With Lil, I dropped her there when you called for me to come and get you.”
“She could have come. I’m not mad at her. I’m not mad at anyone. I just, I don’t know. I overreacted,” she admitted.
Liz smiled at her. “I’m glad you called me,” she said, wanting to walk to her and give her a hug. She didn’t. She knew Quill didn’t work that way and refrained.
“I’m going to take a shower,” Quill informed and walked away.
She sat on her bed and called Patch.
“I thought you were going to call me last night?” he answered.
“I got busy. I’m back. Pick me up before the race.”
“That was a quick trip. I thought you were going to be gone for a couple of days.”
“Yeah well, I’m back. You picking me up or what? I need to grab a shower.”
“Just text me when you’re ready. I’m already at the track. I’ll come get you.”
“Okay. See you in a little while.”
“Quill! I’m going to run after your sister. I’ll be back in a few minutes,” Liz called upstairs.
“Okay!” she called back.
Aquilla showered, blow dried her hair, added makeup and lip gloss and dressed in black skinny jeans, Black boots with big silver buckles and a white shirt on top of a red camisole. She looked hot without looking too over dressed for the tracks. The boots helped.
“I’ll see ya later,” Quill told her mother after texting Patch.
“Are you seriously letting her go out after yesterday?” Reese yelled. “I would be grounded for a month for acting like that.”
“Hey, Reese,” Quill said as Liz held her breath waiting for the storm. “I am sorry about all of that. I thought a lot about it last night after I went to bed. I’ve never thought about you in all of this mess. I’m sure me coming here has had a major impact on your life as well. I shouldn’t have gone off on you like I did, and if you ever want to talk about it, I’m here. I’ve learned some really stupid tricks from Monica these past few weeks,” she teased with a crooked grin.
Liz breathed a sigh of relief, settling the wheeze in her lungs.
“Thanks.” Reese replied, a little taken aback. She wasn’t expecting an apology.
“What time will you be home, Quill?” Liz asked.
“Is there a certain time you prefer I be home?” she asked.
Liz was shocked. “Midnight?”
“What? I have to be home by ten; that’s not fair,” Lil moaned.
“You’re still 15. You’re curfew is ten. We’ll rehash that in about three more years. I thought you wanted pizza,” Liz said, happy. She really felt happy for the first time in weeks that night.
“I can do midnight. See ya later,” Quill called as she saw the white truck pull into the drive.
“You expect me to take you in the pits looking like that?” Patch asked as he walked around to open the door for Quill.
“Why? Am I overdressed?”
“Yeah, I have a sweatshirt you can throw over you, and you look way too hot for me to have to pass you every lap. I’ll lose for sure,” he teased, waved at her mother standing at the door and moved behind the wheel. He was so happy that Quill didn’t make him go to the door like she had said he had to do. He didn’t do well meeting parents.
Quill stood close to Patch as they watched the first couple of races from the pits. She leaned into his front and he wrapped his arms around her, taking in her scent and the softness of her blonde hair. Aquilla was feeling overheated and didn’t want to watch the race anymore. She secretly wished Patch’s car would break down or something.
“What do you want to do now?” Patch asked as he drove them from the track toward the main road.
“I have two hours before I have to be home, but I kind of have a confession,” she announced, moving to the middle of the bench seat.
“You do?” Patch asked, feeling overly sensitive to her being so close to him.
“Yeah, it was my fault you blew a head gasket in the second lap.”
He laughed. “It was, eh?”
“Yeah, I was secretly wishing you would break down so that we could get out of there.”
“I knew you were trouble,” he teased. “Do you want to go to my place for a while?”
“Yes,” she rasped in a low tone as her hand met the inside of his leg.
“Quill, you’re still only 17,” Patch reminded her.
“I told you, Quill’s 18. Shelby Rimmer is 17. Do you really care? Are you going to turn down a night of fucking with me because of a few months?”
“Girl, why you gotta talk like that? Were you abused when you were abducted?”
Aquilla snickered. “You think because I like to fuck it automatically makes me a product of a sex slave or something?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never met anyone like you. Not even the girls my age are as blunt about it as you are. I’m kind of afraid of you.”
Quill moved close to him and kissed just in front of his ear. “You should be afraid,” she whispered hot words. “And…No, I was a virgin up until a few months ago.
Patch couldn’t get home fast enough. He had been sporting a hard on for three hours. He would be afraid. He didn’t mind at all.
He held her hand and fumbled with the keys, trying to get the damn thing to go in the hole. She laughed at him.
“It’s not funny. You’ve got me so fucking flustered, I can’t find the hole.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you find the hole.”
“You’re fucking evil. I think I’m in love with you.”
“No you’re not. You’re in lust with me. I’ll take care of that too,” she said as the door finally popped open.
“I’ve got to grab a shower. You want something to drink?”
“Sure.”
“I have milk and beer,” he smiled an apologetic smile.
“Beer.”
“Your mother will smell it on you,” he worried.
“Will you stop worrying about my mother? We don’t have that kind of relationship.”