Chapter 8

Chapter 8

         Three years had seemed to pass rather quickly for Troy too. He had moved up quickly in his job; from dock worker to yard jockey to driver. He had a decent local route that kept him at home at night and off every Sunday and Monday. He had spent time and money on his Chevelle and had eventually entered it into some shows; winning his class in the most recent.

         His biggest accomplishment so far though, had been the purchase of a condo on Great Northern Blvd., near the mall in North Olmsted. He had done that just over two years ago and it was definitely a bachelor pad, but it was his. Riley hung out there quite a bit since he and Emily had broken up. That had taken everyone by surprise. It had been assumed that they would marry someday. Riley said he had gotten cold feet though, and felt like they should date around a little, since they'd been together since the 10th grade. Troy didn't think Riley was serious about dating someone else though. So far, there'd been something wrong with every girl he'd taken out. It seemed that no one could measure up to Emily. Troy figured it wouldn't be long before they were back together.

         Troy himself had dated pretty regularly, but never tied himself down to one particular girl. He always made sure that they understood that he was not looking for an exclusive relationship. Some he had dated only once or twice and a few he had taken out steadily over the last three years. There were two in particular right now, that he was seeing regularly; one a little more frequently than the other. Her name was Kayla and Troy enjoyed her company. She was a lot of fun to hang out with, and didn't seem to mind that Troy saw girls other than her. The other girl was Jordan. Troy really only called her when Kayla wasn't available, and he sensed that Jordan knew that and resented it. She'd been calling less and less lately. Actually, he hadn't talked to her at all for almost two months.

         Troy had had a girl ask him once what it was he found so scary about commitment. He had basically blown her off and given that macho response that he wasn't afraid of it, just didn't want to be tied down. He had to admit though, at least to himself, that her question had made him think about it. He would never have told anyone, but his biggest fear was that he wouldn't know how to treat a girl right. After all, the only real example he'd ever had was his Father, and he knew it was not a good example. He knew he had his Father's temper and at times had to work very hard at not letting it become physical. His greatest fear was of becoming his Father and that seemed to trickle down to the rest of his relationships. Besides his Mother, Riley was the only person Troy was close to.

         He thought that maybe there had once been a girl who, in a matter of hours, had come close to getting inside his soul, but he'd never had the chance to find out. For all he knew, she was long gone; probably somewhere in North Carolina. And even if she had stuck around, she was way too young. Regardless of what she'd said, he had known better. Troy still thought about her from time to time and would still catch himself looking at the footbridge that stretched across I-480; the place where he had found her. He had at least found out where it was. He and Riley had decided to walk I-480 one night just before the new road had opened, some two and a half years ago now. They had discovered that it was behind Spruce Elementary School, in a subdivision called Park Ridge in North Olmsted. They had walked through the neighborhood but had no way of knowing if she even lived there. He'd had no way of knowing how close he had come to finding her. He'd walked right past her house.

         That had been two and a half years ago though, and the memory had faded with time. His Mother had moved on with her life as well. She had sold the trailer and moved to a small house in Boston Hts, about an hour south of Cleveland. She was even beginning to date again. She had a new full-time job as a secretary for a small, family run business near her home, and was happier than Troy had ever seen her.

         So Troy was feeling good and thinking that life was beginning to look up. He had no way of knowing that in just a few short hours, his heart would again be turned upside down.

         The phone rang as Troy finished getting dressed. It was Riley.

         "You decide to go?" Riley asked.

         "Yeah, I guess so," Troy replied.

         "Come on...it'll be fun. Remember how much fun we used to have a few years ago?"

         "Yeah Riley...I do. Back when we were dumb kids and all we could think about was how to get laid," Troy said, smiling in spite of himself.

         "Well at least we don't have to guess about that anymore...or at least you don't anyway," Riley said.

         "You know damn well Kayla and I aren't like that. That causes too many problems. Next thing you know, they're telling you they love you or some shit like that."

         "Right," Riley said sarcastically. "This is ole' Riley you're talkin' to here. You'll never convince me that you're Mr. Innocent."

         "Whatever Riley. I'll see you up there around seven. Meet us at the clubhouse by the ballfields," Troy said.

         "Okey dokey smokey. See ya."

         Troy hung up and finished dressing, not bothering to dress up. Levi's and a black t-shirt, his work boots and a baseball cap were his standard dress code. He really didn't care if people thought he was a redneck. He just couldn't imagine wearing a pair of pants down around his knees, with his butt and boxers hanging out.

         He left his condo, jumped in his truck, popped in a Kenny Chesney CD and roared out of the parking lot. Kayla lived in Olmsted Falls, so he figured he had just enough time to get to her house and back to the park by seven.

         Pulling into her driveway, he honked the horn, knowing it would royally tick off her Dad, and not caring. Kayla came bouncing out the door several minutes later. She was perpetually bouncing, very perky, and not really Troy's type. But she was fun. She climbed into the truck, flipped up the console and slid over next to him, planting a kiss on his cheek.

         "Hiya cowboy...mmmm...you smell good tonight," she said cheerily.

         Troy tipped his hat and said,

         "Why thank ya' ma'am. Had my weekly bath today, ya' know..." with a mock southern accent.

         "So...what's this Homecoming thing all about?" she asked.

         "It's basically a carnival, and then tomorrow they'll have a parade," he explained.

         She clapped her hands excitedly.

         "Oh goody...I love carnivals," she said, giggling like a school girl.

         Troy drove on, not getting hardly a word in edgewise and not exactly ignoring her, but not really listening either. She prattled on and on, never noticing that he rarely responded with more than a grunt or a chuckle.

         When they arrived at the park, it took them a few minutes to find a parking spot. They had to park all the way at the back of the park by the garbage dump, next to the place where they held 'Safety Town' for the little kids every year. They walked, hand in hand, up to the clubhouse and found Riley waiting on them, a tiny blonde girl hanging all over him. He walked up to Riley and shook his hand.

         "Wassup my man?" Riley asked.

         "Nothin' much. Been hanging around schoolyards again?" Troy teased, referring to the petite blonde that was with Riley.

         "Now Troy, let's try to be nice. This is Elizabeth. She is perfectly legal and perfectly able," Riley said with a large grin.

         "I'm sure she is..." Troy responded, giving the blonde a sly look.

         "Hey, a boy's gotta do what a boy's gotta do," Riley countered.

         "I understand," Troy replied, and they all laughed, walking off in the direction of the carnival, which was spread out over the area where kids normally played football and baseball.

         Kayla and Elizabeth seemed to hit it off pretty well and were enjoying shopping at the various vendor's booths that were set up all over the place. Troy and Riley in the meantime, occupied themselves with what seemed like the hundreds of girls that were all over the place. There were belly buttons, tattoos and various body piercings to be seen everywhere they looked. And of course, Troy endured more than his fair share of flirting and giggling girls. Riley would never cease to be amazed at how Troy just seemed to be a magnet for women. They just flocked to him. Of course, he figured that it didn't hurt that Troy was six foot four, a very solid 250 pounds, had hair as black as coal, and eyes the color of blue ice. Riley knew though, that there was something else too; something that he himself, obviously did not possess.

         They walked around for a while, rode a couple of rides and played a few games. Troy won Kayla a stuffed bear by hitting balloons with darts, and then broke down and bought her a pair of turquoise and silver earrings. He also bought his Mother a Native American bracelet, turquoise and silver as well. She rarely spent any money on herself and Troy loved to see her smile. He was paying for the jewelry when Riley appeared at his side.

         "Hey, you gotta see this man. Come here," he said, pulling on Troy's arm.

         "Okay, okay. Down boy. I'm sure she's too young for you anyway..."

         "No, no...it's not that! Some chick is going OFF on this dude. She is WAY pissed off. You gotta see this!" he said excitedly.

         Troy followed Riley to where a crowd had gathered, right next to the baseball pitch game. Riley was not nearly as tall as Troy and had to elbow his way through the crowd toward the front in order to see. But Troy had a pretty good view from where he stood at the edge of the crowd. Kayla was hanging onto his hand, trying to jump up to where she could see. They arrived just in time to hear the end of the girl's tirade...

         "...won't save a dance for you at the Prom. Get the hell away from me and don't ever speak to me again," was what they heard.

         Something about the girl's voice made Troy stop in his tracks but he couldn't quite place what it was. He could see the girl from the back but didn't recognize her. That is, until she turned around. She stooped down, picked up a baseball and with a look of complete fury, hurled it at the target. Suddenly, it hit him full force. All at once he understood why the angry voice had stopped him in his tracks. He knew that voice. He knew the angry set in her jaw and the flash of fury in her eyes; her blue-green eyes. It was her. The girl from under the bridge. And for the very first time since he'd discovered girls, his heart skipped a beat, and then went into triple time.

         She was obviously there with a friend and Troy was speechless and rooted to the spot by indecision. Should he go after her? What about Kayla? He didn't necessarily want to hurt her, but he couldn't afford to let Kristen get away again. Not after three years of wondering. He was oblivious to everything around him until Riley came over to him, snapping his fingers in Troy's face.

         "Yo...Troy...what's up man? You look like you just saw a ghost."

         Troy only stood there, not moving.

         "Troy...earth to Troy...you in there? What's wrong with you man?" Riley said, waving his hand in Troy's face. The girl had started to walk off with her friend. Troy had to think quickly.

         "Kayla, would you excuse us for a few minutes? I need to go find a porta-john. Riley, come with me," he said authoritatively. Riley was intrigued now. Something was up.

         "Elizabeth, keep Kayla company for just a minute. I'll be right back, I promise," Riley said, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek.

         They left the girls standing there, looking bewildered.

         "Troy, what's up with you?" Riley asked, trying to keep up.

         "It's her," Troy said, keeping his eyes on the girl, but staying back far enough where he wouldn't be seen until he wanted to be seen.

         "Who? What are you talking about?" Riley asked, totally confused. Then he noticed the far off look in Troy's eyes and realized he had seen that look before; three years ago.

         "Oh damn. Tell me it's not the girl from I-480...the elusive runaway, not a runaway, girl," he said. But he'd already figured it out.

         "Shit," Riley muttered under his breath.

         The two girls they were following had stopped at a french fry stand and were waiting in line. Troy didn't know exactly how to handle this. He wanted so badly just to approach her, but he was unsure if she would remember him. His head was spinning with questions. Had she not gone through with it that night? Had she been this close by all along?

         "What are you gonna do?" Riley asked.

         "I'm not sure. But I DO know that she's not getting away from me this time."

         He stood back and watched her for a while, contemplating whether or not to approach. He thought it might be better if she could see him first, so he could act like he'd not seen her, and gauge her reaction. He quickly relayed his plan to Riley.

         "Let me get this straight," Riley said. "You want me to stand off to the side while you walk by, and see if she acts like she recognized you?" Riley confirmed.

         "That's right."

         "Man, you're nuts. Certifiable," Riley said, but he was already walking off into the crowd.

         Troy stood watching for another moment, and then started in the direction of the girls. He intended to walk by, maybe catch her eye, and then keep on walking as if he hadn't recognized her.

         He walked around behind the french fry stand, so he would be facing toward her when he emerged into the light. He lit a cigarette, not realizing that he was nervous, and then walked toward the line of customers. He watched the two girls carefully, waiting to see if they would glance his way, and walking slow enough to give them the time to do so. At least they were toward the end of a fairly long line. As he approached from their front, first the girl he didn't know turned and looked right at him. He made sure to make eye contact and picked up on the slight elbow jab she sent Kristen, followed by some furtive whispering. He had been noticed. She was turning to look at him. His heart beat faster, threatening to come right out of his chest. Would she remember?