Wesward Eden by;Juaquin Batista

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WESTWARD EDEN

A Novel by

Joaquin Batista

Copyright 2003 Joaquin Batista

ISBN 1-59113-316-5

Published by Armando Gomez    

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Booklocker.com, Inc.

2003

Part Two

Bobby Sox & Lace

I didn't really know her at all. I remembered seeing her two years before, on the school playground during recess. Once when we passed each other in the hallway I caught her looking at me. It was a nice smile that curved up easily. Her bright indigo eyes smiled too. But that was the extent of it.

She had her downside. She was kept back a grade. A "problem" child, she was transferred to the opposite end of the school, the restricted area--where all "troubled" kids wound up. Soon I had forgotten her name.

Now she came up to me as I was walking home. If I hadn't known better I'd have thought she'd been waiting for me. She wore a dainty white sweater and a blue and white striped skirt. Her shoes were pretty, sparkling blue with frilly white bobby sox. The ribbon in her dark hair was also blue and white. She also wore gloves--white gloves.

"You're Marty Montmajour. Can I walk with you?" Her smile was better than ever. "I'm Emily Spinoza."

Emily--yeah, that was her name. I remembered it then. Despite her having called me by name I had to fight off the notion that she was talking to someone else. Involuntarily I looked behind me. I wasn't exactly what you'd call a "lover boy." Nor was I lucky enough to have a pretty girl like Emily single me out.

"Sure, Emily. Hi," I managed to respond. I didn't want to let on that I had forgotten her name. I wanted to appear cool. "What can I do for you, Emily?" Oh how stupid! How stupid could one get? She hadn't gotten dolled up just to ask me to help with her homework.

"I heard you're some special guy and I wanted to get to know you. Want to walk me home, Marty?" This was too good to be true. Was it so easy? Instantaneous girlfriend? Though she was pleasant enough to look at two years ago she now grown taller and had a fantastic neckline. Was I up to walking her home? Did I have any choice over walking home with a kid-version of Diane Baker?

Diane Baker had to be Mom's favorite actress. I mean, she dragged me along to see all those womanly movies like "Stolen Hours" and "The Best of Everything." Though I complained I found Baker very pretty, especially in the film preview of an upcoming movie, "Mirage," though I wasn't about to tell Mom that.

Soon Ross Road was dead ahead of us. I hadn't planned to walk anywhere near that area. Not just because it was in the opposite direction from where I lived but it led to "No Man's Land" for kids like me. Bookworms were "easily" squished on Ross Road. It depressed me to think that Emily lived there. I suggested we stop first at The Fountain for a soda. Along the sidewalk near the town hangout stood a high wooden fence--the kind that Tom Sawyer tackled with a ten-foot paintbrush. Above the fence leaned five kids whose main purpose in life was to stomp kids like me into the turf.

I recognized two of the five. Charlie Jacinto and his sidekick, Woody Palo. The other three I didn't know--or particularly want to.

"rale--get a load of what's walking our way! It's El Mocoso Marty Monkey-man-jerk, the Whiz Kid!" Charlie laughed. His buddies joined in. The catcalls and wolf whistles echoed to the back lot as they slapped their palms and hammered their fists on the fence boards. Emily obviously was appreciated. A twisted expression crossed Charlie's face. "rale, Marty--who's your white squeeze? She looks hurt--hurtin' for a real man!"

"I'm doing just fine, Charlie. And so are you--sitting on the sidelines where you belong." I knew my big mouth would cost me. I didn't care.

"Chale, Marty. Guess what--I'm gonna do a scientific experiment with you. Which is gonna bust open first? My knuckles or your face?" He dropped a leg over the fence.

Woody quickly pulled him back and whispered something loud enough for me to hear. "Charlie, you know better than that! Don't you remember? Marty is in tight with El Maldito!"  That magic name had worked prior miracles for me.

Charlie's eyes grew wide as doorknobs. First he looked at Woody, then at me, then back again at Woody. Instantly, all five slid behind the fence and Emily and I were left to ourselves once more.

Emily looked calmly at me. Charlie & Co.'s chest pounding hadn't disturbed her in the slightest. Something didn't quite add up here.

"It's getting awfully warm, Marty. Lets get some sodas. I know I picked the right boy to walk home with."

The Inscriptress

The strawberry frosty went down smoothly--just as advertised. But Emily's interest in me made me suspicious.

"Marty, I need to ask you a favor." She'd finished her drink before I did. From the hesitation in her voice I could tell she expected something more than just helping with her homework.

"I need you to take me to Monte Rio to meet up with my step-mom at the River's End trailer court."

Monte Rio? The tackiest town in Sonoma County? Just as I suspected. No homework!  I would have preferred that.

"Emily, there are cars and buses that can take you where you want to go easier than..." I stopped. Emily angrily knitted her brow. Not a good sign.

"I know that! Who do you think you ..." she clammed up. Did she worry that her cute little act was becoming too obvious?

"What I mean, Marty," her cloying sweetness returned, "... is that I can't be seen on the bus--especially by my Dad's friends. To be honest with you, Marty, I'm running away from him to meet up with my step-mom."

"Your step-mom is not living with you?"

"Dad divorced Mom--kicked her out." The bitterness in her tone was genuine. "I want to be with her, not with him. I called her one night and said I wanted out and why. So we cooked up a plan. We figured once I got to her place we'd split from Sonoma County and get as far away as possible."

"Won't your dad head straight to her place once he notices you're missing?"

"Nope. Dad thinks Mom's living in Guerneville, not at the River's End Trailer Court in Monte Rio. When he start looking for me he'll be running in circles, following one dead lead after another. Mom and I'll be home free--elsewhere."

I rose out of the chair. "Running away is one thing but my helping you is even worse--for me, that is."

Emily gently touched my wrist with her gloved hand, pleading for support. "Marty, this isn't a game I'm playing. I have to leave. Y'see, my Dad beats on me. I can't take it anymore." Her eyes moistened.

"You can go to the school counselor or the police..."

"And they'll believe me, right! They know I'm nothing but a troublemaker--a problem child."

All of this was too fantastic, too sudden.