Chapter 5

"Hey there, beautiful," Justin winked at Alison as she climbed up into his truck. "What’s going on besides you?"

Alison blushed at his words, just like he knew she would. They’d spoken on the phone that morning and the entire time had been spent with him teasing her, talking about how pretty she was and how lucky he was to have found her in her little black dress that night. Alison made him promise he wouldn’t do it all day so she blushed and gave him a stern look, which was hilarious to him.

"Justin! You promised not to … do that! Stop it!" Although he was right – she did look beautiful with her glossy brown hair hanging down her back in waves and her heart-shaped face with the big, brown eyes staring at him through her thick lashes.

"You’re right; I’m sorry, baby," he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. "What the hell is in that backpack? It looks so heavy that I’m surprised you can carry it."

Alison had brought along all of her homework and books, because as much as she wanted to spend time with Justin, she really had to study, too. "It’s my homework; I told my parents I was studying with a friend all day and that I might be out really late so I have to bring them. Besides, I absolutely have to study at some point today. There’s no way I can get all this done with church tomorrow."

Justin was surprised to hear that she went to church. Well, he was but he wasn’t. Kids her age usually didn’t go, but her family seemed so close-knit that he supposed they all went. He wouldn’t want to be around Samantha when she had to get up on those early mornings; he thought to himself and laughed.

"What’s so funny?" Alison asked as she settled in, unzipping her coat.

Justin laughed again. "The thought of Sam getting up to go to church after she’s partied all night long. She must be a total bitch on those mornings, right?"

Alison laughed with him. "Oh my God! If you could only see … every Sunday my dad comes in our room yelling at her, forbidding her to go out the following weekend if she doesn’t get her butt up. It’s so funny."

"Your family seems really close," Justin commented as he drove gown a major street that would get him to his house quicker.

Alison nodded. "We are. Closer than most of our friends’ families. Sam resents it sometimes but I love it. I told you, I watch basketball with my dad, help my mom cook or do her arts and crafts … whatever they want to do. I like being around them; they make me feel good." She thought for a moment. "What about you and your family?"

Justin tilted his head and rubbed the top of his bristly head as he thought her question over. "Close? Yeah, we’re close. My parents are really busy with different activities but I talk to my older brother all the time, a couple times a day, in fact. And I talk to my parents at least every other day. We run into each other in the house at least every other day," he said slowly.

The house, Alison thought. His other house. "Can I see it? I mean, the house where you live. With your family or whatever." She hoped she wasn’t being too pushy but he’d showed her his secret lair, why wouldn’t he show her his regular house?

He shrugged. "I guess so. I was gonna go by there later today anyway to pick some shit up; we can go now." He made a right-hand turn and started off in another direction, then got on the highway. "It’s not even noon yet so we might see my parents."

"Is it far?" Alison rarely got on the highway for anything. She, Sam and her parents were cocooned in their safe, little world, almost confined to the area.

Justin shook his head no and the two enjoyed the rest of the ride, talking about Alison’s homework and how Justin promised he would ‘help’ her with it, despite her protestations. She knew if he helped her at all, her mind would go haywire and she’d never get anything done. Finally, they got off the beltway and after a few turns, were in an affluent, posh-looking neighborhood. The houses were so far back that you couldn’t even see most of them and Alison sat, open-mouthed as she gazed at the rolling lawns they passed.

"Here we are," Justin announced as they turned down what looked like an empty dirt road with trees overhanging. After a few seconds, the trees opened up and they drove a few more feet to a gate, which had an electronic keypad on it. Justin wound his window down and pushed several buttons and the gates opened to reveal a long, winding road on a hill. They followed the road for about a quarter of a mile before they even saw the house, which was a gorgeous Spanish house, covered with stucco with a three-car garage attached to it. They drove up onto the circular driveway and Justin hopped out, then walked around to open Alison’s door. She’d gotten so used to him opening doors for her in such a short time that she didn’t even bother to make a move until he walked around.

"C’mon in, don’t be nervous," he told her when he took her hand and found it a little sweaty. "I don’t think anybody’s home, anyway." They walked inside to paradise, Alison thought.

The living room was on the left and was completely filled with beautiful glass figurines and white carpeting, to the left was the family room, with comfortable couches and chairs and a huge, plasma screen television just like the ones Justin had in his apartment. "Wow," Alison breathed, looking around. "This is gorgeous." She could understand Justin wanting privacy, hence the apartment, but why would anyone want to give up this luxury for a small place like he had? It was filled with the latest toys and everything, but this place … all she could say was wow. He showed her the kitchen, and then they cut through the family room to a back room that had an indoor pool in it and huge skylights over the water.

"Do you ever use it?" she asked, still completely taken in by all this luxury. 

He shrugged. "Sometimes. When it’s hot or something. But it’s heated year-round, so we can use it in the winter, too."

Next was upstairs, where they traveled past several bedrooms on the right hand side of the staircase. He stopped in front of a door and swung it open. "Welcome to my humble abode," he said and she entered a small to mid-size room that belied the size of the entire house. It had a full-size bed in it with a blue comforter on it, a dresser and an open closet with no door; the shelves and hook were just built into the wall.

And sneakers.

There were sneaker boxes in the closet, stuffed full. There were sneaker boxes lined up outside of the closet. There were even sneaker boxes poking out from underneath the bed.

"You’re insane, do you know that?" she asked him. "Why do you have all of these shoes? Do you have a different pair for, like, each outfit?"

He laughed. "I guess. I told you they were my quirk, didn’t I?" She nodded but was still overwhelmed.

"You can’t even fit anything else into this room! The boxes are everywhere," she said as she turned to look around at some more boxes and almost tripped over one. Justin easily caught her from behind.

"Easy there," he whispered in her ear and goose bumps spread onto her skin. Only he could do that with just a touch; and his warm breath in he ear wasn’t helping matters any. She gathered herself together as he pulled her back against him in an embrace. "So you’ve finally seen all there is to know about me. Any questions?"

"Ahh … no," she stammered, her temperature rising at being so close to him. He smelled so good … she turned around in his embrace and found herself almost face to face with him. She took a deep breath … his eyes were boring into hers and his lips were so very close … a kiss was inevitable. And when it finally came, she welcomed it, opening her mouth with his and kissing him fully for a moment. Then she pulled away, remembering where she was. "Oh! Someone might walk by," she said, stepping back and smoothing down her hair.

"Nobody’s home, girl," he reminded her but didn’t press her. "I forgot one of my cell phones, that’s why I needed to swing by here anyway." He reached over to his nightstand, pocketed the phone and grabbed her hand. "C’mon, let’s get out of here."

*~*

"Are you finished yet?" Justin walked into what was now Alison’s room in his apartment downtown. She was lying in her genie space, surrounded by books and papers."

She laughed. “It’s only been an hour, Justin! I have hours of work to do … don’t you have anything to do?"

He climbed into the space and moved her books so that he was sitting beside her. "Hang out with you," he smoothed her hair and she closed her eyes. She loved how he touched her whenever he was around her. "Besides … I got something to show you. Come out in the living room.

"I have so much to do; can’t it wait a little bit?" She wondered what his surprise was but he had a surprise for her every time he saw her and she was feeling overwhelmed.

He shook his head. "I promise, after I show you it, you can study for two whole hours uninterrupted. I promise I’ll leave you alone. Okay?"

How could she say no to that? Ali let him pull her to her feet and they ventured into the living room where she saw a garment bag and a shoebox on the floor. She eyes the box warily. "Is that a box of Air Jordan’s?"

Justin threw his head back and laughed. "Of course not! I just got you a little something to wear for when we go out to dinner tonight. Go on, open it." He gave her a little nudge.

She walked over and unzipped the garment bag. Inside was a corset-front dress with criss-cross skinny straps to hold the dress together in the back, with an ethereal fairy skirt that looked like it was floating. In the box was a pair of stiletto pumps, so high that Alison wasn’t sure she could walk in them.

"Oh my God, Justin!" she exclaimed, touching the dress as if it were made out of spun-gold.

"This is … it’s too much! You can’t keep doing this!"

"Do you like it?"

"I love it!"

He smiled, arms crossed. "Then why should I ever stop? You only deserve the best, Ali, and I’m going to make sure you get it. No one can stop me from that."

She shook her head. "What am I gonna do with you?"

"Just enjoy it, Ali. We’re going to dinner tonight and you’re gonna be the most beautiful person there. Let me show you off."

Still overwhelmed, Alison just shook her head, sitting in stunned silence on the couch. "Where did you come from? Why are you here with me?"

"I came from Memphis, baby. I’m here with you because … you’re my girl now. Aren’t you?"

Alison nodded slowly, still feeling out of place, almost in a fog. "You’re from Tennessee? You never told me that before," she told him, standing up and holding the black dress against her frame. "And how do you know this will fit? You don’t know my dress or shoe size."

"Sam does," he replied with a wink. "I can’t believe she kept it a secret; I owe that girl one. And yeah, my family’s from Memphis. We’ve been here almost ten years, though."

"I thought I detected an accent from you. Not a strong one but just a little something," Alison answered. "It’s cute."

Justin shook his head. "You know what’s cute? You … in that dress. I almost want you to try it on but I want to be surprised. So there’s your surprise and I’ll get mine later. You sure you like it?"

Alison carefully laid the dress down on the sofa and floated over to him. Giving him a soft kiss, she answered, "I adore it. I love the way you spoil me … even though you shouldn’t!"

"Don’t tell me I can’t spoil you. Tales away my fun," he said against her lips softly. "Seeing you happy makes me happy. You want me to be happy, don’t you?"

Alison shook her head, giving up this fight. "There’s no getting through to you, is there? I’m going back to finish studying so I can hurry and put that dress on. Is that all right with you?"

After stealing one last kiss, Justin nodded. "Go do your thang, baby. I’ll be around here doing something."

Alison went back and after a lot of trying, finally immersed herself in Pre-Calculus. Over an hour went by before Justin popped his head in the door. "Ali?"

"Yeah?"

"JC and a friend of mine are dropping by real quick. They shouldn’t stay long, but I wanted to let you know in case you hear voices," he informed her from the doorway.

"Okay … this is your house, Justin. You don’t have to tell me those kinds of things."

"Well, while you’re here, this is your house, too. I’m just being the polite, Southern boy my Momma taught me to be," he said in a teasing tone. Ali threw a pillow at him and he ducked. "Okay, okay, I’m leaving. You need anything?" She shook her head no and he disappeared.

Close to another hour later, Alison heard loud voices and got up from her study center. They weren’t arguing, they were mostly laughing so she thought it would be okay to say hello to JC again and possibly meet this new friend. She came down the staircase as loudly as she could, not wanting to startle them. Justin heard her and encouraged her to come downstairs.

"Ali! C’mere … I want you to meet Slo." Slo was a Black guy with a bandanna tied around his head. He was dressed in the newest basketball gear and had on a pair of Timberlands. He looked like a gang member if you asked Ali, but she smiled and held her hand out to shake. He looked surprised but shook it, throwing a "Wha’sup" her way. She nodded and said hi to JC, who was just as friendly as always.

"I’m glad you came down ‘cause I was on my way up to see you," Justin said. "I have to run out for a minute," he told her. "It won’t take long, but we have something to take care of. You gonna be all right by yourself?"

Alison nodded. "Sure. Just don’t forget dinner," she reminded him.

"I won’t forget," he replied, putting an arm around her. "In fact, why don’t you be ready when I come back? It won’t be later than six, okay?"

"Okay. I’ll be ready and waiting," she turned her face up for him to kiss. It just felt so natural between the two of them now.

Justin grabbed his keys and with a wink, disappeared out the door with Slo and JC. Ali pondered why they would be hanging out with such an obvious thug but figured he was just a friend who looked gangster. At any rate, it was none of her business. She went back upstairs and studied her heart out, waiting for the time to start getting ready.

She wanted to be perfect for Justin when he came back.