Chapter Four: New Pathways
Delphia
He came in again to collect his keys and I got the chance to admire his thick, powerful legs as they crossed the length of the tiled gas station floor. I could watch him move all day. It was as if he’d been pulled from an action movie and was launched down here to the real world.
Closing my mouth was hard to do, because it nearly hung open every time I saw him.
I didn’t turn down his Wheelz invite, but I didn’t say yes either. From his full beard and overall ruggedness, I assumed he was a lot older than me. That might have been part of his appeal, honestly. I rubbed my hands over my arms. I felt like I needed some extra protection in my life.
Another sultry day in Holbeck as I stood behind the cash register, kicking myself for being vague about his request. I looked down at his number for a good few minutes, thinking it might self-destruct, but it just sat there, waiting for me to pick up the phone.
You have nothing to lose. He already invited you, he’s not going to reject you.
Biting my nails, I left the number on the counter and moved over to the coffee machine to clean up a minor spill, procrastinating. Then I returned to the counter. There were no customers, and early morning work had dissipated. Now there was just me and the pressure of wanting to make a call. I rang the number, hoping that it would go to voicemail. My head was swimming as I waited for him to answer the phone.
“Who is this?” he inquired in a level voice.
I had called from the work phone. I’d started being really careful ever since the death of my brother and wasn’t taking any chances with strangers. “Hi, this is Delphia.” Okay, I got the first part out. That was a good start.
“Hey! Nice to hear from you. How’s the gas station today? I don’t need to come down there and beat anybody up, do I?”
“Nope. I’m all good for now.”
“That’s good to hear. You thought some more about coming down to the club?” he asked me straight out.
I swallowed hard, but it was tough to shake the smile from on my face. “About that… I was thinking I would come down. Might be fun and I haven’t been out in a while.”
“See, there you go. Come on down and we can have some fun.”
The lightness in the way he asked made it easy for me to say yes. “Okay, I will.” A pausing hint in my voice showed that I was holding something back.
He picked up on it. “What?”
“I don’t know… I was wondering if you had a girlfriend or not. Not that it’s any of my business or anything.” I felt the blood pumping through my chest as I asked. Dang, the question felt like it had come from another person. I’d never been this forward with men in general.
“No girlfriend. I’m single. How about you?”
The solemnity in his voice let me know he was telling me the truth. Given, all I’d been through it was hard to see through smokescreens sometimes. “I-I don’t have a m-man,” I stuttered.
“Sounds like we are both single then.” He was clearly smiling into the phone.
I giggled at the obviousness of his statement. That’s all I wanted to ask. I didn’t want to take it any further. “Guess it does.”
I looked out the window to see a customer at the pump, knowing I would have to go soon. It never failed, this weird sequence of events at Holbeck Gas. One person came to the pump, then a whole influx of customers would flood the place. I kept going with my justifications, “I don’t want to come down there and step on any toes in case you weren’t a free man or something.” My way of clearing it up.
He saw through it. “It’s okay to ask. I wouldn’t invite you down to the club if I didn’t want to spend time with you.”
I could hear his smile through the phone as a wave of heat flushed along my cheeks. The conversation felt like it was meant to be. Words flowed so seamlessly between us. “Thank you.” There was a customer fast approaching the double doors. “By the way, when is the best day? I have a customer coming in right now.”
“Any day, but Wednesday is cool. You can come join in with the pool games if you want and there’ll be more Rebel Saints you can meet.”
“Wednesday it is,” I agreed before I could back out.
“Bye, Delphia. Take care of yourself.”
“I will.” If anything, that was one thing I was learning to do. I managed to get my own apartment by the time I was twenty. I’d always been this free spirit type of individual. My brother and I were like two peas in a pod. He liked his independence too. There wasn’t too much that I didn’t do without him.
“Hey sister, sister from the same mister, you wanna come see this new band down near the wharf? I’ll pick you up from work when you knock off.”