Lead Me Not. James B. Johnson
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what he said hit her. Peter wanted to talk to Daddy? That limp-wristed hippie couldn’t know about Daddy and Aloha, could he? He didn’t sound urgent or angry, so Denise forgot about it. Fatefully.
Aloha’s door was closed and Denise knocked lightly. Even though she was furious at the girl, she minded her manners.
“Yes?” was enough for Denise so she pushed the door open.
Even though the air-conditioner was on, Aloha’s window was wide open and a window fan was blowing air into the room.
A fleeting look of guilt raced across Aloha’s face. She closed a history book and left her finger in to mark her place. She was sitting cross-legged atop a small desk which was clean except for the history book and a framed picture of—Rudyard Kipling Six.
It stopped Denise in midstride. She recognized the photo. It was one of her father in his flight suit with the SIXGUN AIR logo alongside a Cessna 172 Skyhawk. It contributed to Denise forgetting about Peter’s comment.
“That’s one of our pictures,” Denise said. “Where’d you get it?”
“It followed me home,” said Aloha.
A rack of vests hung at the foot of the bed, the one on the end fishnet and see-through.
The room was spotless and Denise couldn’t smell the pot smoke in here. A couple of teddy bears and a stuffed tiger sat atop the chest of drawers. On the wall above the desk was tacked a print of an OV-10, one of the aircraft which Rudyard Six had flown in Vietnam.
“How do you explain the picture to your folks?” Denise was frankly curious.
Aloha shrugged. “I don’t. They seldom come in here and I hide it when I leave. So what?”
“I don’t know so what.” Now that she was here, Denise didn’t know how to go about this. “We got a problem.”
Aloha lifted those dark brows. “We?”
“We. You, me, and my father.” Her anger was returning.
“Sounds like you got a problem. Not me. Not Rudd.”
Lord, please help me in this time of trial and tribulation. I need Your strength and wisdom. And I’m sorry I used the word bitch in my mind before and please help me to not use it again though I surely feel like it. Denise sat on the neatly made bed.
“My father is smitten or something with you. I feel you are taking advantage of him.”
“I’m not and it’s mutual.”
“And you’re jailbait, Aloha. You’re lying through your teeth about your age and—”
Aloha put her book down. “Please leave. I don’t want to talk.”
“Don’t you understand?” Denise was desperate. She didn’t want to shout or threaten; that she knew would get her nowhere. “We’ve nosey neighbors. If anybody finds out about you and Daddy, he will go straight to jail and they’ll mail the key to Antarctica. And it’s wrong in the eyes of the Lord.”
Aloha looked upset. “I don’t want any trouble for Rudd.”
“Then stay away from him.”
Aloha’s face contorted. “I can’t.” Her voice was a hoarse whisper.
“Oh, dear sweet Jesus.”
“What I’m gonna do, Denise?” An age-old plea delivered in a plaintive voice.
Denise’s heart went out to her friend. Her anger evaporated immediately. “I don’t know, dear. I don’t. We could pray?”
Aloha shrugged. “God’s never helped me. Prayin’s no good.”
“Give it a chance. Jesus loves you.”
“Shit. How come He gave me parents that don’t care? I do whatever I want whenever I want. Big damn deal. I’ve been alone too long. My friends aren’t real deep friends; you’re the best. I don’t have any girl-friends, ‘cept you. That’s why I prefer boys to girls. All the girls hate me and they’re jealous of my looks.” She unconsciously tossed her hair. “Jesus doesn’t care if I’m lonely.”
Dear God, lookit You’ve done. Daddy’s been so lonely so long; Aloha’s been so lonely so long. This woman-child is a knockout and he’s handsome. Both are bright. Both are alike in their own ways. Both have physical desires and needs. Nature took its inevitable course. Dear Lord, why do You work in such mysterious ways?
She fell to her knees and steepled her hands. “Join me?”
“If it’ll make you feel better. But it doesn’t work for me.”
“Our Father, Who art in Heaven...,” Denise prayed. Through almost closed eyes, she watched Aloha watch her. Her heart went out to the young girl. For a brief moment, empathy flowed. Each shared a personal grief with which neither could deal. “...But deliver us from evil—”
Denise continued to pray, Aloha continued to watch—not detached, but not involved—looking down from her perch.
Denise shifted from her knees and sat on the floor with her back to the bed. “Well, that’s that. What’s next?”
“Ion’t know.”
“There’s a problem, we’ve got to solve it.”
Aloha sighed. “You have a problem. I am happier than I’ve been in a long time.”
“How old are you, really, Aloha?”
“Umm, almost eighteen.”
Was it the truth? “Why is it you do not drive?”
“I don’t like to. I’m scared.”
“You don’t strike me as being frightened of anything.”
“Thanks. But I am. Denise? There’s something you ought to know. My Mom and Dad applied for positions overseas. We’ll find out soon. Things will be different.”
Denise’s spirits soared. An out! Was it too easy? Later she would understand Aloha’s wording; and Peter Blaze’s earlier comment would finally make sense. Also, she would realize that Aloha had successfully changed the subject again, avoiding the age question. However, the prospect of the Blazes moving—overseas, no less!—overwhelmed her. God was smiling down this night. After all, from her point of view, things could get no worse.
CHAPTER FOUR
HIM
He tried to avoid her. He really did.
He went to work before dawn and returned late. When he came home well after dark one evening, she was sitting patiently in the big live oak tree in his front yard. His headlights captured her dangling legs.
“Hello, Rudd.” Her voice came to him from ten feet up in the dark.
“Aloha, what’s the story with you and heights?”
“Beats me.” She swung off the limb and dropped lightly next to him. “But I do. I take refuge in them. How about an airplane ride?”
“Sure. When I get a free day.”
“Can I have my key back?”
Taking her key away was the only control he had over her. “Maybe later.”
She followed him inside and he didn’t have the strength to send her away. She went home at dawn.
That night, to dodge Aloha, he called and got a date with Amanda McMullen. They went to dinner and a movie called Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Amanda was a bright woman, very attractive and seemed to like him more than as a friend or acquaintance. When he dropped her off just before midnight, they kissed long and hard in the hall in front of her apartment door. He got the feeling that if he wanted, things could go further. But while it was arousing, he found