“So...” Tracy said nervously.
Isaac smiled, his big, brown eyes sparkling. “So?”
“I guess you’re wondering why I lied?”
“It had crossed my mind.”
“I’m sorry, Isaac.” She paused. “I didn’t think...you could handle it.”
“Well, I would have appreciated the opportunity to prove you wrong.”
“But - ” She looked in his eyes and winced.
All that innocence.
“I’m a druggie; a failure. I tried to kill my own brother -- the only one who loved me.”
He looked at her, looked at her hard. It was as if his eyes could see straight into her soul. “What’s your point?”
She looked surprised. “My point, Isaac, is that I left him there bleeding; left him there to die. I ruined my family.”
Ike shook his head. “You don’t get it, do you?”
“Get what?”
He was silent for a moment. Then: “Did you ever go to Sunday school?”
“I skipped,” she said abruptly.
He grinned. “I can still remember a story, a story I learned years ago.”
“What?”
Isaac laughed. “You really skipped Sunday school? Why am I not surprised?”
She slapped him lightly. “Just tell the story, laughing boy.”
He smiled. “An adulteress was once brought before Jesus. The scribes and the Pharisees demanded that she be stoned according to the Law of Moses.”
“Stoned?” She asked confusedly.
Isaac chuckled. “Oh, no, not like that. It meant that she was to be put to death by having stones thrown at her.”
“I know the feeling,” she mumbled. “Go on.”
“Jesus simply looked at them and said, ‘He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.’”
“So?”
“Well, one by one, the men dropped their stones and walked away.”
“Oh,” she stammered. “So, everyone has sinned?”
“Well,” he grinned, “except me.”
Tracy smiled. “Such a cute little baby,” she cooed.
“I am cute, aren’t I?”
“Yes, you are...and unfortunately, older than I am.”
“Again, what’s your point?”
She looked uncomfortably to the ground. “Yeah, well, you are. And I’m me.”
Ike thought for a moment. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Umm...”
“Come on, Tracy.”
Isaac...are you, I mean, do you, umm...”
“What?”
She stumbled over her words.
Real smooth, Trace. Real smooth.
“Uhh, well, you see...”
“Yes?”
Be direct.
“What would you do if I kissed you?” She colored immediately. “Never mind,” she said, avoiding his eyes.
He grinned and took her chin in his hand. “You really want to know what I’d do?”
Her breath caught in her throat as she nodded.
He leaned in and their lips gently touched. Her heart sped up -- so this was that “natural” high she’d heard so much about -- as she kissed back.
Their lips parted and Isaac pulled away. “What would I do if you kissed me?”
Tracy laughed.
“I’d ask you to kiss me again.”
Tracy looked at Ike, she was speechless. She leaned in again and put her arms around his neck. “What will Jen say?” She whispered, then kissed him again.
Isaac laughed. “Jen? Jen who?”
“Ooo! I’m gonna tell her you said that!” Tracy teased.
“Even if I promise to kiss you again?”
She looked at him impishly. “I would reconsider.” She added in a girly voice, “I mean, you are the Isaac Hanson.”
Isaac playfully pushed her away and walked toward the door. “Let’s see, what was Jennifer’s number again?”
Tracy grabbed his hand. “You’re not getting away that easy, kid.”
“Listen, Tracy,” he said. “There’s something I’ve wanted to do since I first met you.”
“Which was what, twelve hours ago?”
“Smart ass.”
“Yeah, okay?”
He pulled her to the door that connected the two rooms and opened it.
“Uh, oh. Isaac!”
The kids were running around the room when the entered. Diana was cuddling Zoe like the infant would disappear if she let go. Walker, Zac, and Noah were seated on the bed talking.
Tracy looked down at her wrinkled clothes.
“Uh, guys,” Ike began.
Tracy clutched his hand as if it was her life support.
“Guys!” He said louder.
Mackenzie, Jessica, and Avery stopped running and immediately sat down on the bed.
Jeez, I should try that more often.
“What is it, Ikey?” Mackenzie asked.
“I want you all to meet someone.”
Tracy stared at the floor.
“This is Tracy Barnes.” He put his arm around her.
She looked up. Walker stepped forward and smiled. “Hello, Tracy.”
She stuck out her hand. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Hanson,” she said nervously.
Much to her surprise, Walker pulled her close and embraced her. “We hug in this family, Tracy.”
She put on a small smile as she looked at Noah over Walker’s shoulder. “Ike’s mine!” She mouthed.
Noah stifled a laugh. Zac ran over and pushed his father out of the way. “I LOVE YOU, MAN!” he screeched.
Tracy looked solemnly at Zac, before breaking into a wide smile, and giving him a hug. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Diana stood up from the bed and handed Zoe to Walker. “Forgive me for not getting caught up in this sweet moment, but my son is still missing.”
Tracy’s smiled faded instantly. “Mrs. Hanson, I’m sorry. I –“
“My boy is still out there and you people can care about is some tramp Isaac picked up on heaven knows what street corner.”
“Diana!” Walker shouted.
Diana moved in closer to Tracy. “I’ve seen your kind before. I know what’s on your mind. You think you’re the first girl my son has ever gotten excited over? Well, you’re not the first – and you’re definitely not the last.”
Tears formed in Tracy’s eyes. She inched closer to Isaac.
“Come on, Mom. Please!” Isaac pleaded. “You don’t know what you’re saying.”
“Don’t you talk to me that way, Isaac. I know a little whore when I see one.”
Tracy burst into tears and rushed back into the other room,
“For crying out loud, Mom! How could you do that?” Isaac shouted, turning to chase after Tracy.
Diana looked stunned. She had no idea what she was saying. She looked around the room at her family. “Why are you all staring at me? Why?”
The batteries in the flashlight were slowly overcoming their usefulness. Jesse made his way back to the workbench to hunt for more batteries. There were none to be found.
“Damn!”
Taylor let out a soft cry.
“What’s wrong, Taylor?” Jesse asked.
“I, uhh,” Taylor began.
“Yeah?”
“I need to go to the bathroom.”
Jesse laughed uncomfortably. “You and me both, kid.” He thought for a moment. “There used to be a portable camping toilet stashed in the corner somewhere. We’d better find it before this light goes out. Keep talking while I look, okay?”
“Okay.”
Jesse walked to other corner of the basement and rummaged through a pile of boxes. “Hey,” he said. “A Christmas tree.”
“Ho-Ho-Ho,” Taylor responded with no enthusiasm.
“Oh, you’re a lot of fun.”
Taylor was silent for a moment. He then began to cry.
“Taylor?”
“We’re never gonna get out of here. You realize that, don’t you?”
Jesse stopped searching. He shone the light in Taylor’s direction. “What do you mean?”
“We’re gonna die down here, Jesse.”
“Mr. ‘I’ve-talked-to-angels’ is giving up hope?”
“You know about that?”
Jesse laughed. “Yeah, me and the whole damn town. Noah and I are friends. The Journal did a story about angelic encounters and Noah helped write it. ”
“Oh yeah, I’d forgotten about that.” Taylor looked up. “You know Noah?”
“Yeah,” Jesse said, dropping something on his toe. “Ouch! Noah and I met when he came to work at the warehouse. That was after he lost his job at the paper – not long after you met him.”
“Do you believe him about the angels?”
Jesse sighed. “I didn’t at first, but now I’m not so sure.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, now that I’ve gotten to know him, I realize that he doesn’t lie about stuff.” The shelves he has rummaging through suddenly gave way. The contents came tumbling down on top of Jesse, making a loud crashing sound. “Crap!”
He stood up and surveyed the destruction, hoping that his father hadn’t heard the racket.
“You okay?” Tay asked. He’d managed to stand himself up and was walking over the Jesse.
Jesse suddenly began laughing.
“What’s so funny?”
“That was Mom’s best china,” he said. “I’m in a world of shit now. Dad’s gonna – he’s gonna –“
Jesse stopped. He was about to say “kill me,” but the words had stuck in his throat. He laughed nervously, looking amongst the debris from the fallen shelf. He smiled. “Hey, I found the toilet.” He walked over and picked up a large, white bucket with a commode seat mounted on the top. It was lined with a red plastic bag. “Here, you’re the guest. You go first.”
Taylor stumbled over to the bucket and rolled his eyes. “You’re hospitality astounds me.” He began to undo his zipper and realized that Jesse was still standing there. “Do you mind? We only just met last night, you know?”
Jesse felt his face turn red. “Oh, yeah. Sorry.” He walked to the corner while Taylor did his business. To cover his awkwardness, he said, “You know, millions of girls would give their right arm to catch you with your pants down.”
Taylor chuckled, zipping his pants. “Oh, you’re funny. When do you get your HBO special?” He turned and made his way back to the corner. “Okay, you’re turn.”
Jesse walked over to the bucket and took his turn. “You know, I figure the old man would have heard the noise and come down here by now.”
“You think he’s gone?”
“He probably is,” Jesse replied, walking toward the stairs.
“Where are you going?”
“I told you that I was going to get you out of here and I’m going to get you out of here.” Jesse climbed the stairs and tried the handle. It was, of course, locked. “Damn him.” As if it would make a difference, he tried the knob again.
“I think that means it’s locked, genius,” Taylor said.
Jesse turned. “Now who gets their own comedy special, smart ass?” He focused his attention back to the door. “You know,” he said taking a step backwards, “I think now might be a good time to mention,” he lunged at the door and hit it hard with a thud, “ouch, dammit!” He stepped back again. “Now might be a good time to mention that I rooted for the Spice Girls in that MTV Death Bowl thing.”
“Yeah, I should have known you’d like the Spice Girls.”
“Actually, MMMBop-boy, I hate the Spice Girls,” he lunged at the door again – no luck this time either. “I just hate you guys a little more. When Manson wasted all of you I about wet my pants.”
“So, you’re into men who look like women?” Taylor said, not missing a beat. “Oh, well, it worked for Ru-Paul.” He raised his hand. “Girl power!”
Jesse smiled. He wasn’t going to get anything passed this one. “I take back what I said about hating you, kid.” He lunged at the door one last time – no luck. “You’re a pretty okay guy, for a blond chick.”
Taylor chuckled. “Touché. Hey, how about we take the door of its hinges?”
Jesse shook his head. “Well, that would work, but the hinges are on the other side.”
“Oh.”
“You know,” Jesse began, “unless you’re afraid of breaking a nail, you could help me up here.”
“Oh, man, it’s true,” whined Taylor. “Hell is one long episode of Saturday Night Live.”
He ascended the stairs and stood next to Jesse. “Okay, Goldilocks,” Jesse said, “on three.”
Taylor ignored the comment and nodded.
“One, two, THREE!”
They lunged at the door only to have it stop them cold.
“Let’s try again,” Jesse said. “One, two, THREE!”
Once again, they had no luck.
“Oh, crap,” Taylor suddenly said, looking at his fingernails.
“Don’t start,” Jesse replied, cracking a smile.
“There’s gotta be another way out of here,”
“Well, unless you like tunneling through concrete and earth, then there isn’t.”
Taylor smiled. “I did see The Shawshank Redemption eleven times.”
Jesse was glad to see Taylor in better spirits. He’d hoped the kidding and joking would take Taylor’s mind off their situation. Apparently it had. “Come on, Taylor, let’s try this thing again. I’m bound and determined to get you out of here. I have an entire future ahead of me.”
“You mean at college?”
“No,” Jesse replied. “I’ll be the new teenie mag pin-up boy. I’ll go down in history as the guy who gave up his Big Mac to feed a starving Taylor Hanson. Okay, one more time. One, two, THREE!”
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eight
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