Chapter 5

Story time starts

    “We were only kids, we thought we were all growed up. There is actually something to say about stopping to smell the roses. Like all the tragically misunderstood teenagers, we thought we already knew everything and thought we were prisoners. You must know what that's like, the rez is a jail without bars. Everybody is free to leave, but, well, you know how it is. If you can't escape, it'll suck the life out of you and you'll be another rez zombie. Shambling through life, trying to find your grave.”
    Jeremy laughed, he knew exactly what she meant. When he looked over, he was so happy to see that the shimmer of life and laughter in her eyes was returning. Still, she had a long way to go and he knew it.
    “There were four of us. Dee was my best friend through most of high school. You actually seen her tonight. The chick at the window? That was Dee. I think that might be the last time I'll see her for a really long time. I don't know if I can get a hold of her if she ran and hid too. Where ever she went, I hope she's safe.”
    The sadness glazed her eyes with tears again.
    “I spent a lot of time with Dee. Like best friends, we were family, she was my sister. Is. She is my sister. Her and Miki, her little sister. We got into so much trouble at home. Nothing bad, just a lot of stories about the three of us getting grounded. Getting our driving privileges taken away.” Katrina burst out laughing, nearly spilling the coffee. “There was this one time we took their van to the movies. Miki and I left her outside because there was this guy Dee wanted to meet. She thought she was being so secret and about half way through the movie, her mom came in and started yelling at Miki, then at me.” Katrina put the cup on the dash and held her stomach, she laughed until she couldn't breathe. “Oh hell. Anyway, her dad must have seen the van parked at the theater and since it was cooling off at night, the van's windows were all steamy and we only heard from one of Miki's friends that the van was actually rocking.”
    Jeremy fell back in his seat. When they'd caught their breath, she continued.
    “Lots of stuff like that. A whole lot of good things too. Stuff that we should have focused on instead of feeling like victims all the time. We thought we knew all the answers. How, if we could just escape, we'd live like royalty compared to the rez zombies.”
    This was a part that Jeremy understood in his mind, but sometimes the reality would flood through his thoughts and drown those things. Maybe he was already a 'rez zombie' for that reason. Sometimes, it boiled down to how much money it took to reach escape velocity, then how much to maintain it. The things Katrina was talking about was based on vague dreams. It made him remember that sometime in the past, maybe he did dream. Dared to think of a life that didn't depend on or only existed to serve everyone but Jeremy. A low flicker of individuality flashed in his mind.
    “I know it sounds like I'm not talking about anything, but those were the good things.” Katrina crossed her arms and pulled her chin down to her chest.
    “I know what you mean.” Jeremy was the one reminding the other that they grew up on the rez and knew all about it.
    The silence grew. In the dark, Jeremy could only see dim reflections of eyes staring at him. Every second was only to judge if he could be trusted to talk to, he could feel that. In the dark, he felt a hand reaching out for his, he took hold. They sat in silence and held hands.
    “I'm sorry.” Katrina said, she pulled his hand up to her lips and placed a soft kiss on it. Then she pushed his hand away and let go.
    “It's okay.”
    “No. It's not,” Katrina sat up, “I'm cold,” she started the car to get the heat going for a little while. She folded her hands along the top of the steering wheel and leaned her head on them.
    It had to been the car that broke the hold.
    “This car.”
    “It is nice.” Jeremy gave it a quick once over.
    Katrina sat and chewed her lip, looked out into the darkness.
    “F**k it.” She looked over, rested her head on her hands. After a few seconds, reached out and then brushed the hair from Jeremy's eyes. “You have to promise me something Jeremy.”
    Jeremy only shrugged. It was something that Katrina was already finding sweet, if not annoying.
    “Good enough.”
    “I'm guessing gang. Drugs. Something like that. If you can scare away guys who are usually too stupid to scare, I know it's not good.”
    “Worse, but I got your promise, right?”
    “Yeah.” He held out his hand. “Shake on it?”
    Katrina actually shook his hand. “You have to be my Dee now. You're the only home I know so I need to know I can trust you.”
    “I shook your hand, you ate my food, I know more about you than I know about anyone on the rez.” Jeremy stopped and a slow smile crosses his lips. “I don't remember meaning anything to anybody really. I got your back.”

    Katrina started telling her story. It started with her asking if Jeremy knew about the big city. Since all rez folks know of a big city, Jeremy knew about the trek. Katrina left the rez with Dee and Miki.
    From the first day they met Bevirly, they should have known that she was everything they should have avoided. Her mouth and demeanor was constantly spewing figurative cookie crumbs. Which played against them as soon as they had to leave for British Columbia.
    Katrina only told what she knew about Bev. She had grown up at a different reservation that was even further out of the way. What's with those places, sometimes they spawn the worst of people who don't know any better. It probably began when Bev's mother thought she was being clever when she'd spelled Bevirly with an “I” in the poor kid's birth certificate. Oh, her mom knew how to spell it correctly, it was her way of showing the world that she was an original.
    All that did was screw up the kid a little more during her school years. Teased about how her mom couldn't spell. Teased how she couldn't even spell her own name. That was only the beginning. It wasn't long before the 'irly' was dropped and she began going by Bev. Bev the strong willed, only a poser who yelled until she got what she wanted. Got everything she wanted from everybody until the only people that would want to hang out with her was the guys who got what they wanted.