Dance, Lust And Them

Chapter 6

 The sky was a shade of deep purple and there were thousands of stars illuminating the path. Janelle walked between Vance and Curtis, which reminded her of how short she was. She felt silly for being in-between them, like a child out on an excursion with her parents. Every so often Curtis would pinch her side or Vance would tug at one of her fingers, probably to remind her that they were still there and attracted to her, regardless of the conversation and the people running around. As they walked and talked, neither Janelle nor Vance noticed Monique walking towards them. She was on the arm of another man that Janelle didn’t recognize.

 Upon closer inspection Janelle also realized there was a group of girls following Monique and her man. Janelle rolled her eyes, annoyed that Monique felt the need to travel around with an entourage in order to impress anyone. It couldn’t have been a coincidence that she was there that night, especially considering Vance was also out on a date with none other than Janelle. She tried to ignore them, looking anywhere but at Monique and her posse, but Monique had her eyes set on Vance.

 “Are you following me?” he asked when they were close enough to talk without shouting.

 “What are you talking about? I didn’t know you even knew this place existed,” Monique spat back.

 “Is that your way of calling me uncultured? Because I didn’t even know you knew about this place. It’s not really your scene, Monique.”

 “Oh, and it’s yours? I seem to remember you sneaking around in other people’s gardens on more than one occasion, or have you forgotten all about what happened between us?”

 “Are you really going to do this in public?” Vance asked.

 “Do what?”

 “Bring up the fact that you used to be a dealer in front of your friends and a bunch of strangers?”

 Janelle glanced around to make sure they were out of earshot. Suddenly, she noticed the two groups were all alone. Most of the parents had taken the kids home and put them to bed and there was the occasional handful of teenagers that could be seen running around and squirting each other with water bottles. Other than that, Garden City was pretty empty, or at least what Janelle could see of it was empty. The garden walls rose high and the hazy orange lights made it hard to make out bodies in all that darkness.

 Meanwhile, Monique and Vance were still arguing. Janelle looked at Curtis and he shrugged as if to say, what should I do about it?

 Janelle rolled her eyes, agitated. She couldn’t believe Monique was pulling this crap in a place like this. It was supposed to be her night, the only time in the past few months that she’d actually been able to go out on the town like a real human being. And here was this complete loser Monique, who couldn’t seem to get over her ex boyfriend, even though he was so clearly over her.

 “I’ve had about enough of this,” Janelle said after a while. “Vance I’m going to keep walking. Are you coming with me or staying?”

 Monique gave Vance a strange look, jutting her hip out and folding her hands across her chest.

 “Go ahead, hang out with your little tramp. I just want you to know that it’s not going to last.”

 “And what are you, the pick of the litter? Don’t tell me all those girls behind you came with dates. You’re all dating the same pimp. You know, I barely know you Monique but I already feel sorry for you. Come on Vance,” Janelle said, tugging his arm.

 “The fu*k did she just say to me?” she heard Monique exclaim behind her. “You better watch your back!” she shouted into the semi-darkness but Vance, Janelle, and Curtis were already long gone.

 “Thank you for that,” Vance said when they were a safe distance away. “Usually people don’t stick up for me in situations like that. You’re a real friend, you know that?”

 Janelle smiled. “Anytime.”

 “Here’s hoping she doesn’t come back and kick your ass,” Curtis said. “Though you just tell me if she does baby, and I’ll send some of my goons to mess her up real good.”

 Janelle laughed. “I don’t think that’s going to be happening anytime soon. At least I hope it doesn’t. Monique seems to be full of hot air.”

 “That she is,” Vance said.

 They walked along in silence for a few minutes, taking a few sharp rights until they were good and lost in the maze. The further they walked, the darker the path seemed to become until Janelle almost couldn’t see five feet in front of her.

 “Which one of us do you think is gonna die first?” Curtis joked.

 Janelle slapped him with her clutch bag. “Cut that out,” she said.

 Suddenly, she noticed a thin strip of light spilling from underneath a hedge. The light was bright and pure, light blue in color. It confused Janelle to no end. How was there something so close on the other side of the maze, something this bright? She thought she was hallucinating, but Vance and Curtis seemed to see it too.

 “What the hell is that?” Curtis asked.

“You should try pushing against the ivy. Maybe there’s a door or something,” Vance suggested.

 Janelle did as she was told, thrusting her hands into the thick ivy in the hopes of finding some sort of a doorknob. One of her knuckles smacked against something hard and metallic.

 “I think there’s a door here,” she said.

 Vance pushed her lightly aside and fumbled around until they heard the loud clicking of a latch. The door swung open and they had to shield their eyes from the brightness. There was a pool tucked away in the maze, completely lit by bright blue and gold lights. The maze encased the pool and that strange door seemed to be the only entrance.

 Janelle was confused to say the least. Why was there a pool hiding in the maze? Who would have built such a thing? The trio entered into the enclosed space, making sure to shut the door firmly behind them so no intruders came in. Vance took his coat off and placed it under the door so no more blue light spilled forth.

 “This is insane,” Curtis said. “I’ve never seen a place like this before. Check out that neat statue.”

 He walked towards an enormous cement figure that was holding a conch shell. Vance took Janelle’s hand and brought her towards the statue. When she got a closer look, she gasped.