The Other Side Of The Lies. Callie Ansar
he handed me a four pack of wine coolers.
“My favorite, thanks,” I answered with a smile.
After putting his six pack of beer in the back seat, he handed me the cigarettes he bought me.
“Thanks, Ramsey. Please let me give you money for this stuff,” I pleaded.
“No sweetie, I got it,” he said as he took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth. “You can smoke in here if you want,” he said.
With that green light, I started unwrapping the green box that I was holding. After pulling up the silver wrapper, I popped a cigarette in my mouth and Ramsey was right there to light it for me. After we were both lit, he put the car in reverse and headed back to the Seashore.
“One minute left,” he said as he sped away with a smile.
7
As we pulled into the same parking spot we left from, I gently rubbed my arms, as the ocean air was a bit chilly that night.
“You cold, Kid?” Ramsey asked.
“A little,” I said.
Ramsey rummaged through the crap in his back seat and pulled out a white hooded sweatshirt with Middle Woods written in red letters.
“Here, put this on,” he said as he handed it to me.
As I put the shirt over my head, I could feel his scent being draped all over me, and for a second, the euphoria of it made me dizzy. While I was doing that, he also pulled a blanket from the back seat and said, “We can sit on this on the beach.”
When I got out of the car, I realized that I had forgotten about the sweatshirt I had tied around my waist. Being a little embarrassed, and not wanting to give up the intoxicating scent of his sweatshirt, I quickly untied mine from my waist and threw it in the backseat of the Jeep as Ramsey walked around the car.
Alcohol in hand, we walked side by side up to the boardwalk where Lauri and Danny sat, waiting for us.
“You’re late,” Danny said clearly unhappy.
“Relax Danny,” Ramsey answered him.
“Come on, let’s go,” Lauri said as he locked her arm into mine. We headed towards the bonfire with the guys following right behind us. Spotting her friends, Lauri led us to them. We found an empty spot near them and I helped Ramsey lay down his blanket. I took off my shoes and plopped myself onto the blanket. Ramsey sat behind me, placing my body in between his open legs. He handed me a wine cooler before wrapping both of his arms around me and gently squeezing. He gently placed a trail of kisses on my neck, sending my body into a frenzy.
“Are you warm enough?” he asked, squeezing a little tighter.
“I’m perfect,” I answered, and I was. Sitting there, wrapped in this mans arms, I couldn’t be happier.
I had never been to a bonfire before and was glad that Lauri insisted that I come with her. The fire itself was a moderate size, nothing crazy. But around the fire sat about 75 people, drinking, talking, laughing and getting to know each other. Everyone was mingling and blanket hopping, except for us. People gravitated to Ramsey, so we just sat there in the same position, as people came and left throughout the night. We even met some people from Queens, just like me, but I didn’t know them.
Once the guys started talking sports, Ramsey brought up the fact that the last game he played, he pitched a no hitter. The guys from Queens were impressed by Ramsey’s baseball stats, but they were more into basketball. When they asked me where I went to high school and I told them, “Holy Family,” they immediately asked if I knew David Taylor.
I think my heart stopped beating for a second and I could feel the blood draining from my face. Lauri, who had already finished her four wine coolers, answered them by saying, “He’s her ex, and he’s a prick.”
“Well, I don’t know anything about that,” one of them answered, “but he sure can play ball.”
Then the other one chimed in with, “You got that right. Where is he going to school in the fall? Is he playing ball?”
I was still silent and motionless. My head was spinning with every word they uttered about David. I was in another friggen state and had to meet people who wanted to talk about my ex boyfriend. I could feel my face paling when Ramsey let go of me and stood up.
“Guys, they aren’t together anymore. I don’t think the lady wants to talk about that asshole, so let’s just drop it,” Ramsey said to them, standing a little closer than he probably should have.
“Yo, back off bro,” one of them said, shoving Ramsey’s shoulders.
Ramsey fumbled backwards, but stood his ground. He put his hands in the air, as if surrendering. “No need to get physical, guys. I just think this conversation is done. Why don’t you get out of here,” Ramsey commanded nicely.
“Getting really defensive over someone else’s sloppy seconds, huh. She must really be worth it,” the taller one said as he snickered and his friend gave him a high five.
Before I could blink my eyes, Ramsey’s fist was attached to the guys face. I watched as he fell to the ground and his friend charged Ramsey. I couldn’t believe that this was happening. All of a sudden Billy and a few other upstaters pulled the guy off of Ramsey and started wailing on the two shit talkers from Queens. I thought I was going to throw up.
Before I knew it, the fight was being broken up by some guys from Pennsylvania that we had met earlier. Bodies were being shoved off of the beach, as Ramsey stumbled back to me.
He had blood dripping from his mouth and I immediately lifted my shirt to wipe it off.
“Oh my God, what can I do? What do you need?” I nervously asked.
“I’m gonna need you to wash the blood off of my favorite shirt, Kid,” he said as he laughed.
He was laughing. Laughing, when I felt like crying.
He continued, “I’m gonna run back to the room and clean up quick. Stay here with Lauri and Danny and I’ll be right back.”
It was the first time Ramsey had voluntarily left my side since we met earlier in the day. I couldn’t help but think that he needed a break from me to clear his head. I could only hope that he didn’t blame me for what had happened.
“Ok,” I said as he got up and walked toward the boardwalk. I saw Billy and a couple others intercept him on the sand. I watched them all walk together until they disappeared.
Once back in room 133, Ramsey headed straight to the bathroom to clean the blood off of his face. When he was finished, he found Billy and the boys smoking out of his bong.
“Want a hit?” Billy asked Ramsey when he saw him.
“Nah, I need something a little stronger right now,” Ramsey said as he walked over to his duffle bag and pulled something out. “Anyone up for some blow?” he asked as he held the baggie that he had purchased from Danny earlier, up in the air for all to see.
Smiles spread across the room as the boys from upstate took turns inhaling the euphoric powder.
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“What the hell just happened here?” Lauri asked.
“Um, I have no idea, Lau,” I said lighting a cigarette. “I mean I came down here to get my mind off of David, and when I finally do, I meet people who want to talk about him like he’s a damn celebrity or something. And then Ramseys fighting them? How did that even happen? I feel terrible.”
“Don’t feel bad, Karen. Nothing that happened here is your fault. I mean Ramsey isn’t my favorite person, but he did the right thing. I would have punched that asshole in the face too,” Danny said. “I’ve seen these guys fight before and believe me, this was nothing. Nobody got hurt, everyone walked away. No big deal. Don’t think twice about it,”