In Brist’s Time
Part
one Chapter one
October
2nd
2001
The girl lying on the bed in just her
undergarments – talking on the phone – was a normal, energetic,
17 year-old, teenage girl. Except for the fact that her father was
the owner of a large electronics development company. Currently, she
was reliving the previous weekend, both in her mind and visually as
she watched herself on the video her brother – her biggest fan –
had recorded for her.
This past weekend, she had won her
second national kickboxing championship. She had been taking
kickboxing classes since she was five, and was going to be one of the
more interesting contestants in the upcoming world championships. She
also took strength-training and wrestling classes in school.
Her
boyfriend was a big fan of the martial arts, and during their
relationship – they had been going out for exactly a year today –
she had taken up his hobbies as well as her own in order to spend
more time with him. He, in turn, had done the same. However, he had
not started any of these athletic pursuits until about a year before
they had met, and so she was by far the more skilled of the two.
As
she was watching herself win the final match of the national
championship, she was unconsciously in the yoga lotus position,
alternating it with the rowboat position. She had taken up yoga many
years ago to balance her more strenuous activities with a gentler
one. She was mildly annoyed by the phone when it rang, but her
annoyance passed quickly as she realized that her boyfriend had just
gone on break at the Footlocker he worked at in the Mall of America.
“Do
you wanna meet me when I get off work?” Jesse asked.
“I’d love to Muskles,” she
replied, calling him by his last name, which she adored.
She normally enjoyed acting like an
overly feminine twit around him, which was a long-standing joke
between them because nearly every girl in school was, and she most
definitely was not. However, today was their one-year anniversary and
she was excited and nervous, and found that she was not merely
acting, but rapidly degenerating into an ultra feminine twit.
“Great,
see ya at 4:00 then!”
“K!”
She giggled as she placed the phone back on its cradle. She glanced
at the clock. “AAAH! I only have an hour in which to find something
to wear!”
In
a state of mild panic, she looked at herself in the mirror; at least
her make-up was perfect. Flinging open the closet door, she withdrew
and tossed to the floor various clothing items, in search of the
perfect outfit to wear for her precious Muskles. Even though, they
had been going out for exactly a year today, she still felt the need
to look at her very best whenever he was around.
“Absolutely
nothing!” She exclaimed in exasperation, kicking the extremely
large pile of clothing that now lay on her bedroom floor. A random
shoe flew from the pile, hit her full-length mirror, thereby bringing
it to her attention.
“Ohmigod!
I look as if I’ve never ran a brush through my hair in my entire
life!” She exaggerated. “That is the last time I play tackle with
Drew!” She vowed vehemently. Just as she uttered the insincere vow,
her older brother walked by her room, and upon hearing his name,
entered to see why it had been mentioned.
“Did I hear my name?” He asked.
“Damn
it Drew! Can’t you ever knock?” She wondered loudly as she
slipped into the nearest pair of shorts and a shirt.
“Sorry,
I didn’t know you were in the process of changing,” he
apologized. “What’s this Brist? You’re actually wearing that
outfit again? I thought you had a limit on how many times you wore
the same thing, like 5 or something.”
“Shut
up Drew!” She said with a snotty air. Then she noticed that she was
wearing a shirt that Jesse always asked her to wear, along with her
favorite pair of shorts. They were skin-tight, knee-length black
denim shorts that matched perfectly the baggy purple with large black
polka dots short T-shirt that Jesse so loved. Secretly, she believed
that the fact that the shirt always insisted on falling to one side –
showing off one of her adorable shoulders – was the reason he loved
it so, even though he insisted that it was because the shirt
perfectly complimented her oddly purple eyes.
Ecstatic with the outfit, and the fact
that her brother had brought it to her attention, she gave him a hug
exclaiming, “Dude, Drew! I love you.” She rushed off to locate
her mother.
“Whoa!
Sis, are you running a fever?” He called after her disappearing
figure.
“Mom,
I’m going to the Mall, ok? So I need some money,” she stated upon
discovering her mother in the kitchen. Her brother, having nothing
better to do at the moment, had decided to follow her.
“But
honey, didn’t you just run up my charge card last weekend at
Macy’s?” Her mother wondered.
“Yeah,
well that was for home-coming. Today is just as important, and Jesse
and I are kinda going to the mall together, so I need some money,”
Brist stated with an air of impatience.
“I
told your father that he should just give you your own charge card
and teach you to use it wisely, or maybe he should just let you foot
the bill,” her mother remarked sagely.
“Well
Mom?” Brist said, holding out her hand.
“I
don’t know... The chauffeur’s with your father, and I would feel
safer if you didn’t drive yourself.”
“But Mom!” Brist protested her
mother’s insane fear that her baby, whom she trusted to engage in
all sorts of possibly dangerous sports, would somehow seriously
injure herself once behind the wheel of a car. Even though she’d
had her license for nearly two years now.
“I
really don’t think you should.”
“But it’s our year anniversary!”
Brist exclaimed, afraid that she wasn’t going to get her way.
Her
mother sighed in defeat. Yet, unwilling to give up completely, she
decided on a deal. “Now Honey, I know this is special to you, so
I’m going to give you use of the Rolls, and a few hundred dollars,
but under one condition…”
“Uh
huh…”
“Drew
has to drive you there and back,” her mother insisted in her
do-not-argue-with-me tone of voice.
“But
Mom!” Both of her children started to protest at the same time.
Brist wasn’t generally prone to wasting time thinking things
weren’t fair, but in this particular matter, she could not see why
her 21 year-old brother was any more qualified to drive her around.
Especially since he had grown up using the family chauffeur and
hadn’t seen any reason to get his own license until Brist had
decided that it would be a good idea to get hers.
“Now
Drew, all you have to do is drop her off and pick her up a few hours
later. Ok?” She said in the same tone of voice. A duo of sighs were
released, and then Drew answered.
“Yes
Mom.”
“You
needn’t look so down-hearted, it’s not as if you’re about to be
hanged.”
Again
Brist sighed as she began to walk towards the door.
“Um
Brist?”
“Yes Drew?”
“Aren’t
you going to fix your hair?” Drew asked, amused by the way her hair
was in wild disarray due to their earlier wrestling session.
“OHMIGOD!
I forgot!”
*******
“Muskles,
let’s stop at the food court quick. I’m hungry,” Brist
suggested, twirling a lock of her red hair around her finger, subtly
calling attention to the fact that her hair was once again flawless –
not a strand daring to be out of place.
“Actually, I wanted
to go into that store over there,” he said as he pointed to a
nearby store.
“Hoff
Jewelers?” Brist puzzled.
“That’s
the one,” Jesse replied as he led her into the store. She smiled as
she tenderly brushed a lock of his hair out of his face. It promptly
fell right back to where it had been resting, gently brushing the top
of his ear.
“I
bought you a present.”
“Really
Muskles, you remembered?”
“Remembered
what?”
“Our
one year anniversary of course!”
“Oh!”
He cleared his throat, and dropped his crystal blue eyes to seemingly
study an interesting spot on the floor.
“What’s wrong?” A
shadow passed through Brist’s dark purple eyes and a frown touched
her lips.
“I,
um, b-bet yoooou can’t, um, guess which ring I bought you,” he
stammered.
“Welllll…”
Her eyes left his to wander over the display case in front of her.
“Oh! That one!” She exclaimed as soon as she saw a breathtakingly
beautiful good-sized opal framed by the intricate pattern formed by
the gold band around it.
“Wow!
That’s it exactly!” He exclaimed as he pulled a small box from
his pocket. Removing the ring from the box, he slipped it onto her
right ring finger. “I don’t quite know how to say this, Brist,
but…”
“Yes?”
“I…I…”
He took a deep breath, then sighed. “I wanted you to have a ring
for being the best girlfriend a guy could have, but I just don’t
love you anymore, and I wanna break up.”
“What!”
She was in shock! What
just happened?
“I want to remain
friends, but there’s someone else I want to go with.”
Tears
began to stream down her face.
He
took another breath, and then continued. “I’m sorry, I didn’t
know today was our anniversary, or I would have waited until
tomorrow, but… Um, Brist I’m sorry, but I have to go so I can be
home by curfew.” He kissed her with far more passion than a
boyfriend who didn’t love her – and had just dumped her –
should, then ran off.
Drew
came up behind her just as Jesse ran off.
“Hey,
where’s he going?” He asked.
“Home!”
She wailed softly as she fell into Drew’s arms.
“What
happened?”
“He dumped me… He-he dumped me!
That bastard dumped me!” She wailed in disbelief.
“What?
Why?”
Brist
was crying so hard that she couldn’t talk to reply to his
questions.
“I
saw the entire thing, Drew. He gave her a ring, told her that there
was someone else, and then ran off so that he wouldn’t have to see
her cry.” One of Drew’s friends, Lillian, who happened to work
there, informed him.
“I’m
gonna bring her home. Call me later. Okay?” He said. Then, he led a
numb Brist out of the Mall, thanking God that they had been close to
the correct exit. As gently as possible, he guided her to their car.
Brist was so miserable that she
couldn’t see, couldn’t think, and could just barely breath.
Somehow, Drew got her into the car and brought her home.
*******
“Ellen,
I think we should spend the rest of the year in our house in
Georgia.”
“I
thought we had planned to spend it here.”
“Yes, I know, but I’ve changed my
mind.”
“I
don’t think the kids would like that very much,” she told her
husband.
“Why
not?” He wondered.
“Well,
Brist is celebrating her year anniversary with Jesse,” Ellen
frowned as a snort emitted from her husband. “And Drew is never
thrilled when we go to Georgia.”
“I
am their father and I make the rules! I say that we are going to
Georgia and they will NOT argue with me!”
“Edward,
don’t you dare take that tone of voice with me! I am your WIFE!”
Just
then the door burst open, cutting off whatever Edward was going to
say. Ellen gasped.
“Oh!
Brist honey, what’s wrong?” She questioned.
Drew
got tired off dragging her with him and decided to just carry her the
rest of the way. Neither option was easy for his athletic younger
sister had a good amount of heavy muscle on her body. Deftly, he
scooped her into his arms and carried her up the stairs into her
bedroom. He laid her on the bed, then pushed his parents out of the
room, closing the door behind him.
“What’s
wrong?”
“Is
she hurt?”
“Jesse broke up with her today.”
Neither Drew nor his mother noticed the brief look of triumph that
crossed Edward’s face before quickly being replaced by an
appropriate frown of concern.
“She’s
taking it awfully hard, is she okay?” He asked, then he told them
to wait there a moment as he ran off. Quickly, he retrieved an item
he had stashed in the bedroom he shared with his wife.
“What’s
in the box Dear?” Ellen asked her husband once he had returned.
“Brist’s birthday present,” he
replied as he handed the large, rather heavy box to Drew, then paused
a few moments to catch his breath before knocking on his only
daughter’s door. “Brist, honey… Can I come in? I have something
for you.”
“Go
away, I don’t wanna talk about it.”
He opened the door. “Okay, so we
won’t talk about it.”
Brist
sniffed and wiped her eyes. “Huh?” She asked, taken off guard.
“I’ve
got your birthday present here,” her father informed her, motioning
for Drew to place it on the foot of her bed.
“But
my birthday’s not for five whole days.”
“Well, I thought you might like it
now.” He motioned for Brist to open it. She complied out of
curiosity. “It’s my company’s new line. See, we feel that the
way of the future lies in solar power, and so we have come up with a
line of everyday products that are powered by the sun. There’s a
solar powered CD boom box, a TV, DVD player, mini digital video
camera that records directly onto DVD’s, and a solar powered
battery charger complete with batteries so that you can use your
equipment even when the sun’s not out.”
“Wow
dad, that was some presentation. If you make that into a commercial,
I bet you’d sell millions.” Brist smiled, and wiped any remaining
tears from her eyes. “Thanks dad, I really appreciate all this.”
“You’re
welcome sweetie, and I also wanted to let you know that I have
decided that we are going to Georgia after all for the duration of
the year.”
“You
don’t have to do that for me daddy.”
“I
know, but I want to.” Drew caught his attention with a rather
colorful curse spoken almost inaudibly. “What was that son?”
“I
hate Georgia dad, it’s always hot there, and I have friends here
that I don’t want to leave behind.”
“Well, we are going to Georgia and we
are going tonight, so I would suggest that the two of you get
packing. Come Ellen, we have to pack as well. Oh, and Drew? Once we
get settled in, if you still want to come home after 2 or 3 weeks,
you can.”
Drew
sighed and stormed out of his sister’s room. After both her parents
had given her a hug and a kiss on the cheek, they left her alone to
pack for their rather sudden trip.
Somewhat
listlessly at first, Brist grabbed an enormous bag out of her closet
and began to pack. The bag was at least 4’ long, and had to be just
over 2’ wide and about 2’ tall. She had found this bag in a shop
that specialized in sports clothes and accessories. She thought back
to the day she and Jesse had been debating on the pros and cons of
her remaining in the school strength training class while they were
shopping at the place she had bought the bag.
“I’m
already in kick-boxing and I have been for years. I’m also taking a
self defense class, which I find repetitive, seeing as how I am the
undefeated champion in my kick-boxing class,” Brist had reminded
him, trying not to bring up the time before they had been going out,
when they hated each other, and she had kicked his ass.
“I know you’re the almighty
kick-boxing Goddess, and that I should pity the fool who crosses you,
but I still think that strength training classes after school could
only supplement your other after school ass-kicking classes. Besides,
I’m in strength training class and I love having you there to spot
me and keep my butt in line. You keep me humble and you keep me in
that class. Don’t get me wrong, I love that class, but I would have
given up a thousand times by now if it hadn’t been for you,”
Jesse said.
At that point Brist had melted and
would have agreed to anything to make him happy. That was also the
exact moment that the bag had caught her eye. She thought it was the
perfect symbol to represent her agreement with Jesse. They had agreed
that they would both stay in that class, and that he would re-enroll
in a kick-boxing class so that they would have even more in common.
So, she’d bought one for them to share, for lord knew it was large
enough for both their stuff, with plenty of room to spare.
She
emptied the bag on the floor and almost began to cry again at the
sight of some of Jesse’s belongings. She separated their things,
leaving a note for the maid to make sure that his things were
returned to him in the morning.
Brist
stood staring at the bag for a moment, as if packing were a
completely foreign subject to her. Numbly, she remembered some advice
of her mother’s: always put your underthings on bottom. That way,
if the bag is left open or spilled, they’re less likely to be seen.
She
sprayed a light coating of her favorite perfume on the bottom – to
combat any lingering gym smell – then proceeded to put everything
from sox to pajamas to very tiny, yet highly erotic lingerie on the
bottom of the bag. (She wanted to feel sexy and confident, even
though her boyfriend had just destroyed her self-esteem.) Next, she
sprayed another very light coating of the perfume over them, also to
ensure that they would not smell like the gym.
After that, she packed the small solar
powered presents that she had just received. All were amazingly tiny,
except for the TV, which had a 13” screen, making it just over a
foot square. The boombox, including its detachable speakers, was only
about a foot and a half long, and about 9” wide, which left plenty
of room in the bag for the mini digital video recorder and battery
charger. The DVD player was fairly flat and compact, and had no
trouble fitting into the bag.
Again, Brist was struck by the sheer
size of the bag, for there was still tons of room left in it for her
clothes. On top of and around her solar powered presents, she packed
a variety of clothing from her closet, and – as an afterthought –
she packed her Renaissance festival costume. She couldn’t remember
when the festival passed through Georgia, but she wanted to have her
costume just in case.
Into
the right side-compartment, she placed her jewelry box – which was
full of expensive jewelry. Finding she still had room in the
compartment, she tossed in her makeup bag and all her hair supplies.
She even brought extra of the shampoo and conditioner that she
insisted upon using, because it was hand made by a woman here in
Minnesota.
Into
the left side-compartment, she packed her menstrual cup, her small
bag filled with a variety of different colored gel pens, her diary,
her photo-album, and as many books as she could fit. As an after
thought, she removed a few books and replaced them with a good-sized
box that contained her small handgun, a spare clip, and a good supply
of bullets. She figured now would be a great time to continue her
sharp-shooting practice. There was a range with an awesome teacher
not too far from their Georgian home.
Brist
briefly wondered why it was that she was so interested in the many
athletic and self-defense classes that she seemed to be addicted to,
and yet her brother was only interested in them as much as he had to
be to support her. He had played high school football and that was
it. Yet, even that he had stopped doing when he had graduated high
school and had decided to forego college.
He
was going to inherit so much money that he truly saw no point in
college. His dream – one which he hadn’t been able to share with
their father – was to buy a little hobby farm with a cow, some
chickens, a few goats, a couple of sheep, and lots and lots of dogs.
He was fairly certain that the only person he wanted to share his
life with was Lillian, yet his father was such a businessman down to
his very bones that he would never, could
never understand why his son didn’t want to make lots of money just
as he did.
Brist, on the other hand, wasn’t the
farm type. However, she wasn’t exactly the business type either.
She would most likely settle down with Jesse and enter law
enforcement, specifically the FBI or CIA.
Brist gasped and realized that she was
still doing it. She was still picturing Jesse as her life partner.
She realized that everyone had been right when they told her that the
guy she started dating just before her 17th birthday probably wasn’t
going to be the same one she spent the rest of her life with. Brist
sobbed deeply for a few moments before telling herself that she was
wasting tears, and that if Jesse Muskles didn’t love her, he didn’t
deserve her.
She
took a mental inventory of the contents of the bag and realized that
it was missing something. She grabbed what almost appeared to be a
mini brief case – but was actually just a decorative carrier –
off a shelf above one of her dressers. Inside it was every CD she
owned, which surprisingly wasn’t as many as one would think a
spoiled teen would own – only about 200 or so.
Once
her bag was packed to her satisfaction, she carried it over to the
door, setting it down on a chair next to the door. She looked at the
bag wryly and mentally thanked Jesse for making her stay in strength
training class. As a result, the rather heavy bag was not a problem
for her to carry. Tears welled in her eyes at the thought of Jesse,
and she stood moping over their breakup for a few moments.
“I
am not going to cry over him, I’m not!” She vowed. “If he can’t
see what is good for him, then that’s his problem. Brist, girl, get
a hold of yourself! If we don’t cry over him now, we will hopefully
be less tempted to kill his new girlfriend when we find out who she
is. OH GOD! Now I’ve resorted to talking to myself as if I were two
people! Two CRAZY people at that!”
Just
then Brist’s mother walked in, “Are you okay Brist?”
“Don’t
worry mom, I’ll be just fine.”
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