Zaire barely got any sleep…

Not long after he had settled into bed, Brenda requested dinner and he could do nothing but comply – quite possibly, it was the guilt of his extraordinary night informing his decisions.

They ate together… waffles and syrup.

They slipped into the shower and finally got the stink of sex off their bodies… they fell asleep in the tub for a couple of minutes before Zaire woke up.

Brenda never did…

Zaire scooped her up with practiced ease, dried her body off as she muttered half-sleep complaints, and then, they were back beneath the comfort of the blankets.

Of course, they both slept naked, not that Zaire would have minded clothes given how cold Reston tended to become at night, especially near the forest.

Zaire closed his eyes for the final time…

……………………

Morning came in what felt like the blink of an eye.

“Morning…” Her body moved as she slid a hand around his waist. “You look beautiful this morning.”

Zaire smirked, raising his head and whipping his hair backward so Brenda could inspect his full face. “I always look beautiful in the mornings,” He voiced.

She snorted. “I take it back.”

Brenda slid from under the blanket, rising out of the bed and giving Zaire a full view of her naked beauty.

It took a while for her to notice his lecherous gaze. “No…” She immediately shut him down, spreading her legs a bit to highlight her swollen, red labia. “You see that? That means no sex for the next day and a half…”

Zaire stared at the missed opportunity between her legs. “Really? To me, you look like you can handle a couple more rounds.” He asserted.

Brenda rolled her eyes and pulled some old clothes out of the closet. “You weren’t the one bleeding last night,” She voiced, glancing back and meeting his eyes. “—and no, I am not referring to my period… you better pray to god I do bleed then.”

Zaire felt the urge to chuckle but instead, he really prayed… internally.

As for Brenda’s bleeding – it sometimes happened during their more intense sex sessions.

“Which one?” Brenda questioned, holding two dresses she recovered from the closet. “I don’t have a lot of school-worthy dresses here… I guess I should leave more things behind. Better clear a spot in the closet for me,” She demanded.

Zaire knew she was testing the waters, trying to see how he would react to the future possibility of her spending weeks over instead of mere days.

His face was an impeccable stoicism – even better than his stoicism, Zaire had already thought ahead.

“Bottom draw on the right,” He motioned.

Brenda furrowed her brows and knelt, once again highlighting her naked sex that opened slightly in what Zaire discerned as welcome.

But it was not…

“It’s empty…” Brenda noted, opening the compartment.

“It’s yours…” Zaire revealed. “That’s your drawer. And of course, I will clear some space in the closet as well…”

Of course, Zaire had done this with the specific knowledge that Brenda would not move in – statistically, relationships at the high school level didn’t tend to last beyond a fortnight.

Brenda wanted to see some sort of commitment and Zaire had enjoyed the sex enough that he was willing to fake his way to some more.

“Really?” Her eyes sparkled.

“Yeah…” He replied with the confidence of an expert lawyer who knew his client was indeed guilty but was willing to fight the justice system to the bitter end. “—by the way, the white flora dress gives you the perfect vibe for school after an intense night of sex.”

“I am trying to look single and un-sexable,” Brenda voiced, furrowing her brows. “I don’t need Patty asking what, or who, I was doing last night… Things get complicated when it comes to you.”

Zaire once again knew the perfect response. “You’re gonna have to tell her sometime,” He voiced while internally screaming ‘Never tell her’. “—I know she is your friend… that means she would want us to be happy.”

“I know, I know…” Brenda was torn, clearly unwilling to mention anything to Patty until she was sure that she and Zaire were real – something kept whispering in the back of her mind that they were not. “I just… I just need more time!”

‘Perfect… take all the time you want. Perhaps, eternity?’ His mind whispered conspiratorially; then, he saw an opportunity to end the morning perfectly. “Are you ashamed of us?”

“That’s not what I am say—”

“Then, tell Patty!” Zaire insisted.

“She’s my friend. I will decide when, and whether or not, I want to tell her anything!” Brenda yelled back, losing her temper as she always did when cornered by Zaire. “Please… Zaire. Let’s not argue this morning.”

She marched forward, completely naked, and embraced The Jumper. “We had a perfect night… let’s not do this…” She pleaded.

But how could Zaire let a perfect argument pass him by?

“I know I am not as rich as the guys you normally—”

“Are you calling me a fucking gold-digger?” Brenda immediately put some distance between them – she was disgusted by the assumption.

‘You are a gold-digger… if I didn’t have my Hummer, you wouldn’t be dating me…’ He internally complained but his mouth pretended to stumble to find an answer. “No, I just mean… you like a certain type of—”

“FUCK YOU, ZAIRE!” Brenda scoffed – she no longer felt the need to prance around naked… she tossed on the first t-shirt from the closet. “I am going to take a bath, then I’m going to fucking leave because you obviously don’t want me here.”

“Brenda, wait—”

BANG

The bathroom door shut behind her and just as Zaire was considering the possibility of a steamy makeup sex, she heard the familiar click of a door’s locking.

Brenda had locked the bathroom door – she had never done that before… it meant she was serious about the sex band.

“I know I should have kept things casual,” Zaire lamented giving the girl too much hope for a relationship. “—I use to be able to fuck even when she was mad.”

He could only sigh…

Brenda’s bath was five minutes in but she had yet to exit the bathroom – something strange tugged at the back of Zaire’s mind.

‘I have been played…’ He realized.

During their casual sex calls and occasionally sleepovers, Brenda had come to know him in a limited capacity.

Zaire kept a flowing personality so it was impossible for Brenda to truly discover his quirks, but she did know him well enough to know that he would never let go of an argument.

Hence, she had found ways to cope.

Brenda was capable of dismantling almost any argument Zaire could come up with, which is why he pulled out the gold-digger card.

“Still, she gave up too easily…” Zaire chuckled at the realization. “She wants to get out of here… why?”

Perhaps, before The Nazi attack, Zaire would have let it slide since he couldn’t concern himself with the matters of kids but after the attack, an itch to know everything existed within him.

He stuffed his hand under Brenda’s pillow and true to his suspicions, her phone wasn’t there…

‘Since when does Brenda keep her phone with her when she is in my cottage?’ The Jumper internally complained.

Left with no better option, and suspicions rapidly growing, Zaire slipped into a comfortable jogger and t-shirt while also recovering his phone from the drawer.

Given his phone was linked to Brenda’s through their GPS, it was easy enough for him to log into the mirror software on her phone, and in a couple of seconds, he was scrolling through her texts.

There was nothing…

“But for someone who texts every couple of seconds, why don’t you have any messages for the two hours before you reach my cottage?” Zaire muttered to himself, adjusting the mirror time on his phone.

He wanted to see the message from seven hours prior… and lo and behold, a conversation not reflected in the messages was presented before his eyes.

“Lucas Boone…”

Lucas: Where r u?

Brenda: None of ur business!

Lucas: U hv my product – it is my business!

Brenda: Already sold – drop cash usual spot.

Lucas: Tmrw morning, don’t be late. Btw, I enjoyed our nite 2gether. When dat hppn agen?

Brenda: Never. Hv a bf. Dat was a mistake… we were hvin truble.

Lucas: Wit d way u moaned into my ear – didn’t seem 2 regret it at d time! Besides, Zaire is seein 4 diff girls ri nw. Wake tf up!

“Sell out,” Zaire snorted.

Brenda: I drp ur money off. We done. Leave Zaire and I alone! We love each other.

Lucas: Bring my money… I hv proof – see you dere tmrw.

Zaire sighed in disappointment as he read the text messages, then re-read them again – he wanted to gain a thorough understanding of what happened between Brenda and Lucas.

The implications were not pretty – not that Zaire could blame anyone since he and Brenda had a loose commitment at best… on her part, of course.

Still, it stung a bit.

“I guess cheating does come back to bite you in the ass,” Zaire chuckled, thinking about the fact that he slept with three girls the previous night.

First, there was Brenda… then Kristen at a party, and finally, he fucked Patty in the forest some miles away.

Yet, he was upset because Brenda slept with someone else some two weeks ago when he was ignoring her at a party and trying to get into Angela’s pants.

Luckily, Zaire felt comforted by the fact that a slight sting was all he felt – after all, it meant he hadn’t grown too attached to Brenda as yet.

Initially, he would have used this knowledge to his advantage and fuck with Brenda emotionally but Zaire had to admit, he had grown to care for the girl too much to push her toward suicidal practices.

It had happened before and he bore the guilt…

The shower stopped running and Zaire rushed to the kitchen, pretending he had been making breakfast the entire time.

Brenda was fully dressed when she exited the bathroom, meaning there was no room for makeup sex. “Listen…” She met Zaire’s eyes, tilting her head a bit lower due to guilt.

He hadn’t noticed before but now, it was blatant at worse.

“I need to head out… can we…” She hesitated, wanting to say something more but she was still angry inside.

“We can talk later,” Zaire voiced, sliding past the counter and embracing Brenda – he gazed into her eyes. “—we can always talk through everything. And you can tell me anything.”

The corner of her eyes turned wet.

Brenda pressed her lips against Zaire’s… she was overcome with a flood of emotion – there wasn’t much she knew about Zaire but at the very least, she knew he cared.

“I have to handle something – after that, we need to talk,” She voiced, parting from sucking on his bottom lip. “—you taste like peanut butter.”

“Must be from this…” Zaire pulled his hand from behind the counter, revealing a paper bag. “—peanut butter of a slice of wheat bread. Add some sliced bananas, a drizzle of honey, some nuts, slices of apples, and a Nutella spread on the bottom slice of wheat bread and you have…”

With a flourish of his hands, Zaire presented the paper bag to a stunned Brenda. “Surprised?” He smugly questioned – he had made it the previous night and if he could, he would unmake it.

But more than the feeling of betrayal Brenda had brought on, Zaire couldn’t handle the thought that she may choose Lucas Boone over him… he had to make sure she wouldn’t.

“Zaire…” Brenda was aghast. “Is this something you learned to make in Africa?” She questioned, knowing about his restaurant – she had been there a couple of times.

“Nope, totally American down to the possible diabetes from the honey,” He joked.

They stared into each other’s eyes – Brenda had reached a new level of appreciation while Zaire saw her feeling cementing, granting him control over her actions once more.

Then, her phone rang with a text message – there was no need to guess from who based on the complex expression on her face.

“I have to go…” Brenda rushed to the door, pausing briefly to raise the paper bag. “Thanks for the lunch. I’ll imagine you sitting across from me when I eat it for lunch!” She cheered.

Then, she was through the door.

Usually, Zaire would walk her down the backroad but last night, he noticed her car was parked closer to the cottage – she had obviously driven her car here before picking up his Hummer from the school’s parking lot.

“She makes for a good assistant,” He muttered.

Zaire sat at the counter and made three sandwiches which he promptly ate… his stomach had been growing since the previous night and the intense bouts of sex hadn’t helped.

‘Resist the urge… resist…’ His mind whispered.

But how could Zaire resist – it was against his better instincts as someone being hunted by Nazis and a bunch of other secret organizations that wanted to experiment on him.

There was no room for uncertainty.

Sighing in defeat, Zaire took out his phone and clicked on the mapping app – on any other phone, it would only reflect the user’s location but Zaire’s phone was linked to Brenda’s.

He watched her location change from the route to school to the gas station – a familiar gas station that Zaire would have never expected.

“I am finding a lot of things out today,” He sighed.

Brenda’s betrayal could be rooted in teenage stupidity but Greg’s betrayal somehow felt even more profound to Zaire – he could tell from the GPS, this wasn’t Brenda’s first time at the gas station.

Yet, Greg had never mentioned anything.

Zaire mentally counted down, trying to estimate just how long Brenda would remain at the gas station – it was a total of twenty minutes.

“Guess I have to deal with this personally,” Zaire stated, walking to the show to take his turn.

…………………………

An hour later, time that Zaire should have already been in the first class at school, he drove the Hummer through the backroads.

His hands were tense on the wheel and before hopping inside the hummer, he checked every part of the ventilation system – clearly, paranoia was a misdiagnosis.

“More like PTSD…”

It was a happy coincidence that he was low on gas just as the gas station was coming up – then again, the car had driven to Stanford and back without a top-up.

As Zaire pulled into the lane, he could imagine Greg recognizing his hummer through the blinds – the large man probably flinched and hurried to occupy himself.

‘It’s the eyes…’ Zaire reminded himself. ‘Look them in the eyes when they lie…’

Contrary to popular belief, there was no way to tell the perfect lie – as a former CIA agent, Zaire was thought to confuse the truths and lies… making them both a fundamental part of himself.

His training as a Jumper had reinforced such a concept.

Now, Zaire could be telling the truth but he would show traces of lying, and when he told a lie, it would become an absolute truth – there was no way around it.

‘All I can say are lies…’

Usually, during the day, there would be someone outside to connect the vehicle to the pump but Greg had sent them home earlier, knowing Lucas and Brenda would be meeting.

He never expected Zaire to visit a couple of minutes later.

When the bell rang to indicate someone had entered, Greg’s worse fears were revealed – Zaire, wearing his paper-thin smile, entered the gas station with deliberate steps.

Fear… Greg was afraid.

Unlike most people, Greg knew what Zaire was capable of… there was once when he called on Zaire’s services and Greg hasn’t been able to wiggle himself out of slavery since.

“My friend…” Zaire was joyful.

Greg flinched. “Zaire, listen… I didn’t—”

“No bullshit. You know what I am here for,” The Jumper got straight to the point, a smile melting from his features. “You have five fingers so you can lie to me five times… be smart.”

Greg sunk into his thoughts for a couple of seconds, then he reluctantly headed into the backroom, followed closely by Zaire.

He didn’t even bother to hide the code to the door’s lock… he didn’t know much but he knew Zaire had an uncanny ability to get into space people rather keep hidden.

They entered the room.

The shelves inside the room were filled with DVDs – nasty little videos of incidents that happened in the warehouses near the gas station.

Greg had his own video network and even rented the warehouses to the highest bidders on occasion.

As for how Zaire found out about such a profitable business, it was Greg’s slip of the tongue after Zaire witnessed Bill Boone forcing a teenager to overdose.

“You know what I want to see,” Zaire voiced as they stopped in front of the only computer in the small room. “—I need all available copies as well… and I need to know if Shelby from school stores any of the disks here.”

Greg grimaced when he heard the name Shelby – Zaire noticed even the most minute reactions and this one was a bit too intense.

“I guess you have more than one secret you have been keeping from me…” He frowned.

Zaire always prided himself about knowing who he was working with but it seemed he had overestimated himself when it came to Greg.

Zaire grimaced when he noticed there was already an established trail – there was video, gas filling his car, and there were bound to be guarantees Greg kept just in case.

Whatever sins Greg was hiding, Zaire would not be able to hold him accountable for them.

Greg started typing on the computer, soon pulling up a video from about an hour prior.

The duo sat and watched the video together.

--------------

Brenda stopped her car in the parking lot behind the gas station; then, she waited.

A couple of minutes later, lost in her thoughts and the music from her stereo, she was surprised by the constant ticking sounds impacting her windshield.

It took her a couple of seconds to realize it was intentional and when she rolled down the window and lowered the music volume, she could see Lucas standing in the gap between the warehouse and gas station.

Her heart panicked.

The reason she had so blatantly parked in the parking lot was because of the camera – the car would hide their exchange but if anything, untoward happened, the incident would be caught on camera.

It offered her a measure of protection.

But the moment she left the camera's view, which was obviously Lucas’s intention, a layer of protection would disappear and Zaire’s name would be all she had remaining.

“Hey…” Lucas whispered, gesturing to the camera overhead. “Come here!” He urged.

Brenda gritted her teeth, grabbed the bag from the backseat, and exited the car with large, hurried strides – she thought that the faster she moved, the quicker the deal would be done with.

Lucas opened the door to the warehouse, shutting it behind them… and that would have been the end of the video if Greg didn’t have secret cameras all over.

The scene progressed to inside the warehouse.

Brenda walked toward the barest hint of light – the gaps in the roofing had created a few light spots in the middle of the warehouse.

And she was no friend to darkness… aside from Zaire but he was more saddle brown than dark.

Lucas strode toward her and tried to slip his hands around her waist but she backed away, simultaneously pushing him backward. “Don’t even try!” She growled.

“What?” He shrugged nonchalantly but there was an intense look in his eyes. “It isn’t like you haven’t had my arms around you before… and you were naked then. It should be safer now that you have clothes on your back.”

“Only my boyfriend is allowed to touch me!” Brenda strongly stated.

“Oh, yeah?” Lucas took two rapid steps forward, pulling Brenda into his embrace and no matter how much she tried to struggle, he held her firm. “Like this… does he hold you like this? I am touching you, where is your boyfriend? Where was he at the party when we fucked! Oh, yeah… he was fucking another girl in the nearby room!”

“Lucas, stop it!” Brenda growled but internally, she was terrified. “Do you really want me to tell Zaire about this?” She played her trump card.

Lucas’s hand paused for a second, recalling what his father had told him about Zaire – best stay away from that kid, Luke. He has the eyes of a killer.

Lucas had shot two people before and badly beaten a few others but he had never killed anyone… Bill taught him the only time to kill was when the family was threatened.

Feeling that Lucas’s hands had paused at the mention of Zaire’s name, Brenda decided to press her advantage – she slipped free from his embrace.

“Think about it…” She urged, trying to act brave. “Zaire doesn’t bother anyone but the last guy who tried to touch me in the female’s bathroom at school… Zaire took care of him,” She lied through her teeth.

There was no guy brave enough to bother her inside the girl’s bathroom at school, even without her dating Zaire.

“You think I am afraid of your boy-toy?” Lucas growled, grabbing Brenda’s arm and clutching it tightly. “—if it’s a fight he wants… it’s a fight he’ll get.”

“I am not saying that…” Brenda clarified, a fake calm returning to her face as the pain of having her arm clutched sobered her mind. “I am saying, why try to kiss me when Zaire will make a hard time for both of us? I am not a good liar so if anything happens, he will know. He’ll probably dump me but then I will blame it all on you… what will he do to you?”

Lucas considered the question for a few seconds before snorting and releasing Brenda.

She similarly snorted and tossed over a plastic bag filled with twenty thousand cash. “It’s all there…” She mentioned, then snaked her hand into her pocket and displayed a wad of cash. “This is ten thousand – my cut… this concludes our business.”

Brenda hurriedly made her way to the door.

“Are you sure?” Lucas smirked derisively. “Your mom’s gambling issues are far more than ten thousand dollars.”

“Ten thousand is all I need!” Brenda argued, pausing at the door.

“Guess you don’t know. It was ten thousand until your mom went back and tried to break even but she ended up owing more,” He revealed, small sympathy and glee warring in his eyes.

He wanted to hook Brenda back in… but surprisingly, she closed her eyes and considered the possibilities – she knew about the women Bill Boone slept with…

They were all desperate and in need of money.

Brenda never wanted that to be her but it had become her when she slept with Lucas to get enough for her mother’s debt – even then, she earned the money by dealing for him, never letting herself sink into the realm of prostitution.

It was almost the same thing but a thin line separated her from such an outcome.

But now, Brenda knew that if she turned around, her life would be over and she would forever be trapped in Reston – so, she chose differently.

‘I’m sorry, Mom…’ Her mind whispered. “I choose my life and my boyfriend… I am not coming back, even if I have to live on the streets after we lose our home!” She announced.

Brenda was out of the door and into her car before she could get a response – she had departed.

Lucas loitered around for a while, stashing his side money behind an inconspicuous drum before also departing in anger.

---------------------

Zaire considered the video, watching it over once and then twice to make sure he read their lips accordingly.

“You can understand what they are saying?” Greg was surprised. “The video has no volume.”

Zaire quirked a brow, not bothering to reply to the large man – he wanted Greg to get the message that they were no longer on talking terms.

After all, Brenda could have been raped in that warehouse if things had gone south and no doubt, Greg would have done nothing about it.

“Is this all?” Zaire questioned, suddenly shifting his mood and patting Greg on the back.

It was a friendly gesture.

“Yeah, for the video, and –” Greg rose from his seat and quickly selected a few DVDs from the shelf- he presented the DVDs to Zaire. “These are the ones Shelby stores here… ever looked at that and he pays plenty enough.”

“Thanks, my friend…” Zaire tried not to cringe at his words and barely managed – it was doubly worth it when he saw the smile on Greg’s face. “—we have a long way to go before I can trust you again, though…”

“I know…” Greg eagerly voiced. “No more lies between us, I promise… and Tiff? Tiffany?”

“Tomorrow is my game night,” Zaire stated, thinking about using the basketball game as the perfect alibi. “—I’ll get Tiffany and Enya to come to spend time with you tomorrow.”

Greg’s smile turned wider.

………………

When Zaire marched out of the gas station, he didn’t immediately depart… The Jumper entered the warehouse at the back, dug up Lucas’s stash, and took all the money.

Then, he tossed the bag of money into the trunk of his hummer… all that remained was to detach the pump and drive away, which was swiftly done.

The trip to school was neither long nor short – Zaire’s mind kept being occupied with thoughts of Brenda and what was happening with her family.

He knew her mom was a gambler but he didn’t know to what degree.

“Now I know…” He muttered and repeated. “Now I know…”