1 Chapter 1 - Comitting The Crime
"It's all kind of ironic when the most likely person to commit the crime is actually committing the crime," Zaire commented as his legs hung loosely from the top of the yellow bus.
It was a mystery how he got there in the first place – then again, Zaire had a way of appearing in places nobody should conceivably go.
Henry glanced back and didn't cease her criminal activity – she didn't even flinch.
Truth be told, she was expecting her South African friend an hour ago and his presence at the scene of any crime made her feel safer.
"You're late…" Henry muttered, briefly removing her respirator to allow her voice to pass through. 'Leave it to him to be an hour late,' She internally mused.
Both Zaire and Henry wore black coats to combat the cold of Reston and lower the likelihood of being discovered; though Henrietta was the only person committing the crime.
'Guilty by association?' Zaire thought.
"If I get caught, I'll roll on you," Henry threatened through the thick respirator that guarded her face against the fumes of the spray paint she was using the taint the beauty of the school bus.
It was a nightly activity for her…
"I am guilty of no crimes," Zaire voiced, a cheeky smile on his face. "Unless you marry me, I will be forced to testify against you in open court."
Henry shot him a nasty glance, almost making a mistake with her vandalism attempt because of it.
Zaire pushed off the side of the bus and fell a couple of feet to the ground, landing without any issue thanks to his 6'5" height and the powerful legs forged from running in The Congo Basin back home.
"I guess being tall really does help," Henry commented, casting a side glance at Zaire before resuming her careful crime.
Zaire positioned himself behind Henrietta and examined the art she was trying to finish – it was impressive if nothing else. He could truly see her becoming a painter of some sort in the future.
She had a strong passion for artistic endeavors but it was too bad she gravitated to putting that art on things it didn't belong.
"It looks nice," He complimented and really did mean so. "You like your red and greens."
"Please don't even try it," Henry sighed half with defeat and half with annoyance – compliments were usually followed by an attempt to worm his way into her bed. "Not tonight, at least."
Zaire smirked and took a couple of steps forward, wrapping his hands around Henry's waist from behind – his fingers interlocked just below her boobs.
Their differences in height were further exaggerated.
Zaire had to bend to accommodate Henry securely into his arms and as a plus, she could not reject him, not while she was putting the finishing touches on her work of art.
Not that Henry had ever tried to truly reject him… If she had, Zaire would have stopped the shenanigans a long time ago.
When her graffiti was near completion, Henry swayed her body from side to side, hammering her head backwards in hopes that Zaire would release her before she was forced to use true force.
Once, she had grabbed his family jewels and he had learned his lesson for an entire week – she didn't want to resort to such methods again.
Luckily, Zaire could recognize his limits so he released her… but Henry could still feel his breath lingering on her neck.
If it wasn't one thing, it was another.
"Zaire!" Henry groaned, raising her spray paint with a threat implied. "Do you really want to spend time getting red out of your favourite coat?"
"Fine…" Zaire smiled and planted a quick peck on Henry's cheek before withdrawing completely.
This time, he took a Henry-safe distance – five feet from the epicentre of a possible artistic explosion.
"Life would be so much easier if you'd just be my girlfriend," He voiced, sounding mockingly hurt. "I mean, what's there to lose? Your virginity?" He joked, knowing she wasn't one.
"You say that to all of them," Henry replied, lifting her respirator a bit so the accumulated vapour could be vented. "Besides, the question isn't what's there to lose, but what's there to gain? We covered this two weeks ago, and you agreed to park your ass in the friend zone. Should we revisit that discussion?" She quirked her brows.
"Friends deserve hugs too," Zaire sighed in defeat.
"Not dick rubbing against my ass kind of hugs though," Henry argued back, putting the final sprits on her vandalism project. "And as far as you'll ever know… I am a virgin…"
She spun and met his eyes for the last comment, daring him to disagree.
Seeing that Zaire had chickened out of the argument like usual, once again establishing her dominance in the complicated friendship, Henry gestured to her finished work.
"What do you think?"
"I like it," Zaire commented.
Henry examined her creation for a couple of seconds, noting the slightly larger inclination toward the Fin Fuck You!
"I think the Fis a bit too large," She voiced her concern.
Zaire shrugged. "But a larger F usually means you really mean it," He justified, lest they spend another hour trying to perfect the crime.
Thankfully, the large F was a good enough reason for Henry to conclude the job.
Henry and Zaire spent a couple more seconds examining the graffiti, both coming to the same conclusion - they smiled as they fist-bumped and chuckled.
"Seriously though," Henry rubbed her hands together, trying to find extra warmth "You need to stop trying to go 100 for me. Me and my mom will be leaving soon – no need to fuck it up."
Zaire sighed as he started to clean up the scene of the crime – strips of cloth were disposed and spraying cans were tossed far away.
"I think you'll find that you will be in Reston for a while," Zaire stated with utmost certainty. "Besides, it's not like I have to stay…" He threw the idea out.
"I think you'll find that I don't need to," Henry argued, her eyes narrowed. "And you have an opportunity here – they may be racist motherfuckers but at least they hide it well enough."
"I am used to it…"
"It gets a lot worse outside of Reston," Henry strongly voiced. "Don't fuck up something that isn't broken," She advised.
Unwilling to further entertain the conversation, Zaire quickly tossed an empty spray can in Henrietta's direction, and she reacted quickly, taking a step back and allowing the can to pass her by.
"You always do this," She was annoyed. "Every argument you force me out of my mindset by throwing something – I am not training to be a Ninja Turtle, dude!"
"So says the girl I am cleaning up after," Zaire argued back, pitting fault against fault.
It took a couple of minutes for the duo to get rid of the cans, and the pieces of plastic, and to stuff all incriminating evidence at the bottom of their respective garbage.
"Do you want me to take you home," Zaire offered when all evidence had been thoroughly scrubbed away. "Will take a couple of minutes at best."
Henry grabbed her bike and rolled it around the bus – her only answer was that she headed for the parking lot instead of the back road.
"Do you really think I would ride home now that you're here?" Her voice lingered as she strode away.
Zaire smiled – he liked this side of her.
It had been a little over a month since they met, but they had grown incredibly close in that time… Henry was cynical enough to counteract his fake, positive persona.
They just matched…
Though his effort to make Henry his girlfriend had proven fruitless, it was only because of his extensive dating history at Reston that the girl was reluctant.
After all, in the month and a half since his arrival, Zaire had dated the three top cheerleaders and two of the school's five weirdos.
Zaire trailed followed the sound of Henry's creaking bike – he reminded himself to check it out sometime.
"I can't believe you brought a noise machine to a silent crime," Zaire jabbed, chuckling at his own joke.
"I can't believe Patty Yang dumped you for a moron like Clay Boone," Henry jabbed back – her blow was below the belt.
Zaire pressed a hand to his heart and pretended to stumble – she had landed a critical attack and Henry knew it… It made her laugh, stumbling with her bike.
"I mean," Zaire jogged to catch up with Henry. "Clay Boone with the rich father versus the scholarship kid who made it to Reston because of basketball comes from South Africa, owns a small business, and lives in a cottage in the woods. If you picked me, I would be very impressed…"
Henry smirked. "Girls like Patty Yang choose the guy with the bigger dick," She stated.
Zaire rolled his eyes and similarly smirked. "Maybe that's why she visits me on the weekends?" He revealed.
Henry's right eye twitched. "I thought that was because of The Family Tree Project?"
"I mean…" Zaire grabbed Henry's bike and switched it to the other hand so there was no obstruction between himself and Henrietta. "—in her defence, she is just a descendant of Chinese immigrants. She is more American."
"Since when do we spend time talking about Patty Yang?" Henry tried to withhold her distaste.
"I would much rather discuss your hot sister," Zaire admitted.
"The one with the fake smiles who has no idea that she likes both girls and guys?" Henry raised a brow.
"Let's leave that for her to discover," He almost choked – Henry shouldn't have been aware that Jenna had bisexual tendencies as well.
After another two minutes of walking, the chuckling and chatting duo entered the parking lot - there was only one car there, Zaire's Hummer.
"You work two jobs but can afford a 2007 Hummer H3?" Henry was sceptical. "Are you selling some ass on the side or?"
"Patty takes care of me when she can, Jessie is understanding, Kate visits the restaurant regularly, and everything else is made up of prayers and hopes," Zaire commented, retrieving the car keys from his pocket, and pressing a button to release the lock to the trunk.
It opened.
Henry wasted no time and hoisted her bike into the trunk – she struggled a bit at first and Zaire, wisely, made no effort to help.
Henry wasn't the type of fragile girl who would accept his aid – Zaire hopped into the driver's seat and stretched his body across, pushing open the passenger's side door.
However, instead of heading to the passenger's side of the car, Henry knocked on the driver's side incessantly until Zaire lowered the window.
"The answer is no!" He shouted.
"Come on!" Henry pleaded.
"No!"
"Zaza…" Henry made her best approximation of the puppy eyes as she used Zaire's nickname. "Come on! I haven't driven anything in months!"
"That's why – no!" Zaire voiced with a tone of finality. "You will never again scrape my fucking hummer! Do you know how lucky we are to be alive?"
Needless to say, they were very lucky since they didn't miraculously miss the tree as he had told Henry – he had to shift them out of the way.
It gave him a headache for days…
"I barely even nicked the tree…" Henry grumbled as she made her way to the passenger's side seat.
VROOOOM
The engine started and the hummer shot off, banging left just as the gate was approaching.
Thankfully, Henry and Zaire made it out in one piece.
---------------
The first few minutes of the journey were met with companionable silence.
There was no need when the music was so good, and of course, it was Henry's playlist since she considered Zaire's car as half her own.
'It's a good thing we have similar taste in music,' He internally complained.
Henry didn't keep the peace for long – she turned the music down, adjusted her seating posture a bit more to the right, and stared at Zaire's face for a solid two minutes.
"Forty miles per hour," She mocked, staring at the gauge. "How impressive for a guy with a hummer. It's like giving Patty the full four inches."
And, of course, Henry knew to hit where it hurts.
But Zaire wasn't any slack who could only take a beating - he smirked and released one hand from the steering wheel, using that hand to loosen his belt.
With Henry's gaze captured, Zaire reached into his pants and pulled out a flaccid cock as thick as a relay baton and five inches long.
Henry's mind spun into calculations – she was unable to remove her eyes for a couple of seconds, imagining the length and the girth when Zaire was hard.
Then, she averted her gaze and scoffed.
"I think four inches is what Patty gets from Clay these days," Zaire said proudly, slipping his cock back into his pants when he saw Henry admit defeat. "—Patty sticks around because I give her the best sex of her life."
It was far from the first time Henry had seen Zaire's dick – too many drunk, party nights and skinny dipping in the lake had them familiar with each other's bodies… but never intimately familiar.
And never from such a close distance.
'And the cold waters of the lake do him no justice,' Henry commented in her mind.
"I swear…" Henry quipped with mild disbelief. "I watch Patty at school sometimes, and I am just impressed with how well she still walks… I guess I need to pay closer attention."
HAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHA
The friends burst into laughter.
"She couldn't take it all," Zaire voiced through his laughter.
"Maybe that's why she wanted clay – he couldn't reach the end of the rainbow," Henry broke into a full-blown laughter.
"I bet when Clay talks to Patty," Henry quieted down to hear the butt of the joke and Zaire didn't disappoint. "—they engage in a lot of small talk."
HAHAHAHAHA
Henry was smacking the dashboard.
Zaire had to try five times harder to keep control of the car – a crash would hardly hurt him and Henry, but a wrecked car would take a lot of explanations.
HAHAHAHAHA
The friends burst into laughter once more.
The laughing continued for a couple of minutes.
Zaire pulled the car into the nearby gas station – he was obviously familiar with the place based on the ease with which he navigated around. "Want anything," He inquired, turning to Henrietta.
Henry slid outside, making sure she brought the key along since Zaire tended to forget it… Being locked out of the car at three in the morning was not something she wanted to experience a second time.
"I'll head inside with you," Henry raised a hand, displaying the keys. "Forgetting something?"
"See, we'd make a great couple," He shrugged, unflinching at what a disaster it could have turned into.
The last time he forgot the key and tried to break into his own car, The Sheriff took him to the station and tried to charge him simply because being black with a Hummer was impossible in Reston.
...…
Zaire and Henry triggered the bell as they entered the gas station - they were the only people inside, aside from the fat cashier who looked a thick rope away from suicide.
The gas station only had two aisles – it was a 20-square-meter haven for junk food and late-night mistakes.
There were sandwiches on the front counter but neither Zaire nor Henry was enthused about the freshness of the snacks, not when the cabbage was drooping to one side as if it was sad to be included in the sandwich.
"I want something solid. Potato chips, maybe?" Henry voiced, making it clear that Zaire would be paying.
He lamented the feminine gift of saying something without really saying it.
"You can have whatever you want…" Zaire shrugged, a smirk dancing on his lips.
Henry beamed – sure, she was suspicious but even Zaire had his limits.
"You're paying for us both," He added.
Henry froze since she didn't have any money and she sure as hell didn't expect Zaire to have any money.
"Fuck!" Henry cursed. "I spent everything on the paint."
"You're gonna have to wash dishes or give that fat guy some boob action in the storage room," Zaire commented, unhesitant as he stuffed chips and chocolate bars into his jacket. "You should get the drinks," He suggested.
The way he was stuffing things into his coat made it clear to Henry that they would be making a quick escape… or sleeping in jail.
"Fuck…" Henry cursed again, but the time for backing down had passed – she knew that.
Luckily, Henry had the experience when it came to petty crime and her record showed as much… stealing a motorbike at twelve, borrowing money from one of her mother's abusive exes at thirteen, taking a hoodie off a random girl in the park at fourteen, and of course, stealing a few snacks from the gas station…
This would be her second time trying to accomplish the feat – the first time, she got caught…
Wasting no time, Henry opened the fridge and stuffed drinks into her pockets – the cans were smaller to carry so she only took a couple of plastic bottles.
Luckily, there was extra space from her spray cans so she could use the same space if she was fine with the drinks having the scent of paint and rubber.
Henry and Zaire finished their snatching and made their rounds, approaching the counter from the blind spot in the camera.
Henry's insides clenched as she wondered what Zaire could possibly be up to – they had taken too much not to be noticed and they hadn't dashed outside immediately.
Unless the cashier was a complete moron – which was possible judging from his grease-stained shirt, unshaven beard, and obese physique.
But still…
'We should have already gone for the exit… unless…' Henry was spooked as she assumed the worst. 'Is Zaire going to rob the cashier as well?FUCK!'
Regardless of how much time they spent together, Henry had to remind herself that she had only known Zaire for about a month – that was hardly enough time to know him deeply.
'Fuck… fuck… fuck…'
However, unlike her initial expectation, Zaire glanced at Henry, threw her a wink, and subtly reached into his coat as they approached the cashier.
Henry's heart was about to jump out of her chest – she knew Revive had a gun he kept in the cabin… it didn't even cross her mind that he could have brought it with him.
She leaned forward quickly and grabbed his hand, preventing him from withdrawing whatever was in his coat.
Zaire chuckled…
Then, the cashier chuckled…
Henry felt confused at first… then, she watched as Zaire withdrew his hand with nothing inside it – he and the cashier fist-bumped.
It was at that moment Henry knew she had been played.
"You should see her face," The Cashier burst into laughter, staring at Henry's white face as it recovered from its paleness. "She was stuffing cans into her pockets like there was no tomorrow. Damn, girl… You have deep pockets!"
"You have to send me that video, Greg!" Zaire jokingly pleaded, almost toppling over the bubblegum vase on the counter. "Henry likes to talk shit… I need that video to keep her in her place!"
"Definitely, man…" Greg replied, and the duo fist-bumped once more.
"You played me?" Henry felt slow to recover but her voice was eerily calm. "Hmmm, you messed with me?"
She was ready to fight and it was only by some miracle of self-control that she hadn't punched Zaire's lights out…
"What else would bring me such joy?" Zaire raised his head as if proud of the accomplishment. "What makes you think we can rob a place like this with a camera in every corner?"
"Well…" Henry was at a loss for words – she saw one camera but taking a second glance, there was indeed a camera in every corner.
'I feel so stupid…' She thought – she could only blame herself for being played so thoroughly.
"Put it on your tab, Greg…" Zaire suggested, pulling the drinks out of Henry's pockets as he presented the chips and biscuits out of his.
"Got you, boss!"
The orders were calculated – Revive even received the receipt though he didn't pay anything from start to end.
...…
"Don't you mean your tab?" Henry questioned as she and Zaire made their way to the door. "Why would Greg put the costs on his tab… wouldn't that be a loss?"
"Nope, his tab," Zaire confirmed but didn't comment further until they were out of the gas station and back in the car.
Then, he started to explain…
"Greg is a loser so he can't get a girlfriend and I sometimes get him the next best thing," Zaire explained, starting the car and pressing the gas.
"And what's the next best thing?" Henry felt subtly disgusted, and it showed on her face. "And it better not be what I think it is."
"Don't look at me like that," He complained, happy that he was too dark to noticeably blush. "Everything is consensual. His family owns the gas station. It makes decent money. There are no strip clubs in Reston so I occasionally hook him up with girls to sleep with, and the next day, they can come and get some groceries and snacks from the gas station."
"Isn't that prostitution?" Henry frowned. "Or, at least a prostitution exchange?"
Zaire neither confirmed nor denied Henry's statement as he pulled onto the street and left the gas station behind.
......…
Soon, they started to tear into bags of potato chips and chocolate bars with cans of Dr Pepper to wash it all down.
And with all the different flavours at their disposal, Henry soon found herself feeding Zaire as he drove… the harmony between them seamlessly transitioned from driving to parking and eating, to driving and eating, and tossing food in the air and catching it in their mouths while Zaire drove.
"It isn't prostitution," Zaire commented as he ate. "The girls are former prostitutes who are going to school. They still do business on the side to afford it. Now, instead of sleeping with a bunch of guys who may or may not pay, they sleep with a very lustful fat guy who pays with groceries, snacks, and gas."
Henry silently mused how many times her car had run out of gas, and suddenly, the offer didn't seem as repulsive.
"You're mine," Zaire quashed the thought. "Don't even think about it."
"Funny…" Henry smirked, guiding the chip in her hand into Zaire's mouth. "I wasn't under the impression that I belonged to no one but myself."
Her tone was mildly flirtatious with a semi-joking undertone.
As the potato chip was placed against his lips, Zaire leaned his head forward and took three of Henry's fingers into his mouth.
He sucked, licked, and indulged on Henry's fingers, treating them as if they were the most delicious meal of his life.
Henry curled her fingers in his mouth… she never thought that she could feel such pleasure from someone licking her fingers and the fact that it was Zaire doing it, made her all the hotter.
She dazedly removed one finger and used the other two to play with Zaire's tongue.
Their breathing was getting rougher… she unconsciously slipped out of her coat and her mind warred with her body though they wanted the same thing.
Luckily, both Zaire and Henry had the presence of mind to know when things would be taking a turn to unrecoverable boundaries.
"OW!"
Zaire bit down on Henrietta's finger and she quickly withdrew her hand – the bite was more playful than anything and granted her mind the clarity it required.
"That was…" Henry pressed down on her chest, trying to stop the beating organ that was her heart from escaping. "Intense…" She evaluated.
"And stiff…" Zaire replied, thinking about what was happening inside his pants.
"And wet…" Henry mimicked his reply without even meaning to.
The atmosphere was filling with sexual tension once more – neither of them wanted to make the mistake of submitting to their desires.
In Henrietta's case, she knew she was broken... and there was no need to drag Zaire down with her, especially when she didn't imagine staying in Reston for more than a couple of months.
In Zaire's case, he knew it wasn't the time to become intimate with Henry, not if he wanted the relationship to weather the storms and clouds coming their way.
She had yet to discover her true self – she was a Jumper unconsciously blocking out her abilities due to past traumas concerning her father.
"Okay, I need to get out of this car before something happens that we'll both regret," Henry voiced, fanning her face with her hands.
"Well…" Zaire parked the car on the side of the road and gestured outside the window where a barn stood in front of a white, single-family detached house buried deeply into its lot. "Good thing you're already at home."
And indeed, she was…
They had been so absorbed in driving, eating and generally having fun that they had failed to realize just how close they had gotten to Henry's house.
Usually, Zaire would drop Henry a mile away and she would ride the rest of the journey, but this time, the only thing he had yet to do was take the road into the yard.
And he wouldn't… she wouldn't want him to.
"Thanks," Henry hopped out of the car and when Zaire popped the trunk, she took her bike out and circled back to the driver's side window.
Zaire hesitated for a couple of seconds, wondering if he should exit the car and give Henry a goodbye hug, but he ultimately decided against it.
Neither of them was thinking straight at the moment.
With any other girls, Zaire would have kept the course and slept with them, but he and Henry had more in common than she yet realised.
Zaire lowered the window and he and Henry met eyes… they were separated by their sensibilities and a car door.
"Tell Jenna I still want to bone her and Patty shouldn't stand between us," Zaire voiced, hoping to kill the last of the mood.
"EW, no!" Henry snorted, leaning a bit further from the door. "You can bone Jenna when I am gone…"
"We can bone her together…" Zaire suggested, wiggling his brows. "I know you like a little female action," He smirked.
"Threesomes are always with strangers," Henry educated, smiling when she noted a hint of inexperience on Zaire's face. "Threesome and friends never work out… trust me."
He snorted and raised his window – the night ended with a defeat.
Henry departed.
Zaire waited until she had entered the house before starting the car, and then he departed.
Tomorrow was school.
But training came first…
