“Let’s go.” She charged off to the nearest one, her ponytail bobbing with the movement.

“Be careful.”

“How about you come with me to make sure I’m careful.” She wagged her finger at me in a come hither gesture. “You promised.”

“I did?”

“I think.” She climbed the steps. “I am exquisitely tipsy, after all. I can’t be expected to remember everything this evening.”

“Yes.” I smiled. “This is true.”

“And Hex assigned you as my official escort.”

“And that is also true.” I trailed behind her and hoped there were no more hidden cameras recording my sly observations of her behind. At the opening of the first globe, as Elle coined them, a sign read, “No shoes allowed.”

She slipped hers off and I followed suit. Stepping into the sphere was like walking into an inflated plastic bag. It seemed impossible, yet nothing ripped under our weight. We both wobbled a little with our first two steps. Elle fell into my arms, spreading her softness and luscious scent all over me. Energy burst through my chest. I gritted my teeth from the impact of her and the current of stimulation rocking my body. What is this? Not noticing the effect she was having on me, she laughed at her stumble and I was intoxicated by it and chuckled with her.

She shook her head. “Perhaps I shouldn’t drink before exploring installations like this one.”

“No. I’m sober and I’m having a hard time keeping my balance, too.”

A few more giggles fled those full lips and then she attempted to stand again. “Okay. I think I’ve got it.”

I captured her right before she slipped. “How about we hold hands so we can make sure neither one of us fall?”

“Okay. Maybe this is another one that requires people to work together.”

“Maybe.”

And so we traveled around those clear spheres together, hand in hand, slipping along the way and saving each other whenever we could. Each new bubble provided a new experience. Some were hot, others cold. A few smelled odd like trash and garbage, while the rest emitted pleasant aromas—roses, strawberries, and baked bread. Noises sounded in each one—a baby cried in the first, a woman laughed in the second, many voices sung in a few, in the middle was a loud, seductive moaning, toward the end came silence. The textures of the spheres also changed. A number of them held a hard surface, then rough or smooth, yet flimsy and yielding at our weight in others. And the shapes and sizes shifted back and forth. In the middle, we were forced to crawl through them but by the end, we rose together, stood, and walked away through the finish line where a sign proclaimed, “Isn’t life wonderful.”

Elle formed her lips into a huge smile that displayed her beautiful teeth. “It surely can be.”

Chapter 7

Elle

We checked out only two more installations before Alvarez’s pretty assistant snatched him away from me and marched him toward the opening ceremony. And what a ceremony. I learned that whenever Hex involved himself in an event, big things happened.

Everyone stood outside the gallery. A big red ribbon and bow covered the front double doors. Police closed the streets in front for about five blocks east and west as the North Miami Senior High marching band stomped through the streets. Teens from all races performed like it was the biggest event of their life. Emerald green and vanilla white uniforms decorated them as they blew through their instruments, swinging them from side to side with the upbeat tune. Thirty or so teenage girls dressed in pink leotards and white knee-length boots danced in front of the band as they made their way past the gallery. The girls held glittering fans in both hands and strutted to the beat in a rhythm I could never mimic.

The band rocked the streets. And just when the partying crowd of gallery-goers thought it was time to open the doors, then came the drag queens. Huge wigs sat on almost all of their heads. Flamboyant make-up adorned their faces. The song “It’s Raining Men” blasted in the background. They strutted through the streets in magnificent costumes. My favorite outfits were the band of drag queen butterflies with shimmering wings that fanned out behind their backs.

I checked Alvarez’s area to catch the expression on his face. He seemed so tight and wound up at times. I wondered if his brother’s gatherings ever loosened him up. Alvarez stood at least twenty feet away from me, by the ribbon-adorned door with the rest of the owners and near all of the press. Instead of spying Alvarez’s look of horror or excitement at the drag queen parade, I spotted him watching me. Oh. He averted his eyes when he noticed my own gaze on him.

Look away, Elle.

My heartbeat increased more than it should have. I may have flirted a little. I was single after all, and he was handsome and fun to be around, but nothing else could come out of it. Alvarez avoided looking at me and I returned my view to the streets. The good thing about him was that he never brought up those awkward moments. The swing installation had caught us both drinking in each other’s physical forms, but once Hex left us alone Alvarez never mentioned it. His silence signaled to me that although he enjoyed glancing at my behind, he wasn’t interested in anything more than a friendship.

Tags: Kenya Wright Mystery
Source: readsnovelonline.net