"Redefinition."
Alejandro.
Alejandro had asked Isis to drive in a bid to resist the urge to drive her to his house, instead of dropping her at home.
He had no idea that she did not know how to drive.
There's no turning back now.
He jumped into the passenger's side without opening the door and probed Isis to get into the driver's seat.
They sat in silence for a long, awkward while.
"Sooo...you don't even know how to put the key into the ignition I'm guessing?"
Isis jumped and fiddled with the keys as she tried to find where the ignition was.
Alejandro let a small smile curve his lips.
You've got to be kidding right?
"Wait, right here."
He leaned across Isis, smelling the fear on her breath and letting his arm lightly brush against her thighs.
He clenched is jaws and cursed in his head.
Focus Alejandro, focus.
He slid the key into the ignition and straightened up, back into his chair.
"Right," Isis laughed nervously. "What's next?"
"First start the car. And then hold the hand brake and push it down to put it in a neutral mode or else the car will jump."
He explained to her, pointing out where everything was.
She nodded and did as she was told.
"Then, hold down the clutch as you put the car in the first gear. The clutch is closest to your left foot. When you've put in the gear, lift your foot off of the clutch and place it on the accelerator. That one is closest to your right foot. And I'll guide your hand with putting in the gears".
Isis bit her bottom lip and tried to follow up on the instructions as best as she could, all while keeping a really focused face that amused him.
"Good girl..this is the first gear," he said, as he placed his hand over hers, guiding her.
She hummed in acknowledgement.
"You're doing great. What controls the car is the wheel. You gotta listen to the engine so you know whether you should put it into the next gear, based on how long you've got your foot on the accelerator. The brakes is in the middle."
She's really smart. No questions whatsoever. He thought to himself. And the ride is smooth. Impressive.
Within the next 35 minutes, they were outside of Isis' home.
But she got carried away and passed her house by a few blocks.
"Stop right here Isis! Where are you going?"
She mouthed an 'oops' and hit the brakes so violently that they were thrusted forward.
She let out a breath and closed her eyes. Then she looked over at him and smiled, broadly.
"I did it! I drove! Thank you so much Alex!"
She leaned over and threw her arms around Alejandro's neck, hugging him tightly.
He couldn't help himself.
He gently broke the embrace and cupped her face in his hands, kissing her passionately.
After what seemed like forever, she finally moved her face away from him and gathered her things.
"Can I walk you?" he asked.
She smiled at him, and nodded.
Isis.
Isis had been shit scared the whole time, sitting up in her seat in the most attentive manner.
The longer she drove, the more relaxed she became.
Wait a minute, this wasn't so bad.
The only thing that always threw her off a little was the presence of other cars on the road. They were so intimidating but she kept her focus and squinted ahead.
She didn't have her glasses on and it was 8pm already.
She was going to brave the darkness.
In no time, they were in her neighborhood.
She had accidentally passed her house and found it really funny.
After she had thanked Alejandro excitedly for teaching her how to drive, he had kissed her.
She was getting hot again.
And even though her hair was wet, she felt the heat in her bones, causing her to gently shy away from Alejandro's kiss, in a nervous sweat.
She frantically gathered her things and attempted to get out of the jeep when Alejandro had asked her if he could walk her home.
As they walked past the palm trees a couple of blocks from her house, hand-in-hand, they spoke about their day and reminisced on what happened when they were caught parading naked on the road.
"You're really crazy. Them batty man heads were grossed out!"
Alejandro chortled in his baritone voice, sending waves through Isis' body.
And then he stopped in his tracks as he set his eyes on something that was behind Isis.
God, I hope that's not my mother.
She slowly turned around and saw a silver-gray Mercedes S600 parked in their driver. That's not mom's car. We've got a visitor?
And why is Alejandro moved by the sight of this car parked here?
Before she could speak to ask him what was going on, he said, "But this is Sergio's car."
"Wait, you know him?"
He gently moved her out of his way so he could walk over to the car and examine it better.
"Yes, this is Sergio's car. He's the Mayor of this town, and my business colleague too. I'm the one who personally got him this car to show my gratitude towards him for doing business with me."
Wait, what? Now we went around giving away free cars? As well as dresses I guess.
She flushed at her thoughts and stormed towards the house as it dawned on her that her mother's lover was in their home. Again.
" Isis, wait! "
Alejandro leaped forward in front of her and calmed her down.
"Don't barge in there like a mad dog okay? This situation needs you to be calm and rational, or else people will start dying." he said, smilingly, causing her to smile too.
She nodded.
"And please call me once I'm home. So I can save your numbers. I gave you my card and you most probably shoved it up your ass."
Isis started laughing.
"Take care of yourself."
He kissed her forehead and left.
She stood on their porch, staring after Alejandro as he disappeared around the corner, back to his car, which was parked blocks away from her house.
She felt sorry for having made him walk all the way there.
She turned around and carefully turned her key into the door's keyhole, making sure to minimize any noises and creaking of their wooden door.
As soon as she was in, she stood still for a minute so her eyes could adjust to the total darkness, but also so she could hear any noises that were necessary to catch.
She headed for the stairs and stopped at her mother's room.
She knocked on the door.
After a while, her mother came out looking disoriented and slightly embarrassed, making sure to hold the door close to her face so Isis wouldn't see whatever or whoever was in the background.
Nigga, really?
Aisha.
Aisha heard a knock on the door.
"I think Isis is home." she whispered to Sergio. "Quickly, under the bed!"
She made her best attempt to appear normal and fixed her hair, put her gown on and went to go and open the door.
Indeed it was Isis.
She held the door close to her face in fear that Isis would see anything incriminating in the background.
She put up her act and in her best voice, tried to sound genuinely concerned.
"Where are you coming from at this time of the hour?"
Isis looked at her boredly and said, "From the same thing you're doing with Sergio over there."
Isis hovered her finger over her mother's head, as if pointing to whatever was behind her.
Aisha was dumb-stricken.
She choked on her words. Her fear being as ubiquitous as sunlight on a cracked and open road.
She felt naked, her insides feeling as if there was nothing there, nothing to need feeding, nothing to have need of anything at all.
Her insides contracted, feeling cold.
Her heart exploded into her chest, she had clammy skin and began to hyperventilate as she leaned onto the wall for support.
She tried to find the words to say but Isis had looked her up and down, turned on her heel and left.
She slowly closed the door and turned to see Sergio in front of her, already dressed and ready to leave.