Miss Nobody (Rewrite) Ch. 03

Chapter 3

JONNY ZANTANA

Dr. Ortega came around her little sporty car and hugged me. "Stay safe Mija." Tears welled in her eyes but she wiped them away quickly. "My brother will pick you up at the train station." She hesitated. "I know I told him to look out for you but it's best you don't get involved with him... he has a reputation... and can be very charming when he wants to be."

I laughed. "The last thing on my mind is men. I'm going to focus on getting better and save some money to travel like we talked about." I tried to reassure her. I was nervous to start over but I didn't want to stay in the hospital forever. I needed to move on with my life and men were the last thing on my mind. Who in their right mind would want a girlfriend like me? I had enough baggage for a freight train.

She nodded before getting back into her car. "I'll be in touch and come check on you once things settle down here." She waved and drove away.

I turned to the train station and waited on the platform for the train that would take me into my new life. I knew one thing for sure, whoever I was before this moment, didn't matter now. The only thing that mattered was what came next.

***

I settled into my train seat and pulled the envelope from my suitcase. I was hesitant to open it. The feeling of being watched tingled down my neck. It wasn't a new feeling but now that I was out of the four walls of the hospital it felt heavy like someone was just behind my shoulder. I glanced around casually, I was sure no one was really there but I had to look anyway.

The seat rose above my head, the train car was nearly empty, save for a few scattered passengers content on focusing on their own selves. I did a breathing exercise Dr. Ortega had taught me to calm myself and opened the envelope.

I looked over my new ID with my new name. Jane Doe. I couldn't come up with anything to replace it, nothing seemed to be right. I opened my purse and found a thick roll of cash and a small card. I opened the envelope. Just a little something to help you get started, was hand written on the note. It was signed by the staff that had been working with me at the hospital.

Tears stung my eyes. I shoved the ID into my purse, the paperwork back in my suitcase and stared out the window as we traveled through the city.

The landscape outside shifted as we rose higher on the mountain. The rolling hills and neighborhoods gave way to dense forest. I watched as the trees blurred past. Something deep in my belly ached to run free in the woods, to forget that I was human, to forget how utterly alone I really was.

The squealing of the train's brakes brought me back to reality. As the train slowed the urge to throw-up grew stronger. The unknown made me nervous. Sometimes I wished I could just disappear and not have to go through any of this. The loneliness that made my chest ache. The frustration of not knowing who the hell I was and the anger knowing someone did this to me but I may never know who. Or why. My mind could spin in circles for hours questioning the point of all this.

Existence.

The train came to a halt. I wiped my damp hands on my black dress and picked up my suitcase. Moonlit Mountain Station was barely more than a platform in the middle of nowhere. I wasn't sure who I was looking for but I had a feeling I would know him when I saw him.

The people in front of me cleared and I could see him in the distance across the parking lot.

Jonny Zantana leaned against an old fashioned black truck. He pushed himself away from the truck when he noticed me. He was covered in head to toe black. Black hi-tops, black jeans, black shirt, black jacket and a black beanie covered his head. He gestured toward the interior with a nod of his head.

My body lurched forward with his movement like he had found an invisible thread deep inside me and given it a little tug.

Fuck. Me.

Jonny Zantana was not the old man I had, for some reason, pictured in my head. I swallowed, my face heated. I had never seen a more perfect man. At least not that I could remember. I sighed and headed in his direction. I could see why his sister hinted at him being a player. I didn't need to be just another notch on his bedpost, not that I was his type anyway. I imagined a tall, skinny, model that wore designer clothes and got their nails trimmed to sharp points. I imagined them having beautiful babies...

A large man stepped in front of me, blocking my view of Jonny and the parking lot. The male whistled lowly as he looked me up and down.

"Excuse me." I tried to step around him.

He stepped closer, blocking my path.

The faint scent of old urine was sharp in my nose and made my head spin. I shifted my suitcase to my left hand and balled my right into a fist.

"You need a ride." His sneer didn't sound like a question.

"Are you for real?" I lowered my eyes and squared my shoulders. The anger that I had tampered down to a dull flicker over the past few months rose high in my throat. I wanted the man to try something, wanted a reason to physically expel some of the fire that burned deep in my being. With all the anger I had pent up I knew I could take him.

The slimy weasel stepped back and Jonny became visible a few yards behind him. Jonny's eyebrows rose and a grin spread across his handsome face. The tattoo on his neck made him look intimidating but his smile was friendly. His eyes held a sense of amusement.

I moved my fist quickly toward the creeper.

He flinched, like the coward he was, and hurriedly walked away. "Fucking whores," he muttered under his breath.

I rolled my eyes. The anger that I tried to push back into its little box inside my gut, did not want to go easily.

"I was coming to rescue the damsel in distress," Jonny's smile was bright with a hint of playfulness tugging at the corners. "Seems you're not as fragile as my sister thinks." There was a noticeable accent in his words and it only added to his charm. He pulled his lower lip between his teeth. His eye contact was intense, like he could reach right in and know everything about me.

I glanced down, double-checking that nothing was popping out accidentally. I couldn't imagine three months in the hospital after a near-death beating left me any prettier. No, you're just a woman who hasn't been in public for several months, I reminded myself. I was wearing a black hand-me-down sweater over a black hand-me-down dress. Even my thick black stockings were hand-me-downs. An unwanted blush burned my cheeks anyway.

Jonny closed his eyes briefly and let out a low laugh. Like he was in on a joke no one else was a part of. An, if I don't laugh I'm going to cry, type of laugh. A phone rang from behind him. "That's probably her now." His bright playful smile was back as he pulled a cell phone from his back pocket. His free hand moved to my lower back as he guided me to his truck in the parking lot.

I barely felt his hand but my body reacted, my legs numbed and I wondered how I was going to survive in the close confines of his truck.

"Hola Hermana," he said in Spanish to the phone.

"Did you pick her up yet, do you see her?" Dr. Ortega asked.

"I have her, we are walking to my truck right now."

"Are you sure it's her? She's actually there with you?" His sister sounded worried.

"No me dijiste que era bonita."

"Let me talk to her."

I understood a few words here and there in Spanish but not enough to follow the conversation.

His sister's voice was clear through his phone, "Stay away from her, Jonny, or you..."

He hung up the phone quickly and put it in his back pocket.

She said that part in English. She wanted me to hear. To remind me of my promise to her, that I would stay away from Jonny Zantana. I reached for the handle of Jonny's truck as he did. Jonny's tattooed hand brushed mine and I was acutely aware of his warm hand covering mine. His clean scent would etch itself into my frontal cortex.

A memory snapped into place...

A man's smooth hand slides up my body, stopping at my nipple and pulling it between his fingers. He chuckles deeply and the vibration tingles between my thighs. He runs his lips across my soft stomach and lower, into the trimmed hair that covers my pussy.

I redirect him and push him over so he lays on his back. I don't want his mouth on my most intimate parts.

He grins and grabs my hips.

I pull back slightly and guide the condom over his hardness. I tease him a little with my fingertips on his sensitive head and glance at the red candle on the side table. It's burned to the halfway point. The spell will be done soon.

I rub my pussy over him. "Ten minutes left."

He pulls my hips, pushing himself inside me easily because of the lubricated condom. He guides my hips over him roughly, seeking his pleasure without a second thought to mine.

The memory left me breathless and flushed. I grabbed the cool metal of the truck and leaned my forehead against it before I hyperventilated. In through the nose. Out through the mouth. Slower. Again.

Jonny's pressed against me, holding me upright like an anchor in the wave of my memory. "Let's get you home." He steadied me as he opened the passenger door. "All this fresh air, it takes some time to get used to."

I slid in and he shut the door behind me. The memory was strong and left me disoriented. I was in that room again. I smelt the salty aroma of sex. Felt the silky sheets on my skin. I knew how to do Magic. I focused on my breathing instead of my spinning thoughts. If someone knew I could do Magic? That would be enough of a reason to want me dead.

Jonny started the truck and turned up the heater.

The warm wind blew up the hem of my dress, my tights had torn, exposing my thigh and a couple of freckles that only the Doctors, and apparently that man from my memory, had ever seen. I quickly smoothed my dress down and blushed profusely.

Jonny mumbled a prayer under his breath and made the sign of the cross over his chest. He kissed a pendant around his neck and dropped it under his shirt before pulling the truck onto the road silently.

A vibration across the truck seat drew my attention away from my stupid sock choice, to be fair, I didn't have many options. Jonny pulled his phone out of his back pocket and tossed it on the dashboard. "Are you hungry? I can get you a hamburger or something?" He looked over at me.

I must have made a face at hamburger.

"Nah, you been hanging out with my big sis too much. Maybe some tacos or a torta?" He grinned.

"Dr. Ortega's food was the best thing I've ever eaten." I could only remember the past few months of my life but he didn't need to know that. I wasn't sure what his sister had told him about me. Did he know I was a nutcase with no memories, that I had no friends or family, that no one cared about me?

He chuckled. "You haven't tried my birria yet, or my albondigas." He shifted the gear-shift to lower the truck's speed and exited the freeway. "Don't worry, you'll learn." He winked at me. "For now though, we'll settle for the only taco truck around. It's alright." He shrugged and put his arm across the back of the seat. The tips of his fingers brushed my shoulder as I gently bounced.

I imagined his fingers on my bare skin and my stomach rumbled loudly in response. I was hungry in more ways than one.

Jonny looked at the source of the noise and chewed on his bottom lip.

I wondered what he tasted like and blushed. I turned to stare out my window before he caught me. I took off my sweater and laid it across my lap, it was too warm in here.