Page 61 of Their Tracked Obsession

“Don’t fuck with my mom, or you’ll find out.” I raised an eyebrow. “Trust me. I lived with her for eighteen years.”

“Technically, twenty.” Mom winked at me and spun around to glare at the driver. “Genie! Step on the gas! I’m not paying you to be lazy!”

The bus swayed with our unsteady feet. I gasped with laughter and grabbed onto a steel pole. The retro interior of the bus was much more striking than the outside. The clash of colors made my head spin, but once I got used to the array of neon displays, it wasn’t bad. Nothing alcohol couldn’t fix.

Raven grabbed three beers from the mini-bar set up against the wall in the bus and popped the tops off. The metal lids fell to the floor, and she passed my mom a bottle. I got the last beer and took a swig.

“Cheers to Gloria.” Raven clinked each of our glass bottles.

“And to Liv!” my mom cheered with a raise of her beer. “The beautiful bride any mother would love.”

“Oh, Mom.” I blushed with a shy smile.

Everyone clicked my bottle, and we danced to the music pounding throughout the bus. The love I had earned was immense. Tremendous. My heart beat wildly in my ears, and I never wanted this display of affection to end. I’d live with this moment locked away in my heart, full of warm, thoughtful memories of a night with smiles, laughter, and fun. Togetherness with the women I cared about most in this world through distance and tough times. My mom and Raven had shown up for me, and their actions meant everything to me. This celebration was all I had wanted.

We were only missing male strippers.

Suddenly, the party took a turn onto the shoulder of the road. A hard jerk and a full stop. I saw red and blue lights flashing out the window.

“Oh, fuck…” Raven peered through the glass, and her breath fogged up the tint. “It’s the cops.”

“What?” Gloria gasped in shock.

The music cut. Shit. There goes my bachelorette party.

“Crap. Hide.” Raven got up and scurried around on the spot.

My mom laughed at Raven and grabbed another beer. She did look pretty fucking ridiculous. She scampered from one side of the bus to the other with no luck.

“Where?” I held up the beer in my hand, and some of its contents spilled onto the floor. “We’re trapped.”

A police officer walked by the side of the bus and headed toward the front door. As a knee-jerk reaction, I ducked behind the seat and slipped on the alcohol. I fell flat on my butt, laughing hard at my stupidity.

“Here…” My mom extended a wobbly hand to me. “Take my hand.”

I grabbed my mom’s kind gesture, and I struggled to pull myself up. My mom tugged, but we both failed. She fell down beside me, and we burst out into more laughter.

A knock tapped on the bus. We shut up with our mouths clamped shut, and our wide eyes turned to the front of the bus. The door swung open.

“Good evening, officer. Can I help you?” Genie called out.

“Driver’s license and registration, please,” the police officer ordered.

“Of course, officer.” Genie peered down the aisle toward us and passed her identification to him. “Everything you need is right there.”

Oh, fuck. Genie better not blow this party for me. She was quite the oddball.

The officer passed back Genie’s ID. “Anyone else on this bus with you, ma’am?”

Say no, Genie, for the love of God.

“Yes, sir, there is.” Genie spoke the truth and pointed toward us. “There’s a party happening on my bus.”

Fuck! Genie! You damn traitor!

The policeman stomped up the steps of the bus. “Is that so?”

I gripped the stripper pole and prepared to stand, but my legs froze. Fear paralyzed me. No way would I leave this bus in handcuffs. We did nothing wrong.