Part 6 of Lizzy’s adventures. Not quite sure how much further we have, though I suspect we’re in the middle, but since I’m writing this as I go along, one never knows. I thought of possibly making it up to 13 Parts since it’s a number Lizzy likes 
What horror is this Sunshine State…?
The Adventures of Vampire Girl in Miami Beach.
Part VI
After leaving Johnny’s house, we ended up in Lincoln Road, where only pigeons and old people hang out and shops look like they got stuck in some weird time warp going back to the fifties. Since we were there, I asked if it was okay for me to run inside Woolworth to pick up a job application.
I should have suspected Johnny’s enthusiasm at the mention of this had ulterior motives. He dashed into the place before I had a chance to go in myself, but maybe he’d forget about us going to my place after this. Dad had an afternoon shift, but still, I worried.
I followed him as he wandered down the souvenir aisle, staring at the rows of tacky knickknacks. ‘Look at this one.’ he said, a smirk on his face as he held up a glass globe with a tiny house made of seashells and a seashell tree next to it. He shook it and glitter swirled all around. ‘Love it.’ he put it down and rushed towards the candy section.
His movements were swift and hardly noticeable. He lifted the cover of a round plastic see-through container full of colourful candy, shoved a hand in, and stuffed the contents in his mouth. He moved to the next container to do the same thing again, and again.
‘Johnny.’ I said tugging at his t-shirt, or rather my t-shirt, but I digress.
‘Wha?’ he said, looking like a chipmunk with fat cheeks full of whatever he’d just stuffed in his mouth.
‘You’re not supposed to.’ my eyes darted left and right spotting an elderly security guard who was reading a newspaper by the back exit. ‘You know.’ I pointed at the candy.
‘Sod it, that old geezer over there has no idea…’
‘Yeah but.’ I frowned, my eyes on the security guard who appeared to have fallen asleep, the newspaper resting on his pot belly. ‘What if we get caught?’ I said, with visions of me calling Dad from jail.
‘Chicken.’ he said, a smirk on his lips.
‘Stop it.’ I hit him on the arm.
‘Cluck cluck Lizzy.’ he stepped in front of my path, ‘I dare you, take one of each.’
‘Erm…’ I said, looking into those dreamy pretty blue eyes.
‘Cluck Cluck!’ he stuck his tongue out at me, it was blue from whatever he’d just eaten. At the sight of that, I had a fit of giggles, then, the snort came. Instead of being disgusted at my piglet imitation, he gave me a playful little wink.
The wink did it…
I stuck my hand in a container and quickly shoved a bunch of jelly beans in my mouth. I was about to reach into the second container, when I heard a man’s voice with a thick Cuban accent.
‘You kids, what you doing?’
Johnny gave me a look and told me to keep quiet. Not that I could have spoken with about ten jelly beans shoved in my mouth.
‘Pardon sir?’ he said turning to the security guard who was waddling towards us.
‘You take, you pay.’ the guard pointed at the candy jars, a frown on his brow.
‘Oh, I see…’ said Johnny smiling. ‘I beg your pardon dear sir, but isn’t this the sweet sample section, or haven’t you got those in the states?’
‘Que?’ said the guard, scratching his head.
‘There appears to be a frightful misunderstanding.’ Johnny maintained his snooty accent, sounding like something out of Monty Python. ‘We’re English you see, my dear chap, comprendeh?’ he raised an eyebrow. ‘EN-GLA-ND.’
‘Inglaterra, si, Big Ben, Los Beetles!’ the guard gave us a huge toothy smile.
‘That’s right, jolly good.’ Johnny ran a hand through his tousled hair, a charming smile on his lips while I stood next to him, my eyes darting between him and the guard who was still smiling.
‘Cheerio, a good day to you sir.’ Johnny grabbed my hand as we strolled towards the exit. The guard smiled, waving goodbye as if he’d just been visited by the Queen. Thank goodness he hadn’t recognised me as I’d been there only last week. I let out a sigh of relief once we were outside. Johnny held on to my hand and pulled me across the street, both of us giggling away.
‘Johnny?’ said a voice I knew only too well.
‘Alright mate?’ said Johnny letting go of my hand.
Rick approached with a look of shock on his face. ‘What you guys up to?’ he frowned.
‘Nothing.’ Johnny gave him a dazzling smile. ‘Heading home and, bumped into…er…Lizzy here.’
Rick looked down at me, his green eyes full of glee, then back to Johnny. ‘Melanie was really upset last night, where were you?’
‘I had errands to run for mum, I left a message on her answer phone.’ said Johnny.
‘She didn’t get it, she was sobbing, until I pacified her, you owe me big time.’
‘Thanks, I’ll call her tonight and explain.’ said Johnny, his voice flat as he looked down at his shoes.
‘You better.’ said Rick before turning to me. ‘So…Dizzy, you learn that bass line I wanted you to?’ he spoke in the usual condescending tone of voice he used on me, treating me like a moron.
‘Not yet, I haven’t ha-’
‘Too hard for Dizzy?’ he interrupted, patting me on the head.
‘Stop calling her that…’ said Johnny, in a quiet voice.
‘What you say to me?’ Rick stepped towards him, his face inches away. ‘Bet my little sister would love to hear how I spotted the two of you holding hands.’
‘Told you already, it was NOTHING’ said Johnny, his eyes cold as he moved away from me, making me feel like a big zero. What an idiot I’d been…
‘See you later guys.’ I walked away without a second glance. Neither of them took any notice, though I did hear Mr Sting-wannabe shout ‘Bye Dizzy.’
Pretending I’d not heard, I waited for the lights. My eyes watered, I put my shades on and wiped a tear away feeling like a total loser. I didn’t want Johnny to see me cry, not that he’d give a shit anyway…
***
Aw, I felt bad leaving her like that, but will Johnny prove her right or wrong? Stay tuned for the next installment next Friday. Thank you for reading so far.
If you’ve stumbled upon this, here are the links for you to catch up:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
A small footnote: Miami Beach around the time this is set (1981-82) was not the trendy place it has become, but it had its quirky charm which has sadly been lost.
Writer working on a rock'n'roll fairy tale featuring a charismatic young man you will not forget. Former rock musician. Frustrated actor.
