Next Day Gone

by J C Wing

  “Shut up,” Elias said without much inflection in his tone. “You want coffee, let’s go to Trudy’s Diner.”

  “Why Trudy’s?” Parker asked.

  “’Cause I need to get somethin’ other than Pop Tarts into Willow here, and none of us are dressed for anything fancier.” He squeezed Willow a little tighter, then let her go. “You at least got your teeth brushed?”

  Willow sniffed and wiped her arm beneath her nose. “Yeah.”

  “Grab a coat. Meet me in the truck.” He smiled at her and she sniffed. “Go on, now. Shoes, too.”

  “I gotta take a leak,” Parker announced as he headed to the powder room just outside the kitchen.

  Elias tousled Willow’s already unkempt hair and walked back outside again.

  A few minutes later, Willow and Parker met just outside the back door. Willow had pulled her long hair into a messy bun on top of her head and covered her growing belly with a Redwood Hawks hoodie. She wore a pair of Ugg’s on her feet and heard the sound of Elias’s truck idling as she turned her key in the lock.

  Willow turned, almost running into Parker as he fumbled with something in the front seat of his truck. It was a towel or a rag of some kind, off-white and almost as ratty as the t-shirt he had on.

  “I ain’t ridin’ with y’all,” he told her. “I’m goin’ up to Little Switzerland in an hour or so. I’ll just follow you over there.”

  “Okay,” she said, a smear of something on the fabric catching her attention. Parker moved, looking at Willow out of the corner of his eye. “Damn truck’s got an oil leak,” he grumbled, tossing the cloth in the back seat of the cab.

  Willow blinked, then turned and pocketed her keys. When she climbed up next to Elias, she couldn’t get that dark smudge out of her head. While it was true that she didn’t know a whole hell of a lot about vehicle maintenance, she was pretty confident that oil was black and not red.

  Corinne Larsen had gone into planning mode. And she wasn’t home by one o’clock like her note had indicated.

  After a burger and fries, and an extra-large slice of chocolate cream pie, Elias brought Willow back to the house. When Corinne came home two hours later with several large bags in tow, Willow figured a phone call had been made while she’d been in the bathroom of Trudy’s Diner. Sweatpants were fine while exercising or lounging around the house, but they weren’t acceptable attire for public outings.

  “You look a mess,” Corinne greeted as she walked into Willow’s bedroom. She plopped the bags on the bed and Willow looked up at her mother.

  “Thanks. Did you hear about Diana Drake?”

  Willow assumed that she had heard and had no doubt that the girl’s passing had affected her mom, but Corinne had never been one to sit still. Sadness had its place, but she always felt worse when she sat idle. There was nothing she could do about Diana. There was, however, something she could do about the fact that Willow was rapidly outgrowing her wardrobe. Willow wasn’t sure why she expected her mom to come home ready to comfort her daughter, but the fact that she’d glossed over the fact another classmate had been murdered rankled.

  Corinne sighed deeply, the handle of two of the bags slipping off her wrist. “I did, and I just don’t know what this world is coming to.” One of the bags fell over and Willow watched as several bras and packages of underwear tumbled out onto her bed. “I heard it on the news this morning going to service. That’s what the sermon was about, how we’re losing our children, especially our daughters.”

  Willow watched as Corinne unpacked the bags knowing her mom wasn’t just talking about the two girls who had been killed.

  “Were you friends with Diana? I don’t remember ever meeting her.”

  “We were, but she and E were very close. She was a cheerleader. E’s taking it really hard.”

  “Poor thing,” Corinne said shaking her head.

  “You did meet her actually,” Willow added, “at my birthday party.”

  Corinne moved her dark hair away from her eyes. “Oh, well, I’m sorry I don’t remember that.” She put her purse down next to the bags and took her coat off, hanging it over Willow’s desk chair. “It seems as though it’s getting harder and harder to keep kids safe. Your daddy comes home with horror stories from the hospital, the newspapers are filled with sad and horrible things, and y’all are trying to grow up so fast. Even when parents can keep their children away from danger, they can’t manage to keep them little for very long.”

  Willow wasn’t used to hearing her mom share things with her. Even this sounded much like a lecture, but Corinne had never been touchy-feely, never had she been warm or overly maternal. She decided that this was Corinne’s way of trying to relate to her daughter.

  “You go shopping?” The answer to Willow’s question was obvious, but it was time for a subject change.

  “I did.” Corinne’s expression brightened. “Now, I know some of these things will be too big for you right away, but I can imagine you’re starting to get uncomfortable in some of your old clothes.” She pulled out three pairs of jeans and laid them out over the bras and underwear. Each of them had a big stretchy panel of fabric where the zippers and buttons should be. Next came an assortment of shirts, a few of which made Willow raise an eyebrow. She wanted to mention how old lady they looked, then bit her tongue. Maternity clothes were not designed with sixteen-year olds in mind.

  “There’s some overalls here, too.” It was obvious that Corinne wasn’t entirely happy with this purchase. “I suppose they’ll be comfortable. Oh, and you’ll have to get used to these bras.” She pulled one of them from beneath the other clothes. “They’re for nursing, but there’s no reason why you can’t start wearing them now if your other ones are starting to get too small.”

  Willow’s stomach heaved. She watched her mom unhook the cup of the bra and thought for maybe the millionth time how messed up things were. How had things come to this? How was it that two of her classmates were no longer alive? How was she going to become a mother before she turned seventeen?

  “Thanks for all this stuff.” She looked up at her mom. Corinne was staring down at her. She wasn’t smiling, but she didn’t look angry, either. Willow decided what she was seeing in her mom’s features was resignation.

  “You’re welcome. I’m sorry about your friend.”

  Willow tried to smile. “Me, too,” she said quietly. “She was really sweet.”

  She thought about how inane that statement was, although it was true, and she shook her head sadly because she knew it didn’t matter to the person that killed Diana if she’d been sweet or not.

  RUNAWAY

  The months passed like they always did, but the time markers had changed. Spring break meant no school, but instead of leisurely hours with her friends, Willow tried to pad her savings account by picking up more hours at the gym. After spring break came Easter. Willow hadn’t hunted for eggs for years, but the holiday had always marked the coming of spring. This year, the day marked the middle of her second trimester.

  She’d only spoken to Jason a few times since she watched him fight, and when he called in mid-April, she was surprised to see his number come up on her phone.

  “I’m taking my fifteen,” she told Sophia, another assistant.

  “Cool,” Sophia told her, smiling at a customer who was approaching the desk.

  Willow answered the phone before she slipped through the front door.

  “Jason.”

  “Hey, Will.”

  Willow flipped her thick braid over her shoulder and felt the cool air touch the heat in her cheeks. She’d noticed that pregnancy made her body temp sit a little higher than normal and was usually hot when she was indoors.

  “It’s been a long time.”

  He cleared his throat. “Yeah. That’s why I wanted to talk to you. See you, really.”

  Willow was surprised but excited. When he’d asked for time, she never thought he’d need more than four months. She rubbed her rounded belly and smiled. He was final
ly ready.

  “Okay.”

  “Can you meet me at the visitor’s center? About six?”

  “Sure. And, Jason?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I’m glad you called.”

  There was silence on the other end of the line. “I’ll see you later, Will.”

  The park was still on winter hours, and when Willow pulled into the lot, the only vehicle there was Jason’s Jeep. The door to the visitor’s center opened as she approached, and Jason stepped aside so she could enter.

  Willow walked straight to the back room and heard Jason following behind. When the door was shut, she clicked on the lamp and turned to face him.

  She wore a royal blue t-shirt with the gym logo embroidered above her left breast. It wasn’t tight, but form fitting enough that her baby bump was in evidence. Jason reached out and helped pull her coat off, his eyes on the soft swell of her stomach as he laid the coat on the desk.

  “Wow,” he breathed as his eyes trailed down. “You’re not really even that big, but compared to the way you looked the last time I saw you …”

  “I’m more than halfway now,” she told him. “Mom says she thinks it’s too early, but I think I’ve felt him kick.”

  Jason moved closer, reached out to touch her belly, then pulled back. Willow grabbed his wrist and guided him back. He splayed his fingers across her skin.

  “You know it’s a boy?”

  Willow shook her head. “I had an ultrasound, but I told the tech I didn’t want to know.”

  “But you said ‘him’.”

  “I just think it’s a boy. I could be totally wrong. It’s just a feeling I have.”

  “Mother’s intuition?”

  Willow smiled. “Yeah, I guess.”

  His eyes trailed down to where his fingers still pressed against her. Then he let his hand fall.

  “Jason?”

  “I probably shouldn’t have asked you here.”

  “Why?”

  “Because seeing you makes this so much harder.”

  “It makes what harder?”

  Jason moved away from her, his hand moving up and his fingers raking through his hair. “I can’t do this, Will.” He wasn’t looking at her now. “I don’t know how to be a dad. I’ve spent my whole life without a dad.” He turned around, but he wouldn’t look at her face. “I knew you weren’t on birth control … I thought we were covered … but when I look at you, I feel angry.”

  Willow’s brow furrowed. “Why?” She remembered the night she told Jason she was pregnant. It felt remarkably similar to what was happening now. Months had passed, but Jason was still in the same place he was back then.

  “I thought you would help me fix things. That’s why I stayed. You were so good. So kind. You made me want to make something of myself.” He finally looked her in the eye. “Now when I look at you, I see failure. I didn’t make anything of myself at all. What I made was another mistake.” His voice was rising, and he was moving closer to her. Willow moved backward, her butt pressed hard into the desk behind her. “I can’t be a dad, Willow,” he yelled. “I don’t want to be a dad!”

  Willow tensed as he brought his hands up. She remembered watching him in the ring, how he’d hit his rival and dropped him in an instant. She shut her eyes, but no pain came. Jason didn’t hit her. Instead, he took hold of her head and brought her to him. He pressed a hard kiss against her forehead, then he moved her head back and she felt his mouth cover her own. The kiss was brutal, with so much feeling behind it. She felt his frustration, his anger, his defeat.

  Willow knew this would be the last time she saw Jason. This would be the last kiss they’d ever share. They’d each been faced with a challenge, and they’d each come to their own conclusion. Willow had decided to become a parent. Jason had chosen to run.

  GOOD OLD SUMMERTIME

  School would be out in another week, and the students were taking advantage of outdoor lunch breaks.

  “You wanna hear something amazing?”

  Willow squinted over at Edie and gave her a grin. “Just assume the answer to that question is always yes.”

  “I think I’m gonna squeak a B out of my geometry class. It’s gonna mess my GPA up, but at this point, I’m calling it a win.”

  Willow’s grin widened. They sat on the bleachers watching a group of boys toss a football around. They ate Jell-O out of plastic cups, and Willow had her legs stretched out in front of her catching the bright afternoon sunshine.

  “Grades are final as of Friday. We actually made it through our sophomore year, E.”

  Edie moved her eyes away and watched Marcus make a beautiful pass across the field.

  “Honestly, there were times I wasn’t sure we would.”

  Willow put another spoonful of Jell-O in her mouth and concentrated on the sweet taste of strawberries.

  “I’m not sure I’m coming back next year.”

  Edie looked over at her. Her hair was tied up in a red bandana, the strands hanging by her face shining copper in the sun.

  “I can’t imagine what this place is gonna be like without you.”

  “Eh, you’ve got Jake and Dylan. Besides, this year, walking around getting bigger and bigger, everyone wondering how I could be stupid enough to get myself knocked up and who did it …” She played with her spoon. “Believe me, I completely understand that I haven’t put myself in the most ideal situation here. I don’t need other people reminding me on a daily basis. Plus, I’m not sure how I feel about graduating from high school with my two-year-old kid in the audience.”

  Edie sighed. “I still have a hard time wrapping my head around that, you know? I mean, you’re still Willow, the girl I grew up with, the one who hates artichokes and who can sleep through almost anything. I know you’re pregnant, but I don’t think the whole thing is gonna feel real to me until the baby is on the outside.”

  They watched the boys on the field. Zac was out there with Josh, Tyler and Austin. Neither of them had mentioned him since Edie shared with Willow what took place the night of her birthday. The three of them had kept the night of the pool house a secret, and they all hung out like normal. If the rest of their friends ever sensed a difference between Zac and the girls, they never mentioned it.

  “If you aren’t gonna be here, what are your plans?”

  The baby kicked and Willow put her hand on her belly. “I’ve been talking to Dad a lot about that. You know, I’m not as much of a screw up in his eyes.”

  “Bein’ a daddy’s girl is pretty great, isn’t it?”

  “It really is. He’s determined that this is all just a bump in the road.” She looked down at her belly. “It’s a really big bump, but the road is still passable.” She put her legs on the bleacher below her and arched her back, trying to relieve some of the tension that had collected there. “I’m gonna work this summer and study for my GED until the baby comes. Katie at the gym likes me and told me I could start working in the office. It’s more hours and better pay. Dad says when the baby comes, we’ll figure out childcare—”

  “Which means your mom.”

  “Let’s be honest,” Willow said with a hint of contempt in her voice. “She’d love to take another crack at raising a kid. Prove to herself that it wasn’t entirely her fault I went so terribly wrong.”

  Edie reached out and nudged Willow’s leg with her elbow. “Stop,” she said, although part of her wondered how much truth was in her friend’s statement.

  “I want to go into forestry. Maybe get a degree in Environmental Science.”

  “Willow Larsen, Park Ranger.”

  “Yes, ma’am. I won’t make much money.”

  “Well, if you did, what would your mom have to complain about?”

  “Oh, she’ll find something.”

  “The degree and what you’ll do with it is for you and little Roo in there, not your mom.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “And you can work on your Blue Ridge Trail.”

  “That’s the p
lan.”

  “Incoming!”

  Both of the girls turned in time to see a football sailing in their direction. Willow reached up and snagged it out of the air as it fell toward her.

  “You might have to throw this back,” she said, handing the ball to Edie. “I’m not sure I can work around all this.”

  Edie stood up and put as much power behind the ball as she could, sending it back over the field. Tyler caught it and the game continued.

  “I’ll bet you could get that degree at Mars Hill.”

  Edie wanted to be a psychologist. It was something she’d decided to do when, after she’d gotten old enough, Martin had told her about the therapy he’d gone through after he lost Bess. She had the desire but knew she wouldn’t be able to do it without a lot of financial help. Her GPA was solid, and Mrs. Kay, her academic counselor, had been helping her find scholarships. As soon as Edie became a junior, she’d be eligible to apply, and she was going to do just that. She was hoping to attend Mars Hill University and earn her bachelor’s in psychology.

  “They have that visitor’s weekend in August. If you sign up now, they still might have a spot.”

  Mars Hill. Willow took a deep breath. She remembered the weekend Jason had gotten his fake ID and he told her about the bar he and his friends wanted to visit there by the university.

  “I might need to keep my schedule open in August. Little Roo as you call him is supposed to make his debut the first of the month.”

  “I’m signing you up. I’m sure if you’re bringing another human into the world when the time comes, they’ll be flexible on your cancelation.”

  “If not, I’ll just sic my mom on ‘em. No one argues with Corinne Larsen.”

  “No one but you,” Edie said.

  The bell rang and Edie stood up. She put her hands out and Willow grabbed them, allowing Edie to pull her from the bleachers.

  “So, if the baby is Roo, does that make me Kanga?”