Don't Look Back (The Becky Chronicles, Book 1)

by Sienna Duncan

  “I did it, Beck.” There was a certain amount of nervousness to her voice.

  “Did what?” To be honest, I was afraid to ask.

  “I left Barry.”

  There was complete silence for a few seconds. I had to pick my mouth up off the floor.

  “Becky? Are you there? I just pulled up outside your apartment.”

  “Um…yeah, I’m still here. Just trying to recover from what you just said. I did hear you correctly, right? You left Barry?” I was still stunned she had actually gone through with it.

  “Yes! I know it is hard to believe, but I finally had enough. I can’t do it anymore.” She hesitated. “Do you know what he said? He said I would be back. What an asshole!”

  I had to agree with her there. I had the door open before she knocked.

  “He doesn’t realize he lost you a long time ago.”

  “Oh, he knew things were not good between us, but he didn’t care. As long as he got what he wanted that was all that mattered to him. Well, not anymore!” I could hear the anger in her voice.

  “Where are you staying?”

  “Right now I am at the inn, but I have already applied for an apartment. The manager said she would call me in a couple days. Before you ask, it’s the apartments on South Main Street.”

  OOOOHHH! Those apartments. Well…all I can say is, here comes TROUBLE! Drug addicts and whores live over there. I am not being mean or judgmental.

  It’s a well- known fact.

  “Ugh, Becky, don’t look at me like that.” Lynn raised her arms in exasperation.

  “Like what?”

  Lynn shook her head.

  I laughed. “Hey, I can’t wait to visit your apartment. Can you imagine all the things people will say? I’m getting excited just thinking about.”

  Truth? I felt giddy inside. My mother will absolutely shit when she hears my best friend is living over there. She knows I will be there more than I at my own apartment. I just wish I could be a fly on the wall when she finds out.

  I knew I was probably smiling like a crazy person, but I couldn’t help it.

  “You are sooo not right. Don’t think I don’t know you’re thinking about your mother’s reaction.”

  My smile grew even wider. “That’s exactly right. I am not gonna lie. This is just too good to pass up. Don’t pretend with me. You applied to those apartments just to shock people.”

  Lynn held up her hands for me to stop.

  I shook my head. “Don’t try to tell me it’s because that’s all you can afford. That may be part of it, but not all.”

  “Wellll….” Lynn shrugged her shoulders.

  I just rolled my eyes at her. She has the same warped sense of humor I have.

  I love that woman!

  We should’ve been sisters. No, scratch that! I probably wouldn’t like her as much, since my family is ALWAYS up in someone else’s business.

  “I know you did not just zone out on me.”

  I know I had a blank look on my face. I do that sometimes. My thoughts just get away from me, and I only focus on them.

  The outside world just needs to get a grip.

  “Who me? I don’t zone out…that often.” I tried to look innocent, but Lynn knew better.

  She scoffed. “Whatever!” There was laughter in her voice as she spoke.

  OK, so maybe I do zone a bit more than I claimed.

  “Hey, I have a great idea!”

  “Do I wanna know?” Lynn asked skeptically.

  I laughed. “What you need is to get drunk! How about we go out for some drinks tonight? It won’t be crowded since it isn’t the weekend. It’ll be the perfect time.”

  Her eyes widened and a huge grin spread across her face.

  “You know; I like this idea of yours.”

  “I knew you would.”

  “But what will your boyfriend say about it?”

  I looked at her all crazy.

  “Why does that matter?”

  Lynn just shrugged.

  “He’ll have to be ok with it, because you’re my best friend.”

  I meant that, too.

  “Ok. I’m game if you are.”

  “Yeah! You want me to meet you at the inn?”

  “Sounds good to me.”

  “Alright. Seven good for you?”

  “That’ll work. I guess I need to go so I can finish my errands. I’ll see you in a few hours.”

  I walked Lynn to the door. I won’t lie. I was a little worried about her. She has been with Barry for a long time. I could see this going one of two ways. Either she will go back to him, which is not an option, or she is going to go buck wild.

  I called Chad and surprisingly got through the first time. Usually, I have to leave a message with his assistant. He did not seem surprised Lynn had finally Barry. I told him she and I were going out for drinks to celebrate her freedom, and he just said to be safe. I mean, it isn’t that I expected him to tag along. I guess it would’ve been nice to hear that he wanted to spend the evening together.

  Oh, well.

  In the middle of my musings, I had a brilliant idea.

  I giggled at the thought.

  I was trying to think of a gift to give to Lynn. Yes, best friends give gifts for anything and everything. This is to celebrate her independence, and knowing she doesn’t need a man to be happy.

  It is a perfectly naughty idea! That’s the only kind to have.

  I know of a “secret” gift shop in the back of a store that sells all kinds of novelty items. You can’t just sell stuff like that out and in the open around here.

  I’m talking about the seven inch and longer variety. Guaranteed to keep a girl happy (as long as she has batteries). I guess I need to add that to the gift bag as well.

  I turned in to the parking lot and went inside to make my purchase. The look on her face when she opens this will be so funny.

  I met up with Lynn outside the inn she was staying at. It is the only nice place to stay in this small town.

  She was wearing a v- neck sweater in a soft pink along with jeans and brown ankle boots. It was the middle of April, but the temperatures at night were chilly. I chose a simple black pullover with jeans and knee high black boots.

  “I bought you a little something to help you celebrate later.”

  She looked at me oddly.

  “Go ahead and open it.” I handed her the gift bag.

  I watched as Lynn peaked inside the bag. Her eyes widened before she let out a loud laugh.

  “I can’t believe you bought me a vibrator!” She continued to laugh as she pulled it out of the bag.

  “Wow! It’s so pretty.”

  I laughed at that. Pink is her favorite color. So, I got her a pink, glittery vibrator.

  Lynn put it inside her room before closing the door.

  “Are you ready?”

  “I think so.” Lynn seemed a little nervous.

  “Come on. It’s time to celebrate your freedom.” I threw my arm around her shoulders.

  Lynn smiled. “Hell, yeah.”

  We decided to see what we could find in Huntsville. Our small town is about twenty miles south of Huntsville, so it only took us a few minutes to get there. This was not our usual stomping ground, so we were not sure where to go. We just wanted to get a couple drinks and hope we didn’t know anyone there. With it being just Thursday, we knew the odds were in our favor.

  We pulled into this place just off South Parkway. Bobby’s. It was a small building, but if there was alcohol, we were game. Lynn and I hesitantly walked inside. I don’t know why we were a little nervous. As though we would be scolded for going inside.

  One thing was obvious. We needed to get out more.

  The first thing that got our attention was a small karaoke section, in the corner, past the booths. The bar was left of the booths and there was an adjacent room with a couple pool tables. Taking a deep breath, we sat down at one of the middle booths. There was a comfortable atmosphere here. No loud music or gyra
ting bodies from a club.

  Just a simple little bar.

  I looked up and saw a woman, who appeared to be in her late twenties, coming toward us. She was wearing a white t-shirt with BOBBY’S written across the front in black letters, and she wore short jean shorts. She had blonde hair with very dark roots and the only makeup I saw was some blue eyeshadow (yes, I said blue…baby blue at that) and red lipstick. When she smiled at us, you could see her broken front teeth.

  Now, I know this is going to sound bad. But…

  I have this thing about teeth. If you are missing some and I can see it, it gives me chills. Not the good kind, either. It just freaks me out!

  Glancing at Lynn, I giggled at her expression. She felt the same way.

  “Hey, ladies. What can I get fer ya tonight?”

  Oh Lawd! Country as can be!

  I am from a small town, but I do not sound like that.

  “What’s good?” Lynn asked,

  “Well, that depends on what kind of mood you’re in, I suppose.”

  “She just left her controlling husband and we are here to celebrate.”

  “Well, what you need is a sreamin’ blue motherfucker.” She smiled widely.

  A what?

  I looked at Lynn. She asked her to repeat herself.

  “A screamin’ blue motherfucker. It has different liquors in it and guaranteed to make you forget your troubles.”

  Well, why the hell not? So, we ordered one.

  Angie, as we later found out her name, brought us two glasses of this blue green drink. We eyeballed it for a minute before deciding to give it a try.

  “Hmm…I don’t know if I like this or not.” I told Lynn as I took another sip.

  “Me either.”

  We continued to drink. Of course, it came with a straw and we were finished with it before we had a chance to talk.

  “Not too bad.” Lynn pushed her glass away.

  I was in total agreement. I wasn’t sure at first, but the more I drank, the better it was. Imagine that.

  “I say we get another one.”

  It didn’t take any further encouragement for Lynn to order us two more.

  I decided to make a toast, since I am her best friend and all.

  “To freedom and no more controlling men!”

  “That’s right!” Lynn giggled.

  That’s when we heard someone start to sing. I say sing very loosely. It was an old country song, and this person couldn’t carry a tune, even with voice lessons.

  Yes, that bad.

  Well, you can imagine we just found that to be hilarious.

  I have this bad habit. When I really get tickled about something, I snort when I laugh. I have tried to stop.

  Really, I have.

  It just creeps up on me at the worst time. This was one of those times.

  A few people looked our way, but I was pretending to look around, too. By the time he finished “singing,” Lynn and I had finished our drinks. We decided to wait a few minutes to see how we felt before getting anything else.

  “I don’t know about you, but I feel fine. Barely a buzz.” I concluded it must not be as strong as I thought it would be.

  “I know. Here, I was expecting to get drunk. But…nothing.” She sighed.

  When we asked Angie to get us another one, she stood there for a moment looking at us. She must’ve made up her mind because she nodded and left to get our drinks.

  I looked up a few minutes later when our drinks were brought out.

  “My manager said he has never known of a woman to be able to drink three screamin’ blue motherfuckers. You two seem to be doing alright to me.” She looked at us carefully before she walked away.

  “Wow! We are just that awesome.” Lynn said as she took a sip of our new favorite drink.

  “Yes, we are! You know, I can’t really taste it anymore. I wonder if they’ve put less alcohol in it.”

  “Hmm…I don’t know.”

  We looked carefully at our glasses. For what, I don’t know.

  It made sense to us at the time. I looked over at the booth close to the small karaoke stage, and groaned.

  “If they sing one more song, I’m gonna scream.” I meant it, too.

  “Oh, Becky. Iz nots badz.” Lynn slurred.

  I blinked my eyes and laughed.

  “What did you say?”

  “What sa matter?”

  I couldn’t help but laugh. Lynn was so drunk. When did that happen?

  “You’re slurring all your words.” I was laughing so hard we got a few stares.

  “I am not.”

  Then she started giggling.

  “I am going to the restroom and then we probably need to go.”

  “Yep. I’m just gonna…just gonna finish this.”

  I laughed and stood up.

  I sat right back down again. It felt like someone was swinging me back and forth, but I was sitting still.

  SHIT!

  Lynn looked at me for a moment. “I thought you were going to the bathroom.”

  “I can’t.”

  “Why not?” She was looking at me all crazy like.

  “I’m too drunk to stand up. It didn’t hit me until I stood up and somehow sat right back down.”

  Lynn laughed and laughed. She wiped the corners of her eyes.

  “What are we gonna do, Beck?”

  “I don’t know. I can’t call Chad and definitely NOT my family.”

  “We’re fucked.” Lynn said it best.

  Who could we count on that wouldn’t blab to everybody? Not many to choose from.

  Whoa! Wait a minute. My cousin, Dawn, works at the Krystle about a block away. With any luck, she is working tonight.

  I quickly dialed her number.

  “Hey, Becky.” She always sounded so cheerful. Dawn is eighteen, no wonder.

  “Hey, Dawn!”

  “Oh my gosh, Becky, are you drunk?” I could hear the laughter in her voice.

  “Shh…it’s a secret. Lynn and I are at Bobby’s. Are you at work tonight?”

  “Yes. I get off in about fifteen minutes. Do you need a DD?”

  “That’s why I am calling you, silly.”

  “Aww…I feel honored you called me. You know I won’t say anything. Mom would kill me if she knew I was going to a bar to pick you guys up. I have to ask, why haven’t you called Chad?”

  “He would not be happy to get a drunken phone call. Trust me on that.”

  “Oh, okay. Just asking. I just need to call one of my friends and tell her not to pick me up. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

  “Thanks, Dawn.”

  I ended the call.

  “Damn it.” Lynn slurred.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “If you can’t walk to the bathroom, how the hell am I supposed to do it?”

  Good question.

  “How about we walk together. I’ll hold you up if you hold me up.”

  It sounded like a good idea.

  We stood up at the same time and waited a minute until we were steady on our feet.

  “Ok. We’ll walk very slowly.”

  Lynn nodded. “Okay.”

  We glanced at each other as we took our first step. So far so good. Thankfully, the restrooms were very close. By the time we made it to the door, we were both giggling like little girls. I think the relief that we made was just too much for us.

  I know we looked crazy. Do you think I cared? Not. One. Bit.

  I learned a very valuable lesson. Stalls in a bathroom when you are drunk are your worst enemy.

  I closed the door to my stall and had just locked the door when my body swayed to the left and I found myself against the wall. I placed my hand on the wall to straighten up and somehow ended up over to the other side of the stall. It’s a small space. How was that happening?

  I just needed to focus.

  I heard Lynn giggling in the stall next to me.

  “Having problems, Becky Lu?”

  I laughed. “I keep h
itting the sides of the stall.”

  “Tell me about it. I almost missed the seat.” She started laughing again.

  Okay, I can do this. I stretched out my arms to the side and steadied myself by pressing my hands against the sides of the stall. Now I could do my business. I only hope I can get up. I felt myself lean over to the left. The side of my face hit the stall. Well, at least something caught me.

  “Beckyyyy.” Lynn laughed at her own silliness.

  “What-y?” I still didn’t know if I could raise my head.

  “My tongue feels heavy.”

  I laughed as I moved my tongue around. Shit! I can’t feel my teeth! I kept moving around my tongue. I used one of my fingers to touch my teeth to make sure they were there.

  “Oh no, Lynn, I can’t feel my teeth.”

  We both laughed. I am sure if anyone came inside the restroom they would turn back around.

  I heard my phone start ringing. Well…this should be interesting. Let’s see if I can manage to reach it.

  “Is that you ringing?”

  “Yep. Just trying to get to it.”

  I grabbed the strap of my purse. My phone stopped ringing. I grabbed it and saw Dawn had just called. I jumped as it started to ring again. It was Dawn calling back.

  “Hey, Dawn!”

  “Geeze! Do you have to talk so loud?”

  I didn’t think I was being loud.

  “Where are you guys? I’ve been waiting out here for a few minutes.”

  What? We’ve been in the bathroom that long! Now, that’s embarrassing.

  “I’m so sorry, Dawn. We will be right out.”

  “Ok.”

  Shit! Now I had to figure out how the hell we were going to walk out of here without face planting.

  “Umm...Lynn?”

  She had been too quiet.

  “Hmm?”

  “Dawn is outside.”

  “M’kay.”

  I heard the door open to her stall and the water turn on at the sink.

  Well…here goes nothing. I stood up slowly. Okay. Not too bad this time. By the time I pulled up my pants, I felt more confident. No swaying. No bumping into the sides of the stall.

  I got this!

  I walked to the sink and washed my hands. When I looked into the mirror, I squealed.

  Lynn jumped. “Whats iz it?”

  “My eyes are red as hell!”

  “Mine are too.” She snorted.