Ugliness within beauty. I can’t even see this city without thinking about him and what he did.
Everything had changed.
I have to get out of here.
“Where would I go?” I whispered to myself.
The cab driver figured I was talking to him “Excuse me, sir?”
“Nothing.”
Be my angel. Let’s see where you were going in your dreams.
Chapter Twenty
Evie
The longer Jay and Mr. Shaw talked by themselves, the more damage would come.
I rushed to put on proper clothes. It barely took me five to ten minutes. I crossed the adjoining balcony in no time, right when the sun rose in the sky and South Beach’s night crowd stumbled through the streets and back to their rooms.
Someone had placed fresh roses on the patio table—red, pink, and white. The petals bloomed and glowed under the new sunlight. Their fragrance rode the breeze. Part of me yearned to just stop, stay on the balcony, and not deal with Pipe’s dad.
Damn it, Pipe. Why can’t you just make this easier on everybody, and let us take care of you?
I entered the suite. Both Jay and Mr. Shaw paused their conversation. The legal team had taken over my computer desk. Papers scattered across its surface. They all had their phones out and talked low into them.
Oh God. Am I ever going to get some sleep?
I waved my hand. “Good morning.”
Silence came from Jay while Pipe’s dad glared. The legal team paused from handling whatever business they’d been dealing with. Two even took out notepads and stared up at me as if they would be jotting down all of my words.
Mr. Shaw wore a wrinkled suit, which meant shit was bad. I’d never seen him out of sorts. His clothes remained impeccable, designer, and tailored to perfection. Though graying along his temples, he stayed in good shape. No wrinkles were on his face. He always wore a smile and maintained kind eyes even though his money could crush a small country.
“Where did my son run off too?” Mr. Shaw unbuttoned his jacket like he was about to fight us both. “Enough is enough. Jay is mumbling through my questions. You pop up out of nowhere.”
“We don’t know where Pipe is.” I walked over to Jay and held his hand. “He was here, but he didn’t want to talk to you yet.”
“Because?”
“You have to ask him, sir.”
Mr. Shaw returned to Jay. “The media may think you’re a hot-headed playboy, but I know the truth. If you attacked Malcolm Ward, then he did something to one of you three. Being that I couldn’t get in touch with Pipe, my brain started working.”
“Mr. Shaw, you really should talk this over with Pipe, when he’s ready,” I said.
“Evie, how do you expect me to do that if he’s running away from me and not answering my calls?”
I had no answers.
“Sit,” Mr. Shaw ordered.
I cleared my throat and headed over to the couch with Jay.
This is going to be a long preaching session. I thought turning eighteen and going off to college meant I didn’t have to listen to anyone anymore.
Jay and I sat on the couch like bad kids as Mr. Shaw paced back and forth in front of us.
“Something serious is going on with my son. I want answers.”
Jay and I remained quiet.
“I called Elaine.” Mr. Shaw said it as a warning. “I knew something was up right then. Elaine answers the phone on the first ring and sounds excited to hear from me. That’s not Elaine.”
I faked a smile. “Mom enjoys talking to you.”
“No, she enjoys telling me how I’m slacking on Pipe and not living life to the fullest, but she does not enjoy talking to me. However, yesterday she was all funny jokes and then trying to get me off the phone. The getting off the phone part wasn’t the problem. That’s typical with her, but this time, I knew something was wrong.”
Jay stared at his hand as he played with his fingers.
“Elaine said nothing of course,” Mr. Shaw continued. “In her other life, she was a Cold War, Russian spy. Thankfully, she didn’t teach her daughter those skills of avoidance.”
I gulped in fear.
He put his hand behind him and paced some more. “Further inquiries provide me with more information. It seems I have a hospital bill to pay for my son, and a lot was done. Stiches and...” Pausing from walking, he held his head. “What did Malcolm Ward do to my son?”
I raised my hand. “Mr. Shaw—”
“You never call me by my last name, Evie. So when you lie to me, at least say Dad as usual.”
“Sorry. Dad, I don’t know exactly—”
“Never mind, if you’re going to lie, go ahead with the official title.”
I shut my mouth.
Mr. Shaw rubbed his hands together. “Good old, Jay. My wonderful son. What’s going on?”
Jay stirred.
I raised my hand again. “Can I just say that Pipe doesn’t want us to say anything that puts us in a very uncomfortable situation?”
Mr. Shaw wouldn’t look at me. “You’ve just said it, and I don’t care.”
“Pipe told me he will come to you soon,” I said.
“How soon?”
“He didn’t say when.”
Mr. Shaw placed his hands on his hips. “When you three have children, I am going to rent out a restaurant and celebrate with Elaine and Jay’s grandparents. We’re going to buy out the bar and laugh at you three as you stumble around trying to keep your kids safe. I am going to ‘cheers’ to your bad karma.”
“But—”
“No, Evie.” He pointed at me. “This is my son. Someone hurt him. He was sitting in the hospital, and not one of us was in the city to at least come by and hold his hand. I’ve worked hard. I missed out on a lot of things. And what do I have now? I own corporations, a plane, many cars, and properties all over the world. Do you know how meaningless that is to a father?”
“No.”
“I have all of these treasures, but I can’t seem to keep my own son safe and happy.”
“He’s going to be okay,” I said.
“What did Malcolm do?”
I tried to explain again, “Pipe wants to—”
“What did he do?”
Jay looked up and targeted Mr. Shaw with a sad gaze. “Malcolm cut him.”
“Uh.” I raised my hand. “So...”
“Malcolm cut him a lot,” Jay admitted.
The two guys with notebooks and from Mr. Shaw’s legal team began scribbling things onto their papers.
Pipe’s going to kill us. Me, especially. I’ll be guilty by association.
“Malcolm and Pipe had an affair.” Jay twisted his fingers. “Malcolm would tie Pipe up and cut him.”
Mr. Shaw backed up and opened his mouth in horror. “He would tie up my son?”
“It was something they both liked,” Jay said.
And we didn’t have to say that. Fuck. We could’ve just slipped tiny parts of information.
Mr. Shaw twisted his face in confusion. “My son liked this?”
I stood up. “Okay. This is more information then needs to be known. Whatever they liked or didn’t, Malcolm betrayed Pipe’s trust, tied him up, cut him, and left your son in the hotel with no one to help him.”
“How did he get free?” Mr. Shaw asked.
“I don’t know.”
“How badly is Pipe cut?”
I sighed. “On his face, arms, and chest.”
Mr. Shaw grabbed his head with both hands. “What? My son?”
“Yes, he didn’t want you to see him like that.”
“Where is he?” Mr. Shaw stalked around the room. “Where did he go? How can I find him?”
“I have no idea.”
“Evie?”
“I’m serious. He ran off in this crazy black jacket with a hood on. I know that he’s been friends with this artist named Kush.”
“Kush?” Mr. Shaw quirked his eyebrows. “For some reason
, that name sounds familiar.”
“Maybe he’s a popular artist.”
“I need to see him.” Mr. Shaw stood in the center of the room, scanning the space from side to side like he was lost or at least had forgotten something.
“I’m sorry.” Jay rose, walked over, and hugged him.
“I have to talk to him, Jay. Why would he run off?”
“He’s embarrassed.” I headed to the tall men. “He just needs time.”
“Well, he won’t get time from me. For once, I’m going to take Elaine’s advice.” Mr. Shaw got out of Jay’s hold and wiped his face. “I’m going to stop trying to be his friend and focus on steering him on the right track.”
Mr. Shaw taking advice from Mom and using it on Pipe? This should be fun to watch. I should buy a huge bag of chocolate covered popcorn for the show. The only person Pipe is going to listen to is Pipe.
“So, I think that we should give Pipe some space,” Jay admitted. “He promised to stay in contact daily. If we crowd him, he may disappear again.”
“No. My son has been injured. You two are kids. You both need to be back in school. Something like this happens, you contact me. You don’t fly off to save the day and make absolute fools of yourself on national television.” Mr. Shaw checked his watch. “Elaine should be here soon, and then I’ll figure out what I’m going to do next.”
I almost choked. “Excuse me? Did you just say, ‘Elaine will be here soon’?”
“Yes, your mother got on a plane last night.”
“And that’s now my cue to head back to Coventon.” I frowned.
Jay shrugged at Mr. Shaw. “Mrs. Elaine owes us both some whippings.”
“I would take them for you, but that woman has a heavy hand.” Mr. Shaw pulled out his phone, dialed a number, and walked outside. He didn’t even glance back at his legal team. They each returned to their separate tasks. The men with pads got together and whispered a conversation as they pointed to some of their notes.
Jay eyed me. “What does he mean Mrs. Elaine has a heavy hand?”
“I have no idea. You think she hit him back in the day?”
“Wow.” Jay stared at Mr. Shaw as he stood on the balcony. “No way. That’s just weird. What the hell would be the reason for Mrs. Elaine to hit Pipe’s dad?”
We didn’t have much time to come up with possible scenarios. Someone knocked on the door, and all I focused on was making sure there were no empty alcohol bottles or evidence of marijuana smoking in the room. Mom disliked both and didn’t want any of us partaking in them.
“I threw away everything before Mr. Shaw came in.” Jay hurried and put on his shirt.
I rushed to the door and opened it. “Good. I don’t want to hear her mouth.”
“You don’t want to hear whose mouth?” Mom stared back at me from the doorway.
Hello, Mom. How was your flight? Good? Awesome. How long are you staying? When do you leave?
Still in decent shape, she wore jeans and a black shirt. It didn’t form around her body, but there was no hiding it either. Mom said she had a southern frame. Pipe and Jay believed we looked alike. Same brown eyes and complexion. I knew we shared similar smiles. No matter how we tried, we couldn’t help but show off all of our teeth when we beamed. Once I got to her height, strangers would ask if Mom and I were sisters. Oh, how she loved those questions.
“Whose mouth did you not want to hear, Evie?” Mom repeated.
“I was talking about the maid,” I blurted out.
“Good.” She walked past me.
“I don’t get a hug?” I shut the door behind me.
“That depends. Are you done building your career as a tabloid star?”
“That’s not fair.” I went over to her anyway and hugged her from behind. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?”
“Because I figured you would run off.”
“What?” I displayed mock shock. “Man, I was overjoyed to hear that you were arriving within minutes. Can’t you see the joy shooting out of my happy eyes?”
“You may want to lower your sarcasm.” She patted her pocket book. “I’ve brought my gun.”
“Oh God. How did you get that through the airport?”
“I got it on legally. Unlike many of your decisions.”
“Am I going to be getting a whupping?” I raised my eyebrows.
“You’re too old for a spanking. I’ll just be shooting you from now on.”
“I’m sure this could be considered emotional abuse,” I said.
Jay chuckled. Mom turned to him. He quieted.
I decided to change the topic and bring her up to date with what we knew about Pipe. I gave her the PG version—instead of descriptions of the gashes and scars, I said he was hurt. Instead, of mentioning Pipe’s erratic behavior in the suite, I pretended he was okay. Healing, I claimed. The whole time I talked, Mom stood next to the couch but centered all of her attention on Mr. Shaw talking on the balcony. When I finished, she said nothing. No tears came from her eyes, but she did grip that pocketbook more than she had when she first walked in.
“My baby’s hurt.” She set her pocketbook down, directed her attention away from Mr. Shaw, and looked at both of us. “What is this world coming too? What sort of evil is slithering all over this planet? Have you seen the news these days?”
“I know, Mom. We’ve been in the news a lot—”
“No, that’s not what I’m talking about. Have you seen all of the ugliness in the news?” She waved my words away. “Police shootings. Unlawful deaths from coast to coast. An increase in murders. More war. Rape. Children being taken from homes as parents sleep. College girls being kidnapped on trips. Boys dying too soon. More innocent men behind bars. These are the last days.”
And here we go . . .
“We need prayer.” She walked over to the couch and signaled for Jay and me to come over. “We are dealing with an evil out there that wants to touch everything that’s good, and when it gets this bad, sometimes you need to get down on your knees and talk to God.”
I totally should’ve smoked a joint before walking over here.
I cleared my throat. “Okay, but—”
“Get on your knees, Evie.” She pointed to the floor and kneeled. “We need to give this to God.”
Like a good boy, Jay followed. “For once, I’m happy to hand a problem over to someone else.”
“God has a plan. We don’t know it, but He does.”
I lowered to my knees. “But Mom, why would He let Pipe get hurt like that?”
“This is Pipe’s journey, not yours. This is God’s son, not yours. You don’t have enough power to save Pipe, not like our Father.”
My knees pressed into the carpet. “I’m just saying—”
“Be quiet, Evie, and bow your head.”
Now it was my turn to grumble like Pipe had done before.
Mom began, “Lord, we come to you because there’s no other power out there that’s greater...”
I couldn’t remember how long we stayed on our knees and prayed. We held hands. For the first time that week, tears fell from Jay’s eyes. Once I spotted them, I couldn’t hold any more in. I bowed my head more and let my mother’s words fill the air.
“...we don’t understand, but we recognize your power. Help us to walk on the path that you have designed for us...”
At the end of the prayer, we stayed on the ground in silence for a few more minutes. I didn’t know what they did, but I held my own dialogue in my head with God. I begged him to keep Pipe safe. What I’d learned from this trip was that I couldn’t control my friend, couldn’t save him, if he didn’t ask for it. I had to let him go off and figure it out on his own.
I had to let Pipe grow up.
When we rose, Jay asked, “Are you both hungry?”
Mom nodded. I did too.
“Let me shower real quick, and maybe we can order room service or something,” Jay offered. His face held a red tint like he’d been rubbing it over and over. His e
yes appeared worn and weary. He had to be exhausted.
I got to get him back to Coventon. This trip has been too much for him. He’s already scared about his future. Now he’s worried about Pipe’s.
“Sounds good, Jay,” Mom said. “However, you go take that shower. I’ll order something.”
“Are you sure?” Jay asked.
“Yes. Go ahead, son.” Mom watched him walk off to the bathroom.
“I’ll be quick,” he called out.
“Take your time.” Mom sat down on the couch, looked at me, and then frowned.
“What?” I asked, once the bathroom door closed.
“You smell like marijuana.”
I opened my mouth. “Whaaat? Marijuana? How? What weird way could the scent have gotten on me? I can’t even figure it out—”
“Stop smoking.”
“Yes, ma’am.” I closed my mouth.
“Marijuana is the poor man’s meditation.”
Officially, I am pretty poor, so . . .
“How are Jay and you doing?” Mom asked.
“Hmmm.” I slumped down next to her. “Let’s focus on one dilemma at a time.”
“Is he still trying to win you back?”
“Yes, and he’s doing a good job of it.” I touched the soft curls around her face. “Your hair looks nice today.”
She moved her face away from my hand. “How is he doing a good job of it?”
“Can we talk about this later?”
“No.” Mom checked the balcony again. Mr. Shaw no longer talked on the phone. The device lay next to the new vase of roses. He planted both hands on the rail and stared out at South Beach. I had no idea what he was looking at or what ran through his mind, but my heart ached for him.
“Mom.” I inched closer to her. “Jay proposed. Well, not in an official way. No ring. He just asked me to be his wife.”
She remained silent for a good minute as if doing her best to process what I’d said.
“Mom?”
“Are you joking?”
“No. Jay unofficially proposed.”
Mom shook her head. “Bye, Valencia.”
“What?” I held out my hands. “My name isn’t Valencia.”
“It’s a slang thing,” she explained. “It’s an expression used to dismiss someone. You say bye and then the person’s name, but if you don’t care who they are, then it’s Valencia.”
The COMPLETE Coventon Campus Series: Books I, II, & III Page 54
