“Listen, sweetheart. What can I do? Do you want me to book your flight to Detroit? Please just tell me what I can do and I will do it.”
I cry into the phone for a few more minutes before I’m able to speak again to him. My throat is raw and burns from the bile rising into my esophagus. “No… thank you. I will reserve the ticket.”
“Do you want to know what happened?” Jake hesitantly asks.
I think deeper about this and realize I can’t hear what’s happened to her yet. I don’t want to think about it until I’m with him. I don’t want to know anything until I can hold his hand and fall apart in his arms. “No. I can’t—can’t hear it. Not without you by my side.” I choke back another onslaught of tears. “I will text you with my travel details and let you know when you can expect me in Sulfur Heights.”
“I can come pick you up. That’s a two hour drive by yourself and I don’t want you driving when you’re upset,” Jake pleads with me, but I refuse.
“No, the drive will do me good. I will be fine.” I need to get off the phone, however I don’t want to stop hearing his voice. It’s the only comforting sound right now.
“Okay. Call me if you need anything and I will see you when you get here.”
I hang up the phone and immediately go to my computer, attempting to reserve the first ticket from Memphis to Detroit. There’s nothing! Nothing that goes to Detroit for another nine hours. That’s too long. I can’t wait that long. My friends need me and I need them right now. Screw it, I’ll drive.
I shove my credit card back into my wallet and storm over to my closet then start ripping clothes off the hangers, shoving them in a suitcase. Grabbing my last minute things from the bathroom, I look to my dresser and there in the middle is a picture of Presley and me at Mia’s birthday party. It’s the last time I’ve seen her in person. The last time I’ve seen her smile, heard her laugh and hugged her in my arms. I begin to cry all over again. I can’t believe she’s dead and the only question that goes through my mind is why.
Why would this happen to someone as wonderful as her? And Mia? The very thought of that baby growing up not knowing her mother is the final straw. I fall to the floor and cry deeply again. Breaking down, I press our picture into my heart and feel devastation take over. Presley has been in my life from the age of six, and now what? How will I go on without her? We had so many plans for the future. And Drake? He’s got to be a mess right now. I’ve never seen a man love a woman as much as Drake loves her. He would move Heaven and earth just to keep a smile on Presley’s face and now she’s gone. His heaven is gone.
I pick my broken heap up off the floor, wiping my tears away with the back of my hand. My body is weary and my heart is aching, but I need to leave. The fourteen hour drive will be hard enough to get through, however my destination will keep me motivated to keep the pedal to the floor and just drive.
I pull out my phone and text Emerson my change of plans. We were supposed to have a late lunch with his grandparents at their estate outside of Memphis. This will really tick Emerson off, but there’s no solution. There’s only one place I have to be.
Me: I can’t meet you tomorrow. I’ve got an emergency, sorry.
I don’t want to tell him where I am going. Emerson is getting less and less tolerant of my travels to Sulfur Heights, and when I came back from Las Vegas, he’s had no problem letting me know just how much he despises my new friends, especially Jake.
Emerson: What happened?
Me: Nothing for you to worry about it. Talk to you later.
I toss the phone back into my purse and make my way down the stairs. I can feel the vibration of Emerson’s response and then a longer vibration—he’s calling no doubt—but I’m not going to answer. I have to go; there are people who need me and his petty jealously is the last thing I want to deal with.
When I round the corner and walk into the kitchen, my mother is pouring her daily glass of bourbon, which has quickly become her nightly routine. She already looks like she’s had a few too many when I walk to the fridge and grab a bag of carrots and sodas for the road.
My mother takes notice of my suitcase and asks, “Where are you heading off to?”
The tears instantly come back to my eyes and I’m finding it impossible to utter a single word. The only thing I see is the nightmare of Presley when she overdosed in her bathroom. The sight was horrifying and I fear that’s why she’s no longer alive. I shake my head to my mother and start walking to the front the door, pulling my suitcase behind me. She quickly pursues, angrily plodding behind me, but I ignore her until Emerson pushes open the front door.
“What are you doing here?” I ask, unable to hide the anger in my voice.
“I was on my way over to your house when you texted me saying there’s an emergency and refused to reply or pick up your phone. Where else do you think I’d be, Delilah?” And there it is, the scolding daddy tone he’s been using on me more and more. I can’t stand when he treats me like a child. At first I thought it was endearing, but now it’s annoying.
“Emergency? What emergency?” my mother invades. I now can’t go anywhere without telling them what’s happened.
The tears well up in my eyes as I stand in the foyer,staring at my shoes. “It’s Presley—”
Before I can even get the words out of my mouth, Emerson cuts me off. “I knew it! Delilah, you can’t keep rescuing her. She’s obviously got issues, and if therapy can’t help her, you certainly can’t.”
My eyes snap up to his at the same time that the tears evaporate and turn to liquid lava as I glare at him with fury. How. Dare. He.
“Emerson’s right, darling.” I snap my head to my mother, killing her with my glare, too. “Spending time with a drug addict, even a recovered one, is in poor taste.” She’s barely hanging onto her bourbon and some of the contents slops over the side and onto the hardwood floor.
I turn my rage-filled eyes between the two of them. “Well, you don’t have to worry about that anymore, Mother, because she’s dead.” The anger leaks from my eyes and I want to slap the smug look clean off her face. I’ve never wanted to hit anyone so much in my life as badly as I want to lay into my mother. She is such a hateful person and a complete witch.
I push past Emerson, dragging my suitcase behind me as I stomp toward my car. The beep of the alarm sounds and I push the button to pop the trunk, and then launch the suitcase inside the car. It’s a heavy bag, but my anger fuels my strength when I launch the suitcase inside with a loud thump. Taking a deep breath, I slam the trunk lid down and storm over to the side.
The driver’s door is partially open when Emerson grabs my arm and pulls me back, preventing me from entering my car. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“To Sulfur Heights, Emerson. My best friend died and I’m going there to be with my friends.” I glare into his dull eyes, not backing down.
“When’s the funeral? You can go then and I will go with you.” His grip is tight and starting to dig into my skin. I refuse to let him dictate who I’m allowed to grieve for, though. She was my best friend,and aside from me, the Evans family is all she had. There’s no question—I will be in Sulfur Heights in fourteen hours.
“I don’t know because she just DIED!” I shout in his face and push him off me.
Emerson lets go of my arm, but the anger at my defiance fuels his rage further, and for a split second he looks like he wants to hit me. He wants to take control of the situation, of me. As mad as Jake gets, I’ve never seen that look in his eye; the look of an out of control animal.
Before anything can happen, my mother in her drunken stupor, intercedes, “Okay. Now kids let’s not fight. Emerson, Delilah is right. She needs to go, but Delilah…” She teeters on her feet as her pumps scrape the driveway, she’s slurring and drunk. “This is it. Now that Presley is dead, there is no need to go there anymore. So let this be a final good bye to everyone. It’s time to grow up and be a woman now. You’re going to be married soon; it’s time to s
tart acting like it.”
I nod my head, only conceding so I can get in the car and leave. They are both crazy if they think I will cut the Evans family out of my life. I’ve never been exposed to more honest and loving people; I would be insane if I allowed my mother or Emerson to take that away from me.
Finally, I get into my car, refusing to look back at either of them as I tear out of the driveway. I have a long trip ahead of me, and when I get to Sulfur Heights, I will be forced to face one of the worst days of my life. I have to say good bye to my sister, my ally and my best friend.
Chapter 20
Jake
It’s been five hours since I received the text message from Delilah with her choice of making the drive from Memphis instead of flying. The anxiety level has jumped from a three to a ten in about two point five seconds. It’s been raining for the last three hours, and as Delilah gets closer to Sulfur Heights, she will surely run into a steady stream of rain. When we visited Presley in rehab, Delilah drove me to her house before she introduced me to her mother and that piece of shit fiancé, and let’s just say that I am lucky to have gotten out of town alive. The woman drives like a sprint car racer who’s hopped up on red bull and cocaine.
Since Reggie and Darcie took Drake in the house to clean up, he’s been locked in his room. Every once in a while I will hear him cry or the sound of him driving his fist into something—his headboard I assume. We’ve decided as a family to let him alone for the rest of the day.
Right now, it’s the wee hours of the morning, and everyone else has gone to bed, but I can’t sleep until I know Delilah has gotten here safely. I don’t expect her to arrive before noon, but I still won’t sleep. I need to know she’s here before I will relax enough to close my eyes.
After cleaning up the kitchen and reorganizing the fridge, I’m no closer to distracting myself. My nerves are skyrocketing and I’m sure it’s because of Delilah’s reckless driving, plus the rain making me anxious inside. It has been months since I’ve seen her and God knows I miss her. I miss her like crazy.
Four more hours have passed and normally the sun would just be peaking over the horizon, however today, rain and clouds consume the sky. I mindlessly flip through the television stations trying to find anything to distract my mind, but recently, when I’m alone and have time to reflect on anything, my mind always goes back to that kiss in Vegas.
She was feeling pretty intoxicated and I know she thinks I was drunk when I was anything but. I couldn’t stand being so close to her all night and not feeling her lips pressed on mine. Curiosity got the better of me and I needed to know firsthand what her lips felt like. We’ve known each other over two years and I’d always been respectful of her boundaries, but I had to know. With those perfect, heart-shaped lips, full and soft, I was dying to try them out.
Kissing has never been my style because being with a girl longer than a couple of hours has never been my style—well, not since high school. Nevertheless, as soon as I met my eyes with hers, the desire to kiss her grew every day. That night in the hotel room may have been a lame move on my part, but she has yet to tell me no when we make little wagers, and kissing her has remained the best bet I’ve ever made. We have yet to declare a winner or mention the kiss at all, though maybe that’s something I will bring up with her to lighten the heavy mood that will inevitably surround us.
***
I must have dozed off because Mia’s babbling startles me awake around nine. Reggie is sitting on the floor with her straddling his lap and they are playing with one of her shape toys. He will plop a shape in the matching hole and Mia will giggle then hit the top for Reggie to do it again.
I sit forward and dig the heels of my hands into my swollen eyes then put the foot rest down on the recliner and stand, stretching my arms over my head when Mia comes running up to me,demanding to be picked up. After all the hell of yesterday—the death of her mother—this little squirt can still bring the biggest smile across my face.
“Hey there, Axl,” I say, lifting her little body in my arms. Mia grabs onto my shoulders and starts her gibberish, speaking a mile a minute, and I have no idea what she’s saying. I’m sure she’s made up her own language. Mianese is what I call it.
“Have you heard from Delilah?” Reggie asks after getting Mia something from the kitchen. I set the little tyke on the floor and turn on Mickey Mouse.
“Nah. Not since last night. She decided to drive because she couldn’t get a flight.” When I look outside the rain is still steadily coming down and the sky is dark gray and cloudy.
I suddenly worry that I haven’t heard from her. I pull out my cell phone and scroll through my text messages, but there’s nothing new. Not knowing where she’s at and it’s driving me crazy, I decide to text Delilah and pray she’s okay.
Me: How’s the drive going? Where are you?
Not even thirty seconds pass and my phone pings with a new incoming text.
Delilah: Just got through Detroit
She’s making good time; in fact, she making too good of time. The woman has a lead foot, but driving like that in rain will only lead her into the side of the road in a ditch.
Me: Please be careful. Pull over if you’re too tired.
Delilah: Then stop texting me while I’m driving.
God, she’s stubborn as hell sometimes. I toss my phone on the table and then make my way into the kitchen, pulling a Mountain Dew from the fridge at the same time that Reggie pours himself another cup of coffee; the exhaustion is written all over his face. I’m sure he didn’t get much sleep last night, comforting Darcie and worrying about Drake. We stand together without saying anything, both of us still trying to accept what has happened less than twenty-four hours ago.
Reggie breaks the silence, sending a chill down my spine. “I’ve made an appointment with the funeral home at four o’clock this afternoon. I expect everyone to pitch in on the cost. There’s no way in hell Drake is putting out a dime to pay for her funeral. Money is the last fucking thing he needs to be concerned about.” He rakes his hands over his newly cut short hair and releases a deep sigh, stress evident on his face. “Do you think Delilah would want to come help make the arrangements?”
“I understand and can definitely throw some money in. I will ask Delilah if she wants to go with us; I’m sure she will.” Delilah is going to have a hard enough time when I tell her how Presley died and I’m sure going to make the arrangements will be just as challenging. “Did you let Drake know?”
“He hasn’t unlocked his door since he went in. I’ll give him a few more hours then I will check on him. You do realize how hard this is going to be on him, on all of us?” Reggie’s face is stern, on the verge of giving me a lecture about my inappropriate behavior, but little does he know that there is nothing I could do to make this situation into a joke. That may have been how I handled my mother and father’s deaths to cope with the loss of them, but this is entirely different.
My parents were idiots and worthless.
Sure, Presley was lost in the world of drugs once, but what makes it so tragic is that she was finally finding her way when she was killed. She was my brother’s girlfriend, like a sister to me, and I will do what I can for him and my niece.
“Don’t worry about me, Reg. I’m not who I used to be, a lot has changed lately and I won’t be a fuck up.” A twinge of guilt comes over me when I think about all the times I’ve acted like an idiot or completely inappropriate because I didn’t know what else to do. Those days are long gone. Since last summer, something in me has changed and I think it’s for the better. I have yet to pinpoint it, but I know it’s there, growing and encapsulating me.
“Yeah, I know you are and I’m proud of you.” Reggie claps me on the back as he walks to the living room, scooping Mia up in his arms. “Where’s your brother? Have you talked to him since it happened?”
Jeremy has been hauled up in the garage since Presley’s death. He has been acting really strange, like he’s lost his grip on realit
y; especially right before the cops showed up. “Nope. And I heard him leave around six this morning. I’ll call him and see what he’s doing.”
When Reggie and Mia walk back to his room, the clicking of his door sounds behind him. I pull out my phone and dial Jeremy’s number. It rings several times and I’m ready to hang up when he answers, breathless and quiet. “Hey. What’s up?”
“Where the hell are you?” The sound of clanking and a garage door shutting is coming from his end of the phone. Moving to the window, I look to see if he’s outside, but his car is not there.
“I’m meeting up with Ronnie real quick then I’ll be home. Is…is everything okay?” Jeremy asks and I’m instantly livid. Teachers always say in school no question is a stupid question, but Jeremy has just proved them wrong. Is everything okay? That is the definition of a stupid fucking question. He’s been acting very strange lately and last night his violent, animalistic behavior would have been enough to commit him to the loony bin.
“What the hell is the matter with you? No, Jeremy, nothing’s okay! A girl you considered as a sister is dead and you’re off fucking around with Ronnie.” I’m pissed, finding it hard to control my anger and my fists. Rage is building and I want to plow it into the drywall. “Get home!”
“Fine,” that’s all Jeremy says before the line goes dead and I turn to the basement door, slamming my fist into the wood. Luckily, it’s solid wood and not the cheap hollow crap you see in apartments so it doesn’t break, but my hand is angry with me now as my sliced open knuckles leak blood.
***
Another two hours have passed by and I finally decide to shower and shave to help pass the time. The rain has continued falling, and for eleven o’clock in the morning, it looks more like eleven at night.
I quickly shower and shave, and as I exit the bathroom, I peek into Mia’s room to make sure she’s still napping. Reggie laid her down right before I got into the shower then left for the bar to work for a few hours. I haven’t seen Darcie since it happened, although I’ve heard her tears and Reggie’s muffled condolences off and on since she shut herself in her room.
Blind Love (Sulfur Heights Series) Page 20
