Vindicated

by Keary Taylor

  “To Rod,” Emily said, raising her glass of water for a toast.

  “To Rod,” Amber and I echoed, raising our glasses.

  Taking a long draw, we set our glasses down with a heavy clank.

  “I really do think you should wear your hair like that,” Emily said, fussing with the curls. “Minus the crown, maybe.”

  I touched the curls that were half gathered on the back of my head, half cascading down my back. I’d never had my hair look so tamed. The three of us had spent half the day fussing over my hair and makeup. “I do like it.”

  The waitress soon returned with our dinner. My stomach turned as I looked at my salad and bread sticks. I was liking to eat less and less these days.

  “So are you ready for your parents to get into town tomorrow?” Emily asked as she swallowed a bite.

  “Don’t remind me,” I mumbled as I picked up a piece of the hot bread. “I just hope I survive ‘til after the wedding.”

  “You’d just skip over the wedding and all the memories and go right to the…”

  “Emily!” I cut her off, blushing again. “You are terrible today!”

  “Hey, ever since I stopped going out all the time and,” she took a hard swallow “Cormack left, I’m a little…”

  “Horney?” Amber said as she broke a piece of her own bread and popped it into her mouth.

  “Amber!” I shrieked, looking around to make sure no one could hear her. I shook my head, chuckling at her.

  “She’s such a prude,” Amber said to Emily, leaning into her side.

  “So innocent,” Emily batted her eyes. “Until Saturday that is.”

  “Oh my gosh!” I gasped, covering my flushed face with my hands.

  “Excuse me miss. The man at the bar just sent these over,” the waitress suddenly said. As I uncovered my eyes, I saw her set three glasses of what I assumed was red wine on our table. “He said to tell you good luck.”

  I whipped my head around toward the counter. It was empty.

  “Who sent it?” I asked the young girl before she left.

  She searched the room, a confused look forming on her face. “Oh, he was there just a moment ago. He must have just left. Enjoy though.”

  “Oh,” Amber said. “A secret, mysterious admirer.” She reached for her glass.

  “Don’t touch that!” I snatched it away before she could grab it, just a little too fast. My heart was pounding in my chest, every nerve inside of me saying something didn’t feel right.

  “You’re only eighteen,” I covered for my reaction.

  “I’ll be nineteen in three weeks,” she wined.

  “Still not old enough to be drinking,” I raised my eyebrows at her. “And you,” I said as I pulled Emily’s glass away from her. “You should know better than to drink things strangers give you. Remember that night I picked up at like three in the morning?”

  “True,” she said as she tipped her head to the left, giving a little nod. “And you don’t drink. What a waste of that guy’s money.”

  Trying to be discrete as we started eating, I leaned forward and took a sniff at the wine. I wasn’t familiar with how it was supposed to smell, but something didn’t seem right. Then I noticed the tiny white granules at the bottom of the glasses, something not quite dissolved yet.

  As I glanced up, I saw him, watching me through the darkening window outside. A sly smile tugged at Jeremiah’s lips, and then he was gone.

  He’d just tried to poison us. Knowing the waitress wouldn’t have known which glass to give me, he had put something in every one of our glasses. He would have killed all three of us.

  “I’m not very hungry anymore,” I said as I pushed my plate away, along with the three glasses.

  “Are you okay?” Amber asked. “You look kind of… greenish.”

  “It’s all of you and Emily’s sex talk,” I said, just a little too sharply.

  My phone suddenly vibrated. It showed a text from Alex.

  “No phones during the party!” Emily said, quickly snatching it from my hands.

  “Wait!” I shouted, just a little too loudly. “I need that!”

  Emily glanced at my phone. “Alex can wait until we return you tonight.”

  “His mom’s in the hospital,” I suddenly blurted, glaring at her.

  “Oh,” was all she managed, looking at me with taken-aback eyes. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

  “I didn’t exactly get a chance with everything you two have been putting me through,” I said, grabbing my phone back.

  Caroline woke up, the text said. They’re watching her. If she cooperates they said she could come Saturday.

  I just shook my head as I read the message. I could only really hope that she didn’t screw this up.

  “Is everything okay?” Amber asked in a quiet voice.

  I slid my phone back into my pocket and took a long drink of my water before I spoke. “We found her this morning, all drugged up. Alex is pretty fed up.”

  “I don’t blame him,” Emily said, raising her eyebrows. “I mean it’s nice that he found his mom after all this time but she is one screwed up woman.”

  “Are you ladies ready for your bill?” the waitress asked as she walked up to the table.

  Amber pulled a card out of her purse and handed it to the woman before she could even set the ticket down. With a polite smile, the girl walked away.

  “Is she still coming to the wedding?” Amber asked.

  “We’ll see how things go,” I answered as I rubbed my eyes. I was suddenly dead tired. I’d been spending all my sleeping time in the afterlife and with Cole lately. “Alex is ready to send her to rehab and be done with her.”

  “We’re a sad bunch,” Emily said as she pulled a small mirror from her purse and checked her lip gloss. “We’ve all got some really screwed up parents.”

  “Hey, Rod’s parents are normal,” Amber chimed in. “At least they seem like it from the phone.”

  We just chuckled at her and finished paying. Walking out into the cooling early fall air, I couldn’t help but glancing around, looking for my new stalker. He was nowhere to be seen.

  I sat in silence with my forehead against the window as Amber and Emily drove me back home. Things were so crazy lately, I felt like I couldn’t keep life straight. There were too many important things going on right now. A wedding, life, death. It was all just too much right then.

  “Jessica?” a voice from the front seat finally said. I sat up, realizing that I had been dozing off. “You’re home.”

  “Oh,” I rubbed the sleep from my eyes. “Thanks for everything. I really did have a good time.”

  Amber and Emily said goodbye and headed back for their apartments. I walked slowly back up to the house, breathing in the cool air. Glancing over at Sal’s house, I saw all the lights off, deciding it was too late to go and check on her. My eyes wandered down to Cole’s house, looking empty and so forlorn.

  I found that Alex was still gone when I went inside. Things looked normal, all of Amber and Emily’s embarrassing posters taken down. Half stumbling into the bathroom, I changed and brushed my teeth. My hair came cascading down as I let out the bobby pins. A little sign escaped my lips as I slid between the cool sheets and pulled the blanket up to my chin.

  “Jessica?” Alex’s voice suddenly cut through the dark house, the door closing behind him.

  “In here,” I called sleepily. The fingers of sleep were already tracing their way down my back, pulling me down into them.

  He walked quietly into the room, leaning against the doorframe, his arms crossed over his chest.

  “Did you have fun tonight?” I asked with a yawn.

  “Yeah, we went to a basketball game and then went out to the shooting range,” he said quietly through the dark.

  “So, no strippers?”

  “No strippers,” somehow I could hear his smile.

  “Come here,” I said, letting my eyelids slide closed.

  I heard Alex slip his shoes off before he
slid into the bed. Finding my familiar spot, I nestled myself into his side.

  “I’ve missed you at nights,” I said quietly.

  “I’ve missed you too,” he whispered as he placed a kiss on the top of my head.

  “Will you stay here until I fall asleep?”

  I barely heard him whisper “of course,” before I was out.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  The sun shone in brightly through the bedroom window, amplified by the reflection off the lake. I rolled over, pushing my hair out of my eyes, squinting against the light. The sound of the TV drifted into the bedroom.

  Straightening my clothes, I shuffled across the floor, glancing at the clock. It was already ten-thirty.

  Rubbing my eyes, I stepped into the living room.

  “Whatcha’ watching?” I said with a yawn.

  And then I opened my eyes. My parents were sitting on the couch, chatting with Alex.

  It hadn’t been the TV I’d heard.

  “Hey sleepy head,” Dad said cheerfully as he stood and crossed the room to give me a hug. I suddenly stiffened, realizing I was wearing only a spaghetti strapped top. I could be thankful for my mane of hair to cover most everything. I also felt self-conscious for wearing extremely short shorts.

  “Hi,” I breathed as he wrapped his arms around me. “I didn’t expect you guys so early.”

  “Well, the day is almost half over,” he teased as he stepped away from me. My eyes shifted over to my mom, who sat stiff and tense on the couch.

  “Hi sweetie,” she said with a slightly forced looking smile.

  “Hi mom,” I said, attempting to smile back.

  It was then that I noticed Alex trying to hold back a chuckle.

  “What?” I demanded, glaring at him.

  “Nice hair,” he finally laughed, covering his smile with his fist.

  “Oh my gosh,” I said in horror, retreating back into my room. I could feel my face flood red. Dashing into the bathroom, I found it smashed completely flat on one side, and sticking up to a comical height on the other.

  “I’m jumping in the shower,” I yelled from the bathroom, and heard laughter answer me back.

  Just breathe, I reminded myself as I stepped into the warm water. You’re a grown up. You have your own life, you’re getting married. Stop letting her affect you so much.

  After pulling on a pair of jeans and a light sweater, I made extra sure my hair stayed in a general downward direction. My heart couldn’t seem to decide if it wanted to be calm or try and hammer out of my chest.

  By the time I made my way back out into the living area, my parents were seated at the bar and Alex was working on a brunch that would feed a small army.

  “Better?” I teased Alex as I grabbed a glass from the cupboard and filled it with orange juice.

  “Beautiful,” he smiled, kissing me on the cheek.

  “You two are so cute together,” my mom said with a sigh, a real, happy smile on her face.

  I genuinely managed to return it as I sat on the barstool next to my dad.

  “So what can we help with this morning?” she asked as Alex set a plate of pancakes on the counter. “There’s got to be a lot to do still, you guys threw this together so fast.”

  “Not really,” I said, eyeing the pancakes, my stomach suddenly churning slightly. “We’ve got the venue all picked out and ready to go. Its outdoors so there’s not really any decorating that needs to be done. The dresses are set to go.”

  “You picked one?” my mom beamed.

  I nodded. “And then we just have to pick up the flowers tomorrow afternoon. Alex has the cake just about done. Um…” I tried to think. My mind had been in so many other places I felt like there was something I was forgetting. Somehow I felt cheated out of what was supposed to be the biggest day of my life. There were so many other things going on that the wedding felt almost unimportant. “Anything else, Alex?”

  He shook his head as he forked pieces of bacon onto a plate. “I don’t think so. Everything’s pretty much ready.”

  “Well what about a reception after the ceremony?” Mom asked, her brow furrowing.

  “There’s not really any need,” I said with a hard swallow. My stomach didn’t feel right. “We literally only have eight guests coming. We’re keeping it really small.”

  “Really?” Dad said in surprise. “What about all of your friends from down in California, Alex?”

  I saw Alex’s eyes flash to my face for just a moment. He shook his head, throwing on a small smile. “None of them could make it up on such short notice. I don’t mind it being small though.”

  I hated Alex having to lie. He wasn’t inviting his friends because he had cut off almost all ties now that he had changed so dramatically. It was easier this way. But still not right.

  “It sounds romantic, sweetie,” Mom smiled at me.

  I smiled back, glancing down at the glass I held between my hands. My stomach felt like it was quivering. Small tremors worked their way from my core, out into my limbs and down into my fingers and toes.

  Maybe I should have expected that going back to the afterlife, being mostly dead myself, would have repercussions.

  My throat felt like it was caving in on itself as all of my insides tightened on me. Suddenly my body felt as if it was crushing itself from the outside in.

  I glanced up at Alex and found him watching me with narrowed eyes. I felt my own widen as the breath caught in my throat, feeling like my lungs were slowly dissolving in my chest.

  Suddenly the glass between my hands shattered.

  Every one of us jumped, my dad leaping from his seat to avoid the shards that sprayed across the bar.

  “Whoa!” Dad cried as he half tripped over himself. And then his eyes narrowed.

  There was a shard of glass sticking out of the fleshy part of my palm. I yanked it out before he could even process the movement.

  “Oh, I’m so sorry!” I jumped to my feet, trying to divert attention before my dad realized that he really had seen what he thought he had. Going to the pantry, I grabbed the broom and the vacuum.

  “Are you alright?” Mom called, jumping to her feet to help. “What happened?”

  “I…” I stuttered, trying to make my brain function again. It couldn’t seem to come up with a believable lie in that moment.

  “She must have grabbed the glass with the crack in it,” Alex covered for me as he started sweeping the glass up on the bar with a rag. “I knew I should have just thrown it out when I saw the crack. Sorry, Jessica.”

  “I’m okay,” I repeated, setting to cleaning up. I’m okay, I said again to myself internally. The earthquake inside of me started to calm.

  Things settled back down quickly, my parents eating the meal Alex had prepared for them, Alex and I pretending to eat. But I saw how Alex kept looking at me, saw his eyes narrow.

  He knew something was wrong. He knew my behavior, he knew me too well to not know something was wrong.

  I didn’t know if I could keep hiding everything from him.

  In an attempt to avoid the conversation I knew would be coming with Alex, I insisted on spending every moment of the rest of the day with my parents. I may have wanted to avoid my mother, but I wanted to avoid having to explain everything to Alex even more.

  That evening, my parents being entertained by Alex, Amber, and Rod, I excused myself to go and check on Sal.

  The house was quiet when I first walked in, though every single light was left on. Checking the first floor, I found no signs of Sal.

  Keeping my feet quiet on the stairs to not wake her should she be asleep, I descended. And froze on the bottom step.

  I could hear Sal talking, her voice low and hurried. She made no pauses, didn’t wait for a response, just continued her rushed speech.

  For a few moments my heart leapt into my throat. There shouldn’t have been anyone in the house. Who was she talking to? Silently, I followed the sound of her voice, into her bedroom, and peeked around her bathroom door
, which was just barely cracked.

  Sal stood in front of the mirror, hurriedly speaking to her reflection, her eyes wide and blood-shot looking. Her hands twisted around each other, occasionally flitting to her mouth, covering her lips, though she never ceased her mumbled conversation.

  “You… you…” she stuttered, looking at herself in the mirror. “Never should have talked to you at the beach that day. Never should have said hello. Hitting, hitting. So much hitting. I said stop, I said stop, but you, you couldn’t listen.”

  I swallowed hard, remaining silent just outside the door. She was talking about her husband.

  Or maybe talking to him.

  “I…” she took a gasping, rattling breath, squeezing her eyes closed for a moment. “I can’t remember what it felt like. I felt it moving. I know I did. But I can’t remember…”

  I thought back through what I knew about Sal’s past, trying to recall what she might be talking about.

  “You…” tears started streaking down her cheeks. “You took him away! The blood… Mine… his. You killed him! You killed our baby boy!”

  Goosebumps flashed across my skin and my blood chilled as I finally understood what Sal was ranting about.

  Sal had been pregnant when Roger had nearly beaten her to death. She’d lost the baby because of him. That explained why he’d been sentenced to jail for the rest of his life.

  He’d nearly ended two lives that day.

  I never knew about that part.

  “Sal?” I called, my throat tight. The word cracked as it came out.

  She jumped violently, her hands finally falling still at her sides. She whipped around to face me, her eyes wide, and almost guilty looking.

  “Are you okay?” I asked as I pushed the door open.

  She pressed her lips tightly together and gave a small nod.

  “Are you sure?” I saw her hands start to tremble.

  “Uh huh,” she said with a shaky breath, wiping away one of the tears that rolled down her face.

  “Why don’t you come lay down?” I asked, stepping into the bathroom and placing a hand on her back. Gently, I started guiding her back toward her bed. “It’s getting really late.”

  “Yes,” she said, a small, very fake looking smile spreading on her face. “It’s very late. Very late.”