Chapter 20
Mara cried as she told me what happened with Calvin. I sat on the floor next to the bed, Mara cradled in my arms, and I stared at the fireplace. I wasn’t sure I blinked one time during the story.
While they were waiting for the ambulance to show up, Calvin made his move.
He had been adamant at first to let him carry my mother upstairs. Then out to his car. He didn’t want anyone coming near her. That told me he started to panic that my mother’s leg was messed up as bad as it was. He had hoped she would have toppled down the stairs and that was that. A few bruises and a clear message.
But that didn’t happen.
My mother’s leg bone snapped in half and was sticking out of her fucking skin.
Mara’s mother kept calm though.
Giving orders on what to do and how to do it.
Then my mother told Calvin he couldn’t come.
Because of me.
That wasn’t the time or place to meet Calvin.
She told Calvin she would call him as soon as she could though. And that she loved him. That there was nothing to worry about. That she was going to be fine.
Succumbing to Calvin’s power and message.
That was just the beginning though.
When Mara went to get another towel for my mother’s leg, Calvin cornered her. He didn’t touch her but he positioned himself so Mara was trapped.
“He put a finger to his lips,” Mara said. “He told me first that if I screamed, it would get worse. I wasn’t sure what it was, but I froze. I completely froze, Uly. Fight or flight… what about being weak?”
“You’re not weak, doll.”
“Yes, I am. I could have kicked him in the balls right then. I could have told the paramedics what happened. Or the doctors. Or my mother.”
“So nobody knows…”
“Just me and your mother,” Mara said.
I swallowed hard. “What did he say to you?”
“He told me I was wrong about what I saw. That the look on my face was going to give it away. Then he told me this story about a rabbit…”
“A rabbit?”
“Yeah. He said he had a rabbit as a kid and it chewed everything. So one day when the rabbit was chewing his bedpost, he punched the rabbit. He said the rabbit never chewed the bedpost again.”
“And my mother is the rabbit now?” I asked.
“That’s what he meant by it,” she said. “He justified what he had done. He said your mother was being unreasonable. She needed to be taught a tough lesson. And the look in his eyes… it was evil and scary. There wasn’t an ounce of regret. All I could do was nod. I told myself to just go with the flow and get out of that corner. But Calvin was smart. Smarter than me. He knew telling me that rabbit story wasn’t going to be enough. So he told me…”
Mara’s voice crackled.
“What did he say, doll?”
“He… he said my mother was a good-looking woman. That she should watch herself driving alone. Being alone anywhere. Especially in the dark. He said he would hate for something to happen to her because then it would happen to me. I started to get upset. He told me to collect myself or else…” Mara cleared her throat. “He said he would have me stay behind while Mom and your mother went to the hospital. And he’d drag me to the top of the steps… and he’d throw me down. He promised when he did it to me though I’d go head first so my neck would snap.”
I pulled Mara tighter to my body.
There was nothing I could say to her.
I just knew what I had to do next.
Calvin threatened to kill my girl?
I was going to kill Calvin.
* * *
Mara grabbed my arm as I stood at the front door.
“Please, Uly, don’t,” she begged. “This isn’t going to solve anything.”
“Yes, it is,” I said.
I pulled myself free.
She had begged me the entire way to the front door.
We went back and forth, each taking verbal cheap shots that I regretted.
That we weren’t supposed to be together anyway.
That none of it mattered.
It was just both of us defending our hearts.
When in reality we were just in love and wanted nothing but that love.
Except I couldn’t let this happen. I couldn’t let it stand the way it was.
I needed to hear it from my mother.
I needed to face Calvin.
Because not only did he hurt my mother and threaten my girl, he had Charger come to BFH to push pills on girls like Jasmine.
This was deeper than I could have ever imagined.
It consumed basically my entire life.
I ran to my car and heard the front door to the house slam behind me.
Mara was pissed and that was okay.
I drove back to the beach house.
When I turned down the road, I called Mara.
She ignored the call.
I listened to her voice on the voicemail and told her I loved her.
With the pill bottle in my pocket, I got out of my car and went into the beach house.
Paula saw me first.
“You need to go,” I said to her.
“Excuse me?” she asked.
“I need to talk to my mother alone,” I said.
“I don’t think so, Ulysses.”
“Mara is at my house. Crying her eyes out. Scared out of her mind.”
“What?” Paula asked.
That got her to run toward me.
I lowered my voice. “Calvin hurt my mother. He pushed her down the stairs. Mara saw it. And then he threatened her to keep her quiet. And someone was trying to sell pills in Bay Falls High. I got the bottle and it’s my mother’s pills.”
Paula’s jaw almost hit the floor.
“I need to speak to my mother alone,” I said. “And if you don’t want to be part of what I have to do…”
“Ulysses,” Paula said. “Do you love Mara?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“Then whatever the hell you’re thinking you won’t do,” she said. “Because that will only hurt her. How is that fair?”
I curled my lip.
Using my feelings toward her daughter against me.
“I warned you,” I whispered.
I walked around Paula and went through the kitchen to the sunroom.
I looked at my mother’s leg and gritted my teeth.
Without hesitation, I tossed the pill bottle to the bed.
My mother looked at it. “What is this?”
“Your pills.”
My mother’s face turned white. “Where…”
“A guy named Charger. He had them. He was trying to sell them. How did he get these pills?”
My mother’s eyes closed and she shook her head. “I’m not feeling well. I need to get rest. Paula! Paula, I need your help!”
“She’s not-”
“Amanda, I’m sorry,” Paula’s voice said.
I didn’t realize she had crept through the kitchen too and was in the sunroom with me.
“Paula?” my mother asked.
“If any of this is true, then I quit,” Paula said. “You endangered my daughter’s life. And mine. And your son’s.” Paula grabbed my hand. “Please think about what I said.”
Paula pulled away and walked out of the room.
My mother looked at me, shaking her head. “No, no, no. I can’t be alone. I can’t be alone, Ulysses.”
“Afraid Calvin will show up and hurt you again?”
She gasped. “What did you say?”
“It’s time for the truth. The real story. Because I know what happened. Mara saw it. Everything. And Calvin threatened her. So I know that part of the story. What happened to your leg and why. What I want to know is why the fuck someone was trying to push pills through BFH… your pills…”
My mother’s back stiffened. She reached for the pill bottle. She squeezed it tight in her hand.
&nb
sp; “It was his idea to do it,” she said. “I was too far involved…”
“What does that mean?”
My mother looked at me. “He gave me attention, Ulysses. I fell for him. He used me. He knew I had prescriptions.”
“For what?”
“Anxiety,” my mother said. “Depression. Guess what? You can be rich and be lonely. You can be rich and be sad. You can look happy and healthy and feel like you’re dying.”
I rubbed my jaw. “Fuck.”
“Yeah. He told me he needed help. I gave him some of my pills. Then more. And more. And then he started stealing them. I thought he was taking them but he was selling them.”
“He doesn’t have enough money on his own?” I asked.
“Ulysses, I’m pretty sure he’s in debt,” my mother said. “Bad debt. Really bad debt. Gambling…”
“And not at a casino, right?” I asked.
“Right.”
“So he had you getting pills for him.”
“He kept taking them. But when I found out what was happening I stopped it. Okay? I put my foot down and stopped it. I hid my medication and that was that. And it was good, Ulysses. For a day. Then he showed up really angry. He begged me to help him. And I refused to help. He said he was in trouble. Ulysses, he started to cry. I didn’t know what to do. I wasn’t sure if I believed in his tears. But the look in his eyes…” My mother shook her head and caught her breath. “I knew Paula was downstairs. I was going to get downstairs and tell her I needed help in the bathroom. And I was going to tell her to get out of the house and call the police. There was just something… then he pushed me, Ulysses.”
I made fists and was ready to scream.
“Pushed you,” I said.
“Yeah. He just pushed me. Like nothing. And I hit each step and I have no idea how it happened, but my leg hit one at the right angle and…” My mother looked to her hurt leg. “Then he said he would kill me.”
“What? When?” I asked.
“After he pushed me,” my mother said. “There was a moment when nobody was around. The pain I felt… I would never wish that on anyone I know… and Calvin put his arms around me to hug me. And he told me that’s what I get for not listening and next time he would kill me. Then he said I had to tell him to stay behind because of you, Ulysses. And he wanted to know where the pills were.”
“And you told him,” I said.
“I had no choice… and then after surgery…”
“What? What else fucking happened here?”
“He told me to embellish the pain,” my mother said.
“To get pills,” I said.
“Yeah.”
“Have you taken any?”
“No.”
“You’ve been sitting there in real pain without any help?” I asked.
My mother nodded.
“Where is he now?”
“I don’t know.”
“You better not lie to me,” I said. “Everyone keeps lying to me…”
“I don’t know, Ulysses,” my mother said. “He just comes and goes when he wants. He told me he was going for a run or jog or something.”
“That’s his excuse,” I said, remembering a conversation I had with him once before.
“Ulysses… I’m so sorry…”
My mother started to cry.
I approached the bed and leaned down to hug her.
When I did, I wasn’t sure what to feel or even how to feel it.
She hugged me tight, clinging for some kind of hope.
“You need to listen to me,” she whispered. “You can’t do anything to him. You can’t get involved in this. Let me handle it.”
I broke away from my mother. “You tried that already. That piece of shit hurt you. He hurt Mara. And he tried to hurt BFH. This is my problem now. All the way. No matter what happens.”
“Ulysses!” my mother yelled as I turned away from her.
I walked into the kitchen and thought about what to do and how to do it.
Then an idea came to me.
I hurried back into the sunroom to my mother’s side.
“Take one of those pills,” I said to her.
“What?”
“They’re yours for the pain,” I said. “So take one. You’re going to need it.”
“Why?”
I curled my lip. “You’re going to take a walk with me.”
Chapter 21
I smoked a cigarette on the balcony that overlooked the ocean.
The breeze flirted with my face and it made me think of Mara.
She was safe at my house.
She could hang out there until this was all done.
At least she and Paula would have each other.
My every single thought went back to Mara.
There had to have been a better word than just falling to describe what had happened with her.
Plunged. Plummeted. Crashed.
I took the last drag of my cigarette and walked back into the massive bedroom.
It took me a little bit to help my mother upstairs, but she looked more comfortable in her bed.
She looked at me and forced a smile.
I nodded.
Her phone was in her left hand.
She texted Calvin that she just got new prescriptions delivered and had a plan for even more.
If that didn’t work to get him to show up, then I’d just wait it out.
Chances were he was dealing with the aftermath of Charger.
Which meant he might have been panicked.
And if that…
The downstairs door slammed.
Then came his voice.
“Amanda!”
Calling my mother’s name over and over.
I nodded to my mother.
“Up here!” she yelled.
I moved to the corner of the room behind the door and waited.
I didn’t need a weapon. I had my fists.
Calvin hurried into the bedroom. “How?”
“I walked,” my mother said. “I’m able to move my leg more. But I have an idea.”
“Amanda, what is this? You can’t imagine the night I’ve had.”
“Bad deal?” my mother asked.
“I don’t even want to talk about it,” Calvin said. “Just give me the stuff you got and let me do what I have to do. I have to fix some things, okay? I have to work a little overtime. I don’t know when I’ll be back. I’m not going to lose you though, okay? We’re going to figure it all out.”
“So you can throw me down the stairs again?”
“What? Why would you say that?”
“That’s what you did to me. Right?”
“Look at how you were acting,” Calvin said. “I’m sorry, but nobody is above punishment. You’ve been single for how long, Amanda? You got divorced before your husband died. Think about it. He didn’t want you. And then he died to stay away. Your son hates you too. You know that, right? And don’t get me started on him. Ulysses is a bad person. Very bad.”
My mother moved her eyes and blew my cover.
I wasn’t sure whether she meant to do it or not.
But Calvin had said more than enough.
The perfect kind of asshole… treat you like shit and break you down with memories or your own tragedy and make you feel like you aren’t worth a damn.
Calvin was good at it.
A fucking master.
And my mother was the perfect target.
All she gave a shit about was herself and the opinions of those around her. She never had any real friends, just people she knew so she could offer them her version of her story of life.
In a sick way, she and Calvin were probably good for each other…
I pushed the door shut and when Calvin saw me, he looked at my mother and his lip curled.
“How’s Charger feeling today?” I asked.
Calvin made a move and I wasn’t sure if it was for a gun or what.
So I charged at him and threw my shoulder into his.<
br />
He side stepped and fell to the floor.
Instantly, his hands went up.
“Wait a second, son,” he said.
I swung my foot and kicked him in the face.
That put him on his back on the floor, grabbing at his nose.
I stepped on his right leg. “How should I do this, Calvin?”
“Do what?” he asked.
“Break your leg. Snap the bone. Pull it out of your skin.”
He looked at me. “You know this game. You know what happens if I make a call. I’m not someone to fuck with.”
“Neither am I,” I said.
I put pressure on his leg and he swung his left foot, kicking me off of him.
Calvin turned and pushed himself up and ran toward the balcony.
I caught up to him right before he got outside.
My right arm slipped around his neck and I pulled him toward me.
Before I could say a word I felt a hot pain in my ribs.
A pain so sharp that I let him go.
I touched my side and Calvin turned around.
A knife in his hand.
* * *
He slashed at me but I could tell he was scared.
With his other hand he reached for his phone. He waved it at me.
“Here’s how we do it, Ulysses,” he said. “I leave and nothing else happens.”
“Fuck you,” I said.
“No, you listen… one call… and you’re all gone. You think I’m dangerous? Just wait until you meet… who I call…”
I shook my head. “You have nobody to call, Calvin. You’re a scumbag gambler. I can place one call and watch you suffer.”
I touched my pocket and Calvin lunged at me with the knife’s target being anywhere on my body.
I stepped back and grabbed his left arm and twisted it as hard as I could. There was a pop and Calvin dropped his phone.
At the same time, he slashed the knife at me again.
I knew I should have gone for the knife first, but too late now…
The tip of the blade cut my cheek.
I moved away and swung my foot at his ankles, tripping him, sending him down to the floor again.
My cheek burned but I’d live.
I kicked his cellphone across the bedroom.
Calvin grabbed for the dresser and pulled himself back up.
He stuck the knife out to protect himself.
ULY (Bay Falls High - Them Book 1) Page 19
