Chapter 57
***Memphis***
It seemed like I’d cried all the tears I could by the time I was discharged the next day.
There was a gaping, vast hole in my chest and the pain was indescribable, but at least I wasn’t crying.
I was wheeled out of the hospital by a nurse who left me sitting in the wheelchair because there was no one to pick me up and I had nowhere to go.
I sat in the midday sun in two-day-old clothing with a killer headache and no idea what I was going to do.
I had less money than when I’d arrived in Chicago and what I had wouldn’t buy my bus ticket back to Georgia.
I stared down at my baby and put my hand over it, protecting the little girl who grew inside. I couldn’t be homeless. I had to think of something, anything.
“Smoke?” A small man had come out of nowhere and stood beside me. He looked me over and frowned as he waited for my answer.
I stammered as I shook my head. “No, thanks. I don’t smoke.”
“I’m not offering, lady. I’m asking if you’ve got one.” He scowled at me. “That necklace real?”
I looked down and saw that I was still wearing everything I’d worn on the plane, which included the jewelry Remy had insisted on buying me when we went shopping the night before. I touched the delicate chain and felt the diamond charm move across my skin. “Probably not.”
He leaned closer. “Looks real to me. Just like those shoes you’re wearing.”
I knew what was coming. Inner city, country, suburbs, wherever.
The language of robbery was universal. I covered my stomach with both arms as he reached towards me.
It was over in less than five seconds, with the only damage done to me being a slight stinging on my neck from where the chain had dug into my skin before snapping and an awkward tickle on my feet when he yanked off the shoes.
“Are you okay, ma’am?!” A woman hurried to my side. “I saw everything. I’ll call the cops. That was awful! Robbing a pregnant lady... men today, I swear.”
I wiggled my toes and sighed. “Don’t bother. Thank you, but I’m sure they’re not going to prioritize my shoes and necklace. He didn’t hurt me. That’s what matters.”
“I think you’re in shock. Why don’t I wheel you back inside and call the cops from there?” She was determined. I could see by the horror on her face that she’d probably never seen someone get robbed before.
Thankfully, before she could take me back into the hospital and force me to talk to the police, a car door slammed and Jake came jogging over. He looked pissed. “I told them not to discharge you until I was back. You shouldn’t just be sitting out here on the sidewalk. Where are your shoes?”
“She just got robbed! I think she’s in shock because she isn’t even reacting.” The good samaritan looked like she was going to cry. “We should call the police. He stole her necklace, too. Just ripped it right off her.”
I’d never seen Jake look so furious. He patted my knee and then shook the woman’s hand. “Thank you for staying with her. I’m going to get her home. I have a friend on the force that I’ll call from there. He’ll get the surveillance videos and we’ll handle it.”
He didn’t wait for her reply as he wheeled me over to the car he’d gotten out of. It wasn’t the normal car he drove, but it was still a sleek black number that fit into the Hawkes’ car persona.
“What happened to your normal car?” I insisted on sitting in the front seat with him, standing and waiting next to the door for him to unlock it. When he finally did and opened the door for me, I slid into the cool leather seat and looked up at him. “This is nice.”
He squatted next to the open door and looked at my neck. “Friction burn. Did he hurt you?”
I shook my head. “Nope. Overall, it was probably my top favorite robbery. I didn’t get hurt and I didn’t lose anything that I’d worked my butt off for. Ten out of ten.”
“Are you in shock? You want to talk about my car and you’re rating robberies? Should I take you back inside?” He pressed his fingers to my forehead like he was checking for a fever.
“If I’m in shock, it’s not from being robbed.
By now you know that I didn’t grow up in the nice neighborhoods.
I got mugged at gunpoint in Jackson when I was seven.
A grown man took my bike and pushed me down.
” I shrugged. “To be fair, I’d taken it from someone else first. And now that I’m thinking about it, maybe that was the kid’s dad.
Never mind, I don’t think that one counts as a robbery. ”
Jake rubbed his hands down his face. “I don’t want to hear any more robbery stories right now, Memphis. You could’ve been hurt, all because they didn’t listen to me. I was gone for less than an hour.”
I patted his cheek. “I’m back to being a nobody. They don’t keep nobodies for longer than absolutely necessary, Jake.”
He swore under his breath and shut the door hard enough that I flinched.
If he hadn’t been so nice, I might’ve felt like reminding him that I had a headache the size of a bull’s ass.
As he got behind the wheel, it was like he already knew, though.
“Sorry. I’m sure that didn’t feel good on your head. ”
“I’m okay. I just have a quick question.” I buckled myself in and looked out the window. “Where are you taking me?”
“Home. I think you’ve had enough adventure for one day.”
Rubbing my temples, I tried to make sense of what he was saying. “Georgia?”
“The guesthouse, Memphis. Of course, I’m not driving you to Georgia.
Not only would I rather tie my balls together than drive that far, ever, but you inadvertently got me a brand new car.
I’m not adding that much mileage on it that fast.” He glanced over and saw my confusion.
“You were rushed to the ER last night and my car was left outside, still running. I doubt even two minutes passed before it was stolen.”
I swallowed down all the guilt and shame I felt. I could tell that he loved the new car. “Why am I going back to the guesthouse?”
“Because that’s where you live.” He merged onto the interstate. “What did you think was happening?”
“I thought I was going to be homeless.” I groaned as my nose burned and my eyes watered. “Stupid emotions.”
“Never. I’d let you live with me before that ever happened.” He hesitated. “I don’t know what they’re thinking, Memphis, but you just need to stay strong.”
I turned to face him. “What does that mean?”
“Just try to remember that hurt people hurt people. They’re thinking from a place of pain right now and I don’t know how that’s going to look. I’ve never seen them hurt before. I’m always around if you need me, though.” He slowed down as traffic came to a crawl around us. “I hate traffic.”
I stared out the window the rest of the drive, running through a thousand things that Jake could’ve meant.
I hadn’t expected to go back to the guest house.
It was a world better than being homeless, so I wouldn’t ever complain, but I didn’t know what was expected of me.
Remy’s face had haunted my dreams all night.
I saw it every time I closed my eyes. He hated me. Why would he want me around?
Too soon, I was letting myself out of Jake’s car and looking up at the house. Nerves filled my body as I thought about what I was walking into. Jackson had broken so many of their mom’s things. I was going to have to clean up my mess in so many ways.
“I thought we talked about letting me open the door.” Jake looked down at my feet and frowned. “Here. Let me carry you.”
I didn’t get a chance to refuse before he had me in his arms, carrying me inside. “Thanks, Jake. For everything.”
He put me down and gripped my shoulders. “We’re friends, Memphis. If I ever need to be held while I’m pregnant and alone in a hospital bed, I know you’ll spend the night taking care of me, too.”
I hugged him hard and kept my face buried against his shirt as my body proved that it wasn’t out of tears after all. “I’m so sorry, Jake. I lied to you, too, and that’s not how friends treat their friends. I messed up and don’t deserve your kindness. I’m so glad to have it, though.”
He rubbed my back and his sigh ruffled the top of my hair. “You deserve kindness. Everyone makes mistakes. Seems like you never lied about the important things, Memphis, like who you are as a person. I can handle that.”
“About the robbery?” I stepped back and looked up at him. “Don’t waste your time. You’ve done enough.”
He frowned over my head before leaning down and kissing my forehead. “I’m not going to waste my time.”
“Because you won’t try to solve an unsolvable, victimless crime?”
He backed out. “Because it’s not a waste of time if I catch the asshole and teach him a lesson.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but I was tired and my head was pulsing with my heartbeat.
Jake left before I had a chance to add anything more, anyway.
I watched as the car drove away and turned to see what all needed to be cleaned up, but my eyes landed on the open back door and Boone standing with his hands on his hips on the other side of it.