Twenty-Eight
TWENTY-EIGHT
“Dagen Rayne. I cannot believe you. I have no words.” Dad and I sit in the back of Zio Luca’s car while he lectures me on my newly discovered relationship. “That man is almost thirty years old.” Apparently he does have words. “And he is definitely not the kind of man you should be forming a relationship with.”
“Not the kind of man. That’s a horrible thing to say. Especially after you thanked him profusely for taking such good care of me.” I cross my arms and turn to stare out of the window.
“Well, had I known the kind of care he was giving you, I would’ve flown my ass out there and dragged you home by your ears.”
“I’m not a child anymore. You can’t just force me to do what you want.” My eyes and ears are burning with fire.
“You sure as hell are a child. You’re my child. Whom I support. So if you think for one minute that you are going to use my money to go and see that boy, think again.” Dad’s voice continues to climb.
“Wow. Okay. Well, don’t worry. I won’t use one dime of your money. I’ll figure it out on my own.”
“And your trust is off limits.” My jaw drops, fury turning into tears.
“What? You can’t do that. That’s my money. You can’t stop me from using it.” Both of us are now screaming at full volume.
“I’m the executor so I sure as shit can. Wait until I tell your mother. I can only imagine what she’ll have to say about this.”
I smirk. “She said to be careful.” His eyes are full of rage and his jaw clenches. “Mom figured it out because she’s a bit more observant. She also said Hendrix was hot.”
Hot breaths billow from his nose and he digs into his pocket, retrieving his phone and stabbing at the screen. He lifts it to his ear and waits for the other end to pick up.
“You knew about Dagen and that man and didn’t say anything to me?...I don’t care when you found out, you should’ve told me immediately…Oh, and Dagen told me you think he’s hot. Really Camille? He’s a child…To me he’s a child…We’ll talk about this when I get home.”
Dad’s face grows pale as I hear mom shouting, “Don’t you dare threaten me like that Vaughan Asa McCallan. I’m not your dog and if you want to raise your voice at me again, you better have a fucking bag packed and ready to run your ass out of this house.”
Dad gulps and his hand shakes. “I’m sorry, Sunshine. We’ll be home soon.” He listens for another moment then says goodbye.
Well, he tries to say goodbye but I have a feeling Mom hangs up without another word.
He sticks his phone back in his pocket and I scoot as far away from him as I can, practically melding into the car door, and don’t speak another word until we’re home.
When we arrived home after our blow up car ride, Mom was waiting with her hands on her waist and a scowl on her face. We stepped through the front door and she told us Sloane and AJ were with Uncle Hayes and that we were having a family meeting immediately.
We followed her to the dining room, both with shaky steps, and we each sat on our side of the table with mom at the head.
“I know this is not what you expected to find out, or how, but it’s happening and the best we can do as parents is support our daughter and ensure she is being safe. ” Mom was very diplomatic in her speech while dad and I sat ready to return to our screaming match.
“ Ensure she’s safe? Aw Christ, Camille. Are you saying that she needs to go on…on– ”
“Birth control? News flash, Dad. I’m already on it.” Dad’s head dropped to the table with a groan and I took great satisfaction with that.
We continued to argue back and forth, each of us throwing out an accusatory comment which Mom would quickly shut down. At the end of it all, we were nowhere near a truce and I stomped off to my room where I began to throw all of my clothes in my bag, and readying myself to return to school.
Then I threw myself on my bed and waited for Hendrix to call.
And waited.
And waited.
Now it’s ten o’clock and I still have yet to hear from him. I don’t want to be that girl, but I’m growing worried that something horrible could have happened to him. Deciding I can’t wait any longer, I call up Kinsley.
“Hey sister. I miss you already. Please come back.”
“I miss you too, Kins. I have a question that hopefully you can help me out with. Have you, uh,” I blow out a big breath. “Have you heard from Hendrix? He said he would call me when he got home and I don’t want to seem like a jealous girlfriend –because I am so not– but I’m kind of worried.”
“I haven’t. Did you try callin’ him?”
“No.”
“And why not?” The rumble of her truck blares, almost drowning out her voice.
“I don’t want to seem needy. What if he just told me he wanted to be with me, but really didn’t mean it?”
“Wait. Hold up a doggone minute. Henny said he wanted to be with you? Like boyfriend and girlfriend?” I nod my head. “Your silence makes me assume you’re nodding your head. All I have to say to that is, eeeekkk! Oh my gosh. I am so happy. Y’all are gonna have babies and live happily ever after and we’ll all be the best of friends.”
“Just hold off on buying neighboring houses. I still need to find out if this is real or not.” I roll over on my back and stare up at the ceiling fan that spins round and round, much like the nerves in my belly.
“Well I haven’t heard a thing. Did you try King? I mean Mal?” I still want to know the story behind the nickname King, but we’ll leave that for another day.
“No. I don’t have his number. Do you think you could call him for me?”
“Sure thing buttercup. You just sit tight. We’ll find out what’s going on.” She hangs up and I chew on the inside of my cheek, forcing my tears to stay at bay.
It must be twenty minutes before my phone rings, the caller is one I do not recognize.
“He-hello?” I answer, apprehensively.
“Day? It’s Malik.”
My nose stings and my heart hurts thinking Hendrix has sent Malik to tell me it’s over.
“Hey. Um, Kins said you were waiting for Henny to call you when he landed?”
“Yeah,” I choke out.
“Well he’s home. But…” he wars with his words before finally blurting it out. “He got arrested for fighting with Danté on the side of the road. Disorderly conduct.”
“What?” I shout, jack knifing up from my bed. “Are you serious?”
“As serious as a heart attack. I’m actually waiting to bond them out. I don’t know if it’s a good idea to take them both home since they can’t seem to keep their hands to themselves, but they need to work it out somehow. They’re brothers. I don’t know what the hell they’re fighting about, but this shit has got to stop.”
My door bursts open and Mom practically falls in. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?” She sounds out of breath from running up the stairs.
I must have been loud enough for her to hear me down the stairs and come running.
“Nothing Mom. I’m fine.”
“That was not the screech of someone who is fine. Cough it up.”
I sigh and tell Malik, “Will you let me know when he’s home?”
“Sure thing Day. Don’t worry, okay. They’ll figure it out. See ya, tart.” I hit end and look at Mom who stands in the doorway with her arms folded across her chest.
She arches a brow and purses her lips waiting for me to explain.
“That was Hendrix’s brother, Malik. I was worried that he hadn’t called me since landing so I reached out to Kinsley –my new friend– who called Malik who called me.”
“And?”
I twist my face and squint. “He got arrested.”
“What the fuck, Dagen?” My head blows back like she punched me.
Mom very rarely curses and this is a big one. Especially with Sloane and AJ just down the hall. Loud stomps can be heard climbing the stairs and I just know the fight with Dad is going to hit a peak.
“Sunshine? Are you okay?” he asks, walking over to her and placing his hand around her waist.
“I’m fine, but why don’t you ask your daughter about the news she just shared with me.” Dad looks at me and I shake my head, my eyes large and panic stricken. “It seems her new boyfriend got arrested shortly after landing in Mississippi.”
“What the fuck, Dagen?”
“Jesus. Do you guys know any other words? There is more than one curse word in the English language.”
“Yeah, but it’s the only one that fits this situation.” Dad’s chest rises and falls and he shakes his head slowly. “I knew that boy was bad news. I could just tell.”
“Oh whatever, Dad. You were practically kissing his feet just hours ago.” I jump up from my bed and stand in front of the two of them.
“That was before I knew he violated my daughter and before he was arrested,” Dad yells back.
“What was he arrested for? You failed to give us that information.” Mom’s expression matches Dad’s and it hurts my heart to see it.
I don’t think I’ve ever disappointed her, but it’s obvious I’ve done more than disappoint.
“He and his brother got into a fight. I guess it was bad enough that people called the cops.”
“For Christ Sake.” Dad throws his hands up in the air and paces the hallway. “That’s it. You are never allowed to see him. Never, Dagen, and you will not defy me.” He points his finger at me with a hardened face and the tears burst free.
“You can’t tell me what to do. I’m twenty-one!”
“I just fucking did, so try me.” He huffs and I do the same.
Without another word, I scurry to where my bags lay in my small sitting area and start throwing them over my shoulders.
“What-what are you doing?” Mom asks, her voice distraught.
“I’m leaving. I was going to wait until tomorrow to go back to school, but I can’t spend another night under the same roof as him.” I look around for a pair of shoes and find my Berks at the foot of my bed.
I slide my feet in and snatch my phone from the bed as I pass by. I try to squeeze between the two of them but they refuse to move. Still defiant and still angry, I turn and walk over to my balcony doors.
“Where are you going?”
“If you won’t move, I’ll jump out of my window.” I glare at Dad and yank my french doors open.
“Stop it! Just stop this.” I freeze when I hear the emotion that laces my Mom’s words.
Looking over my shoulder I see her crying, tears pouring down her face. A moment later, AJ begins to cry, no doubt awakened by our screaming match. Mom stands there, staring at me, then spins and rushes to AJ’s room. Dad remains, a deep scowl on his face. With mom gone, I move to exit my room once more.
He grabs my arm as I try to move past him. “Don’t do this, baby bird. Please don’t run again.”
I close my eyes, gathering myself and letting the sob in my throat fade away, and tell him, “I’m not running. This is you pushing me.”
I pull my arm free and shove him, walking away from my parents for a second time in two weeks. Crushed, yet again, by their words. My heart is so tattered, I don’t know if there’s any left to see me through the tough roads ahead.