Chapter 39
I set my phone down after Kai didn’t answer, and it went to voicemail.
It’s seven in the evening, and Kai is usually home by now.
I sit by myself, staring at the chicken and rice I made.
I’ve never eaten dinner without Kai before—well, not since we moved in together.
He’s always home by this time, and we eat together.
But it’s already seven, and my stomach is growling.
Instead of waiting longer, I decide to eat.
An hour later, all I get on the other side of the phone is more ringing until it goes to voicemail again.
What the hell?
I finished eating, cleaned up, and I even made a plate for Kai and put it in the microwave…he’s still not home.
As the minutes drag on, I can’t shake this uneasy feeling creeping up inside me. My whole body is restless, making me pace back and forth in the living room. I try to do some schoolwork to keep my mind busy, but I can’t concentrate enough to keep my mind off the worst-case scenario.
Did he get hurt?
Is he at the hospital?
Is he lying in a ditch somewhere?
I decide to call Kevin.
Ring.
Ring.
Ring.
Voicemail.
I slam my phone down next to me on the couch.
It’s 9:30 now, and the sun is setting. Still no sign of Kai. I slip on my sandals and walk over to Kevin’s.
When I reach his apartment, all the lights are off.
His car isn’t in the driveway. Those two have to be together, because Kai left the car for me.
Why don’t they answer? I don’t have anyone else’s phone number who might know where they are.
I make a mental note to get his Uncle Dave’s number, but that isn’t going to help me right now.
Even though the lights are off, I still knock and ring the doorbell. No one answers.
A weight is pressing down on my chest, each breath heavier than the last as my mind races with endless what-if scenarios.
I’ve been sitting on Kevin’s steps for an hour, waiting for any sight of them.
With every headlight that turns down the street, my heart skips a little until the car drives right past me and then the heaviness settles again.
“Hello. Is everything alright? It’s eleven o’clock at night,” Paige says in a groggy voice.
I’m surprised she’s sleeping. I thought she would be out since it’s the summer and she has no school.
“Yes. Sort of.” I swallow the lump in my throat. “Actually, I don’t know. Kai hasn’t come home from work yet. He’s not answering his phone, and neither is Kevin,” I say, walking back to my apartment. The phone trembles in my hand as I try not to drop it with my shaking fingers.
“Really? You’re not in labor, are you?” I hear shuffling in the background like she’s sitting up from her bed.
“No.”
She lets out a sigh. “That’s good. Do you want me to come over?”
I lock my door behind me and pace around the living room again. “No. I needed someone to talk to,” I say with a shaky voice.
“Are you sure, B? I can tell from your voice that you’re really worried.”
Tears burn behind my eyes. “Yes.”
“Maybe they got held up at work and have bad cell reception. It’s only been… what, a few hours since he was supposed to be home? I wouldn’t worry too much.”
We’re still talking an hour later, and it’s helping to distract me.
I’m now getting even more upset that he hasn’t called to say anything.
Regardless of what is going on, he can’t leave his pregnant girlfriend at home alone wondering what the hell is going on.
That’s not fair to me. I’m thinking more rationally and feel like nothing has happened to him.
Because if something did, I for sure would get a call from someone by now.
It’s a little past midnight. If something happened, it would have been during the day.
It gives someone plenty of time to call me.
I sit straight up as I hear the front door opening. I haven’t left the living room since I started talking to Paige.
My eyes widen in disbelief when Kai walks through the door. But then, the look on his face makes my face drop. His puffy eyes and red nose show he’s been crying. The smell of metal and vodka lingers on as he passes by me into the bathroom.
“Paige, he’s here. I got to go.”
Why hasn’t he said anything? I knock on the bathroom door. “Yeah.” I hear sniffling.
“Can I come in?”
“It’s not locked.”
I slowly open the door. Kai’s sitting on the edge of the bathtub with his head in his hands.
“What’s going on?” I focus my gaze on him. He keeps his head down and mumbles something I can’t understand. “What?”
He lifts his head, eyes red and glossed over. “My dad is dead,” he says, his voice unlike I’ve ever heard it; it’s so deep and shaky.
I gasp and my heart sinks. Not knowing what to say, I walk closer to him. He leans his head onto my stomach and wraps his arms around me.
His back shakes as his sobs echo throughout the bathroom.
“I’m so sorry, Kai. What can I do?”
He shakes his head.
Silence surrounds the bathroom, filling the air with a stillness that amplifies with each sob.
I say nothing else. Instead of talking, I let him cry on my stomach as he lets it all out. It sounds as if he held it in all day. The best thing for him right now is to let him be.