Chapter 2
TWO
“Ever.”
I could hear Lyric’s voice in the distance.
“Ever!”
It got a bit closer.
“Ever!” Panic stricken, she yelled my name as she shook my body.
For once, I felt like Essence and Emorey – a bump on a log.
Lyric had obviously been calling my name for some time, but I was too tired to even hear her.
That was happening a lot lately. I can’t remember sleeping as hard as I had been since moving back to Channing.
Or maybe it was the fact that I didn’t have to look over my shoulder or worry about Dewayne coming home on his bullshit, if he came home at all .
The peace the move offered me had me sleeping like a baby. Like my babies.
“Yeah?” I groaned, eyes still closed because I wasn’t ready to wake, yet.
“It’s right at seven. We overslept. He’ll be released in the next hour. We have to get going,” she rushed out, shaking my arm to wake me completely.
Finally, I sprang up and out of bed. I knew how important it was to Lyric to be at the gates when her brother exited them and the last thing I wanted to do was hold her up.
I could sleep in the car, on the way to the prison and back to Channing.
For the moment, I had to muster the strength to get packed up and down to the truck.
“OK. OK. I’m up. I just need like five minutes to get myself together, and I’ll be ready.”
“Same. I need five, too,” an obviously exhausted Lyric agreed.
I’d never seen my friend look so pathetic.
After the lounge, we’d ended up grabbing more food from the twenty-four-hour burger spot on the way.
Our plan was to stay awake and leave at six.
That way, we could drive to the parking lot of the federal facility and fall asleep there waiting for her brother, but it didn’t happen that way.
Around five, we both crashed. Lyric had set her alarm, but apparently we’d both slept right through it.
God, maybe my children got it from me , I thought as I made my way to the bathroom to quickly freshen up. My clothes were already out and waiting to be put on, but I needed to run a wet, soapy towel over my body before anything fresh touched my body.
That was a peeve of mine, putting fresh clothes on a dirty body.
Technically, mine wasn’t filthy, being that I’d showered before we went out, but it was dirty enough.
I tiptoed on the cold floor, cringing as I made it to the sink and turned on the water.
I quickly re-entered the room and grabbed the slippers Lyric had bought and packed for me along with new panties and a bra.
The temperature of the water was perfect when I touched it with my hand.
I grabbed the thick, costly towel from the towel dispenser that was on the wall.
There were three of them. One for face towels, one for hand towels, and one for bath towels.
When they ran low, the housekeeping staff was automatically notified and brought fresh ones to the door.
Lyric and I had discovered this on our way out of the door last night. She’d used all the hand towels. Before she could fix her mouth to ask for one of mine, there was a housekeeper at the door handing her more.
I soaped the towel with the Dove face wash Lyric loved so much.
After scrubbing my skin until it tingled, I added a quarter-sized amount of body wash onto the same towel and began scrubbing my entire body.
The task of cleansing and rinsing the soap off only took two minutes.
When I was done, I patted myself dry with one of the bath towels from the dispenser.
Feeling much better and a bit more alert, I stepped into my panties and then hooked my bra.
I oiled my skin, skipping the parts that weren’t necessary to coat or wouldn’t be visible.
Time wasn’t on my side, so I had to take a few shortcuts.
When I completed that, I pulled my toothbrush from the holder on the wall.
I honestly didn’t think that there was anything the designers of the hotel experience hadn’t considered when creating it.
The gray shirt, gray leggings, and comfortable slides that Lyric had chosen for us both felt like butter on my body. The jersey knit fabric was pillow soft and fit like a glove. I dressed in haste, getting myself together in the five-minute timeframe I’d promised Lyric.
She was still in the bathroom by the time I’d finished.
Her clothes had disappeared from the bed, which let me know she was getting dressed as well and would be out shortly.
I utilized the extra time to pack both of our bags and sit them by the door.
Lyric’s was left open in case she needed to put anything else inside.
While waiting, I did a once-over in the room to make sure that I hadn’t missed anything.
The coast was clear. As I ended the search, Lyric popped out of the bathroom wearing a tee and leggings that were almost identical to mine, only hers was a much darker gray and her shirt was cropped. The material and maker were the same.
“You ready, love?” I asked as I watched her stuff a few pieces into her bag.
“Yeah. I won’t forgive myself if I get there, and he’s already outside.”
“Should we stop for gas, first?” I hoped we could make it. That would only put us behind schedule even more.
“No. We can stop on the way back. There’s enough to get us to him and then some.”
“Alright. Well, I’m ready. We can head downstairs.”
My head was throbbing, and I wanted nothing more than to close my eyes and rest. Lyric looked like she could use some more shut eye, too. Though she looked a lot better than when we’d awakened, she still looked shot. I did, too.
Lyric’s perfectly sculpted, braided ponytail that had hung past her waist was now wrapped, creating a bun of sorts. On her face, she opted for shades to cover the redness of her eyes. I didn’t have any, so I had to muster the courage to face the harsh light as we made our way to the elevator.
Still hungover, silence was the only thing either of us wanted to hear.
It hurt too much to talk or think, so words weren’t a preference, either.
All we could hear as we descended was the pinging of the elevator with each floor that it passed.
When we made it to the lobby, Lyric stepped off first with the valet ticket in her hand.
She handed it off to the attendant before we made it out of the door so the car could be pulled around.
The bench that was reserved for waiting guests seemed to have been calling my name from the time I noticed it until I sat on it. Lyric flopped down beside me, close enough to rest her head on my shoulder as I got comfortable. The whimper that followed was hilarious, causing me to laugh out loud.
“Shut up,” she warned me. “I couldn’t help it. I feel like I’ve been hit by three trucks.”
“Can’t be, because then you wouldn’t feel a thing. You’d be dead, babe.”
“You’re right. Maybe a half of a truck, then,” she corrected, causing me to chuckle.
“Our ride is here,” I told her as I watched her truck roll around the roundabout.
“Already?” she groaned.
“Already.” Confirming, I patted her leg for a bit of comfort. It was all I could offer at the moment. We needed to hit the road, and we needed to hit it immediately.
“He’s driving back to Channing. I’m taking a big, fat nap as soon as he takes the wheel.”
She sprang from the bench and stomped outside like a toddler who couldn’t have their way. I wanted to, but I knew that both of us acting like brats wouldn’t change the situation. One of us had to keep a leveled head. I assumed that would be me.
“He. He. He. My brother. My oldest brother. The one that’s in jail. That’s all I keep hearing. What’s your older brother’s name, Lyric?” I probed as we neared the truck.
“Luca,” Lyric stopped in her tracks and revealed.
Luca , I repeated to myself.
As I got situated in the passenger seat, my thoughts led me back to Channing where my children were getting up and getting ready for school. I searched my purse for my cell phone, only to notice it was dead when I located it.
“Do you have some juice?” I asked Lyric as I held the charger cord up.
Although I wanted to call my children before they were off to school, I knew Lyric needed her phone more than I did at the moment.
She needed it for the GPS as well as any communication between her and her brother.
We were running behind, so just in case he called, I wanted her to be able to answer instead of him being sent to voicemail. That would make anyone worry.
“Yes, ma’am. I somehow managed to get mine on the charger last night. I literally don’t remember doing so, but I have a full battery,” she explained.
“Well, at least one of us was thinking somewhat clearly.”
I’d never consumed as much alcohol in my life as I had at the lounge.
I wanted so badly to chastise myself or feel anything remotely close to guilt, but I felt nothing.
It was a good time and one I needed. I didn’t plan on having so much to drink, again, but I didn’t regret the ones I had.
Even the hangover and throbbing headache wasn’t enough to make me reconsider anything.
I’d enjoyed every minute of my time out and that was the end of the story.
I pushed the end of the power cord into my cell and laid it on my lap to wait for it to restart.
My eyes closed involuntarily as I sighed deeply in an attempt to relax my body.
Between the rising morning sun and the bumps we hit in the road, I didn’t think it was possible.
Not with my head aching and my body punishing me at the same time.
“You alright over there?” Lyric muttered.
“Are you alright?” She was in much worse shape than me.
“No. The only thing that’s keeping me together is knowing it’s only a forty-five-minute drive and then I can lay the fuck out. I literally halfway want to cry, but I had too much fun to be a bitch this morning. I’ll save all my tears for when I see my main man. I’ve missed him so much.”