Chapter 43
Kinsley
Chapter Forty-Three
I didn’t look back at Thomas’s car, but I knew he was still there watching as my fingers faltered above the apartment doorbell with Jones 3.C written on it. It wasn’t like I didn’t want to turn around, I just had a feeling that if he saw me hesitate, he would put me right back into the car and drive away. Or not. He was just as curious as me, and it was way more personal to him.
Samantha lived in a town house on Petunia Street, which was only a five-minute walk from the main street. From where I was standing, I could see the gazebo’s whiteness in the middle of the park, even in this darkness. I pressed the button and the door opened with a buzzing sound. I pushed it open and slipped into the dark hallway. I made my way up to the third floor, where Samantha’s apartment was, and in the dim light of the stairway, I noticed the bicycle she arrived with to the grill party. I knocked on the old white door with the letter C on it and quickly adjusted my top so it covered the marks Thomas left on me—just in time, because a moment later, the door opened, and I took a step backward. Samantha was standing on the other side of the threshold, her auburn curls framing her face. She was wearing a retro-style, oversized T-shirt and her usual red lipstick.
“You came.” Her features lit up, and I forced a smile to my lips.
“Thank you for the invitation,” I said while she stepped aside to let me into the apartment.
“Kinsley!” Aaliyah and Cora appeared in the entryway.
Cora’s cheeks were red and her hair slightly messy, and when I looked at Aaliyah, she gave me a traitorous grin, which indicated they were making out just a few moments ago. I readjusted my top. I hoped it wasn’t written on me that I just had an orgasm ten minutes ago.
“You are just in time.” Aaliyah gave me a quick hug. “We were about to start drinking,” she added, and I chuckled.
Before I could relax into the night, I remembered the true reason for my attendance and my smile faltered. The girls showed me into the living room, which had a sectional sofa taking up most of its space and we sat down at it. I paid attention to sit the closest to the door before accepting the wine glass Samantha handed me. I eyed the red wine in the glass, and my stomach turned. Bob Marley’s bloody body flashed into my mind, and I placed the glass back on the table. I eyed the girls sitting on the other side of the sofa. Did I really believe that one of them could be the theater masked person? Or even their helper?
“We were in the middle of deciding whether we should watch a movie or play a game.” Cora rested her back against the couch’s backrest, taking a sip from her drink.
“I voted for the game. Samantha and Cora wanted to watch a movie, but they couldn’t even agree on one,” Aaliyah said, taking a handful from the bowl of chips next to her.
“I don’t like cartoons.” Cora shrugged.
“And I’m not watching a two-hour-long movie about some cheesy couple who broke up three times just to get married in the end,” Samantha replied.
I wouldn’t want to watch that either.
“And what game were you thinking about?” I asked Aaliyah, trying to engage, and she gave me a thankful smile.
“Two truths and a lie,” she replied quickly, pulling her legs under her and straightening up. “Like, first I would have asked Samantha if Braxton finally got to her,” she said, and Samantha choked on her Cherry Coke.
“What?” she asked, and Aaliyah reached over to pat her back.
“You were at his house before we got there,” she explained, and Samantha hummed.
“I just went over because he wanted to show me something.” The girls giggled, and I bit down my own smile.
“I hope you closed your eyes, then,” Aaliyah said, and Samantha snorted. She seemed so different without the boys being here.
“Okay, can we drop it?” A small smile pulled on her red lips. “Let’s give that stupid game a try, if that’s what it takes.”
“I’m in,” I said, and while Cora didn’t seem too happy about it, she clipped up her blonde hair and nodded.
“All right.” She sighed.
???
We were on our fourth round of two truths and a lie when my bladder started to lose against the water I gulped instead of the wine, which stared at me judgmentally from the table. I stood up and excused myself to the bathroom. Following Samantha’s description, I turned right into the dark hallway just outside of the living room and searched for the light switch. When I realized there was no chance of me finding it, I pulled out my phone and turned on the flashlight. I lifted it up until I could see the hallway clearly, and my eyes caught on a wall covered with pictures next to me.
I recognized Samantha as a small child in some of them, posing either alone or with a woman and a strawberry-blond boy. I narrowed my eyes and leaned closer to the picture of the boy, who could have been around ten years old when it was taken, and I couldn’t suppress the feeling that I had already seen him somewhere else.
I moved the flashlight, noticing pictures of the flower bed around the gazebo. Samantha must have taken them, as she was the one caring for the flowers there. I recognized a few pictures of the now-for-sale flower shop, too, and I furrowed my brows. The next picture I came across stopped me again. Samantha and the familiar boy were a few years older now, hugging the woman in between them. She had fierce ginger hair just like Samantha and she was laughing into the camera while tugging the two children closer to herself. I realized she must have been Samantha’s mother, which probably meant the boy was her brother.
I furrowed my brows while I studied the boy again, and sudden recognition hit me. He was the one who got pushed down by Thomas in the Fourth of July photo. But if it’s him and he’s also Samantha’s brother, why didn’t she say something? Was it possible that she didn’t know it was him we talked about? She was young herself, too, at the time of that party. I moved the flashlight some more, and I froze. On the boy’s shoulder rested his mother’s hugging hand and?—
“Can I help you?” a voice came from behind me, and I twirled around, my eyes widening.
A guy not much older than me looked down at me with an arched brow. He was the boy I saw at the library a few days ago. He must be the boy from the pictures as well, as he had curly, almost shoulder–length, strawberry-blond hair. My heart thundered in my chest from the discovery I just made, and I stepped farther away from Samantha’s brother.
“I was just looking for the bathroom,” I answered.
“You are Rhodes’s friend, aren’t you,” he asked, and I furrowed my brows, nodding. “I saw you with him at Braxton’s party,” he explained. “You bumped into me, actually,” he added, stepping around me.
Right, I remembered someone bumping into me before I entered the house.
“And the bathroom is that way, on the left.” He pointed toward the hallway in the opposite direction.
“How do you know Thomas?” I called after him, and his mouth curled as he looked back around.
“From back in the day,” he replied, walking to the entryway.
As soon as he disappeared, I leaned back to the picture, not wanting to believe my eyes. I lifted my phone up again and took a quick photo of it. My heart was beating so hard I feared it would tear out of my chest while I opened my contacts and clicked on Thomas’s name. There was only one thought in my head while I typed out a quick text. Samantha’s mother was wearing Lizzie’s emerald ring.