CHAPTER ELEVEN - MELODY
CHAPTER ELEVEN
MELODY
“I’m nervous.” The following morning, Melody glanced over at Liz in the passenger seat next to her as she pulled into the parking lot of the women’s prison. It had taken thirty minutes to drive there, and the entire way Melody’s stomach had been tying itself into tiny knots.
Liz placed a hand on Melody’s forearm. “Don’t be. You two were as close as sisters once. We all were. Sisters fight, but they never stop loving each other. That’s a fact.”
Melody offered a smile in Liz’s direction. Liz hadn’t been the easiest to win over since Melody had been back. Even now, Melody could tell Liz was guarded. The Liz of old wasn’t afraid to share her thoughts and feelings. She was an open book. The one sitting next to Melody right now was much more reserved.
Liz turned her attention to the large brick building blocked off by a barbed wire fence in front of them. “It could’ve been any one of us that ended up in there,” she said quietly. “We all handled things in our own way. Bri just had so many injuries and the pain medication they put her on . . . well, it wasn’t good.”
“I knew Bri was here because she was caught with drugs. I just wasn’t sure of the details,” Melody said as she navigated through the parking lot. Melody trailed off because she didn’t really need to admit to Liz that she was an awful friend who hadn’t kept in touch. Liz already knew that.
“Yeah,” Liz said. “Bri struggled after the accident. We all did.”
Melody parked the car and pulled the key from the ignition, noticing that her hands were shaking. “I guess I just thought it was none of my business. That I didn’t need to know the details of what put her behind bars. But now that I’m about to walk inside and sit across from her, I feel like I should know all of it before I go in.” Melody looked over and met Liz’s eyes, hoping she would understand.
Liz gave her a small smile. It was getting warmer every time she offered it in Melody’s direction. The two of them were becoming closer. Just like friends again. “Okay. Well, Bri was in a lot of pain after her injuries—not only physical, but emotional too. She got to the point where she was desperate to numb it, I guess. Then, a couple years after our accident, she met this guy—Lazer.”
“Lazer?” Melody repeated.
Liz rolled her eyes. “He was no good. He had a record and he had all the wrong connections. He helped Bri get more pain medication when her doctor decided it was time she start weaning off.”
“He was Bri’s boyfriend?” As the question rolled off her tongue, Melody gasped and pulled a hand to her mouth. “Is he . . . Ally’s father?”
Liz’s entire expression twisted in disgust. “Ew! No. Ally’s father is a decent guy from what I can tell. He was a one-night stand for Bri. She met him at a failed attempt at rehab—the first time. From what I understand, Daren has stayed clean.”
Melody relaxed a little. “That’s good.”
Liz nodded. “Anyway, Bri flunked out of rehab and went back to Lazer. In order to get the pain meds, Lazer started forcing her to be his seller for other stuff. She didn’t want to, but an addict will often do whatever it takes in order to get their needs met. Bri swears she never tried any of the other stuff. She was caught once and got off easy. The second time she was arrested, the judge was less forgiving. Bri was sentenced to four years.”
Melody swallowed. “Wow. Thanks for telling me. I should have already known the facts.”
Liz reached across the console and squeezed her hand. The touch was brief, but welcome. “Have you ever been inside a prison before?”
Melody shook her head, looking up at the building off to their right. “All I know of prisons is based on half a season of Orange Is the New Black.”
“Then it’s a good thing you have me.” Liz unbuckled her seatbelt and started to shift around, gathering her things. Melody did the same. Then they stepped out of the car and walked up to the gate where a guard was standing out front. After flashing their IDs, they were let through for further inspection before finally being allowed to meet up with Bri at a picnic table outside.
Bri was already waiting in the visiting area for them. She had long, dark beautiful curls just like she’d had in high school. Instead of wearing her hair down past her shoulders though, it was pulled back in a ponytail.
“Hey, stranger,” Bri said with a warm smile that caught Melody off guard. That was not the greeting she’d expected. Not that she’d known exactly what to expect. Maybe a knock against the forehead. She would have deserved it. “I’d get up and hug you, but that’s frowned on around here,” Bri said, almost teasingly. “A place that discourages hugs. Can you imagine?”
“She wouldn’t last a day here,” Melody said, pointing at Liz as they took a seat across from Bri at the picnic table.
Liz offered a reassuring smile. “This is true.”
Melody fidgeted with her hands below the table. Whereas Liz had always been an open book, Melody had kept hidden any outward signs of her emotion, especially the negative ones. She’d pushed them down and run from them when they’d threatened to consume her. You could only run so far for so long though. At some point, you had to face things head-on.
Melody looked at Bri, took a breath, and put her shaking hands on the table in front of her. “I’m really sorry that I haven’t visited you sooner, Bri,” she said, still bracing herself for the Bri of old to tear into her and tell her what a horrible person and friend she was. Bri had never been one to pull punches. The night Melody had run away after Melody’s mom died, Bri hadn’t rushed to give Melody a hug when she’d found her. Instead, Melody had been scared Bri was going to fight her at first.
“You scared me to death!” Bri yelled, anger flaring her cheeks a dark-red color. “I thought you were dead.”
“Well I’m not dead. Just my mom.” Melody just wanted to be alone. She wanted to disappear.
“If you ever scare us like this again, you’re going to wish you were dead because I might beat the crap out of you.”
The way she’d said it that night made Melody wonder if she was telling the truth. Bri could be a little scary. She definitely intimidated people when they got in her way.
The Bri sitting across the picnic table right now, however, just shrugged. “I understand.”
“You do?” Melody said, surprised.
Bri shared an amused look with Liz. “Well, okay, not really. But Alyssa was your sister so I have no idea what you’ve been going through. I know it was more than the rest of us though.”
Melody lowered her gaze for a moment. Alyssa’s name still gave her heart a jolt. They had been true sisters, but Liz was right in saying that she, Liz, and Bri were sisters as well. She hadn’t realized how much she’d missed them until returning to the isle.
Melody swallowed hard and looked back up to Bri, who seemed relaxed in her pale-blue jumpsuit. “So, how do you like it here?” It was a stupid question. She knew it as soon as the words had left her mouth, but her nerves had gotten to her. “I’m sorry. That was rude. I didn’t mean anything by that question.”
Bri cracked a grin. “There’s the Melody I remember. You always said the funniest, most inappropriate things that made us all laugh. Do you remember?” she asked Liz.
“I definitely do.” Liz smiled as well.
Bri pointed a finger across the table at Liz. “Remember when Melody came to my grandfather’s funeral two days after Christmas. And she asked my grandma if she had a nice holiday?”
Liz put a hand over her mouth, muffling the small giggles that erupted. “It wasn’t funny.”
“But it really was,” Bri argued.
Melody listened as the two exchanged stories about her for the next few minutes. Stories that she hadn’t thought about in years.
“Do you remember when Melody went through that phase where she was going to be a nun?” Bri asked Liz, barely containing her laughter.
Liz snorted. “What was that even about?”
“Kevin Bailey broke my heart, that’s what.” Melody rolled her eyes as memories of her seventh-grade year came to mind. “First heartbreaks are brutal, okay? I decided I never wanted to experience one again.”
Bri snickered. “You started wearing these long, boring skirts.”
“And remember how she cut those awful bangs?” Liz added. “What do bangs have to do with being a nun?”
Melody raised a hand. “I’m right here, you guys.” Not that she was offended by the conversation. Instead, it almost felt like she was being re-introduced to herself. Yes, she’d always run from things. She’d shied away from conflict and pain. But she’d run toward fun with just as much determination. She’d run toward fun with these very ladies. They had been her pack, and ultimately, they were the ones who made her realize she didn’t want to hide in a convent for the rest of her life. They were the ones who encouraged her to put herself out there and get her heart broken, time and time again. Melody had made acquaintances that resembled friendships in Charlotte, but she’d never found people who knew her the way her Trove friends did.
“I like it well enough here,” Bri told her finally, going back to the question. “The wardrobe and the food aren’t the best, but . . .” She lifted a shoulder. “I have a few friends that I enjoy hanging out with and a job in the library. I’m making the best of the situation that I’ve gotten myself into.”
Melody nodded as she listened. “That’s good.”
“So how is life beyond the isle?” Bri leaned forward and propped her elbows on the picnic table. If Melody didn’t know better, she wouldn’t believe that the woman in front of her was serving time for a crime. She looked relaxed. Happy even. “You’re the only one who made it past the bridge. Being locked in prison doesn’t count.”
“It’s . . . well, it’s okay,” Melody said. The truth was, though, life beyond Trove was lonely. It was surviving, but not living.
“Better than a prison cell?” Bri grinned. Then her gaze fell on Melody’s arm and her lips parted. “Is that what I think it is?” She reached out to touch the bracelet, hesitating as if it might bite her.
Melody stretched out her arm on the table. “It’s the charm bracelet. I found it in Jo’s thrift store.”
Bri looked up. “No joke?”
“Liz and I have been passing it back and forth every time we see each other.” Melody pulled it off her wrist and slid it across the picnic table toward Bri. “I know you can’t have it in here, but you can put it on while we visit. It was meant to be shared, right?”
Bri looked unsure. It took a moment, but then she reached for the bracelet, admiring it first before sliding it over her hand. “I don’t understand. How did Jo get it?”
“We don’t know.” Melody shrugged. “How did Jo get most of the things she had?”
“I could tell you a few ways, but,” Bri grimaced, “you’d probably rather not know.”
“Dumpster diving. Mr. Lyme told me.” Melody suppressed a grin. “Anyway, I think she was waiting for me to come back so that she could give it to me. And since I never returned on my own accord, she gave me a reason by willing me the thrift store.”
Bri cracked a smile. “You don’t even like used clothes. It’s ironic for you to own a store full of old things.”
Melody was surprised that Bri remembered that about her. “I’ll have you know this outfit is from the shop. Secondhand things have grown on me. But not enough to operate a thrift store for a living. That’s why I’m selling it. I’m heading back to my real life on Sunday,” Melody said without thinking.
Bri’s smile faded and she shared another look with Liz. “I see.”
Melody shook her head, guilt swirling in the pit of her stomach. She was so tired of disappointing people. When she was young, it was her job to care for Alyssa, which she’d failed miserably at, even before the accident. Maybe she’d been a glutton for punishment going into her chosen career because, while most were happy, there was always one client who could never be satisfied. “What I mean is, I have events planned and clients who are depending on me.”
“Yeah, you wouldn’t want to let them down.” Bri slipped the bracelet off and passed it back to Melody. She looked away, her gaze falling somewhere behind them in the courtyard’s distance.
“But I’ll come back to visit, of course,” Melody said, wanting to keep the mood of this visit friendly. “Now that we’ve found our charm bracelet, I have to, right? So that we can keep passing it between us.”
Bri looked at her again. “Our friendship has nothing to do with a charm bracelet, Mel. With or without it, you should have come back.”
Melody swallowed. There was the Bri of old. The one who wasn’t afraid of a little confrontation. And somewhere inside of Melody, she felt the Melody of old, who was exactly the opposite. Who fled in the face of a fight. “I know. And I’m sorry.” What else could she say?
Bri looked at her, long and hard. “Okay, then.”
“Okay?” Melody asked, not quite understanding.
“Yeah. You and me, we’re good. But if you ever hurt Liz again, we won’t be. Because Liz is my best friend, and I don’t let anyone hurt her. Not even my other best friend.”
To: Bri Johnson
From: Liz Dawson
Subject: Confessions of a Wannabe Brave Girl
Bri,
I’m in the car and trying not to hyperventilate as I send this from my iPhone. It was good to see you just now. I am impressed with how you just handled Melody. I don’t know what I was expecting, but you were firm, yet friendly. You were welcoming, yet honest. Frankly, you were amazing. Why am I surprised though? You always are.
Also, there’s something I didn’t tell you. I asked Rose to support me while I attempted to drive the other day. Before you get too excited, it didn’t work out. I threw up before I even cranked the engine. Rose had a field day with that. Now she keeps brown paper bags handy in case I want to hyperventilate or vomit. It’s supposed to be a joke, but I’m always halfway tempted to reach for one.
I want to be brave. I want to be bold and fearless. I want to be more like you. It was so nice to see you today. I miss you already.
xx,
Liz