Chapter 33
Chapter Thirty-Three
Bastard
N ick took the towel wrapped in ice off his right cheek. He flexed his jaw. Nova kept driving. Nick licked dried blood from his bottom lip.
“Nova…”
“Save it,” Nova said. “Save it for Mom. I’m happy you’re safe but I am so fucking mad at you right now. You have no idea what that woman has been doing to me.”
“The same she does to me when you’re not around,” Nick said.
“Then do something about it, Nick.”
“Like what, Nova? Leave? Then what happens to her?”
“Don’t play the pity card right now, Nick. Have you seen the house? It’s a disaster. The grass isn’t cut. The gutters have trees growing in them. What the fuck do you do all day?”
Nick lowered his gaze. “Do you ever wonder about our father?”
“Our father?” Nova asked. “Why would I worry about him?”
“You met him, Nova. I never did.”
Nova laughed. “Yeah, I met him. I was a baby! Do you think he even acknowledged me? He didn’t, Nick. I have zero memory of him. And from all I know, he would show up when he wanted to get laid.”
“That’s gross,” Nick said.
“It’s the truth! How do you think you were conceived?”
“Don’t tell me that.”
“It’s the truth, Nick. He did his thing and left again. Then he stayed away for good. That’s it. You can’t lean on that the way Mom does. You’re going to end up just like her. You already are just like her.”
“Screw you, Nova.”
“Fuck you, Nick.”
There was a pause in the conversation for a minute.
“You and Linc again?” Nick asked.
“Yeah. He was the only person I could call.”
“So I brought you two back together?” Nick smiled.
“Don’t.”
“Nova, I need help,” Nick said. “I’m going to go home, see Mom, and then I’m going to find a rehab.”
“I’ll take you.”
“No,” Nick said. “Let me do this on my own. I need to research it. I need to do it myself. Nobody on my back. Nobody telling me what to do.”
Nova swallowed hard. She nodded. “Okay. If that’s what you want, Nick.”
“It was scary out there,” her brother confessed. “I was really messed up. I ended up owing someone money. They asked me to do a favor for them. Nothing bad, I swear. Well, it could have been bad. I just kind of went along for the ride, I guess.”
“Stop telling me this,” Nova said. “It’s just going to make me even more pissed at you.”
Silence again. Nova turned down their mother’s street.
“Thank you for finding me,” Nick said. “Things were about to get really bad. There was something about seeing Linc that just hit me with clarity. I know that probably sounds stupid. I always liked Linc. He was cool. Big and strong. You were always happy near him. I saw the way he was. And even now… I mean, look at me. I got beat up by some bikers. That’s kind of neat.”
“You are such a fucking moron, Nick.”
“I know,” he said. “But at least I have good stories to tell.”
Nova turned into the driveway. Their mother was out on the porch, pacing with a bottle of vodka. In a shocking twist, their mother put the bottle down and came running off the porch. Nova listened as her mother screamed Nick’s name.
Nick climbed out of Nova’s SUV. Their mother tried to tackle Nick but ended up tripping and slipping. Nick had to hold his mother as she screamed and wept. She beat her hands against Nick’s chest and then finally stood up and hugged him.
Nova didn’t get out of her vehicle. She just watched. Nick kissed the top of his mother’s head and pointed to the house. He walked toward the door.
Nova watched as her mother covered her mouth. Shocked. Surprised. Relieved. She looked back at Nova. Nova gave a quick smile.
Her mother called out, “Thank you!”
That was as good as it would get for Nova in the moment. Her mother wouldn’t jump for joy at Nova, then hug her, kiss her and tell her she loved her and was proud of her. Her mother wouldn’t find peace, put down the bottle and get help. Nothing would change. Nova didn’t expect anything to change.
Even what Nick said… rehab? Nova hoped Nick would do it. Stick it through. Get cleaned up. And then stay that way. The sad reality to that was if that were to happen for good, chances were Nick would need to get away from their mother. The woman was toxic.
Nova backed out of the driveway and drove down the street. Tears filled her eyes. She took a deep breath and collected herself. She blinked fast and smiled. A sense of calm washed over her. Behind her a horn beeped. Nova waved, apologized, and started to drive again.
It took her a couple blocks to start to wonder about the vehicle behind her. A big, lumbering pickup truck, riding way too close to her bumper. She looked in the mirror but couldn’t see the driver. He was just a faint shape. She couldn’t believe this guy would be that mad at her for sitting at stop sign for too long. It wasn’t like Nova threw the middle finger or something.
At the next stop sign, Nova chose not to stop and quickly turned to the right. The pickup truck made the same move.
“Shit,” Nova said.
She turned left. So did the truck. Turn after turn, the truck mimicked Nova’s driving. She finally decided to call Linc. Whoever this guy was, he was going to catch the beating of a lifetime. All over a stupid stop sign? Nova waiting ten seconds instead of two?
“Fuck you, dude,” Nova whispered. “This is your fault, not mi…”
Nova’s back window suddenly shattered. She screamed and dropped her phone. She cut the steering wheel left to right, shaking, realizing that the guy behind just shot out her back window.
Now terrified and scrambling, Nova’s mind raced. It raced so hard her vision went blurry for a few seconds. In those few seconds, the pickup truck behind her darted to the left into the oncoming lane and sped up, getting right next to Nova.
Her instinct told her to drop down. She didn’t take her foot off the gas pedal. She didn’t hit the brakes.
The pickup truck moved to the right, bumping into Nova’s SUV. The pickup truck guided Nova right off the road.
Nova had zero chance to think… or to protect herself…