Chapter 24
Chapter
Twenty-Four
PHOENIX
I blinked through the smoke and ran towards the door. I knew she was either on the floor or hiding somewhere.
“Got him boss!” A voice said from my left.
The lights came on at that moment, and I pulled the knife from my ankle holster and threw it right at her neck. It went straight in, and the blood oozing out made me smile.
“Do we need to get a medic in here?” Levi asked, leading Seth out of the room. They put a black bag over his head blocking his view from mine.
“You better not. Let her die!” I screamed wrapping my arms around myself plopping down on the floor. All the adrenaline I carried these past few days evaporated into thin air.
I sat there listening to her struggle for her last breath, watching as her chest rapidly tried to pull air into her lungs. Once she gave up on the inevitable, only then did I take my eyes off of her.
“I knew you would be perfect with a knife. Do I need to watch my back around you?” That voice said.
The voice I hadn’t heard in days teased.
The voice that I prayed would speak to me one more time.
The voice of the man that I knew would move hell and high waters to save me.
“B-b-baby I had to; a-all of this was her fault. She doesn’t love me; I don’t think she ever did.” I looked into his soulful eyes with tears running down my face.
“Yes, it was Jewel. Come on, my baby, let’s get you out of here.” He scooped me up in his arms. It was the first time I had relaxed in what felt like years.
I kept my eyes closed and protested when Kendrix tried to put me down in the car.
“I have a surprise waiting for you in there, go check it out.” Someone opened the door for us and I cried harder at Asha waiting for me with open arms.
“You did good, sister; I am proud of you.” I hugged her with all my might.
Once the tears dried up enough for me to speak I had to find out. “What are you doing here Asha?”
She looked damn good in her all-black ensemble; her hair was in a top-knot bun. Asha looked at me like I was crazy, “I came to save the princess, but of course, I should have known you would rather rescue yourself.”
The next few hours flew by and Kendrix insisted on me going to the hospital. I told him about Seth having eyes on us in there, once Kendrix threatened to shoot everyone until someone confessed, the nurse revealed herself, and she went straight to jail. It was her fault that the nurse’s station was empty and Seth was able to walk out the door with me unconscious in his arms.
Everyone was at the house when we finally arrived, the girls and I cried for almost an hour. Brian, Levi, and Johnathan took turns squeezing me for dear life, it was good to be back home but I was drained from today. Travis was scared to hug me but I promised him that I was stronger than I looked. The sad smile he wore before leaving with Brian
Kendrix kicked everyone out after promising to invite them over when I felt ready for company.
Kendrix washed my body from head to toe, he spent an hour detangling my hair. The tenderness he used to apply my skincare products made me cry a few times. He tucked me into bed and waited until he thought I was asleep before he cried out in thanks to God for bringing me back home .
KENDRIX
One Week Later
“Good work bredren, proud ah yuh. Nuh let her do too much. Yuh nuh haffi worry bout me and mi daughta. Mi know she heart was spoil. Sorry mi beautiful Phoenix, let me go grieve to mi Lord.”
Lucy wiped a few tears from her eyes before ending the call. At first Phoenix refused to tell me what happened in that cabin, but when I assured her that no matter what she told me I would love her no matter what.
She confessed to allowing Seth to kiss her, there was an emptiness to her when recounting it all. Apparently Seth never wanted to hurt her as the notes said. He told her that he wanted the feeling she gave him back in college, Phoenix’s huge heart won him over. Too bad for him her heart was mine to protect.
“How are you?” I have been asking that three times a day for the past seven days. She started opening up to me but I suggested that we resume our therapy sessions. Once I realized that I couldn’t keep holding onto my pain from the past, I started talking to Brian’s mom, Danielle, about it all. It was uncomfortable at first but having a therapist in the family made the experience a little easier. Phoenix wanted me to sit in with her for her sessions, she didn’t want to repeat everything that happened .
I am so thankful to God that he only managed to take a few kisses; he would pay for everything he took from her. Phoenix said it was her mother who made her feel as if she wouldn’t make it out of the cabin alive, Destiny tormented her mentally. Seth turned out to be her saving grace as crazy as that shit sounds. He gave her whatever she wanted just not her freedom. Destiny was lucky that Phoenix got to her first because Asha called dibs and I knew that Asha would have made her suffer.
“I am better than I was yesterday, Auntie told me not to bottle everything in, so I won’t lie to you. My body is still buzzing from the drugs; it was her job to keep me sedated; if it was up to her, I would have never woken up. What is it about me that made her want to see me dead? Seth had to threaten her on several occasions, ain’t that some shit?! I have so much anger pent up that I might explode.”
“You are the most perfect woman I know. Your heart sends out a siren to all the broken souls, and they answer the call. My soul answered the call all of those years ago in Lucy’s living room. Destiny wasn’t even a quarter of the woman you are; sometimes we can’t wrap our heads around the reason people do unspeakable things. I am sorry that you didn’t get the mother you deserved, she failed you in so many ways. May she spend the rest of eternity in hell wishing she had done better with the life she lived.” I kissed her lips softly.
She laid her head in my lap; I installed mini twists in her hair so she didn’t have to worry about it for a while.
“You always know what to say, thank you. When is Travis coming home, I miss him.” He asked the same question, too.
“We have plans tonight and he will be joining us. Go get dressed in a comfortable outfit and meet me here in thirty minutes.” Phoenix perked up immediately; we hadn’t left the house since she came home.
“Yay! I am so happy let me go get ready.” She kissed my cheek and ran up the stairs.
“Welcome to the rage room, read and sign the waiver for me and then I will go over the instructions.” Once Phoenix mentioned wanting to explode I thought of this place. Travis could blow off some steam, too; we all could.
“Oh wait, I have seen this in movies; I need to tear some shit – wait, I mean stuff up.” Phoenix gasped at Travis’s potty mouth; he’d been doing a good job at hiding it from her. His ass cursed me out on his second day here because I asked him about life at home .
“Travis, you know what? I need to tear some shit up too, let’s do it!” She high-fived him, and he winked at me when she signed her waiver.
We put on the protective gear and entered the room to see some old furniture: a glass table, picture frames, and a bunch of other breakable items. The gray brick walls were littered with graffiti and glowing lights.
“Ms. Phoenix, take the first swing. You deserve it.” Travis offered, and I couldn’t agree more.
“This is for being a shitty mother and putting my life in danger.” The metal bat hit the glass table with so much force that glass went spraying everywhere.
Smack.
Swing.
Hit.
Phoenix gave that glass table the ass beating I’m sure she wished she could have given her mother. Travis followed her lead and hit everything he could, yelling over the music about the unfairness of life. As for me, I would have usually imagined the picture frames as Darius Thompson, but I had a new face for inspiration. Seth Chow received all of our anger for the remainder of our time there.
We hit everything we could. The dust and debris created the most beautiful imagery of what the three of us were: three souls brought together by unfair circumstances, but to each other, we became a refuge, a home. We may be a bit broken down, but a house is still a home.