14. Six #3
“Shit, action speaks louder than words, mama, but I meant every one.” He reached out to sweep some of my hair behind my ear before his tongue swiped over his lips, and he brought the blunt against them.
Leaning forward, I meshed my mouth into his so that he could give me a charge of the weed. When I exhaled, I blew the smoke above my head, and he reached around me to squeeze my ass.
“Yeah, that shit sexy right there.”
Leaning forward, I was prepared to go for another ride, even though I was already sore as fuck, but the pleasure had started to override the pain after the second round, and now I was curious to see just how good it could get.
Our lips brushed lightly, but a high-pitched scream outside jarred us both from the moment.
We whipped our heads in the direction of the window overlooking the back of the house, and Brick frowned.
“The fuck.” He nudged me off his lap and tossed the covers aside when he got out of bed.
“What’s going on?”
He opened one of his windows, and I could hear Cambrie and Staten yelling along with Sol. They were right below Brick’s window, and it sounded like they were calling for Staten’s daughter, Tavi.
“Yo, the fuck going on?” Brick yelled out his window.
“You seen Tavi?” Staten’s panicked voice questioned.
“Nah. What’s wrong?”
“We can’t find her. We was about to head home with the kids and nobody has seen her.”
“The fuck. She gotta be here somewhere. Let me get dressed. I’ll be down.” Brick closed his window and turned to me as I crept out of the bed.
“I’ll help.” I rushed to the foot of the bed and over to a chair where I had tossed a pair of tights earlier that I’d worn.
Brick and I dressed in record time and went right downstairs to help with the search party. Sol, Rossi, and Marcella were gathered in the foyer, and Cambrie paced nearby while skimming her phone screen.
“What happened?” Brick questioned.
“I don’t know. She’s been in a mood all night, and I could tell her seeing me and Staten together was rubbing her the wrong way,” Cambrie voiced with misting eyes.
“What you’re not going to do is stand there and blame yourself for this, Cambrie,” Rossi surprisingly chimed in. “Tavi is old enough to know right from wrong. She’s smart enough to recognize that her parents aren’t getting back together like she wanted.”
“All the more reason not to rub this in her face,” Cambrie noted.
“Don’t do that.” Sol shook her head. “Rossi is right. She’s spoiled and looking for attention. I’m going outside to check the rest of the grounds. She might be in the pool house.”
“I’m coming too.” Cambrie rushed off behind her.
“Cam, wait up!” I shouted before facing Brick. “I’m going with them. I have my phone. Text me if you find her, and we’ll do the same.”
“Aight,” he agreed, giving me a quick kiss.
“Where do you think she went?” I asked, picking up on the worry and anxiety that Cambrie had to be feeling. She had taken her shoes off and everything to run all over the grounds searching for this little girl.
“I don’t know,” she muttered, shaking her head.
We paused in the back of the house, and her eyes darted over the open fields. I saw something flicker behind her gaze, like something came to mind as Sol screamed Tavi’s name down toward the pool house.
“The horses,” Cambrie whispered, neck whipping in my direction. “She probably went to see the horses.”
“Okay, let’s go check.” I urged her along.
The stables were about three yards in the opposite direction from the pool house.
Holding her dress on both sides so she didn’t trip over it, Cambrie sprinted along anxiously.
Moments later, we came to the main entrance of the stables, and she paused to catch her breath.
Reaching for the steel handle to the door, she pulled it open and rushed inside.
Immediately, horse manure struck our noses.
I plugged mine because the shit was overwhelming as we crept past the holding spaces for the horses.
Cambrie stood on her toes, examining each one to check for Tavi.
When she reached the middle stall, we both noticed that the door had been left partially open.
Brie grabbed the wooden barrier and climbed up to see inside.
“Shit! Tavi!” she screamed, rushing inside.
The horse was gone, but Tavi was on the ground beside the saddle with a backpack filled with food from the party and bottles of water, along with her cell phone and a change of clothes.
Face down in a pile of hay, I couldn’t tell if she was breathing, but there as a trickle of blood on her forehead as Cambrie knelt beside her.
“No, no, no! Come on, baby girl. Wake up for me!” Cambrie brought two fingers against her wrist to check for a pulse. “Oh, thank God. She’s breathing. Six, call 911, we need an ambulance right now!”
“Okay.” Fishing my cell from my pocket, I called for the ambulance and then immediately hit Brick next and put him on speaker.
Cambrie knelt near Tavi’s ear, weeping and stroking her hair.
“It’s OK. You’re going to be OK,” she assured her over and over again.
“What’s up, mama?” Brick picked up.
“We found her,” I articulated. “I had to call an ambulance first.”
“Where is she?”
“Down at the stables. One of the horses is gone. I think she might have tried to saddle it. But she’s just laying here. Cambrie said she’s breathing, but I don’t think we should move her.”
“We’re on the way.” Brick rushed off the phone, and I slid mine back into my pocket.
“What did you do?” Cambrie whispered, never taking her eyes off Tavi as she continued to caress her hair and back in comfort.
I heard those golf carts pulling up nearby and then several footsteps rushing our way.
Staten darted past me into the stall where Cambrie sat with Tavi, and it was the first time I’d seen that kind of emotion from him.
It was the kind that only a child could evoke, I assumed.
Sheer panic flitted through his eyes. He reached out like he wanted to touch her but wasn’t sure he should.
“We can’t move her,” Cambrie voiced. “She’s got a bump on her head, so she probably fell, and I don’t know if she was on the horse or not. She could have a concussion or spinal damage. We have to wait for the paramedics, but she’s breathing.”
“Stay with me, baby girl.” Staten placed a hand on her back and knelt to kiss the top of her head. “Daddy’s here, and I love you, Tavi. Don’t you dare leave me.” He grit his teeth, and Cambrie sniffled back tears.
Although Tavi had been giving her hell, it was obvious that it didn’t matter to Cam.
She loved this little girl despite all the attitude.
The way her and Staten looked at each other, it was obvious another soul didn’t stir either of them the way that they did.
If I could see it, there was no doubt that Tavi could.
It was no secret to anyone that she wanted her parents back together, and ever since her mother left, she’d been giving Cam the cold shoulder.
Nadia had stopped reaching out as much, acting like a scorned and bitter baby daddy.
If Staten didn’t want to be with her, then she was going to ignore the kids and do her.
She didn’t even ask for them for summer vacation except for the last two weeks since she had plans to go on a cruise and some more shit.
Just like that, she had switched up on her children on some selfish, bitter shit.
It was crazy. Yet Tavi still wanted to blame Cambrie for it all.
The ambulance came, and Tavi was placed on a gurney.
Both Staten and Cam got in the back to ride along with her.
She hadn’t regained consciousness, and it was obvious Staten was on the verge of losing it.
“Come on. Let’s go meet them there.” Brick draped an arm over my shoulders and pulled me along toward the house.
The whole ride to Oak Bluffs hospital, my thoughts were on Tavi. One of the best nights of my life in turn became one of the worst for what had become my new family. The last month had been rough enough, and I just prayed that God had a little mercy on us all.