Chapter 20 #2
“Um… I may have unknowingly raced a sheriff… and beat him. Then he chased me through the town and the mountains. Ravik ordered me to get rid of it and burn it… I loved that car. So I told him I did… Now you know I didn’t,” he said before letting out a loud laugh.
“That was you!” I said.
“That made the news and the newspaper? Yes, yes, it was,” he said.
“So, you painted it and kept it in storage this whole time?”
“Yeah… something like that,” he said.
He picked up the phone and dialed out.
“Hey, Titi,” he said.
“Yeah, yeah. I talked to her, and she’s on her way to your house.”
“Yep, I’ll be over first thing.”
“Yes, Titi, I’ll bring her,” he said, shooting me a glance.
“Alright, see you tomorrow.”
He hung up the phone, then walked over to the counter. He started cooking the food he’d been prepping earlier. I walked over to the chair and made the blanket into a little bed, placing Lucy in the middle. While he cooked, I washed the dishes. We sat down at the table and ate.
“I got a movie for us to watch,” he said.
“Oh?”
“Yeah, once we get done eating, I’ll put it in,” he said.
We finished supper and washed our dishes. I scooped up Lucy and sat down in the chair. He went over and popped a VHS into the player, turning everything on, before he sat down.
As soon as the floating feather appeared on screen, I knew what movie it was. I smiled and then instantly felt sad. This movie got me through captivity. It was the lines that I drove Quinn crazy with. A tear rolled down my cheek.
“Oh, Zay, I thought you would be happy,” he said.
“I am, but sad too. I used to quote these lines to Izayuh when I was pregnant,” I said.
“Oh… I… we can watch something else,” he said.
“No, no. I want to watch it,” I said. I reached up and held the pendant in my fingers, rubbing it back and forth.
We finished the movie. Of course, I called out my favorite lines in sync with the movie. Instead of being annoyed, Quinn laughed. His laugh was contagious and instantly made me smile. I fed Lucy one more time before we went to bed.
I slept with Lucy right next to me in a little bowl I made with a small blanket. Every three hours on the dot, she moved around and made little squeaks. I put her supplies in the bathroom so I could make her bottles during the night without waking Quinn up.
Morning came quickly, and I wasn’t as tired as I thought I’d be, but that was only the first night of waking up. Quinn was up and moving around when I walked out of the room to get her another bottle. He was making French toast, something he made frequently.
“After we eat, I’d like to get over to my Titi’s and see Callie,” he said.
“Alright, I’m feeding Lucy. Do I have time to shower and eat, or do I need to pick one?”
“I’ll never make you choose between food and a… shower,” he said.
“Alright, I’ll eat once she’s done, and then take a quick shower,” I said.
Lucy finished suckling her bottle. By the time she was done, he’d already finished his food. I walked over to him and held Lucy out toward him. He looked down at her, then at me, and then back at her.
“Nope, go put her on the chair,” he said.
“But she likes to be cuddled,” I said, pushing her into him.
He grumbled before grabbing onto her.
I smeared peanut butter onto my French toast, sprinkled powdered sugar on top, and drizzled a little bit of syrup all over.
I shoveled it down as fast as I could. Then showered quickly, knowing that he was eager to get over to his Titi’s.
We climbed into the truck, Lucy in my lap, and her supplies at my feet.
“Listen… Callie has no filter, and she holds nothing back,” he said.
“Sounds like the rest of your family,” I told him, then chuckled.
“Except that she and I are very close… she knows almost every dark secret I have,” he said.
“Is there something she might tell me that you should tell me now?” I asked.
“No. Maybe. I don’t know. She’s different, that’s all,” he said.
“Alrighty then,” I told him.
We pulled into the drive, and Callie ran out of the door before he even had the truck in park. She whipped the truck door open.
“Hi, sister,” he said.
“Quinn! It has been too long!” she squealed.
“We’ve talked at least once a week,” he said.
“We used to talk every day,” she said.
He got out of the truck, and she wrapped her arms around him, holding him tight. I got out of the truck and walked around.
“Hiya Callie, it’s nice to see you under different circumstances,” I told her.
“Hi Zalayuh, and yes, you look much better than the last time I saw you,” she said.
I walked inside, leaving the two of them outside. As soon as I walked in, Lina pulled me into a hug. I leaned back slightly, making sure Lucy didn’t get squished between us. She pulled away and tilted her head at me, before looking down and seeing Lucy in my arms.
“Oh, what do we have here?” she said.
“Lucy here is a little bobcat that lost her mother to a savage wolf,” I said.
Her eyes widened. “Oh… that was so loaded. I’m not touching that with a ten-foot pole,” she said.
“I’m surprised he didn’t tell you,” I said.
“No, no, he left all of that out,” she said.
“Yeah…” I said.
Quinn and Callie joined us inside after a few minutes.
We all sat around the living area. Quinn offered for Callie to stay at the cabin, but Callie insisted she stay with Lina.
Part of me was relieved. The cabin was already small enough with the two of us.
She wasn’t sure what Ravik knew, only that he’d been questioning her and Benji about what they saw that day.
“Where’s my car?” Quinn asked.
“Lina had me park it in the garage,” Callie said.
Quinn stood up and walked out the door.
“Oh, baby!” he shouted.
“Lord, I think he loves that car more than us,” Callie said.
“His first love,” Lina said. All three of us giggled.
“He has all kinds of things in there,” Callie said.
“What do you mean?” Lina asked.
“There were suitcases in the backseat and a shit ton of money in the glovebox,” Callie said.
“Hmm, did you ask him about it?” Lina said.
“No… have you met my brother?” Callie said.
“He told me you know all of his deep, dark secrets, and he was worried you would tell me,” I said.
“Hahaha… well, I do… know a lot, but he doesn’t like being questioned,” Callie said.
“Because you women always have so many questions and want to know why for everything,” he said, as he came around the corner.
“You’re really outnumbered here, son,” Lina said.
“So… I’ll be taking my car, and you can use my truck,” Quinn said.
“Figures,” Callie said. “Gonna take Zay on a little speed trip, I bet.”