Chapter 13 #2
Roger found the note when he was nuking his dinner, but when he got to the last two words, he stopped and reread the message again, then again, wondering if the omission of a comma between the last two words was an accident or a plea.
He frowned, trying to remember the last time he’d actually hugged her, or told her he loved her, then sighed.
Too little—too late.
The motto of his life.
* * *
There was a knot in Tate’s stomach and a lump in his throat.
Fate was already pulling him away from Briar.
This visit to Tennessee was going to change everything.
He wasn’t sure how, but he knew why. His time as a child was over—would have already been over had it not been for the illness that reset the time clock of his life.
He would turn twenty after Christmas. Briar had just turned eighteen.
As soon as he got to his room, he closed the door and sat down on the bed and closed his eyes, trying to will away what he’d seen on Trevor Stennett’s face. Too young for such horror. Too innocent for what he’d endured. Forever scarred by what he had seen.
Tomorrow, Tate had to deposit a ten-thousand-dollar check in his bank account and pack for Tennessee.
Trevor was going home, but his life was in free fall.
And Randy Brimm would die in prison for his chosen trade. Inmates cleaned their own houses of child molesters.
Tate got up, took off his shirt, then turned with his back to a mirror, eyeing the healing scar on his shoulder, then took off his jeans to check the one on the back of his leg.
He could only wonder how many scars he would bear following this path, but it didn’t matter as long as he didn’t fail Briar. He wouldn’t betray the blessing he’d been given to help others, but she was his reason for being.
He grabbed a towel, wrapped it around his waist, and headed for the bathroom to shower. When he got back to his room, the first thing he did was call her—to hear her voice, and to remember what it felt like coming undone inside her.
* * *
Briar was watching TV, stretched out on her bed with the air conditioning on blast and a blanket pulled up to her chin.
She had never been able to fall asleep without covers, and she shivered wondering what it was going to be like falling asleep in Tate Bandy’s arms. One day it would happen, but not anytime soon.
She had her own world to create and conquer, just as he did.
She’d been expecting his call, and when it came, she answered on the first ring. “Hello, it’s me. Is that you?” She heard a soft chuckle in her ear, and then that deep raspy voice.
“Yes, baby, it’s me, missing you. It’s been a rough day. Tell me something good.”
She frowned. He almost sounded despondent. “Are you okay?”
“No…but I will be. I’m trying to shake the side effects of seeing the truth of a child who’d been caught in human trafficking. He’s going to be a long time getting better.”
“Oh my God…Tate. How awful. I’m so sorry.”
“I have to be able to let this go to do what I want to do. I’ll be okay.
I promise. There’s something I need to tell you.
For a whole lot of reasons, most of which involve me being me.
My family and a cousin who showed up out of the blue today are taking me back to Tennessee to meet the elders.
We’re leaving the day after tomorrow and we’ll be gone about five days, counting the drive there and back.
Leaving you even that long feels like I’m losing a limb.
I guess it’s practice for when the real thing finally happens. ”
Briar sighed. “Maybe tomorrow will help ease that,” she said.
“What do you mean?”
“Dad and his lawyer have to go to the county courthouse tomorrow for a mediation meeting. It has to do with their divorce. Mom will be there, and he’s dreading it.
But it’s going to wind up being a day off for me.
No work crews for at least two more days.
Most everything has been repaired. Just waiting for a couple of appliance and furniture deliveries. If you want, you can—”
“I want. God, I want.”
She shivered. “So, do I, Tate. You’ve already given me a taste of a world I didn’t know, and now I can’t quit thinking about it and about you. Tomorrow, okay?”
“Yes. I’ll text first to make sure plans didn’t change,” he said. “I love you, Briar.”
“Love you more,” she said, and then he was gone.
Five days, knowing he was no longer within reach. The fact that she felt panic was a sign of how much they had depended on each other.
This is how life works. Time to grow up, girl.
Then she turned off the TV, pulled the covers up to her ears and closed her eyes.
Across town, Tate was already sliding between the covers. The sooner tomorrow came, the sooner he could see Briar.
* * *
Back in Savannah, Mariah was trying to decide what to wear to the courthouse tomorrow, and what attitude to take with her. Her lawyer advised Mariah to let him do all the talking, but Mariah had never let a man have the last word in her entire life and wasn’t going to start now.
* * *
Lilith and Abel were excited about going home and seeing family, but for the first time, they had no idea how Tate felt about any of it, only that he’d agreed to go.
Micah called home after he went to his bedroom. His dad, William, answered.
“Pops, it’s me. Tell the elders he’s coming. Abel and Lilith are bringing him. I’ll still be here tomorrow, and then we’ll all head home the next day.”
“That’s good news, Micah. Lilith will likely call her folks, and Abel will let his family know. Will they stay?” Will asked.
“Not this trip, but I’m told they’re packing to move back to Tennessee during Tate’s Christmas break. I’m also told that he’s graduating early. Turns out he has some kind of genius IQ,” Micah said.
“Who does he look like?”
Micah smiled as he answered. “A Bandy. A great big version of Abel.”
“Well then, safe travels, and thanks for letting me know,” Will said.
“Sure thing, Dad. See you soon.” Satisfied that he’d notified the clan, Micah was more than ready to call it a night.
* * *
Morning dawned, and Abel was up early. He had a job to finish at the garage, and then needed to let Curly know they had family business to attend back home and would be gone for the rest of the week.
Lilith had biscuits coming out of the oven when Abel came in for his first cup of coffee. “Think Curly is going to be mad?” she asked.
Abel shrugged. “Don’t know, but it doesn’t matter. I haven’t told him that we’re leaving Star Ridge at Christmas either.” And then he winked.
She smiled. Their long-awaited escape date was almost here.
A short while later, Abel was gone, and Micah and Tate were still in bed. She buttered herself a biscuit, poured a cup of coffee, and went to the porch swing out back to watch the awakening day.
When Tate woke up, it was after eight, and he’d had something of an epiphany as he was sleeping. Now he needed to see if it could factor into his life. He showered, shaved, and dressed in record time, but the house was quiet, and he noticed his dad’s truck was already gone.
He saw his mother sitting outside, so he poured a cup of coffee and made a bacon biscuit before going out to join her.
“Mornin’, Mom. Feels like another hot day,” he said, and sat down in one of the chairs and put his coffee aside to take a bite. “Good biscuit.”
“Want some eggs to go with it?” she asked.
“No, ma’am. I’m going to Briar’s in a bit. Can’t leave without goodbye.”
“It’s just a few days,” Lilith said.
“In a few months, we’re about to be walking separate paths.
Not going to be as easy to see her then, but she knows that.
We’ve been talking about this happening for more than four years.
Neither of us like it, but it’s what has to happen next.
I need to call the school superintendent this morning.
Hope he has a landline number. I don’t have access to his cell number. ”
“Anything wrong?” she asked.
“No…more the opposite, but I need to confirm something. I’ll call the school. I think teachers are already working. Someone there can help.”
Lilith smiled. “I’m just going to stay out here and enjoy the morning a little longer.”
He kissed the top of her head before going back inside, then finished off the biscuit and his coffee as he was looking up the phone number. He found the main number at the school and called it.
It rang four times and then someone answered. “Star Ridge Public Schools. This is Della.”
“Miss Della, this is Tate Bandy. By any chance is Mr. Autry in his office?”
“I think so. Give me a second to connect,” she said.
Tate waited a few seconds, then got an answer.
“Hello, Vernon Autry speaking.”
“Mr. Autry, this is Tate Bandy. I have a question about my school credits. When they were being counted for an early graduation at the end of this year, did they also include the seven months of school I had in first grade when I started at the age of six? I caught West Nile virus then and nearly died. I was out of school a whole year afterward. When I went back, the teachers told my parents that it would be simpler for me to just start first grade over at the age of eight, rather than try to catch up. And I was wondering, if all of that time had been omitted, and if they added it into what I have accumulated the last eleven years, would I already qualify for a diploma now?”
Vern Autry was stunned. “I don’t think I knew all this,” he said. “You started school at the Holy Waters school, didn’t you?”
“Yes, sir, and was there again until it blew away. But I know all those records were recovered from a computer storage system, because I heard the teachers talking about it. So, all of that should be on record too.”
“I’m going to have to do some digging. I need to contact the school counselor for help with this. Are you asking if you already qualify for a diploma without attending another semester?”
“Yes, sir. That’s what I’m asking. I’m going to be twenty years old in January.”