“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Fuck this,” I said. “You need to see her. Because it wasn’t long ago you made a comment about you being like her. And I told you you aren’t her. So go see for yourself. That woman… in a hospital bed because she drank too much? Acting like a stupid teenager? Probably trying to do anything to survive because she can’t take care of herself? That’s not you.”
“How am I taking care of myself, Barr? You’re taking care of me.”
“Not anymore, love. You’re with me because you love me. I’m taking care of you because I love you. But for yourself… you’re on your own now. This shit with BC done. And you’re going to figure out what you want and do it.”
“Barr…”
“There is no more Barr,” I said. I had no idea what that meant. “I… just…”
“You really love me,” Mel said.
“Of course I do. That’s what you’re just realizing? After all this?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “I love you too, Barr.”
“I know you do,” I said with a grin. “You don’t scream it out to the stars. You don’t let me be romantic. You try to hide it so much, love, but you can’t. You more than everything around you. So go make sure your crazy mother is okay. And then let’s send her crazy packing.”
“Barr.”
“Unless you want her here,” I said. I showed my hands in defeat. “Whatever you want, love. But please make sure you do something for yourself too.”
“Get us out of the middle of the road, Barr.”
I nodded.
I didn’t drive without a kiss though.
Because we had been in the middle of the road for a long time.
Now it was time to go forward.
* * *
My parents had their hands tied into the hospital.
I remembered being in the hospital when things were being remodeled and new parts being built. When it was just a steel skeleton of wires and dust. Climbing up floors as high as I could go, trying to trick myself into thinking I was in some kind of scary movie or something.
Now it was an actual hospital.
Mel’s mother’s name was Janet.
I never knew that.
There was an entire side to Mel’s life that I needed to know more about. A side that I hoped she’d stay away from but one that if she talked about would help her keep going forward.
We ended up at a desk.
Then we were sent down a hallway.
Then stopped at another desk.
I could see Mel getting more and more agitated by the second. She was shaking, bouncing, unable to stop moving and focus for a second.
“Fuck this,” I said to her as I pushed away from the desk.
I grabbed her hand and started to walk.
“Barr… wait…”
“No,” I said.
We walked by the hospital room doors and every single one of them bothered me. Each one occupied came with a story. But I was looking for just one story.
A doctor pointed to us.
I pointed back.
“Do you know who I am?” I asked.
I fucking hated using that line…
“Barrington Richter,” I said.
“Oh,” the doctor said. Dr. Jones. That’s what was embroidered on his white coat.
“Oh,” I said. “Right. If it wasn’t for my family, this building wouldn’t be here. And I’m not going to stand around and wait for someone to help us. Her mother is sick and needs her daughter. We need to see her right now.”
The doctor turned and put his hand out and stopped a nurse. He leaned toward her and whispered something.
“Your family?” Mel whispered to me.
“Long story,” I whispered back. “I’ll explain some other time.”
The nurse looked at us and smiled. “Follow me.”
I nodded to the doctor and we both went in opposite directions.
The nurse took us to Janet’s room.
“How is she?” Mel asked. “I mean… what am I walking into?”
The nurse frowned. “You’re her daughter?”
Mel nodded.
“So you’re the only family, I take it,” the nurse said.
“She has a sister,” Mel said. “But she lives across the country.”
“Right,” the nurse said. “She was very sick. Dropped off at the emergency room. She’s stable now. They’re running a tox screen too. To see…”
“To see what?” I asked.
“Certain situations…”
“Just say it,” Mel snapped.
The nurse sighed. “Okay. She was talking a lot. Some things she was saying… there’s a chance she did this on purpose.”
Mel fell into me.
“Shit,” I said.
I reached for the hospital room door and had no idea what to expect, just like Mel. Other than being stronger and making sure I was her wall so she had someone to fall into, that’s all I could do.
Her mother was sitting up in the hospital bed.
She looked normal. Tired. Drunk. Hungover. Messy.
But normal.
When Janet looked at Mel, her eyes filled with tears.
I could see some resemblance for sure. Except she had lived a hundred years more though.
“Mom,” Mel said.
“Melody,” Janet said.
I stopped walking and put a hand to Mel’s back and gave her a small nudge.
“This is Barr,” Mel said. “My boyfriend.”
I slowly grinned.
I nodded. “Nice to finally meet you.”
“Sure,” Janet said. She didn’t even look at me. “Melody…”
“What are you doing here?” Mel asked. “What is this? They said you did this on purpose?”
Janet’s mouth moved and she looked down.
I stepped closer to Mel and put my mouth near her ear. “I’m going to be right outside the door, love. I have to make sure Pres and Kip and the girls are okay. Anything happens, you come find me.”
Mel nodded.
She didn’t move her stare.
But she reached back and grabbed my hand and squeezed it for a second.
I exited the hospital room.
I called Pres.
“Mel okay?” he asked without a hello.
That meant he cared.
And that meant a lot.
“She’s fine,” I said. “Her mother is in the hospital. Here.”
“What?”
“Yeah. Not sure what’s going on yet.”
“Let me know what we can do,” Pres said.
“Thanks, Pres.”
“The ditch is cleared out,” Pres said. “We’re back at the guesthouse. Safe.”
“BC didn’t try anything fancy?” I asked.
“No,” Pres said. “Other than Mac drawing something in the dirt. He then told me to show you. I took a picture. I’ll shoot it over to you.”
Mac couldn’t draw a straight line if his life depended on it.
My phone vibrated and I told Pres to give me a second to look at it.
When I saw the picture Mac had drawn in the dirt, I swallowed hard.
Snakes n’ cigs.
The stupid logo we came up with together one night after getting drunk.
We had taken on this really big fight and somehow won it.
Then we got drunk and said we needed a name. And a slogan. Like a company would have. It was for fun. For laughs.
But nothing with Brooks Crest was for fun or laughs.
“Do you know what that means?” Pres asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “Just old memories. That’s all Mac has.”
“You know they’re not going to stay away,” Pres said.
“I know, Pres. But for now it’s fine. I just want to take care of my girl. And I’m sure you feel the same about Tinsley. And Kip feels it about Ruby.”
“Let me know if there’s anything we can do,” Pres said.
“I’ll talk to
you later.”
I ended the call and started to pace.
From one wall to another.
HCH was finally quiet, for the moment.
BC was gone, but they weren’t going to just fade like a shooting star.
And if East vs West was real…
I stopped and laughed.
It’s fucking real, Barr. It’s happening. The Rulz sent a message to Belle. And Uly has himself somehow tied to BC. And on top of that, Uly is talking to Hil and Ash? It’s… happening…
I sucked in a breath.
“Barr?”
I spun around and Mel was there, tears running down her cheeks.
I jumped at her, my hands touching her face, my thumbs swiping away the tears.
“What happened, love?”
“Everything,” she said.
“What does that mean?”
“She’s a mess, as expected. She came from Nevada as a favor. Someone she met where she was working… I don’t know and don’t want to know. Honestly. She wanted to check on Carl and she knows what he’s been doing. It’s been going on that way since they met. She said someone named Claire brought her here tonight.”
“Claire?” I asked.
“Yeah. She said she was doing a favor and things got out of hand. She wouldn’t tell me what that meant. But she said this woman - Claire - was there and when things went too far and she felt sick, this Claire person told her she was going to help.”
I swallowed hard. “Your mother needs to go back where she came from. Claire… I don’t know how to judge her.”
“You know who that is?”
“She’s the one who brought Tinsley here. Almost the same situation as your mother. Tinsley’s mother-”
“Tinsley told me,” Mel said. “Oh, shit. Claire. She mentioned that name. Oh, shit. That’s the same Claire.”
“Look, love, there’s some things around here that are crazy,” I said. “I’ll tell you anything and everything I can. But some stuff I don’t know and I don’t want to know.”
Mel nodded. “Me too, Barr. I told my mother to stop talking. To rest and go back to work. I told her to leave.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I’m not,” Mel said. “This is who she is and has always been. Nothing will change. And I’m not going to play that game, Barr. There was a reason I was sent to Brooks Crest. Maybe I wasn’t bad like you but I had bad in my life.”
“You tell me what you want and I’ll make it happen,” I said. “She gets cleared to leave here and I’ll fly her first class… fuck, I’ll fly her in a private jet back to Nevada.”
Mel grabbed my shirt. “That’s so sexy, Barr. Acting like a rich douchebag to get into my pants.”
I grinned. “I hope you realize that I’m doing just fine on my own, love. That’s why I told you to figure out what you want to do next. We can go anywhere. Live anywhere. Visit anywhere. Do anything.”
“What about BFH?” Mel asked. “What about the Rulz?”
“What about it?” I asked.
“Tough guy talk.”
“Real guy talk.”
Mel looked back at the hospital room door and shook her head. “Should I feel bad for not staying?”
“Only you can answer that,” I said.
“She was lying to me even then, Barr. Parts of her story. Trying to tell me she thought she was drinking water.”
“Water?” I asked. “That must have been the smoothest booze ever to get that drunk and not know it.”
“Exactly,” I said. “I showed up, right? I hugged her. I kissed her. I told her I loved her. And she still kept lying. This Claire woman…”
“You don’t need to worry about Claire,” I said. “She’s got her hands in things… things that involve my parents. That involve BC. That’s why I have my own thing going. It’s just us now, Mel. I think we finally have what we’ve always wanted.”
She laughed. “And we figure that out in a hospital… how romantic.”
I pulled her close and kissed her forehead. “The best part, love? We get to walk away. Just us. Together.”
And that’s exactly what we did.
We walked away.
* * *
I refuse to let her go.
In more than one way.
At the giant revolving door that would get us out of the hospital for good, I stopped.
“Offer is still there, love,” I said.
“For what?”
“Your mother. If you stay in touch with her. I’ll fly her anywhere she wants to go. And if by some chance you change your mind and want her to stay here, we can make that work.”
Mel put her hands to my chest. “You show your sweet and sad side in a special way.”
“What?”
“You’re worried about my mother.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Yes, you are. You told me about your mother. Her drinking problem was the reason you played piano so much. She had a hard time with things. And you playing piano for her kept things under control. So don’t stand there and lie to me, Barr. Don’t tell me you aren’t thinking about your mother and my mother and-”
I put my lips to Mel’s.
I kissed her for a few seconds to shut her up.
When I broke the kiss, I sighed.
“Don’t tell anyone you found a soft side in me,” I whispered.
“Poor guy,” Mel said. “Might ruin your badass, cigarette smoking, whiskey drinking, piano playing reputation, huh?”
“Something like that,” I said with a wink.
We got outside and before I could step off the curb I heard a whistle.
When I turned my head, Tinsley was diving at me.
Well, not me.
She dove at Mel.
And Ruby was next.
They surrounded her to hug her.
And then I saw Pres and Kip.
I walked up to them, shaking my head.
“No choice,” Kip said. “They wouldn’t stop asking.”
“Yeah,” I said.
“We have to be there for each other,” Pres said. “No matter what.”
“How’s her mother?” Kip asked.
“There’s a story for you. She’s a mess. Mel wants her to leave. And she was here because of Claire. Or something to do with Claire.”
“What?” Pres asked, curling his lip.
“I’m staying out of that,” I said. “Let them bury themselves, Pres. It’s not our problem anymore. Any of it.”
“You’re wrong, Barr,” Kip said. He nodded. “We have plenty of problems.”
I turned and stood between Pres and Kip.
I watched Mel, Ruby, and Tinsley.
“They made up a name,” Pres said.
“A name?” I asked.
“For themselves,” Kip said. “They want to have their own crew.”
I laughed. “Seriously?”
Pres laughed. “The Gurlz Rulz… with a u and z…”
“Fuck,” I said. “They’re crazy and smart enough to pull that off.”
“Luckily we don’t have much more time at BFH,” Kip said. “Could you imagine us against them?”
“We’d lose,” I said. “And it would be worth losing.”
“That’s true,” Pres said. “We still have time though. And things to do. East vs West…”
I made a fist and softly hit Pres’s shoulder. “Not now, Pres. Let’s just take this sight in.”
“I’m fine with eye fucking all three of them,” Kip said.
“I’ll rip your eyes out if you look at Mel with your sick mind,” I said to Kip.
Kip looked at mine and slowly blinked. “Want to know what I just pictured?”
“This is a good place to kick his ass,” Pres said. “You know, at a hospital…”
Kip grinned and looked forward again.
So did I.
Tinsley was holding Mel’s hand. Ruby stood with her hands in her hoodie pocket. They were all talking. Smiling. Frowning. Getting closer. They we
re really becoming… the Gurlz Rulz…
“Shit,” I whispered.
“Yeah,” Pres said.
“Fuck yeah,” Kip said.
I shook my head. “They’re the only ones who can actually take down the Rulz.”
Chapter 22
(we gotta go back for a sec)
I walked through the courtyard garden with a lit cigarette between my lips.
My goal was to mind my own business and I hoped everyone else would do the same.
But of course there had to be someone to run their mouth.
Some preppy bitch with perfectly straight hair, blue eyes, perfect skin, and clothes that matched her shoes and nail polish.
“You can’t smoke out here,” she said. “It’s dangerous.”
I froze in place and looked at her.
I took the cigarette out of my mouth. “You want me to put this out?”
“Yes, I do,” she said.
I reached for a rose and wrapped my hand around the thin stem. The thorns ripped into my skin with ease but I showed no emotion on my face.
I broke the rose off and held it out.
Then I put the lit end of the cigarette to the rose and watched it slowly start to smoke, burn, and catch fire.
I flicked the rose at the girl and she let out a scream.
“You’re a psycho! I know who you are! You came from that bad place!”
I laughed. “You should have a cigarette to calm down, love.”
I flicked my cigarette at her and she ran off.
Bitch.
Her yells echoed for a few seconds and when Pres and Kip showed up, Kip kept looking back.
“What did you do to her?” Kip asked.
“Tried to give her a flower,” I asked. “I guess my charm isn’t appreciated by everyone.”
“Down to business,” Pres said. “Are we sure about this?”
“I am,” I said. “I’m doing it. We have a reputation around here. It’s time to make it real. You know they have been talking about us. Saying we break all the rules. That’s what they’re calling us. The rules. We can make that badder soon.”
“Like a fucking z on it,” Kip said.
“If we want to pick this fight, we do it now,” Pres said. “T-Jac is on the field.”
I shook my head. I hated that fucking name. And I hated that prick. Not only did that piece of shit live off of his parents political careers and ties, he managed to squeeze his way into college with a full ride to play football.
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