UnTouch Me

by Dawn Martens

  “Hey, what are you doing here?” I ask her. I hate to admit this, because this could hurt my friendship with Eden, but over the years, I’ve somewhat became friends with Monica. She’s really not that bad once you really get to know her.

  “Eden’s back,” she says with tears in her eyes.

  “Um,” I say hesitantly.

  “Her little sister is in my class. I don’t think Jasper knows yet, though. God, this hurts. I know the break up talk is coming. I just know it,” she says, tears streaming down her face.

  “I’m sorry, Monica, and I don’t mean to sound bad right now, but you sort of knew this could happen,” I say gently, trying to soften the blow. Jasper and Monica have been off and on for a long time. At first, it was over the guilt Jasper had about the child they lost, but then almost a year ago, they started to officially date exclusively. However, any time Eden was mentioned, Jasper’s face would change. You could see the hurt in his eyes. She had to know; she can’t be blind to that. I even asked Jasper myself if he was in love with Monica, but he always denied it, saying that he just cared about her.

  “Yeah, I know,” she says, sniffling. “I just always hoped it never would. Looks like I’ll be losing the man I love and my friend.” She looks at her feet.

  “Monica, I…” I start to say.

  She shakes her head. “Don’t, we both know, now that Eden’s back, everything’s changed. I’m sorry I showed up here like this. I should go.”

  I’m about to tell her to stay, that we can talk, but she takes off to her car and leaves.

  Great. Everything is such a fucking mess.

  I pull into the court house because Paula told me about a case she needed me to have a look at. I go in the front and walk past Laura at the reception desk. She just nods and smiles as I go by her.

  I knock on Paula’s door. “Come in!” she shouts.

  I open the door, step in, and shut it behind me. Paula is an older woman, but you really wouldn’t know since she keeps fit, dyes her hair, and pays for tons of Botox. Only thing that makes her really show her age is right after a treatment because the bitch can’t even frown or smile.

  “Have a seat. I want you to look at this file. See what you think,” she tells me, not looking up from her desk.

  “You normally take files that need attention to Angel. Why am I getting this one?” I ask her while taking my seat.

  She sighs as she walks around her desk with the file in hand. She stands in front of me and hesitantly hands me the file. “It’s because of what is in this. If I gave that directly to Angel, he’d lose his goddamn head.”

  I frown, taking the file from her. Opening it, the blood rushes from my face. “Eden?” I ask, confused.

  I read it over; there is a shit load of pictures in here, pictures of scars and bruises. There are also hospital reports. “I don’t understand,” I say, not wanting to take my eyes off the documents inside this file.

  “She moved back to town recently, has been living in her old house. Her father will be up for parole in a few months’ time, possibly early release. I’m worried that if he gets out, he’s gonna come looking for her,” Paula says. Paula helped Jasper nine years ago, when he hired a PI to try and find her, so she knows that it was a good thing to come to me and not him about this.

  We searched everywhere we could think of for her. Big Willy was also supposed to be in the damn ground. After the raid a few years ago, it was confirmed he was dead, yet they were both living just a few hours away. We searched the fuckin’ town she was hiding out in, which everyone said they hadn’t seen her there.

  “Fuck!” I shout, standing up from my seat and kicking it over.

  “Vincent, calm down. I gave that file to you, knowing you would be the more level headed of the bunch. I want you to keep that, and when the time is right, let Angel know,” she says smoothly.

  Holding the file tight in my hand, I walk out. How the fuck am I gonna tell Angel this shit? He’ll lose his goddamn head.

  I decide for the first time in years to drive down Eden’s street- the street we’ve all avoided for years because it brought back memories of us as kids. I slow my ride down as I pass her house, and see a little girl playing on the front lawn with a skipping rope.

  I’m stunned at first, but then remember about the little girl I read about in the file—Eden’s little sister.

  Everything is just now more and more fucked up. Kayla’s pregnant, Lilly’s pregnant, and now with Eden back home, I don’t know what the hell I’m going to do.

  Lilly and I have been fighting more often than not lately, and I can’t stop it. I’m the one now starting and picking fights.

  I just can’t tell her about this Kayla shit that’s eating me up inside. I know for sure I’ll lose her and my child. I highly doubt she’ll let me be around the baby if she finds out I made a child with another woman.

  I was almost caught at Eden’s house by Vinny. Shit! I drove past him as I was exiting the street she lives on, but he didn’t notice me. I haven’t told Eden anything about the club. I know she’s heard about the old club, but she never gave it much thought.

  She never wants to hear anything about Jasper or the guys, so I’ve never brought up what they do now. She got a letter last week about how her father would be up for release soon, and I know she’s nervous. I have a feeling that she might be in Jasper’s cross hairs soon enough.

  With that thought, I make it to my place and order a pizza.

  Hanging up the phone after placing my order, I go to my room to put on some pajama bottoms to get comfy. I hear the house line ring and run around trying to find the phone.

  “Oh, for shit sake! Where the hell is it?” I yell to the empty house. I swear to God, I’m always misplacing the damn thing. I finally find it and answer it as the machine comes on. “Hello?” I pant, out of breath.

  “Uh, hope I wasn’t interrupting a sex-a-thon,” I hear Hilary say, sounding like she’s grinning.

  “Ugh, I wish, but no, I couldn’t find the stupid phone. Hang on, we’re echoing because the machine kicked on.” I hit the stop and erase button on the machine. “Sorry, I think I need to start scattering random phones throughout my place,” I tell her.

  She laughs on the line. “Yeah, you lose everything. Anyways, wanted to call you. Not sure if you’ve found out or heard or not, but um, your dad’s married.”

  “What?” I ask. “When?”

  “Last weekend, according to word around the office. And that’s other news- you won’t believe who he’s got married to.”

  “Don’t tell me it’s you?” I ask with mock horror.

  “You’re a funny girl today. Hell no, I ain’t married to that old man,” she says on a laugh. “Jasper’s mom—Gloria.”

  Shock goes through me. No one has really heard from her since she took off after finding out about her husband cheating on her. “Are you serious?” I ask.

  “Sure as hell am. She came into the office the other day to bring him brownies or some shit, and I almost didn’t recognize her. But then she saw me, and she knew right away who I was. Wasn’t until she brought up about how she was thrilled Vic was killed in prison that I put it together who she was,” Hilary tells me.

  “Wow, I wonder if Jasper knows.”

  “Probably, because she said she sent him an invite but he never showed up. He did send a wedding gift, though.” I hear her talking to Jessica and Ethan before coming back on the line. “Sorry, I have to cut this short. The kids are complaining the iPads I bought them are frozen.”

  “Wait, you bought two eight year olds iPads?” I ask disbelievingly.

  Groaning, she responds, “Not you too. Eden gave me shit when she found out, saying they’re kids, blah blah blah, should be outside, not on an eight hundred dollar tablet.”

  “I bet. She barely even lets Glenna watch TV,” I tell her.

  “Yeah, yeah, she put me in charge of these kids. They wanted iPads, so I bought them, simple as that. Anyways, gotta run. Talk late
r, Lilly-pad,” she says and hangs up.

  I check the clock and realize that the pizza should have been here by now. I go to move to the window to wait when the door opens.

  “Lilly-pad,” I hear Vinny shout when he gets in.

  We moved in together not long before I found out I was pregnant, which is yet another reason all these secrets I’m keeping from him are eating me up inside.

  I see him come around the corner with the pizza in hand. “Oh, I was wondering where it was,” I say.

  “Yeah, I was actually at the pizza place ordering when I heard your call come in, so I just grabbed it instead of having it delivered,” he says, placing the pizza on the coffee table.

  The drive from work is long; I wish we had a good hair salon to work at here, but we don’t- at least no place I would actually get my hair done at. I started working at Haylix Salon in Calgary just before I found out I was pregnant. Hilary’s cousin, Hayley, owns the place with her best friend Alix.

  When I get home, I see that Vinny’s already here. I smile as I walk into the house. I really hope he isn’t moody tonight. I had a good day and want to leave it that way. He’s been a moody shit since the night he proposed, always snapping at me and constantly picking for a fight.

  He keeps telling me nothing’s wrong, so I’m putting it off as if he’s having my pregnancy mood swings instead. I did read that sometimes the man will get that way; even gain weight with a pregnant woman too.

  “Vinny, tell me what is going on!” I demand, standing in front of him.

  He rubs a hand over his face before looking at me. “You might wanna sit down.”

  I gulp. “Um, okay.” I take a seat on the couch, and he comes to me.

  “Eden is back in town,” he tells me, kneeling at my feet and grasping my hands.

  I almost blurt out, ‘How did you find out,’ but thankfully I keep my mouth shut and just look at him in shock.

  “Does Jasper know?” I blurt out, because right now, I’m scared that anything I say will give me away.

  He shakes his head. “No, I’m not sure how to bring it up to him. Her leaving hurt everyone, even you.” He stares at me as if I’m gonna burst out into tears, or maybe even rage. “Until I can think of a way to go about this, promise me you’ll stay away?”

  I frown in confusion. “What do you mean, stay away? She’s my best friend, and she’s back,” I retort.

  “She’s not, not anymore, Lilly. She’s been gone nine years,” he tries to tell me gently.

  “I’m not staying away, and you can’t stop me,” I tell him.

  He sighs. “Fuck, Lilly, I haven’t told Angel yet. Can you at least wait until I do that?” he asks me impatiently.

  “Nopes. I don’t give a shit about Angel. Eden’s back, and that’s all I care about.”

  “You don’t make shit easy. You know that?” he says.

  I smirk at him. “What fun would that be?” He shakes his head and kisses me softly.

  I pull up to Kayla’s house and wait for her to lock up so I can take her to the doctor. “Hey,” I say as she climbs in the truck.

  “Hey,” she says quietly back.

  “You’re sure about this? Keeping the baby?” I ask her.

  “Yes, Vincent, I am,” she says, sounding mad.

  “Sorry, just had to double check,” I say, letting out a huge sigh.

  “I understand, Vincent. I do, and anyways, Brandon and I have started dating. He also knows about me being pregnant, but he promised not to say a word. He actually wanted to come with me today, but I didn’t think that was right. My baby’s father should be the one there for these appointments,” she tells me.

  I’m happy for her, for moving on, and I like that she’s dating a brother. I trust that man with my life. If only I could work up the courage to tell Lilly about this shit.

  The appointment goes well. Dr. Carson was a little shocked we chose her over Kayla’s usual doctor, and I couldn’t very well tell her I don’t want my other baby momma finding out about this one. Kayla just said something about her being highly recommended, so she wanted her to deliver the baby instead.

  Nice save.

  We heard the baby’s heartbeat, and it was amazing. Made me think about last week when I went with Lilly to her appointment and heard our child. I’m gonna be a dad.

  I drop Kayla off to her place after leaving the doctor’s office and head to work.

  I’m in the office when the phone rings- not the shop phone, but our line for Angels Warriors. Picking it up, I clear my throat before answering. “Hello? Angels Warriors.”

  “Yeah, hi, um, I need to talk to someone about protection,” a small quiet voices responds.

  “Of course, can I just ask your name?” I say politely.

  “Eden Blake.” I almost drop the damn phone. I knew this call might come. I’ve been trying to think of a way to tell Jasper. Looks like now I don’t have to.

  “Uh, hold on, okay? I’m gonna hand you over to my higher up,” I tell her. I want to yell at her. Why has she come back now, after all this time? Oh, that’s right, now she needs us. Now she wants us in her life. I will do what I have to, to protect her, but I’m not sure if we can trust her. I mean, fuck, we don’t know shit about where she has been for nine years or why.

  Walking out to Angel’s bay, I hand him the phone with a grim look. I know the moment he hears her name on the phone because his whole body goes completely still, and I swear it looks like he’s going down memory lane.

  “Why do we have to play with a girl for, Jasper?” I asked him, angry that he was making me go with him to some four year old’s house.

  “You’ll see. She’s fun. She’s not into dress up and dolls like the other girls are. She likes bikes and cars and rocks. She’s cool. Trust me,” Jasper told me, grinning.

  “Why can’t you just go play with her by yourself?”

  He shrugged. “Because she needs friends, and she’s awesome. Plus, one day, when I’m older and actually like girls and kisses, I’m gonna marry her.”

  I shake the memory off and clench my fists. After reading that fucking file from Paula, I’m pissed at Eden, but, at the same time, I want to go to her and get my best friend back. Eden could have told us; she could have come to us at any time.

  She just ran away, up and left us all. We all were fuckin’ searching for her, too, while she was just out there hiding from her father all by herself, just to end up right back in his clutches after we thought he was fuckin’ dead.

  I think back to the reactions we all had after Angel got off the phone with her. Fuck, I wanted to run right to her and choke her for taking off on us, and then hug her and let her know I’m glad she’s back.

  When Angel hangs up, he’s pissed. I pass him the folder and let him read through shit. Afterwards, I walk into my bay and get back to work.

  Closing time is finally here, and we’re packing up to head over to Eden’s place.

  “You telling me that she’s been back in town a few months now, and we are just finding this shit out now?” Reaper says, sounding pissed.

  “Gotta calm the fuck down, man. We’ll do her no favors by going into her house all pissed at her,” Angel says.

  “Fuck that! She was my best fuckin’ friend! She left, didn’t tell us what the fuck was going on. We could have protected her!” Reaper yells.

  I toss my cig on the ground and crunch it under my boot. “Let’s ride over. Maybe she’ll have some goodies from her mom’s recipe collection for us to eat,” I say, swinging a leg over my bike.

  Reaper stomps to his bike, looking like he’s contemplating on kicking it over. He’s so angry. He gets on and rides ahead of us.

  “I think he was hurt more than I was, and I was the one that was dating her,” Angel says grimly.

  Reaper and Eden were always really close. Ever since she jumped him at the playground when she was seven, they were stuck together like glue.

  The ride to her house doesn’t take long. It’s the same house
that we all played over at often growing up, the same place that Eden once took a garden snake and shoved it down my pants when she was eight.

  “Hey, Vinny, come here! I wanna show you something!” I heard Eden yell.

  “Coming,” I shouted back. I made my way over to the garden in the back yard to check out what Eden was staring at.

  “He’s so cute,” she cooed.

  I chanced a look over her shoulder and saw it was a snake. “Oh, hell no!” I said, stepping away slowly. Eden knew I was scared of snakes, that little brat.

  Eden picked the snake up and stared at its face, smiling hugely when the snake’s tongue slithered out. “What’s the matter, Vinny? Scared of an itty bitty ssssnake?” she said, mocking me.

  “Eden? Are you scaring that boy?” I heard Eden’s mom shout from the back porch.

  “Nope, just playing with my new friend,” Eden said sweetly, holding up the snake.

  “Vinny, son, come here please. You can help me weed out my flower garden.” Grateful to just get away from Eden and that damn snake, I took off quickly, not even giving a crap about having to weed.

  We’d been going at the weeding for a few minutes when I felt something go down my pants. Standing up, I turned around and saw Eden smirking at me. “What did you do?” I demanded.

  Her smile widened, and she backed away. I noticed the snake was gone from her hand. “Where is it?” I asked, getting angry. Suddenly, I felt it, the slithering movement in my pants.

  “Help me!” I screamed, shaking and terrified.

  “You remembering the snake incident?” Reaper asks, smirking.

  I punch him in the arm. “Shut up,” I say, glowering at him.

  He laughs. “Good times.”

  I say one name, and he shuts up real quick. “Mrs. Shepard.”

  “Fuck you, Vinny. Don’t even go there,” he growls, and I just shake my head. I don’t know what in the hell we’re about to walk in on. Jasper’s about to see Eden for the first time in nine years.