Liam kneels beside me, gently rubbing my back. Mother Tidwell stomps her foot in a plea for attention and speaks with a rigid voice. “How ridiculous. Whatever is your problem? Get up off that floor and get a hold of yourself.”
Liam’s hand freezes on my back and I feel the anger and tension rising through his body. “GET OUT! GET OUT NOW! You have done nothing but cause trouble and heartache since day one. Enough is enough.” His voice shakes, filled with rage. “She doesn’t need this right now. Can’t you see that she’s broken?”
Mother Tidwell draws herself up into her regal pose. “How dare you?” she hisses in fury. “Who do you think you are to address me in such a manner? Don’t you dare speak to me that way. If my Channing were—,”
Liam abruptly cuts her off before she can finish her tirade. “Enough, I said. I swear you have lost your mind. Get out, now. If Tripp were here, he would say the same thing. There is no way he would’ve put up with your crap. Now, go. You’ve done enough damage today. This week. Heck, for the last twenty years.”
Dead silence fills the room. Mother Tidwell visibly pales and then, gathering her resolve, she tenses. She turns and stalks to the front door. Smoothing her disheveled hair and straightening the hem of her blouse, she turns back to pierce us with a half-crazed glare. I can feel the venom oozing from her eyes, and I know that whatever she says will not be good. “You make your own way; take care of your own brats. You will see that you need me. When you do, you’ll come crawling right back.” With a final sneer, she glides out the front door, slamming it behind her so hard that the pictures rattle in her wake.
Chapter Four
Past
Our high school years were the best for Liam, Tripp, and me. We were basically inseparable. Tripp slept over so often that eventually most of his clothes ended up in Liam’s closet, and my mom was doing his laundry right along with everyone else’s. When Liam got mono our sophomore year, so did Tripp and I. We all sprawled out on the living room sofas while our mom nursed us and catered to our every need. For two long weeks, we sweated and froze together while watching movies or playing games. When one of us moaned, the others answered with a groan. Tripp’s mom refused to come into our house, but he did not seem to be too disappointed in that. Besides, our mom had enough love to go around.
Tripp and I seemed fused at the hip. Our hands were constantly clutched together, his long fingers entwined with my short stubby ones. When we were standing together, it was never side-by-side. He always stood behind me with his strong arms protectively enveloping me, and his chin resting on the top of my head. He loved to rub my hair, and would brush and braid it for me in the evenings before bed. There was never any doubt to those who saw us that we were completely lost over each other with a love that most grownups envied.
Mom and Dad realized right away that without proper supervision and guidance, Tripp and I could easily fall prey to our simmering teenage hormones and emotions. Because of the close nature of our family and our relationship with Tripp, they did not hesitate to sit down with the both of us and have ‘the talk’. I’m not saying that conversation wasn’t awkward, but our family was always open and honest with each other.
As we were finishing supper, Mom looked at Tripp and me. “Your dad and I need to talk with you two. Let’s hurry and get the dishes washed, and the kitchen straightened up.”
Tripp and I glanced at each other, questions in our eyes. I spoke up, and asked the only think I could think to ask. “Uhm, have we done something wrong?” I couldn’t think of any line we’d crossed, our grades were great, and we never missed curfew. I could tell by the look on his face that Tripp was just as confused as I was.
Dad walked over to Tripp and me. He took Tripp’s large hand and my small hand, and then placed them together between his own. “Y’all haven’t done anything wrong, honey. Your mom and I just think that before things progress any further between you and Tripp, we should just sit down and let you know what our expectations are. Now, let’s hurry so we can all get this over with.”
Needless to say, by the time my daddy finished, all of our cheeks were blood red. We hurried through it because this conversation was one nobody seemed inclined to linger over.
I won’t bore you with all the details, but we talked that night about how the choices we made could affect us for the rest of our lives. Mom and Dad let us know that they loved us unconditionally and supported our choice to be together, but they also told us that they would not tolerate sex before marriage in their house.
At this point, we asked Liam to come join us because he would be playing a big part in the new rules. Because Tripp was all but living at our house, we discussed putting new rules in place to help us fight temptation. Tripp and I were never to be alone together in any of the bedrooms. Dating was fine, but we were to respect the set curfew, and let them know where we were going and whom we would be with. There would be no overnight trips, even to Papa and Nana’s house, without taking Liam with us.
Most kids our age would have felt stifled and suffocated by these rules, but my parents had never given us a reason to question them or their love for us. They had earned our trust and respect through their actions. We knew that their requests were a result of their deep love for each of us, and that they were not, in any way, trying to hurt us.
At their suggestion, Liam, Tripp, and I attended True Love Waits sessions at our church that encouraged teenage abstinence, and we made a vow that we would not only remain virgins, but also sexually pure until we married. Tripp and I sealed our pledge even further by exchanging promise rings. Even at our young age, we understood the importance of good character and the value of a good reputation, and we took our vows seriously. In a strange sort of way, the pressure was relieved, and we were quickly able to fall back into our normal routine that always included Liam. He also always gave us that extra layer of security because the two of us were very rarely alone.
It was Friday, April 27, 2001 and only two days before Liam’s and my seventeenth birthday. Somehow, we had managed to convince our parents to let us drive to Wilkesboro and camp out at Wilkes Community College for Merlefest. We had whined and begged for years to go, and Mom and Dad finally relented. We spent Thursday evening getting our tents, sleeping bags, and gear ready so that we could leave school at lunchtime to make the three and a half hour trip from Highlands to Wilkesboro. All we had to do was clean out the truck and then load all our stuff in it.
Tripp’s truck was a 2000 Ford F250 four-door crew cab. It was big enough to take us anywhere we wanted to go and spacious enough that my boys had all the room they needed for their long legs and big feet. Because it came with a nice long bench seat, we had no problem with all of us sitting up front. Of course, I was always in the middle, sandwiched between my guys. Seems those short legs of mine were a blessing in that case. We were always on the go, but we somehow managed to keep it cleaned out pretty well, especially for teenagers. It was a wonder it wasn’t filled with mud because we didn’t care about which season it was or what the weather was like. On any given day, we made the most of every second of free time we had.
I won the coin toss, so I picked the music we would listen to on the drive. Based on some of the groups we would hear that weekend, I chose Dolly Parton, Ricky Skaggs, Doc Watson, and Lonesome River Band. Rumor had it that Nickel Creek would be making an appearance, so I grabbed one of their CDs, too.
As we left school, we were so excited to be on our first real long distance, overnight camping trip. None of us had slept much the night before, but this trip had been well planned and thought out, and I just knew that nothing could go wrong. Camping was something Liam, Tripp, and I had done all our lives, so my parents were not worried about that part of the trip. Their main concern was the temptation that Tripp and I would find ourselves in being so far from home. We both reassured them that we would behave, and we even had Liam along for the role of chaperone, though he referred to himself as our babysitter. He promised Mom and Dad that he w
ouldn’t leave us alone for more than a few minutes at a time.
Halfway down the mountain, we stopped in Morganton to grab a bite to eat at one of the fast food joints along I-40. When Liam got out, running inside to use the bathroom, Tripp turned his body towards mine and took my hands in his. “My Wrynn. I am going to do my best to keep my thoughts and hands where they need to be. Just understand that this weekend will be a true test for both of us.”
Knowing exactly what Tripp was feeling, I put my forehead to his and placed a soft kiss on his nose. Tripp and I had always been very careful to try not to let our feelings carry us away. We both knew that our situation was different from most because we practically lived in the same house, and he rarely, if ever, returned to Mrs. Tidwell’s home. Having someone else around us almost constantly helped keep our feelings in check and we both knew that Liam would support us, but not smother us.
“Just once, Tripp. Just once, I would like you to hold me and kiss me like you can’t get enough of me. Just once.”
Before I could even take a breath in, Tripp had snatched me up off the seat and into his arms. He ran his fingers through my hair, and when he reached the back of my head, he pressed me forward so that our mouths met. The instant my lips touched his, I melted against him and kissed him with every fiber of my soul. That kiss seemed never-ending, at least until Liam slammed the truck door. Under his breath, he mumbled to himself, “Guess I can’t leave them alone for two seconds.”
Tripp and I broke apart, laughing at Liam. I slid back onto the seat and buckled my seatbelt. Before backing the truck out of the space, Tripp grabbed my chin and dropped a quick kiss on my forehead. Taking a deep breath, he said, “No, Liam, I guess you can’t. She is just too irresistible.”
Liam looked between the two of us with a small frown on his face. “I get it. Really, I do. But, how in the devil do you two think you’re going to make it through college? I won’t be there every minute.” Leave it to Liam to be our voice of reason. We all knew we were going on to college together. Being separated was just not an option we were even willing to consider.
Tripp looked at me with that tender smile of his. “Liam, I don’t think that will really be much of a problem. I plan to marry this girl as soon as we graduate, if she will have me. Of course, I haven’t asked her yet. But I will, and I betcha she says yes.”
Looking into Tripp’s eyes, I knew right then and there that I would never be able to live without him in my life. The love I felt for him was so deep and so big that it threatened to overwhelm me. I saw my future sitting right beside me, and I knew without a doubt that he was all of my tomorrows. Together forever. I really liked the way that sounded. And he was right. I would most definitely say yes.
We finished the drive and made it to Wilkesboro before dark. After stopping at a payphone to call my parents to check in, we found a great spot to camp and got to work getting everything set up. We positioned our tents with safety in mind so that Tripp and Liam’s flanked mine on either side. While I put everyone’s stuff in the tents, the boys went to gather kindling and firewood. I grabbed the cookware and food supplies, and set about getting our foil packs ready to place in the fire to cook.
When the boys got back with enough wood to last the weekend, Liam laid some of it out and got us a nice hot blaze started. Tripp got our camp chairs out and placed them a safe distance from the flames. After putting the foil packs in the edge of the fire, I went to join the boys. It felt nice just to sit back and relax. Nothing in the world could bother us.
After eating, we just sat and listened to The Dan Tyminski Band play on the stage, and watched as the stars finally took over the sun. The lead singer of the band was the voice everyone heard in Oh Brother, Where Art Thou. George Clooney’s pretty face and Dan’s voice made millions of people happy. The music was soothing to our souls.
Realizing the lateness of the hour, we made our way down to the bathrooms to get ready for bed. We split up at the doors with plans to meet back up in that very spot. I went in, hung my travel bag, and used the bathroom. I washed my hands and gave my teeth a good scrubbing. Then it happened. I dropped my toothpaste lid, and when I went to pick it back up, I ran my head through a spider web. I screamed at the top of my lungs.
The boys hit the door running, thinking that someone was surely killing me. I danced around in that dark bathroom pulling at my hair and rubbing my arms and legs and screaming at the top of my lungs. By that time, I was convinced that I had spiders all over my body and all in my hair. I swear I could actually feel them crawling all over me. I could not swipe and swat fast enough. I guess it just makes sense that everyone would come running to see what was going on. By the time I calmed down some, there were twenty pairs of curious eyes looking at me, trying to figure out just what my problem was.
Liam grabbed my travel bag. Tripp pulled me to his side, and then my boys quietly escorted me back to our tent, all the while assuring me that all the spiders were gone. Liam was the first one to grin and then snicker. He assured me that there was no way a spider would have stayed around to hear me screaming like a banshee. Tripp joined in the snickering and before I knew it, both my boys had doubled over at the waist, howling with laughter. They were convinced that there actually had not been a spider, just an old web.
I smacked both of them on the back of the head and then retreated to my tent to sulk alone. A few minutes later, the laughter had mostly stopped and both boys came to tell me goodnight. After giving them a hug and kiss, we each crawled into our bags and let sleep take us over.
The next morning, I woke to the sounds of hushed whispers. As I sat up and wiped the sleep from my eyes, I noticed the zipper on my tent slowly moving. Before I could finish my yawn and stretch, a fisted hand appeared in the opening. Looking on in sleepy confusion, I watched the hand open, toss a small black object towards me, and then retreat quickly, zipping the tent in its wake. My confusion turned to horror as I realized that the mysterious object was in fact a huge black spider. Screaming in fear, I began fighting my way from the spider. All I really managed to do was entangle myself in my sleeping bag so tightly that I almost lost blood flow to my legs. Flailing my arms frantically, I somehow managed to rip my tent from its stakes and flip it over on its side.
Panic was truly setting in by this time. With my legs trapped in my sleeping bag and the tent beginning to drop onto my face, I began to feel smothered and claustrophobic. As I screamed loud enough to break the sound barrier, all I could think of was getting away from that spider. I knew it was in the tent with me, and the space inside felt as though it was getting smaller and smaller. The harder I fought, the more I panicked. The more I panicked, the less oxygen I breathed in. Within mere seconds, black spots appeared in my vision, and I began feeling light-headed. As my arms and legs started tingling, I heard my boys shouting to me and noticed the tent moving. Just before drifting into the blackness, I felt a warm hand on my frigid arm. Unfortunately, it was too late, and I gave into the darkness and passed out cold.
When I finally came to, I looked up into the faces of my two boys. Both were pale, and the look of fright that I saw would have amused me if they hadn’t been the cause of it all. Because I still felt lightheaded and woozy, I didn’t lay into them, but it only took me a few seconds to realize that nothing I said would make them feel any worse than they already did.
“Uhm, Sis. I’m sorry. That was a stupid thing for us to do. We really had no idea you were that deathly afraid of spiders. You do realize it wasn’t real, right?” The panicked look on Liam’s face was almost funny. “Do you think you can stand up so we can see if your tent is okay?”
I gave a small nod, but before I could even move to get up, Tripp lifted me into his arms. After I smacked him on the back of his head, he carried me over to his chair and sat down, holding me close to his chest. I tucked my face into my favorite spot on his neck, and let him rub my back, calm my fears, and whisper his words of apology. By now, I was feeling a lot better, but no way was I go
ing to spoil the moment by saying anything. Tripp holding me close like this was a rare occasion, and I planned to enjoy every second I could get.
Liam let us know that one of my poles had snapped, and since we still had one more night of camping, he was moving into Tripp’s tent, and I would take his. Tripp and I sat there while Liam moved our stuff and then took my tent down. When he finished, he joined us at the fire and made a pot of coffee. He apologized again, and begged me not to let it ruin our trip. I laughed at him and let him know that there was no way anything could spoil this, but if they ever did anything that stupid again, I would kill them both. My laughter lightened the mood, and the rest of the weekend was one long, music-filled blast. I hoped this became a tradition for us, because we sure had a lot of fun.
Chapter Five
Present
I think I am just going to stay here on the floor and let the rest of the world zoom on past me. Liam, bless his heart, has started rubbing my back again. Before Mother Tidwell’s outburst, it was gentle and soothing, really quite nice. Now, I swear he is trying to strip the skin off my back. I start to say something smart to him, and then I see his eyes. The look that he gives me is so heartbreaking; it literally takes my breath away.
“You know, Sis, I am here for you. Mom and Dad are here for you, and if they had any idea how bad she treats you, they would be so hurt that you haven’t come to them. Geesh, you have friends that would kill for you. Wendy and Jenn would move Heaven and Earth to help you. Just let us in. Let us help. You don’t have to do everything on your own. We all want you to be whole again.”
Searching for Tomorrow (Tomorrows) Page 4