Collateral Damage (From the Damage)

by Jasmine Denton

  Kay just stared in response, as a sickening thought occurred to her.

  An older man, again with blond hair and a light smile, walked up behind the boy, laughing. “I think he means Mormons.”

  Again, she could only stare at them. Was this man the same one she’d heard over the phone? Who was the boy? Forcing a light laugh, she tried to seem normal and not eaten up with confusion. “No,” she said to him. “I’m just looking for someone.” She turned her attention to the man. “Does… does Melanie live here?”

  “She does,” the man said. “But she just headed down to the shop. Are you looking for one of her pieces?”

  She shook her head. “No…” Looking down toward the little boy, she added, “Maybe we should talk in private.”

  The man narrowed his eyes at her, concerned, then he said to the boy, “Josh, how about you set up that Go Fish game? I’ll be right in.”

  The boy scampered off, and the man stepped out, leaving the door open behind him. From the porch, she could see a clean and tidy living room, with a lot of framed pictures.

  “Are…are you her boyfriend?”

  He chuckled. “No. I’m her husband.”

  Kay staggered back a step, a tightening feeling in her chest. How could that be possible? Her parents were married. Sure, they lived apart and were barely on speaking terms, but their marriage license was still intact. “I’m sorry…you’re…married to her?”

  “Yes,” he answered. “Going on five years now.”

  A laugh of disbelief and shock escaped her lips, and she raked a hand through her hair as her mind began to process a thousand different treacheries. “And…and the boy…he’s both of yours? I mean…he’s hers?”

  “Yes,” he said slowly. “What’s this about?”

  “Yeah, I’d really like to know,” Kay muttered. Looking back up at the man, she said, “I’m her daughter.”

  Realization dawned on his face as he whispered, “You’re Kaytlin.”

  So he knew about her? she thought. Her mom…talked about her, while she was here living this entirely separate life with an entirely separate family? The betrayal stung, like a bullet in her heart, searing any love for her mother that might’ve remained.

  “Do…do you want to come in?” He awkwardly motioned to the house, looking nervous and unsure of what to do in this situation. “I can call your mom and…”

  But Kay only shook her head in response, covering her mouth to hold back a sob of disappointment and abandonment.

  The man looked down at her, an expression of pity in his eyes. “First of all…I just want to apologize. I know the divorce couldn’t have been easy on you—”

  “Divorce?” Kay repeated, laughing. And the lies keep piling up, she thought bitterly. Suddenly, her anger exploded. “You know what? You’re right. The past few years haven’t been easy…in fact, they’ve been hell. So next time you talk to Melanie, tell her I’m in town. And I know everything.”

  Turning, she hurried down the sidewalk and to her car, where Alex was watching with concern.

  “What happened?” he asked.

  Her hands shook as she slammed the car door shut. “Just drive.”

  ***

  The door to the hotel room slammed open and Kay barged inside, ringing her hands. Alex followed behind her, worried but patient.

  Inside the room, Kay’s composure began to unravel. She paced back and forth across the room, trying to sort out a million thoughts.

  “What happened?” Alex asked as he shut the door. “You haven’t said a word since we left that house.”

  But she didn’t answer him. All she could think about was her mother, the way she’d turned on her, abandoned her. Not for another man, but for another kid. Another family.

  Tears of anger and betrayal stung her eyes but she refused to let them fall, refused to be weak. Her chest burned every time she tried to breathe. It felt like the air was going into her mouth, but not her lungs, and her heart physically hurt. She grabbed her chest, trying to control it. “I can’t breathe, Alex,” she whispered. “I swear, it feels like I can’t breathe.”

  He took her hand, led her to the edge of the bed, where she sat down. “Just try to calm down.”

  “Calm down?” she exclaimed. “Calm down? I have the worst mother in the world and you want me to calm down?”

  He looked stumped, completely confused. And of course he was, she thought, because she hadn’t been able to voice what’d happened.

  “She isn’t having an affair,” Kay whispered. “She’s married to him. They have a son together.”

  His eyes narrowed, as bewilderment, then pity, swam into his expression. “What?”

  “Yeah,” she said, her voice trembling. Finally, an angry tear fell. She stood up, walked toward the wall. “She’s married to both of them.”

  With her hardened gaze fixed on the wall, Kay began to hit it. Swinging punch after punch, alternating between front punches and hooks. Lost in the violent motions, she didn’t even realize she was crying. Just like her father, the wall didn’t budge and she only ended up hurting herself.

  “Kay,” Alex said softly, trying to get her attention. But his voice sounded so far away, like it was echoing from another planet.

  Making a mangled sound of sobs and grunts, she fought out her frustration. Beating away at the wall, when she wanted to kick both of her parent’s faces in.

  “I hate her!” She slammed her foot into the wall and cracked the plaster a little. “This is where she’s always running off to.” Heartbroken tears escaped, streaking her cheeks. She began to punch harder. “To her other family. Her real family.”

  He reached out to touch her, but she moved to get another swing in at the wall.

  “All this time, I’ve been keeping this secret. Trying to keep our family together…” Her rage boiling over, she punched as hard and fast as she could, ruthlessly, until her knuckles were a bruising, bloody mess. “But she walked out on us a long time ago.”

  Thoughts racing, blood pumping, her anger skyrocketed and she couldn’t hit the wall hard enough to soothe her pain. “Every time he hit me…was because he hated her.”

  At that, Alex grabbed her shoulders and spun her to face him. She struggled at first, on reflex, and then out of anger. Though the feeling wasn’t directed at him, she unleashed it on him anyway. She beat at his chest with her fists and struggled against his hold. Patient, kind, he wrapped his arms around her and clutched her tight, letting her fight out the pain. Tears poured down her cheeks and sobs mangled through her throat.

  As the wave of emotion passed, she settled down, collapsing into his embrace and allowing herself to cry on his shoulder. Holding him tight, she let the tears flow freely. “She abandoned me…left me to deal with Dad alone,” she sobbed, barely coherent. “She doesn’t even know how much he hurts me…she doesn’t even care enough to find out!”

  “I’m so sorry,” he whispered, pressing his lips against the top of her head. “You deserve better than this.”

  ***

  Gage

  ***

  Gage had been enjoying the Saturday off work and spending time with Lizzie. They’d gone to the park, where she had cooed during a ride in the baby-swing, and pointed at every tree she saw.

  Now, he was feeding her and getting ready to put her down for a nap. His imitation of an airplane with a spoon was in mid stride when someone knocked on the door. “Who’s that?” he asked the little girl as he finished giving her that bite. “Probably Aunt Sarah, coming to tell me I need to lighten up. Huh?”

  He stood up and crossed the room, looking at Lizzie. “Have you noticed that’s all she ever says to me anymore?”

  She laughed and slapped her hands down on the table in response.

  “That’s what I told her,” he said. Then he pulled open the door, and had to let go of the handle to keep from slamming it back shut again.

  Kendall stood outside, a six-pack in one hand, a cell phone in the other. She was looking down at
the phone, sending a text when he pulled open the door. Seeing him, she smiled in that sassy way of hers and leaned a hip against the doorframe.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked, stepping back to keep her from brushing up against him.

  “Dropping in to say hi.” She looked up at him with an exaggerated pout as she pretended to be wounded. “I couldn’t help but notice you never welcomed me back to town.”

  “Welcome back,” he said. “But now’s not the best time…”

  She laughed and pushed past him, walking into the apartment. “When is it a good time with you, Gage?”

  He sighed and shut the door. “By all means, come on in.”

  Momentarily distracted by Lizzie, Kendall gazed at her in admiration for about a split second. “Wow. She’s gotten so big.” She set the beer down on the coffee table, then turned to Gage. “So, I’ve got two things for you. The beer’s one. Want the other?”

  “Not really,” he said, but only managed to get half of it out before she walked up to him and slapped him across the face. He brought a hand to his cheek in surprise. “Are you crazy? What was that for?”

  The friendliness was gone from her face, replaced with passionate indignation. “Really? I have to hear from a total stranger at a random party that my friend is dead? You couldn’t have just picked up the phone? Or hell, left me a voicemail?”

  He stepped back a little, keeping his eyes locked with hers in a hateful look he hoped would make everything clear. “Given everything that happened, you weren’t on my mind very much.”

  “Real nice,” she said, backtracking to the coffee table to grab a beer. “But then, you were always such a charmer.”

  Reaching out, he grabbed her hand as she raised it to crack open the bottle. “Hey, you’re not going to drink in my house.” He yanked the bottle from her hands and put it back in the carton. “Especially not with my daughter three feet away.”

  She crossed her arms and cocked her hip to one side. “That didn’t seem to bother you the night before I left town.”

  “Is that why you stopped by? For a trip down memory lane?” He grabbed the beer and shoved it into her arms. “Well, the road’s closed. So why don’t you just get the hell out of here?”

  Something cold flashed in Kendall’s eyes. “You know, I bet Kelly would find it really interesting that you pretended not to know me in front of her. It was a jackass move, but hey, I’m used to that out of you. Is she?”

  “What does Kelly have to do with anything?”

  “Nothing, according to you. But man, she’s under your spell. Bad.” Laughing, Kendall reached into her purse and pulled out a book. Looking closer, he realized it was the same kind as Daphne had handed out at the first support group meeting. But it looked too worn and used to belong to Kendall. She flipped open to a page. “You should see the stuff she wrote in this little journal. ‘Gage is always so understanding. He helped me come clean with my mom, and now somehow I hate myself a little less. He’s so strong and independent; I wish I could be just like him. I wish he would just let me in.’ The girl’s got a major case of hero worship.”

  Gage tried to stand there, unfazed and indifferent to what she was saying, but part of him wondered if it was true. He doubted it, since Kendall rarely told the truth unless there was something in it for her. Even if that really was Kelly’s journal…it didn’t matter what it said. At least, that’s what he kept telling himself.

  “And that kiss? Let’s see, where did I see that…” She continued searching through the pages until she found one she recognized. As she read, her mouth dropped open in an exaggerated gasp and her eyes widened. But she snapped the book shut without reading it out loud. “Let’s just say she saw fireworks. At least, until you shut her out in the ice. Now, I wonder how she’d feel if she found out about you and me. Especially since she’s trying so hard to be cool about you rejecting her. Think she’d be able to keep up the mask?” She pulled out her cell phone. “Let’s find out.”

  “Why are you trying to hurt her?” Gage asked, tempted to swipe the phone from her hand.

  “Why do you care if she gets hurt?”

  “This isn’t a game, Kendall. It’s not fun to hurt people for your own selfish reasons,” he stumbled on the words, so angry at himself for the way he’d hurt people, whether it was out of spite or just to push them away. “And you can’t undo it. So, you want to tell Kelly? That’s fine. But do it because it’s the right thing to do, not just so you can watch her cry.”

  He walked over to the door and held it open for her. “Now, get out.”

  As she walked out the door, she just grinned at him, like he was an idiot and everything was a game.

  “And one more thing,” he said, holding out his hand. “That journal.”

  With a playful smirk, she fished it out of her purse and handed it over. “Happy reading.”

  With that, she walked away and he shut the door behind her.

  ***

  Alex

  ***

  After she cried for about an hour, Alex finally convinced Kay to take a warm bath. He ran the water for her, throwing in some shampoo the hotel provided to make bubbles.

  Then, after giving her another comforting hug, he left her to do the rest of the relaxing on her own. Once the bathroom door shut, he sat down on the bed and rested his head in his hands.

  In hindsight, dragging her to Charlotte was a dumb, half-baked idea. Some things were better left hidden.

  He flopped back across the bed, staring up at the ceiling. Wishing he knew how to help Kay, wishing he could fix this for her. But knowing he couldn’t.

  Someone knocked on the door, and thinking it was maid service or something, he called out, “We’re good, thanks!”

  But the person only knocked again, louder this time. Aggravated, he stood up and pulled open the door. Surprised to find an older woman who looked a lot like Kay.

  She looked just as surprised to see him. “Um…I’m sorry…the clerk said—”

  “Let me guess,” he said impatiently, eyeing her up and down. “You’re Kay’s mom.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “And you are…?”

  “Alex,” he said, reaching out his left hand. “Her boyfriend.”

  She shook his hand, looking past him. Seeming a little relieved to see two beds in the room. “How is she?”

  He laughed bitterly and walked away from the door, leaving it open for her to come in. “She’s a mess. She cried for a few hours. Now she’s trying to relax with a bath, but I don’t think it’ll help much, do you?”

  She walked into the room, a flash of indignation in her eyes. “I don’t know what you think you know—”

  “I’ll tell you what I know.” He turned to her. “Kay needs you. And you’re not there.”

  She crossed her arms with a look of guilt this time. “Can you tell her I’m here, please?”

  He walked over to the bathroom door. “Sure thing Mrs. Landers. Or is it Mrs. Monroe?” without waiting for a reply, he tapped twice on the bathroom door.

  “Yeah?” Kay called from inside.

  “Your mom’s here,” he said. “What do you want me to do?”

  It took her a minute, but she finally said, “I’ll be right out.”

  Alex turned away from the door. “I’ll give you two some privacy.”

  Without another word, he walked past Melanie and out the front door, shutting it behind him.

  Chapter 9

  Kay

  When Kay stepped out of the bathroom, she was wrapped in the thick cotton robe the hotel provided. She held it tightly around her as she looked at her mother.

  “I met your boyfriend,” Melanie said after a long, awkward silence. “He seems…opinionated.”

  But Kay just stared at her mom with an icy gaze.

  “But cute,” Melanie added. Looking around the hotel room, she seemed uncomfortable. “I hope you’re being careful.”

  Kay sighed and rolled her eyes at her mom’s pathetic attempt at
concern, not knowing where to begin to respond. Wanting to slap her, or hug her and tell her everything. But she just said, “How’d you find me?”

  “I drove around until I found your car,” she said.

  “You tried that hard?” Kay scoffed, going to the cooler to get a bottle of water. “I’m shocked.”

  “Kaytlin…”

  “It’s Kay,” she snapped. “I go by Kay. But you don’t really know anything about me, do you? Just like I don’t know anything about the real you.”

  Melanie sighed and awkwardly sat down on the bed. “I’m sorry you had to find out this way.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Because of that look on your face,” she said. “That disdain. I knew you wouldn’t understand.”

  “You’re right. I don’t understand. Because instead of divorcing Dad, like a normal person would, you go and marry someone else, trapping us all in some sort of limbo!”

  Melanie pinched the crook of her nose like she had a headache coming on. “You have every right to be angry.”

  “Yes. I do. You should have let me know that you left us.”

  “I didn’t leave you…”

  “Yes, you did, Mom. You did.” Feeling tears come on, Kay tried to push them back. “You have no idea what he’s like.”

  “Who? Your father?”

  “Yes,” she exclaimed. “He drinks all the time. He tries to control everything I do.”

  “He’s your father, that’s his job.” Melanie stood, shaking her head. “And I know he’s always liked his alcohol, but…just go to your room when he’s drinking or something. It can’t be that bad.”

  “You think?” she snapped. “Is that how you sleep at night?”

  Kay turned away from her mother, knowing all she needed to do was pull down the robe and show her the bruises. But why should she share something so personal, when her mom had done nothing but lie and manipulate? What proof did she have that her mother would even care?

  “What do you want from me?” Melanie asked, sounding weary and ashamed.