"Are you going to tell me why you think I would have left tonight?"
"It's your birthday. You always said that's when you were going to go. Why wouldn't I think with him showing up it wasn't to collect you?"
"I wouldn't have, you know. I was planning on graduating first. I would never have left you and Shelby without a proper goodbye."
"I can't see anything being proper about having to say goodbye to you."
"Well now you won’t have to for a while."
"A while?"
"I still have some things I need to deal with and me staying with you could bring it all crashing down around you. You have to trust me, Canyon, I love you too much for you to get hurt any more than what I've already caused."
"Why do you treat me like I'm weak? Nothing can be worse than watching my mother die by my father's hand, Ari. Whatever you think I can't handle I assure you I can."
"I never meant to make you feel weak. If anything your strength is what propelled mine. This isn't about what you can handle and as far as testing those boundaries, that's something I never want to happen. Can't you see that with loving you comes the need to not bring harm your way?"
"You don't think that same feeling could belong to me? That I don't own it too? I want to protect you from anything and everything, so when I say you treat me as weak I mean it. Why can't you open up to me and let me be the one who keeps you safe?"
I had never had anyone in my life tell me that and I wanted more than anything to have someone be by my side instead of feeling all alone. I wasn't a fool though. It would do nothing but bring the danger to him and I refused to be a part in that.
We were pulling into the driveway and I knew that once we were inside I could reason more with him and get him to understand.
"Can we just talk about this once we get in the house and put Shelby to bed?"
"Yeah, I'm not ready to... What the fuck is he doing here?"
I looked up and with the headlights shining right on him there was no question of who was staring back at us
Chapter 25
I jumped out of his truck as fast as I could and ran straight to Kale.
"What are you doing here?"
"Are you kidding me? You think you can leave me an explanation like that on a fucking text and I would be okay with it?"
"How did you find out where I would be?"
"You drove straight here the other night. Did you think I wouldn't want to know who you were running to instead of staying with me?"
"That's not..."
"You need to leave now!"
Canyon was standing behind me and the authority in his tone had even me flinching. I turned around to look at him with an expression that begged him to give me the space I needed to handle this but he didn't waiver for a second.
"Did you not hear me clearly?"
"You can go fuck yourself. Arianna owes me an explanation and I'm not going anywhere until I get it."
Canyon went to lunge for Kale but I grabbed him and tried my best to hold him back.
"What else do you want from me? I told you I wasn't going with you, what more do you want?"
"Let me guess, you told him everything didn't you? You opened your damn mouth..."
Canyon was getting harder to hold back. I knew he could easily break free if he wanted to, making me grateful that he had enough respect to let me handle this the best I could.
"I haven't told him ANYTHING! He has nothing to do with this!"
"He has everything to do with this. You want to stay here in the middle of fucking nowhere go right ahead. You have no idea how much you just screwed up!"
Kale started walking away at the same time Canyon grabbed my hand. I pulled out of his grasp and ran after Kale screaming.
"I didn't do anything, Kale! You did and you let me take the fall for you. Don't come here and threaten me just because things aren't going the way you want. Do you think me losing everything was easy? You haven't lost shit!"
He turned around and when he did he walked straight at me until I could feel his breath hit my face. "You think I didn't lose anything? I lost you!"
"You lost me the second you chose to cut me off and let me take the fall."
"You didn't take any fall. They made you disappear, big deal! You brought the drugs that night don't forget. You could have gone down with me!"
I started hitting him. Like full-fledged slapping him in the face, beating my hands on his chest kind of hitting him. He tried grabbing my hands but I wasn't giving up. The rage I felt allowed me to finally get it all out. All the pain and hurt I felt from him abandoning me when I needed him the most.
"I HATE YOU! DO YOU HEAR ME? I HATE YOU! JUST LEAVE! LEAVE!" Canyon pried me off of him but it didn't stop me from kicking and screaming. ''I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN! I HATE YOU..."
"Oh you don't have to worry about that, bitch. I have no desire to have your skanky ass any..."Canyon set me down and before Kale could finish, Canyon's fist met with his face. Kale dropped to his knees yelling, "You son-of-a-bitch! I will fucking sue you!"
I walked over to Kale and crouched down to his level so Canyon couldn't hear.
"I don't even recognize you anymore. You're nothing like the guy I fell in love with and if you think for a second you are coming after him I will gladly take the charges, but I'm taking you down with me."
I got up and walked back over to Canyon completely ignoring the fact Kale was still there and looked down at his swollen hand.
"Are you okay?"
"No. I want that piece of shit off my property and as far away from you as possible."
"He's leaving and I don't think he will ever be back."
I heard a car door close behind me and turned to look when the headlights came on. As Kale pulled away, my anger faded and sadness took over. It wasn't a lie, what I had said to him. He really was nothing like who I gave all my firsts to and that hurt more than I can explain. What he was now was a mini version of his father, the very thing he hated all those years and it broke my heart.
Canyon wrapped me in his arms then whispered in my ear, "Are you all right?"
"No."
"I kind of expected that. Come here, darlin’."
There is nothing good about crying on one man's shoulder for the loss of another but I was just so tired of it all and the tears I attempted to hold back came anyway.
"I'm sorry, Ari. I know none of that was easy for you."
"How can you be so understanding about something like this?"
"Because as much as I hate that dude I'd be the same way if I lost you."
The idea of us going through this crushed me. I couldn't imagine him saying horrible things and hating me the way Kale did.
"I have so much to explain to you about what he said. I made a lot of mistakes, Canyon, but I didn't deserve this. He did—"
"Why don't you go in and pour yourself a hot bath and soak while I get Shelby up to bed?”
"Oh my God! Shelby! I forgot all about her! Did she wake up? If she saw..."
"She's still sound asleep. I can see her from here."
I had almost suffered a heart attack. The last thing I ever wanted Shelby to hear was my involvement with drugs and what was caused because of it.
"Are you sure? I can get her."
"I'm going to tell you one last time, go get in the tub. I'll be there in just a minute. You do have a lot of explaining to do and just so you know, I'm done with the secrets. They're coming out tonight whether you're comfortable with that or not. I love you, girl, whatever happened won't change that."
He patted my butt, grabbed my cheeks and kissed me before he walked away to collect Shelby. I hated the idea of him judging me but the truth is, Kale never would allow himself to believe me which meant he already thought Canyon knew. So what difference would it make anymore is all I thought about as I walked into the house and up the stairs to the bathroom.
I must have soaked in that tub for a good thirty minutes before Canyon knocked, asking th
rough the door if I was doing all right. In truth, I was stalling. I hated the idea of admitting everything that I've done and what it caused, but it was time for him to know the truth and then I would just have to live with the consequences if he chose to walk away from me. At least my bags were already packed.
"Yeah, I'm okay. I'm getting out now."
I reached for the towel that hung from the wall next to me and wrapped myself in it. It was now or never.
When I opened the door I found Canyon standing across the hall, holding out a pair of my pajamas.
"I thought you might need these."
"Thank you. Would you mind making me some hot chocolate? It's going to be a long night and I need something to calm my nerves."
"Sure, go get dressed and I'll just meet you downstairs."
Ten minutes later I was sitting on the couch, facing Canyon, about to spill my guts, literally. The need to vomit was not far off. Canyon held my hand as I started to explain the worst night of my life in detail.
"You have to understand that the girl I am now is nothing like who I was. You wouldn't have liked me much back then."
As I went into explaining it my mind flashed back to that night.
It was a typical Friday night. The same group of people from school partied together every weekend without fail. It wasn't a question of who would be there but more where would we be. The party moved to a different location nightly and on this particular one Kale decided to have it at his dad's mansion. We all knew he was crazy for trying to pull a party off there but Kale's dad had pissed him off and he was going to do anything he could to give the same feeling back tenfold.
My dress for the night was more wrinkled than the kind you can get away with so I was running late after I had to steam it. My two best friends, Margie and Emma, were texting me non-stop about how kick ass the party was and wondering why I wasn't there yet.
I had just walked out the door and got in my car when my phone chimed again. I assumed it was either of them, but I was wrong. This time it was from Kale. He and I had talked after school and he knew I would be late so I wasn't sure what he needed until I read the text.
Hey, doll, do me a favor and swing by Derrick's house for me and pick up the package. I've already worked out the payment but I need you to go to grab it. Go to the back door and knock three times. Don't ask questions. Just bring it straight here and DON'T GET PULLED OVER.
I love you and will see you soon.
Here's the address in case you don't remember
11454 Highlington Parkway South.
I hated that he put me in that position and instantly thought about skipping it and just going straight to the party, pretending like I never got the text. But as I drove closer to the Senator's I told myself it wouldn't be a big deal; it was just cocaine. Kale had been picking it up from this guy Derrick and another guy named Brian for over two years. His dad had several cops underneath him that stole the drugs from the evidence locker and resold them on the streets. Kale was always the supplier when it came to the parties and people had come to expect it. Derrick was just one of the two Kale had worked out a deal with so I told myself it wouldn't be a big deal.
I pulled into Derrick's driveway, walked around to the back of the house and knocked three times like I was instructed. The man that answered was nothing like what I expected him to look like. I had always stayed in the car when Kale made a run so to say I was surprised would be an understatement. As a police officer you would think he would have been younger and fit but this man was about eighty pounds overweight with very little hair to speak of. He had jeans on that barely fit under his gut and a black t-shirt that didn't make it down to meet his pants.
He didn't say anything to me but instead pointed a gun in my face.
"What do you want?"
I almost pissed my pants standing there. I had never had a gun pointed at me before and all I thought about was running but I feared he would just shoot me in the back.
"I was asked to pick up a package for Kale Thompson."
He grabbed a bag from the counter beside him and shoved it at me, never taking the aim of the gun away from my face.
"If you even think about taking that for yourself I will hunt you down and kill you. Don't fuck with me."
I grabbed a hold of the bag and took it from him without breaking eye contact. "I won't."
He pulled the gun back and then slammed the door in my face.
I hurried back to my car and threw the bag under my seat, crying like a baby, but also ready to kill Kale for putting me in that situation to begin with. By the time I got to the Senator's my foot had stopped shaking over the gas pedal. I had made it somehow. I grabbed the bag and walked straight into the house finding Kale waiting for me on the other side of the door.
"Hey, doll, thanks for grabbing this for me. He didn't give you any problems, did he?"
He leaned down and gave me a kiss but I pushed him away, still angry.
"No, not unless you call shoving a gun in my face a problem, Kale! Why would you ask me to do that?"
He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and led me into the open room filled with all our friends while he said in my ear, "Don't let that freak you out. He just wanted to make sure you were good and not someone trying to get a free score."
"Well, I'm never doing it again. Do you understand?"
"Sure, whatever you say. Now come have some fun. The party is just getting started."
He walked with me into the kitchen and was grabbing me a beer when I saw Emma for the first time that night.
"What's up, girl? What took you so long?"
I looked over to Kale only to catch an expression that clearly said, don't dare say a word.
"My dress needed to be steamed."
"Don't you just hate when that happens? Oh my gosh, did you see Carly's new Prada bag? It's to die for."
"No! Did her mom hook her up again?"
"Come on, you have to see it. It's in next season’s collection!"
She pulled me away but it didn’t require much work on her part. Back then all I cared about was the newest fashion trend.
I didn't see Kale over the next two hours while I played a few drinking games and talked to all my friends which started to piss me off. Sure, we were never attached at each other’s hips, but we always spent some time together and he had completely ignored me since I walked into the house.
Looking around I noticed a few people were acting as if they were about to pass out instead of bouncing off the walls like they normally did after getting high. Nothing about their behavior seemed normal. Not when these few seemed to be the first to go after the cocaine every time it was offered.
I didn't bring attention to what I questioned but instead went looking for Kale. I walked from room to room socializing, trying to not call attention to that fact that I was boiling mad.
I looked everywhere and when I continued to come up empty I started going through the upstairs bedrooms.
Fear took over as I let my imagination run wild. With every door I came to I began to picture finding Kale cheating on me with another girl. When I got to his dad's room and opened the door what was in front of me surpassed my worst nightmare.
Kale was standing over a girl named Dorian Baker. She was a sophomore and played on the soccer team at our school only now she was lying on the bed twitching with a belt around her arm and a syringe still lodged in it.
"What the hell, Kale?"
"She just started acting funny. I don't know what's going on, Arianna, and I am freaking out."
His words came slow and almost slurred, which only meant one thing, he was just as high on whatever everyone was taking.
All of a sudden. Dorian started making this gurgling sound. It was something I've never heard before and never want to hear it again. The look Kale gave me was filled with pure panic before he said, "Call my dad."
"What the hell is going on?"
I walked over to her and grabbed her hand but immediately le
t it drop back down on the bed and started screaming at him.
"Kale, she's cold! What did you give her?"
When he didn't answer me I asked again. After he chose to stay quiet a second time I slapped him straight across the face.
"WHAT DID YOU GIVE HER, KALE!"
"JUST CALL MY DAD!"
I grabbed my phone out of my clutch and with my fingers hovering over the key pad I asked, "What's his number?"
"555-453-2766!"
I dialed as he rambled the numbers off and as it started to ring I looked down at Dorian again. Her eyes were open but her lips were turning blue.
"Help her! Get that needle out of her arm, Kale! What is wrong with you?"
The phone went to voice-mail.
"Should I leave a message? Kale, should I leave a message? Answer me! What should I do?"
I hung up and was already dialing 9-1-1 when it started to ring with Kale's dad's number.
"Hello? Arianna, what's going on?"
"Mr. Thompson, Dorian... Kale... she's not right, she's turning blue..."
"Where are you?"
"At your house. I'm calling 9-1-1. I'm scared!"
"I will call 9-1-1, honey, don't you worry about it. Where is Kale?"
"He's sitting on the bed with Dorian. He's not acting right either, sir. We need help!"
"I'm on my way. Don't worry. Just close the door to the room and wait for me."
"But shouldn't we..."
"No! I will take care of this. Just stay put."
He hung up on me.
I made sure the door was locked and then looked at Kale again. He was practically asleep.
My body sank to the floor but then I started to think. Whatever Kale had given Dorian, she was clearly overdosing. I looked at my phone again deciding to search Google for how to treat an overdose. The results varied on what the victim has taken and in this case I had no idea.
I looked up everything a person could shoot up but all of the symptoms were similar. I finally found something that said if the skin turned blueish purple and they make choking sounds it could be heroin. Heroin!
Let It Be Me Page 22