Trouble

by Nadene Seiters

  “Now what?” I almost don’t want to hear the man’s answer.

  “We’re going to detain you until we can determine whether or not the force that you used against your attacker was necessary.” The officer stands, motions for someone to come in, and I’m led from the room. I’m so dumbfounded I don’t say a word as I’m placed into a holding cell. I can only hope that Daisy listened to me, and I’ll be let out on bail soon.

  I don’t have to wait long. I’m sitting on the cold, metal bench with my head in my hands between my knees, when an officer comes walking down the long hall and unlocks the cell.

  “Caleb Jacobs?” The officer calls out in question, and I stand. He takes me up the stark, white hall in handcuffs, and then in the processing room he takes my cuffs off and motions towards the door.

  Daisy is standing on the other side of it with Carl at her side, and Mr. Ishkner behind her. My feet are moving of their own accord, but I like where they’re heading, so I let them. Daisy pushes open the door when I get there and I wrap my arms around her, pulling her in tight. I nod at the two men over her head, then turn to look at the officer in the room.

  “You’re free to go, no trial.” The man tells me, and I feel relief flood me.

  Chapter Twelve

  You would think that by the way I hurry out of the building, I have a warrant I’m afraid they’ll find, but I just want to go home. My mustang is sitting out front of the precinct, my father sitting on the passenger side. Daisy gives me a sheepish smile and tugs on my arm. That’s when I realize I’ve frozen. It’s bad enough they think I’ve killed my best friend. Now my father can go home and tell my mother that I spent a few hours in jail. Great.

  “It’s alright, he just needs a ride back to the apartment so that your mother can take him home.” I look down at Daisy with horror on my face. My mother is at my apartment? “She’s scrubbing the sidewalk,” Daisy whispers, looking down at the sidewalk. I put an arm around her and lead her over to Carl’s bike.

  “Would you look out for Daisy for a few hours?” The sunlight is quickly slipping over the horizon, darkening my mood.

  “I’m not going anywhere but with you!” Daisy tries to take a step back, and I keep a firm arm around her waist.

  “I don’t want you to have to deal with my parents, and I don’t really trust the apartment anymore.” I try to reason with her, but she gives me the most stubborn look I’ve seen on a person’s face. There’s no arguing with Daisy right now. “Fine, but I warned you.” She pulls my keys out of her jacket pocket and my father gets out letting her in the front seat. That’s a plus one for him, for now.

  “Just can’t stay out of trouble,” my Dad says as I get into the car. I bristle and look back at him in the rearview mirror, there’s worry in his eyes, but mirth too. It was a joke.

  “No, Dad just can’t seem to do that.” I tell him honestly, pressing the start button. I watch Mr. Ishkner climb into his own vehicle and I follow him home slowly, my head beginning to pound. It seems like I’ll be dealing with everything in one day.

  Daisy seems to sense my tension and reaches across the console to put her hand on my leg. The warmth of her touch warms me from head to toe, making my shoulders visibly relax. I don’t smile, but I’m not scowling anymore. It doesn’t take more than twenty minutes to get home, my father utterly silent the entire ride. I see his eyes in the rearview mirror darting from my calm expression to Daisy’s hand on my thigh. I’m not sure what I see there, but it’s not disapproval.

  When I pull into the apartment complex, I can see my mother still outside with a scrub brush in one hand and a hose in the other. It’s in the forties in the sunshine; she must be out of her mind! I pull into my space, and she puts her tools downs and pulls off the rubber gloves she’s wearing.

  “I got the worst of it off!” She calls as soon as I get out of the car. She’s hesitantly smiling at me and I narrow my eyes, why so cordial all of the sudden?

  “Thank you,” I tell her, and I mean it. I inspect the stain on the white concrete and cringe; it’s going to take some good etching cleaner to get the rest of it off.

  My shoulder is killing me. I’m pretty sure that I pulled a muscle breaking that guy’s finger and bashing in his face. I’m wound up from my parents being around, and Daisy is skirting around me like I need space from her. That’s quite the opposite; I need to feel that she’s okay.

  I follow her into my apartment and my parents stand unsure on the doorstep. “Come in,” I tell them passingly, distracted by Daisy walking into the kitchen. I can’t really think of it as mine now. Part of it’s hers. I’ll make that point to her after my parents leave.

  “What are you doing?” I finally catch up to her and put my hands on her waist, pulling her back so that I can bury my face in her hair. She stiffens under me, and I growl low in my chest, is she afraid of me?

  “I was going to get your parents some water or something. I didn’t get a chance to really introduce myself at the hospital, and seeing as they’re never around I’d better take the opportunity before things get too serious.” What is that supposed to mean? I nervously wonder if she’s going to judge whether or not we’re going to work based upon how my parents react to her.

  My thumbs idly run up and down her skin, and where they touch I feel goose bumps rise up. Daisy turns around in my arms to look up at me, she has to take a step back to do so, and I feel my insides clench.

  “Don’t look so worried,” Daisy gently raps her finger on my nose and smiles at me. It’s wobbly but brave, I never once asked her since I got out how she was feeling.

  “Are you okay?” I finally ask her, looking her over and running my hands up and down her arms. She raises her trembling chin, and I see tears starting to pool in her brown eyes, her pupils dilated. But she nods her head and sniffs them back, regaining control.

  “We’ll talk about it later,” she whispers, turning around and grabbing glasses from the cupboard by the fridge. “Would you like some water Mr. And Mrs. Jacobs?” Daisy ignores my silent objections. My lip curls up and my nose wrinkles. I probably look like I just got my nose shoved into a pile of shit.

  “Water please, Daisy.” My father calls out. I school my face into indifference and take the glasses from Daisy as soon as she’s done getting the ice and water in. I take them out to my parents myself, trying to keep as little contact between them and her as possible.

  “I really appreciate you guys bringing my car back and picking me up at the precinct.” I’m not a complete block of ice, but if they expect any more conversation from me they’re going to have to stop looking like vultures on my couch.

  “You’re welcome,” my father tells me, taking a sip of his water. There are no more seats other than the couch in my apartment so Daisy grabs two chairs from the kitchen table and sets them down so that they’re facing both the couch and the television. I settle in one furthest from my parents and immediately take her hand in mine to ground myself.

  “Daisy explained that the man who showed up here was looking for her.” My mother starts in, looking at anything but Daisy and me.

  “They’re just a bunch of losers who can’t take a hint, that’s all.” I reassure her, wondering why I’m even bothering. I try to tell myself I’m not supposed to care what she’s feeling, but it seems no matter what my mother does to piss me off I’ll always be trying to make her feel better.

  “We’re worried about you,” my father starts, and then he looks at Daisy. “I’m worried about both of you.” He corrects himself; my fist that had bunched up slowly relaxes. I’m like a ticking time bomb around these two.

  “What your father is trying to say is, we’d like it if you two came to stay with us for a few days until this all blows over. I’m sure the police are now looking for this thug, Big Man.” I quirk an eyebrow and turn my deadly calm gaze on Daisy. She looks at me with doe eyes, the only thing that will soften me.

  “I told them everything,” she whispers, rubbing a thumb over mine. />
  I’m about to tell them I appreciate the offer that I won’t need their help, but Daisy squeezes my fingers to stop me. I keep my eyes on her to read what she’s thinking, and I see the fear in her eyes. She doesn’t want to stay here anymore, and if I force her to then I’ll be just as guilty as the men who forced her to do that and other things. I purse my lips and let out a breath. When it’s all out, finally I inhale deeply and turn my body to face hers, sitting sideways on the chair.

  “Do you want to go and stay with my parents?” I ask her under my breath, and she goes to glance at them. I put a finger under her chin so that she can see me, and only me. No one will be making this decision for her, especially not my parents. They both look eager, and I don’t want that to sway her.

  “I do,” she finally tells me, and I hear collective sighs of relief from both my parents. I feel lost, torn between telling her that we cannot and allowing her to make the decision for both of us. Resigned, I finally stand up to go pack a bag.

  “Where are you going?” My mother asks me hastily as if I’m going running out the door with my tail between my legs.

  “I’m going to pack,” I say without turning around. I hear Daisy follow after me, and when we’re both in the room alone I close the door. She seems to see my intent and stands still like a rabbit seeing a hawk for the first time.

  I put a hand on the back of her neck and run it up until it’s bunched in her hair, pull her head back, and kiss her deeply. Her lips are red and puffy by the time I pull away, her knees wobbling. I can feel her pulse against my wrist and smile down at her, kissing the tip of her nose and then her forehead. I don’t ever want to stop kissing her.

  “You’re sure about this?” I ask her huskily, nuzzling her ear with my nose. She’s breathing heavily with her hands on my chest, biting her bottom lip.

  “I’m sure,” she tells me, forlorn. Does she think I’m going to be angry with her? I know I look like a person trying to keep it together right now, which is what I am, but I would never be angry with Daisy. Not now, not when I know what she honestly looks like on the inside.

  “Then I guess you’ll get to meet my sister,” I tell her with a smile. She smiles back up at me, and I let my hand trail down her back, releasing her.

  “I have to go tell Mrs. Feistergeist that you’re okay,” Daisy tells me as she reaches for the door. She looks flustered, so I gently grasp her wrist and turn her to look at me.

  “We’ll go tell her then after we pack.” I lean in close to her so that my forehead is resting against hers. “I don’t want you out of my sight yet,” I whisper, trying to ignore the pain in my shoulder. It’s starting to get worse, but I don’t want her to worry about it. So I keep the grimace from my face, barely, and toss a bag at her to fill with her clothes. She rummages through the drawer she took over in my dresser and stuffs her close in neatly.

  I take my time packing, making my parents wait. When I’m finished, I can tell I have a hard look on my face because my jaw hurts from clenching it. My parents are being cordial now, but I remember when my father screamed in my face that the accident had been my fault. I remember the way my mother asked if I had been drinking or on drugs. They don’t trust me, and right now, I don’t trust them.

  “Let’s go,” I tell Daisy roughly, I’m doing this for her. I’ll never let on to her just how much I hate this idea. But somewhere deep inside, I know that she’s right. Staying here would be a mistake. I just have a feeling that staying with my parents will be a mistake, too.

  Daisy opens up the door, and she goes to grab her bag. I grab it for her and slip it over my good shoulder, carrying my own duffle bag with my good hand. I don’t put any extra weight on my right shoulder and arm, but I manage to slip it around Daisy in reassurance. She leans into me instinctively.

  “We’re ready,” my mother stands and runs her hand over her shirt to get out the wrinkles. My father grabs their glasses and puts them in the sink. “Hold on,” I stop both of them as they go to open the front door. “This isn’t for long; I just wanted to let you know that.” I tell both of them, convinced that I can come up with a better plan later.

  “For as long as you need,” Mom tells me gently, holding open the door for Daisy and me. I can’t help but feel that someone is watching us, and the hair on the back of my neck goes up. Am I putting my sister in jeopardy by agreeing to this? I can’t help but feel that I am.

  I pull out the keys for my vehicle from my pocket and open Daisy’s door for her. She slides into the front, and I put our bags in the back seat. My parents get into their green sedan and wait for me at the end of the complex. I turn to Daisy one last time, “are you sure about this?” I ask her.

  “I am,” she tells me, putting a hand on my thigh. “They’re nice people, Caleb. They’re your parents.” I raise an eyebrow and feel my lips turn up in a rugged grin.

  “Let’s see if you say that after twenty four hours at their house.”

  ***

  The drive to my parent’s house is about an hour. Daisy keeps the music relatively loud so I assume that she does not want to talk about what happened earlier. I admit, I’m a little miffed by that. Women like to talk about things like this, and she’s as tight as a clam shell right now. It’s never good when a woman doesn’t want to talk about something.

  We pull up into my parent’s driveway. For a second, I wonder if Daisy will judge me by how they live, but she seems indifferent to the small, brick house we’re about to enter. It looks relatively small on the outside, but there’re few rooms, so they’re rather spacious. The kitchen flows right into the living room slash rec room, which has a half bath. Then there’s a dining room my parents never use on the right hand side of the entrance to the home. And directly in front of us are the stairs to the second level.

  The second level is where the bedrooms all reside. Two bedrooms down to the right with one bathroom between them, and to the left is the master bedroom with its own master bath and walk in closet. I take Daisy down the carpeted hall to my old room and push open the door. It’s just how I left it years ago.

  Motorcycle posters on the wall, dirt bike paraphernalia, and if my mother didn’t clean out under the mattress, porn magazines. I’ll have to distract Daisy and see if I can’t find those and throw them out. But it does look like my mother cleaned periodically to keep the dust level low. I put Daisy’s bag down by my old dresser and put mine next to it.

  “Maybe your parents will want me to stay on the couch,” she tells me quietly, going for her bag. I snatch it out of her reach and put it behind me, crossing my arms over my chest.

  “No way in hell. You’re staying up here with me.” If it were the apartment, who am I kidding, even if it were the apartment I would insist.

  I’m not letting her out of my sight for the rest of her life. Maybe she’ll think I’m going overboard and try to avoid me, but right now my testosterone is on overdrive. It’s pumping through me like an instinctual serum, making me irrationally brave to tell this woman what to do. Part of me knows it, but the larger, more feral part of me has taken over.

  “Caleb,” she starts with my name in that tone, you know, the one where a man ought to flinch, but he doesn’t until it’s too late? Yeah, that one.

  “Daisy,” I tell her in an equally determined voice, my fingers digging into my arms. I straighten up to my full height and stare down at her, but it’s not as intimidating at it used to be. She just stares at me.

  “I’m going to tell Carl that we’re not going to make it into work for a week.” She informs me, swiping my cellphone from my pocket before I can tell her not to. She flips through my contacts and quirks an eyebrow at all the women in there; I really should get rid of those. Then she pauses on Delilah’s face, and name and her eyebrows draw together as she studies that picture. I know the instant she recognizes the woman from the tattoo shop and feel my stomach drop out from under me. Daisy never struck me as the jealous type, but I’m about to find out.

  Chapter Thirt
een

  “Caleb!” I’ve been saved by my sister, although I’m not sure about that just yet.

  “Jessie,” she slides past Daisy by the door and flings her arms around me, pressing her cheek to my tense muscles and frowning when she realizes she walked in on something. “This is Daisy, my-” I stop, my what? My girlfriend, the girl I’m sleeping with, love?

  “His girlfriend, he’s just too chicken shit to admit it,” Daisy holds out her hand to my sister as if she’s meeting one of my friends or colleagues and not a thirteen year old that’s a month away from being fourteen.

  “Jessie, Caleb’s sister. I’d like to say I’ve heard a lot about you, but I didn’t even know Caleb had a girlfriend!” Jessie turns a pouty look on me, and Daisy smirks behind her back at me. Maybe the Delilah incident is over.

  “I can say the same.” The Delilah incident has just been trumped. My sister quirks an eyebrow at me and crosses her arms over her chest, almost a mirror of Daisy. I swallow once, audibly, and try to find something to say.

  “It just never came up,” I say lamely. My palms become sweaty, and I take the hunched posture of a man being beaten verbally by women. I put my hands in my pockets and look at the floor, wondering when the silent death rays will stop beating at my flesh.

  “Well, it was nice meeting you, Daisy.” Jessie takes her leave then, leaving me in a heap of trouble.

  “I’m not going to even ask why you never mentioned a sister until we were coming here.” Daisy throws that out at me and grabs some clothes from her bag. I catch her around the waist and pull her up to me, putting my nose in her hair.

  “I didn’t mention her because it really didn’t ever come up. Besides, I really didn’t think I’d be speaking to my parents as much as I am right now,” I shrug a shoulder, and she softens in my grip. It’s the truth, and I know she can see that on my face.