by David Banner
I blinked hard at her, a million thoughts running through my mind all at once. If this was the right way, if running off was the only way to help my brother, then why did it feel so wrong?
Still, the woman made good points, points I couldn't argue against. There was something to be said for that. But Mexico City, really? What would I tell Micah when he found out. How could I let all this time go by with no one visiting him. What if he became angry at the feeling of being abandoned, what if he lost his way and came out being someone other than the little brother I remember?
I stared at Rachel for a long time, letting the warm gulf air settle on my skin. I could feel the tears start to slide down my face and my heart begin to race. She was right, yes. I needed to be able to get somewhere where I wasn't on the run all the time. Somewhere that I could just take a moment and try to figure out what was going on.
"Fine," I finally muttered, my voice shaking. "We'll do it your way. We'll head to Mexico City, but if I see this isn't in Micah's best interest—”
"Then you'll run headlong into danger with no plan and no thought of your own wellbeing or the wellbeing of those around you," Hope said, finishing my sentence for me. Looking over at Rachel, she muttered, "Typical man." She bit her lower lip and looked back at me. "You'd better buy some sunblock for that pasty ass, Waters. We're going south of the border."
"What about you?" Hope turned to Anna. "Are you coming with us?"
"Fort Myers looks pretty good to me,” Anna said in a voice that sounded both tired and a little frightened. "I thank you guys for helping me. I really do, but I'm no good to anyone, I never have been."
"Are you sure?" Rachel chimed in.
"Yeah," Anna said. "You guys have a lot going on. You don't need my trouble mixing in with it too."
Anna stood and walked toward me, looking for a moment like she might want to hit me, but kneeling down beside me she lifted my hand into her own, squeezed it tight and gave me a small kiss on the cheek. "Thank you, Brandon Waters,” she said.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
"E IGHT BALL IN THE CORNER POCKET!" Rachel smiled.
She was wearing a short blue dress that was about two sizes smaller than anything I'd ever seen her in. But if this was going to work then she needed to look the part, and I'd be damned if with her hair poofed out like that and those high heels, she didn't.
"Aww!" She giggled as the pool ball hit the floor. "So close."
"My game!" I said. "Pay up, 'lil lady."
Rachel smiled and laughed as she handed me the money. By that point we had begun to draw a small crowd, some looking just for the fun of it, but others seemed to be looking a little harder. But Mexico City was no easy drive from Fort Myers. It was far, so we were going to need money and a new car, and in our current predicament I didn't see any other way that wouldn't involve something a bit too high profile.
"Here ya go!" Rachel said. "Slapping the money in my hand."
Sure, the laughs and smiles were all an act, put on to fool the tourists, but it was still nice to see her look like that. It was nice to hear her laugh out loud, even if it was more than a little forced and not quite real. But in that moment I would take what I could get.
It had been so long now. So long on the run, so long in hiding and so long worrying about anything and everything there was to worry about. And while I knew that this wasn't what I wanted, I knew it was what needed to be. He might hate me for it, but I just couldn't help but feel that Hope and Rachel were right. That I could do more for Micah if I was away from all of this.
"Who else?" Rachel yelled. "Who else is gonna take on the queen. I never lose!" She took a swig of what looked like alcohol.
"Not me." I smiled. "I think I'm good."
"I'll take on the queen!" said an older gentleman.
He was short and a little overweight. But with his bright yellow shorts and flip-flops he kind of had that whole Jimmy Buffet vibe that I always loved. But more important than that, he looked to have a little money and was already pretty soused.
"Bring it on, baby!" Rachel said, running her finger across his lips.
My job, for the moment at least, was done. By that point Rachel and I must have played over a hundred hours of pool together back at The Shady Palm. I knew she could handle herself, she always seemed to have a way of beating me before I realized I was going to lose.
"Whisky sour,” I said, sitting at the bar.
"Two," Hope said. "So... a whiskey sour?"
"Yeah..." I said. "And?"
"I would have taken you for more of a gin and tonic kinda guy." She slid her stool a little closer.
"Well," I smiled. "You'd be wrong. Whiskey sour is my go to. Unless I'm on the beach, then it’s a margarita if I can get it. If not, a Corona."
"Ahh..." Hope smiled. "I'm a Corona girl all the way. Unless I'm trying to work a crowd, then its whatever sounds the most bitch-like."
"Makes sense,” I said.
I turned my stool back around just a little so I could keep my eye on Rachel without being noticed. "I just wish this were an ordinary night,” I said.
I watched as Hope let her eyes rest on Rachel. There were even a few times when a smile almost crossed her face. But the workings of a woman's mind had confused me my entire life and while the two of them had spent time together recently I still wasn't sure how well they actually liked one another.
"Do you ever think about that night at Sonny's?" I asked, not really sure where the words even came from.
"I do." She turned to me.
"The night we almost...." My voice faded.
"I just think about the night when I needed a friend. The night when you stayed there talking to me until I fell asleep,” she said. "That’s what I thought about when we got back to Anna Maria."
"Is that why you came back?" I asked.
"Came back?" she replied. "Came back when?"
"To the house. After you left the basement,” I said.
"I never left that house,” she said. "I knew whatever was hidden away behind that mirror would bring that asshole back to that basement and I knew our best chance of taking him down was with the element of surprise. I stood at the top of the stairs until he came in."
"Really?" I said. "I thought you left. I thought you were just that upset with me."
"I was upset with you, Brandon." A softness fell over her voice. "Sonny taught me to never trust anyone, to always read between the lines. He said to always look for the wizard."
"The wizard?" I asked.
"The Wizard of Oz,” she said. "The thing hiding behind the curtain."
"Oh..." I said. "There's no one behind my curtain."
"I know that now,” she said. "But I had to be sure. Sonny was dead and my life was on the line, so I had to be sure."
"I get that,” I said. "But you shouldn't go your whole life never trusting anyone. You'll end up alone like that."
"At least I'll be alive. Alive and free,” she said. "Look at what happened to Anna. She trusted that scumbag mayor and ended up chained to a wall in a stinking basement."
"That was different and you know it,” I said. "She was probably out of it. She probably didn't even know where she was going."
"No," Hope responded. "She probably didn't, but in that moment a small part of her still trusted someone enough to follow them into the darkness. I just can't let that be me."
I turned my eyes back toward Rachel. She was still putting on quite the show. Laughing and flirting with the old guy as she lined the table up the same way she did during all those nights back at her bar. Even from forty feet away and under the crappy bar light I could still see the blue shining in her eyes.
Before all of this I hadn't given much thought to where Rachel and I were. We were just friends who occasionally helped one another feel not so alone. But after everything we had been through those past few days I couldn’t help but see her in a slightly different light. I just wasn't sure what light she saw me in.
"How'd the two of
you meet?" Hope asked, motioning her head toward Rachel.
"Micah and I were in her bar back in Miami,” I said. "The Shady Palm. Micah was hustling these young college guys out of some money. She saw what was happening and put a stop to it."
"She threw you out?” Hope asked.
"No," I said. "She challenged Micah to a game. Told him that if she won he had to give back the money. And that if he won, he was free to hustle there any time he wanted."
"And she won?" Hope asked.
"Hell no!" I smiled. "No one beats Micah. But after she lost she went behind the bar and got this big metal rod and started hitting him with it. Told him if he was stupid enough to believe that then he wasn't smart enough to be in her bar. I couldn't help but laugh. After that we just kinda started talking..."
"Sounds like a real 'meet cute',” she said.
"Well," I said. "I guess it was. I've just really never thought about it."
"She seems like a nice girl, Brandon,” Hope said.
"Yeah,” I said. "She's been through a lot."
"Why do you do that?" Hope snapped.
"Do what?" I asked.
"Say things like 'she's been through a lot',” Hope said. "I said she was a nice girl. Saying something like that in response makes it look like she's some victim."
"I just meant—”
"No," Hope interrupted. "It doesn’t matter. You don't need to look at people like that. I've seen that girl pick a lock and break into a stranger’s house in the middle of the night. I've seen her hold my father in her arms knowing she couldn't save him. Not to mention what she did for Anna. She's not some damaged thing you need to be protecting."
"I don't understand why you're snapping at me,” I said.
"Ugh," she said. "That’s the worst part."
"What is?" I asked.
"That you're that stupid,” she said. "You need to get out of your own head. Look at people for what they are, for what they could be and not for what you think they should be. Saying something like that to someone would make them think you were talking about a person that's weak. Rachel isn't weak, Brandon. She's a fighter. I know that because I watched her fight for you."
"For me?" I replied.
"Yes, asshole,” Hope said. "For you. Back on that beach when you wanted to fall in your little hole of solitude and depression. When you wanted to go off by yourself. She wouldn't let you. She marched over to you and yelled in your face until you did what she knew was the best thing. She fought for you. So don't you go and try and make her sound weak."
"I wasn't trying to,” I said. "I know she's strong."
"Well then treat her like it,” Hope said. "People are stronger than you think. Rachel is strong, I am strong and while I know you don't want to admit it. I bet that little brother of yours is strong too. Just let people be who they are and stop trying to fix everyone. Maybe then you'll actually learn something about them."
"Okay..." I said. "I get it. I'm sorry."
"You better make sure you get it,” she replied. "Otherwise—”
"Wait!" I stopped her short. "Turn that up!"
Catching sight of the television screen out of the corner of my eye I was stunned at the image on the screen. It was Mayor Hall. There he stood, at a podium on the steps of the Anna Maria Island courthouse, alive and kicking.
"I thought he was dead!" I said.
"So did I,” said Hope.
A group of people stood in front of him, both island residents and reporters. Each one launched a different question his way.
“Mayor Hall, are you okay....?’
“Is this linked to the recent crime spree seen on the island...?’
“What will you do to protect the residents of Anna Maria...?’
“Do you have any information on your assailant?'
He answered every question with an answer so false and so rehearsed I was surprised his face didn't crack. Just looking at him standing there playing the victim made my stomach turn. He was the lowest kind of person. The kind so starved and hungry for power that he had to bring himself into power and corruption to make himself feel good. I hated him. But just as I was about to turn and walk away he said something that turned my entire world around.
"Yes," Mayor Hall replied to the question. "We have received a full confession from the my attacker."
"His attacker?" I said.
"I didn't confess to shit!" Hope said.
"His name was Darius Knight. He was hired to kill me, by a man named Micah Waters,” Mayor Hall said. "It was a twisted attempt to save his brother Brandon Waters, a wanted fugitive of Anna Maria from prosecution."
"What the fuck!" I said. "He's lying through his teeth!"
"For this the Anna Maria District Attorney will now work in conjunction with the Miami-Dade PD in order to seek the death penalty for Mr. Waters,” Mayor Hall said.
I could feel my knees start to give way under me. The weight of his words was pressing down on me like a crashing wave. Every time I thought things had gotten as bad as they could, every time I stopped to take a breath even for a moment, something else happened to knock me down.
"We'll fix this,” Hope said.
"We can't fix this, Hope." I braced myself, sitting back in my stool. "This has gone too far already. Everything we do, every time we try and help, every plan we cook up. They all only make this worse. And now, its not only worse for me. Now its worse for Micah. This is it,” I said. "I can't keep doing this. There's only one thing left to do."
"Brandon," she said. "No!"
"Its the only way, Hope,” I said. "I have to turn myself in."
CHAPTER THIRTY
A BOUT FORTY MINUTES AND SIX WHISKEY SOURS LATER I WAS SITTING ON THE BEACH WITH RACHEL AND HOPE AT MY SIDE. I asked them to be alone, they said no. I asked them to stay back a few feet, they said no. Then I asked them to let me feel the water on my feet one last time. To that, they said okay.
"It's sure as shit not gonna be the last time though,” Rachel said to me.
"Can you imagine if my parents could see this crap?” I said, letting the cool night water wash against my feet. "If they could see the garbage fire that is my life. If they could see what I've let happen to Micah."
"This isn't on you,” Hope said. "Don't forget that. You're innocent in all of this. Your brother is too. Bad people do bad things. And it just happens to be they're doing them to you. It sucks, but its not unfixable."
"All we need is the truth,” Rachel said. "The truth of what in the hell is going on with that douchebag of a mayor and his crazy family."
"You heard him,” I said. "The Anna Maria DA is going after Micah."
"Well of course he is,” Hope said. "The DA is his son. He'll do whatever Daddy tells him."
"I'm exhausted. I just need to sleep. Then, come sunrise I'll drive to that fucking curse of an island and turn myself in. But I'll do it on one condition. Clear my brother,” I said, laying my head against the sand.
"Fine," Hope said. "You sleep. I've got a little shopping to do."
"Shopping?" I said, sure I'd misheard her.
"Rachel," Hope said. "Don't leave him, and don't let him leave this beach. I'll be back as soon as I can."
"You got it, babe,” Rachel held her hand up, slamming it against Hope's.
If someone else would have told me they were losing hope but had managed to find two strong women who believed in them and were willing to help them no matter the cost I probably would have said they were lucky. But in that moment, I didn't feel very lucky. Having friends is a good thing, there's no denying that. Having friends that will fight for you is an even better thing, there's no denying that either. But all I wanted was to give up, to lose the fight. At least then I could stop running, at least then I could breathe.
"Rachel..." I said, feeling the heat of her body lying next to mine.
"Yes," she said.
"Why are you doing this?" I asked. "Why put yourself through this crap all over again?"
"All over
again?" She sat up straight. "This isn't all over again. It used to be that I was the one being put down, the one told they couldn't do anything. This is very different,” she said, a touch of anger in her tone. "I'm the one fighting this, the one standing up for something. Can't you see that?"
"Yes," I said. "I do see that and I'm very grateful for it. But—”
"But nothing!" She cut me off. "If you're grateful then shut the fuck up and listen to the people who are trying to help you. The ones who ran all over hell’s-half-acre trying to help you. The people who care about you."
"I'm sorry,” I said. "I just can't help but feel like I'm pulling you into this. Like I'm ruining your life."
"I'm a grown-ass woman, Brandon. You're not pulling me into anything. I can make my own choices and I chose to come here. For you,” she said, throwing her body back onto the sand.
"I... Thank you,” I said.
"You're welcome,” she replied.
I spent the next few hours trying to think of what my life would look like in the coming years. Would I be sent to maximum security due to my recent actions, would I be put in with the worst of the worst by Mayor Hall just for spite or would I luck up and spend the rest of my life in a cell with another innocent man. One whose goal wasn't to rape or kill me during the nights I managed to get a few hours sleep.
The heat from Rachel’s body felt nice next to mine as it mixed with the warm gulf air. I would miss all of it. I would miss the sound of the waves in the distance. The feeling of sand in my hair, seeing it fall to the shower floor. I would miss the tingle on my skin when I spent too long in the Florida sun.
What I would miss most though… that was Micah. I would miss worrying about him. I would miss cleaning up the dishes he always forgot to do and I would miss having someone on my side whom I didn't have to explain things to. Someone who understood why I did the things I did just because they knew me.
"What are you thinking about?" Rachel asked.
"Nothing really.”
"Micah?"
"A little bit..." I replied. "I wonder what he's thinking about. I wonder if he thinks I abandoned him?"