The time to make the necessary plans crept up on us and we jostled out of our comfortable embrace when Marc knocked the window twice. As much as I knew we had to do this, a small part of me didn’t want to. This was the time when I really should have been staying with my family, ensuring I was the durable adhesive they needed. I quickly pushed it to the back of my mind, hesitantly exiting the van with the hoodie pulled low over my face. I’m sure we looked like criminals, all approaching the hospital ominously with grimaces on our faces.
Seeing punctual students in one place was certainly new to me. They all stood out rebelliously in dark contrast to the tranquility of the hospital. The nurses roaming the halls side-stepped us and eyed the group warily, possibly ready to call security in an instant, making me realize how quickly this meeting would have to go.
“Look how much of them actually turned up,” Avery mused from beside me. I turned around and she looked stunned.
I wish I was surprised, but I really wasn’t. I wasn’t glad they were trying to cover our backs but the loyalty the displayed could offer me some protection once in a while. I pulled the hood of my sweatshirt down and ignored the widening of eyes around me. I was positive that the hit to my eye had begun to swell but I was adamant that this plan had to go through despite the constant fervor with which it throbbed.
“Thanks for coming,” I said to the moderate group in our midst, like they were attending my Ted talk and not actively helping me skip town. They looked ready to hang on to my every word. The look on their faces was enough of a go-ahead for me, they were all eagerly waiting to grant my wish. I felt bad. Then I remembered why I was even in the hospital in the first place and the guilt slowly dissipated. Elijah had to go down.
I used my head to gesture to Marc that it was time to step up. The group looked confused. “It’s a simple task really. I want you guys to trail Marc wherever he goes. Never lose sight of his car—in other words, my van.”
They looked between Marc and I for a moment and I realized they probably wanted to know why. And because I wanted to be honest, I told them, albeit vaguely. “I need you all to be the crowd that there’s power in. I know this may sound silly but I just…I need your help.”
I didn’t think anything I said convinced them until I said that. It was strange because my voluntarily wanting their help was a rare occurrence. I exhaled deeply, letting out a gust of air. Apparently, I was holding quite a lot in. The apprehension slowly started gnawing up my throat and I knew if I stalled any longer I’d back out and that was the last thing I wanted to happen. I grabbed Avery’s hand and pulled her closer to me. I pressed my lips to her temple and tried to ignore the various gasps and whispers around.
“Whenever Marc is ready, I guess,” I said quietly, not quite meeting anyone’s gaze.
I felt Avery’s grip on my hand tighten and I knew she was nervous. I looked down at her and offered her a semi-reassuring smile. Nothing about this plan was sure and that made me the most paranoid. The group slowly filed out, there dark sweaters an odd contrast, leaving to wait for Marc’s cue, making the white crispness of the hospital coming back in full force.
Before I could leave, Marc stepped in front of me, effectively halting my nervous strides. “Good luck man. I’ll try my best to stall for as long as I can.”
“You don’t have to do that,” I said, shaking my head profusely. “Make sure you stay in sight of the first person that’s trailing you. I don’t want anything to go wrong.”
I could already tell that nothing I said was getting through to him, I just hoped he had enough sense not to try to do something stupid like challenge Elijah. I didn’t want anyone harmed in this superfluous plan, especially not Marc, I couldn’t live with myself if that happened. Marc nodded unconvincingly and started off ahead of me, dangling the keys to my van in his hand.
Avery stood beside me, her lips trembling slightly as she watched their retreating figures. I raised our intertwined hands and kissed hers, she turned to look at me, her eyes watery. I hadn’t realized she was this worried. I thought I was being silly in thinking of all the things that could go wrong in the process.
“Jason—I…I just…” She stared at me and I could see her resolve shattering right in front of my eyes. “I’m scared,” she admitted, her voice breaking at the end.
“I know,” I insisted, meeting her gaze with fiery ones of my own. “But, what’s done has been done.”
“No!” she exclaimed, pulling her hand from my grasp. “I don’t think you understand exactly what Elijah is capable of.”
“I think I know plenty.”
“You are endangering innocent people…for who? For me?” She shook her head and looked me dead in the eyes. “I probably deserve it for all I’ve done.”
“Trust me, you don’t,” I replied easily.
Avery sighed and swiped at her eyes. “Trust me when I say, Elijah is not going down without a fight.”
I didn’t reply, I didn’t say what I was thinking. That I knew he wanted a fight and I knew we couldn’t escape it. But this way, we had the element of surprise, we’d know what’s coming and how to fight back. And if things worked out exactly how I’d planned the police would be right there behind us. Avery couldn’t lose her nerve now. I grabbed her hand and forced a smile on my face.
“It’ll be over before you know it.”
“Yeah,” she said nodding, with more conviction than a couple minutes ago. “Before I know it.”
Chapter
XXXII
We were on the outskirts of town when I finally built up the bravery to call my mother. I was terrified of her reaction because I knew whatever wrath she would inflict wouldn’t be pretty. But Avery’s encouraging gaze was motivation enough to go through with it. I couldn’t put her through the stress of worrying whether or not I was okay, the toll it would take on her would be destructive—for all of us.
“Where are you?” she demanded as soon as she picked up.
Hello to you too, mother. “I went for a drive.”
She paused and I could hear the gears turning in her head. “Where?” I heard shuffling in the background before she continued. “You know what? Don’t tell me, just get back here right now.”
I sighed, slowing down slightly. “I can’t do that,” I said calmly. She would understand, I hoped.
“You can and you will,” she assured me, tight-lipped.
Avery frowned and turned her head to gaze out the window at the passing trees and vast expanses of land. I wish I could do that, but instead all I was seeing on the open road leading to the highway was what would happen when we ended this thing. I wanted to stop hurting people once and for all because as of late it seemed as if that was all I knew how to do. At first, I had imagined that leaving had been selfless but the more I heard the underlying distress in my mother’s tone reminded me I was being more selfish than ever.
“I love you,” I replied offhand.
There was a pause on the line. “Jason…please,” I heard her say, her voice cracking. “I can’t lose you… not now.”
“You’re not—”
“Don’t you dare finish that sentence. I was his lawyer and although it was only a lawsuit, they still gave me way too much information about their entire family. So, before you do something stupid hear the entire story and then come home.”
Before I could form a coherent sentence, I heard a click and a dial tone in my ear. I wasn’t sure how to react. Yes, I was sure that I hadn’t heard everything. There were enough holes in Avery to bury a man—no pun intended. But I wanted her to know I trusted her enough to know what she wouldn’t want to put anyone in immediate danger. At least I hoped so.
“What did she say?” she asked, breaking me out of my reverie.
I tried to find a better way to approach the subject. “What happened when Reena came out here?”
Avery visibly tensed and sat up straighter in her seat, rubbing her arms uncomfortably. I knew this was a touchy topic, but it wasn’t the wor
st thing I could have asked her. I decided to inch my way in instead of diving in without trepidation. Doing this with her, now, I deserved to know everything. Even things she had twisted in her story.
“Do you…” she began, her voice trailing off as she struggled to find the words. I stayed silent, encouraging her with small sidelong glances that I was listening. “Do you remember when I told you Elijah had an older brother?”
I racked my brain and vaguely remembered that conversation in my bedroom that seemed like eons ago now, where she had told me her backstory, much of which wasn’t true. I nodded absentmindedly, trying to piece it together before she told me, if she told me.
“Yeah, he’s in prison, right?”
“Bingo.”
“What does he have to do with Reena or any of this?” I asked, switching lanes carefully, keeping my eyes trained on the rearview mirror at all times for any sight of mysterious vehicles.
Avery shifted in her seat. This topic made her very uncomfortable I could tell, but at least it made me feel a little better that she was nervous, it made me feel as though she was finally being honest. “This has everything to do with Reena and why I’m in this mess in the first place.” She angled herself toward me and spoke again, this time quickly, “Reena tried to save me, and I’ve ruined her life.”
“What?” I asked, incredulously, whatever I’d been expecting her to say, it wasn’t that.
“I just hated being in her shadow all the time, I couldn’t have done anything good enough to impress Mommy or Daddy dearest and I joined a gang. I don’t even know what I was thinking. I just wanted them to see that I didn’t need their approval or need them at all.”
“What did Reena do?”
Avery thought for a moment before answering, presumably to find a good way to word what she was going to say. “She was visiting from University one summer and she saw how I pined after Elijah, how I practically worshipped the ground he stood on while he treated me like trash.” She turned to look at me. “I’m not even sure why I got involved with him but from the moment I did everything spun out of control.
“She begged me to end things, to move in with her and start fresh. Away from the reputation I had, from all the things I had done and be normal again and I wanted to but… but I couldn’t figure out how to leave. My parents were behind her 100% when she told them as well. They feared for my life every night I betrayed them and left the house, but I kept doing it week after week, month after month.
“But then, I heard Reena visited Nathan, Elijah’s brother, in jail, pleading with him to get Elijah to just let it go and find someone else to be a part of his little team. Of course, Nathan could tell Elijah to back off but he’d never do it for free. The next thing I know is Reena is dropping out of school a couple months later and laying low in Aspiration Park.”
“Drugs,” I said, I wasn’t a question.
“Yes, but, the worst part is he never left me alone. Not even when my parents wanted to send me away. Not even when I packed up and left suddenly, not when he found out I wanted nothing to do with him. I can never escape.”
I glanced at her for a brief moment, noting the terror in her eyes, the look of someone who has had enough and who had seen enough in such a short period. “Hey, don’t say that. This’ll be over before you know it.”
Avery was shaking her head before I could finish. “No, you don’t understand. Elijah’s family, the Conway’s basically run back home, whether it’s drug dealing, money laundering, you name it. They arrested his brother, but there’s a whole ‘family’ of them out there and who knows what they know and what they’ll have to do.”
I exhaled deeply. This was just getting worst and worst. I had no idea what I was in for. My mother was right, I was going into the situation completely blind and I was letting someone lead me who willingly went along with whatever criminal activity they were apart of for who knows how long. I sighed inwardly and pressed a little harder on the gas. Whatever was coming to me I’d deserve it.
I waited until another half hour had passed before dialing Marc’s number, a part of me was afraid something had happened to him but it was also killing me not to know if something had happened to him. The phone rang five times before heading to a voice messaging recording of him promising to call back as soon as possible. I tried to calm my nerves and dialed his number again. The same thing happened. I tried a third time and there was no answer.
I was about to fling the phone into one of the passing trees that were currently an indistinct blur when Avery spoke. “Give me the phone.”
I calmed down infinitesimally and handed the phone to her, willing my heart to slow its pace. She held the phone at her ear as it rang again, for the fourth time. I saw her sigh in relief and decided to slow down a little. “Did he pick up?” I asked eagerly.
Avery nodded and hit the speaker. Marc’s exuberant voice echoed through his small car. “Hey guys. What’s up?”
“What’s up?” I asked incredulously. “I’ve been calling you and you haven’t been answering and you’re asking me ‘what’s up’?”
There was a long pause before Marc replied. “Listen, I’m sorry. I’ve been trying to focus on the road. I’ve decided to lead them up to the mountains, that way you guys will have a huge head start before they suspect anything.”
I couldn’t form words; he was doing exactly what I asked him not to do. “Are you sure he’s following you?”
Another pause. “Actually, I’m not entirely sure. I haven’t seen a car in a while.”
My hands tightened around the steering wheel until my knuckles turned white, I was so uncontrollably angry I didn’t know what to do. This was exactly the kind of stunt Elijah would love to see that would end up in Marc getting hurt or worst. “Turn the van around.”
Marc snorted. “No way, a promise is a promise. I’m doing exactly what you asked.”
“You’re being stupid! Turn around right now or I’ll—”
Marc interjected, “Or you’ll what? Jason, relax, I’ve got your back. I always will.”
I felt an intense urge to scream and/or hit something. This couldn’t possibly be happening, especially not with what Avery told me about the Conway’s. Marc’s being in danger would be nobody’s fault but mine and the notion was driving me crazy. I didn’t know what to do, it felt so oddly wrong being out of control of the situation and now, like all my life someone was pulling the strings.
Avery spoke quietly to Marc, I belatedly noticed how her eyes were filled with tears. “Marc, please.”
Marc laughed, a direct contrast to how we were feeling in the car. “Not you too, Avery. You guys relax. I know what I’m doing.”
And with that, the phone went dead.
I felt my eyes well with tears and swiped them away angrily. This wasn’t how I planned this day on going. In fact, it seemed like all my mother had said was coming to fruition and I could do nothing about it. I clamped my eyes shut for a second before exhaling roughly, trying to keep my resolve. Marc was an idiot, but I was the moron who asked him for help. I would never be able to live with myself if something happened to him, happened to anyone.
“Can we stop at a rest-stop… please?” Avery whispered to me, sounding more torn and feeble than I’d ever known. Her vulnerability made me feel incredibly weak because I knew that there was nothing I could do to stop the agony. I couldn’t even stop my own.
I swallowed and nodded at her, slowing down, keeping on the lookout for any fast approaching rest stops. After a couple minutes, a lone area stood out, with three cars parked and a few persons milling around casually. I longed to feel that unaffected about anything as I pulled in but even that was fleeting. I parked and Avery got out, hurrying inside. I couldn’t move for a moment, I felt paralyzed. Everything rushing at me in an instant from the last few days. I felt everything spiraling out of control and I could do nothing to stop it.
The couple who stood a few feet in front of my car talked and laughed exuberantly. I watched whe
n her eyes twinkled as he told her a joke, probably some funny memory. He was animated and appeared to see nothing but her. I sighed and held my head in my hands. At the start of the school year, everything was normal (my version of normal) and a few months after it had all but crashed and burned. The girl who I wanted for so long and finally got didn’t feel like mine. And I couldn’t help but wonder if she ever would.
A few minutes had passed before I went to find Avery in the minimart of the rest stop. The cold air stung my skin as I opened the door. The shelves were stacked with food, sweets and drinks for the road. I walked around the small cramped aisles hoping to catch sight of Avery. I was almost positive she had finished in the restroom by now. Before I could begin to panic, I saw her in the corner, leaning against a fridge stocked with sodas, she hung up her phone as I approached. I eyed her curiously.
“Who was that?”
“My parents,” she replied offhand, sticking the phone into her pocket and facing me.
I stared at her for a moment, trying to decipher if she was being honest but, to be truthful, I didn’t know. And that was unnerving. “Are you feeling better?”
Avery clamped her eyes shut and shook her head sadly. “I like you, Jason. I like you so much it’s scary,” she said, almost numbly, opening her eyes and turning her fiery gaze on me. “And I’m responsible for everything that’s going wrong in your life. I could never feel better.”
I grabbed her face and shook my head quickly. “No, it’s fine. We’ll be fine,” I said, I’d been saying that so much it was so unconvincing now.
“When I felt like my life couldn’t get worse I met you,” she said, completely ignoring what I had said. “I remember how badly I treated you at first and that was because I was so afraid. You were one of the most genuine persons I’ve met and that made me angry. After everything Elijah had done to me, it just seemed like it’d only be right for you to be just like him.”
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