by Mynx, Sienna
“Damn it.” She went for the exit doors.
“Ms.!”
She ignored the call. On the wing tip of the plane was a shamrock. Aiden’s Shamrock.
Daisy stood there watching as it taxied away in the rain. The plane sped off and then lifted into the dark clouds.
“Ms.! Can I help you?” the man asked, putting an umbrella over her. She stared after the plane with the drizzle covering her face. “No. No you can’t.”
The man looked up as Aiden’s plane disappeared into the dark clouds. “That was Aiden Keane.”
“I know.” She turned and walked off.
****
Aiden stared out of the window. The plane had been in the air a short while before the city approached. The turbulence eased just as they cleared the last of the stormy clouds. When the jet coasted in over the Vegas lights, some of his anxiety eased. There was something to be said about the familiar, what was safe, predictable, controllable and his dominion. Home. He stared down at the city lights. Vegas was nothing without its lights, sinners, scavengers, dreamers, losers, winners and people he owned. He was nothing without Vegas.
Donovan sat to his left, unusually silent. Aiden appreciated it. Talking was the last thing he wanted to do. He shifted in the seat. The bottle was now emptied into a glass. He’d managed to kill half of it on the short flight. Twice, he eyed the phone and considered calling her. Twice he held back.
“I’ve taken care of things. Clara Andrews won’t be your problem or Daisy's. She's mine.”
Aiden barely blinked. His lips moved to the glass and he drank a little more.
“There are other matters. Things we’ve left unattended.”
“Not now,” Aiden snapped.
The pressure in the cabin dropped. The jet lowered in altitude, preparing for a landing. His tongue and brain went numb, as his ears popped. The strange mix made his lids heavy. They were barely open. Emotionally exhausted, it was all he could do to keep them open.
“I know you don’t want to hear this.”
“Then don’t say it.”
“It’s for the best, friend,” Donovan said. “She was never good for you. Things with her for you had gone too far. You told me years ago what you wanted, and what you didn’t. I’ve seen to it. You’ve trusted me then so trust me now. It was time for the madness around Daisy Johnson to come to an end.”
Aiden turned to face Donovan. “Let’s be clear on something, friend. What she is to me isn’t open for your dissection. Don’t fucking tell me how to feel about Daisy Johnson. Don’t you tell me anything you feel about Daisy Johnson. Subject is off limits.”
Donovan tipped his head in obedience. Aiden closed his eyes and downed the last of his drink, throwing the glass to the seat in front of him. It rolled off to the floor as the plane bounced on the tarmac. The pressure of the brakes skidding across the paved landing strip pressed him into his seat. Behind his closed lids, he saw nothing and thanks to the bottle he felt nothing. That’s exactly what he needed at the moment. Nothing.
****
Daisy sat in the car until the rain stopped, just like her heart. She was too tired and disappointed to cry. She didn’t think he’d give up on her. He’d fought harder when she pushed him away. It had to be his inability to love her and Amy. Was it all about possession with him? Her heart was torn apart over his abandonment.
Opening the car door, she got out and went inside her home. Daisy found the house quiet. Someone slept on the sofa, but she didn’t look that way. She just climbed the stairs. Someone called her name but she didn’t stop. She walked numbly into her bedroom, to her bathroom. There she shed her wet clothes, stripped down to her underwear and then shed them too. Trance like, she reached for her robe and slipped it on. Her future was undone in minutes. She never felt so detached.
“Daisy?”
She looked up in the mirror. Denise stood there smiling. Her heart couldn’t take another fight with her family. They could think what they wanted. All she wanted was peace.
“Did you find him?”
“I want to be left alone,” she said sadly.
“Then that means you didn’t, huh? Heard a lot from mama after you left about the argument you two had. I’m sorry. Mama, well she can be mama you know.”
“She went too far, Denise. I didn’t mean to disrespect her, but she’s never respected me. Guess I just need to learn to live with that.”
“Don’t be too hard on her. She sees a lot of you in her.” Denise came inside and closed the door.
Daisy looked up to the mirror once more, this time curious. “What?”
“Auntie Adele told me something. Something I never told any of yawl, but now I feel like I should. I don’t know. Seeing mama going on this rant like this, Janette and Sandra think it’s daddy’s death. I know it's not. The way she acting, been acting since you left, makes me think the story might be true.” Denise stepped closer. She spoke in a whisper, eyeing the door as if their mother could hear them from behind it. “Aunt Adele said mama had run off from Perry when she was sixteen.”
Perry, Georgia was where their mother was originally from. Daisy had only visited once. She didn’t know much about her mother’s people there, except for Auntie Adele, who chewed tobacco and spit in a tin can she carried everywhere.
Denise leaned on the counter. “You better not tell Janette this. You know she can’t hold water.”
“Why did mama run away?”
“Wanted to be a singer. Can you believe that? And not in the church choir, honey. Our Mama sang the blues.”
“That’s not true.”
“That ain’t it. It was a white man she run off with too.”
Daisy frowned. She looked over at her sister in complete disbelief. “Are you crazy?”
Denise smirked. “No, girl. Promise me you won’t say anything.”
“Tell me. Is this for real?”
“Yes. She fell in love with some white trombone player or something. Auntie said he was low rent. No telling what that means. I don’t know all those details. Auntie was drunk or high on snuff. You never can tell. You know how she is.”
“Which is why I don’t believe you.”
“Listen to me. Here’s the thing. Mama was singing blues all over, city to city. Her and this white man, who said he was going to make her a star, hit all the chitlin spots. Auntie said mama hated Perry, Georgia. She hated everything about being poor and sharecroppers. She wanted to be famous and live in New York. Then the man left her. Auntie said he went to jail. Now that part I’m not sure about. But something happened and that’s for sure.”
Daisy struggled with believing the revelation.
Denise kept whispering. “She was singing in some spot outside of Hollow Creek. I think it might have been Dixon County. That’s when daddy first saw her. Girl, she got saved, baptized, found Jesus and the rest is history.”
Daisy sat down on the closed toilet lid. “You sure this true?”
“I don’t know. Auntie Adele talks out of both sides of her mouth. But I asked daddy once if mama ever sang the blues. And he smiled and winked, Daisy. Never said a thing, but I swear I ain’t never seen daddy smile or wink like that. That’s for sho!”
She laughed, and Daisy couldn’t help but chuckle with her. Her head was spinning as she tried to pick the parts of the truth from the strange tale. Imagine, her mother wild and free. Her mother told her she was named after a wild grandmother. Blamed it on daddy’s side of the family. Why did getting full of the Holy Ghost give her amnesia?
“Then why does she hate me so much, if this true?”
“She don’t hate you, Daisy. You scare her. She sees too much of her in you. When you were gone, she was worried sick. Even asked the church to pray for you more than once.”
Daisy looked up and Denise nodded that it was true. “It broke her heart too. She’s loving you too hard.”
Daisy shook her wet hair. “So much time wasted.”
“Exactly. That’s why you don’t need
to listen to mama or Janette. If that man is what you want, then go get him, girl.”
“That’s over.”
“How so?”
“He gave up. He left.”
“So?”
“I’m mad at him, damn it. He drives me crazy. Going around pounding on anything that gets him angry. He’s worse than a two year old,” she huffed. She was pissed. How could he let her mother convince him that she didn’t love him? The phone call sounded like he wanted to work through the madness, but yet he goes to Pete, picks a fight, then leaves. “Aiden has to stop being afraid of me, of us, and of himself. I can’t fight all his demons if he won’t.”
Denise stared at her for a moment. “Do you love him?”
“What does that matter?”
“Answer me, girl. All that stuff you said down there got that baby in the other room excited about her daddy coming home. I’m pissed with you about that. You can’t suck Amy into this if you ain’t sure. So, do you love him?”
“Yeah, I do. I said it, didn’t I?”
“Not to me. Say to him. Better yet, you ought to show him and not tell him. That’s what counts. Am I right?”
Daisy stared up at her middle sister. She was the one that said the least and the one most overlooked. Somehow, she managed to say exactly what she needed to hear. “He’s gone to Vegas. I’ll have to leave Amy with you and everyone while I go. And I don’t know what is going through his head. No telling what I’ll find in Vegas.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll handle mama and them. You just go do what you have to. I don’t know if this man is right for you, Daisy. It ain’t for me to say. But I know you won’t be happy unless you figure that out. You got to stop all of this running and hiding. Face him and just get it all out on the table. Get your answers. Then you can move on.”
“What about mama?”
“Trust me, girl. Mama understands more than you think.”
“I should just go?”
“Yep.”
“What if he—” Daisy sighed. She smiled. “You know, he’s been chasing me all over the place for five years. He won’t expect to see me.”
“There you go. Do it. What do you have to lose?”
She rose. “Okay. I’ma do it. I’m going to Vegas and I’m telling Aiden to his face that if he wants Amy and me, he’s going to have to fight with more than his fists. He’s going to have to prove it.”
“Tonight?”
“It’s not that far. I can drive it in two hours.”
“Um, you gonna fix your hair, though?”
Daisy looked in the mirror. Her hair was a knotty frizzy mess of tangles. She laughed. “Maybe I should go in the morning.”
“Yeah, ya think?”
Daisy turned on Denise. “This family makes me crazy. And so happy like always.”
They embraced. “Don’t you tell nobody what I told you, Daisy.”
Daisy laughed. “I won’t. Mama, a blues singer with some possible convict white man? Nah, I’m taking that to my grave.”
They both laughed until Sandra was knocking at the door wanting to know what was so funny. Daisy was ready for her last roll of the dice. Let the chips fall where they may.
Chapter Twenty-one
“You can’t! Someone stop him! God no! Don’t do this!”
“Get off me!” he shouted, throwing his shoulders back, shirking her hold. He winced as her nails dug into his skin through his shirt. Amy, terrified, had her arms locked around his neck, holding. The little girl was frightened by her mother's screams. She reached for Daisy, unsure of whom she was to hold. He had to save her. He was the only one. Nina ran around Amy’s room, almost in circles, grabbing things: clothes, shoes, whatever she could fit into a bag.
“Give me my baby! Put her down now, damn it!”
Daisy clawed at his back, neck and arms, trying to pry Amy free of his clutches. Everyone was yelling at once. The Johnson sisters tried to talk her down and reason with him. Mrs. Johnson pleaded for everyone to be calm––to be reasonable. The time for reason was over. Pete felt he had to take action. He blocked them all out. It wasn’t easily done since Daisy’s screams could be heard above all: “I won’t let you take her!”
“You don’t have a choice! I can’t trust you! I won’t! Not anymore, not after… you were going to take her to him. To him! She’s mine! He can buy you, but he won’t buy my daughter!”
His throat still burned from Aiden’s attack. How could she even consider a child safe with the dirty bastard? She was out of her mind. Lucky for him, he got there early and caught her off guard. She’d been prepared to leave again. Her family was going to sit back and watch her leave and cut him out of Amy’s life. With Aiden Keane’s money, he could take them out of the state, out of the country. Hell, he could take them to the moon. The bastard would do it just to get back at him. He was sure of it. He wouldn’t win! He wouldn’t!
“Ma-ma-mom…my!” Amy’s voice broke between her sobs, her fingers reaching desperately for her mother. Daisy grabbed the little girl by the hands, tugging hard. Pete yanked harder, holding to her torso, and Amy’s screams rose, causing all the adults to react in panic. Daisy was maniacal near hysterics. She wouldn’t stop. He shoved her hard to the center of her chest forcing her back. She fell into the arms of her sisters. He shouldered past her mother, who surprisingly let him pass as Janette got ahead of him trying to cut him off with her lips moving, head shaking, hands up like a traffic cop. He couldn’t, wouldn’t hear her or be slowed. Refused too. “Nina, let’s go. Now!”
“Call the police!” Sandra yelled.
“Pete, are you insane! You can’t take that child!” Denise yelled.
“You bastard! Give her back!” Daisy shrieked.
“Pete, I don’t think—” Nina began.
“Now!” he said shoving Janette out of his way heading for the stairs.
“Nooo!” Daisy went on attack. Her reaction was so wild she swung blindly striking both Pete and Amy. Her sister's tried to hold her back for her own safety and the child’s. Neither worked. With her locks in her face, crazed with panic, she grabbed his shirt pulling so hard the collar began choking him as he was dragged back. “Get off,” He struggled, dragging her behind him as he went to the stairs. Daisy’s feet tangled beneath her and she fell to her knees. “I won't see him again! Don't do this! Don't!” she begged.
“Nina, leave it! Let’s go!” he called now at the top of the stairs. When he looked back, he saw Daisy charging straight at him, shocking her sisters and mother. He turned too quick, and to his horror, Amy tried to break free of his hold at that moment. Something he didn’t anticipate. The little girl’s twisting broke free and Daisy’s shove sent her falling from his arms, rolling down the stairs, her small body bouncing off each like a rag doll. Screams. The guttural sounds were all coming from Daisy and Pete. The family was suspended in time as Amy landed with a thud at the bottom of the stairs. Her neck was broken.
Pete sat up quickly in bed
With his heart racing and his face slick with sweat, he batted his eyes rapidly. The scream of his nightmare still caught in his throat. Chilling icy fright gripped him. It was so real. He could still see her. Amy lay broken at the bottom of the stairs. He could hear her mother's screams and hear his own screams. Pete began to shake all over as the replay of the nightmare began to build in his mind.
So real. Too real.
Did it happen?
It took minutes, long drawn out minutes for reality to sharpen and the dream to fade. But the terror remained. Pete closed his eyes. A prayer came off his lips. Tears formed behind closed lids. He felt such a heavy sadness and so much guilt that he nearly broke into a sob. Never in his life had he felt so lost. Well, once before and it killed him with self-loathing. How did he go full circle and return to that empty place again? When did he let it happen?
He dropped his head and sucked in deep breaths in a vain attempt to calm him self. He’d never felt more out of control. Anxiety cooled the fear and he swallowe
d several times to steady his erratic heartbeat.
“Nina, baby, I had a nightmare.” Pete reached for her, needing her. His hand fell flat on the spread over the cool empty spot where she could usually be found. Pete’s eyes opened slowly, focus returning, and a flicker of apprehension passed through him. “Nina?”
His cell phone vibrated across the nightstand. The little silver contraption bounced, with the LG window blinking a neon blue. Pete stared at the empty spot in the bed a moment longer, his feelings still out of sorts.
Bzzzzzzzz
Pete’s sight shifted over to the phone and he looked at the digital clock display. It was just after eight in the morning. The curtains, drawn, kept the sun away. He imagined Nina in the bathroom dealing with her morning pukes. Trapped in a nightmare of his own making, he didn’t even feel her leave his side. How she could stand his antics was beyond him. He reached for the phone and flipped the cover, pressing it to his ear. “Hello?”
“Pete, it’s Daisy.”
“Daisy?”
“Sorry to call so early.”
“I… yeah… it’s okay. I was going… I had plan... yeah… I um was gonna call you.” He swallowed hard. Wiping the sweat from his brow, he lowered his hand to find it trembling. He clenched it to a fist to stop the shakes.