The Improbable

by Tiara James

  Though I knew she didn’t mean it, the words clawed at my heart, nearly making me go and run after her. But I had to make it believable; I sighed and took a sip of my water when I heard the door slam. Glad it was over. “Are you happy now?” I asked without looking at my father.

  “Ecstatic. Now I know you’ll have no distractions at work and you can finish what you started, and get the position you deserve. It’s all in your best interest son.” My father spoke as if he had done me a favor.

  I shook my head in disgust; he really was a bitter man. Was there any soul left inside of him?

  “Would you like to stick around for dinner, son?” He asked.

  “No, I need to go get some rest.” I rose and began heading out.

  “This is for the best son, just remember that.” My father called before I closed the door.

  Eva’s car was no longer in the driveway and I hoped that she’d gone straight home so I didn’t have to track her down around town. I hopped in my car and began racing back to my house. There was so much going through my mind I just wanted to scream and scream until I couldn’t hear my own thoughts anymore! Why did we have to go through this? Why couldn’t we just be a normal couple without hiding each other from everyone? Why was I so crazy about her? Was I in love with her? Is that the supernatural power she had over me? I couldn’t be….

  When I drove past Eva’s house, I saw that her car was not in the driveway. I cursed in my head knowing that I’d have to go out and find her to make sure everything was all right. But the search was over once I pulled into my driveway and saw her sitting on my front steps, resting her chin in her palm.

  I got out of the car and walked over to her. “Eva I am so sorry for everything he said! That’s not how I pictured it going. What am I saying? I never should have even invited you over there. He’s such a bitter man now, I’m so sorry I put you through that Eva.”

  Eva shrugged and smiled weakly. “It’s nothing I wasn’t prepared for, I’m fine. Did he believe it?”

  I nodded slightly.

  “Then we got the job done,” Eva sighed, staring off into the sky.

  “Are you really fine, Eva-Marie? I saw the bruises on your wrist.” I kneeled down and tried to look her in the eye but her eyes avoided mine.

  She rose. “Well I just wanted to make sure you made it home safely, I should get going now.”

  I blocked her pathway to the car. “Come inside, Eva”

  “No thank you I’m fine.” She answered without looking at me and still trying to get past me.

  I stopped her and looked her dead in the eye. Sometimes she could just be so hardheaded! “I wasn’t asking, I was telling.” I said in a firm voice. I didn’t like to be so aggressive with her but it worked.

  Eva sighed and turned around, walking toward my front door.

  I turned on a lamp once we were inside, but it wasn’t enough for me to be able to see her bruises. I led her back to the bathroom and turned on the light. “Take your cardigan off.” I ordered.

  Her eyes widened. “I’d rather not.” She said in a small voice.

  I huffed. “What’re you hiding, Eva-Marie? You’ve been acting strange all night.”

  “I didn’t agree to come in here for you to insult me further.” She spat and tried to get out of the bathroom.

  I blocked the door with my arm. “Dammit, Eva what the hell is going on!” What the hell had happened to this girl? I had begun to read some of the book that she gave to me and even from the few pages of side notes that I’d read, I knew that she might’ve been far more troubled than I understood. She wasn’t leaving until I got to the bottom of it.

  “Nothing!” She screamed at me.

  “Then take that off and show me your arm!” I shouted and reached out to grab a hold of the cardigan but Eva cowered down.

  “Don’t touch me! Don’t touch me! Please don’t touch me!” Eva screamed with her forearms shielding her.

  My heart wrenched, seeing how scared she was. What had happened to her to make her like this? Where was my beautiful, happy, Eva? I slowly lowered down to her level and gently pushed her arms down. “You know I would never hurt you, Eva. Never.” I looked her in the eyes.

  A glimpse of that familiar warmth returned to her eyes once again. Eva scrambled toward me and wrapped her arms around my neck. “I’m so sorry, David, I’m so sorry.” She breathed.

  I wrapped my arms around her and picked her up to take her to my bedroom. I sat her down on my bed and then sat next to her. “Show me.”

  Eva slowly removed her cardigan, uncovering the bruises on both her wrists and the nail indentions. She unbuttoned her shirt just enough for me to see scratch marks on her chest and the hand-shaped bruise around her neck. The smoldering hot fury returned inside of me – who had done this to my beautiful girl? I couldn’t look at her scratches and bruises for too long.

  “Who fucking did this to you? I read your side notes in that book of yours, it’s a sad thing your life seems to be. This only confirms that you’re just as troubled as you claim. Now I want to know who the hell did this to you. Was it your father? You brought him up a lot in your notes.” I spat, unable to control my rage.

  Her eyes widened. “What? No! He would never!”

  “Then what happened to you, Eva!” I shouted.

  Eva sighed after a moment of silence. “Ray…tried…Ray tried to take advantage of me.” Her voice was extremely low and she didn’t look at me.

  My fury had been kicked up a few more notches. I rose and without thinking, plowed my fist into the wall. “I’m going to kill him! I’m going to fucking kill him!”

  Eva rose and held her hands up. “No no no! No one can know about this! I wasn’t even going to tell you!”

  I wasn’t having it. “What he did was wrong, Eva! And it’s disgusting! Why wouldn’t you tell me this?”

  “Ugh!” Eva grumbled in frustration. “Just stop David! If you don’t want to make my situation worse, would you please just…stop.” She looked at me with begging eyes. “No one can know.”

  God, seeing her so broken was almost making me break. I looked at her with sad eyes, she was too beautiful and too loving to deal with the shit that people around her put her through. It saddened me that whatever was troubling her was beyond my understanding and I had no way of fixing it for her. I walked to my room and plopped down on my bed, feeling hopeless. I put my head in my hands. “I don’t want to make it worse, but I can’t stand to see you like this, Eva. It’s hurting my heart.” I said when I heard her light footsteps enter the room.

  She sat down on the bed next to me and leaned on me while she rubbed my back. “I know, I know. And I’m sorry.”

  “The last thing I want you to do is apologize.” I said in a miserable tone. I looked at her and shook my head. “Look, Eva. I don’t know exactly what’s going on in your life but can you promise me that you’ll tell me about anything that troubles you from now on? I only want to take the pain away…the best I can.” I wanted to be there for her for everything.

  “I promise,” Eva said.

  I pulled her hand off my shoulder and kissed it. “Thank you.” I slowly stood up and positioned myself in front of her.

  “What’re you doing, David?” She looked up at me with those heavenly warm dark brown eyes.

  “Lay down on the bed, Eva.” I instructed in a soft voice.

  Her eyebrows furrowed and I could see that she was worried.

  “You just have to trust me,” I said.

  Eva obeyed and slid back onto the bed, still looking at me with questioning eyes. She lay there, twiddling her thumbs.

  I reached for her hands and pulled them apart, kissing each wrist where the bruises were. Then, I got on top of her and kissed her chest in the area where she had been scratched multiple times. I just wanted to take all of her pain and troubles away. Next, I kissed her neck, only because I couldn’t resist and finally planted a kiss on her lips.

  Her little hands cupped the sides of my face
as she pulled me in for another kiss. “God was looking out for me when He put you in my life, David.” She breathed.

  “Eva, I –” I began to say something but I wasn’t quite sure I wanted to say it just yet. I collapsed on the bed beside her.

  She looked at me. “What is it, David?”

  I sighed. “I’m glad He brought you into my life as well, words can’t even explain.”

  Eva smiled at me half-heartedly. “I should get going.” She leaned forward and began sliding off the bed.

  I grabbed her wrist, not ready to say goodbye for the night just yet. “Stay with me. I don’t want to do anything like that, I just want you to stay with me.” I said. In that moment it wasn’t just that I wanted her to stay with me, I needed her to stay with me. I needed to know that she was going to be okay throughout the night, I wanted to soothe her to sleep, and see her at peace.

  A half-smile lit up her face. “I was waiting for you to ask,” she lay back down next to me and leaned to whisper in my ear, “because there’s no place I’d rather go.”

  Eva laid her head on my chest with my arm wrapped around her shoulder, holding her close and not wanting her to get away any time soon. What was she doing to me? Out of all things in the world, she was my one and only weakness; I longed for her like the wolf longed for the moon, clearly longing for the impossible…but I would never stop longing. She dozed off fairly quickly, her light snoring hinting at exactly how worn out she’d been. I didn’t blame her; she’d had a lot happen to her recently. I looked at her as she slept, smoothing her furrowed brows so she finally looked as if she was at peace. A wide range of emotions flooded my brain, flooded my heart…what was this feeling?

  Was it…?

  It couldn’t be.

  Was it?

  21. Sky Full of Stars

  “Okay, just hold still while I put on the finishing touch; I want these curls to at least last until tomorrow.” Mama instructed as she fiddled with my hair. All morning she’d been trying to get my hair as smooth as possible and pinning my curls so that they were flawless.

  “What’s tomorrow?” I asked.

  “Another surprise, just for you my love!” She smiled down at me.

  I didn’t really know what to say, I wasn’t sure what to expect from my mother anymore; sometimes it was as if she was on my side and other times she was a brainwashed servant for Ray. Mama had woken me up early to get me ready for an ‘exciting event’ that she couldn’t tell me about. I truly wasn’t in the mood for any surprises – I just wanted to be with David.

  “Ta-da! All done.” Mama exclaimed.

  I turned around to see my hair in the mirror and gleamed; I had the most perfect victory rolls pinned down in the front with a white headband holding back the rest of my hair. I loved it! “They’re flawless, thanks Mama.”

  “Anything for you darlin’, now go down and get yourself some breakfast while I clean this up.” She ordered. “We’ll be leaving shortly.”

  “Will do,” I replied, not realizing how empty my stomach felt until she brought it to my attention.

  “And make sure you leave a note for Daddy, thanking him for the day off!” She called as I made my way down the stairs.

  “Of course I will!” I answered. Flora had left me a plate of eggs, bacon, and toast that I was extremely thankful for when my stomach growled. I took a quick bite of toast before crossing the kitchen to pour myself a cup of tea; I filled my cup over the sink, only so I could gaze out at the backyard, through the trees…and at David’s house. What could I say? I was a woman possessed by the intense chemistry between us!

  “Well hello there,” A voice said so close to the point his lips brushed up against the area behind my ear. Ray’s voice.

  I froze, my stomach twisting in fear, and absentmindedly let the tea cup slip from my hands and shatter in the sink. Suddenly, I wasn’t so hungry anymore. It had been a few days, going on a week since the incident with Ray, but it still haunted me as if it had happened in the same day. I spun around; he was so close I had to lean back on the sink. “What in God’s name are you doing here?” I demanded.

  “Well I believe we have some business to take care of, love.” Ray answered in an innocent tone. Ugh I hated him!

  “We don’t have anything to do anymore,” I shoved him away but he just came back closer, pressing his weight against me and causing the edge of the sink to dig into my lower back. “Mama and I are about to leave anyways, you need to get out of here.” I said.

  Ray chuckled. “I take it you didn’t know I was tagging along as well.”

  My nostrils flared with anger. “If it’s not obvious, I don’t want to be around you anymore.”

  “And why is that?” He furrowed his eyebrows.

  Why was he playing dumb? I rolled my eyes. “What you tried to do to me was wrong and you know it! I won’t stand for it, Ray!” I hissed, jabbing my finger at him.

  Ray nodded with his hand on his chin as if he was really listening to me. “Well you see Eva-Marie, I can do anything I want with you,” he reached in his pocket and picked up my left hand, sliding a glistening ring onto my ring finger. “We’re getting married soon. So I believe what you meant to say is that you’ll stand,” his hand trailed from my waist, past my chest, and up to my neck, “for whatever the hell I say you stand for.”

  My heart froze, rock solid, and almost came up out of my mouth. I wanted to throw up. I was going to throw up! I woozily stared at the foreign object on my finger, slightly shaking my head. “No…we can’t be.” I breathed. I knew it was coming, but he had smacked me into reality!

  He chuckled haughtily. “Oh but we are,” he grabbed the sides of my face gently and made me look up at him. “Do anything to mess it up, and I can certainly promise that your family will be exposed.”

  It was then when I had absolutely nothing to say – I couldn’t do anything about it. Nothing.

  Ray backed off of me when he heard my mother coming down the stairs.

  “Great, Ray you’re right on time!” She exclaimed when she saw him in the kitchen. They exchanged kisses on the cheek, nearly making me throw up the little bit of toast I had consumed. “Are you ready, darlin’?”

  I anxiously rubbed my forehead and nodded. “Uh, yes of course Mama.”

  My mother’s eyes doubled in size when she saw the ring on my hand. She crossed the kitchen, trying to get a closer look. “Oh my God! Eva, honey, it’s beautiful! When did this happen?” Her eyes bounced from me to Ray.

  “I had actually proposed last week, while we were having brunch. However, the ring wasn’t ready until today.” Ray lied.

  Her eyes shifted to me. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  I shrugged hopelessly. “It must’ve slipped my mind, Mama.”

  “Well isn’t it just gorgeous, darlin’?” Mama gushed over the ring.

  I forced a smile and nodded. “It sure is.”

  “Well let’s go, we don’t want to be late!” Mama shooed us all out the door. “Oh shoot, I just need to check the mail before we go.”

  “No, no don’t worry, Eva-Marie will get it.” Ray said as he opened the door for my mother.

  I didn’t even bother protesting or looking at either of them. They were so annoying whenever they were together, always thinking that they knew what was best for me. I shook my head at them and yanked the mailbox open, going through the mail myself, my mood lightening when I saw an envelope addressed to me. I nervously opened it, wondering what it was and whom it was from.

  Eva-Marie,

  Please join our closest friends and I for an

  Afternoon on Eden Lake. I miss you and

  My brain won’t allow me to quit thinking of you.

  Hoping all is well with you and looking forward to

  Seeing you.

  I’m yours,

  David Finley

  Gosh! I loved that even when I was in the darkest places of my mind, he always knew how to find me out! Excitement grew inside of me as I tucked the letter
away in my purse. Now I had something to look forward to after the horrendous day with Ray!

  “What’re you so happy for?” Ray mumbled when I slid into the backseat next to him.

  “Just excited to see this surprise of course.” I grinned at him.

  The normal half hour drive to the city seemed to last about two hours when I was in the car with my mother and Ray, who just talked nonstop about … him. Ugh, I couldn’t stand him. The whole time I was gazing out the window, wondering which swimsuit I would wear for David. Hehehe, even the thought of him was enough to make me giddy! We finally stopped at a grand church in the city.

  “We’re searching for wedding churches!” My mother turned around and exclaimed from the passenger seat, finally revealing the surprise. “And tomorrow is dress shopping!”

  “You’re going to love it, my dear.” Ray kissed me on the cheek.

  I looked up at the church with an empty expression. I had nothing to say, I had no say in my own wedding! I never particularly wanted to get married in a church, it was so…traditional. However, I knew better than to go against Ray’s wishes.

  I pulled up to Eden Lake only to see that all of my friends’ cars were already parked – of course I was the last one to arrive. I was terribly nervous! Why? I couldn’t shake the feeling of the butterflies going absolutely nuts in my stomach. Oh I crossed my fingers and prayed David would like my blue and white polka dot bikini! I slid off the black satin robe that Kate had bought me a while back, suddenly feeling so…exposed. What in the hell was wrong with me? I built up my confidence and stepped out of my car.

  “There she is!” I heard Timmy exclaim. On the shore, all of my friends were waiting for me.

  Immediately my eyes scanned the faces, looking for David. I beamed when I saw him rise and jog toward me.

  He picked me up and kissed me multiple times. “You look lovely, like you just stepped out of a magazine.”

  “Why thank you sir,” I giggled. “I was hoping you’d like it.”

  David looked me in the eyes. “I’ve missed you.”

  “I’ve missed you too.” I ran my hands through his hair.