by Natasha Boyd
D'Andre was by my side as the door opened and David blinked up at us.
"David," I greeted him, my voice wobbling with emotion.
"Had a little outing, did we?" D'Andre said and took David's other arm as he used us to leverage himself out of the car.
"I'll be right back," I told the driver. "We'll just get him inside."
David blustered. "I can walk by myself."
"That's for dayam sho," D'Andre muttered. "You walked yourself right outta this joint."
We accompanied him through the front doors. The alarm started blaring from his anklet, so we coaxed him farther in and away from the sensors. The officer went and conferred with Penny, presumably to be assured they could cancel the Silver Alert they were about to issue.
I stepped in front of David. "D'Andre's going to take you up to your room, okay? Then I'll be right up to see you."
"Okay." David smiled, all relaxed, like we all just came back from a fun afternoon at the freaking zoo.
I smiled tightly, hugged him, and headed out to the driver, scratching around in my purse for some cash. How much were you supposed to tip a guy who transported the most precious person in your life to safety?
"If you're looking to tip me," the driver said, "Mr. Montgomery already took care of it."
"Oh." I stopped. "Are you sure?"
"Yes ma'am. I'm instructed not to take it anyway. Your grandfather, is he? He's an interesting guy. I enjoyed the ride. I'm Bobby, by the way."
"Thank you, Bobby," I told him, not bothering to correct him about my relationship with David. I put out my hand, and he shook it.
"No problem," he responded with a grin. Then he gave me a card. "In case you ever need wheels. I'll be in the area for the next hour, then I'm headed into the city anyway. If you needed a ride." He headed back to the driver's side, opened the door, got in, and pulled the car away from the curb.
I was left standing there wondering how immense my owed favor was to Trystan Montgomery. I didn't like feeling indebted, but I was so grateful that if the guy was in front of me at that moment I'd hug him for an eternity and have a hard time letting go. Mostly due to aforementioned gratefulness, but also because I remembered him smelling really, really, good.
And now to add it, he was a freaking hero in my eyes.
* * *
As soon as I'd seen David settled, I'd gone back outside to sit on the steps outside and breathe calmly or the first time in what felt like forever. It had been less than ten hours since I'd first learned David was missing, but it felt longer. I logged in to my bank on Trystan's web browser to make sure I had funds for a hotel.
The closest option would be to stay in one of the hotels near JFK. But damn if I didn't want to stay in the city tonight. It had been years since I'd spent any time in Manhattan. After the day I'd had, I would walk toward Times Square, buy a single scalped ticket to Springsteen on Broadway, and lose myself for three hours before collapsing into a hotel bed.
"Son-of-a-bitch," I hissed out loud, straightening up as I saw my bank balance. Never mind a hotel and a show, I could take a week-long Caribbean vacation for the amount of money deposited in my account.
As soon as the shock passed, I felt the rise of immense irritation. God. I already felt in debt to him, and now it was worse. He was throwing his money around. Either he didn't value money, or I was his charity case. Both scenarios made my stomach turn.
A text popped across the top of the screen. Armand letting me know Trystan had arrived to rent my place, and I had to remind myself that while he may be overpaying, he was in fact renting my place. That part wasn't charity. Rescuing David, maybe, but I could explain away the rest of it.
"You okay out here?" D'Andre's voice made me jump. "Oops sorry, didn't mean to freak you out."
I smiled up at him, and he joined me on the top step. "Sorry. In my own world. What a day."
"What a day, indeed. So how'd you get the limo hookup?"
"Well." I blew out a breath and held up the cell phone. "That was cell phone dude's doing. Life works in mysterious ways. The most annoyingly inconvenient thing that's ever happened to me led me to "not meeting" this . . . guy, who ended up being the one to pretty much save David."
D'Andre's eyes were wide, his eyebrow cocked is disbelief.
"Believe it," I said. "David called Trystan Montgomery on my number, and Trystan somehow convinced David to stay where he was, have something to eat, and then get in a limousine to come here." I shook my head. "I honestly don't know how I'll ever repay that debt."
"Maybe it's not meant to be paid," D'Andre said thoughtfully. "I mean sometimes things have a value beyond, you know? Maybe you just pay it forward."
"I guess."
"Sounds like a good guy though. Maybe you two should actually plan to meet for real."
"Ha." I let out a nervous cackle. "One minute he's soooo . . . everything. And the next he acts like a prick. I don't know who I'm going to get. And I can already tell from all these many, many dating apps," I brandish the phone out in front of me, "that this one runs a mile from intimacy and commitment. Two things I value above everything else."
"Everything else?" D'Andre teased.
"You laugh," I said seriously, "but I'd settle for bad sex as long as I had intimacy and commitment."
"Girl, you must have dated some assholes."
"Probably," I agreed. "But mostly no one whose character's been worth settling everything else for."
"Now, I don't call myself a dating expert," D'Andre said, his voice taking on a higher pitched preaching tone. "But I'd say what that dude did for you today showed his character."
I squinted. "Don't," I complained. "I'm already crushing hard on the dude. Please don't give me more reasons to. I need less reasons."
"Well, he keeps doing shit like today? Girl, you in trouble."
The setting sun chose that moment to streak rays between the buildings. I raised my hand to shield my eyes.
"Are you clocking out?" I asked, noticing he was out of his scrubs and wearing designer-looking jeans and a lightweight jacket.
"Sure am. I'm headed into the city to see Logic." He shook his head side to side, his bright smile contagious.
"Your idol."
"You know it. I got a friend with a hookup at the club he's playing. I may get to meet him after, you know?"
My eyes widened. "That's awesome."
"You wanna go? I could get you in. I'm going with a crew. It's real. You'll love it."
I laughed. "I was thinking earlier I'd love to go to a show, but I was thinking more along the lines of Bruce Springsteen. You probably don't even know who that is."
D'Andre reeled away from me, his hand on his heart. "Baby girl. Stop it. You hurtin' me. I grew up in Jersey, yo. And that guy? Those are some lyrics right there. He may not be street, but he's talking the same shit."
"Never thought of it that way. David was a fan. Is a fan. I don't know. Anyway, I grew up knowing all his music."
"Well it's not Springsteen, but you'll have a good time. You in?"
"D'Andre, be serious." I laugh and look down at myself, straightening my jean clad legs out in front of me. "I'm not dressed for a club."
"Look. I ain't hittin' on you. But you hot. Just, like, put some makeup on or some shit."
"Stop it. Tell me about your YouTube thing."
He leaned back on his elbows. "Been rappin' and posting my lyrics. On Instagram too. I have followers, not many, but it's been cool. I just like need a big break, you know? Like if I get mentioned or picked up by another YouTuber it'd go big you know?"
I thought about my little phone hacker friend and his YouTube channel, though I didn't know much about what he actually did. While I thought about it, I dug out his card. "This guy." I showed it to D'Andre. "Know of this guy?"
"Xanderr? Shit, yeah. He's a gamer but, like, he's pretty famous."
"Is he?" He had seemed pretty cocky, but then I wasn't around a lot of the current crop of teenagers. And not famous eno
ugh not to be stuffed into economy class next to me. Then again, that was probably his parents doing.
"Wait, you know him?" D'Andre asked.
"Not really. Well. A bit, I suppose."
"Whoa." D'Andre leaned back and looked at me with increasing respect. "Would you send him a link to my channel?" he asked. "Or . . . man, he lives in New York, right? Does he want to come out tonight and see Logic? I can hook him up too. Then I could meet him."
"He's young. Like sixteen or something. He probably can't get into a club."
"For real? Damn."
"I can ask."
"Call him. Call him, right now." D'Andre elbowed me. "Pleeeease?"
"Fine." I rolled my eyes with a smile and dialed the number on the card.
It rang twice.
"Al?" I asked. "Alex?"
"Who is this?"
"It's, uh, Emmy." Silence. "From the plane. With the phone . . . situation." I winced.
There was a muffled sound, then an expletive, then a deep breath.
"Emmy, girl. Sweet Emmy. How are you?" His voice came out calm and deep like he was pretending to be super relaxed.
I laughed silently. "Great, actually. How are you?"
"Can't complain. Back with the old man in the Big Apple. You get your phone sitch sorted?"
"Nope. Still have that guy's phone."
"Dude. You must have sweet talked him."
"Ha. Well, anyway, the reason I called is I have this friend, D'Andre. He's a musician. A rapper."
D'Andre nodded approvingly.
"A poet," I added, and D'Andre put a hand to his chest in thanks.
"Yeah?"
"He has a YouTube channel. The only other person I know who has one is you, and I don't know how these things work, but I thought maybe you all should connect. You might like his stuff or . . . something."
"Give it to me, I'll look it up right now."
"Oh, uh sure." I gestured wildly at D'Andre. What's the link? I mouthed to him. He pulled it up on his phone, his face hopeful, and I read it out to Alex.
"Cool. Cool," Alex said. "Just gonna give it a look and listen, back in a mo."
There was silence on the phone, and I imagined him slipping on those massive earphones of his.
"He's listening right now," I told D'Andre, who jumped to his feet and paced back and forth in front of me.
"Calm down," I told him.
"I need a paper bag," he said.
After a few minutes, Alex was back. "I need to get hold of this guy."
"Oh, uh." I looked at D'Andre who had both hands covering his mouth. "He's standing right next to me. I'll give you his number."
"Extra. Put him on, will you?"
I held out the phone to D'Andre who looked at it aghast.
"He wants to talk to me?" he whispered.
I nodded.
He took the phone and cleared his throat. "This is D'Andre. Yeah, sure." He got his own phone out of his pocket and typed something into it. Then walked back and handed me Trystan's phone.
"Is this happening?" D'Andre asked me, looking nervous.
I smiled and shrugged.
The phone in his hand buzzed, and he answered, walking a few feet away along the sidewalk. It must have been good news based on the size of the grin he was wearing.
Remembering Armand's text, I decided to get hold of Trystan. Dude had some explaining to do about the price of a two-night rental in Charleston. I wanted to call him but didn't want to risk getting barked at if he was in the middle of something. Instead, I texted him to make sure he’d settled in and found clean sheets.
A response came back almost immediately.
* * *
Suit Monkey: Settled in fine. Thanks. How's David?
* * *
Can I call you? I typed. I refused to thank him via text, it was too big.
* * *
The phone rang immediately with an incoming call. Suit Monkey. My heart jumped to my throat as I hit "Accept."
20
Emmy
Trystan," I greeted him as soon as it connected.
"Yeah."
There was a beat of silence and I rushed to fill it. "I wanted to thank you. I never got a chance to do that after you found David. So, thank you. Officially. Thank you."
"How is he?"
"Fine. Thanks to you. I—I don't know how to thank you," I rambled.
"It was nothing. He called me, it was easy at that point."
I let out a breath. "Thank you. I mean it."
"You've now thanked me four times. Stop it." But suddenly I heard him smiling through his words, and inside I relaxed.
"How was he?" he asked.
"He was fine. Better than fine. Apparently you bought him dinner, discussed business and told him there was a car and driver waiting on him?"
"All that was true." He laughed. "He's a smart man. I enjoyed chatting with him. Anyway, did you ever find out what happened?"
"Not really," I confessed. "I mean he had money for a cab, and honestly, I think he took it from my purse because I realized this afternoon I was missing sixty dollars in twenties. I just don't know when he might have done it. And I can't imagine him stealing from me."
"And his anklet? He didn't set off the alarm?"
"We don't know what happened there. He was wearing the anklet, and Penny Smith, the administrator, swears the alarm sensor is working. But maybe the power was out or something. It's a mystery."
"You could sue, you know?"
It wasn’t like in my worry-crazed hours earlier today those thoughts hadn't crossed my mind, but now . . . "You know, apart from this incident, they've been pretty great. And his one main caretaker, D'Andre, well he's pretty awesome. I fear he could lose his job if they had to scapegoat someone. I don't think it was negligence. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if they got the blame for something they couldn't control. Besides, I'm not sure it would be worth it anyway since he's okay. Accidents happen."
"Well, he's safe. That's what counts."
"Yes."
"Have you thought about moving him somewhere closer to you?"
I pursed my lips. "Yep. Of course. Unfortunately, it's a little complicated, but somehow I'll have to figure that out."
There was a long pause, and then I thought of him in my house while I sat on a dirty set of steps on a dirty sidewalk. "Are you at my house?" I asked.
"I'm actually in your bedroom," he answered, and my stomach experienced a weird dropping sensation.
"I'm sorry you have to get the bed ready." I talked over my reaction, trying to ignore it. "I should make it a rule to never go away without changing the sheets and tidying my stuff away first. Just in case."
"In case you have a stranger to stay," Trystan said. His voice had an odd timbre to it.
"You don't . . . you don't feel like a stranger anymore," I said honestly, and my stomach hollowed out as I made myself vulnerable. "You feel like a friend. After today, you feel like a friend."
"Yeah. A friend." Trystan cleared his throat. "So, now you have David back, do I need to sleep on the couch? Are you coming home?"
Be in the same house with him? My insides flipped over. I'd be far too nervous to even breathe with him in my space. Trystan Montgomery was . . . a presence.
"No," I answered him. "I cancelled my flight. I guess I'll stay. Besides I want to see David tomorrow and see if he has any recollection of what he did today. It was too hard to talk to him when we got him back this evening because he was tired. He gets more confused when he's tired."
"So, is he, like, your uncle? Grandfather? I've been trying to figure out the family relationship."
"It's a head-scratcher for sure." I smiled. "He's my adoptive uncle. Random, right? I was in foster care until I was legally adopted by my foster parents. Unfortunately, he's the only family I now have left. I guess that's why he's so important to me. I just . . . don't want to be without family again . . . alone again. What a selfish way to put it." I laughed deprecatingly at myself. "
That's not the only reason, obviously. It's also because I adore him. He's a pretty cool guy. I miss the man he used to be."
There was a long silence.
"Trystan?" I asked. "You there?"
"I'm here," he said, his voice thick. "And to think I spent the last fourteen years avoiding the family I have."
My throat closed as I tried to swallow. I wanted to ask why. How could anyone not want a family? Or rather, what could a family have done to make someone not want to be with them? And I thought of the funeral and wondered if Trystan had regrets, causing something uncomfortable to twist in my chest. "I'm sorry, Trystan," I managed, finally. Because what else could I say?
"Don't be." I heard him take a breath and let it out long and slow. "Before I forget, your work number called several times. Did you tell them you're not coming back?"
"Ugh, I'll call Steven, my boss. He's just throwing his weight around. There's big pitch tomorrow I was supposed to be at."
"If you're as good as you say you are, he's probably panicked you won't be there to win the business for him."
"Ha. You're probably right. Well, maybe he'll learn to appreciate me more."
"So where are you going to stay tonight?" He changed the subject. "Can you go back to your rental?"
"I think I'll have to find a hotel. But on that note, you paid me way too freaking much to rent my place."
"I asked around what I'd be paying during Spoleto to rent a one bedroom apartment in downtown, and sorry Emmy, but that's the going rate. Apparently you should have been charging more."
"Trystan, something tells me you hear what you want to."
He laughed, a low rumble of thunder. "Yeah. That's probably true. I usually get what I want too."
"I don't doubt it."
"What I want right now is for you to call me back from a nice, safe, cushy hotel in a nice neighborhood so I can relax."
"You worried about me?"
"Emmy. You have no idea. And frankly given that I didn't even know you three days ago, I apparently have no idea either. It just is. So take my advice, okay?"
"I was going to stay near the airp—"