Chasing Leah (Journey Series)

by Williams, C. A.

  Chasing Leah

  By C.A. Williams

  Text Copyright C.A. Williams 2012

  All Rights Reserved

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  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 1

  Leah

  "Leah, are you almost ready?" I hear my roommate and best friend, Ally, shout from the hallway of our brand new apartment, well brand new to us anyways. She knows the answer to that question almost better than I do. I sigh and slip on my new heeled black boots over my skinny jeans that add a little bit of height to my petite size and throw a black jacket on over my royal blue tank that Ally says matches my eyes perfectly and accentuates my chest, just what I need. Dab a little cherry red lip gloss on; straighten out my dark curls as best as I can and I'm ready, I guess.

  My door creaks open and in pops a blonde head with streaks, red this time, the color seems to change almost daily. Her outfit would look wrong on anyone except her, pink kitten heels with neon green leggings and a black leather mini skirt paired with some kind of rainbow top, I'm pretty sure she made using duck tape, but no one would ever know. She can pull off anything and she has the body for it too with her willowy figure.

  Ally has been my best friend since my first day of high school at Lairmont High, after my Mother of the decade ditched me with my 70 year old grandma for some guy named Tank and yes that’s his real name, I made a point to ask. He was one of her regular customers- translation, an alcoholic, what a winner. Just another guy in the long line I had seen coming and going through the years, including my father whose identity she was never quite able to pin down. The last image I have of my mom is her legs slung over the back of Tanks motorcycle riding down the dirt road my Grandmas farmhouse was on and she never looked back.

  "L? I know you really don't want to go, we could stay here and have a girls night, watch some sappy lifetime movies, paint our toes...," Ally looks at me with her big blue eyes, accented by neon green eye shadow, a huge smile plastered on her face. And I know she would be happy to do just that, but I promised myself I wouldn't ruin any college experiences together and our first party would definitely be on that list. I'm sure Ally has a real list actually stashed away in her room somewhere, each item just waiting to be checked off.

  “Absolutely not Ally. Just because I'm not a social butterfly like you does not mean we can't live it up." Drinking really wasn't my thing. After years of watching my mother stumble up the steps to our small one bedroom apartment that was located conveniently above the skuzzy bar she waitressed at, I just didn't see the appeal and normally had a three limit max if I did drink. Plus I had enough responsibilities to worry about.

  I still remember the morning that changed my life heaping even more responsibility onto my shoulders than was already there. I was the one who made sure rent was in on time, made groceries stretch as far as possible till the next paycheck came in, made sure the electric stayed on which did get turned off from time to time if Moms tips were low.

  I had been crunching on some stale cereal before getting myself off to school that morning in the tiny kitchenette that was crammed into the small space we had. I had scrubbed the heck out of the place when we first moved in two years before that, but there was no way to fix something that couldn’t be fixed in the first place.

  Mom came stumbling in still dressed in her barely there work “uniform”, if you could call it that, from the night before. Her jean cutoff shorts seemed shorter each shift she worked and she tried to see how tight her low cut tank tops could get, I think she had some kind of competition going on with the other waitresses there. Let’s see who could look the sluttiest, winner gets best tips and maybe a sleazy guy thrown in. Woohoo!

  “So,” she said as she lit up a cigarette and puffed the smoke of her Marlboro lights in my face. I scootched my chair away as far as possible. She had smoked ever since I could remember but that didn’t mean I would ever get used to the smell or that I had to like it. “I’m pregnant,” she blurted out with another puff of smoke, reaching for the box of cereal. I think I choked on my cereal a bit before looking over at her in disbelief well not so much disbelief I was kind of always waiting for this day. With all the men it was bound to happen. I just wasn’t ready for it.

  “So are you going to go to the clinic and get it taken care of then?” I asked wondering why she was being so nonchalant about the whole situation. I really wasn’t for abortion but I couldn’t see another human being brought into the world by my mother.

  “No I don’t believe in that. You’re lucky I don’t or you wouldn’t be here today.” Oh yeah that’s me the luckiest girl around, not sure where my next meal will come from sometimes or scrounging around the thrift stores trying to find something to wear that will make me fit in a little bit. But hey lucky girl right here. Mom wasn’t religious but apparently she had morals. Right.

  “Things are going to need to change around here but I’ll make it work,” she had said.

  And things did change for awhile. Enough for me to believe a baby brother or sister wouldn’t be so bad. The whole nine months she was pregnant she didn’t have a drink, at least when I was around to monitor her. I even got her to cut back on her cigarettes but she insisted at least two a day was fine, that’s what she had done when she was pregnant with me and I had turned out okay. The father of course wasn’t in the picture and I’m sure his identity was just as much of a mystery as my own Dad’s.

  Then the day of delivery finally came, moms water broke while she was in the middle of a shift and one of her customers drove us to the hospital. The minute I laid eyes on the soft brown curls and wide brown eyes I was in love with my baby brother Caleb. He was perfect. Mom not so much. How a mother could not fall instantly in love with her child, I would never know.

  Pretty much as soon as we came home from the hospital mom fell into her old routines again. Different guy every day, coming home well after her shift in the wee hours of the morning plastered. She barely gave any of her attention to Caleb, so I had to take over. Luckily Caleb was such a good baby and he slept most of the day when he was home with mom, even though I still worried that she wouldn’t take care of him while I was at school. And when I came home in between homework and studying, I was changing diapers and making bottles. My grades slipped a bit from the late nights and I often showed up barely able to keep my eyes open. A guidance counselor pulled me aside on more than one occasion and asked if there was trouble I needed to talk about but I wasn’t about to let that nosey woman know the situation at home. Even if Caleb was a lot of work, I still loved him and he was not going to be taken away from me.

  When Caleb was about three months old, mom piled the three of us up in her old beat up Honda and told us we were going on a road trip. I strapped Caleb into his car seat and packed up his diaper bag loaded down with formula, diapers,
and extra clothes. Mom said we would be gone for a few days so I brought along a duffel bag for myself too with a couple changes of clothes.

  When we pulled up the dirt road to an old farmhouse I had no clue where we were. Mom had never filled us in on where we were actually going. A woman with a shock of white hair pulled back severely in a clip met us out on the dilapidated front porch with peeling white paint and missing boards.

  “Um hi Mom, these are your grandkids, Leah and Caleb.” Mom? I didn’t even know my grandma was still alive, mom never talked about her but yet here she was about an hour’s drive away from us. Caleb started whimpering and I knew he was hungry so the woman who I guess I should start calling grandma led us into the kitchen. She and mom moved into the living room while I fed Caleb his bottle and patted his burps out of him until he fell back asleep.

  “Well Leah,” my mom said as they made their way back into the kitchen. My grandma was following close behind with a not so very pleasant look on her face like she had just swallowed a lemon. “I’m gonna take off.”

  “What do you mean take off?” I had asked quietly not wanting to wake Caleb back up. “I just need some time right now and I need it alone. I’m going to leave the car here with you if you need it, I know you’ll be getting your license soon so…” she had trailed off, dropping the keys in my hand. My license? My birthday wasn’t for another couple of months, how long was she planning on leaving us here? Who was supposed to take care of Caleb? What kind of mother would leave her newborn baby? Right as I was going to ask her all of the questions that were filling my head I heard a low grumble of an engine and mom quickly headed to the front door.

  After mom left we never heard from her again. I think grandma was under the impression that she was coming back but I heard her complain often about her selfish no good daughter. Grandma helped some but we were more of an inconvenience than anything. She did watch Caleb while I went to school and worked but she never warmed up to him like a normal Grandma would.

  I met Ally on my first day of my sophomore year at Lairmont High School. I wasn’t looking to make friends, I just wanted to get through school so I could make a better life for Caleb. Better than the one I had so far. But Ally kept worming her way in, stopping by the hardware store that I worked at, talking with me between classes and making me sit with her at lunch. I finally blurted out to her one day that I had a baby to take care of so I did not have the time to socialize. She didn’t even blink an eye over that though, flipping her blonde hair over her shoulder. “Well that’s cool, maybe we can hang out at the playground or get some ice cream then. Oh now I have an excuse to go to Chuck E Cheese.” She had said with a squeal.

  I was taken aback right away that she didn’t even question me about having a baby at 16 and I quickly explained the situation to her and broke the news that Caleb wasn’t quite old enough to hit up Chuck E Cheese and we’ve been best friends ever since. She always found ways to include Caleb in whatever we were doing and the James clan quickly accepted the both of us.

  “Let me just go over a few things with the sitter and then we can head out, ‘kay?”

  Ally had taken awhile to convince me that going off to college would work out even though I was bringing Caleb with me. Grandma didn’t even question me when I shoved the paperwork at her to sign over guardianship for Caleb to me. Ally already had our lease signed and a few daycares to go check out before she finally convinced me that even though I had Caleb I still needed the college experience and she would help me anyway possible.

  I had some money saved up and I quickly found a daycare on campus that would be convenient while I was at class and work. I had met with one of the teachers already and one of the helpers was actually who was watching Caleb tonight. I had never left him with a sitter before besides my grandma and that was only when I had to work and go to school. I felt guilty for leaving the little man when I would much rather stay home with him building leggos and drinking chocolate milk.

  I walk out into our living room where Clarissa and Caleb were busily putting a puzzle together. The whole apartment was already scattered with signs of having a three year old living with us with toys almost covering every surface. “Lee Lee, look at my puzzle,” he shouts out bouncing up and down on his tiny toddler feet. “Awesome buddy.” I ruffled his brown curls and smooched him on the cheek. “You sure you okay with me leaving?”

  “Yup I’m a big boy now, ‘member? Me and Rissa are gonna have fun. And Auntie Ally promised me cookies.” I look over my shoulder at Ally who was standing behind me trying to quiet Caleb down. I roll my eyes at her, she was always trying to spoil and bribe him, most of the time with cookies.

  “’Kay well be a good boy and go to bed for Clarissa. Love you.” I turned towards Clarissa who was sitting on the floor with Caleb, looking completely in her element. I couldn’t imagine watching kids for a living, Caleb was about the only one I could handle. “I should be back around 11:00 hopefully. Make sure he gets to bed by 8:30, I’m sure he’ll try to talk you into later though.” She giggled before pulling Caleb into her lap and tickling his little belly. “I’m sure he’ll pass out anyways, were going have loads of fun huh little buddy? Stay out as late as you want Leah. Have fun.”

  With one more kiss to Caleb and making sure Clarissa had my phone number, twice, Ally was able to shove me out the door.

  “Alright, alright. You have your phone. Nothing’s going to happen. Fun. Now.”

  Chapter 2

  Leah

  We pull onto the street that’s lined by fraternity and sorority houses, they're all so close together it’s like there’s one huge block party going on and everyone is in attendance. The whole car is rattling by the music flowing out of the open windows on the breezy August night.

  We had both been accepted to Indiana University at the beginning of our senior year, Ally would still be within driving distance to her family. She was granted with parents who gave a damn about her and her two older brothers, Owen and Ben. They had a truly awesome relationship that I was often secretly jealous of but we were also included in a lot of their family activities and her brothers acted like I was another little sister to have around, which was sometimes a good thing, sometimes bad, depending on the situation.

  Her dad also set us up with our new apartment instead of being stuck in the campus dorms eating ramen noodle soup and having to worry about catching athletes foot at the community showers. That was kind of a good thing too since I certainly wasn’t going to be allowed in a dorm with a three year old. I would still be able to visit with grandma too, but we never really developed a close knit relationship and I’m pretty sure she was more than happy to have us out of her hair.

  Even before we had a single box unpacked in our new apartment, Ally was out scoping the sorority scene. It was something she had always talked about getting into and of course she had. Tonight was sort of a big hoo ha before the semester started, a time for all of the new and existing members to mingle, more like a drink fest, but that’s what college is all about, right?

  Ally squeezed her Impala into an impossibly tiny spot, I'm pretty sure we ended up dinging the bumper in front of us. “Ready to party L? I need me a drink and a hot college guy to get the whole college experience, don't ya think?" Ally tosses her keys into my hands, the ever ready designated driver waiting to cart around her and whoever she decides to bring home.

  “Ok, just remember don't take any drinks from random guys, keep your phone on you so we keep in contact and please, please keep the noise down if you do make it home with some guy, ok sweetie?" Ally huffs out a breath, “Yes Mom! There was just that one time you heard me and Matt. Jeez, you make it out to be like I'm some kind of sex freak, they at least need to buy me dinner or something first till they meet the freak,” she turns and winks at me.

  Ally had been a frequent dater throughout highs school and even though she offered to babysit Caleb plenty of times so I could go out on dates, I always declined. I had plenty of guys asking me but
I knew how high school boys were, they wanted one thing. Sex. And I already had one baby I was taking care of I surely didn’t need another one and I would of rather spent my time with him anyways. I could date when I had a stable career and on my own two feet, giving the little man an awesome life.

  “But I told you we don’t need a bunch of random guys running around with Caleb in the house.”

  “I know Al but you can still bring guys home, just cause we’re there I don’t want to cramp your style or anything. I’ll just make sure to keep Caleb in our room, he won’t even know the difference.”

  “Whatever Leah,” she says with an eyeroll. “If the situation happens to come up we can always go to the lucky fellows place.”

  “Ally! You made it, now the party can begin!" I recognize two girls from Ally’s sorority as we enter through the door of the party that is already in full swing. A girl with long black hair and a short midnight blue dress that just barely covers all the goods, shoves two red cups towards us. "Just what I needed Tara, how did ya know?" Ally gulps down half her cup in one sip and points towards me. “Tara, I think you guys have met, this is my roommate and BFF Leah. Leah, this is my 'big' Tara, she’s in charge of showing me all the ropes of the sorority, keeping me in line and all that shit."

  “Nice to officially meet you, “I say as I wave my hand at the cup she’s offering. “No thanks. You really have your hands full with this one," I motion my thumb at Ally as I plop a big smooch on her cheek. Ally rolls her eyes at me, “You know you love me! You girls ready to dance?" I look around the ‘dance floor' which is a super small area blocked off by two oversized couches. Guys and girls all smooshed together, grinding and sweating all over each other. “I think I'm good for right now, I'm going to grab a drink. You girls go have some fun!"

  I weave my way over to the makeshift bar manned by a guy who looks like he was suckered into the job by the boredom that’s clearly running across his face. He perks up a bit as I walk closer to him and winks at me when I rest my elbows on the counter, “What can I get ya pretty girl?" Oh Mr. Suave over here. “Can I get a Diet, please?" He glances back at me with his eyebrows raised, “Nothing else?" I roll my eyes, “No some people have to work at 5 a.m." His lips creep up into a smirk, "Oh, I know how that is, I'm a runner so I always try to be up at the crack of dawn to get some miles in. I'm Gage by the way. Where'd you score a job at so quickly?"