It was Belle’s handwriting.
Softer than the moonlight,
More soothing than the waves,
Of all the places he can kiss,
With his eyes, and his lips graze,
The touch of our hands,
The rush between my toes,
A breathless sigh of ‘I love you’,
The way I wrinkle my nose,
And everything else you say you like,
I take and hold so tight,
Just the same as you hold me,
On that secret, shhhh night.
I looked up from the paper.
“Well?” Miss Whitaker asked.
“It’s good,” I said.
“You’re missing the point,” she said. She grabbed another piece of a paper and read it out loud. Stars, they shake and fall. We spin, and spin, and spin, and… my hair, in my eyes.” She looked at me. “It’s all so… about you. And her. And if you tossed some sketches to it…”
“What?” I asked.
“Just think about it,” she said. “It can become something. You draw what she speaks. Or she speaks what you draw. It’s really powerful.”
“I just wanted to meet up with Belle,” I said. “Not get tied into a project.”
“This isn’t a project. This is what she wants. And she’s this close to getting it.”
“She can draw it herself,” I said. “I’m not stealing her moment.”
“Then give her the idea,” Miss Whitaker said. “Give her a hint. Some tips. Some ideas. See where she takes it.”
“I’ll think about it,” I said.
I put the piece of paper down on Miss Whitaker’s desk and hurried to get the hell out of the classroom.
I looked down the hall and saw Belle.
We pointed at each other.
“I was looking for you,” she said to me.
“I was looking for you, angel. I had to listen to a sales pitch from Miss Whitaker. She wants me to draw stuff for you.”
Belle cringed. “I told her not to say anything about that.”
I touched Belle’s face. “Is that something you want?”
“I don’t know yet,” she said. “Who even cares about this? I wanted to see if you heard anything yet today. From your father.”
“Nothing,” I said.
Belle slid her arms around me. “I’m so sorry, Ash. This is making me sick to think about.”
“Me too,” I said.
I heard a whistle and looked back to see Hil and Uly racing down the hallway.
“What’s happening now?” I called to Them.
Hil looked at me with a big grin. “You’re going to miss the fight, bro.”
* * *
We went outside to the parking lot and a small group was gathered in a circle.
We pushed our way to the front because we were Them. No fights were going to happen unless we said it was okay to fight.
When I saw Aaron and Ryan, I groaned.
“This is going to be good,” Uly said.
“Tell them to fight, Ash,” Hil said. “I’ve got my money on Ryan. Aaron is too emotionally involved to put up a good fight. He’ll blow his load in a minute.”
“I’m pretty sure Ryan’s the one who’s been blowing his load,” Uly said.
“Yeah,” Hil said. “Into Aaron’s girlfriend.”
They fist bumped.
Aaron looked at me.
He was hurting.
Bad.
I shrugged my shoulders.
“This is what you want?” I asked him.
“I’m going to fucking kill him,” Aaron said.
“Go for it, man,” I said.
Aaron ran toward Ryan.
And Ryan stood there like a man, hands down, nodding.
He knew to take the punishment.
I had a little bit of respect for him for that.
Aaron tackled Ryan to the ground and started to unleash punch after punch to Ryan’s body and face. All Ryan did was block his face though. He didn’t punch back once.
“This sucks!” someone yelled. “Fight back!”
Aaron grunted and growled as he hit Ryan a bunch more times before finally standing up. He looked down at Ryan and spit right on Ryan’s forehead.
“Looks like you lost your own bet,” I said to Hil.
“Just watch,” Hil said.
I looked at Belle and she had no expression.
I was used to her trying to talk sense into these kinds of situations, but she was getting used to it. This was how things were settled.
It wasn’t always right or fair, but it had a purpose.
Aaron stepped back and nodded. “Get the fuck up, you pussy.”
Ryan propped himself up on his elbows. “You want to talk about pussy? I can tell you a story…”
“Fuck you,” Aaron yelled. “I’ll kill you.”
“Then do it,” Ryan said. “You fucking let her get hooked on those pills. She was going to die because of you, man.”
“What did you just say?” Aaron asked.
“I got tired of watching it,” Ryan said. “You needed Them to bail you out. No balls, Aaron. No fucking balls. Or at least that’s what Jasmine said to me.”
Aaron rushed to Ryan again.
Ryan kicked at Aaron to stop him.
Then he jumped to his feet and made fists.
“Here we go,” Hil said.
They went at each other with a wild force.
Trading punches that sounded really fucking hard and painful.
Belle grabbed my arm and squeezed tight.
“This is serious,” Uly said to me.
“Yeah,” I said.
Meaning this was going well beyond Jasmine. And it also meant that Ryan had a thing for Jasmine that went beyond screwing her behind Aaron’s back.
Fucking girls… fucking love… it was always a messy thing.
Ryan got a wicked hit on Aaron that sent him spinning back.
I elbowed Uly. “End it soon, man. Nobody needs to go to the hospital today.”
“Where are you going?” Uly asked me.
“Away from here,” I said.
I heard another punch as I took Belle’s hand and we walked through the crowd.
Everyone got out of my way.
When we were a little bit away from the fight, Belle stopped me.
“Say something,” she said. “Your eyes, Ash, I can see it in your eyes…”
I touched her face. “I just have to get out of here.”
“I’ll go with you then. Where are we going?”
“I have to go talk to my father.”
Chapter 9
I made Belle stay at my place.
And I drove up to the mansion alone.
When I entered the massive house, I heard my father from the kitchen.
It was his favorite place to talk and scream on the phone. His voice carried all around and it was close to the fridge for a drink. And food.
Even though he had a room that was just whiskey.
He told me that was his serenity room. No business allowed there.
As I entered the kitchen, my father threw his phone to the floor.
Then he stomped on it.
Then he picked it up and threw it against one of the windows, cracking it.
“Samson!” Vanessa yelled at him.
He turned, anger flooding his face.
Just the sight of Vanessa was enough to calm him.
She walked from behind the counter and handed him a glass of whiskey and touched his chest.
She kissed his cheek and whispered something to him.
My father nodded and Vanessa walked away, leaving him and I alone.
“Was that one of those calls looking to sell you insurance?” I asked with a smile.
“Not funny,” he said. “Now I need to call someone to fix the fucking window.”
“I’m here to talk to you,” I said.
“So, fucking talk,” he snapped.
�
��Pull the stick out of your ass first,” I said.
That got his full attention on me.
He stepped toward me, slipping his hands into the pockets of his suit pants.
“Tough guy, right?”
“Got you to look at me.”
“You could have called me.”
“Seeing as you just threw your phone into a window, I don’t think calling would have worked,” I said.
“Smart ass.” My father sipped his whiskey. “It’s already done, Ashby. Done.”
“Done? What’s done?”
“He’s out,” my father said. “Fucking asshole got out.”
“What?” I asked.
I felt my heart climbing into my throat.
“You heard what I said,” my father said. “This was all happening while I was in London. Nobody fucking called me. Not a single fucking person said a word to me. By the time I got the call it was too late. And now he’s walking. Gone. Out. A free fucking man. Think about that, Ashby. A free fucking man.”
My father threw his whiskey glass to the floor.
I walked by him to the window.
I looked at the cracks in the glass.
From where I stood, I could just see where the horizon of the sky met the ocean.
And I could still see my mother looking back at me, telling me to get out of the SUV. My weight was just enough at that moment to keep us both from dying. And when I got out of the SUV…
And the guy who caused all of that was a free man.
A free fucking man, as my father said.
“Now I need another fucking drink,” my father growled.
I made a fist with my right hand.
And I finished breaking the window with punch after punch.
* * *
I peeled the towel off my hand and my knuckles were bloody and raw.
“There’s probably glass in there,” my father said.
“I’ll wash it out.”
“It’s going to cost more for the window now,” he said.
I looked at him. “I’ll write you a check.”
“Do you even know how to write a check?”
“I’ll pay cash,” I said.
My father looked at me. “You really want to push at me right now, Ashby?”
“I’m not pushing at anyone. Am I not able to see you? Talk to you?”
“Since when do you want to talk to me?”
“You called me… about the situation…”
“Situation,” he said. “Right. That’s what this is? A situation?”
“What are we going to do?”
“We?” my father asked with a laugh. “We aren’t going to do a thing, understand? You’re going to walk out of here and go live your life. As normal. Whatever it is you do. Just as long as I don’t get a phone call from the police or fucking Bay Falls High. Got it? And for me… I’m going to do the real grown up things.”
I curled my lip. “Oh yeah? That’s the big plan? And what are the grown up things?”
“Making calls, Ashby,” my father said. “Showing up to offices. Houses. Find out how the fuck that piece of shit got out.” My father made a fist and hit the counter. “How the fuck is he walking as a free man right now?”
“I thought he was put away for life,” I said. “How does that change? And so fast?”
My father looked at me. He swallowed hard. He shook his head.
“What?” I asked.
“He was never put away for life, Ashby,” my father said in a calmer voice.
“You told me…”
“You were a kid,” he said.
“Meaning?”
“Meaning I told you that to protect you.”
“You lied to me.”
My father shook his head. “Don’t go down this road.”
“We’re already on the fucking road,” I said. “And I’m not leaving until I get some answers.”
“Oh yeah? You want to do this right now, son?”
“Yeah, I do,” I said. “Tell me the fucking truth.”
I faced off with my own father.
I honestly wasn’t sure how things would play out if a fist was thrown. If I would actually hit my own father. Or if he would hit me. Or what would happen after…
From the corner of my eye I saw Vanessa enter the kitchen.
She looked around at the broken window and covered her mouth.
“Don’t worry, it was just me,” I said.
I showed her my right hand.
“Ashby,” she said. “Are you okay?”
“He’s fine,” my father said. “Don’t fall for this routine.”
“Not a routine,” I said. “I’m getting the answers I want. Just like you always taught me to do.”
“What’s happening here, Samson?” Vanessa asked.
“Can you get me another drink, my love?” my father asked. “My other one fell and broke.”
I backed away from my father.
Not submitting to him but throwing some respect toward Vanessa.
Then again, she was tough too. She could probably take my father the same way I knew Belle could take me.
She poured my father a drink and he took it from her without even looking at her.
She stared at him with a mixture of anger and worry.
“Please,” she whispered. “Whatever this is, it can be figured out. There’s a way to talk.”
“I just want the truth,” I said. “Because as far as I knew, this guy was gone for good. Put away for life.”
“You were a fucking kid,” my father growled.
“Meaning you lied to me,” I said. “You knew all along he was going to get out. Or at least have the chance of it.”
My father looked at Vanessa.
She reached for his hand.
The happy couple.
I wasn’t exactly happy at the moment.
My father wouldn’t even look at me.
“He wasn’t charged the way you think,” my father said. “I stacked as much as I could against him. I made sure every favor I could call in I did. I walked an ethical line that got my ass in some trouble. I almost lost my license to practice law. I wasn’t even supposed to be involved in those kinds of cases. But with this guy… what he did…”
“I know,” Vanessa whispered to him.
I walked forward to the counter.
“What does that all mean?” I asked.
My father looked at me. “After the accident…”
“The murder,” I said.
“Ashby…”
“The murder of my mother,” I said.
“She made sure you survived. Do you remember that?”
“I remember every detail of that day,” I said. “Right down to what she was wearing. Her hair. Her eyes. Her smile. She assured me it was going to be okay. And to get out of the SUV. As the fucking thing dangled over the edge of that cliff. Just waiting to fall. And when I climbed out… and it fell…”
My father jumped up and put his right hand to my face.
His nostrils flared.
His eyes went wide.
“Samson,” Vanessa said.
I grabbed my father’s hand and tore it away from my face.
“If you told me the truth it could have been different,” I said.
“No, that’s not true,” he said.
I walked away.
Before I got through the kitchen archway, my father cleared his throat.
“The nightmares, Ashby. That’s why.”
“The nightmares?” I asked.
“You had nightmares. Every single night. I couldn’t even get a second to grieve my dead wife. You were afraid the man who caused the accident was going to come back and push you off a cliff. That was your nightmare. Sometimes you said you saw your mother flying through the air. Like an angel. But then a car would fly through the air and hit her. That’s why I said what I said. I had to tell you he was gone forever so you could move on. And anytime there was a sniff of him getting out, I stepped in and
took care of it.”
“But not this time,” I said.
I kept walking.
I heard Vanessa whisper something along the lines that it was all going to be okay.
But Vanessa was a typical fucking lawyer, lying through her teeth.
* * *
The last thing I wanted to see was everyone.
And that’s what was waiting at my place.
Everyone.
I saw Mara first, sitting on the top porch step, reading a book.
She looked up at me and her face turned white.
“I’ll go get Belle,” she said.
I must have looked pissed off or something.
When Mara went inside, Hil came rushing out.
He jumped off the porch, skipping all the steps.
“Talk to me, bro,” he said.
He put his hands to my shoulders and I shoved him back as hard as I could.
He didn’t fall but came damn close to it.
“Ash!” Belle’s voice yelled.
I looked at her.
She was the angel. She was my angel.
But she looked scared.
“What happened to your hand?” Hil asked me. “Did you punch the old man finally?”
I kept my eyes on Belle.
She walked down the steps.
I heard Uly’s voice say ‘What the fuck is wrong with him now?’ as he and Mara came outside too.
Belle approached with caution but when she touched my face, the world felt a little lighter. A little better. It made a little more sense.
“What happened over there?” Belle asked.
“Bro, we’re all in your corner here,” Hil said.
“If you need to blow off steam, we can find someone to take down,” Uly said. “Especially after watching Ryan and Aaron go at it. Throwing those weak fucking punches like they were.”
“I want to know why Mac was here,” I said. “I want an answer to that. That’s what I care about right now.”
“That’s bullshit,” Hil said.
I moved my eyes to Hil. “That was my answer. Find out why Mac was here.”
“What does that have to do with anything else?” Uly asked.
“Just listen to him,” Vera said. “He knows what he wants. Let’s give him and Belle some space.”
I looked to Vera.
I nodded to her.
She winked back at me.
Belle and I went inside.
ASH: a bay falls high novel Page 9