Standstill

by Nicole Dykes

  “Hold please.”

  A gruff voice answers, “Detective Morrison.”

  “Yeah, this is Dylan Monroe. I got a message that you called.”

  “Yes. I’m very sorry to tell you this, especially over the phone, but your father, Daniel, and his wife, Sylvia, were involved in an accident this afternoon.”

  What the hell! “Are they okay?”

  “I’m sorry, they were both pronounced dead at the scene.” I sit down on my bed to stop the room from spinning and shake it off long enough to ask about my next question.

  “Um, what about my brothers and sisters? Are they okay?”

  “The youngest, Gabrielle, was in the crash, but there were no physical injuries. The other three were not in the vehicle.”

  I let out a small breath of relief that my siblings are okay. “Where are they?”

  “Right now, they are in the care of social services, but that’s temporary, and we are hoping you can come and get them right away.”

  My dad and his wife, Sylvia, were both only children, and their parents are all long gone. I’m the only family the kids have left. “Of course, I live in Oklahoma City, but I’ll find a flight or drive there, whichever is quicker.”

  He gives me the contact information for social services to call when I get into town. I need to talk to Jax and get on the road. When Jax sees me coming into the living room, he notices right away that something is off. “What happened?”

  “My dad and Sylvia are dead.”

  “Shit, man. I’m sorry. What happened?”

  “Car wreck.”

  “Are the kids okay?”

  “Yeah, I have to get to them.” I take a seat on a bar stool at the kitchen island that separates our living room to discuss my leaving for a few days. I know we have some new clients coming in.

  Jax moves back to the couch and picks up his laptop. After a minute, he looks over at me, “No flights until tomorrow. We driving?”

  I stand up. “Yeah, but someone has to take care of the garage.”

  He grabs his keys and heads for the door. “I’ll call Joe on the way. He’s capable of watching over things for a few days. Let’s go.”

  I don’t argue and just follow him to his truck. With Jax behind the wheel, I don’t worry about driving. I know life as I’ve been living it is about to get blown wide open. It’s going to be a long five-hour drive to Kansas. We’re clipping north up I-35 when Jax finally begins talking. Damn, this is going to fuck with his life, too.

  He’s my roommate, and there’s a high probability that I’m getting stuck with four kids. “Do you want to talk about it?”

  Okay, not what I was expecting. I continue looking straight ahead. “About what?”

  He’s watching the road as he continues, “Well, how about the fact that you haven’t talked to your family for three years. You’ve got to be freaking out about this a little.”

  I shake my head. “Nope, don’t want to talk about it.”

  He nods his head. “Okay, so do you think you’ll be raising your brothers and sisters? I mean, you are their only family, right?”

  “Yeah, I don’t know. I really don’t see my old man wanting me raising his other kids. I’m sure they have a family friend or something.”

  “I don’t know, man. Sylvia was big on family. So, let’s say you do get custody of them, what’s going to happen?”

  At the moment, I’m having too much trouble trying to process what’s happened to give a clear answer. “I don’t know. I just want to get there, make sure they’re okay, and then play it by ear.”

  He nods, and we spend the rest of the trip making small talk about the shop, which keeps me from having to worry about seeing my brothers and sisters after three years of radio silence. They must hate me, if they even remember me. We arrive in Overland Park, which is a large suburb of Kansas City. It’s five in the morning, so I give the contact number a try. I learn from a recording the office doesn’t open until nine. We decide to find a hotel and get some rest.

  Jax falls right to sleep after the long drive, but I’m staring at the fucking ceiling with a million damn thoughts going on in my head. I don’t remember much about my mom since she died of a drug overdose when I was five. My dad had married Sylvia when I was ten. They immediately became a baby factory. First came Luke, followed by Cassie, Michael, and Gabby. I gave Sylvia shit in the beginning, but she stayed tough, and eventually won me over. She’s the only one I’ve talked to in the last three years after shit went down with my dad.

  My phone alarm finally goes off at eight forty-five in the morning. At social services, we meet with a frazzled woman. After I tell her my name, she tells me how sorry she is for my loss. I nod. “Thank you. I need to see my brothers and sisters.”

  “Of course.” She flips through the huge pile of papers on her desk until she pulls out a file that’s labeled “Monroe.”

  “Ah, okay. There’s some paperwork you need to fill out, and I need to get a copy of your ID. After that, we can pick up your siblings.” Finally, after the paperwork is complete, Jax and I follow her to a house across town to get the kids. I’m a nervous fucking wreck. Shit is about to get real.

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  Prologue of MISBEHAVED

  Cash

  "YOU FUCKING BITCH! GET BACK HERE!”

  Shit. My heart pumps faster than it ever has in the seventeen years I’ve been alive. My lungs burn as I breath heavily, and my legs quickly carry me up the rickety, old stairs of the rundown house.

  Please be okay.

  I burst through the door to see the piece of shit with his hands on my girl.

  She kneels with her back pressed against the wall in a desperate, defensive pose, hands up, begging him to stop. A drop of blood forms on her split lip. Her beautiful, angelic face is bruised and swollen. A nasty purple bruise in the shape of his hand circles her right bicep. His hands, which should have been comforting and protective, have only caused terrible pain.

  Her head lifts slightly, green eyes meeting mine, the horror written in them. Beth. We’ve known each other since we were kids, growing up in our small hometown of Ryland, Texas. It’s a town where everyone knows everyone, although few are matched souls.

  But we are. We clicked, our lives destined to always be intertwined. I’m never far away from her especially since I found out her father is an abusive, alcoholic son of a bitch.

  I’ve begged her to let me handle him, for her to leave with me and never return. But she refuses to abandon him. She swears he was a good father until her mother died when she was eight-years-old.

  Beth is unlike most people. She sees the world differently and forgives easily. She insists that grief can overtake someone so completely that they spin out of control and can't come back.

  While I believe that may be true, that doesn’t mean this prick is excused for his actions, not by a long shot. And this is going to end one way or another tonight.

  His hand, split open from the impact with Beth’s face, has a twisted death grip on her dirty blonde hair. I hear my own voice growl, “You better think through your next actions real fuckin’ carefully, asshole. Let. Her. Go.”

  A sole tear slides down Beth's pummeled cheek. “Cash, please go.”

  I don't address her. There's no need. We both know I’m not going anywhere. Her father—and I use the term loosely because this asshole is no father —releases her hair as he turns, a snarl on his chapped, dry lips. “And what the fuck are you going to do about it, you little punk? You have nothing, and you are nothing.”

  I can smell his putrid, alcohol-soaked breath from where I stand. I don't answer him, my eyes drifting to Beth as I walk to her, holding my hand out. “Come with me.”

  She doesn't move, frozen both in fear and infuriating obedience to him. I try to soften my voice, but my words come from a tensed jaw and are strained by between them, and I’m fully prepared to carry her a
ss out of here if need be.

  His eyes widen, and I sense movement behind me before I feel her hand on my side. Her small body leans into mine as we stand united, and her voice sounds foreign as she shakily says, “I’m leaving.”

  Her father glares at her with utter contempt. “No, you’re not. You’re a minor. You’re my property.”

  I square my shoulders. “I’m sure the police would beg to differ, especially when they see your handiwork.” I gesture to her face, and she grips my hand at the mention of the police. I squeeze her hand gently as I address her father, “But I don't think you want to get them involved.”

  He's mulling that over as he looks at his daughter. “He will only bring you heartbreak.”

  Beth slowly pulls out of my grasp, which kills me. She floats across the room to him. Her hands grip his shoulders, and she looks him daringly in the eyes. “I love you, daddy. But I won't live my life like this anymore. I’m leaving.” She frees herself from his shackles as her hands leave him. She turns to me, reaching out. “Let's go.”

  My eyes lock with hers in admiration. There’s the Beth I know. Fierce and strong. I walk to her, but my blood still boils as my hands grip her father's collar. Before she can stop me, his body is slammed against the sea foam green wall, and my face draws dangerously close to his as I glare. “Stay away from her. No matter what. You got a pass today, but she is done with your poison. No. More.”

  I let go of him and walk to Beth. I take her hand and lead her away from this life. I don't look back, but I notice her glancing quickly over shoulder. I grasp her hand tightly until we reach my old, beat-up car.

  Standing at the passenger door, she looks up at her bedroom window. “Cash, what are we going to do now?”

  He's right. I’m a foster kid, still in high school with only a part-time job working for Sonny at the local tavern. He’s more like a father to me than a boss. I don’t even know who my biological father is. “We’ll figure it out, Beth.” I wrap my arms around her small body. She buries her face in my chest as my chin rests on top of her coconut-scented hair. “Sonny has been teaching me the ropes at the track and has been chatting up his old friend Mitch about me. The old guy thinks I’m going somewhere big, and I’m starting to believe him.”

  Her beautiful, watery eyes lift to meet mine, and the smallest smile forms on her lips. “You’re destined for greatness, Cash.”

  “I’m taking you with me, Beth. Wherever I go, you’ll always be with me. And I’ll always take care of you.” Her lips meet mine as her arms wrap around my neck, and she holds onto me. No matter what life throws at us, there’s one thing I know for certain. She’s my soul and will forever own my heart.