Page 23 of Shade
They listen. For once.
When Tiller’s gone, I remain with my back pressed against the wall and stare at the message again.
I couldn’t save myself, but I can save you.
Adrenaline hits my chest like a punch to the heart, incapable of seeing a positive outcome from this. I breathe in slowly through my nose, my pulse raging. I know what it means. I do. I may not want to believe it, but my gut tells me I know.
My first call is to Auden because he lives ten minutes from her apartment. Maybe he can get to her. Maybe he can stop her from what she’s about to do.
He answers on the third ring. “What’s up?”
“I need you, man.” My teeth clench, and I feel them grinding against one another. “Can you go check on Rhya? She’s not answering my calls.”
Auden groans into the phone, his breathing heavy in annoyance. “Dude, it’s not the first time she’s hasn’t answered your calls.” There’s a flick and spark from his lighter and then his slow inhale. “She’s probably high and fucking someone,” He laughs on the exhale, but it’s not amusement.
You’re seeing a pattern here, aren’t you? Everyone knows these are Rhya’s tricks with me, but my heart, my aching chest, it’s telling me otherwise.
“When was the last time you checked on her?”
He inhales another drag of his cigarette, his voice muffled as he holds the breath in. “The other day. She was high.”
Figures. My neck bends forward, a slow regretful shake to the stiffness constricting it. “And not today?”
“No.” He chuckles; it’s condescending in a sense, and I don’t blame him. Can’t. This is fucked. “Kind of busy here.”
“Doing what?” I’m not sure why I’m asking. I know what he’s doing.
I hear noise in the background, words from someone I can’t make out. “Trying to get my fuckin’ dick wet, jackoff,” he snaps back. “Some of us actuallyhaveto work at it.”
It’s a jab at me, and though he’s my best friend, I usually don’t let him get away with talking to me like that. But I suppose I’m asking a lot of him tonight.
My jaw clenches and unclenches. “Christ, man. Can you go just go fucking check on her, Auden?”
He growls into the receiver, and it’s then I hear a woman’s laughter in the background. “I will, later. Twenty more minutes isn’t going to make a difference, ya impatient fuck.”
It might. He doesn’t know that.
Do you see my palms sweating? Do you hear the sharp intake of my breath? It’s all a window into the chaos of my mindset.
My mind races with possible outcomes and if she has the nerve to do what I think she’s going to do. I could call Reece. He’d go back to her apartment, but deep down, something inside me knows that whoever goes to her apartment now could find her dead. The last person I want to see that would be Reece. They’ve been through too much shit in their lives with their dad.
Next I try Ricky, my uncle. He’s known Rhya just as long as I have. Hell, he’s practically a father to her too.
8:39 p.m. That’s when my chest constricts for some reason. A rush of blood leaves my heart, and I gasp involuntary, unknowingly to what moves through me in that moment.
In a panic, I text Ricky.
Me: Where are you?
He replies instantly.
Ricky: In LA. Everything ok?
Me: It’s Rhya. I think there’s something wrong with her.
Ricky: Ok. Need me to go check?
Me: Yeah, if you can.
