“Eight?” I asked to be sure.
“Yes, which means we need to leave by seven-fifty. The spot is in The Hills.”
“Fancy,” I joked.
“Whatever. Just get your fancy ass up and start getting dressed.”
Lyric exited, taking the beam of light from the hallway with her. In the dark again, I plopped back down and rested my head on the pillow. This time, with my phone in my hand. There were several notifications, but before acknowledging them, I unlocked my cell and dialed my mother’s number.
“I was just about to call you,” my mother said when she answered the phone.
“Why? Is everything OK? Where are the girls?” Panic stricken, I jumped up from the bed completely, waiting to hear the delivery of bad news so that I could beat myself up over the decision to let the girls out of my sight for more than a few hours.
“Nothing is wrong, Ever. I told you the girls will be fine. You have nothing to worry about.”
“Then why were you about to call me?”
“To tell you that ole boy texted my phone today, asking if I’d heard anything from you yet.”
“And what did you tell him?”
“That you’d called me from a restricted line to tell me you and the girls were OK but you’d left him. I also told him that was about a week ago, and I hadn’t heard anything since.”
“Did he buy it?”
“Yeah. He told me he might’ve really fucked up this time and all I could do was agree. I also told him I’d appreciate it if he didn’t contact me anymore now that he knew that you guys werealright. That’s the only reason I made up the lie in the first place. He needs to stop calling me. I googled how to use that block feature, and I managed to block his number.”
“Good. He’ll call you restricted. Just don’t answer,” I instructed.
“Oh, I won’t.”
“You think I should come get the girls just in case?”
“Noooo. Nooooo. No. The girls are fine, and James is on alert. Dewayne shows up and he’d better hope the police can get to him in time after James puts one of those bullets in his ass.”
Chuckling, I couldn’t help but think of how ridiculous my mother sounded. James, my stepfather, was the perfect match for her. Aside from their cuteness, he kept her safe and took good care of her. He was the reason I decided not to stay with them. I didn’t want to put him in any unnecessary danger. Dewayne had no idea where Lyric lived or anything about her beyond the fact that we talked occasionally.
He was clueless to the fact that she had become my best friend and the first place I’d run to when I left him. That’s how I’d made sure it was kept in the event of an emergency, and I wanted to truly disappear. My mother’s house was the first house he’d suspect. That’s why I wasn’t there and was leery about the kids being there.
“I’m going to think about it, mom. I promised Lyric I’d get out with her this evening, but if I start to feel too uneasy about the entire situation, I’m going to come get them. It has nothing to do with me not thinking you guys will protect them but everything to do with the lengths that Dewayne is willing to go to cause me pain. We both know that he cares very little about our girls, but he’s going to try to use the fact that he’s their parent too against me. I’m just trying to keep them close because he is unpredictable.”
“I understand, Ever. But, I’d rather them be here, honestly. At least until you get yourself a gun or something. Not to sound insensitive, but he can overpower you, baby. We’ve seen it time after time. He can’t do that shit to a real man.”
“I’m not offended, mom. You’re just telling the truth and maybe you’re right.”
“They’ll be fine. He won’t come to my house and not be sent away on a stretcher. James has made that very clear.”
“Tell him I said thanks.”
“No need. He knows you’re appreciative, and he wants to do anything he can to help.”
“I’m going to go, mom. I need to start getting dressed.”
“Alright.”
“Tell the girls I love them and call me if you need me.”
“I will. Enjoy your night and pay attention to your surroundings.”
