I waited. And waited. And waited. This time I really did laugh when she made me wait an entire fucking hour before responding.
R u ready 2 act like a grownup?
I dialed, and she answered on the second ring. “Baby…” I said, because what else could I say?
Kenzlee let out a sad, exhausted laugh as she said, “You’re such a fucking asshole, Talon.”
I smiled. “I know,” I agreed because I wasn’t a liar. “But you love me, regardless, right?” She was so quiet, I thought she hung up on me again, but it was a few seconds later I could make out the sounds of her crying. “Awe, baby…what’s wrong? What happened?”
“My…my dad, Talon,” she whimpered. “He…he…”
My stomach started to churn, and I had a horrible suspicion whatever happened it wasn’t an unfortunate accident. “What happened, White?”
“He…he…oh, Talon,” she cried, and I let her keep on crying. I wasn’t going to rush her. After a few more tears she got it out. “He…he killed himself yesterday.” The last part was said on a whisper and my entire soul hurt for her. Kenzlee already lost so much with losing her brother and her life as she knew it, this wasn’t what this sweet girl needed right now. Or, hell, ever. No one needs to experience a suicide.
“I’m so sorry, White,” I whispered over the phone, hating how helpless I felt. “Is there anything I can do, baby?” I knew there wasn’t, but the question needed to be asked, anyway.
“I wish you were here,” she sobbed, and I’d never hated the circumstances of my life as much as I did in this moment. If I had money, I could be there with her. If Edie’s future wasn’t so goddamn vital to getting her out of our neighborhood, I could use some of the money I saved for her to buy a plane ticket and be there for Kenzlee.
If I was more than what I was, I’d be doing what I’m supposed to be doing for the woman I love. But because I was no better than every other poor kid trying to make it, I couldn’t be. I vowed to take care of Edie and my mother, but with them, things could only go up. What I did for them could only help them.
Kenzlee?
Kenzlee was already on top. She didn’t need anyone to help her up.
I cleared my throat. “I…I’m sorry I can’t be there for you,” I replied like a little bitch.
“It’s okay, Talon,” she assured me.
But it wasn’t okay. Not in the least.
Chapter 20
The decisions we regret.
Talon~
Ispent last night just listening to Kenzlee cry over the phone and the entire experience had been brutal. Several times I had wanted to say ‘fuck it’ and use some of Edie’s money, but it was just too much of a slippery slope to start on.
I’ve been saving everything I could from the very first fight I ever won, and I only used some of the money if things had been dire at home. I had made a commitment with that money and I had never steered away from its intent. If I started rationalizing reasons to spend it, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if Edie ended up struggling in college because of my selfishness.
Now, it was Wednesday evening, and I had to make do with random texts throughout the day letting me know Kenzlee was doing okay. School had been brutal, and I couldn’t tell you anything about what I was supposed to have learned today, but Alex took pity on me and she tried to calm me as much as she could with details about what she knew. However, I had already known most of what she was telling me, anyway. Kenzlee had told me their plans last night.
Because her father had shot himself in the head, her mother had opted for cremation in a small, quiet affair. She was so concerned about appearances, she told Kenzlee that if he were cremated, no one could prove he had committed suicide. When Kenzlee had pointed out that it was public knowledge on the news, her mother actually told her she could spin it off as gossip and misinformation. I knew her mother was a piece of work, but Jesus…
The service was this morning, and their attorney was going to read her father’s will this afternoon to where Kenzlee would be home tomorrow sometime. It hadn’t been until she assured me she’d be home tomorrow that I started to calm a bit.
Glancing at the clock in the kitchen, I was putting the finishing touches on dinner when my phone rang. I grabbed my phone and answered it, dinner forgotten. “Kenz?”
I could hear the soft smile in her voice. “What are you doing?”
“Making dinner,” I answered. “What’s going on with you?”
She was silent for a bit and the bottom of my stomach fell out with irrational thoughts of her telling me she wasn’t coming home tomorrow, after all. She finally spoke, and her words hollowed me out worse than if she had told me she wasn’t coming home. “I’m…I’m at a hotel,” she muttered.
I was instantly alert. “What are you doing at a hotel? Why aren’t you with your mom?”
Kenzlee cleared her throat a bit. “We got into a fight,” she replied.
