Before I knew it Derek was guiding me from the restaurant. I thought I heard him apologize to the hostess at the front but I couldn’t remember if it was real. If it had actually happened. Everything around me was a blur. I kept the phone pressed to my ear as my mother cried hysterically. A memory pulled me from the reality of the present.
“Aiyanna, you can’t hide here. You know he will find you.” Kota grabbed my arms and tried to haul me from the alcove under the stairs.
I shoved him away from me and listened as my parents fought. “She is troubled because of how you treat her.”
My dad spit. “I discipline my children. There is nothing more to it, Hal.”
“You will not go up there and beat on her.” I could smell the alcohol from here. This wasn’t going to be a good night.
“I will do whatever I please, Hal. Move out of my way.” Something thudded against the wall and my momma shouted at him but I couldn’t understand what she was saying.
Before I knew what was happening I was yanked from the stairs. Kota forced himself into the shadows as much as his skinny body would allow. Dad yanked me into the yard and grabbed a stick from the ground. All I could hear was my momma’s screaming as the stick made contact with my legs.
“It’s going to be okay, Momma.” I tried to reassure her as Derek continued to guide me down the boardwalk to my car. I could hear him on the phone as we got into the car but everything was like we were in a tunnel. I couldn’t make out what he was saying. “Momma, you have to stay strong for Maze and the girls. Where is Maze?”
Somehow I managed to regain some of my strength and backbone. Vivian was the only one that had been able to get me out of a tunnel fit like this. One where I felt like I was drowning and I couldn’t escape.
“She’s in the hospital waiting room.” She sniffled into the phone. I didn’t think there was any way for my heart to break more but it did right there. My tattered broken heart was a mess and I didn’t know if it would ever be whole again.
“Where are the girls?” Maybe all the days working at the bar had helped me step into a leadership position.
“They’re with Islah.” She sounded better. Her voice wasn’t shaking anymore. This was progress. I sucked in a breath.
“I will be there,” I paused. I needed to book a flight. I pulled my phone away from my face to see that we were at my apartment building. I looked at Derek in shock.
He shrugged. “You have a flight leaving in about four hours.”
I blinked. “What?”
“Come on, you need to pack.”
He had scheduled my flight for me? I got out of my car in a daze. “Momma, I’ll be there in a handful of hours.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Derek
Jace-You going on a sexy vacation?
I ignored the text message. I had only asked for leave in case Aiyanna needed me and based on her current state, I would have said yes she did. But she continued to surprise me as a determined look took over her face and she marched around her apartment.
My phone dinged again.
Jace-I’m just messing around. I talked to Darren. You never take leave. Even the holidays. I’m worried about you. Does this have to do with Aiyanna?
I knew I couldn’t ignore him forever but I honestly didn’t know what the plan was. I had booked our flights together without thinking about asking her. I had just hoped that she would want me to be there. That she wouldn’t turn me away because her life was going sideways. I didn’t even know what happened but I knew her family needed her and she needed them. She finished her suitcase and was still flying around the room. I tucked her prized family picture of her and her adopted parents in her bag.
Something must have clicked inside her head. She rounded on me. “I can’t believe I am ruining this night for us.” Her face fell and her hands shook. She was close to breaking down, I could see it in her face.
I shook my head and touched her cheek with my thumb. “You aren’t ruining anything.”
“I wish I didn’t have to go,” Her voice broke. “I wish you could come with me. Screw relationship norms and what you aren’t supposed to do. I don’t want to be alone.”
It was all I needed to hear. I captured her lips with mine and she immediately responded in the way that was not appropriate for the mission we were on. I chuckled and pulled away from her. “Good thing I bought a ticket for myself, too, then.”
She blinked up at me like she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “What?”
“I did it before I thought about it. I have to leave in a few weeks for deployment and I don’t want to leave you when you need me most.” I sucked air through my front teeth. “I realized that maybe you wouldn’t want me to go so I waited for you to say that.”
