“You’re welcome. Don’t get out on your own. I’m sure you’re more than capable, I’d feel better being near, at least,” I say before I’m out the door. She makes a hum as a response, and I call it good. Rory will more than likely crash after her shower. I’m also going to offer her some over-the-counter pain reliever, and maybe by then, we’ll hear something from Jude.
My mind is frazzled. I bounce from one area to the other, gathering things here and there, forgetting what I need, and have to backtrack. I grab my phone off the couch and look at the screen with a fleeting glance. There’s no message from Jude, so, either no news is good news, or he’s yet to have a chance to text. I say a little something to keep everyone involved safe and go check on our girl.
Once I’m back in the bathroom, it doesn’t take long to get Rory out, dried off, dressed, and her hair brushed. The proof of her crying is written in her bloodshot eyes. Then there was the sniffling, and I really wanted to pull her into my arms to hug her. But she’d been through way too much. Added with the vibes rolling off her, I could more than sense any type of affection wouldn’t be well received.
Now we’re in the living room. I’m sitting on the couch, and the television is on. Flashes of different colors light up the screen, and the volume is as low as possible. When I asked what Rory wanted to watch, she shrugged her shoulders in a non-committal answer. I scrolled through channel after channel until she made a noise when I landed on a cartoon. So, we watched it while she ate a few crackers, took the two pain relievers I dropped in her hand, and downed a bottle of water.
The adrenaline dropped shortly after she relaxed. A pile of blankets is surrounding her. The weight and warmth all around her made her breathing deepen, along with soft snores, as her head is propped up on a pillow on the other end of the couch.
I pick my phone up, worry settling deep in my bones with every minute that goes by that I don’t hear from Jude. I’m about to pull up our message thread to ask for an update when I hear the garage door opening, and I breathe a sigh of relief. As much as I’d like to move from my place on the couch, it might be impossible not to jar Rory when I move. She has her feet on my lap, and anytime I had to readjust to get comfortable, I’ve felt a slight twitch from her. I’m not used to sitting in one place for so long unless it’s on the floor to play a video game.
I’m at war with myself yet again. Do I wake her up to tell her Jude’s home, or do I remain quiet and sit still. The choice is taken off my hands when Rory pops up, and she’s tackling the covers off her body when she hears the door close behind a devastated Jude.
“No, no, no,” Rory chants over and over again, hands covering her face, turning into herself. Jude goes right to his sister and scoops her up in his arms, holding her tightly without saying a word. The only way to describe the scene before my eyes is total devastation. Tears form, and no matter how much I try to blink them away, nothing stops them from sliding down my cheeks. I can hear the soft murmurings coming from Jude.
“She’s gone. I’m so sorry, Rory, so fucking sorry.” The hushed tones echo throughout the living room. I stay still, watching as this utterly strong man tries to get himself together. His walls are slowly crumbling, and nobody, not a single person in this world, would blame him for allowing himself to cry.
“It’s my fault. I left. I ran away,” Rory’s tone is one ofanguish as she attempts to pull away from Jude, using her fists to pound at his chest. He lets her get it out. What he doesn’t do is stop holding her.
“Rory, she told you to come to me. She told you to get away. She was protecting you, doing the best she could to make sure you were safe. Don’t take that away from her.” I can tell he’s not getting through to her. I’d expect nothing less. Nobody in this situation is going to listen to anything when their whole world has been taken away.
“God, please, no,” Rory wails in between sobs. Jude starts slowly rocking her in his lap, making shushing noises, and through it all, he remains the pillar of strength for his sister.
21
JUDE
“Is she asleep?” I ask Ronnie when she walks through the bedroom door. Rory went from my arms to Ronnie’s after twenty or so minutes. My sister wasn’t calm by any means, and I almost called Luke, the doctor of our group, to see if he’d make a house call. Then I thought better of it. He’s an obstetrician/gynecologist, the chances of him having a sedative on hand were probably slim to none. I watched the two of them walk to the guest room together, Ronnie’s arm wrapped around Rory’s waist and my sister’s head tucked into the crook of her shoulder.
“Yeah, I put some nighttime medicine with a drink on the nightstand, and she asked for me to keep the bedroom door open,” Ronnie replies, walking toward the bed. She drops her shorts to the ground and crawls under the covers. “Are you coming to bed?” She might make it sound like a question, but there’s no denying Ronnie wants me in bed with her, and while I’m sure sleep won’t comeeasy to me, I’ll lie there with her even if it’s with my eyes wide open. We both need something good to hold on to tonight.
“Foxy, there’s no other place I’d rather be.” I slide in beside her. She instantly turns into my body. Her cold nose touches my neck, and the palm of her hand goes to the tattoo I had inked on my skin for her.
“Promise me, Jude. You’ll talk to me or somebody when you’re ready. I don’t want to push or ask a million times if you’re okay or what’s wrong.” I place my hand over hers, giving it a soft squeeze while thinking about the right words to say.
There’s so much we have to talk about. Picking at the scab that is my father and the thought of bringing him up when we’re in bed unnerves me to the core.
“I will, but it won’t be tonight. Too much has already happened today, and I’d rather shut my fucking mind off for a little bit.” There’s no bark to my response, more along the lines of a bone-deep weariness has set in. I’ve yet to give Rory or Ronnie the full details, only that our father has been arrested, and an investigation is underway. The next few days are going to be rough as hell on Rory between statements that need to be given and packing up clothes and shit from Bobbi’s apartment, which I will not be allowing my sister to enter, and then there’s figuring out what Rory would like to do for her mom’s final resting place.
“Alright.” I play with the tendrils of Ronnie’s hair, feeling her body relax, and while I’d love nothing more than to fall asleep right along with her, it seems like an impossible task. I probably should get up and check on Rory, check my phone for any messages I could have received. Then there’s apart of me that’s ready to hack into the government system to see what they’ve done with the abusive, murdering piece-of-shit man. But before I can make that decision, my eyes fall closed, and somehow, sleep takes me under.
I’m tossed into a nightmare, the same one that always plays on repeat when they come in the middle of the night. It’s of the last time I saw my father when we lived under one roof together. I’d never call it a home. That would require it to be happy, a place where you can get your fill of food and be provided for in a way that you didn’t second-guess your existence in life. Mom had already taken off, or that’s how it seemed. After tonight’s events, I’m wondering what really happened, since any time I’ve searched for any type of digital footprint, I haven’t come up with a damn thing.
Dad came home rip-roaring drunk, looking to fight, berating me about something unintelligible, but what I did hear was how he told me I was worthless, how I’d turn out to be just like him, and that’s when I started wailing on him. The anger he accused me of having burst out of me. For every punch he sent my way, I sent it right back. By the time everything was said and done, my cheek was fractured, my knuckles were beyond bloody, and I had a few broken ribs. Dad didn’t fair too well, either, but he managed to take off in his truck, and I dragged my ass to Tysen’s.
“Jude, honey. It’s okay. I’m right here.” Ronnie’s voice pulls me out of the past. My eyes open, my breathing settles, and I’m instantly wrapping my arms around her body.
“Need you, Foxy.” My body trembles as I settle Ronnie on her back. Her thighs immediately bracket either side of myhips. The only thing in my way of sinking inside her tight heat are the shorts I’m wearing.
“Then take me, Jude.” She doesn’t have to tell me twice. I’m about to back away, which fucking sucks because her body completely pressing against mine feels indescribable.
I want her to see what she does to me.
I want her to feel how my body loses control with one touch of velvet skin.
I want my touch to be so permanently ingrained in her that she’ll always feel me.
“We have to be quiet,” I whisper huskily into her ear when she wraps the palm of her hand around my dick, stroking the length up and down while drawing her thumb in slow caresses against the cum gathering at the tip.
