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“Then what did you whisper in her ear?”
“Something extremely inappropriate.” He smiled nonchalantly.
“Which explains why you whispered,” I muttered to myself as he helped me walk without spraining my ankles.
“You’re a funny drunk.”
“I’m not drunk! I’m just… Everything’s kind of in…sloooowwwww… motion.”
“I’m sure.” He laughed. “Hold on to me. I’ll carry you once we’re out of the club.”
??
A warm breeze danced through my hair when we stepped onto the city street. In a couple of months, it would soon be summer. I felt abnormally feverish. Drinking all that liquor had spiked my body temperature.
“I’m parked underground,” Evan said. “I’m gonna carry you now, okay?”
I nodded and let him scoop me up in his arms.
Reaching the parking lot, I was expecting to see his Impala, but it surprised me to find a black motorcycle in his parking space—a Harley Davidson model.
“Can you hold on to me?” Evan placed me on my feet and handed me a helmet.
“Yes!” I was excited to ride on the back of his bike with him, but nervous at the same time. “Wait… you won’t get pulled over for a D.U.I. since I’m not sober at the moment?” I tried not to sound so drunk, though my question was stupid.
“No, but you can get charged with public intoxication.”
“Oh. Well, that’s a shitty deal.”
Evan took off his blazer and helped me put it on. “It’s gonna get windy on the road.”
“What about you?”
“I don’t need it. You can keep me warm.” He smiled.
Sitting on his bike, he gave me one last glance. “Hop on and hold on to me—nice and tight, okay? Don’t let go.” He put on his helmet before I heard a thunderous retort. The engine was alive and revving. I wore the spare helmet he gave me and sat astride behind him, hugging his waist. This was going to be one hell of a thrill ride.
CHAPTER FIVE
Ghost Girl
The apartment was dark and quiet that night as Natalie lay beside her snoring husband. She was wide awake. Despite her constant nagging to get him to do something about it, his weight gain had not helped his condition. Folding a pillow over her ear, she tried to drown out the incessant noise, but the disruptive sound kept vibrating her eardrums. Feeling frustrated, she pulled back the covers and got out of bed. There was a five second pause before the wheezing sound started again.
My life is so miserable,Natalie depressingly thought, walking down the hall.
She checked on Terry and Tiffany and then headed toward Aria’s old bedroom. Rob had wanted to throw out his stepdaughter’s things so it could be turned into a guestroom, but Natalie had fought him on the subject and rejected the idea. They rarely ever had any guests over, anyway. She had made him promise not to touch anything, hoping her daughter would move back in.
Switching on the lamp next to Aria’s bed, Natalie sat on the white comforter. Through her absence, she found it strange to come home and not have her daughter there watching over the twins anymore. She felt bad for placing a lot of the house chores and babysitting duties on Aria. If Rob had made more of aneffort to help, her daughter would not have had to take on so many responsibilities.
Staring at the chipping paint on the wall, Natalie remembered that horrific night when Robert had lost his mind with rage and received a brutal beating from Noah. Aria had had to move her dresser to barricade the door, which explained why the paint had scraped off. If Rob had got his hands on her, there was nothing Natalie could have done to stop him. He always overpowered her in arguments, especially when things got physical. Someone always ended up with bruises if they retaliated against him.
“I feel like such a failure,”she said to herself, tearing up.
Natalie could have easily wiped her tears away, but she knew she couldn’t wipe the painful memories that plagued her mind. At every corner, she saw her daughter’s pain within those walls; walls that did not speak but hid many secrets.
Last November had not been the only night that Rob had terrorized her daughter. Aria had endured a lot of verbal abuse and countless beatings at the hands of the man who was supposed to love and protect them…including the mother she fiercely protected. Natalie used to spank, verbally abuse, and hit her often as a child—covering her mouth with her hand to obstruct her airways when she would cry as a toddler. But Aria had blocked out most of the trauma to survive her toxic home environment. It was too terrifying to vilify her mother. It was easier to shift all the blame on Robert since his episodes of rage were more frequent. He had a list of shortcomings and had failed to fulfill his fatherly duties with Aria.
Natalie was aware of her husband’s family problems. He had been a child of divorce, and when his mother remarried again, she had neglected him and nurtured her stepchildren more. This seeded an ugly resentment within Robert, which explained thereason he was so cruel to Aria. In his eyes, she was a walking trigger.
