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I slipped my phone into my back pocket and followed Zada and Reggie to Zada’s car. Reggie had driven his bike, a black and white motorcycle with the wordsBig Poppaon the side, so instead of climbing in with us, he kissed Zada on the lips and walked away.
“So, we’re going to Waffle House for an early breakfast. Want to go, or do you want me to take you home?” Zada asked, pulling away from The Strip and heading down the dark road we came in on.
Reggie was behind us, the sound of his engine humming into the night around us.
“Who is we?”
Even though I surprised myself by enjoying my time at The Strip, I still felt overwhelmed by the number of people who surrounded me all night, and I was alone in the car with Zada.
“Just me, Reggie, and a few others. Not a big crowd. You should come. You had fun tonight. I could tell.” She reached out and palmed my knee, giving it a shake.
She was right.
I had fun.
I grinned in her direction and nodded. “Okay. I’ll go.”
We didn’t have to drive long before we pulled in the broken parking lot of a small building trimmed in yellow. Considering how little the place was, the lot was spilling with cars.
Once inside, the smell of bacon filled my senses. The Waffle House was an experience. Since we moved to Georgia, I had seen quite a few Waffle Houses, but I had never been inside of one. The food smelled amazing, but you could feel the grease in the air.
We sat in a booth, and a girl I had seen earlier around The Strip slipped in beside me. She was curvy with shoulder-length dark hair and several facial piercings. She turned toward me and smiled.
“I’m Erin.”
“Everly.”
She nodded and snatched a menu from the table.
Zada turned and chatted with a group in the booth beside us, so I grabbed a menu as well and picked through the food. For a place named after waffles, they had a list full of delicious things. I ordered a patty melt and a coke, and I had to admit that once I bit into my food, I was pleasantly surprised.
The group around me chatted loudly as the place continued to fill with drunken people recharging with breakfast after a wild night out. I stuck to my small corner of the booth and tried to disappear. Zada was sure to keep me in the conversation, asking questions about Seattle occasionally and making me speak in front of everyone. Thankfully, my Valium held up long enough to get me through the rest of the night.
Zada dropped me off a little past four am, and an empty house welcomed me. My mother seemed to have a busier social life than me these days, which didn’t say much. It was nice that she was reconnecting with old friends, but the changes in her were jarring.
My brother being out was no big deal anymore. We had once been close, but the divorce had split us, and he had lived one way, and I had lived another. I loved him, but his sense of entitlement had only gotten worse since Dad passed.
I turned on the lamp by the front door, thankful I had been smart enough to leave on the kitchen light. The rest of the place was pitch black, and it was nerve-wracking coming home to a dark place alone. Tossing my house keys onto the table, I locked up and went straight to the bathroom to shower.
My hair smelled like smoke and burnt rubber, and my skin felt greasy. I scrubbed the dirt away and washed my hair twice, and then I stood beneath the hot water with my eyes closed. Flashes of the skull’s glowing green eyes behind the skull handkerchief would flash, and I would have to shake the hurt and anger away.
Who did he think he was speaking to me that way?
One thing was for sure; it was going to be a long while before I let Zada talk me into going to The Strip with her, even if I did have a fantastic time.
With a towel wrapped around me, I left the steamy bathroom and went to my bedroom. Since I was home alone, I shut and locked my bedroom door before I picked through my dresser for pajamas. Once I got settled in bed, I did what I did every night before bed. I talked to my dad.
“Tonight was fun, Dad. I made a new friend, but you wouldn’t have approved of the place she took me. I promise I didn’t do anything bad, though.”
I imagined how he would respond to that.
You’re the smartest one in the family. You’ll always make the right decisions.
My father had been the only person in my life who saw me, and now that he was gone, I was always invisible. Except for tonight, the skull had looked at me, and his glare had brought me to my knees.
There was so much anger and pent up rage in that one. I would listen to Reggie’s advice and stay as far away from him as possible.
“I miss you, Dad. God, I miss you so much,” I whispered, catching a tear with my finger when it slipped down my cheek.
