Breaking down a hurrican.., p.41
Breaking Down a Hurricane (Confession #2), page 41
part #2 of Confession Series
“My fingernails. After you left—I didn’t realize I had done it—”
“These are from your fingernails?”
I give a quick nod.
“You dug your fingernails into your skin?”
“Not on purpose—I didn’t realize what I was doing until it was already done.”
He closes my hands, and kisses the tops of both of them. “Don’t do this, Eva. Don’t hurt yourself over me.”
“Bodhi, I already said … I didn’t realize I was doing it.”
“I know,” he calmly responds. “I heard you, but you hurt yourself because you were mad at something that happened between you and me. You can’t do that, and if I have to sit there and watch you after every single argument we have for the rest of our lives, so I can make sure you don’t ever do this again, then that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
“You would really do that?”
“Of course I would.”
I sit fully up, staring down at this perfect person. “How do you see past all my faults so easily?”
“What faults?” he smoothly replies.
“I have faults.”
“So do I.”
“Mine are more difficult to look past.”
He sits himself up. “It’s simple. I love you.”
“It’s that simple?”
“To me it is. I love you. And when I think about those years without you, or that moment I thought you were gone forever, or any time you’re standing there giving me that furious glare … I realize every second I spend without you in my arms is a second I’m wasting in a life that doesn’t guarantee us extra chances. It’s why I came back tonight, because no matter how pissed you were at me, I couldn’t let the night end without this,” he tugs on my t-shirt so I fall onto his chest. “Without you in my arms.”
I move my lips gracefully over his, as I run my hands along his stomach. “I was calling you when you knocked on my balcony.”
“Oh yeah?” he grins.
“Yes,” I push him down and he lifts his arm, waiting for me to snuggle into the spot I claim most nights. “Because I couldn’t end the night without this, without you holding me.”
His fingers start moving along my collarbone, slowly and deliberately. His own personal way of silently saying it’s time for bed. He plants a soft kiss on my temple, and then trails smaller kisses down to that soft below my ear. “Always, babe,” he then whispers. “Even when your hurricane winds blow me off track for a little while, I’ll always come back and hold you, exactly like this.”
chapter thirty-eight
Bodhi – Friday morning
Idon’t know about you,” Beck says as he starts his truck, “but I’m really happy this hurricane isn’t going to be as bad as they thought. Yesterday, Dolly and Gramps were talking about making me stay in Flagler to help board up the restaurant.”
“Shit, bro,” Coop pats his shoulder. “We would have taken Kennedy for you. No reason for her to stay behind.”
“Thanks,” Beck rolls his eyes, turning onto A1A. “Really feeling the love. Damn. Look at the surf,” he points out the window. “Those waves are massive.”
“Hurricane Tammy, making her appearance,” Coop nods. “Downgraded to a category one or not, she looks like a bitch.”
“I’m just glad they canceled school today,” I chime in from the backseat. Beck’s truck has the most space for us to squeeze in six bodies, so we’re taking it to the lake house this weekend. Coop and I helped Beck out at Dolly’s last night, so we crashed at his house. The girls stayed at Eva’s and gave us prompt instructions on what time to pick them up this morning. We’re surprisingly right on schedule
“I still can’t believe we’re doing this,” Coops hits the dashboard. “I mean, Mr. Calloway might just be my favorite dude on the planet. To think we hated him for most of the summer, and now, he’s sending us off for a weekend unsupervised at his lake house.”
Beck turns to look at Coop. “You might question if maybe he has some sort of ulterior motive, sending his daughter away with her boyfriend and friends for the weekend?”
I start laughing. Beck has always been the smart one when it comes to the three of us. “You caught on to that?”
“Caught on to what?!” Coop shouts in a panic.
Beck looks at me through the rearview mirror. “I caught on to it the moment the two of you disappeared onto the dock, left us on the boat for ten minutes, then came back announcing we should go away for the weekend.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?” I ask.
He turns onto High Bridge Road. “Because I’m not stupid—”
“What the hell are you two ass-wipes talking about?!” Coop cries out.
The truck climbs over the drawbridge. “Shit. I’ve never seen it like that.” The Halifax looks like rushing rapids of angry, murky sea water due to the storm surge. “We’re definitely getting out of here at the right time. High Bridge will be flooded by tonight, for sure.”
Coop throws his hands up. “Who cares about the goddamn water! What the hell were you two talking about?!”
“Henry Channing’s getting arrested this weekend,” I bluntly say. “We’re going to the lake house so that in case shit goes down, we’re not here to get ourselves in trouble.”
Beck nods his head. “Figured it was something like that.”
“What the goddamn hell?!” Coop whacks the window. “Why can’t we ever be normal?!”
I lean forward, roughly rubbing my hand on his head. “Embrace it, Coop. This is our life.”
“I am not embracing this shit,” he hits my hand away. “I will take part in each and every festivity and chaotic moment you throw in front of me, but I’m not embracing this as my life.”
I wrap my arms around his neck, pinning him to the headrest. “This. Is. Your. Life.” Then I plant a fat kiss on his cheek.
“This is your life!” he squirms, trying to get out of my arms. “I’m just your sidekick!”
I release my hold on him. “I like that. My sidekick. You my sidekick too, Beck?”
“Can you have more than one?”
“Sure.”
“Count me in.”
Coop forms a triangle in the air. “Goddamn triangle, we meet again.”
I roll my eyes. “Let’s have fun this weekend, okay? I just want to forget about everything going on. I want Eva to forget about everything going on—”
“Just tell us, boss,” Coop turns in his seat. “Tell us what you want to accomplish this weekend, and we’ll make it happen.”
“Top three?” I question.
“Top three,” he nods.
“Lots of beer, lots of food, lots of sex.”
“Ahh!” Coop cries out. “My ears! Goddamn, Bodhi! I assumed you’d be shacking up with Eva this weekend, but shit, did you have to give me a fucking visual?!”
Beck’s laughing as he turns down Eva’s street. “Remember when you wanted to talk about our sex lives while we were at Hayes’ party? What happened to that Coop?”
“He’s here,” Coop shakes his head. “Praying Bodhi packed enough condoms …”
“We don’t use them,” I stare out the window and announce.
Coop jerks his head in my direction. “You don’t use them?!”
“Calm down, bro. I told you Eva’s on birth control. She has an IUD. It’s ninety-nine percent effective, which is higher in effectiveness than a condom, may I add.”
Beck pulls down Eva’s driveway. “What percent is a condom?”
“If used correctly? Ninety-eight.”
“How do you know this shit?!” Coop loudly questions.
“I’ve done my research.”
Coop’s hand rests on Beck’s shoulder. “You and Kennedy use them?” he quietly asks.
“Yeah man. Kennedy’s on the pill, too. I think that makes us well over one hundred percent covered.”
“You okay with your one percent chance of failure?” Coop turns to me and asks.
I shrug my shoulders. “I’d marry Eva today if she’d finally say yes, so if our one percent chance of failure ends up actually happening, no doubt in my goddamn mind it was meant to be.”
Beck puts the truck in park. “How can you be so calm when you say that?”
The girls walk out from Eva’s garage door. She leads the way, her hair hanging down past her shoulders, wavier than normal, which means she let it airdry after taking a shower. She has on tight ripped jean shorts, and a black halter top that shows off the skin of her flat stomach and tanned arms. The sun shines down on her as she walks out of the shadows, illuminating the streaks of red mixed in with the black of her hair.
She’s a fucking goddess.
I point to her. “Because I’m one hundred percent certain part of my soul is in that body right there. I’m not scared of the unknown because I have her, forever.” I open the door and step out, walking right over to where she is. Eva gives me a nervous smile as I get closer. My hands go to the bare skin of her lower back, and I breathe in the scent of her shampoo as I push her into me. “Everything okay?”
She nods into my shoulder and then looks up. Her eyes are glossy. I can tell she’s been crying. “My dad stayed here last night, with us. He left really fast, early this morning. Woke me up, had coffee ready, sat at the counter with me, and hugged me when he left. Like, really hugged me. I just felt like he was saying goodbye, something didn’t feel right—”
“We have to trust your dad.”
“I know. I’m trying. I’m just worried.”
I give her lips a gentle kiss. “Your mom and brothers left yesterday?”
“Yeah,” she nods her head. “They’re fine. She called me last night.”
“The six of us are leaving right now?”
She looks over at our friends who are loading up Beck’s truck with the girls’ bags. “Yeah.”
“We get to be like this, all weekend long?” I kiss her again, and tug on her shorts.
“Yes,” she smiles up at me. “All weekend.”
“Then let’s trust your dad and get the hell out of Flagler, okay?”
“Okay,” she agrees, weaving her fingers in between mine, and walking us over to the truck. “Thanks for driving us,” she says to Beck.
“Thanks for having a lake house,” he replies. “Coop, help me with the cover,” he points to the bed of the truck. “We don’t need all the shit back here getting soaked.”
Eva suddenly reaches into her back pocket, pulling her phone out as it vibrates in her hand. “Ethan?” she says out loud, looking up at me, confused. “Why is Ethan calling me? He never calls me. He always calls you.”
I shake my head and take her phone out of her hands. “No. We’re not going to let Ethan’s theatrical pleas of boredom put a bad start to this epic weekend.” I turn her phone off, and then I pull out mine and do the same. “He asked me three times yesterday if he could go with us. Everyone, turn your phones off—”
“I sort of need mine for GPS?” Beck makes known.
“Yours can stay on,” I declare. “Everyone else, turn your phones off for the next four hours. We’ll turn them back on when we get there, got it?”
“Are you insane?” Coop’s snide comment echoes around us.
“No. We don’t need any shit keeping us here. Turn them off, or Eva and I go by ourselves.”
“You suck,” Coop declares, securing the cover. “And I’m going to sing the entire four hours, you know, because we’re all going to be bored out of our frickin minds.”
Eva gives me a concerned look. “What if something—”
“In the truck!” I exclaim. “Everyone!” I kiss the top of her head, and then hold open the door for her. “Everything is fine.” I can tell she doesn’t agree, but she reluctantly gets in, squeezing next to Luna as I climb in after her. “Do we have everything?” I call out.
Coop holds out his fingers and starts counting off. “Everyone’s bags. Food. Smuggled beer and liquor. Fishing poles. Bait! We forgot the fucking bait.”
I knew there was something we were supposed to do on our drive to Eva’s this morning. “We’ll stop at Tacklebox really quick,” I announce. “Not completely out of our way. But we need gas first. I don’t want to stop once we start—”
“God,” Coop grumbles. “You’re such an old shit.”
I whack his head and throw my arm around Eva’s back, pulling her into me while Beck turns out of her driveway. “The guys and I have a bet,” I whisper into her ear. “Whichever couple catches the most fish this weekend gets the privilege of not having to be the designated drivers for any party we attend the rest of the school year.”
Eva turns her mouth to me. “Do they not realize who they’re up against? There’s no competition.”
The rain starts to slowly haze down on the windows while Beck pumps gas, not our typical Flagler weather. It’s dreary, no sun, just full cloud coverage as the hurricane makes her way up the coast. She’s apparently making landfall sometime tomorrow. They expect her to just be a tropical storm again at that point, but she sure is bringing some awful weather ahead of her. It only gets worse as we head to get bait, and the intracoastal along High Bridge Road already looks higher than it did twenty minutes ago. You’d have to be an idiot to be out on your boat today.
“Who’s going to run into Tacklebox?” Beck asks, turning down the gravel road. “Are they even open?”
I can see the soft glow of a light inside, and a lone bike resting on the wall of the front of the shop, but there are no cars here, which is really unusual. “I’ll go check,” I announce.
“Me, too,” Eva says. “I need snacks.”
I duck my head against the cool mist as we quickly walk to the entrance. The rotted porch gives us slight cover as we shake off the rain from our feet. The main door isn’t open behind the weathered screen, which is also really unusual.
Eva suddenly points up to the wooden beams. “The security camera. It’s gone.”
“That’s definitely weird.” I reach for the metal handle. “What are the odds they’re actually closed for once?” I give it a tug, and the screen door creaks loudly as it moves toward me. I keep it open with my back and twist the handle to the actual door. It opens, but something feels off. The lights are dim, not fully on, and there’s absolutely no noise at all. Usually the radio is blaring, mixed with the noise of Frank grumbling behind the register. My hand flails protectively behind me, grabbing Eva’s as we walk further in.
“Hello?” she nervously calls out. “Frank?”
We both stop walking, standing in the middle of the soundless shop. The silence is piercing, eerie, and I have this obnoxious voice in my head telling me we need to get the hell out of here.
“I tried calling you,” someone says from behind us.
We both jump, spinning around in the direction of the voice. Ethan steps out from what was a closed closet. His eyes are bloodshot, his face is red and blotchy. He leans up against the door and slowly falls to the ground, wrapping his arms around his legs.
“Ethan!” Eva cries out. She releases my hand and rushes over to him, throwing herself on the ground and carefully grabbing at his shoulders. “What’s wrong?! Are you hurt?! Where’s Frank?”
Ethan points to the counter. I turn to look, but there’s no one there.
“What is it?” I ask him.
“He was behind the counter,” is all he says, before burying his head into his knees.
“Frank was behind the counter?” Eva’s worried voice asks. “Where is he?” She goes to stand, but I shake my head at her.
“Stay there,” I demand. “Stay by him.” She squats back down in slow motion, wrapping her arms around Ethan’s trembling body. I walk over to the counter, resting my hands on the cool wood before I peer behind it.
I don’t know which of these realizations enters my mind first, or maybe they all fly in so fast … everything just hits me at once.
Frank Granger is lying dead on the floor behind the counter.
Frank Granger has been shot.
Frank Granger has not been dead long.
I close my eyes tight, hoping to get the image of him out of my head before I turn back to Eva and Ethan. She’s watching me, her eyes filled with fear. I mouth his name, Frank, and make a gun motion with my fingers. Her face drops and she squeezes her arms tighter around Ethan, who’s now hiding in her chest.
“Shh …” she tries to reassure him with a quivering voice.
I try to get myself to stay calm. “How long have you been here?”
“Not long,” he mumbles against Eva’s body.
“Were you here?” I ask. “When it happened?”
His head nods.
“You were here?!” Eva cries out. “Ethan, talk to us!”
“I think they’re coming back!” his panicked words make the room spin in front of me. “I heard them say they’re getting a boat! They’re coming back, but he told me to hide—he shoved me in the closet—we need to hide! We can’t let them see us!”
“Who, Ethan?! Who can’t see us?!” I shout as I slide down onto the floor in front of him.
“Henry Channing, the guy with the red hair from the airport … and your dad, Eva! Your dad shoved me in the closet!”
“My dad?!” she questions in disbelief. “My dad was here?! With Henry Channing?!”
“No! He was here with Frank! It was a setup—Frank knew about it! Your dad was here to make Henry think he was doing shit like this now—drugs, like he took over when Henry disappeared. I wasn’t supposed to be here. I rode my bike from home. I was heading to the beach to see Callie—I don’t know why I stopped to see Frank, but I knew he was here so I thought I’d just say hi or something … your dad was in here with him. They both lost it when I walked in, but it was too late! The Suburban pulled up and I saw the two of them get out—your dad shoved me in the closet! Told me not to make a sound or to come out for anything—”
“Did you hear what happened?” I quickly ask.
“He wanted names, the guy with the red hair—”
