Behind me I hear Lowell’s heavy sigh.
“Why didn’t you call me? I would’ve come over sooner,” I tell her. “Have you taken your meds today?”
“Not yet. I just…didn’t have the…energy.”
“I’ll go get them right now and fix you something to eat,” I say as I feel her forehead, checking for a fever. Thankfully, her skin is not burning up.
Lowell follows me back into the kitchen where I start pulling out some pans, then laying out eggs from the refrigerator. I have to cook up something quickly, since she probably hasn’t had anything to eat or drink all day if she’s too weak to get out of bed. “I think I need to stay with her, at least until she can get up and down on her own again,” I tell him.
“Fine,” he grumbles. “But if she’s not better by the morning, I’ll have a nurse come stay with her.”
While from most people I would appreciate the offer of an in-home nurse to keep a check on my mother, I know that Lowell isn’t being charitable. He doesn’t give a rat’s ass about my mother. The only thing he likes about her is that she gives him leverage over me. He doesn’t want me to stay here without him for more than one night.
“I’ll come by to get you at eleven in the morning,” he tells me when he strolls over and grabs my chin to give me a peck on the lips before he waltzes out the door. I stand there frozen and listen to see if he’s really leaving. Eventually, the Suzuki he recently bought whines to life and then grows distant as he drives back to our apartment or to who the hell knows where. I don’t care really, as long as he’s not here.
I finish making my mom’s eggs; then put it on a tray with a glass of water and her morning pills to take it to her in her room.
I’m surprised to see her sitting up and looking spritely, when just moments ago she seemed so frail.
“Are you feeling better?” I ask when I set the tray down on her bedside table.
“Why, yes, I am,” she agrees with a smile.
“But…I don’t understand. You were so weak. I thought I was going to have to take you to the hospital!”
“Sorry about that,” a man’s deep voice says from behind my back, startling me because I assume it’s Lowell sneaking back into the house. But when I spin around, Cedric is standing in the doorway, dressed in his leather cut with a white tee underneath, loose jeans and black boots.
“Cedric?” I say in surprise. Then I remember his promise from the doctor’s office. The next time you see me will be the last time you ever have to see Lowell again.
“Does this mean…”
“I just gave Rita a seventy-five-thousand-dollar check,” he says. “That’ll pay the bills for a few months, won’t it?”
“Uh-huh,” I agree with my jaw gaping.
“Movers are on the way. I’m taking you and your mother to Emerald Isle. We’ll have you both settled in before the sun comes up tomorrow.”
“You’re serious?” I ask. It sounds too good to be true. Would I really never have to see Lowell again or go back to the apartment I’ve been trapped in for years? There’s nothing of value of mine there, just clothes he bought and things that can be easily replaced. I keep my most valuable possession on me — my seashell bracelet. All of our family photos are here, with my mother. I have my purse with my driver’s license and phone, which is all I need.
“I’m serious,” Cedric responds as he walks over to me and takes my hand. “But I’m not going to make you do anything, Ev. Ever. You know that, right? I hope this is what you still want, but it’s your decision.”
“Lowell is crazy, Cedric,” I tell him. “He’ll come looking for me.”
“I know,” he says. “Will he track your phone?”
“Oh shit. Yes,” I answer.
“Good. That’s what I’m betting on,” he responds smoothly. “But you don’t have to worry about that. Just trust me when I promise you that I won’t let him touch you again. So, what do you say?”
I pull my hand from his so that I can throw my arms around his neck. “Thank you,” I whisper while placing a kiss on his scruffy cheek when he squeezes me back. “I don’t deserve your kindness.”
“Yes, you do. And I don’t think of it as a kindness. Getting you two away from Lowell feels like a necessity. He’s into some really bad shit.”
“I know that,” I say as I let him go and pull my arms away from him. He has no clue how familiar I am with Lowell’s bad shit. Those days are over now, though. I don’t need his pills to numb myself from the depression and hopelessness or to feel just a tiny sliver of happiness. Just being near Cedric has me feeling all of those good things.
Besides, there’s a small stash of pills still tucked away in my purse. It will be enough for me to start taking fewer and fewer until the last one is gone, and I no longer need them.
I do trust Cedric. I always have, even when we were kids.
But things are different now.
Cedric is different. He’s grown up and toughened up. And I want to be with him so badly it hurts.
Cedric
“Are you sure you don’t want to stay with your mom tonight?” I ask Evelyn after we pull up at the Savage Asylum in the club’s van right before sunrise. It’s been a long damn night, but we were able to get the entire move pulled off without a hitch.
“Mama’s happy and comfortable in her new place,” Ev says, referring to the apartment less than a block away, within walking distance. “And I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to you yet.”
“Good,” I reply with a grin as I take her hand and lead her inside, flipping on the lights and coming to a halt beside the bar in the quiet room. “So, um, this is the Savage Asylum.”
“And you live here?” she asks as she glances around.
“Yeah, I’ve lived in one of the apartments in the basement ever since I became a prospect. I was tired of living with my parents, and I didn’t want them to get dragged into any of the MC’s drama.”
“I can understand that. I always worried that Lowell would piss off the wrong person and it would blow back on me or Mama.”
“There won’t be any blowback here,” I promise her. “You don’t have to worry about that asshole again.”
“You have no idea how good that feels,” she says, letting my hand go to glance down at her left hand. It’s the first time I’ve noticed the black ink on her ring finger.
“He did this to you?” I ask, grabbing her hand to bring it to my face so I can look at it closer. There’s a thick black circle with a spade symbol above it meant to serve as a wedding band, one that she won’t ever be able to take off.
“Yeah, the day we got married,” she says. “I hate it.”
“We could get it removed if you want,” I assure her.
“I would love to be rid of it,” Ev tells me. “But right now, I really just want to crash.”
“Come on. I’ll show you my room,” I tell her, leading the way over to the locked door to enter in the security code. We go down the stairs; and once I unlock my door, I push it open for her to go inside. “It’s not much.”