“Babe, you don’t have to do this,” Melanie said, standing by the door for the last fifteen minutes watching me move the same box for the tenth time. “We can just call the cops and let them handle it.”
“And what would I say?” I snapped. “Hi, officer? I need your help.” Melanie watched silently as I rambled sarcastically. “You see, two days ago, I left my fiancé at the altar. I didn’t really love him. I just wanted to have someone to spend my life with. He was abusive, but I was so lonely, I was willing to turn a blind eye to everything. What I didn’t know was that everything included some really bad stuff. As in, illegal. As in dangerous. Later that day, I learned that he was dealing. He was doing it out of my warehouse, where I store couches, chairs, and paintings for my clients. And not just drugs. No, not Nico,” I took a breath. Melanie opened her mouth but didn’t get a chance to say anything as I continued. “Apparently he’s the scum of the earth. He deals in everything, including women. Oh, how I learned that you ask?” I smiled a cold smile, not taking my eyes of a now concerned Melanie. “You see, a guy that is so hot, so beautiful and so out of my league told me so. He also informed me that everyone knows just who Nico Barone is. It’s only me who didn’t have a clue. Do I have any evidence of this? Well, just a word of a really great guy and my best friend, who kept her mouth shut for almost five years.”
“Sky,” Melanie whispered, while looking like I slapped her. “I’m-”
“Yeah, Mel, I know,” I said.
My breath came in spurts, and I was tired. I was done with it all. All I wanted to do was go to Max, make him allow me to design his house, and just be.
“I promise you; I know you are. And I forgive you. I do. It’s just-” I trailed off, not finding the words.
“It’s too much,” she finished for me.
“Yeah,” I sighed.
I looked at my sneakers. God, how long has it been since I wore sneakers? Let alone the outfit I wore, that consisted of ripped, washed up jeans and a gray T-shirt with Minnie on the front? This was me. The real me. Not me, I was forced to become. The one that had to wear two-piece suits, preferably with the skirt that went under my knees and 5-inch pumps.
“I miss me,” I admitted.
“I miss you, too.”
“I’m not sure I know who the real me is anymore, Mel,” I was going to cry.
With everything that had happened, I never once stopped to cry. I didn’t want to cry. I didn’t want to shed one tear over that sick bastard and what he did to me. What he turned my life into.
But dammit, the tears were stinging my eyes. I was about to cry.
“I do, and you do too,” sensing that my rant was over, she came to me, put her arms around me and hugged me. “It’s okay. You'll be yourself in no time. It’s okay.”
“I don't want to cry,” I sniffed. “He doesn’t deserve my tears.”
“He doesn’t, but you do,” Melanie assured me. “He turned your life upside down, and he made you to be not you. And it all came crashing down, the whole weight of it hitting your shoulders. Anyone would be crushed over it. So, it’s okay, Sky. It’s okay to cry.”
I didn’t say anything. I took my best friend from high school by her words and let myself cry. I didn’t wail. I didn’t hit anything. I cried silent tears, each one burning my cheek and soaking Melanie’s shirt. My body bucked violently twice. And the whole time, Melanie held me and spoke soft words to me, taking my pain away. The messed-up thing about it was that I wanted Max to do it.
We were sitting in Melanie’s car again, ready to hit the road so I could get the hardest part of the day over with. I just had one more thing left to do before I faced what was waiting for me. I picked up my phone, dialed, and listened to the ringing in my ear. She picked up on the second ring.
“Skylar, honey,” my aunt said in a soft tone. “Where are you?”
“I’m okay,” I whispered. “I had a lot to do, but I wanted to check in with you before I get on with it.”
“We’re packing up. Tomorrow we’re hitting the road, but we want to see you before we do.” Her voice was gentle. I knew she was probably out of her mind with worry and was confused.
“We can do that,” I mumbled.
“I’m sorry, honey,” she carried on with a gentle tone.
“For what?”
“Kiki explained some things.”
With the state of my life, I didn’t know what exactly Kiki explained.
“What things?” I asked.
There were multiple choices of her answer. I just hope it was the most benign one. I didn’t want to know what my uncle would do if he knew the full extent of Nico’s actions.
“Why you left the church.” She stopped, then continued. “How he was with you.”
“Oh,” I didn’t know what to say to that.
“I only wish you came to us. We would help you,” she stated. “We would never let one of our daughters lead the life you did, forced to take beatings, her spirit all but crushed. If only we knew. I don’t know how I missed this.”
I was stuck in “one of our daughters.” I knew they loved me. They took me in when my parents died, took care of me, kissed every boo-boo, and were always there for all of my recitals and school plays. But I didn’t know they thought of me as their daughter. That meant…
“Skylar, sweetheart?” My aunt called when I stayed silent.
“I’m here.”
You’re not okay,” she surmised.
“I am,” I tried to assure her. I didn’t want my aunt to worry over me more than she already did.
“Do you need me to come to you?” She pressed.
“No,” I exclaimed. “I promise I’m okay. I just have a lot on my plate right now.”
“You need me, you phoned,” she demanded.
With no intention of doing so, no matter how good it felt to know they considered me theirs, I lied.
“I will.”
“Good, good,” she whispered. “We’ll see you tomorrow?”
“Yes, tomorrow,” I said.
“I love you.” She whispered, and my eyes closed with the feeling that stole over me when I heard those words.
“I love you, too,” I whispered back.
By the time we got to the warehouse, I was a nervous wreck. I bit my nails so hard, the skin around them started to bleed. Something I hadn’t done since I was ten years old. I question if what we were doing was the right way to go about it, or I should just listen to what Melanie suggested, call 9-1-1, and hide in my hotel room until all is done.