When I stood back up, I let it fall wherever it wanted.
I walked to the fridge, opened it and took out the almost empty gallon of milk. The expiration date was two days ago, but my father insisted it was still good to drink.
“Hello?” a voice asked. “Who’s there? I have a weapon. I’ll fucking kill you.”
“Mom, it’s just me,” I said. “I’m getting a drink of milk.”
Mom shuffled into the kitchen with her right hand hidden in her royal blue fuzzy bathrobe.
She took her hand out of the robe, holding the TV remote from her bedroom.
“What’s that for?” I asked.
“I was going to pretend it was a gun,” she said. “In case you were a robber.”
“I’m just getting a glass of milk,” I said.
“Can’t sleep?”
“Just thirsty,” I said. “Go back to sleep. Before…” I looked up. “… he wakes up.”
Mom nodded. “Yeah. I’d better go.”
“Goodnight, Mom,” I said.
“Goodnight, Amelia,” she said. “Fly, baby, okay? Always fly…”
I smiled. “Okay.”
Mom left the kitchen and I put the milk back.
I looked down and gasped.
All that planning to lie to my parents, and I had forgotten to take my shoes off.
Not that it mattered.
Mom didn’t notice.
I couldn’t blame her.
She was afraid for her life.
So was I.
That’s why I went for my midnight walk. Wishing I could just walk to a new town, a new house and a new family.
Or meet someone to save me from it all.
I thought about that cute boy again and bit my lip.
He certainly wasn’t the knight in shining armor I wrote my stupid stories about.
If anything, he would only cause more trouble for me.
At least I’d never see him again.
Chapter 6
Pictures, People, Pissed Off
NOW
(Josh)
… in every way possible. But the thing is, Delilah, you don’t understand what that means. And you can’t understand what that means. In my mind and my heart, you are so great. Greater than anything I’ve ever seen, held or loved in my entire life. Nobody understood that part. Everyone looks at age as this way to judge you, and I call bullshit on that. We’ve been through so much. So much of that not a single person gets. A day can pass by in a breath or a day can pass by in a year.
I’m going to tell you a hundred times that I love you, Delilah. There’s no escaping it…
“Have a drink with me,” Aaron said as he passed me a small glass with amber liquid in it.
I took the glass and put it down on the table.
“You’re turning down a drink?” he asked.
“I’m not drinking that shit,” I said. “Let’s get a beer.”
“They have beer here?”
“If I say I want beer, it appears,” I said. “I’m a magician.”
“Hey, there you are,” another voice said.
I turned and saw Rae walking with her hand locked tight to Toby’s little hand. He was carrying a small elephant and looked as nervous as Rae.
“What’s wrong?” I asked Rae.
She curled her eyebrows down. “This is madness here, Josh. I didn’t realize you were famous.”
“Hardly,” I said. “It’s just a bunch of people trying to look smart in front of each other.” I crouched and opened my arms. “Where’s my hug, little man?”
Toby pulled away from his mother and came charging at me. I scooped him up and stood. He smelled like ketchup and grape juice. The smell of youth and innocence.
“I came back to have a drink with Josh,” Aaron said.
“Drinking? We have the baby with us. You can’t be doing that.”
“Easy, love,” I said to Rae as I smiled. “I wasn’t going to let him get wasted.”
“Yeah, right,” Rae said. “I know how you two are together.”
“It’s called a bromance,” I said.
“It’s called moronic,” she threw back at me.
“Maybe you need a drink.”
“Excuse me?” she asked.
“That’s not a bad idea,” Aaron said. He grabbed the small glass of champagne off the table. “Here. Drink.”
“I’m responsible,” Rae said.
“Hardly,” I called out.
“Josh,” Aaron said.
I put my right hand around Toby’s head and covered his ear. He put his head on my shoulder to cover the other ear. Not that it mattered.
I leaned in toward Rae. “I think I remember someone once flashing cop cars down on Brooker Street after throwing back way too much tequila.”
Rae’s cheeks flushed and she smiled. “Shut up, Josh. Give me my baby back.”
“He’s mine,” I said. “My excuse to cut through the crowd.”
“He’s using our son like a hostage,” Rae said to Aaron.
Aaron shrugged his shoulders. “Have a drink?”
Rae took the glass from Aaron.
“That’s the spirit,” I said. “Now don’t go flashing anyone tonight. There are cameras out there.”
I made a quick move to get out of Rae’s reach. There was nothing better - or easier - than to piss her off and leave Aaron to feel the wrath.
“You ready to go for a walk with me, little man?” I asked Toby.
“Yes,” he said in a quiet voice.
He was cool as anything. Giant blue eyes full of wonder. He clutched my shirt tightly as I moved from the back of the gallery to the front. There was a big crowd of people all walking around, drinking, talking, trying to figure out what the hell I had been trying to do for each photo and painting.
Maybe some artists had these massive stories to tell.
Not me.
The same story was told in everything I did. A story that nobody would ever be able to see. A story that only I could tell.
“Hey, Josh! Can we have a quick word?”
A guy in a suit waved as he called out the question.
“Can’t talk,” I said. “I’m with someone very important right now.”
The more people that saw me, the louder they got. But nobody dared to get too close to me as I held Toby.
I went to the opposite side of the room and stopped.
“That’s crazy, right?” I asked Toby.
“Crazy,” he said and laughed.
“Here. Look at this with me. What do you see, little man?”
“A flower,” he said and bit at his hand.
He was safe but nervous.
I understood the feeling.
“A flower,” I said. “Here. Look closer.”
Toby was right. It was a flower. A flower called a red peony. I only knew the name of the flower because Michelle told me when she saw the picture I took. Her grandmother had been a florist and the stuff she knew about flowers amazed me.
The flower was fully bloomed with the red petals wide open, showing off a bright yellow center. What you needed to do was get extra close to see that the yellow wasn’t just pollen. There were hands. Reaching out - or up - for help. And the petals were extended long wisps of hair that were perfectly straight.