“Shut up,” Rob warned, glancing over his shoulder at the door. “She needs them. She needs me.”
“No, she doesn’t!” Makayla yelled. “She needs me! She needs to get off this crud before it kills her.”
“Makayla,” Teresa whimpered, pulling at the straps on her arms. “Rob’s right. I need them. I can’t… I can’t….”
Makayla turned and drew in a shuddering breath as she stared at her mother through her unshed tears. Her throat worked up and down as she tried to get her emotions under control. Something told her that if she lost this fight, she would lose not only the war, but her mom.
“No,” she whispered, her face twisting in grief as she stared down at the pale figure in the bed. “I won’t lose you. We can do this, mom. We can beat this together.”
Makayla watched as her mom’s stricken face turned to look at Rob before returning to gaze at Makayla with an expression of sorrow. Unable to accept that her mom was choosing Rob and the drugs over her, Makayla turned away from her mom’s tear-stained face.
Her eyes flickered to the floor where the packet of ill-gotten prescription medication lay. She started to reach for them when she heard Rob mumble a curse. Knowing that he didn’t want anyone else to know about them, her eyes glittered in determination as she grabbed them.
A low cry of fury escaped her when Rob wrapped his hand around her wrist and squeezed it as he tried to take the small packet away from her. Revulsion swept through her and she swung out, striking him in the nose. Makayla vaguely heard her mom’s high pitched cry as she and Rob struggled.
Makayla grunted when Rob struck her across the face. She stumbled back against the bed at the same time as the door opened and several people rushed in. One of them, an older man, grabbed Rob and punched him in the jaw, sending her mom’s lanky boyfriend back against the bathroom door where he slid to the floor.
“What’s going on?” A hospital security guard demanded, stepping between the older man and Rob.
Makayla shot Rob a nasty look as she touched her burning cheek. He sat on the floor with his head tilted backwards against the door. A slow trickle of blood seeped from his nose and lip.
“He was trying to give my mom a fix,” Makayla said, holding out the small bag in the palm of her hand.
“You sorry piece of…,” the older man muttered under his breath, taking a step toward where Rob sat on the floor.
“Enough,” the guard interrupted as he pulled a radio from his waist and spoke into it.
“Let me take a look at you,” one of the nurses said, laying her hand on Makayla’s arm.
“I’m fine,” Makayla muttered in a thick voice.
She shrugged the woman’s hand off and turned to where her mom was lying on the bed crying. Her eyes glittered with fury and hurt. Stepping up next to the bed, she held the small plastic bag up so that her mom could see it.
“This is what you want,” she said bitterly. “I’m done. You made your choice, and it wasn’t me. This isn’t what I want in my life.”
Her fingers closed around the bag and for a minute she stared back at her mom’s desperate eyes. They were glued to her hand, not her face. It was the last straw. She had done everything she could and she obviously wasn’t good enough for her mom.
Her fingers opened and she watched almost in slow motion as the packet fell to the bed, just out of her mom’s reach. Turning on her heel, she walked over to pick up her backpack lying next to the chair she had slept in. She bent and picked it up, sliding it over one shoulder as she brushed her hair away from her heated cheek. She ignored those watching her with concern as she stepped around them and out of the door.
Chapter 3
Makayla stood for a moment in the bright hallway, trying to ignore the surreptitious looks of the other staff and visitors as they walked by. Turning left, she started down the hallway toward the elevators. She didn’t know where she was going, and personally, didn’t really care anymore. She just knew she needed to get away.
She breathed a sigh of relief when the doors to the elevator finally opened. She stepped aside as two people exited it before slipping through the doors and pressing the button for the lobby. Turning, she leaned back against the mirrored surface of the wall and stared blindly out the doors, willing them to close. A dark scowl crossed her face when she saw the old man from her mom’s room step in just as the doors started to slide together.
He didn’t say anything, just glanced at the buttons on the elevator. The ride only took a minute or two, but it felt much longer. She pushed off the wall when the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened. Turning toward the entrance, she picked up her pace as she headed toward the set of double doors.
The feelings of claustrophobia built as she pushed through the throngs of visitors at the front desk checking in. She twisted around an elderly man using a walker and burst through the doors out into the warm, muggy air. Thick clouds hung low in the sky and promised an early morning thunder shower.
Makayla looked around as she drew in a deep breath. In the back of her mind, she registered the traffic and people walking past her. Turning to the right, she walked over to an empty bench set along the curved sidewalk.
She shrugged her backpack off and set it on the bench before sitting down next to it. Bending forward, she rested her elbows on her knees and covered her face with her hands. Her hair fell forward, creating a silk curtain around her bowed head.
Her mind felt like it was short-circuiting. Random thoughts and images flashed through it until she was dizzy with them. Small flickers of her life, conversations between her friends, her and her mom, and things going on at school all merged and collided together in an avalanche of confusion. She was vaguely aware that someone had sat down on the other end of the bench, but she just wasn’t up to moving or dealing with anyone at the moment.
Maybe my mom has it right, she thought in despair before she pushed the thought away.
“Did you mean it?” A husky, male voice asked.
Makayla slightly turned her head to peer through her hair at the voice, wondering if they were talking to her or someone else. A flash of irritation swept through her when she saw it was the old man. Pushing her hair back, she sat back and glared at him.
“Are you following me?” She demanded, tucking her hair behind her ear. “You know stalking is against the law, I’ll scream bloody murder if you try anything.”
“Did you mean it?” The man repeated, turning his head so he could study her rebellious face. “That this isn’t what you want for your life?”
*.*.*
Sitting on the bench beside his granddaughter, Henry Summerlin absently rubbed his knuckles as he stared at a white pickup driving by. To say he had been shocked at his daughter, Teresa’s, appearance would have been an understatement. Regret and a deep sense of loss had pulled at him when he first saw her.
He had been expecting the visit from the sheriff’s office a long time ago. In truth, he was shocked that it had taken so long to happen. Teresa had always been hard-headed and rebellious, especially during her teenage years. She’d always had a weakness for the easy way out. Now, he wondered if his own stubbornness might not have contributed to her downfall.
His eyes flickered to where Makayla sat at the end of the bench. She looked so much like her mother, that for just a moment, he had been stunned. The fierce light in her eyes brought back memories that he wished he could change.
He had arrived at the hospital an hour earlier after driving almost three hours across the state. He didn’t know what he expected. The deputy that had knocked on his door was a friend of his and lived just a couple of houses down from him.
A sigh escaped him as he thought about that early morning knock. Jasper knew that he was an early riser and had come down before he headed in for his shift.
It was strange how a day could appear normal and suddenly turn into a nightmare. He had risen at five and was in the middle of preparing his usual breakfast of cereal and coffee when the k
nock on the front door came. The moment he opened it, he had known it was about Teresa. He had silently stared at Jasper waiting for the inevitable news.
“Morning, Henry,” Jasper had said in a gruff voice, moving from one foot to the other as he glanced over Henry’s shoulder when Breaker, the old American Akita trotted up to stand behind Henry. “You got a minute?”
Henry raised an eyebrow. “Of course, what’d you think I’d have at this time of morning?” He remembered retorting before he stepped back and nodded his head. “You want some coffee?”
Jasper had shaken his head even as he reached down to rub Breaker’s head. The Akita wagged his tail before turning to follow Henry back into the kitchen. Jasper had followed him to the back of the old, cracker style house. Henry remembered the sound of Jasper’s soft shoes squeaking against the polished wood floors.
Neither man spoke while Henry poured himself a cup of coffee. It wasn’t until Henry turned back around and leaned against the counter that Jasper cleared his throat and began to speak.
“You have a daughter named Teresa, don’t you?” Jasper asked as he stood in the entrance between the kitchen and the living room.
“Is she dead?” Henry asked bluntly, not mincing his words. No sense dancing around the facts of life. “What about Makayla? Teresa has a daughter named Makayla.”
Jasper released a breath before his lips twisted in wry amusement. Henry knew he had a reputation of speaking his mind. He never did have the patience to play games. If someone had something on their mind, they needed to just spit it out. Dancing around the truth never did anything but prolong the misery.
“No, she isn’t dead, but she is in the hospital,” Jasper replied. “I don’t know much, just that they were looking for her next of kin. I don’t know anything about her daughter. The call just came in that they were looking for a Henry Summerlin from Fort Pierce. Since you’re the only one I know, I figured it must be you.”
“It’s me,” Henry said, staring down into his coffee cup with a frown before he looked back up at Jasper. “Where is she?” He asked, ignoring the questioning look in Jasper’s eyes.
“Tampa,” Jasper replied. “She was admitted to Tampa General yesterday afternoon.”
Henry and Jasper talked for a little longer before Jasper told Henry if he needed anything to let him know. Henry just nodded. He wasn’t the type to ask others for help.
Five minutes later, he had grabbed his old hat off the peg by the front door, patted Breaker on the head, and stepped out of the house that he had called home for the past sixty-two years. Sliding into the old, blue Ford F150 pickup, he started the engine and stared out at the river. For the first time in years, he released his tight hold on the memories of his daughter.
He and Mary Rose had two children, a boy, Jason, and Teresa. Jason lived in the Village and worked at the local boatyard. The oldest by sixteen months, he had been a breeze to raise compared to Teresa. Shifting the truck into reverse, he slowly backed out of the narrow spot and turned. He vaguely wondered if Teresa had discovered that life outside the small town she had left wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.
*.*.*
Henry jerked back to the present when he heard Makayla’s suspicious retort. For a second, she reminded him of Breaker when the American Akita had been a pup and wasn’t sure if he wanted to trust Henry. It had taken a while for the malnourished stray to accept that Henry wasn’t going to hurt him.
“What’s it to you?” Makayla demanded.
Henry’s lips twitched at the fierce tone. Yep, he thought, just like Breaker.
“You don’t remember me, do you?” He asked instead.
Makayla’s eyes narrowed as she searched his face. Finally, she shrugged her shoulders and turned her head away so that he couldn’t see her eyes. What she didn’t know was that the defiant stiffness in her body and the thrust of her jaw showed that she didn’t want to admit that she did.
“We don’t need you,” she whispered in a barely audible voice.
“You don’t have much choice,” Henry replied with a grimace as the first sprinkles of rain began to fall. “Your mom needs help.”
Makayla rose up off the bench and turned to glare at him. He could see the trembling in her hands before she clutched her fingers into two tight fists. A muttered curse escaped her before she turned and grabbed her backpack.
Henry rose up off the bench when she started to turn away. He understood her anger, but it didn’t change the fact that he was the only family she had at the moment. Whether they liked it or not, they were going to have to work things out.
“Makayla, you’ve got a choice, girl,” Henry said, watching as she stopped with her back to him. “You said you didn’t want to live like this anymore, prove it.”
He watched as her head bowed at a slight angle before she walked away from him. He stood there, gazing after her retreating figure as the sky opened up. Adjusting his hat, he turned back to the entrance of the hospital. There were things that needed to be taken care of. First, he would deal with Teresa, and then he would deal with his granddaughter.
Chapter 4
Makayla moved slowly up the stairs outside the apartment that she shared with her mom and Rob. It had taken her over an hour to walk back to the apartment. She was exhausted, depressed, and soaking wet.
Shrugging her backpack off, she reached into her back pocket and pulled out the key to the door. She unlocked it and stepped inside. A sigh escaped her as she shut and locked the door behind her. Dropping her backpack by the door, she kicked off her wet tennis shoes and padded down the narrow hallway just inside the entrance.
She fumbled for the second key on the key ring. She had insisted on installing a locking doorknob on her bedroom door when Rob moved in. The key slid smoothly into the lock and she twisted it. Pushing open the door, she stepped inside her bedroom and closed and locked the door behind her. Only when she was in the safety of her room did she allow the tears she had been holding back to escape.
Makayla slid down the door as harsh sobs escaped her. Sitting on the floor, she pulled her legs up so she could rest her forehead on her knees. Powerful tremors shook her narrow shoulders as the events of the past day burst through her mind in vivid detail. The most powerful emotion was overwhelming despair. Her mom had made her choice and it hadn’t been Makayla, that was all she could think about.
She angrily wiped at the tears when she felt her cell phone vibrate in her front pocket. Leaning back, she pulled it out and looked at the front screen. Tisha was calling her. Makayla didn’t feel like talking to anyone right now, but she knew Tisha wouldn’t give up. Drawing in a deep breath, she pressed the connect button on the smooth glass.
“Yeah,” she answered in a voice husky from her crying.
“Hey, are you okay? You were supposed to call me last night and you weren’t in school today,” Tisha said in a hushed voice. “We were worried about you. What happened? Why did Mr. Wallace and the SRO come for you? What’d you do?”
Makayla laid her head back against the door and released a shaky breath. She knew the other girls had put Tisha up to calling her. Out of all of them, Tisha was the most tenacious when it came to finding out information.
“I didn’t do anything,” Makayla replied, looking up at the glow-in-the-dark star-covered ceiling. “It’s my mom. She’s… sick. She’s in the hospital.”
Makayla heard Tisha’s shocked hiss before she mumbled something to someone. A moment later, she heard a chorus of sympathetic words. A reluctant smile curved her lips. The gang was together. Her eyes flickered to the small SpongeBob clock on her nightstand. It was only one-thirty. They should all be in different classes right now.
“Where are you guys at? You should be in class,” she asked in curiosity.
Several smothered giggles echoed through the phone. Even Debbie and Audrey had skipped out. She silently hoped they didn’t get caught. Debbie’s parents would ground her and Audrey would get the lecture about how important school was a
nd how she didn’t want to end up with a houseful of kids and no way out.
“We bought tickets to the Junior Fling,” Tisha explained. “We all had to go to the bathroom in the gym. Coach doesn’t care as long as we don’t cause any trouble.”
“What’s wrong with your mom, Makayla? Is she going to be alright? Do you need a place to stay? I can ask my mom if you want to stay with me. She won’t mind,” Laura said. “The couch isn’t that bad.”
“No. I’m good, but thanks,” Makayla replied with a watery smile as she watched the raindrops on her bedroom window slide down the window pane. “I… She should be home… soon. I need to be here for her when she does.”
“It’s a good thing school is almost out,” Audrey said. “Are you still going to try to get that job down at the local Smoothie place with Laura?”
“I don’t know,” Makayla responded. “It depends on how my mom is doing.”
Makayla listened absently as Audrey talked about trying to get a job where Laura was working. Debbie muttered that her parents were sending her to a summer camp in Europe, while Tisha would be going with her dad and his new girlfriend on a cruise. Makayla didn’t say anything. There wasn’t much to say as she didn’t have any idea what was going to happen today, much less in a couple of weeks.
“Hey, we’ve got to go, the bell is about to ring,” Tisha finally said. “Listen, if you need to talk, give me a call later. I’ll be at my mom’s until about eight, and then my dad is supposed to pick me up for the weekend, that is, if he shows up.”
“And your mom doesn’t kill him,” Laura chuckled. “You should see Tisha’s dad’s girlfriend. She came into the store last night. I think she is a senior over at Leto High.”
“Knock it off,” Tisha muttered. “She graduated last year. She’s two years older than me. My dad’s going through a mid-life crisis right now.”
“He’ll be lucky if he doesn’t end up in jail,” Debbie warned.
Makayla recognized Audrey’s amused snort. “Or six feet under. My dad tried that one time and my mom swore if he ever brought her back again, she’d shoot them both. Dad believed her cause he’s never brought any of his other girlfriends by the house. Of course, since mom took him back to court for more child support, he hasn’t had time to think about a new wife,” she said with a sigh.