Truth Forever 18
Truth Forever 18
Cali
I kept myself together the entire time I was in the same small cramped room as Truth. I wasn’t sure how I had done it, but somehow I did.
“Cali?” Layla’s voice was startled as I crashed through the front door. My legs buckled before I even had time to shut it, and I crumbled to the floor in a heap. Sobbing uncontrollably.
“Cali.” My best friend in the world was there in a second. Kneeling beside me, she pulled my head into her dressing gowned breast. “Cali, what is it?”
I couldn’t speak, I could barely breathe. All I could do was sob. Great wracking sobs that made my chest hurt and my throat sore.
“Cali, come on babes. Talk to me.” Gently she pulled me to my feet, and I let myself be lifted. Just like I let myself be lead over to the sofa. Loosing one of my heels as I went. “What’s happened?” Layla’s hands went back around my shoulders.
“Truth.” His name ripped out of my mouth. It was the only thing I could say.
Layla’s eyes blazed. “Did he hurt you?” She looked around like he was right there in the room. “I’ll kill him.”
I would have smiled at the outrage in her voice if I hadn’t been so miserable. She really was a good friend. Although the idea of all five foot of her taking on Truth was comical. “He didn’t hurt me. He’s just in town.”
She paused. “And you have seen him?”
I took a deep breath. Time to come clean with my friend.
“That’s why you ran out of your own leaving party? You went to meet him?” She sounded incredulous.
“I went to represent him. He was arrested for murder.” I watched as her eyes grew round. Disbelief clear on her face. “Ok.” She said it softly. “I think you need to explain that to me again?”
I had to agree with her. I owed her an explanation. I owed them all an explanation, but I would start with giving Layla one.
“Ok,” my voice came out strangled, but as soon as I started to talk, I couldn’t stop. It all came out in a rushed jumble of words. The entire time Layla just stared at me. She had schooled her features into something that resembled understanding, but I knew she had a million questions. I would have as well if I was her. Hell, I had lived through it. And I still had questions.
When I finally finished, she stood without a word and walked out of the room. It was only when I heard the kettle start to boil that I realised she hadn’t run away. She had gone to make tea like she always did when she was freaked.
“You think I’m a crazy slut, right?” I finally asked when she appeared in the doorway with two steaming mugs.
“Slut?” She arched an eyebrow. “No. Crazy? Most definitely.” She flopped herself back down next to me, bringing her socked feet up under her. “I can’t believe you went to meet some random from the Internet and didn’t even tell me. You could have been murdered.” She scolded
I frowned. That’s what she took from my story? “He wasn’t even real.”
“That’s not the point, is it? You could have been killed, Cali. You almost were.” She glanced around. “Did he really aim a gun at your head?”
I nodded. “And I pissed myself, let’s not forget that part.”
She waved away my words. “Any normal person would Cal. What are you going to do?”
Her question took me by surprise. It confused me. What did she mean what was I going to do? “I’m leaving. As soon as I’ve showered and finished packing.”
“You are still going?” Layla seems genuinely surprised. “Even though he is in town and obviously wants to speak to you.”
“He doesn’t want to talk to me, Layla. He didn’t then, and he doesn’t now. He pulled a gun on me, remember. It was his BROTHER that called me.”
“Maybe you should fuck his brother then.” She said it so seriously that for a second, I just stared at her. Then her lips curved upwards.
“Eww Layla, just ew.” I giggled.
“So you are still going?”
“I have to Layla. It’s the only way I am going to get over him.”
The airport was busy. People were milling about. Groups of friends, families, the odd businessman. All of them had smiles on their faces. They were happy.
And I couldn’t get out of the car.
All I could do was stare at them.
I could feel Layla’s eyes on me. The weight of them heavy against my back but I couldn’t move.
Why couldn’t I get out the damn car?
My flight was waiting. A flight that would take me to a brand new life. One where I wasn’t in love with a man who thought so little of me that he aimed a gun into my face.
Why didn’t I want to go?
Truth had made his feelings perfectly clear. More than crystal clear in fact. But somehow it felt unfinished.
I didn’t want a new life, I realised with a start. Not until I had had my say at least. Maybe then I would be able to move on properly.
Maybe.
“You ready to head home now?” Even with my back to her, Layla read me better than anyone else in the world.
“No.” Finally, I turned to her. “No, not yet. But you can drop me off at the bus stop.” I met her eyes. Knowing what she would say next. “You are going to him, aren’t you?”
Mutely I nodded. “Yes.”
“I’ll drive you.”
I hugged her quickly. “I love you, Lay, but no.” Shaking my head, I released her. “I am not sure what my welcome will be like. I won’t put you at risk. Not ever.”
“But you are going anyway.”
It wasn’t a question, but I answered it anyway. “I have to.”
For a moment, she just stared at me. “Do you at least have somewhere to stay when you get there?”
That made me smile. Layla had always been more adventurous than me. She didn’t even try and talk me out of going. It just wasn’t her style.
“Yeah, I think so.” Quickly I typed out a message.
Can I crash on your sofa for a few days?
The reply came almost instantly. No questions, no drama. Just a simple yes. I smiled. “Yeah, I have somewhere to stay. I have been blessed with the best roommates in the world.”
Layla side-eyed me as she pulled the car from the curb. “Just as long as she realises, I’m number one.”
Gemma was stood by the same bench I had sat on when Truth had come and asked me to stay when the bus finally pulled in. It had been a hell of a trip, with several changes and several hours at the side of the motorway when one of the buses had broken down. So it was late when it finally pulled in.
I saw her straight away, even though her hood was up shadowing her face. But I knew it was her.
“Cali?” The hooded figure lifted her head against the wind and the rain, and I rushed to her. I really had the best luck when it came to roommates. But it was more than that with Gemma. She had been such a good friend from the very beginning. We had gone from strangers to besties in what seemed like a split second.
Plus I had missed her.
“Gem.” I hugged her quickly, grimacing back as her wet coat soaked the front of my hoody. “How long have you been waiting?”
She gave a small shrug. “A while.” Slinging her arm around my shoulders, she turned me towards the direction where she lived. And I raised my eyebrows. “We’re walking?”
Another shrug. “Car up and died on me. Come on, Cali. It’s not far…” the whites of her eyes glinted in the street lights. “What’s going on Cali?”
I barely heard her, my concentration was aimed at the deserted street.
It was quiet. Which was strange all by itself. Somehow the rain-drenched streets illuminated by the orange glow of streetlamps felt oddly haunted. It made me feel uncomfortable. Like I was the lead in a horror movie. Like I was being watched.
“Cali?”
Reluctantly I turned to her. “Who knows I am here, Gem?” I struggled to find the words.
“No one?” She seemed genuinely confused by my question. “Cali, what’s going on?”
“What is my welcome going to be when they find out I am here?” I was starting to think this was a mistake. I had been so focused on having it out with Truth that I hadn’t given much thought to what the other Black Aces would do to me if they found me here.
“Cali.” Her hands closed around my arms. So she could stare in my face. “You are safe here. Nothing is going to happen to you. I promise.”
I wanted to believe her. I did. But it didn’t change the apprehension niggling in my gut.
Tomorrow I would find Truth and tell him, well the truth and then once I had closure, I would start my new life. Far away from hot bikers and all the heartache they caused me.