Mended (Connections, #3)(93)

? ? ?

Just as I enter the gleaming glass doors of the Sydney Airport, my cell rings and I grab for it from my front pocket. I see Caleb’s name flashing across the screen.

“Hey, f*cker, how’s the newly minted agent?”

Caleb snorts. “Hey, f*cker yourself. And you’re being a little premature with your greeting. I haven’t graduated yet, but I am doing f*cking amazing. I drove my first surveillance-detection route yesterday.”

“Sounds like a kinky fantasy life if you ask me.”

“Scraping ice off cars and specialized training classes don’t add up to anything whatsoever.”

“Sucks to be you, then.”

“Yeah, yeah, it does. But not you, I’m sure. How’s Australia?”

“Not a waste of time. I can tell you that, but I’m headed home now.”

“For the trial?” he asks.

“Yeah.”

“Want to talk about it?”

“Absolutely f*cking not. But I do want to hear more about your shenanigans. When are they letting you out of Quantico?”

“Soon. Really soon.” His laugh is low. “But it’s not like I’m in prison.”

“I’d say that’s up for discussion.”

“Over a few beers?”

“Is there any other way?”

“Really, how are you doing, man?”

“I’m managing. I need to get a job when I get back and figure everything out, but right now life is good.”

“Hey, one day at a time, right?”

“I’m not in AA, f*cker.”

“I know, Ben, but when you get back—take it easy. And make up with your sister. Jason said she really misses you.”

“Yeah, yeah. One day at a time,” I groan, and roll my eyes.

“Listen, I gotta run. I have a simulated bank robbery I have to get to, but I’ll call you next week. And, Ben, I just found out I won’t be home until the end of the year, but I’ll have a month off then—and I’m planning on spending it with you.”

“Aren’t I a lucky bastard, then?”

“Hey, seriously man, call me if you need me, and, Ben, take care.”

“Yeah, you take care too.”

? ? ?

I’ve always liked being independent because if you don’t depend on anyone, there is no one to let you down. But Caleb and Trent are the exceptions. I looked forward to their calls. Caleb was the one person, besides Dahl, I had always depended on. And Trent was the one person besides Dahl I’d always allowed to depend on me. The fact that he’s doing so well right now is the shiny spot in my life. He’s out of rehab and back in school. He’s even training for a local surf competition.

The first time I called Trent from Australia was the hardest. I had just arrived and he told me Dahl went to Paris for her honeymoon. For the longest time when we were younger, I had wanted to take her there. I wanted to be the one to show her the Eiffel Tower, which she had always dreamed of photographing. The days that followed that call are all a blur. After that, whenever I called Trent, I quickly changed the subject whenever her name came up.

? ? ?

The airplane door swings shut with a thump and I twist my head toward the window. This is it. There’s no turning around—I’m really going back. As the plane takes off, I look at the golden coastline and say good-bye to what just might have been my own piece of heaven. White sandy beaches and crystal blue water blend together and I close my eyes as that life fades away.

When I open them, the wheels are touching down and my old life comes rushing back. Shit, while I was gone I did a great job of not thinking about anything and I only hope I can keep it up. Even Dahl seems to have faded in my memories. Her birthday came and went, and I never remembered it until days later. I’m not sure why—maybe the passage of time, maybe the distance. It doesn’t really matter though; whatever the reason, it’s working.

? ? ?

Standing stiff with tension, I look around Los Angeles International. Home, sweet home. I had Trent pick up my car months ago and told him to keep it. Now I have no wheels. I shuffle over to the rental office and take the cheapest they have. I hand the attendant my credit card and get a sick feeling, knowing I’m living off of borrowed credit.

I shove my stuff in the shitty sedan and exit the airport, hopping on the 405S. The freeway is jam-packed with cars, but that’s nothing new. If it’s not an accident or a stalled car bringing traffic to a stop, then it’s construction. I mean, really, where else in LA do you get to park your car for free except on the f*cking highway? I’ve always hated this town, and today nothing feels any different.

Thirty minutes later I’m still inching along the road, listening to the radio, when I look ahead and see the bumper sticker on the car in front of me. It reads, “Life is only what you make of it,” and those eight words remind me of the advice my mother gave me just before we took Trent to the recovery center.

She looked at me with such sadness and placed her hands on my face before saying, “Please, be happy for the life you have. Make the best of it and don’t waste it. Instead, try to put your life back together. Benjamin, please try. If not for yourself, then do it for me. I only want to see you happy.”

I grip the steering wheel and jerk my car toward the 110, and away from the road that would take me to Laguna Beach. I silently answer her plea, because I didn’t then. I can do that for you, Mom. I can try.