Four Doors Down(44)
“We’re about to play strip poker.” Oh God, I’ve got to get out of here. My mom’s obviously messed up and Jay’s not here.
“Yeah, sugar, take a seat,” one of the men leers at me. I glance at him in disgust; he looks older than my dad. I cannot believe these are the kind of people my aunt is mixing with.
“Actually, I’m gonna go,” I say to my Aunt. “I thought I was picking Jay up, but I obviously got the wrong day or something.”
“Jay’s upstairs,” my aunt says nonchalantly and I feel sick. Jay is in the same house as all these men while they’re drinking like fishes and getting high? And she was just talking about strip poker! What if Jay walked into that? The aunt I know would never, ever do that. She would never put Jay in a situation like this.
“Oh, so should I just grab him, then? Take him back to my house?” I ask, trying hard to keep my voice upbeat and normal.
My aunt shrugs and goes to the kitchen door. “Jay!” she screams at the top of her lungs. “Jay, come down here!”
I feel a hand reach out and brush my leg and I nearly jump a mile. I turn to see one of the men smirking at me and I step away from them toward the door. Jay enters, his eyes wide, looking around nervously. My aunt bends down and picks him up, something he’s too big for now and kisses him sloppily on the cheek. Jay doesn’t pull away from her, he doesn’t move a muscle and lets her do what she wants. I feel my heart starting to beat faster in my chest. I need to get him out of here.
“Hi, Jay,” I say, plastering a smile on my face, trying to act like this isn’t a horrible situation. “You ready to go?”
He nods slightly, his eyes still wide as my aunt puts him down. She turns and whirls on me. “Why are you here, anyway? Why have you come to get Jay?”
“Mom said she was watching him tonight? I came to get him for her.”
Her eyes narrow and she staggers toward me, pulling Jay along by the arm behind her. “Oh did she now? Well isn’t my dear sister just so sweet? Always interfering. Sarah is always butting in,” she rants. She goes over to the table and picks up her drink, downing it in one gulp. “Well, Jay’s my son, not hers, Becca! Did you know that? You tell her that Jay’s mine and she cannot keep taking him.”
She plops down in her seat and one of the men starts dealing out playing cards while another swigs directly from a bottle of whiskey. She reaches for Jay and pulls him into her lap. He stares at me the whole time, his lips trembling as he tries to stay brave and not cry.
“You don’t want to go over to Becca’s and see my stupid sister, do you, Jay?” she asks him, hugging him tightly. He looks at his mom and then back to me. I think I can see tears starting to form in his eyes but he blinks rapidly to stop them from falling and shakes his head solemnly at me. I nod, trying to keep calm. I don’t know what the best thing to do is. I can’t leave him here in this environment, but my aunt does not seem to be in the mood to let him go and I don’t want to infuriate her any further.
“Okay, no problem. I’ll just go home then,” I say. “Can I just give Jay a present first that I got for him?”
She nods and lets Jay down from her lap. He’s standing next to me in seconds, his little body shaking. I can’t imagine how terrifying this must be for him, seeing his mom like this. I kneel down beside him and dig around in my bag, pulling out a bag of candy (leftover from the haul Ryan got me), as though that’s his gift. “I’m going to come back okay, Jay?” I whisper to him. “I’m just gonna go and get my parents, and they’ll come back and look after your mom and get rid of these men. Is that okay?”
He nods back at me, his mouth plastered together in a thin line, trying to stop his lips from trembling.
I plaster a huge smile on my face and give him a quick hug. “Okay. Bye, Aunt Ruth,” I call from the door before quickly exiting the house.
I race to my car and jump in, put it in reverse and start driving home as fast as I can. I reach for my phone and dial my mom, but she doesn’t answer. I dial my dad instead, but the office secretary tells me he’s in a meeting off site and didn’t want to be interrupted. I hang up on her before she can continue and call his cell instead; still no answer. I screech around a corner and pray that there are no cops around as I race back to my house. I pull up outside my house and sigh in relief when I see my mom’s car in the drive.
I race into the house, leaving my stuff in the car. In my haste, I don’t even bother to close the car door. I have this horrible feeling that something bad will happen if I don’t get Jay out of that house and get my aunt some help. I don’t know what those men are capable of and I don’t think she’s safe.
“Mom!” I call as loudly as I can, trying desperately not to panic as I’m scared it will slow me down.
There’s no answer and I run through the house, checking every room. When I can’t find her, I rush upstairs thinking she’s maybe in her bedroom, but that too is empty. “Mom!” I call again, running back downstairs and into the kitchen.
My phone’s still in my hand, but when I try her again, her cell starts ringing from its place on the counter behind me.
“Shit.” Where could she be? I look out into the garden, hoping she’s maybe out there, then I realize there’s only one place she’d be nearby without her car. Ryan’s house.