Four Doors Down(45)

I take off out of the house and run to Ryan’s, hammering loudly on the front door. No one answers so I start banging on the door again, so hard I think I’ll probably have a bruise tomorrow. The door swings open and I nearly fall into the house but reach out and grab the frame just in time.

Ryan stares back at me, his arms laden with chips and soda. He raises his eyebrows in surprise.

“I really need to speak to my mom,” I tell him urgently, already edging into the house. “Is she here?”

He nods and tells me she’s in the backyard. I rush through his house, nearly tripping over the rug in the hallway in my urgency to get to the backyard.

“Mom!” I shout when I see her and she turns in surprise at my voice. I quickly tell her everything that happened at the house and she pales. She turns to Kathy Jackson, and they both instantly rush into the house, grabbing keys and purses. My mom’s already on the phone and by the sounds of it she’s managed to get hold of my dad and is arranging to meet him at Aunt Ruth’s house. I follow them through the house, but my mom stops and turns to me. “I don’t want you coming with us, Becca,” she tells me.

“No, I’m coming,” I protest, but she shakes her head in response. “Mom, please!” I beg her. “I’ll follow you in my car and I can bring Jay back. You’ll have to stay with Aunt Ruth, but I can get him out of there and out of the way.” She pauses and I can see her brain ticking over, weighing up the risk to me.

“Okay, but you don’t get out of the car, okay? You wait for him in the car, and then you get out of there.” I nod in agreement and follow them to the door but come to an abrupt halt when Ryan reaches out and grabs me.

“I’ll come with you,” he tells me and I realize he must have heard our conversation.

I shake my head at him. “No, no it’s fine.”

“I’m coming, Becca,” he states while I shake my head, eager to get away and not waste time. I move toward the door, but he doesn’t let go of my arm.

“Ryan!” I hear a female voice call from downstairs and realize he must have company in his den.

He groans in annoyance. “It’s fine. She can stay here.”

“No, Ryan. We don’t need your help. Stay here.”

“You might need a guy there. To help if things get rough.”

I gulp at the thought of something like that happening and then shake my head. “No, my dad will be there and if I need anyone, I’ll call Charlie.”

I turn to leave again, twisting out of his grasp but he grabs me again stopping me from leaving. “What can I do? How can I help you?”

I glance at the stairs that lead to his den. “Don’t tell them,” I say. “Don’t tell whoever’s down there about my aunt, okay?”

He reels back like I’ve slapped him. “I would never do that to you. Is that what you really think of me?” He shakes his head at me in disbelief. “I would never do anything to intentionally hurt you.” If I’m completely honest, I know he wouldn’t do that to me, but I don’t have time to feel bad and turn and run out of the house.

By the time I reach my aunt’s house, my dad is there and the relief I feel is instant. Kathy Jackson is standing to the side of the gate, her hand on Jay’s shoulder. When I pull over, she gently pushes him in my direction and he runs up to the car and jumps in the back seat. I pull away instantly and turn the car around, ready to head home. I look in the rear mirror to check on him, desperate to offer him some sort of comfort. It’s only then that he turns to me and I see that he has tears pouring down his face, but he doesn’t utter a word.





“Hey.”

I look up to see Ryan standing in the doorway. I’m in the art room sketching some pictures and trying to forget about the mess from last night and Jay’s silent tears. The only remotely positive thing about last night is that I now couldn’t give a shit about the fact that I’m still being whispered about over my fight with Ryan four days later. I turn back to my sketches as he makes his way over and sits down next to me.

“How are you?” he asks. I know he’s referring to last night. There’s no point in pretending he didn’t see that drama and his mom’s probably told him all about it.

“I’m okay,” I tell him, not looking up.

“I came over to your house last night to check on you, but you were already in bed,” he tells me. I do look up at him now. He didn’t have to do that and when his eyes find mine, I don’t see anything except concern in them.

“Jay’s going to stay with us for a while,” I tell him. “My parents took Aunt Ruth to rehab today.”

He nods and I sigh loudly, raking my hands through my hair and rub my eyes. I feel so drained today. I can’t believe I didn’t know how bad it had gotten. The signs were all there. I know my mom’s been worried sick and I know Jay’s been acting up, but I’ve been so wrapped up in myself I didn’t know how bad she’d gotten.

“She’s not a bad person, you know?” I tell him. “When I was little, she used to read to me all the time and take me to the beach and play with me the whole time. She had so much time for me.” It’s so upsetting seeing her like this. She’s so different from the loving, caring aunt of my childhood.