Ivy
“Give me one reason I shouldn’t backhand you right now in the middle of this parking lot.”
I’d expected anger, but I wasn’t quite prepared to answer to violence. I swallowed around the sudden lump in throat, having to work to meet Creed’s eyes. “I did exactly what you told me to do,” I snapped at him, anger mixing with my fear. I felt kind of ill; it was probably the cocktail of my complete lack of sleep along with the dangerous blend of strong emotions, but I suddenly felt ill.
I took a step forward, but there seemed to be no ground below me anymore. Then I was floating. I heard a voice. It was rough and masculine and really familiar, but I was having a hard time processing information. I was pretty sure the voice cursed, then said something like: “You have to sleep, or else there’s nothing left when the adrenaline is gone.” I wasn’t sure what all that meant, but I really, really didn’t care. All I cared about was the way the floating felt, and the creeping darkness that closed over me like a water.
When I woke up, I felt awful. But I was laying down somewhere comfortable, and I was warm. Those two things were all that were important for a while. Slowly I began to drift out of my dreams and back into reality. “Where am I?” I croaked, hoping someone was around to answer.
“Dad brought you here,” a familiar voice said. There was a tapping against the floor. Most likely Josh’s little, sneakered feet against the floor. “It’s another shitty motel; I hate this place. The bathroom smells weird. But we’re not staying here long.”
I opened my eyes, trying to focus on what Josh was saying, My brain felt a little too big for my skull and it throbbed in time with my heartbeats. “Man, I don’t feel too good. Do you know what happened to me?” I couldn’t remember much, and the memories that were returning were jumbled and messy.
“You apparently went against Dad’s orders and went to go take your store back with Carlos.” My eyes came into focus well enough that I could see Josh’s face all wrinkled up in disgust. “I don’t know why you had to call him.”
I sat up, feeling bile rise in my throat. But I managed to keep it down. “Do we have some water?”
He pointed next to me. “On that table thingy.”
I glanced to my right; there certainly was a bottle of water on the nightstand. It was room temperature, but it tasted like icy mountain stream to my parched throat. After downing half the bottle, I felt much better. “Did I pass out?”
“Yeah, I think you did,” Josh shrugged his shoulders, his eyes still glued to the TV. “Dad said some something about you not drinking water and not sleeping and you just passed out.” Josh leaned his elbows on the bed, turning to stare into my face. “That was pretty dumb; why didn’t you sleep?”
“I was getting things done. It’s not smart to skip sleep, but sometimes you don’t have a choice.” I frowned. “Sometimes adults can be a stupid as little kids.”
Josh chuckled. “Are you hungry? Dad left us some pizza and cookies.”
“Do you know where your dad went? Did he take Carlos’ advice?” I asked, suddenly feeling a puddle of dread fill my stomach. My memories returned to me in a sudden downpour, and I kind of wished I was still passed out. “How long has he been gone? Do you know where he went?”
Josh rolled his eyes. “Come on, Ivy. One question at a time, okay?”
I took a deep breath and sat up a little more, glancing around the room. It was a pretty generic motel room; there was a single bed, a TV which was currently blasting cartoons at a completely unreasonable volume, and a small nightstand. There didn’t even appear to be a closet or a kitchenette. So Creed doesn’t expect us to stay here for long then. It must mean he’s doing something about Kelly. But what will he do?
I wanted to know. I needed to know. It was me who brought about Creed’s decision. I felt like I needed to help somehow.
Unfortunately, it took me almost ten minutes just to sit up straight. I guess the stress of the last few months had finally caught up with me. I felt like a punching bag that had lost all of its filling. Propping up some of the pillows behind me, I stared into the TV, trying to catch my breath. “How long was I asleep?” I asked finally.
“A few hours. It hasn’t been too long.”
“Did your dad go back to see Kelly?”
Josh nodded, his face screwing up like he was forcing himself not to cry. “He said that they had some unfinished business. I asked if we could all just leave, the three of us, but he said he wanted to stay and fix it.”
“Fix it,” I repeated, my lips forming around the words. He was going to fix it. Creed would fix the Edge. Did he mean to kill Kelly then? My stomach turned a little at the thought, but not as much as it turned at the thought of Kelly and Christine succeeding.
Josh got up from the bed and grabbed a pizza box off of the floor. There was a box of cookies on top of it and another bottle of water. “Here. You should eat something. My dad said neither of us can leave this room until he gets back. Unless he’s not back in a day. Then we’re supposed to run.”
“Where would we run to?” I asked, my voice filled with uncertainty. We don’t have any money, and we don’t know which way to go.”
After a quick shrug, Josh pulled a small wad of cash out of his pocket. “We can go to the moon and back with this much money.”
I didn’t quite agree. It would be horrible if I went through all of that trouble getting back my business only to have to abandon it to the incoming cartel. They would most likely kill anything associated with the Edge, which meant Josh and I would have to escape before they started looking for us. I wondered where Creed meant us to go with what looked like $300. Couldn’t be far.
I ate a slice of pizza and drank the second bottle of water before I finally felt human again. My head still ached, but overall I didn’t feel too bad. I might even be able to stand.
Throwing back the covers, I shifted my legs to the side, getting to my feet. I wobbled a little but remained standing without much effort. Already feeling better. Good news! I’d always been rather resilient when it came to getting over illnesses and things. I stretched carefully, waiting for a sign of light-headedness. But nothing came. I didn’t feel up to running a marathon, but I was pretty sure I could walk a bit without getting tired.
“Where’s the bathroom?” I asked glancing around.
Josh pointed behind himself, towards the back of the hotel room. There was a little tiny door, closed to the room. “Thanks.” Focusing on taking one steady step at a time, I surprised at how normal I felt. Weren’t you supposed to feel like shit after you fainted? Maybe not. I’d never fainted before.
I used the restroom, took a quick shower in the very smelly bathroom, then got out, coming back into the room. Josh was still sitting in front of the TV, his eyes locked on whatever silly show he was watching now. I grabbed the remote and turned it down a few notches so the sound didn’t pound inside of my skull anymore.
Now that I knew I could walk, I had to get back to Creed’s side. It was where I belonged. “Josh, we need to go see your dad. We need to make sure that he--”
“My dad said we need to stay here,” Josh answered. “He said if you tried to leave, I should shoot you.” Pulling the gun out from under the bed, Josh set it down on the side table beside him. “I’m going to follow orders.”
It was a test for me. A way out. Creed wanted me to stay with Josh, but if I chose I could walk out the door. Josh wouldn’t shoot me, and we all knew it. But that decision was the easiest one I’ve ever made. I would always pick to stay. No matter what. “But what if your dad--”
“He said we couldn’t leave, okay?” Josh was furious and he beat his little fists on the bed. “You think I don’t want to so see if my dad is dead or not? I fucking do.”
Tears touched the corners of his eyes as he yelled. The silence after his outburst seemed to echo loudly between my aching ears. “I’m sorry, Josh. Let’s eat some more pizza and watch a movie, okay?”
He wiped his chocolate eyes with the back of his sleeve, sniffling loudly. “Okay,” he whispered, his voice cracking a little from emotion. “But I get to pick it.”
“No horror movies,” I said immediately. “I hate horror movies.”
Josh pouted. “Come on, those are the best kind of movies.”
I made a face, trying to distract him from his father. “No way! The best kind of movie is animated kid’s movies.”
Josh rolled his eyes. “What are you, like twelve?”
I snatched the TV remote. “Come on, let’s watch something funny.”
“I wanna watch a zombie movie!”
We managed to bicker for the next hour or so, distracting ourselves with movies and arguments about what the best kind of movie was. Then we argued over what to order for dinner. Then we argued over sleeping arrangements.
But no matter how hard we tried to distract ourselves, Creed was still firmly rooted in the back of our minds. Worry seeped into every second, stretching it out into eternity. And yet, we continued to wait, listening to the ticking of the wall clock with nervous anticipation.