Chapter Twenty-One
Amy
As soon as I saw Willie Dawson my stomach clenched in fear. I watched as Luke’s body tightened up. He went from lovable big teddy bear to full on panther mode in the blink of an eye. His hands tightened into fists, his shoulders set as he stood up to his full height. His eyes narrowed and every muscle became focused on his adversary.
Turning. He faced the three other men approaching. His eyes narrowed but otherwise, he acted calm. Serious, but calm. How did he do that? I wondered. It seemed the more tense things became the calmer he became.
“Dawson,” he said with a tip of his head as way of greeting. The two older Dawsons looked like a cross between apes and hyenas. All muscle and no brains. The kind of people who thought tearing the wings off of flies was a mental challenge.
“So, you’re the one who doesn’t want to help,” one of the brothers said to Luke.
My brow narrowed in confusion. What were they talking about. Why was Luke mixed up with this scum? Luke Ignored them as he finished gassing up the truck and put the handle back onto the pump.
Once it was safely secured, he turned to face them.
My heart raced. The testosterone flying through the air was thick enough to cut with a knife. Just like that, four full-grown men were standing off against each other and it was three against one.
Without thinking, I unbuckled my belt and started to slide across to the driver side door so I could stand with Luke. Nothing was going to hurt him. I would die first.
Luke saw me and frowned at me. Shaking his head and shooting me an angry look for me to stay out of it. This was a different Luke. He looked like he’d bite my head off if I didn’t do what he told me.
An anger flared inside of me. How dare he tell me what to do. Especially with something this important. But before I could get out, he leaned up against the door and folded his arms across his chest. Blocking me in and pretending like he wasn’t worried.
“Is that Jensen,” Willie said, obviously referring to me. The muscles of Luke’s jaw twitched and I knew he was getting angrier and angrier every second. For the first time, I became very worried that there was going to be a fight and Luke was going to get thrown back in jail.
Once again, my world was ending. We so didn’t need this.
Luke ignored Willie and turned slightly so he could talk to the older of the brothers. “Like I told Willie, I’m not helping. And if he had any sense, he’d be smart enough not to push me. Especially after what happened last time.”
The older brother frowned as he glanced back at his younger brother. Willie’s face lost some of its color as he glanced down at his feet.
“What does he mean?” the older brother asked.
Willie shrugged his shoulders. Luke snorted and shook his head. “Typical. You didn’t even tell them the truth, did you.”
Even more color drained from Willie’s face.
The older brother raised an eyebrow asking for details. Luke sighed heavily. “That night, your brother was the one driving. Not me. I went along with him when he hotwired the car. That was my piss poor judgment. My fault for being an idiot. But the thing to remember is that the cops offered to let me go if I turned him in.”
The older brother glanced at his younger brother and stared at him like he was a bug.
“This true? You were the one driving?”
Willie shrugged his shoulders.
“You idiot,” the older brother said. “The statute of limitations doesn’t run out for another four years.”
“So,” Willie snapped.
“So, shit for brains,” the other brother said, “all he has to do is walk into the sheriff’s office and you’re in jail for the next ten years. The sheriff has a hard-on for us Dawsons. You know that. You were old enough at the time, they’d charge you as an adult.”
The two older brothers shook their head, obviously more concerned about what Willie knew about the family business than worried about him spending time behind bars.
“Come on idiot,” the younger brother said as he cuffed Willie upside the head. “Get in the car.”
Willie winced from the slap then stared at Luke like he wanted to kill him. I mean literally. If any person had ever wanted to destroy another, it was Willie Dawson.
Luke didn’t change as he calmly returned the boy’s stare. Silently letting him know that if he wanted to try, he was more than welcome.
For a long second, the two of them held their ground. My stomach churned with worry as I held my breath, waiting for the night to explode into violence.
At last, the younger brother grabbed Willie’s arm and shoved him towards the car.
As they tore out of the gas station in a cloud of dust and spinning tires, Luke’s shoulders relaxed and I realized just how worried he had been.
Once their red tail lights were out of sight, Luke turned and smiled at me.
“I wonder what else can go wrong tonight?”
I laughed. What else could I do?
Luke climbed into the truck and turned it on, all without acting like he had almost just gotten into a major fight. I would have been shaking with adrenaline. But he acted as if he’d just had a bag of Doritos for lunch.
“What was that all about?” I asked, knowing I was sticking my nose in his business but tough. He was going to have to get used to it.
He shrugged his shoulders. “They wanted me to introduce them to some of my friends, guys I knew from before. You know?”
My brow narrowed in confusion until I figured it out. “You mean criminals? Other drug dealers?”
Luke nodded without taking his eyes off the road. His cheeks grew a little pink and I knew he was embarrassed about having been associated with those kind of people. My heart went out to him as I realize that the shame would follow him for the rest of his life.
“Why didn’t you turn in Willie?” I asked, desperate to understand. “I mean if it would have lowered your sentence and he was driving.”
Luke frowned at me then looked back at the road as he shrugged his shoulders. “I was just as guilty. It just seemed wrong for some reason. I know, probably not the smart move, but hey, I’ve never claimed to be super smart.”
My heart lurched as it filled with love. I think he was an idiot for not telling the police the truth, but I understood the young man who had held to his principles. I was sure his family and the state were demanding and pressing him but he had held firm with what he believed.
What he believed was stupid, but he had been willing to pay the price.
As I laid my head on his shoulder, I wondered about this man next to me. The depth and layers were so complex. Would I ever fully understand him? Could I?
The two of us sat there in our own world, beset by stress and worry from every side, but I felt it pull us even closer together. Jenny might hate me, Willie Dawson wanted to destroy Luke, and my father was freaked out that I was going to ruin my life.
But I didn’t care. Not really, not as long as Luke and I were together, then nothing else really mattered. It was a nice, grown up feeling. As if my soul had been designed to be this way.
As he pulled up in front of my house, he put the truck in park and turned off the engine.
“So, can I show a girl a good time or what?” he said with that silly smirk. My heart melted as I reached up and pulled him down so I could kiss him.
That wonderful feeling of rightness filled me and I knew we would figure it out somehow.
We kissed and explored until he pulled back.
“I better get you inside before your dad comes looking for me. We’ve had enough drama for the night.”
I sighed heavily. He was right but that didn’t mean I had to enjoy it.
“Will you call me later to let me know what Jenny says?”
He laughed and assured me he would. We kissed again but then forced ourselves to leave the warm cocoon of his truck and slowly walk across the front lawn.
When we got to my door Luke pulled me into his arms and let me rest there, warm, safe, secure in the knowledge that we were still us. Still in love. I let myself fill with joy and held on for dear life.
Finally, we both sighed heavily and kissed goodnight, promising to talk later on the phone. I reluctantly turned and stepped inside.
As soon as I clicked the door closed behind me, I remembered the words Luke had spoken earlier. ‘I wonder what else could go wrong tonight.’ The boy could be a fortune teller.
Sitting at the dining room table with my dad, was my long-lost mother.
My stomach clenched as if I’d been punched in the gut. I so didn’t need this now, was my first thought. Not, oh how wonderful to see my mother again. Not, she looks good, healthy. Not even a hint of the long-buried anger.
Nope, all I could think was I so didn’t need this now.
“Mother,” I said with a coldness that shocked her a little. Dad frowned at me, obviously disappointed but at the moment I didn’t really care.
“Amy, you look so grown up,” she said with a large smile.
I shrugged my shoulders as I turned and started up the stairs. All the while biting back a tear.
“Amy,” Dad called.
I stopped for a moment and studied them both. I didn’t really know these people. They weren’t just my parents. They were their own individual selves I realized. Leading their own lives. Not planets circling my sun. I didn’t blame them. Not really. But their opinion was not so critical. I would not survive or thrive depending upon what they thought.
The realization was a freeing moment. A turning point.
“It’s been a long night,” I said. “I’ll talk to you guys in the morning.
Both of them looked at me as if I was some strange person they had never met before. But really, I just didn’t care at the moment. I felt like a wrung out dish rag. Twisted and tight. The last thing I wanted to do was hash out family issues. I had more than enough of my own crap to figure out.
After I had dressed in my flannel PJ’s, I grabbed my favorite stuffed rabbit from its place of pride on the foot of my bed and crawled under the blankets. Only when I had settled into my place did I let the tears flow.
How would Luke and I ever be able to maneuver the rapids and whirlpools of life if everyone was against us?