Chapter Three
Hank sticks another box in the trunk of my car, a box of household goods I didn’t have until he and Lucy showed up with them a few minutes ago. They brought me towels, sheets, cookware, everything I need to set up my new apartment. When I tried to tell them it was too much, they glared me into submission.
Finally, he slams the trunk shut and looks at me. “I hate to see you go, sweetheart. I could talk till I’m blue in the face, but you ain’t gonna change your mind. Are you?”
As much as I want to stay here, I just can’t. I can’t live off their charity or Jarrod’s. That’s what I’d be doing if I stayed in Macon. Since a week ago when Lucy told us about the diner having to be rebuilt, I have put an application in at every place within driving distance. Either I didn’t have the right education, experience, or they just were not hiring. Going to Paducah is my only hope.
“I’ll be back,” I reply, answering his question in my own way. “I’ll be standing at the counter the day the diner opens back up.”
He reaches up and pushes a stray lock of hair behind my ear. “As much as I hope that’s true, I want you to make me a promise.”
The touch of tenderness in his voice causes my eyes to sting, but I blink it away and answer him. “I’d do anything for you, Hank.”
“I want you to try to live for a change, give yourself a real chance at having a life,” he says before dropping his head.
His words surprise me, so I reply without thinking about my words. “I have a life, a wonderful life. I’ve got you, Lucy, and Diane by my side. I have Jarrod, too, and there’s nothing else I want in this life.”
“I know what happened to you back in Kentucky.” Stepping back, he leans against my car and shakes his head. “I know what that stupid fucker did to you.”
I don’t know what shocks me more, the fact he knows about Kilo or the fact he mentioned it right to my face. It could also be that he used the f-word. In all the years we’ve been around each other, I’ve never heard him mutter much more than the occasional damn, shit, or ass.
Attempting to put a wall between us, I shrug my shoulders. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
He doesn’t even blink as he says, “After you showed up, I was worried that trouble might follow you right into our diner. I liked you and Lucy already loved you, so I did a little digging. When Lucy found out your hometown, I took a little ride down and hung around for a day or two to catch up on all the local gossip.”
“What?” I mumble, fear and surprise filling my voice.
“While I was there, I happened to stop at this nice little diner. The woman that owned the place was having trouble with her new waitress, said the one that was there before was just too damn good to replace.”
I close my eyes, realizing he is talking about my old boss, but they pop back open when he starts talking again. “She and I got to talking about this and that, just shooting the shit. She told me about the waitress she lost. This pretty little girl that worked her butt off, trying to save money to get away from her drug addicted mother.”
“You didn’t tell her where I was, did you?” My heart skips a beat then speeds up to a frantic pace, waiting for his answer.
I’m not worried that Paige would tell anyone; she’s too good of a woman for that, but I don’t want anyone from Cedar Springs knowing anything about my life. The girl they knew is dead, and the woman I am today is someone completely different.
He shakes his head from side to side before saying, “She told me this girl cleared out on her mom right before the mom was tossed in jail for possession. She also mentioned the fact there was a rumor floating around town the mother’s asswipe of a boyfriend beat and raped the girl before she ran off.”
“Please don’t tell Lucy or Jarrod, Diane neither,” I say, stepping forward to lay my hand against his cheek. “Please, I don’t want them to know.”
“I haven’t said a word, and I won’t,” he says in a voice that’s just above a whisper. “But, sweetheart, they already know.”
I step back as if his words are acid, burning me with their touch. “What are you talking about?”
“You showed up at our diner beat damn near to death,” he says, pushing away from the car to step closer to me. “It took you nearly a year to stop freezing up every time you happened to find yourself in the kitchen alone with Jarrod or me. It took you another year to get to the point where one of us could touch you without you jumping out of your skin.”
Wanting him to be wrong, I spit out an excuse. “You only say that because you knew what happened to me. No one else noticed anything.”
“You could be right; I may have noticed a bit more because I knew what to look for,” he says, tilting his head to the side. “But others noticed, too, especially Jarrod. He was worried that he or I had done something to make you afraid of us. I told him you were extra shy, and he needed to give you more time to get used to us.”
This time when I close my eyes, tears are running down my cheeks. “I’m not afraid of Jarrod or you.”
“I know you’re not, Gypsy.” He pulls me into his arms and lays his chin on the top of my head. “Now, you just got to learn not to be afraid of life. I can’t promise you every man you meet is going to be good to you, but I can promise they all won’t be bad.”
With those words, he lets go and steps back. He quickly pulls an envelope out of his back pocket and sticks it in my hand. I can tell by the way it feels that it’s full of money. How much, I don’t know and don’t care.
“I can’t take this,” I say with a slight shake of my head. “You and Lucy have already done so much for me. I don’t need anything else.”
“We know you don’t need it, but we need to give it to you,” Lucy says, walking up behind me, carrying another box. “Now you take that money, if for no other reason than to make us feel better.”
As Hank said to me earlier, I could argue till I’m blue in the face and they wouldn’t change their minds. Instead of doing just that, I slide the envelope into my purse. Waiting until Hank takes the box from her hands, I pull her into my arms. We hug long and hard. Even though I didn’t get many of them in my life, none that I can remember, I know it’s the kind of hug a mother gives her child.
“We got to hit the road,” Jarrod says as he steps out of his house. “I told Rory we’d be there before five.”
Jarrod still hasn’t told his parents about his boyfriend, but he has told them about his friend Rory. He had to when they threw such a fit about me moving over an hour away. Instead of mentioning their real relationship, he led them to believe he is an old college friend he keeps in touch with through Facebook. Sooner or later the truth is gonna come out, and I’m afraid all this lying is going to lead to more trouble than Jarrod can handle.
“Gypsy’s car is loaded down, so stick this one in your truck,” Hank says, handing the final box to his son.
Jarrod is driving down with me and staying the night. Even though I have MAPS on my phone, no one seemed comfortable with me driving to Paducah on my own. Well, at least Hank and Lucy didn’t like the idea of me trying to find my way to Rory’s house by myself. Jarrod is using it as an excuse to see his boyfriend.
Just as Jarrod is sitting the box in the bed of his truck, a white Taurus pulls into the drive. A second later, Diane is getting out of the driver’s seat with a duffle bag in her hand. She heads straight to Hank and hands it over.
“Load that up in her car; it’s just a few things I picked up to help her get started,” she says before turning to me, and pulling me into a hug. “I can’t believe you’re leaving. I’m going to miss you so much.”
When she steps back, and releases me, I smile at her. “I’m not leaving, just going away for a little while. I’ll be back before you even get a chance to miss me.”
“That’s baloney,” she says with a shake of her head. “I miss you already, and you’re not even gone.”
We all spend the next few minutes talking before Jarrod grabs my hand and pulls me to my car door. “Ass in the seat, we got to hit the road.”
After another round of hugs and a kiss on the cheek from Hank, I crawl into the car. A minute later, I back out of the driveway. I pull back enough for Jarrod to back out, too. Then, I spend the next hour following behind him.
When we finally hit Paducah, my eyes start scanning the city. I’ve been here four times before. Once, the night I left my mom’s trailer, but I was too out of it to notice anything. The other three times, Jarrod brought me to have dinner with Rory. Each time, it was already dark. We ate dinner at some restaurant or another, and then headed back before I could see more than the restaurant parking lot.
This time, I notice the tree lined roads and small mom and pop shops scattered between the big chain stores. It’s a big town, huge compared to Macon or Cedar Springs, but on the city streets it has a touch of a small-town feel. Even though it will never be home, that will always be Macon, I don’t think I’ll hate living here.
Leaving the busy streets, we head onto a highway. A few minutes more and we pull onto a blacktop road. Not long after that, Jarrod turns on his blinker. When he pulls into a drive, I have to blink at what I see. The house is a piece of shit. Well, that’s not true. The house itself seems okay. The porch, the yard, even the view of the open garage, is full of crap. There are piles and piles of trash stacked everywhere. There’s a car on blocks in the side yard and a rusty refrigerator with its door off the hinges sitting right on the front porch.
When I finally pull my car to a stop, I have to force myself to cut off the engine. I don’t climb out of my car; I just want to head back to Macon. Instead, I give myself a pep talk and open the door. By the time my feet hit the ground, Rory is on the porch smiling over at Jarrod.
“Hey, honey,” he says, walking down the steps. “I’m glad you’re finally here. I’m starving and didn’t want to go get something without you.”
Instead of the sweet voice he usually uses with his boyfriend, Jarrod starts to yell. “What the fuck, Rory? I sent you three-hundred dollars to have you get someone to come out here and haul this shit off. I told you I wanted it gone before Gypsy moved in.”
“The guy canceled on me twice.” Rory’s eyes cut to me for just a second, and I instantly know my stay here isn’t going to be pleasant.
When Rory tries to put a hand on Jarrod’s shoulder, he pushes him away. “Why didn’t you get someone else to come out and do the job?”
“I tried, but I couldn’t find anyone that would do it for that price.” He shrugs, not quite meeting Jarrod’s eyes. “The lowest bid I could get was five-hundred.”
Even though I’ve only met Rory a few times, I’ve never liked him much. I really tried, for my friend’s sake, but I hate that he is always asking for money. Granted, he doesn’t usually come right out and ask. He just moans around until Jarrod gives him some. When Jarrod isn’t giving him cash, he’s buying him new clothes or something else he needs. Once, he complained until Jarrod put new tires on his truck.
“You take that money I gave you and have someone deliver a dumpster out here. Then grab some of your friends and get this shit cleaned up,” Jarrod says, crossing his arms over his chest. “I’ll be back next weekend, and it better be done by then.”
“It will,” Rory responds, still not meeting his eyes.
“It better be,” Jarrod repeats with a shrug. “If not, I’ll expect you to return that three-hundred dollars.”
Before Rory can open his mouth, Jarrod is walking my way. He grabs my hand and pulls me into the trash filled garage without saying a word. Using a key on his keyring, he opens a door in the back and leads me up a pair of hidden steps. When we finally reach the landing, I let out a relieved breath. The place is not a mansion, but it is clean and has everything I will need to get by until the diner opens back up.
“We’ll bring all your stuff upstairs; you just wait up here,” he says, turning back to the stairway.
Before he puts his foot on the first step, I’m following behind him. “I’ll help. Three people will get it done a lot faster than two.”
“No fucking way.” He turns around slowly, the anger in his eyes causes me to take a step back. “Rory and I are going to bring your stuff in. Then, we are gonna clean out that nasty ass garage. You are not gonna be walking through that mess every time you need to leave the house.”
“But,” I start but he cuts me off with a shake of his head. “No buts, Gypsy. It was supposed to be done before we got here. Since that didn’t happen, we are going to at least get the garage to a place where you can walk through it without being afraid a damn rat is gonna jump out on your feet.”
With that, he stomps down the stairs. I try to forget his anger and look around the room. The walls are painted a stark white. They are tobacco stained, leaving yellow streaks running down the wall. The room also smells like cigarettes, but that doesn’t bother me. Hank smokes like a freight train, so the smell is somewhat comforting.
The carpet is the only thing that grosses me out. It’s old and covered with stains, some of which look like car oil. Luckily, Lucy sent her old vacuum with me. Hopefully, after I spray it down with Resolve and vacuum it, it won’t be so bad. If not, I can get a throw rug after I have some money coming in.
Like my apartment above the flower shop, it’s all one room. It is bigger though, not much, but enough to be noticeable. It has a full-size fridge but no stove at all. In its place is a hotplate and microwave. I’m not much of a cook. I usually eat PB&J or cereal unless I am eating at the diner. I figure it will be the same way here once I find a job.
Footsteps on the stairs draw my attention back to the stairway. As soon as I turn my head, I see Rory carrying two boxes up the steps. His eyes are locked on me, and they look nearly as angry as Jarrod’s did a minute ago. It’s easy to tell that my moving in was Jarrod’s idea and not his. Either way, I’m here now so we’ll have to learn to put up with each other.
Jarrod follows right behind him, and they start stacking the boxes in the corner. It takes four more trips before everything is up the stairs. By that time, the room is so full the three of us barely have room to stand.
“Come on, baby,” Rory says, sliding his arm around Jarrod’s shoulders. “Let’s go get something to eat.”
“We can go, but we’re gonna clean out that garage when we get back.” Jarrod nods, looking at me. “You ready to go?”
“Nah, I’m gonna stick around here and get stuff organized,” I say with a smile. “You can bring me something back though, if you don’t mind.”
The relief I see flashing in Rory’s eyes lets me know I made the right decision. I keep my smile in place as I grab my purse and start to pull out some money. Jarrod just looks at me and shakes his head, then pushes Rory to the stairs.
“We’ll bring you back a burger or something,” he says as he follows Rory down the steps. “We’ll also stop and pick up a few groceries to fill the fridge.”
Just as I’m about to holler out for him to take some money, the door slams. Instead of chasing after him and forcing him to let me pay for my own groceries at least, I flop down on the old couch that I assume will also be my bed. My stomach twists in knots as I think about the fact that Jarrod will be leaving tomorrow afternoon. Breathing in deeply, I try to relax. I remind myself that I’ve been through hell and back; I can make it through this, too.