“Let me take you home.”
“Yes, please. My car is the murder weapon.” I laughed softly even though it wasn’t funny. I placed my hands over my face and tried to stop myself from crying.
“I’ll take care of it.”
“It wasn’t me…It was my cousin,” I sobbed as I wiped my nose.
“I will still take care of it, just let me take you home, okay?” He offered me his hand. I took it and held on tightly as he led me out the back of the hospital. Eric was there, and with the snap of Declan’s fingers, his coat came right off and was on my shoulders.
“Thank you,” I whispered as I sat in the passenger’s seat.
He turned on the music and lowered it until it was only a soft hum before we drove off and I rested my head against the window and drew in a shaky breath.
“Is this what your nightmares are like?” I whispered, as I stared out into the city. It seemed as though everyone was only just beginning to get up and move about as they prepared to start a new day. I, on the other hand, just wanted to go to bed.
“Yes,” he replied.
“And I won’t forget?”
“No. Sometimes we have to pay for other peoples mistakes along with our own.”
“Do we ever stop paying?” I looked to him when we reached the stoplight.
He sighed. “You never stop paying, Cora. If you do, it means you’re either dead or dying. I never want to see you like this again.”
“It’s the SpongeBob pants, isn’t it? Not doing it for you?”
A grin spread across his lips. “I’m more of Mr. Krabs type of man, I mean what the hell is a sponge doing at the bottom of the sea?”
My giggle turned into a full-blown laugh. It felt good to laugh.
“I missed hearing that,” he whispered softly.
I missed laughing.
I turned away from the gatepost when we got to Raven Hill. He stopped right outside my house and I opened the door for myself before he could get out.
“Thank you, Declan. But…”
“I understand.” He frowned as he closed his door.
“And you don’t have to take care of—”
“I said I would and I will. Don’t think of it as a favor. Think of it as a goodbye present or an ‘I’m sorry’ present…either one works.” He handed me an envelope through the window.
“What is it?”
“You’ll understand. Now go in before you scare your neighbors,” he said and I glanced around to see a few people coming out.
“Bye.”
“Goodbye, Coraline Wilson.”
I wanted to stay, even knowing everything I knew, I didn’t want him to go. But I took a step back and headed inside quickly. Resting my back against the door, I took a deep breath. Then, as I realized where I was, I bolted up the stairs.
“Imani!” I screamed.
“In here!” she called from her room.
Walking into her room, she had a suitcase on her bed, and she was busy throwing all of her things—my things—into it.
“What are you doing?”
“I already talked to Mom and Dad, I’m going to leave until this blows over.”
“Imani, he died. There’s not a wind in all the world strong enough to blow this over.”
She froze as her brown eyes glanced at me, then she started packing faster.
“Imani!”
“What?!” she screamed as she threw a shirt into her bag. “Coraline, I was drunk and high! I will go to prison for like life! I can’t, Cora.”
“So what? You want me to take the fall for this? They think it was me!”
“They do?” She relaxed as she reached up to grab me. “Coraline, that’s perfect—”
“In what way is this perfect?”
“Coraline, you’re a model citizen. You have money. You’ll be fine—”
I couldn’t take it anymore. Just as I was about to slap some sense into her, a hand grabbed onto mine.
“What the fuck you thinking you doing?” Otis asked as he held onto me with his good hand. His face was still swollen, and there was a large bruise on the left side of his face.
“Let go and get out of my house.” I tried to pull my hand from his grasp, but he held on tighter.
“Who the fuck do you think you talking to? Richie-rich?”
“Otis, it’s fine.”
“You better watch yourself, bitch.” He sneered as he let me go.
Rubbing my wrist, I turned to her as she zipped up her bag. “I thought you both broke up.”
“It was a misunderstanding.” She smiled at him as he grabbed some more of her things—my things.
“Imani,” I whispered trying to stay calm. “He’s a gangster, an actual one. He needs to go—”
“Give us a few minutes, princess, and we’ll both be out of here.”
I tried to touch her, but she pushed my hands away.
“Imani, he will hurt you.” I tried to reason with her.
“What do you know?” She pushed my shoulder on her way out. “Babe, I’m ready.”
He nodded as he followed her out of the room.
I knew a lot more than I she thought. I knew how badly it felt to want to go and how badly you shouldn’t. Watching them walk down the stairs I didn’t know what to say.
“Babe, how much is that worth.” Otis stopped to grab the Greek vase from the cabinet in the living room.
“Put it down.” I rushed behind him.
“I’ve about had with you,” he snapped at me.
“Otis, it belonged to her parents, just leave it.” Imani pulled at his arm.
He kept glaring at me, and then he smiled. “My bad.”
“No!”
He let drop out of his hands and it shattered as it hit the ground. I bent down and touched the larger pieces as Imani tried to pull him out the door. Taking a few pieces, I threw them at him. “You son of bitch!”
“You little cunt!”
He smacked me so hard I fell onto the ground, and as I tried to brace myself, I felt the shards of the vase bite deeply into my palms. “Who the fuck do you think you’re talking to?”
“Otis, stop! Let’s go.”
“Imani, you step out that door with him, you are dead to me! I swear to God I will never forgive you.” I wiped the blood from my corner of my eye.
“I don’t need you, Coraline,” she replied. “Otis, come on!”
But he stood there glaring at me until she came and pulled him back.
“Get out of my house!” I hissed at them.
Annoyed, he grabbed the entire shelf and pulled it down. It crashed right next to me, forcing me to back up quickly.
“Don’t find yourself in Southbend, princess, or you might not be as lucky as you were today.”
“GET OUT!” I screamed. “GET THE FUCK OUT!”
“Fuck you!” he shouted as they got into the car and drove off.
This couldn’t be real. This couldn’t be my life.
The envelope Declan had given me was on the ground. I hadn’t let go of it until now thanks to Otis. Reaching for it, I broke the wax seal and dumped everything out onto the floor next to me.
Three passports.