Chapter Twenty-Two: A Crazy Person
Naomi
By the time I got home from my shift at the club, it was one-thirty in the morning. At least, I had a couple hundred dollars in tips in my pocket. I was tired, and kind of wished I was going to Smoke’s house instead. It would feel great to curl up in bed next to him. I’d found there was no better way to relax.
But Smoke had wanted to go to Wheelz tonight, so Samantha was babysitting and I needed to return home. When I walked in the door, the first thing I saw was Samantha asleep in her usual spot at the kitchen table. Her laptop was open, and there were four open books around her. I moved slowly, trying not to make any noise. I kicked off my shoes, then tiptoed into the apartment, passing her unconscious form.
I went to Gavin’s room, opening the door just a crack and peeking inside. Gavin was out cold, laying on his stomach with his arms and legs spread out. He was getting so big; he’d almost outgrown his twin bed. His blankets had been kicked off onto the floor, so I moved into the room, carefully avoiding the toys scattered all around. I picked up the sheet and comforter, lightly placing them on Gavin’s sleeping form. Then, I bent over him and placed a light kiss on his temple.
When I backed out of the room, I heard a moan in the direction of the kitchen table. As I turned around, Samantha lifted her head, and looked around with bleary, confused eyes. “What the…” She looked at me, and furrowed her brow. “What time is it?”
“One-thirty. I just got home.”
“One-thirty?” she repeated in a shrill voice. “I can’t believe I fell asleep. Why didn’t you wake me up?”
“I told you, I just got home.”
Samantha looked around running her hands over her books and waking up her sleeping laptop. Her movements were jerky and almost frantic.
I felt alarmed as I moved forward, toward her.
“I have a huge test in less than seven hours. Oh my god, I can’t believe this. I fell asleep…I fell asleep.” She was repeating herself now.
Her voice was laced with something close to panic, and I was worried she’d wake up Gavin. I had a feeling it wasn’t a good idea to say anything about her loudness. I’d never seen Samantha so unstable, and I wasn’t too proud to admit to myself that I was frightened of her in this moment.
“Calm down,” I said in my most soothing mom voice. “You have to get some sleep sometimes, Samantha. You definitely won’t pass the test if you don’t.”
“No, no, no,” she argued, not even looking at me as she started to close her books and shove them into her backpack. “I didn’t used to need sleep. I swear, I could go for days with nothing but a nap, but now…” She trailed off with a crazy laugh, one that chilled me.
“So…are you going upstairs?” I asked, hoping the answer was yes. I didn’t want to deal with whatever crazy she had going on tonight. I understood stress about school, but this was a bit much. I probably needed to find a different sitter. I didn’t think I could trust her with Gavin after this behavior.
“Of course,” she snapped.
“Okay, goodnight,” I said, turning away. “I’m going to bed.”
Samantha didn’t reply, so I continued into my room to change into some pyjamas. Hopefully, she’d be gone before I came back out into the living room to lock the door behind her.
“Where did you get that?”
I jolted and gasped, spinning around. I exhaled in a rush, with my hand pressed against my racing heart. “What the hell, Samantha? You scared the hell out of me. Why did you follow me in here?”
“Where did you get that patch?”
This was the second time in two days I’d been asked this question but unlike Angel, who seemed annoyed and jealous, Samantha looked angry and terrified. It was the strangest reaction I could have imagined to my Old Lady cut. I saw she was holding Gavin’s baseball bat, the one he used with his little league team last year. It was supposed to be in his room, mounted on the wall. I felt a sick fear at the sight of it, but I also hoped with every fiber of my being that she didn’t wake Gavin up when she grabbed it.
Something was seriously wrong here, and I didn’t want Gavin to be in the thick of it all. “What’s going on?” I asked instead of answering her.
“Oh my god, are you one of them? A Rebel Saint? I didn’t know they had women in the club. Those bastards.”
“What do you have against Rebel Saints?”
“They cut me off. Do you think I like to be like this? I can’t concentrate, can’t think without the fucking Adderall.”
Uh-oh.
“I think you should go,” I said.
Samantha ignored me, moving further into the room. “You would think they’d want to sell me more. I have the money. I’d pay whatever the hell they wanted. But no, Ink refused. That jerk just kept saying no. Over and over and over.”