Got Your Six

Chapter 21

Kayla

I haven't been able to focus on anything since Calvin's boss came to arrest him. My own boss won't be happy with the lack of work I've gotten done today but that's okay, I can make it up later. I just wish I knew what was going on with Calvin. Sure, he's been acting different since Cameron's death but he lost his brother, how is he supposed to act? I've been trying to give him whatever he needs, which turns out to be a lot of space. Calvin has been spending most of his time down in his man cave, doing who knows what. I try not to bother him when he's down there. I know whenever he makes his way down to the basement he just wants to be alone.
There's a knock on the door as I'm pouring myself a cup of coffee. It's the third cup I've had since Calvin was taken an hour ago and my hands are shaking uncontrollably. I set the mug down on the counter and make my way through the living room to the front door, opening it hesitantly.
Calvin stands on the other side, he didn't have the chance to grab his keys before he was hauled away by his own boss. He stares at me, displaying a pathetic smile, as if hoping I won't ask him what this has all been about. I step to the side, giving him room to come inside. I close the door behind him and decide to jump right into it, he clearly isn't going to be the one to speak first.
"What was that all about?" I ask, probably sounding more accusing than I had intended. I don't want to jump to any conclusions, but what else am I supposed to do after I just watched him get arrested on our front doorstep. I guess the fact that they let him go has to be somewhat of a good sign.
Calvin walks around the couch and takes a seat, letting out a deep sigh at the same time. I stand at the end of the couch with my hands on my hips, waiting for him to give me some sort of answer.
"Hello?" I say loudly, grabbing his attention.
"Can't I just have a minute?" He snaps at me.
"Excuse me? You were just taken away in handcuffs and hour ago, I think I deserve some answers about what that was about," I tell him, suddenly angered by his tone towards me. He's been isolating himself in the basement for the past week, but showing signs of anger towards me is something that he hasn't done until now.
"It was a misunderstanding," he says as if that's all it'll take for me to drop the subject.
"That's it? That's all you're going to tell me?" I ask him, making it clear that those four words are not going to cut it. "No, Calvin, I want to know why your boss showed up on our doorstep in the middle of the day and arrested you. What do they think you did, Calvin?"
"Someone was found dead this morning. I was working last night so they wanted to see if I knew anything about it," Calvin says loudly, annoyed that I keep pressing him for answers.
"They don't just arrest people just to ask them a few questions. They think you killed him, don't they?" I ask daringly, slightly nervous for his answer.
"Do you think I killed him?" Calvin blurts out, jumping up from the couch. "Do you think I'm the type of person to go out and kill a man?" Calvin takes a few steps towards me as his voice gets louder.
I've never seen him display such aggressive behavior towards me before, or towards anyone for that matter. This is a side of him I've never seen, and would like to never have to see again. The death of his brother must be taking more of a tole on him than he's letting on. Spending so much time in the basement, alone with his thoughts, cannot be good for him. I should've stepped in and forced him to spend more time with me, to talk to me. Now I'm afraid it might be too late.
"No," I say softly, slightly frightened by his tone. I shouldn't be frightened by my own husband but right now, I am. "I don't think you would kill anyone. I just want to know why they took you away in handcuffs if they didn't think you killed him."
"Because I was on patrol last night, I told you this already!" Calvin shouts.
"Stop lying to me!" I blurt out, not even thinking about the words before they escaped my lips.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Calvin says loudly, taking another step towards me. "What do you want me to say? That it was me? That I killed him and covered it up so well that they let me go?"
"I just want you to tell me the truth!" I shout, standing my ground. I can't let him intimidate me just to get out of the conversation. Regardless of what he's going through, I need to know the truth.
"You know what? Fine. I went looking for Gavin last night," Calvin spits out. "I wanted to find the man that killed my brother. So, I went out and found his 'right hand man' and I put a gun to his head and told him to tell me where Gavin was." Calvin pauses and takes a deep breath before deciding to add more to his story, or rather, his confession. "He got away before telling me anything. I put a gun to his head but I didn't pull the trigger. Someone else did that."
I stare at him with disbelief, suddenly feeling like I don't even know the person standing in front of me. The man I married would never put a gun to someone's head. Regardless if he pulled the trigger or not, he would never have done anything like that. Not unless his own life was in danger, and from what he's told me, his life was not in danger last night.
"Well," Calvin says loudly, "say something!"
"You need help," I say quietly.
"Oh, you've got to be fucking kidding me," Calvin says, turning around and running his hand through his short hair.
"I'm serious, Calvin. I think the death of your brother has created a severe amount of trauma within you and I think you need professional help to get through it. I just don't know what to do anymore. You hide down in the basement whenever you're home. You hardly talk to me anymore. I feel like I don't know you anymore, Calvin." The tears begin to form in my eyes, clouding my vision.
"I don't have the energy to deal with this right now," Calvin mutters, walking off towards the bedroom.
"Are you serious?" I ask, following him into our room. "You need to talk through this with someone."
"Kayla!" Calvin shouts, making my whole body flinch. "I was just accused by my boss for killing a man. And then I come home and I get accused by my wife as well."
"I wasn't accusing you," I say defensively.
"So, excuse me for being a bit stressed out," he says, ignoring my statement. "I don't want to talk about it right now, and I don't need help. What I need is some damn space."
There it is again, him telling me he needs space even though that's all I've given him over the past week. He grabs his phone, keys, and wallet off of the nightstand and shoves them into his pockets. Then, without saying another word, he pushes past me and walks out of the bedroom.
"Where are you going?" I ask him desperately.
"Away from here," Calvin says angrily, snatching his gun off the end table and putting in his waistband. "I'm need space to clear my head, and if you're not going to give me any space, I'll go find it somewhere else."
"Calvin, this is ridiculous. Just talk to me, please!" I beg him as he inches closer to the door with every step.
"I've had enough of this Kayla!" He snaps at me. "I just want to be left alone!"
Calvin swings the door open and storms out, cutting across the lawn towards his truck.
"Come back!" I plead, standing on the porch. I'm probably attracting the attention of the neighbors but I don't care. All I want is for my husband to come back into the house so we can try to fix this.
Calvin ignores every word that comes out of my mouth and climbs into his truck. I continue shouting at him, begging for him to come back inside, even after he's shut his door and his truck starts up. Nothing I say could change his mind. I watch his truck drive away down the street, leaving me sitting on the edge of the porch with tears streaming down my face.