Tame

Chapter Fifteen

"Dean, wake up, we're here."
I jerk awake at the sound of Ada's voice. She's sitting up in her seat, wrapping her earbuds around her phone.
"How long have I been out?" I ask.
"You passed out before I did," she tells me. "The flight attendant just said we're about to land in ten minutes. Get your stuff straight."
I examine her with narrowed eyes, wondering if she's mad at me about something. I don't know what it would be, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was something. It's like every time she gets close to me, she snaps herself out of it and our nice moment is ruined when she reminds herself that she shouldn't be messing with me. I wish she wouldn't do that. I peek past Ada to look out the window as the runway of Carson Airport comes into view. I've only been to the capital of Nevada once back when I was on the independent scene and my wrestling friends and I took the almost eight hour drive from my place to here. The only thing we were really worried about were hitting the bars and the girls in them. We get off the plane after the commercial passengers and go to baggage claim for our things.
Ada hasn't said a word since giving me reports about our flight's landing and I get scared.
Please let her just be grumpy because she didn't get good sleep, I pray to whoever's listening upstairs. I can't have Ada mad at me. Not after what we shared the night before. Wait a second. What if it is about the night before? What if what I said-about my fucked family and a fucked me-scared her and she's rethinking letting me stay at her place. I really hope not. After what she said about her grandma's house, I really want to see it. Plus, I cannot go back to Las Vegas. It's not even an option. There's no doubt in my mind he'll be there after the text he sent me. He always follows through with what he says he's gonna do. It's one out of many things I hate about him.
After we get our things, we head outside to hail a taxi down.
"Ada, are you mad at me?" I ask, my voice small as the second empty cab passes us.
Ada frowns. "Why would I be mad at you?" she asks, really confused. "Do I have really bad mood swings or something?"
I chuckle. "No, it's just that you're really quiet and I'm wondering if maybe I said something last night that might've-"
Ada cuts me off by placing a reassuring hand on my arm. "No, I'm just tired and am really ready for a shower, that's all."
"Oh." I know the relief is visible on my face. "Good."
Ada giggles as another cab passes. Then she sighs and walks out into the street.
"Ada!" I shout.
She plants herself in the middle of the road while a taxi is coming up to her, the driver not knowing she's there as he takes a bite of his burger. I start to run out, but the driver sees her and slams on the break.
"Ada!" I yell angrily. I pick her up by the waist and put her back on the sidewalk. "Stay right there!" I order the driver.
"Have you lost your mind?!"
"Why are you bugging?" she asks. "I got us a taxi, didn't I?"
"You didn't have to do it like that," I tell her.
She crosses her arms over her chest. "Well how were you planning on getting us a cab to the house?"
I rub my temples. "I don't know," I mumble.
"Exactly. Now get your stuff before he decides to drive off."

I know my jaw is wide open, but I don't care. Ada's grandma's house is huge and very blue but it works. The coat of paint looks new.
"Thanks," Ada tells the driver giving him the money for the ride.
We take our things out of the car and stand in her wide driveway with our bags at our feet. I take in the front view of the house. Of the porch that takes two sides of the home. Of the two wooden chairs off to the side on the lawn. There are a lot of windows, I'll tell you that and I knew there are more on the other sides of the house.
"The two car garage is a new addition," Ada tells me as she gestures for me to follow her inside the house.
As soon as you walk in you're hit with the strong yet not overbearing smell of grapefruit and mango.
"They're Grandma Tiana's favorite fruit," Ada says as she walks into the open library off to the right.
Leaving the bags at the open door, I follow, examining the books she has. Most of them are the new popular romance novels or books that have any romance in them. There's a small portion of novels you read in high school like Wuthering Heights and How to Kill a Mockingbird. Picking up a copy of Romeo and Juliet, I look at the bottom and see an unfamiliar name written in black Sharpie: Melanie Blackman.
I wonder who that is. "Hey, Ada," I say. "Who's Melanie Blackman?" I ask. "Is she a friend or something?"
Ada quickly snatches the book out of my hand. "Yeah, sure," she rushes out before putting the book back on the shelf. "Let me show you the rest of the house."
I frown as we pass the kitchen across the hall and make our way to the very back where the living room is. Maybe she's a really close friend that died or something. Despite the fresh coat of polish on the wooden floor of the wide corridor, you can tell its worn over the years of Mark Warren and Grandma Tiana, and now Ada's, repeated footsteps. On the other side of the living room are double sliding glass doors that lead out onto a huge patio with an even bigger garden that makes up the backyard. The living room is clean and tidy. There's a U-shaped La-Z-Boy couch in the middle of the room with a matching ottoman in its center. A huge flat screen rests on the hearth of a homey looking fireplace.
"My grandma created this garden," Ada says.
The rest of the house has the perfect mixture of past and present. There are obvious changes to the house like the furniture, but other than that, you knew that another generation was there. My bedroom looks more 1960 than anything else in the house. The bed is queen sized with a comforter that's faded from all the washing it's been through the past few decades. There's an old fashioned vanity dresser across the room beside a balcony that looks out on the backyard garden.
"Sorry it doesn't look like much," Ada apologizes. "That it's not as fancy as you were hoping."
"It's perfect," I say and it's the truth. I find it perfect that the most intimate rooms in the house are the ones that represent the best time period for Ada and her grandmother.
Ada smiles in pride. "Well, I'll let you get settled in," she says, backing out of the room. "I'm gonna head out and get us something to eat."
I set my suitcases on the bed and zip them open.