You, Me, And The Divide

Chapter 5

I pushed open the front door and found my dad and Toby lounging around watching some shit that I faintly recognized. I kissed the top of my dad's head and kicked off my sneakers. The ice tea in the fridge was calling my name, and I couldn't reject these cries. Dad pushed himself out of the saggy old couch and followed me.

"Hey, Is," he said solemnly. "Can I ask you something? It might be none of my business, but I can't help but be concerned."

He sat down in one of the chairs nearby and faced me as I poured a cup of iced tea. "Sure. What's wrong?"

"Well, I know Allen has only been back a day or two, but I know you guys are close," he said softly clearly serious.

"What about Allen?"

"I saw him coming home in the middle of the night around 2:30, and I know with the stress of losing Clara, it would be easy for him to slip back into old ways. I guess I was just hoping you could set a father's mind at ease," he told me honestly.

I stared at him confused as all hell. What 'old ways' was he talking about? When Allen dropped me off at Katie's it was about one. It doesn't take more than ten minutes to get from her house to here. Where was he for over an hour in the middle of the night?

"Dad, what are you talking about 'old ways'?" I asked him now just as nervous.

"I thought you knew," he said confused as he looked me in the eye. "He was caught dealing drugs a few years back. They found out he was on half the stuff he was selling. I thought he would have told you?"

"He never mentioned any of this," I told him feeling tears prick on my eyes.

Why wouldn't he have told me? He was one of my best friends. How didn't I notice? I feel betrayed for him keeping this part of his world a secret from me. Even my dad knew before I did.

"I'm sorry sweetie. I thought you knew," dad whispered lightly.

"I have to go," I told him and treked up the stairs to my room.

My room was the way I left it earlier today. I pulled my phone out and dialed Allen's number. No answer. I tried three more times, but there was no answer. He picked up after the fifth try.

"What?" he snapped at me.

"We need to talk."

He sighed angrily. "Well, talk then."

"Face to face. Where are you?" I asked feeling my heart race out of my chest.

There was a girly whine in the background. "I'm busy. I'll talk to you some other time, kid."

He hung up on me. I had so many questions, and he couldn't even give me the time of day. I needed answers, and they weren't going to be found in the dial tone at the end of an empty line. It was feeling more and more like I didn't know a thing about Allen. I had never seen the angry side of him until last night. Now this? What was he doing selling drugs? What was he doing doing drugs? I'm not going to play the innocent card. I drink and smoke, but I wasn't doing any hard drugs. I don't even know what he was on.

I laid on my bed watching out the window for his car to come back, but it never came. I fell asleep waiting for him. My sleep was full of dreams about Mr. Jackson buying the world, and Allen was homeless sleeping with a needle in his arm. There was a kink in my neck when I woke up the next morning. Allen's gray SUV was parked in the driveway, but if I talked to him now, I'd be late to school. I groaned to myself and rolled out of bed. I pulled on a fresh pair of jeans and a new shirt before crossing the hall to brush my teeth. Toby was walking out with bed head. His clothes hung disheveled on him, and it looked like he hadn't slept at all. I grabbed him and pulled him back toward the bathroom. I grabbed my brush from the counter and ran it through his hair. He groaned and left the bathroom walking like a zombie looking like an upstanding member of society. I brushed my teeth and grabbed a cup of coffee from the counter. Dad left for work before we woke up like usual, but I silently thanked him for making coffee anyways. Toby looked more away by the time he reached the kitchen and I was glad he wasn't entirely brain dead before the day even started.