Wrecked

Chapter 3

I don't know how or what Taylor and Mr. Weinstein did to arrange it but I was only in the holding cell for a couple of hours before my arraignment.
I was released on bond with the stipulation that I couldn't leave the city, something I wanted to do from the moment I saw Mitch. I was an adult now but that didn't stop him from being completely terrifying to me. I wanted to run away, far far away. I wanted to scream and cry at the same time. I still felt sick to my stomach. I knew my stress levels were dangerous for the baby I was carrying but I couldn't relax. I had tried to lay down in the holding cell but I couldn't. I just ended up pacing the floor, thinking and overthinking.
Taylor bonded me out and met me in the lobby. I was grateful to see him but I also sort of blamed him for this mess. Not that it was his fault really, but he had put it in my head to move back here. He had convinced me it was for the best. In the end it was my decision, I knew that, but it didn't stop me from feeling like he was partially to blame.
He hugged me to him when he saw me.
"Oh god, Melia," he said his face buried in my neck. "Are you okay?"
I shook my head, "Just take me home."
"Gladly," he said, releasing his embrace on me. He took my hand and we walked out to his truck.
I was silent the entire ride back to the house. Taylor jabbered on about something the lawyer had said, then about how the family was concerned and Jen was nonstop blowing up his phone. When we pulled in the driveway, Taylor put the truck in park and looked at me.
"We're gonna get through this, Melia," he took my hand in his and squeezed it.
"I saw him, Taylor," my voice barely above a whisper. "He knows about the baby. He asked if he was going to have a granddaughter. He implied he might try to take the baby if I go to prison."
"Oh Amelia," he said, and pulled me to him. "He was just trying to get under your skin. I would kill him before I let him near our son. And of course the sick fuck would wish it was a girl."
He shook his head, "I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure you aren't going to prison either, but if, and that's a big if, that happens, I will take care of our son until you are home with us again."
"I should leave," I pulled out of his arms. "I should just take off, leave the country this time. Go have this baby somewhere he will be safe."
"Don't you even think about that," he snapped. "You can't take off. It'll just make things worse. You can't run from this, not anymore. You have to stand up and fight back. That's the only way to make this end. That's the only to make any of this better."
"Getting put in prison for something you and your brother did won't make this any better!" I immediately regretted the words after I said them.
He cocked an eyebrow and looked me straight in the eye, "I'll go down there right now and tell them the truth about what happened. I never wanted you to take the blame for any of this. Weinstein told me you refused to say me or Ike were even there. I would've went forward that night but you insisted you had to leave and you didn't want us to get in trouble. I guess I should've just done it, then we wouldn't be in this mess. I wanted to do right by you, I wanted you to be okay. I wanted to help you. So don't try to blame me because all I have ever tried to do is what you wanted me to. All I have ever tried to do is protect you."
"I didn't mean that, Taylor," I tried to apologize, tears now running down my cheeks. "I know you have always tried to be there for me. I know what you did for me that night. I'm scared, Tay. I don't want to go to prison. I don't want to have our baby while I'm locked up and only get to see him once a month. I don't want to only be allowed to see you once a month. I feel like I'm 16 all over again and Mitch is running the show again. He holds the power to my fate. He is in control once again and there's nothing I can do. That's why I want to run. It's my instinct. I don't know what else to do."
"I know," he said, somberly. "But you can't run. I won't let you this time. I won't help you do that. The only way for this to end is to face it head on. We'll fight this and we'll win. He has no power over you anymore. He controls nothing. He may think he does but you're not 16 anymore. You've fought hard to get where you are, don't let him take that away from you. Don't you dare."
"What am I supposed to do?"
"For starters," he replied firmly. "We're going to tell the truth about what happened that night. I'm gonna call Isaac and see if he will come in with us. If he doesn't want to, we'll leave him being there out of it. But I don't think it'll be an issue. Once they find out you didn't do it, then they can't charge you with anything."
"But they could charge you and Ike..." I reminded him.
He shrugged, "We'll deal. He was trying to rape you, what were we supposed to do? Allow it to happen so we didn't get in trouble?"
"I know but they may not believe he was trying..." My voice trailed off before I could finish the sentence.
"Detective Franklin believed you before," he pointed out. "I think she still believes something more happened that night. She probably already knows we're involved somehow but she has no evidence to it."
I nodded, "She was asking a lot of questions about you and where I got the money to go to New York. I could tell she wasn't buying that I hitched all the way there. I just don't want you to get in trouble because of me. I would feel awful."
"Come on," he said. "Let's go inside and get you something to eat. You need to rest. We'll get this straightened out once and for all."
I nodded again before following him into the house. I didn't have much of an appetite but he insisted on making me dinner so I ate as much as I could.
As I got ready for bed I heard him talking to Isaac on the phone.
"It's time, man..." I heard him say. "I can't let her go to prison for this shit... What about the baby?"
I tiptoed over to the door so I could watch him and hear better. I typically didn't like to eavesdrop on other people's conversations but this time I wanted to see if I could figure out how Ike felt about Taylor wanting to confess. Taylor looked tired. I knew the stress of all of this was getting to him too.
"Yeah, Weinstein will be over here first thing in the morning and we'll go over everything..." he told his brother. "I understand completely if you don't want to... I know, but if you want I'll leave you out of it and say I acted on my own but it'd be better if both of us went in there... I know this is asking a lot Ike, but we can't let this go any further... I appreciate it. And I know she will too... We just need to make this right... Yeah, I know... Alright, I'll see you in the morning... Thanks again."
He ended the call and he ran his hands through his hair. He sighed deeply before turning around. He gave me a half smile when he saw me in the doorway.
"I thought you were going to bed?"
"I heard you talking to Isaac," I confessed, padding over to him. "I'm sorry you guys have to be dragged into all of this again."
"Nobody's dragging us into anything," he said, putting his arms around my waist and pulling me into him. "We're doing the right thing."
"You guys don't deserve this," I buried my face into his shoulder because I had started crying again.
"Neither do you," he said softly as he tightened his embrace around me.
There was a silence between us for a few minutes before he chuckled, "It's getting harder to hold you like this."
I glanced down at my protruding stomach that was causing a rift between our bodies and giggled.
"Pretty soon it'll look like we're trying to dancing at a church social or something," I teased.
"Make room for Jesus," he joked in an overly thick southern accented feminine voice.
This time the tears coming were from laughing and not from being upset. It felt like years since I had laughed like that, even though it had just been the day before.
"Thank you," I told him when I caught my breath.
"For what?" he asked curiously.
"For loving me," I said and kissed him.
"Always," he mumbled against my lips.
When we pulled apart, I led him to the bedroom. He let me sit him down on the bed and I climbed onto his lap.
"You should try and get some sleep," he said as I started kissing his neck softly.
"I will," I whispered, knowing that I was definitely tired, but the urgency I felt for him was outweighing my need for sleep at the moment.