The Shadows of Memory Lane (Book 2) [Gxg]

Chapter 23

It was the summer of 2017. The liberty of vacation beckoned him. Sparks of happiness, the laughter ringing in the air, the liveliness that made him sick. Haley was gone. His mother was gone. His best friend wasn't talking to him, answering texts or calls. She'd been looking like she'd come back from the dead for the past seven months. The sockets of her eyes deep. The circles around them dark and shadowed. Her eyes themselves had lost their light, her irises were constantly surrounded by red. They'd lost their purple. They were a mass of dark grey. They looked like balls of soaked newspaper. Dreary. Her smile had disappeared permanently. She never laughed. She hardly even spoke. Unless she was talking about Haley. When somebody asked her about Haley, her eyes would light up and she'd tell them a million stories, but then the truth would hit her and she would fade back into the shadows. Her grades didn't dip though. She was determined enough to carry on with her life. She wouldn't ruin her own life at the loss of Haley's. One of them would have to live on. Face all the challenges. Be the half that was strong enough to stay. Face the consequences, live until they were meant to wither away.

Juan bid goodbye to Luca and grabbed his skateboard. He walked out of the front porch. The sun hitting his skin, bathing him in its warmth. Grasping his in a hug, holding him safely. evaporating his unshed tears. He pushed off. He turned his mind off, feeling the wind lift his hair up behind him. The breeze cooling his head. He wished he could fly. Fly away from the roads where his mother's blood stained the asphalt. Lying in the comfort of the clouds. The wisps of white disappearing as he approached them. He could imagine it. The feeling. Of actual freedom. 

When he passed her house, time seemed to slow down. He turned his head. Looking up at the balcony. Half expecting her to come out and wave at him as she had always done, whenever she saw him cross. But she didn't. The apartment itself was in a sphere of darkness. The joy of summer did not touch it. He rode on, not stopping, ripping his eyes away from the balcony, his hope shattering into virtual, untouchable fragments. 

The wheels of the skateboard made a scratching sound against the tar as he pulled it to a stop. He ran his hands through his hair repeatedly before he had the courage to walk up to ring the bell. The woman that opened the door was unmistakably her mother. She had the same  purply grey eyes. The purple still intact. The rest of her features were an exact replica. Her hair was black though. Which made her less exotic. The mix of metals was missing. 

"Hey Juan. Can I help you?"

"Hey Ms. Rivers, um is Linda home. I thought I could talk to her."

Worry clouded her eyes at the mention of her daughter's name. 

"No Linda's gone out."

"May I know where Ms.Rivers?"

"One of her secret places. I don't really know where. I'm sorry."

"That's okay Ms. Rivers," Juan had an idea of where she might be. He threw one last polite smile and turned around, beginning to exit but he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Juan, if I may..." she trailed off.

"Anything Ms.Rivers."

"Linda's really unstable right now. For your own sake. For the sake of your pride and dignity. For the sake of my daughter. Please, let her be. She has to be alone for sometime. She has to heal by herself. She wouldn't really appreciate you following her around, asking her to accept your apology. She'll just get more frustrated. Please..." she averted her eyes. Her daughter's condition was hurting her. 

"I understand Ms. Rivers," Juan said quietly, disappointed. 

He didn't try anymore. Until now. When their destinies had brought them close together again. To face a million more bumps.

...

One afternoon, as she was sitting under the air conditioner reading a book, her phone buzzed. Kira put the book down and checked. It was Jordan. He was coming back. For her. She'd missed him badly. The whole year her heart and mind had pined for his presence daily. No amount of parties and alcohol could wipe away the memories they'd created. Not that she'd had that much alcohol... she wasn't allowed. But when she saw the text message her heart dropped and buried itself a hundred feet underground. She would have to cover up. The mistakes. The secrets. But another part of her was ecstatic. Her love was coming back. Her Jordan. So the lying began. 

...

Amia tried to dip her hands in the water. The salty air, burning her nose. The sand getting in her nails. She hated the beach. She was scared of the beach. The water was cold, dark. It held a million secrets. Scary secrets. Creatures lurked in its depths. Monsters. Flesh-eaters. She never understood why her parents loved the beach so much. Why so many people loved the beach. 

She was fifteen now. But she liked to forget about her birthday. The birthday that had left physical and emotional scars on her. The birthday of her nightmares. The humongous hands that wouldn't let her go. Her pleading over and over. Her tears, the blood from the cut on her lip where she'd bitten it to contain screams. The pain. The agony. The wave of regret. She was alone at the beach now. Mid-afternoon. She was gazing at the horizon. The light blue touching the dark blue. In some twisted way this place was also beautiful. She couldn't help but paint it. The clouds, like white cotton candy were all puffed up and scattered across the sky. 

She was perched on one of the black rocks, where the waves lapped occasionally. The foam frothing up as the waves danced on the sides of the rocks. She was tired of the pain. It had happened a month ago. It wasn't going away. The memory was engraved in her mind. Every moment still in high definition, replayed during her darkest moments. 

She let her hair loose from the messy bun and stared out to the sea. She observed each fleck that moved across the surface. She ran her hands through her long luscious hair, her fingers rested at the end, curling the strands. She wondered how long she was still going to be scared. How long she was going to flinch at the name Inanna. How long it was going to take her to forget at least the details. When the crying would stop. If the crying would stop. The salt water from her eyes connected with the salt water of the sea. She'd been oddly pulled towards the beach since that day. Even though she completely detested the sickly stunning place.  She didn't know the man's name. But some of his features were familiar to her own. Like his brown hair. It was the same colour as hers. His eyes were darker, but the same shape as hers. This is what sickened her most. He could have even passed off as her father. 

One of the most disturbing things was that, he didn't even know that he was making a mistake. He seemed happy. As if he'd re-united with someone that he loved. 'Inanna,' she thought. Who was she? Was she the woman he loved? Why had he been so wasted? What had happened to him that day? She remembered the tattoo above where his heart would be, that had been etched into her mind. A surf board, with two names, girl names, engraved onto it. One had been Inanna, but she couldn't remember the other one. Something with 'H'...

She didn't stress her mind out too much, though she felt like that name was somehow important. She placed her hand on her stomach, and though of the life that she was nurturing in there. 

The life that had been created the day Haley had died. But she didn't know that then. 

Memory #23: Linda would walk over to Haley'd balcony with a paper aeroplane one day every month with a secret message. She would throw it in, and it would fly gracefully over the trees and land in her balcony perfectly every time. Haley would be waiting every month to see what it was. The last one she'd sent had said, 

'Every time I see you, 

I get lost in those obsidian eyes of yours,

I've loved you for all these years,

And I will love you for Infinite more.'

She'd sent it on November 14th. Those infinite years existing only in her love, while in life they'd become finite in a matter of two days.