Giving Up

Chapter 9 part 2

 After Lillie left, James cried until he couldn't cry anymore. He wasn't used to all the emotion. Before Lillie, he hadn't cried since he was a child. In the previous months that he had been with her, he cried more times than he could count. He decided that it was time to be a man, stop crying, and make himself get over his pain. He went to his brother's bar and grill. He perched himself at the bar and had drink after drink, shot after shot. Trying to numb the pain, and knocking back more each time he realized the last one didn't numb it enough.

A woman walked up to James and sat down next to him. "Hey handsome, do want to buy me a drink?" She tried her hardest to flirt with him, but he laughed. He laughed so hard he had a tear rolling down his face. He turned to her, rolled his eyes, and laughed more. He couldn't believe how desperate some women acted. He found it shocking that someone would have the stones to straight up ask someone to buy their drink.

"That was a pathetic attempt at flirting. You must be pretty desperate to have to ask guys to buy you a drink. A real woman would start the conversation with a 'hello' or 'how ya doing' but whores like you come right out and ask for what they want. You're pathetic and I'd never go for a girl like you." James basically spat at her as he tipped back and forth on his bar stool. She smacked him across the face and left him sitting there alone.

"James, get in my car. I am taking you home." Jackson barked the orders at James. He knew something was wrong if James was drunk, because he never had more than two or three beers. He also knew something was wrong because Lillie wasn't with him. Jackson knew that James would never leave Lillie at home to go to the bar. He had to find out why his brother was sitting at his bar causing a scene.

"Come on baby brother, let's get out of here. You've had enough to drink. Either get up on your own or I am dragging you out of here. I can't have you calling my customers whores anymore." He helped his brother stand up and took him out to his car. He unlocked the doors and helped James get into the passenger side. "What's going on with you James? You don't drink so why are you here and why are you wasted?"

"Lillie's pregnant, and she left me. She screamed at me that she doesn't want me; doesn't need me." He balled up his fists. He was still so hurt and full of anger. "She doesn't know if I am the father or if it's the bastard that raped her, so instead of sticking it out and letting me be the father no matter what, she left me. She told me not to call, not to text. Told me she doesn't want me in her life. She's really gone, Jackson. I am scared and I'm pissed."

Jackson knew that his brother loved Lillie more than life itself.  He also knew that Lillie was the perfect person for James until her attack. Kay was working with Jackson now, and every once in a while she would bring up Lillie and the changes in her. It scared everyone and made everyone sad to know that she wasn't the same girl she used to be. Something snapped inside her. "James, I know you love her. I also know she has changed. You can't keep blaming yourself for what happened, and you have to realize that she is not the same girl she used to be. You loved her before she got hurt, before she changed. She used to be sweet and loving, but now she's different. She's dark. Maybe it's for the best that you are apart for a while."

James couldn't speak. He couldn't believe that his brother would tell him that this situation was for the best. He needed to get out of this car, this situation, away from everyone. He glared at his brother and mumbled, "I'm out of here." Jackson didn't hear James. James grabbed the door handle and opened the car door. He was really drunk and didn't know that they were driving down the highway. He hadn't realized they had even left the parking lot.