Do You Remember?

Chapter 8 (Drunk Dial)

Athena groaned when she heard her phone ring on her bedside table. She rubbed her face before reaching for it. 

'Mm, hello?' she asked with her eyes still closed. 

'Hey, did I tell you how beautiful you looked tonight?' 

Athena twisted until she was on her back. 'Jake?' she asked. 

'Yup!'

Athena winced at his loud answer. She always had difficulty in getting up from a deep sleep, who didn't? She sat up slowly. 'Jake... are you drunk?' she asked. Her voice sounded scratchy. 

'I'm pretty sure I am!' Jake answered, sounding very pleased. 

Athena opened her eyes and looked at the clock on her bedside table. 'It's three in the morning. Where are you?' she asked and pushed some hair away from her face. 

'At some girl's house in Francis Fields,' he answered.

Athena's eyes widened a bit. 'Well, do you have a sober lift home?' she asked. 

'Sweetheart, no one at this party is sober. I'm walking home,' Jake said.

Athena groaned. 'Jake, you moron, Francis Fields is on the other side of town. It'll take you more than half an hour to walk home and that's when you're sober. Plus, you'll have to pass through Ward Park,' she said. Athena felt panic fill her. That was the last place anyone should be at night. 

'That is correct,' Jake said. He sounded too happy. Athena bit hard on her lip as she contemplated. She finally let out a frustrated breath and threw the blankets off her body, awake now. Those stupid nineteen-sixty murder stories were getting to her. She should've never read that dumb book. 

She sat up in her bed. 'Sit tight, okay. I'll come get you. I should be there in about ten minutes,' she said and reached for her uggs on the floor. 'Aww, you do care,' Jake said. 

Athena rolled her eyes. 'I don't want to be at your morgue tomorrow to hold her mother's hand while she identifies your corpse. I've got better things to do,' she said as she stuffed her feet into the boots. 'Wait for me at the front of the house. Do you remember the address?' she asked. 

********

Athena shut the door behind her and locked it. 'You can crash on the couch tonight,' she said as Jake stumbled to the living room. She couldn't describe the pain that pressured her chest at seeing Jake like this. She knew he was drunk but that was a part of his life she wasn't familiar with. It was painful seeing how pathetic this made him. She couldn't understand it though. Kelly had told her once that he had stopped drinking. Was she wrong? Jake dropped onto the couch with a thud. Athena stood in the dark for a while before walking closer to him. She knelt down in front of him. Jake's eyes were now closed and it looked like he was already drifting off to sleep. Athena placed a hand in his hair and slowly played with the short black strands. A feeling of concern swept over her and she felt the need to take care of him. She wondered if this was how her mother felt. She never truly realised how damaged Jake was up, until that moment. She always thought he was stronger than this. Seeing him so vulnerable crushed her. 

Jake moaned a little and moved closer to her touch without opening his eyes. She smiled sadly. Athena sighed and stood up, removing her hand from his head. She walked towards the staircase and pulled her phone from her jacket pocket. Athena slowly travelled up the stairs and typed in 'Brown' into her search list. Her finger hesitated above the 'call' button but she pressed it. Athena held the phone to her ear as she reached the top of the stairs and stepped into her room. She nibbled on her lip as it rang a few times. 

'Hello?' Athena lost her thoughts for a second as she took in Ruth Brown's panicked voice.

'Hi, Miss Brown... it's Athena,' Athena said quietly.