Motorcycle Girl: Book Four

Chapter 14: Waiting

Raylen

I walk upstairs at six fifteen the next morning to see snow filling the whole driveway. Dad rests on the couch, staring blankly at the fireplace. His hands are in his lap and I see him twisting the wedding ring repeatedly around his ring finger.

His eyes flit down to his phone. He hits the home button and I see his shoulders slump when he sees there is no notifications.

I peek my head into the garage since the stairs to the basement are right by the garage door.

Lucia isn't here.

I inch back to the living room and drop my backpack on the couch opposite my Dad. His eyes snap onto my face and he clears his throat.

"School was cancelled." He whispers.

He has a slight 5 o'clock shadow on his face and very defined bags under his eyes. There's a fuzzy gray blanket on his legs. His feet rest in front of him on the coffee table, his ankles crossed. He's not wearing a shirt, just the same pair of sweatpants he was in last night. A mug of coffee rests on the coffee table. It's full, and I squint into the kitchen to see the red light on the pot shows it's not on.

"How long have you been sitting here?" I whisper. He was in that spot when I went to bed.

He looks at me.

"All night."

I have never heard Daddy yell at Mama like that. She's always his weakness. She can get him to do whatever she wants whenever she wants it, but he's the same with her. When one of them does something they long like, they just talk each other out of it. Daddy will reprimand Mama, or Mama will reprimand Daddy. There's maybe an occasion once a year or less where they snap at each other over something stupid, but the moment the words leave their mouths, they're kissing and apologizing.

Except for last night. The shouting was so clear, we could hear every single word that left Daddy's mouth. Mama came storming out, and I thought she would look pissed.

But she didn't. No, she looked heartbroken and terrified.

She isn't supposed to be driving, especially not Lucia. Daddy knows that and he was adamant about not letting her drive.

So when I saw him hand her the keys, my heart dropped to the pit of my stomach. It was like he wanted her to leave.

After Daddy thought I went to bed, I sat up and texted Noemie about them until two in the morning. She stayed up in the room with Caroline and Noah. Lucy wouldn't go to sleep. She eventually passed out on Noemie's floor at midnight, and I snuck up there and carried her to bed.

Me, Noemie, Caroline, and Noah just have one question.

"Did you hurt Mama last night?"

Daddy's eyes snap onto me and he swallows.

"I would never lay anything but a gently hand on her, Raylen."

I hear footsteps behind me and Noemie walks in, all dressed for school. Her eyes are red like she's been crying, and it doesn't take a genius to figure out why.

"School was cancelled." Daddy says.

His eyes snap onto the fireplace again.

I unlock my phone and go to notes, quickly typing.

He didn't hurt her

I show it to Noemie and she reads it. I see her nod once. The sun isn't up yet so the house is still dark. The only lights are coming from the flickering of the fireplace and the spotlights in the kitchen, which are at a low setting.