Hidden Close (Jr. Year)

Chapter 52

Part 52 Of The First Draft

“It’s sad it came to this.”

Perry said, realizing that his uncle's appearance was inevitable.

“Will he come back again?”

I asked, wishing for it to not be so.

“As long as the club let's Danny sing, he will sing. Money has always been his first love.”

Renee, who was sitting with us, her eyes full of respite, urged,

“Then let us not ever go there again. We've faced Carlita, the watchers, Ignitro, and Clara, but I draw the line at uncle Danny.”

Uncle Danny. They refer to him with terms of endearment still. Renee wiped her sweat off her brow, and leaned back in her chair. She had been working out all afternoon long, as she always does on the weekend. She was still wearing her sweat suit from her jog, which she didn't seem to favor anymore. She got up, and left us, saying,

“I’ve got to hit the showers. Forgive me, but I stink.”

Perry and I were now alone, and I wanted to preserve the moment. I leaned over to kiss him, whispering to him,

“I feel bad about what happened, but I'm glad that I didn't go with your uncle. He's quite the deceiver.”

Perry answered back, between our full and opened-mouth passionate kisses,

“I’m glad you are with me....”

I whispered further,

“I’m saving myself for you....aren’t you a lucky boy, Perry?”

Our heat built up and went on as we made out for what seemed like a half hour, until my phone rang. It was my mom,

“Mindi? We need you home. Lana isn’t feeling good. She relapsed, but she’s okay. We promised not to take her to the hospital. Either way, she won’t settle down. She asked to see you. She's suicidal, Mindi.”

“Okay, mom. I’ll be right home.”

Perry knew what had happened. The look on his face said it all. I asked him, my voice full of concern,

“Drive me home? I'm the only one who can help her.”

On the drive to my house, Perry cursed his uncle. I tried to quiet him, wishing only to relieve his burden,

“I don't want you to blame yourself. None of us could have known about Danny. I'm sure not even Mister Paulson knew who exactly that singer was. Danny had everyone fooled.”

Perry, still disgruntled, admitted,

“At first I still suspected Mister Paulson, but when I knew it was uncle Danny, I remembered one thing, and that was he could fool anyone. There was no chance at all that anyone, be it us or people at The Weekend Freak, knew it was Danny.”

There was one other thing that was weighing heavily on my mind, but I let it go for now. I need to focus on Lana. When we arrived at my house, I kissed Perry goodbye and ran into my house. Lana was on the couch and I immediately noticed that she had taken up cutting. I asked my mom,

“Has she been taking pills?”

Lana, who was halfway out of it, moaned in pain as she laid on the couch. My mom nodded to me, and I sat down next to Lana, putting my arms around her. I asked Lana, as my tears started to fall,

“Do you really want to leave us, babe?”

Lana started to bawl, and I sensed that Danny did more than just tricked her. In his deceptive form of Clara, he had tried to fulfill the role of a profiting information dealer. Lana had lost her self-respect and her will to go on for nothing more than some useless information. Lana lays here now broken, and I wondered exactly what that creep Danny had really done to her. I casted those thoughts aside for now, and hugged Lana, begging her,

“You have to pull through this baby girl. I love you, sis.....”

Lana drooled and her eyes were bloodshot. It was clear she tried to overdose again. I pushed back her sweat drenched hair, and kissed her cheek. I held her hand from that point on, making sure to keep the broken Lana awake. As the night came, she came out of it, if only for a moment,

“Mindi...please help me. I...I don't really want to die. I took pills...a lot of them. I'll be okay, right?”

There was only one answer I could give her,

“You’ll be fine, but Lana, you’ve got to stop this. I know you're hurting, but you can't leave us. Besides, you made a promise to me that you would be at my wedding.....”

I saw a smile cross Lana's face, and she reached for my hand, holding it. Lana, in a moment of what I hoped to be hysteria, said,

“I may not die today, nor tomorrow, but some day I'll die. Please be ready when that day comes, Mindi. I wasn't ever the strong one, my dear. It was always you. When the wolf gift went from me to you, I rejoiced, because I thought I was saving you. Now look, you are the one now always saving me. Curse this life....”

Lana started to sob, and I tightened my hand around her's. After the clock struck midnight, I decided to coax Lana to sleep, feeling that she would be safe to get some rest. I slept in the chair next to her, spending a good three hours more before I finally felt it was safe to slumber. In the morning, I found that Lana was up, having even taken a shower. She smiled upon seeing me, explaining,

“I felt better after we had our little talk last night. I won't try to kill myself again. I know I keep trying to take my own life, but you just have to trust me. I made you breakfast.....”

I went into the kitchen, finding out she had made me a parfait with a cup of orange juice. I gladly sat down, and commented,

“I didn't know you could make something like a parfait, Lana.”

She laughed, and then mentioned,

“I can't, but Burger Emporium can. They'll always be my favorite cooks....and I hope yours, too?”

She handed me a gift card, and told me,

“Happy holidays. I'll be working there again, so there's plenty more where that came from. They called me this morning, begging me to come back.”

Lana is now more than a wolf. She's a blazing phoenix. As the days passed by, December started, and each high schooler was anxious for the holidays. Becky had asked to spend the holidays with us, and my mom had gladly obliged. She was full of cheer as she announced,

“We have our own family now. Lana, Becky, Carlie, and you, Mindi! There's so much love and festivity to go around! This truly is the most wonderful time of the year!”