Adam [BOOK ONE]

XXIX

"I'm sorry to be leaving you like this, but duty calls," Adam was currently stuffing his clothes into his suitcase. His job had called, telling him he had no more off days and was expected to be on the clock Monday.

"It's fine, I'll be okay."

"If anything happens, give me a call."

"I will," I stood on my toes to kiss him, "love you."

"Love you more," he zipped up the suit case and opened the door, "I'll call you when I land."

"Okay, safe travels."

He smiled and blew me a kiss before closing the door. I was alone. Being alone was usually comforting, a way of gathering my thoughts, but now all I could think about was the blood image of my mother with a knife. Doubt was beginning to creep in and I could no longer confidently say that she didn't do it. I didn't want to believe it, but it seemed more and more true. What secret person could she be taking the fall for? Who mattered that much to her?

I pulled out my phone, the first notification was a news article. I groaned, regretting that I ever turned it on. It was detailing the attack, calling my mother a 'deranged' woman our for vengeance. I started to stick my phone back in my pocket, but not before it began to gently vibrate.

"Hello," I answered cautiously.

"Hey Elena, it's Christina. How are you?"

"Okay, I guess."

"Well, I know things have been hard recently and I was just wondering if you wanted to grab a cup of coffee. I think we both have a lot on our mind and it might be nice to get out for a couple of hours."

"I don't know, I-" I paused, sitting in my room running every little detail over in my head wasn't going to help anyone or anything.

"If not it's fine."

"I would love to, where should we meet?"

"I can come pick you up, just text me the hotel and I'll be there in about ten minutes."

"Okay, thanks."

"No, thank you."

I hung the phone up and quickly sent her the address of the hotel. I stood up, rummaging through my bag trying to find something that looked decent. Everything felt too tight or too this or too that. I finally pulled on a pair of jeans and hoodie and sighed, it wasn't getting any better than this.

My phone buzzed and it was Christina telling she was outside. I grabbed my purse and boarded the elevator, meeting her at the round-about in front of the door.

"Nice car," I smiled as I climbed into the passenger.

"Your father bought it for me, I thought it was too much. I've never been a Mercedes type of girl."

I smiled, "my first car was a '97 Honda. It barely ran, but I loved that thing like it was my first child."

She laughed, "so there's this great coffee place about fifteen minutes away from here, the coffee is to die for and they sell these little tea muffins. Absolutely amazing."

"Yeah, you're the expert."

The first couple of minutes of riding were quiet as the bright lights of the city faded into a more country atmosphere. I stared blankly our of the window, my mind a million miles away from my body.

"How's your mom?"

"She's, okay, as well as can be expected."

"I think it's really good that you believe her and have such a strong dedication to her. My mother died when I was young so, I never got the chance to really get to know her."

"We've gotten closer over the years, it wasn't always good, but the good outweighs the bad."

"How's Jaquan?"

I sighed, "how he usually is. Cold and brooding, I don't see what Ally sees in him."

"I would like to meet his kids one day, I don't think he would like that very much, but I would still like to get to know them."

"He doesn't hate you."

"Seems like it."

"Our childhood was hard, our parents constantly arguing and fighting, Jacoby passing away, our father was never really stable. You represent something Jaquan never got to really have from our dad, love. It's hard for him to accept, but he'll get over it."

She bit her lip, "I'm pregnant."

I took a deep breath to regain myself, "congratulations."

"It's," she paused, "never mind."

"You okay?"

She pulled into a rural looking house and parked alongside a row of cars. There was a sign out front that looked as if it hadn't been touched in years. The place was quaint, a small yellow house with white trimming and a porch were two, aging rocking chairs sat.

I saw Christina wipe a tear from the corner of her eye.

"Is everything alright?"

"This life inside of me deserves better than me for a mother," she broke down, "I'm such a piece of shit."

"Hey," I gently rubbed her back as she leaned into my shoulder, "you'll be a great mother."

"I've been coming here everyday because I feel so guilty about what happened."

Her eyes looked passed me and at the sign that sat crooked in front of the building. My mouth dropped a little.

"Oscar Coffee And Treats"

"She worked here?"

"She owns it with her husband. She has two sons and a handful of grandkids and she damn near died at my wedding. I feel like a giant bag of shit."

"It wasn't your fault."

She stared up at my blinking, "I was waiting in the back room. Jacob had gone to the bathroom before we were going to announced. I was smiling, happy, and I heard voices. Loud ones, arguing. I peeped around the corner and my dad was there, he was arguing with your mom. I don't know what they were talking about, but I stopped them. I yelled at my dad, told him it was my wedding and he wasn't going to ruin it for me, he told your mom 'trust me' and left."

"Did you tell the police this?"

She shook her head, "I couldn't. I didn't know how to, I thought it would make me look guilty if I said that I saw her just hours before she tried to stab someone."

"She didn't do it, she's covering for someone. Maybe it's your father."

"He would never."

I pulled away as if she has struck me. I was in completely shock, what if he was who my mom was hiding. But why?

"I'm sorry Elena, I really am."

"Is that why I'm here? Because you're the bitch who put my mom in jail."

"No, Elena-"

"How could you not tell the police this vital piece of information."

"I was scared."

"We're all scared! I'm scared, my brother's scared! Who the fuck wouldn't be scared! Is your fear more justified than ours? My mom might die in prison because of you're stupid ass fear."

"Elena I'm so sorry."

"Take me home."

She buckled her seat belt, "are you going to tell them? Please Elena I could to jail for perjury."

"My mom could go to jail for attempted murder."

She chewed on her bottom lip, "If she gets any jail time, I'll have my dad pardon her. He can do that, he has ties all the way up to the White House."

"If she goes to jail, your lying ass will be right there with her. I swear that."

Author's Note
Picture of Christina up top.