Summer Girl

Summer Girl - Chapter 22

Chapter TWENTY TWO 

We all got into the white car and Max sped off down the road, all within a matter of minutes.  My heart was still pounding. I had no idea what was going on. Why wouldn't they tell me anything? He slowed down as we neared the beach house, but didn't stop right away.

  "Can we stay here?" Max asked, as if he actually thought I'd say no.

  "Of course," I said quickly. "But my cousin is here."

  "Are you okay with this?" Harley asked me, looking unsure. I nodded.

  Max turned off the car after pulling in the driveway.

  "What happened back there?" I wanted to know.

  Harley looked at Max, who nodded slightly.

  "Our Dad is... an alcoholic. He gets really drunk and can't control himself, what he does, says..." Max began.

  "He's an angry drunk," Harley said. "And he takes his anger out on Max."

  "Why?" I asked, shaking, "Why does he think he can -"

  "He thinks he can beat the gay out of me," Max interrupted, his face red. "He can't stand the fact that I'm gay."

  "So he hits you?" I asked, the words just sounding wrong.

  Max nodded, but didn't say anything.

  "Are you okay?" I asked, wanting him to look at me.

  He did, but his eyes looked dark. I could see a bruise forming on his cheek. I wanted to hug him and never let him go, but we were still in the car. We were still in limbo.

  "Let's go in," I said loudly, opening the passenger door.

  Harley got out of the back seat and followed me, but Max didn't move. His window was down, but he was just staring, not blinking.

  "Max," Harley said, then again. "Max, come on."

  "I think I might go home, instead," Max finally spoke, but the words didn't make sense to me.

  "What? No," I said, stepping towards the car again.

  "You two need time alone... I'm just... I can't go back to the cottage. And I could use the drive back to Lakeland to calm down," Max went on, as if he'd already thought this through.

  Still, I was confused. "No," I said again. "Come inside."

  "Iz." His voice sounded all wrong. Too quiet. Too serious. "I'm sorry."

  Why was this happening? We still had two weeks to be together before we had to worry about them leaving. We still had so much time. How was it changing so fast?

  "Max." I was standing right at the window, he was just inches from me. I touched his arm, trying to hold him there. "Please."

  Tears fell down his face; he didn't bother wiping them away. He started the car again. I grabbed onto the door, stupidly. Like I could stop him from driving away.

  "Have fun with Har, okay?" he finally said, putting the car into reverse. "You two will be okay."

  "Max, no," I begged, but I let go of the side of the door as he started backing up. "Max!"

  Our eyes met as he drove slowly off down the road and tears poured down my cheeks. I wanted to run after the car. I wanted to scream for him to come back. I couldn't do any of this without him. He promised he would be there, always. But he was gone.