A Silver Summer

Chapter 22

Chapter twenty two

Gelsey quickly flicked through her keys on her key ring once they reached the office building. She unlocked the door and led Anika into her office to her long leather couch. They sat in silence for a minute and Anika closed her eyes trying to calm her racing heart and thoughts.

"Where would you like to start?" Gelsey asked gently, giving a small encouraging squeeze over Anika's hand.

"I don't know." Anika wiped her cheeks with her free hand.

"That's okay. It's overwhelming." Gelsey rubbed her thumb in the back of her hand. "How about we begin with your mother?" Anika stiffened, but forced herself to nod.

"I don't know where to begin." The vulnerability in Anika's voice was foreign to her own ears.

"How long had she been using drugs?" Anika took a minute to think.

"The first time she did it in front of me was when I was eight, I think. But I'd often find her stashes before that."

"So she abused them as long as you can remember. Did she ever try to give them to you?"

"No." Anika answered immediately, angry tears spilling down her cheeks. "No, I hated them. They took her away from me every time she smoked or shot up. She didn't care. She never did." Gelsey didn't hesitate to pull the semi broken girl into another embrace.

"Were you with her the night she died?"

Anika pulled back out of Gelsey's arms and brought her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around her shins. A sign Gelsey took as a self-comforting act.

"She used to disappear in the evenings and come back a few hours later. I guess that was when she would visit her dealer or something.

"I don't even know why I did it. I never went to look for her before, but she hadn't come back and she had been gone for a while." Anika swallowed the lump in her throat. Gelsey's hand lifted to rub soothing circles on her back and Anika focused on that to keep her from falling into the nightmare that haunted her every night. It seemed liked forever ago but really, it was only less than a month ago.

"I went to look for her at one o'clock in the morning. I checked every alley and corner and just when I was about to give up..."

"You found her." Gelsey filled in. "Were you the anonymous caller on the pay phone.?"

"Yeah." Anika wiped her nose in her knee. She was glad that Gelsey wasn't pushing for more details about how she found her.

"In the barn, did someone say something to bother you?"

"No." Anika hesitated as a grimy feeling crept over her skin. She felt dirty and repulsive. "I just thought of something that happened."

Seeing the conflict in Anika's eyes, Gelsey comfortingly assured that Anika could tell her anything before she stayed silent as she allowed her the time she needed.

Anika studied the sincere look in Gelsey's eyes and made her decision. If Gelsey wouldn't allow her to stay at her camp than she would run away back to Greg and live like before.

"The night I found my mother, something else happened." Anika started to pull at the skin between her thumb and forefinger nervously.

"I was walking back to the abandoned part of town. I don't know why I didn't hear them or how long they were following me."

Gelsey's eyes widened in horror at what she thought, and so desperately hoped hadn't happened to Anika but the mist in Anika's eyes confirmed her worst scenario.