BrookLyn's Journey (21 page)

“Thanks for calling
,
Ma
x.
”

“No worries. Remember
...
it’s just a car,” Max
said
.

“You’re right but it was just
my
car. If it was yours, you wouldn’t be this calm. Besides it’s about so much more than the car.”

“True
.
”

Gabby walked over to the tow truck driver saying a few words to him that
BrookLyn
couldn’t hear. He gave her a few pieces of paper with information on getting her SUV back once it was fixed.

“So annoying,” Gabby said aloud before getting into Max’s car
,
next to
BrookLyn
in the back seat.

She
looked around as
they
pulled off
,
looking for Shante
,
but didn’t see her. As
they
drove down the block
BrookLyn
saw someone standing near an opened car door looking in
their
direction. It was Shante. As
they
drove passed her
,
BrookLyn
couldn’t help but stare just as
Shante
smiled
and gave
them
the middle finger.

“Did I ever tell you guys that I hate that girl?” asked Gabby.

“Yes, many times
,
and you told her too
,
at least four times tonight
.
” Max
laughed
,
coasting down the block toward Gabby’s house.

In record time
,
they
pulled up to the house.
They were all
glad to be away from the madness. All
BrookLyn
wanted to do was get
her
clothes off and put on some comfy ones
, maybe
hop in the shower
to
wash away
the
night’s events.

They
got out of the car
,
thanking Max for the ride
then
walked up onto the porch
,
hand in hand
trying to return to the level of comfort
they
shared before the party.

“Look at all of those pretty stars
.
” Gabby point
ed
up to the dark sky
that
boast
ed
sprinkles of light.

BrookLyn looked up and sighed.
“It is a beautiful night.”

“Let’s sit on the porch for a second. I love the cool breeze,”
Gabby added.

They
sat on the top step
for a
while
before going into the house
,
allowing the cool breeze to calm
their nerves.
Gabby’s
block was so quiet
they
could hear the crickets chirping in the background
,
as
they
sat silently taking in the beauty of the night.

“Look, I’m sorry I blacked out back there. I really didn’t mean to act that way
.
” Gabby interrupt
ed
the still of the silence.

“She gave you no choice.”
BrookLyn
didn’t think any of this was Gabby’s fault.

“But just ‘cause she acted like a fool didn’t mean I had to raise up on her like I did.”

“She destroyed you
r
car. She embarrassed us and she tried to ruin the party. None of this was your fault, Gabby.”
BrookLyn
still wondered what kind of hold Shante had on
Gabby
,
but figured now wasn’t the time to ask.

Gabby looked out into the distance then turned back to
her.
“I love you more than life and will never let anyone hurt you. Please, forgive me. Shante manages to push all of my buttons. I don’t want to be with anyone but you.”

BrookLyn
could see the truth in her
eyes
and could feel it in her heart
.
Then her
mind wandered back to her empty house.

“I believe you. I’m not worried for even a second about you leaving me,”
she
said
,
returning to
their
conversation.

“Do you still want to be with me?
” She looked toward her feet, shaking her leg nervously.
BrookLyn thought she even noticed tears dancing on her long eyelashes.

“I admit I saw another side of you earlier tonight that frightened me, but I know I don’t want to be anywhere but here. I have
been alive
for eighteen years
,
but you have taught me how to truly live within these few days.
You even have me taking chances I never would’ve even thought about
before
.
The day that
we
became
us
was the day of my birth. I wasn’t living before
that.
I was just existing
,
going from home to school,
to
church and rehearsal and regrettably back home
.
”
BrookLyn
smiled as tears rolled down
her
face.

“Don’t cry,”
Gabby
begged
,
grabbing
BrookLyn’s
hand
,
helping
her
up and leading
her
inside.

“The love I feel hurts
.
”
BrookLyn
cried
,
never wanting to leave
Gabby’s
side.

“Let’s go upstairs and wash away this painful night
.
” Gabby guid
ed
her
into the house.

“I’m glad
I can see the ocean in your eyes again
. The
y
were
red
with anger before, and they
were a little funky
.
”
BrookLyn
laughed
through her tears
.

“Well, I aim to please
.
”
Gabby
laughed too.

She
unlocked the door and led
BrookLyn
up the stairs to her bedroom.

BrookLyn
had
planned on washing away
her
fears from today. First, it was
her
father and then, Shante. They were two monsters that didn’t know each other but owned a similar stride
,
trying to fight their way through the world. They both were working overtime to steal the goodness from people.

BrookLyn’s
dad leased out
her
soul and Shante was trying to do the same to Gabby.
She
hoped
she
never saw Shante again.
She
had no choice but to see
her
father. For now though,
BrookLyn
was getting ready to wash
her
painful thoughts of him away. When
she
left for school
she
’d be taking
her
soul
with her.
That was a guarantee.

“I’m going to fill up the tub for you so you can take a bath. Maybe you’ll let me wash your back
.
” Gabby’s eyes
twinkled brightly.

“Maybe
.
”
BrookLyn
sat on the bed and looked out the window into the still of the night. There was a full moon
and she
looked at the stars as they blurred through
her
tears.
She
wished
that she and
Gabby could soar away from all of the hurt.
She
wasn’t sure why
she
was crying
again
.
She
just knew
her
heart hurt.
She
had experienced pain before but this
time it
surfaced in the pit of
her
soul.

BrookLyn
put
her
head down and let the tears flow releasing pent up pain.
T
he tears
probably
represented the pain from earlier today, tonight and the many years that
she had
suffered in silence. It took a long time in
her
young eighteen years of life to get to this place
and it
came about by being with someone who loved
her just
for
her.

She didn’t
want anyone to erase the spot
she
was in now
,
or take away
her
happiness. Shante tried to do that
.
Even if this was borrowed time,
she
wanted to enjoy each and every moment.
BrookLyn
regretted each second that
brought
them
closer to
their
imminent time apart.
She
didn’t want to leave
Gabby’s
house if that was the only way
they
would be able to enjoy
their
time together. Selfish as it may be, that’s what
she
wanted and needed after today.

“Hey,” Gabby said
,
entering the room
.
“Your bath is ready.”

“Thanks
.
”
BrookLyn got
up off of the bed.

“Have you been crying again?”

“I never stopped. That’s all I seem to know how to do
.
”
BrookLyn
wip
ed her
eyes.
They felt puffy
and achy
.
Love wasn’t supposed to hurt. Maybe
she was
afraid of losing the one person
she had
learned to love hard
,
in just a few short days.
She could
lose her to Shante
,
or to the craziness
her
parents would create.
She
didn’t want
that.
It was because of Gabby
that BrookLyn
was learning to breathe
.

She
watched all of
her
pain
wash away
,
as
she
lay in the tub alone
,
with
the
rose petals
that
Gabby
had
sprinkled
in the tub
.
T
he overflowing bubble bath and the sweetest
,
peach
-
scented candles burned away
her
sadness.
She often
soaked her
sadness
away
in the tub
,
but
she’d
never taken one as cleansing as this.
BrookLyn had
spent an hour in the
bath,
when
she
heard a soft knock on the door.

“Hold on
.
”
She
hopp
ed
out and wrapp
ed
a towel around
her calm and
relaxed body. Although
they
had kind of been together,
she
wasn’t completely comfortable
with showing her nakedness yet.

“Come in,”
she
said
,
once
she
was completely covered.