As I pushed the passenger door of the car open to place my feet on the solid ground of the parking lot, I couldn’t help but think, with irony, that Calix and I were a little like a modern day Romeo and Juliet. It was a funny thought, really, because Calix was no Romeo. He was hard and often times cruel - but toward me he was soft and romantic. I saw a side of Calix that many others had never been subject to. I loved that soft side of the man - when his monster decided to lay dormant in sleep.
“Nova,” Jaylah’s beckoning voice interrupted my thoughts and I swung my gaze into her direction as she pulled a medium sized brown satchel from the trunk of her car. “Here, it’s for you.”
I raised a brow at the satchel. “Oh?”
She smiled her signature smile, but her eyes were filled with warning. “It’s what you asked for.”
The only thing I wanted was a disposable phone.
A disposable phone.
Oh my God. Jaylah had listened and acted on my one request. Oh my...
She held the satchel out to me. “If you don’t like it, we can return it. I got it here at this mall, so you don’t need to keep it if you don’t want to.”
Her eyes were begging me to understand, and I felt my own eyes sweep the parking lot before I stepped forward to my sister, taking the satchel and swinging it over my shoulder. “Thanks.” I glanced around the parking lot once again, not seeing anything of any incrimination. “I love the color.”
“I’m glad.” Jaylah grinned. “Let’s go shopping, yeah?”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
Jaylah beamed once again, sliding her arm through mine as she settled herself beside me. “Don’t act too happy. Dad promised me we would be safe on our trip, so I’m pretty sure we have an audience. In the satchel, you have the disposable phone you asked for. Use it in a fitting room only. On our way home, you’ll have to give me the phone. I’ve bedazzled it so it’s identical to mine, so I’ll leave my phone in the car. I’m confident Dad will check us when we get home.”
“How,”
“I promised you I’d help. I’m trying to cover all our basis.”
I nodded, careful to keep my building smile from showing on my face. “Thank you, Jay.”
She tightened her arm around mine. “We’re going to have a great sister day today.”
“How about we do some clothes shopping and then go get a manicure and pedicure on Dad’s dime?” I proposed. Nails had always been something I’d done with my sisters, either at home unprofessionally, or at the mall where they were buffed, glossed, and polished by a professional. The night I’d been taken was a night I’d spent doing my nails with my sisters in our living room.
“I think that’s the best idea you’ve had yet. Except, between the two we’ll need to grab lunch. You’re growing a life in there,” she patted my still flat belly. “And you need to eat, Nova.”
This time, I was unable to hide my smile. “Sounds like a plan.”
***
My heart raced as I closed the door of the fitting room behind me. I had an admiring number of clothing articles hanging over my arm to
try on
. I didn’t know how long I’d be on the phone and I didn’t want my time in the room to appear in any way suspicious in case my father had, in fact, employed someone to watch Jaylah and I on our day out of the house.
Leaning my back against the door, I pulled open the satchel my fingers had been itching to open since I’d come to the knowledge that there was a phone inside. As I found the bedazzled phone, turning it on, I tried to calm the very painful beating of my heart as I dialed the number I knew from memory. Calix had given me a list of numbers to memorize when we’d been in Greece, so that if I did happen to get myself separated from my husband, I could call someone familiar for help. If I had gotten lost in Greece, I probably would have called my mom, but I was more than thankful I had the numbers stored in my memory now.
As I dialed Gabriella’s number, my fingers shook, feeling heavy and almost numb. My nerves were almost completely shot, I was certain.
“Hello.” Gabriella’s voice flowed through the phone and as soon as I heard its familiar melody, a sob caught in my throat. It only took that small sound for her to realize who was calling. “Nova? Oh Nova, how are you?”
“Gabby,” I breathed her name. “Is he...”
“He’s alive, sweet girl.” She spoke softly into the phone. “I tranq darted the men who were - hurting him. And then I packaged them up and sent them back to your father. They arrived alive and well, I am told.” She sighed a shaky sound. “I’m not looking to continue this vendetta, or to give reason for it to continue. All I want is my son,” she coughed at her correction. “I want my grandson, the man I raised as my own when his parents were taken, to live the remainder of his life safe and happy. You needn’t worry, Nova, he is safe.”
“Oh God,” I gasped a sob that sounded on a relieved breath. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”
“Nova, what happened?” Her words were nothing more than a whispered breath, and in them, I could hear her pain. “Why didn’t he fight?”
“He didn’t tell you?” I murmured, closing my eyes against the dim light in the fitting room of the maternity store. My mind wandered momentarily and I wondered if my brain had simply short-circuited, because all I could think about, was the marketing scheme that was the act of putting a dim light in a fitting room. I mean, those harsh fluorescent lights allow you to see
everything
while the dim golden light spilling into my small room right now would hide the imperfections that would dissuade me from possible purchase. Dim lighting really was genius.
I startled back to reality as Gabriella spoke.
“No.” Her voice was hard and I knew she was reliving the nightmare that was the night my father had bombarded my husband’s house. “He hasn’t said much.”
“Can I talk to him?” I pleaded my request. “I need to talk to him.”
“Sweet girl, he’s gone.”
“Gone?” I felt my voice rise to an unsteady high before I checked it. “Where? Where is he?”
“He’s somewhere safe.”
She didn’t want to tell me. Why wasn’t she telling me where my husband was? Trying to keep my panic from overflowing, I whispered into the phone as a desperation I couldn’t hide sounded in the undercurrents of my voice. “Gabby, I need my husband. I need to be with my husband. Calix didn’t fight because he thought I was better off with my family, but he is my family.” I pulled a deep breath into my starved lungs. “I’m pregnant, Gabby. I need my husband.” A tear slid from my eye. “Our baby needs a father.”
“You’re pregnant?” She gasped.
“I am.” I nodded even though I knew she couldn’t see me. “Calix and I, we’re going to have a baby.”
“Give me the number to contact you. I’ll text message you tonight.”
“Tonight?” I whispered. “Gabby, you need to find a way to get me to Calix - wherever he is.”
“I will.” She said firmly. “Be ready to disappear tonight, Nova.”
I repeated. “Tonight.”
“Give me the phone number I can text you from.” I rambled the phone number and she barked a few more instructions. “As soon as you receive a text, open it, read it, and delete it. Do not leave it on your phone and do not question any instruction, Nova.”
“I will follow your instructions perfectly, Gabriella. Just get me to Calix.”
“Stay safe, Nova.”
“I will.” I promised.
Then, the line disconnected.
***
Jaylah and I spent the remainder of our day out shopping, eating mall food, and getting our nails done. I knew she wanted to ask me about the call, but she held her tongue until we were sitting in her car.
“Give me the phone.” She held out her hand. “I’ll bring it to your room right after supper.”
I handed her the phone, feeling my nerves havoc in my body as I released the only connection I had to the man I loved. “Jay, promise me you’ll bring it back.”
“I promise.” She nodded. “Now, tell me everything.”
“I’ll be leaving tonight.” There wasn’t much else I could tell her. I didn’t know anything else. And when push came to shove, I didn’t want to simply disappear on Jaylah. I didn’t want to put her through the same feelings of guilt that she’d already had in the wake of my disappearance.
“Tonight?” She paled. “But,”
“Jay, I need to be with Calix. I won’t have my baby here, and I want to prepare with the man I love, for the most important part of my life.” I pulled in a breath. “Please understand.”
She focused through the windshield. “But Nova,”
“Jay, I love him.” I announced. “There’s nothing else for me to say.”
“Will you disappear forever?” She still wasn’t looking at me and I knew that I had to regain her compliance in this.
Reaching across the car, I held her hand in mine. “Jaylah, I will never disappear again. I will call your cell phone every week, with a new disposable phone each time. But I will keep in touch with you.”
“How do you know he’ll let you keep in touch with me?”
I frowned at the sight of her tears and fixed my most soothing voice. “Calix was afraid of losing me. I’m choosing to return to him. He’ll let me call you so long as the conversations remain short enough not to be traced.”
I didn’t know if what I was promising was correct - I didn’t know, if when push came to shove, Calix would allow me to contact Jaylah, or anyone else. But right now, that didn’t matter. Right now, the only thing that mattered was that I got myself to Calix - to where I belonged.
She nodded through her sniffling and I felt the uncertainty in my heart wane. “You’re sure this is what you want?”
“It’s what I need.” I rested my hand against my belly and her eyes followed my movement. “I need you to understand and support my decision to give my baby a father.”
She nodded. “I understand and I do support you, Nova. I just know I’m going to miss my sister.”
“I love you, Jay.”
“I love you too, Nova.”
***
As predicted, my father had demanded we drop all our bags on the kitchen table. He snooped through the entirety with a fine-toothed comb, but he didn’t suspect Jaylah’s pink bedazzled phone was anything but hers. Throughout the entire time, I held my breath. When he finally released me, I gathered my bags and fled the room. I’d waited three hours after dinner before Jaylah came into my room with my phone, and tears in her eyes. She rocked back on her heels, her eyes filling with tears that fought to fall. The sky was dark at 9:00 p.m. and she already wore her pajamas.
“Do you think,” she paused to gather herself. “Do you think I can spend tonight with you?”
I felt my eyes sting with tears as I thought for a moment. “Are you sure you can handle it?”
She nodded. “I can handle it. I just - I need to be here when it happens.”
Code; she needed to be here when I left of my own free will. She needed to not be in the room next to mine as I disappeared like the sun to the night sky, seamless and silent.
Pulling in a deep breath, I patted the bed beside me. “You can stay.”
Jaylah closed the door of my bedroom, moving quickly across the small space that resided between the door and my bed. I watched as she climbed into the bed, and then I stood to move to my dresser. I covered my black leggings with pink and orange striped pajama pants, and my black skintight tank top with a matching long sleeved shirt. I could feel Jaylah’s eyes on my body as I dressed my night clothing over my escape wear, and I remained silent even though I wanted to explain.
Moving back to the bed, I lifted the blanket and climbed beneath its warm weight beside my sister. Jaylah handed me the bedazzled phone. “Mine’s off and hidden in my bedroom.”
I looked at the little device, about to reach out for it, when a tap sounded on my door. Jaylah immediately pretended to be texting on her phone as my bedroom door opened and my father stood beneath the threshold, looking shocked to see Jaylah in my bed with me.
“Jaylah, I was looking for you.” His voice was deep and gruff and I knew he’d spent a moment panicking.
“I’m staying in here with Nova tonight.” Jaylah announced, turning her attention from the bedazzled phone to my father.
My father lifted his chin in a nod. “Okay,” he stepped into the room, moving slowly across the floor to sit on the side of my bed. “I’m happy you girls are close again.”
“We’ve always been close.” I replied tightly. “Nothing has changed that.”
His eyes held mine, and then he spoke, softer this time. “Nova, I’m sorry for everything you’ve been through. I know you’ve found comfort in your sister, but don’t forget that your mother and I are also here for you. Amy’s too young to understand, but we’re here.”
My reply was cold, the edges of my words jagged. “I went through nothing that warrants your worry.” I pulled in a deep, shaking breath. “And I want to be very clear to you. I love my husband, Dad. I’m in love with Calix, and if the chance ever presents itself, I will choose to be with him. I will have our baby, I will love our baby, and if you can’t handle that, then I will leave.”
“You can’t,”
“No, you can’t keep me here.” I hissed. “I am an adult, Mark. I have the right to make my own choices and I have a right to walk out that front door and never come back. You. Can’t. Keep. Me. Prisoner.”
“Nova, that is about enough.”
I shook my head. “No. You’re just as bad, if not worse, than Calix.”
“His name will never be spoken in this house again!” He bellowed angrily. I didn’t even flinch. My father didn’t frighten me any longer. There was one man who had the ability to frighten me, and he also had the ability to make my heart race in anticipation. That man was not my father.
“He is my husband. I will speak his name when and where I want. If you have a problem with that, I suggest you let me go.”
“Nova,” he stood from the bed, but Jaylah interrupted him.
“Enough, Dad.” She pointed to the door with a shaking hand. “Get out. Now.”
His eyes swung to Jaylah and anger brimmed in their depths. “Jaylah,”
“I’ll call mom.” She threatened. “We’re handling this and you’re making it worse. Get. Out.”
He stuttered for a moment, and then he turned on his heel and moved from the room. Pausing at the door, he glanced back. “Goodnight, girls.”