Arden had spoken to Dustin earlier in the week. Dustin said that when they were kids, Travis took in every stray animal that crossed his path. When they were teenagers, Travis was the guy that everybody bummed rides off of. He brought the booze to the party. He stood up for you in a fight. He helped you out of a jam whenever you needed it.
These things only opened Arden's eyes to something she already sort of knew about Travis. And it was something she felt she should think seriously about before committing to him. There was no doubt that Travis was a good-hearted man. But that kind of generosity would inevitably lead to pain in a lot of instances. It already had for Travis. And Arden wasn't sure she could live her life like that, watching him get hurt time and again.
At six, the women gathered in the kitchen to prepare dinner. The house was lit up with Christmas decorations and candles. Arden and Becca worked on making the eggnog together. When she was certain the older women were otherwise occupied, she leaned toward Becca and spoke in a hushed voice. "Quit throwing yourself at my boyfriend."
Becca wasn't shocked. "He's really hot," she said.
"I know that. Leave him alone. You're making him uncomfortable."
"I really like him," Becca said as she cracked some eggs and separated the whites from the yolks.
"He's mine," Arden said.
"Yeah? So? When you break up with him, then maybe I'll see if he wants to go out with me."
"First off, you're seventeen. Second...what makes you think I'll break up with him?"
"Because he's not your type. And I won't be seventeen forever."
"God, you're unbelievable."
Becca smiled smugly down at her. "Thank you," she said.
Arden laughed and shook it off. Becca was obnoxious, but ultimately harmless. The men came in when dinner was ready. Everyone sat around the big dining room table and Mark said a blessing over the food.
Travis leaned toward Arden. "I called Shannon. She said Emily's doing fine and not to worry."
Arden smiled at him. "That's good. Were you worried?"
Travis scrunched his face up a bit. "She's got that little sniffle. I just hope taking her out in the cold today didn't make it worse."
Arden managed with great difficulty not to laugh. "You're adorable," she said.
His concern immediately vanished as he smiled at her. "Well thank you," he said.
They got about two bites into their dinner when Travis suddenly jumped. He dug in his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He got up and walked out of the dining room as he answered his phone. Arden dabbed her lips with her napkin and then followed him out.
He was standing in the hall, a look of intense concentration on his face. "Just calm down, Edna," he said. "Uh-huh. Okay. Okay, I said. Just call the police and I'll be right over."
He hung up and looked at Arden, an apology already on his face.
"What is it?" Arden asked.
"A problem with Duane. I won't be gone long. A half an hour."
"Okay," Arden said.
She kissed him and he left.
Travis was gonna beat the shit out of that boy. He drove Arden's Miata through town and South towards the trailer park where Vicki Nixon lived with her mother, Edna. He hoped the police would already be there so he wouldn't have to deal with it. But there was nobody. Travis could hear the sound of glass breaking and people shouting as soon as he stepped out of the car.
He jogged up the porch steps and knocked on the trailer door. He didn't wait for an answer. As soon as he walked in his instincts kicked in and he ducked as a cheap, porcelain statuette flew across the trailer. Edna had hurled it at Duane who was in the kitchen shouting at Vicki.
The place was disgusting. It smelled like weed and there were beer and whiskey bottles littering the floor. Vicki's face was pink and swollen. She was screaming and cowering. Duane was shouting profanities at her. Travis looked down and saw why she was cowering. He was holding a huge kitchen knife.
All Travis saw when he looked at Vicki was his own mother's face all the many times she'd been on her knees begging her husband to stop hitting her. All those times Travis had given in to the demon rage and thrown himself at the old man, kicking and clawing with all his might. Except now he was strong enough to do something about it. Strong enough not to get beaten back down.
"Duane, put the fucking knife down," Travis shouted.
Duane glanced at Travis in surprise. Vicki reached down to grab the knife from him. But he jerked his arm back and slapped her with his free hand. Travis lunged at Duane, who had reared back to hit her again. He grabbed his wrist. Duane turned to face him, unadulterated hate beaming from his eyes. Travis balled up his fist and pulled back, ready to knock Duane out in one hit.
And then Duane punched him in the stomach. He felt it like a shockwave. He'd been punched in the stomach before and never had this reaction. All sound stopped and all he could hear was a dull ringing sound. He felt himself get punched once, twice more. He watched as the hate left Duane's face, replaced by terror. A dull clanging noise. A warm, wet sensation. Travis was doubled over, his hands to his stomach. He pulled his hands away and looked down at them. They were covered in blood. He looked down at the bloody knife on the floor and then back up at Duane.
He sank to his knees on the floor. Duane was on his knees in front of Travis, helping him lean back against the wall. He was crying and saying something. Travis looked up and saw Vicki screaming. He suddenly felt cold. Very cold. He started shaking violently. The edges of his vision grew blurry and then black. The last thing he remembered was hearing Duane shouting, "I'm sorry," over and over.
#
Arden and Becca were playing crazy eights with the younger kids. It was nearly nine o'clock and Arden was beginning to worry about Travis. But she forced it out of her head. When the doorbell rang, it didn't even occur to her that it could be anything to do with Travis. He would have knocked and come right in.
Her mother answered the door and a few seconds later, Emma came in. Her face was pale and tear-streaked.
"Oh, God," Arden said. "What did Dustin do now?"
Emma didn't react. She took Arden by the arm and led her to the couch. She held her hand. "Travis is in the emergency room," she said.
Arden laughed. "What?"
"He went to stop Duane beating on his girlfriend and Duane stabbed him in the stomach three times. They rushed him to the emergency room. He's lost a lot of blood and they're prepping him for surgery. I got all this information from Dustin. He wanted me to get you and bring you. He didn't figure it would be good for you to go by yourself."
Arden listened patiently. She felt vaguely nauseous. Travis was in the hospital. Travis had been stabbed. She repeated these facts to herself, but couldn't manage to make them seem real.
"Come on, Arden. It's all the way to Bixy. If we get there soon enough, maybe you can see him before he goes in. I don't know if he's conscious."
Arden couldn't feel anything. Nothing. She stared around her at all the concerned faces. Why were they so worried? Why were they looking at her like that?
"He should have waited for the cops," Arden said. Her voice sounded funny. Sort of far away.
"I know, honey. Let's get going."
Arden shook her head. "It's Christmas Eve. I should be with my family."
"Arden, we don't have time for this..."
"You go on," Arden said. Firmer this time. She was getting a grip. She was doing the right thing. "When you find out something for sure, give me a call. I'm not going to go all the way over there to pace around in a waiting room."
Emma gaped at her.
Arden didn't care. Something had snapped inside of her. She didn't want to go to the hospital. She didn't need to. She felt nothing.
"Arden, this is your boyfriend."
"I'm playing a game with my cousins," Arden said. "I'm busy."
Emma looked to Laura for help.
Laura stepped in and put her hand on Arden's shoulder. Arden stood and pulled away.
"Sweetheart," Laura said. "You need to go be with him."
Now Arden felt something. She felt angry. "No!" she shouted. "I'll go when I want to go. I don't 'need' to do anything. I'll wait and find out." She looked around her. "Why are you all looking at me like that? This isn't that big of a deal. He'll be fine and I'll go see him tomorrow. Let's get back to enjoying our evening."
She knelt back down on the floor at the coffee table where they had been playing their card games. It took a few moments, but eventually the cousins took back up their cards and started playing, albeit hesitantly. Arden heard the front door open and close. She put the whole thing out of her head. She was playing cards with her cousins. That was what she was supposed to be doing.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Travis woke up on Christmas day in the hospital. He was in some pain and it hurt a little when he breathed, but otherwise he was alive. He blinked against the sunlight coming in the window. He pressed his palms to the bed and tried to push himself up, but stopped as soon as pain seared through his abdomen.
"He's awake," said a female voice.
And then Dustin and Emma appeared at his sides.
"How are you feeling?" Dustin said.
"Do you need pain killers?" Emma asked.
And then the two of them glared at each other.
"No," Travis said. His voice was scratchy. "No painkillers."
Dustin gave Emma a satisfied smirk and she continued glaring at him in response. Travis desperately wanted to sit up. He fumbled around the edge of the bed looking for the button to angle the bed up. Dustin read his mind and handed it to him.
Once Travis got settled in a more upright position, he took another breath to relax. "Where's Duane?" he asked.
"Jail." Dustin looked down at his feet.
Travis nodded. "Where's my girl?"
Dustin looked to Emma. Emma tried to put on a smile, but came off looking sad anyway. Travis felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. "Is she okay?" he asked.
Emma took a deep breath. "She said she'd try to make it in later. She wanted to have Christmas with her family and apparently she has a lot of other things she's busy with."
Travis squeezed his eyes shut and cursed. Then he laughed in relief. "I was talking about Emily. She's okay?"
"Oh!" Emma laughed in relief too. "Yes. She's fine. She's still with Shannon and Russell. Would you like me to bring her here to see you?"
"It depends. Do I get to go home today?"
"No way," Dustin said. "Probably not till day after tomorrow at the earliest. Your lung was punctured. They had to sew up a bunch of other stuff too."
"I'll have Shannon bring the baby over," Emma said. "She'll probably bring Alice too. Alice has called, like, five times already asking about you. I didn't realize you and she were so close."
"She's a good friend," Travis said. He was so glad to be seeing Emily soon. It had hit him, recently, just how helpless he would be if Tonya ever came back for her. If he thought Tonya had a stable, loving environment to raise her in, he'd give Emily to her. It would probably break his heart, but he would do the right thing. But as it was, if Tonya came back wanting her baby, Travis didn't know what he could do, legally, to keep the baby. He determined to get a lawyer just as soon as he was back on his feet.
Travis turned his thoughts to Arden. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "So my girlfriend is too busy to come see me?" he asked Emma.
Emma looked away.
Travis laughed. Then he winced and pressed his hand to his stomach.
"I think she may be insane, Travis," Dustin said.
Travis leaned his head back into his pillow.
"Seriously," Dustin said. "I talked to her on the phone. She was acting really strange. I think she's in shock or denial or something. She said to tell you hi."
Travis laughed again and then cursed at the pain.
He felt Emma's hand on his arm. "I think she's just having a really hard time with this. Maybe she thinks if she doesn't see you, then this whole thing won't be real."
"Stop making me laugh," he said, stifling laughter yet again. "My God. She's having a hard time? She has my sympathies. Be sure and send her some flowers for me."
"Travis, she loves you..." Emma started.
Travis put up his hand in a stop gesture. He looked at Dustin. "Can you get a doctor? I don't want to stay here if it's just so they can watch me for a few days. I can do my recovering at home."
"They're not going to let you go, Travis. It's too soon," Dustin said.
"I've already got Tonya's bills to pay and no car to sell. I don't need this, too."
"You've got insurance..."
"Yeah, but how much will it cover?"
"I can find out."
"Please do," Travis said. "I've got another question."
"Shoot." Dustin sat on the arm of a chair up against the wall.
"If I don't want to press charges against Duane, will they let him go?"
"Fuck," Dustin said, shaking his head.
"Just find out."
Dustin looked at him like he was the biggest idiot he'd ever seen. "I'll ask. But I'm pretty sure it doesn't matter."
Travis nodded. "He said he was sorry."
Dustin burst into laughter. Emma gave his arm a squeeze. Travis couldn't help but smile. He realized as he said it just how ridiculous it sounded. Dustin had every right to laugh at him.
"Why don't you go and talk to him," Dustin said when he calmed down. "Then find out if he's really sorry. There was a lot of blood...he might have just been scared. Then if he's really sorry, you two can shake hands and be best friends again."
"You have a good heart, Travis," Emma said. "Don't let him make you feel ashamed of that."
He pulled her hand to his lips and kissed it. She blushed all over. "Would you mind calling Shannon? I could really use the sight of Emily right about now."