Bracing the Blue Line (27 page)

DREAD FILLS MY stomach as Lucy leads me through the cemetery. We drove two and a half hours to get here, and Lucy has barely mumbled a word the entire time. She stops in front of one large headstone and then turns to face me.

“Sit,” she orders. I take a seat on the long wooden bench. “I have a few conditions that I need you to do for me.” I nod. “Open your legs, so I can sit.” I do and Lucy presses her back against my chest. My hands immediately go to her hips, but she takes them and pulls my arms around her. “Hold me tight.” I squeeze her closer to me, so she knows that I will. “Absolutely no talking once I’m done. None, Grant.”

“Okay,” I agree.

Lucy holds her hands out to the headstone in front of us, and I finally read the names. Marvin Kennedy and Jennifer Kennedy. Son, Daughter, Father, Mother, Husband, and Wife are each written on the respective sides.

“They are my parents,” she says quietly. The date of their deaths is the same and Lucy had to have been six, I believe, when they died. The date was the other day when her brothers made a fuss because she wanted to be with me. That must be why. She chose me over them on the day their parents died. Now that it's about to happen, I'm not so sure I want to hear her story. “Today is the anniversary of their funeral. What I’m about to tell you will answer any questions you’ve ever had about me.

“My brothers went to spend the night at my grandparents. I stayed home with my parents because I was sick. I was asleep in their room because I always slept with them when I didn't feel good, but I was awakened by yelling and screaming from the other room. Something wasn’t right about it. My mom sounded like she was crying and there were voices I didn’t recognize. My dad was pleading, begging for something. It scared me, so I grabbed my favorite stuffed animal and hid in the closet.

“I started crying, but when I heard footsteps coming towards the room, I was terrified. My parents were yelling something and I didn’t want to be loud, so I somehow managed to be completely quiet. I think my dad said something to piss the person off because he turned around and walked away.”

Lucy stops talking as her breathing has sped up a little. I rest my chin on her shoulder and pull her closer to remind her that I’m still here. Tears begin to fall. I want to tell her to forget it. That she doesn’t have to tell me anymore.

“Then I heard lots of commotion and gunshots. People were walking around really fast and someone came into their room. The closet door swung open and a guy saw me. I remember that he looked really surprised and a little worried. He put his finger to his lips to show me to stay quiet. Then he closed the door and I heard him running down the hall, talking. After about five minutes, I think, tires squealed as they were leaving.

“The house was so quiet, so, so quiet,” she whispers, lost in her memories. “I wanted to go find my parents, but I was too scared to leave my hiding spot. So I stayed there all night, wondering if the people were coming back, and what happened, and why my parents hadn’t come to get me yet,” she finishes, her voice catching.

“Next thing I remember were my brothers screaming and a lot of crying. Patrick kept yelling, ‘I know where she is! Let me find her!’ Finally, he swung the door open, found me, hugged me, and then they were all there, surrounding me. They kept hugging me as my grandparents took us outside. Cops were everywhere. I don’t really remember much after that.

“My parents were murdered for some gang initiation. That’s why they robbed and killed my parents.” She pauses for a few minutes. “I stopped talking for a while after that, but when I started again the only person I would talk to was Patrick. I didn’t really know what was going on except my parents weren’t there anymore. Patrick was like my barrier. Whenever I got overwhelmed or just couldn’t keep talking to people, he would do all the listening and talking for me to make people leave me alone. I haven’t done that in a long time, which is why Corey reacted like he did the other night. That’s why my brothers are the way they are. They haven’t left me since that night.”

I’m glad she told me I couldn’t talk because I have no idea what to say. Tugging her even closer, I rest my chin on her shoulder. She places her hands over mine and squeezes. So much make sense now. I wish I could make her feel better. She probably doesn’t want me to move my arms, so I kiss her shoulder. Lucy relaxes into me, the tears still falling. I hate those tears so damn much.

“Luce?”

Our heads turn at the sound of Corey’s voice. Patrick and Jonathan are standing on either side of him a few feet away. She quickly wipes away the evidence of her crying. The brothers silently walk over, each taking turns kissing her forehead. Then Patrick sits to my right while Jon and Corey sit to my left. Not a word is muttered as we stare at the headstone. Lucy seems to be fighting for control, but suddenly she leans forward and the only reason I know she’s crying is by her shaking shoulders. She buries her face in her hands.

I run one of my hands up and down her back while leaving the other around her waist. After a few minutes, she’s still crying, her breathing too rapid. I grab her hips, push her to stand, and turn her around before pulling her back in my lap, so she’s straddling me. Lucy immediately throws her arms around my neck as droplets of tears fall onto my shoulder. I hug her to me as tight as possible.

She told me not to talk, but I can’t bear to see her like this anymore. Turning my head, I let my lips brush over her ear and whisper as quietly as possible.

“Hey, do you remember what I told you?” Lucy nods. “Say it.”

She is barely audible, but I hear her voice crack as she says, “I’m with you and everything is okay.”

“Again.”

“I’m with you and everything is okay.”

“One more time for me.”

Lucy says it again, takes a deep breath, and sits up with a tiny smile. She gives me a quick, soft kiss on the lips before turning towards Patrick.

“You okay, Luce?”

“Yeah, I’m okay.” She looks at Jon and Corey. “Are you mad?”

The brothers glance at me, and I wish they would tell her yes, so I could finally beat the shit out of them. They shake their heads though, and she turns back to Patrick.

“Are you?”

“No, Luce, of course not. Believe it or not, I trust your judgment. If you want Grant here, then I want him here for you.”

Lucy leans over to hug him, whispering something to him. Then she stands and returns to how she was sitting before, in between my legs, and I tuck her against my chest once more. “I think I'm going to stay with Grant for a few more days,” she announces quietly. “If he'll let me, of course.”

“You know you can,” I interrupt before she can continue.

Lucy smiles, intertwines our hands in appreciation, and faces the headstone once again. We're quiet for a few minutes before Jonathan interrupts it, pulling something from his pocket, which I just notice is full of something.

“Look what we found.” He pulls out a small Minnie Mouse stuffed animal.

Lucy gasps as she snatches it from his hand. She seems at loss for words as she stares at it, turning it over to inspect it. I rest my chin on her shoulder, realizing this must have been the favorite stuffed animal.

“Minnie Mouse, huh?” I chuckle. It fits perfectly.

She wrinkles her nose at me. “Yes, what's funny about that?” She clutches the animal to her chest.

“It's so you, that's all. Soft voice, big smile, and entirely too nice and sweet.”

Lucy rolls her eyes at me, but there's a hint of a smile upon her lips. “Thank you, Grant,” she says, and I have a feeling it isn't only for what I said.

“You're welcome.”

She stands and faces all of us still on the bench. “I think we're ready to go.” Lucy reaches her hand out for mine, so I take it and stand with her. “Same place as always tomorrow?”

“Yep,” Patrick answers as they nod and stand.

He hugs her first, then Jon, and then Corey. Lucy keeps her hand in mine the entire time. Because of this, I can hear each whispered “I love you” and Corey's, “Are you sure, Luce?”

“Yes, I'm fine, and he'll take care of me if I need him to.”

I'm not going to lie. A shit ton of pride swelled in my chest when she said that. You're damn right I'll take care of her. Better than they have these past few days. Their hug ends and we begin the walk back to our vehicles. I open the door for Lucy while she says one more goodbye to her brothers, and then we're on our way back to the house.

FOR SOME REASON, I almost expected our first time having sex again to be a little awkward, but it wasn't. Maddie is so much more sure of herself. It makes sense because the last time was her first time, and she's slept with someone since then. We've been pretty addicted to one another since. She sleeps over here so we can do a lot more than sleep, which explains her naked presence in my bed this morning.

I woke up to her straddling me, her fingertips on my sides above her knees. That's a silly thing to notice with the distraction of her tits against my chest. Her body is pressed against me in some places and a few inches apart in others, her hair tickling my face as it falls forward.

“You can't keep spending the night, Maddie. I'm sure Neil doesn't want-” I attempt to come up with some logical reason as to why she may need to stay in her dorm, like I actually want her to do that.

She rightfully cuts me off with a kiss. “Neil is never here. He won't care.”

“Your parents are paying for you to live in a dorm.” My phone vibrates on the nightstand, and I know it's Dave. Damn it. I never realized how often we actually talked until I had something to hide from him.

“Don't answer it. I'll love you forever.” Maddie starts kissing down my jaw. “What my parents don't know won't kill them. I'm usually only here at night, so no big deal.”

My eyes have been eyeing my phone anyway, and my hand flings out to grab it before it vibrated itself right off and onto the floor. Somehow, I manage to connect the FaceTime call with Dave.

“Bad time?” he asks. My phone is facing the floor, so he sees Maddie's bra, I'm sure.

Maddie glares as she sits up, and I move the phone, so he can see me. Only my stupid thumb hits the button at the top of the screen, and it swivels so Dave sees Maddie's naked self.

“What the hell?!” he yells as I frantically try to switch the screen back to me and Maddie's eyes widen as she covers up, realizing what has happened. “What the fuck are you doing with my sister, Winston? I'm going to kill you! What the fuck?!”

I sit up, lean against the headboard, and glance at Maddie, who is removing herself from my lap. “I didn't mean for you to find out like this.”

“I hope not! God, Winston! I saw my sister without a shirt or a fucking bra! You're sleeping with my sister?” He shakes his head, the fury rolling off of him. “What the hell were you thinking? What the hell was
she
thinking?”

“I'm dating her,” I correct. “And don't make out like I'm bad for her, Dave.”

“You're my best friend! You aren't supposed to fuck my sister!”

Maddie has been getting dressed, and she opens her mouth, but I lift my finger to her lips. She doesn't need to say anything to fuel his fire. She frowns.

“It's not like that, Dave.” I run a hand through my hair.

“When were you planning on telling me this?”

“When you came for my game.”

“I wish you had, so I could hit you. How would this even come about?” He shakes his head like it's impossible. I don't want to tell him about our past, but I may not have a choice. Before I can reply, he goes, “Where's Maddie? Is she decent now?”

I hand her the phone.

“Hey, Dave,” she gives him a half smile.

“Explain this to me, Maddie. He was only helping you study, or he was supposed to be doing that.”

“He did. Um,” she glances at me, “you asked how it started.” I reluctantly nod. “Remember when I kept getting in trouble for sneaking out in high school? Before y'all left for college?”

“Yeah. You were with some jackass who took your virginity and broke your heart.”

Her eyes widen. “Who told you that? I never said anything to you.”