Guardian of Eden (18 page)

 
That night, I ended up back in her bed. For a while, I forgot the day. I forgot Eden. I forget
Maddie’s
reluctance to fully integrate me into her life. All I thought about was the intoxicating feeling of her body against mine. What happened the next morning, however, made a fissure of doubt evolve into an impassable chasm.

“Oh, my God!”
Maddie
said bolting upright in bed.

“What is it? Are you okay?” I sat up and tried to stroke her back, but she hopped out of bed and frantically threw on her nightgown. “What time is it? Are we late for school?”

“
Shh
!
My dad’s home.
You
gotta
hide,” she whispered.

“What? Why?” I stood up and stretched not quite understanding why she was so upset.

“What do you mean ‘why’? He can’t meet you for the first time naked in my bed in the middle of the night!”
Maddie
ran around her room picking up my clothes then shoved them into my arms.

 I looked at the clock. It wasn’t exactly the middle of the night. I thought
Maddie
might be overreacting a bit. I wondered if Holly would care if I had a girl in my bed at six o’clock in the morning.
Probably not.
She definitely had done the same thing on several occasions. And she didn’t mind me spending the night with
Maddie
as long as I told her beforehand. But then again, Holly wasn’t what you would call a normal parent. I didn’t know how “normal” families worked, but I guess I could understand how a father would be upset over a boy in his teenage daughter’s room.

“Bathroom, no closet, no bed.
Get under the bed,” she said spinning around and pushing me.

I slid under the bed, with my clothes in hand just as I heard a soft tapping on the door.

“Are you awake, Madison?” Senator
McPhee
called through the door.

Maddie
jumped into bed, pulled the covers up and said, “Yes, Daddy.”

“Good, I have exciting news to tell you,” he said as he entered. “Are you feeling all right, sweetheart? You look flustered.” The bed creaked and lowered nearly squishing me as he sat down on it. He must have been a large man. “Your pulse is racing. Have you been taking your meds?”

“Yes daddy.”

“I knew I should have hired a nurse for you for the weekend. I can’t believe I let you talk me into letting you stay here alone.” Senator
McPhee
stood and walked to the bathroom. Good thing I didn’t hide there.

“I’m fine, daddy.”

“Here, drink this,” he said, returning from the bathroom probably with a glass of water.

“Really, I’m fine…I just had a bad dream.” She paused while she gulped down the water. “Why are you
back
so early? I wasn’t expecting you until this afternoon.”

“Like I said, I have exciting news to tell you. I couldn’t wait.”

“Okay, shoot.”
Maddie
set her glass down on the night stand and adjusted herself in bed.

“After much consideration, I’ve decided to run for President.”

“President?
Of what?” she said after a pause.

“Of the country.”

“This one?”

“Of course this one.”

“Oh, okay,”
Maddie
said.

“That’s it? That’s the only reaction I get out of you? This is big news!” The senator chuckled. “Well, maybe 16-year-olds have more important things going on in their lives. So, what have you been up to this weekend?”

I thought this would be the perfect time for her to broach the subject of a boyfriend. Or, at least to mention that she’d met someone special, but she didn’t. Instead she said, “Nothing. Um, I straightened my hair.”

“I noticed. It looks great.
Any particular reason?
You only do that for special occasions. Are you trying to impress someone?”

“No, I just wanted something different.” Why did she lie? She just told me she wanted to tell her father about me before he met me and now that she had the perfect opportunity, she chose to lie instead.

“Leonard says you went to the mall yesterday.” The senator paused waiting for further explanation from his daughter.

 “Uh-huh. I went to the mall with some…friends…from school.”

“Well, that’s great, sweetheart. It’s good to see you finally making friends. But next time, you need to let me know who they are beforehand. From this point on, I need to run a background check on everyone you spend time with. I’m a presidential candidate now.”

“The election is like two years away. You haven’t even gotten the party nomination yet.”
Maddie
whined.

“It doesn’t matter. We are constantly going to be in the news. In fact, I have a press conference tomorrow and I want you to be there with me.”

“Why should I be there?
You’re
running for President not me.” I could virtually see
Maddie’s
big blue eyes sadden.

“You’re my daughter and I would like to have your support. Plus, the press is going to be just as interested in my beautiful teenage daughter as they will be in me. My PR coordinator actually wants you to do some interviews soon. He may be able to get you on MTV or something. Would you like that?”

“MTV?
I hate MTV!”

The senator chuckled again. “Well, in any case, you are going to be very important to my campaign. That’s why I can’t have you around people that may damage our reputation. I’ll probably have to take you out of school so you can join my campaign tour.”

“But Daddy-”

“No ‘buts’, sweetheart.
Now why don’t you lie down for a few more minutes? I’m going to hop in the shower then I’ll order in some breakfast. Do you want me to lay out your uniform?”

 “No, Daddy, I can-“

“It’s no problem, just relax.” He went to her closet and shuffled through her clothes. Good thing I didn’t hide there either. The senator placed her clothes on the bed, kissed her then left the room.

Maddie
didn’t say anything until she heard the water running in her father’s bathroom.

 “You can come out now.”

I slipped out from under the bed and jumped into my jeans as quickly as possible. I needed to get out of there before I said something I regretted. Something to the effect that
Maddie
didn’t think I was good enough to even come up in conversation with her father. Apparently, I was only good enough for sex. That would be fine for most teenage boys, but I wanted more. No, I needed more. I thought
Maddie
was the source of love and acceptance I’d been looking for, but I guess I was wrong.

 “Garrett, please say something.”
Maddie
stood up and tried to look into my eyes.

“I have nothing to say.” I stuffed my underwear and my socks into my pockets as I stepped into my sneakers.

“I’m
gonna
tell him about us, I am,” she pleaded as she wrapped her arms around my waist and kissed my chest. “I just have to wait for the right time. Now is not the right time. You heard him. He’s running for President for Christ’s sake. I couldn’t let him know that-”

“That what?”
I
unwrapped
her arms and held her wrists. “That you’re in love with a black boy? Or that my father’s a murderer? Or that my mother is a former drug addict and alcoholic? Or that I’ve stabbed a man?” Her eyes watered. “Trust me,
Maddie
, I completely understand. I knew when I met you I wasn’t good enough for you.”

“Garrett, don’t say that. I –”
Maddie
stopped abruptly as the water in her father’s room stopped running.

“It’s been fun, but, this just isn’t going to work,” I said in a controlled whisper, trying to hold back what I really felt. I kissed her forehead, slipped on my T-shirt, then headed for the door.

“
Th
-that’s it? It’s over?” I didn’t respond. As I made my way down the hallway, as quietly as possible, I heard her burst into inconsolable tears. My heart yearned to run back, hold her in my arms and tell her we could work it out, but my mind told me we couldn’t.

 Rain and sleet fell upon the windshield of Corbin’s car as I made my way home that morning. I focused on the road before me and drove as carefully as possible. The last thing I needed was to crash Corbin’s car. Then, for a brief moment, a dark thought clouded my mind. Maybe a car accident
is
what I needed. One jerk of the wheel over the side of a bridge and this gnawing pain in my heart would disappear. Eden’s face flashed in my mind’s eye and I quickly vanquished that thought.

What the hell is the matter with me?
Maddie’s
just a girl. Why am I making this into such a big deal? I could get over her. I could find someone else. I would be fine. The only problem was I didn’t want anyone else. And no matter how hard I concentrated on controlling my emotions. I wasn’t fine and I didn’t know if I would ever be.

“
What are you doing here? I told you to keep the car for the day,” Corbin said as he ate cereal with Eden and my mother at the breakfast table.

“Leave me alone,” I snapped. I threw the keys at him with a little more force than I intended and knocked over a glass of milk. It crashed to the floor causing everyone to stare at me in dismay.

“
Garrett, you apologize to Corbin right now!” my mother yelled while Corbin scrambled to clean up the mess. I ignored them and headed to my room.

“
It’s
okay, Holly. He’s obviously upset over something,” Corbin said.

“I bet it has something to do with that stupid girl,” Eden said disdainfully.

Corbin took Eden to school so she wouldn’t have to ride the metro by herself. My mother spent the next two hours trying to get me to talk and open up to her, but I couldn’t.

"Garrett, baby, please tell me what happened. I'm your mother. I want to help you," she said through the door.

 "Just go away. You won't understand." She’d never understand my pain. She'd probably side more with
Maddie
in this situation considering the same thing kind of happened with her father and my father. She'd probably think it best that
Maddie
and I ended our relationship. She wouldn't want history repeating itself.

I lay in my bed staring at the ceiling trying to purge thoughts of
Maddie
from my mind, but to no avail. I tried to write my feelings, but found only a blank page confronted me. I tried sleeping, but sleep avoided me.

What felt like moments after I laid down, Eden knocked on my
door.
Reluctantly, I let her in.