Obsidian Faith (7 page)

Chapter Twelve

Of course, Trevor’s continued absence from the Baileys made them and Shanice suspicious and angry, in that order, especially after he went back to his plan of avoidance after the baby’s funeral. Brenda and Isaiah called often, a conversation that would go something like:

“Hey Trevor, we’re worried about you. Did we do anything to hurt your feelings? Or something?”

“No, I’ve just got a lot going on. You know, school, activities... and I’ve got a part time job now.”

“Really? Where?”

He scrambled for a quick response that sounded credible, given the nature of his true
work
. If you could call it that. “Um, it’s a work at home gig Uncle Phil got me. Nothing special, just a lot of busy work.”

“Well, don’t let it overwhelm you. We miss you, and we’d love to see you whenever you have time.”

“I know, and I’ll try to make it over sometime.” Even as he said it, he knew he wouldn’t. He wanted to steer Phil and his goons away from the Baileys as much as possible. Eventually, they stopped calling, but Shanice was another matter.

When Trevor refused Shanice’s calls or wouldn’t return them, she would just show up. One Saturday, she got on her bike and rode the seven miles to Philip’s condo. Thankfully, she wasn’t hurt on any of the several major streets she crossed to get there, and Philip was off to one of the casinos he frequented. Trevor answered the door expecting it to be either Frick or Frack checking up on him, which they did sometimes when Phil was out of town.

“What do you want ass—?” Trevor said, before he saw it was Shanice. He was going to say, “asswipe,” But Shanice would’ve freaked out, so he was glad he was able to change what he was about to say, since it wasn’t intended for her anyway. “—as I’m about to head out?”

Her face crumpled anyway, and it made him backpedal. “‘Nice, I’m sorry. I don’t have to leave right away.” He opened the door a little wider and pulled her into the room so the neighbors wouldn’t see a little girl crying on the doorstep.

He couldn’t bear to see her cry, so he hugged her. “Shh, don’t cry.”

“Why don’t you pick up the phone when I call, or come over to the house anymore?” she said through her sniffles.

Trevor took a deep breath. “Like I told you. It’s just not a good idea for us to hang out anymore.”

“But why?”

“Because, it’s just not.”

She stepped back, as her stubbornness emerged. “You can’t even give me a good reason.”

“I would if I could, Shanice. I promise. You don’t understand what kind of pressure I’m in over here.”

“Then you should at least tell my Dad so he can help you.”

“And get taken from Phil and sent God knows where? No thanks.” Although, that wasn’t the truth either. If he made waves with the DCFS, or with Isaiah Bailey, he would be putting the Baileys at risk, especially Shanice. And if anything happened to her, it’d be lights out for him, too. He’d make sure of it.

“Is he out of town this weekend?” she said, looking around, as if she were almost fearful his Uncle Phil would come out any minute.

“Yeah.”

“Then, why can’t we hang out a while?”

Shanice looked so sad, and he didn’t want to be the cause of her sadness. He caved. “Just for a little while, but I’m driving you back home.”

“Mom and Dad say you haven’t had your license long enough for me to ride with you.”

“I think they’d rather I drove you than have you ride your bike back.”

“Then I’ll be busted.”

“We’ll figure it out,” he said. “You had lunch yet?”

“No, I’m supposed to be at Carly’s birthday party.”

Trevor grinned. “What do you say, we order some pizza?”

“Okay!” Shanice said, then strode over and plopped down on the sofa in front of the TV. “I haven’t had pizza in so long. Brenda cooks every day.”

“And that’s a problem, how?”

“It’s not. I love Mom’s cooking, I just want a Wendy’s burger, or Papa John’s pizza sometimes.”

Trevor pulled out his cell phone. “I’m about to grant your wish, princess.”

They scarfed down pizza and caught up. Shanice’s twelfth birthday was rapidly approaching and Trevor’s seventeenth, so a lot was going on with them both in school. He was gearing up for prom, and she was taking advanced math and science classes already. Trevor was impressed.

“How’d you land in pre-algebra anyhow? I didn’t get any of that until 8th grade.” Although he could’ve been in the more advanced classes earlier, it was David’s desire to protect him that kept him back.

“They have this program for kids who think they might want to do something health-related, like nursing or medical school when they grow up.”

“You want to be a doctor?” Trevor said.

“No, a nurse. I want to help people get over drug addiction and stuff, but I don’t want to go to school for all the years it takes to be a doctor.”

“That’s cool. Just don’t fall for some doctor and forget about me,” he teased.

“I’d never forget you, Trevor,” she said. “And I’ll never fall for some doctor.”

“How do you know?” he said. “You’ll go off to college and I’ll be as good as forgotten.”

“You’ll forget me first,” she said. “You already have. You’re the one who’s taking Emily Winters to the prom and everything.”

“It’s just another rite of passage.”

“A what?”

“It’s one of those things you’re expected to do at certain ages that transition you from one stage in life to another.”

“Oh, well. I’m not passing any rites with anyone but you,” She said.

“You’re too young to say that, Shanice. You’ve got a lot of growing up to do.”

“So do you.” She protested, just as he expected her to.

“Yeah, but I’m closer to twenty-one than you are, and I’ll be going off to college in a couple of years.”

“I know, but I won’t forget you,” Shanice said with conviction.

“How do you know this?” Trevor asked.

“Because I’m going to be like Amy March in
Little Women
.”

“Never heard of it,” Trevor said.

“Probably because boys think it’s stupid. But there is a
Little Men
, and
Jo’s Boys
and they’re about orphans and stuff. Anyway, they’re classics. Mom read the books when she was about my age, so she gave them to me for Christmas.”

“What does this have to do with you not forgetting me?”

“You’ll have to read
Little Women
to find out,” she said cryptically. Then she changed the subject by challenging him to a video game. About an hour later, Trevor drove Shanice as far as a block away from home, then took her bike out of his trunk so she could ride home the rest of the way.

“Hey ‘Nice,” he said. “Don’t ride your bike over to Phil’s again, or I’m going to snitch you out to Isaiah and Brenda. It’s too dangerous for you to ride that far on your bike. You could get hit by a car.”

She hung her head briefly, then raised her eyes to his again. “Then promise me you’ll come see me sometimes.”

“Okay,” he said. “I promise.” But Trevor knew the likelihood of him following up on that promise was practically nil.

He was finishing up another of Phil’s projects before getting ready to go hang out with a couple of friends from school that night when he decided to look up
Little Women
on the internet.  Trevor found a detailed enough summary to figure out that his surrogate little sister probably had a crush on him.

Trevor grinned, knowing that he would be one of many crushes before she finally decided on the man she would spend her life with. He wasn’t even thinking of a future with any special person at the moment. He just needed to concentrate on figuring out how to get out of the mess he was in with his uncle Philip, and to keep Shanice and her family alive in the process.

The drive to the University of South Florida was a short one from Orlando, and Trevor realized upon checking into his dorm that this was an experience most freshman shared with their parents. It was times like these that he really missed Elena and David. They would’ve been here, just like the many parents he saw accompanying their children to the dorms on their first day.

Trevor scolded himself and he hefted his belongings up to his room on his own.
Suck it up, Kyle. At least you’re away from that asshole, Phil.

For that he was grateful. He looked forward to not working for Phil anymore. For the first time he thought he might have a bright future.  He’d get his degree in computer science and maybe found his own software startup company someday, and never go back to Phil and his fucked up life. Trevor was first to arrive so he got the choice side of the room, that is the side with the least worn furniture.

Even when everything was unpacked, his side looked sparse. He’d managed to cobble together most of what he needed from the lists the college provided, but as he watched his roommate settle in with the help of his parents Trevor realized he’d missed some things. He was leaving his dorm to make a much-needed trip to Wal-Mart when a mini-van pulled up to the unloading area in front of his dorm, the horn blasting.

Isaiah, Brenda and Shanice hopped out. Trevor felt kind of shitty considering how he’d avoided them so much. Well, everyone but Shanice. She never stopped calling.

“What the... ?” Trevor said, not caring that his face-splitting grin wasn’t how college freshmen trying to be cool behaved.

“We came to make sure you settled in okay,” Brenda said. “We couldn’t let our favorite new USF Bull move in without all the essentials.”

“Yeah, and we brought you a lot of stuff, too,” Shanice said, and sidled up to him. Trevor threw his arm around her shoulder and pulled her in close to his side, dropping a kiss on the top of her head.

He shared hugs all around with Brenda and Isaiah and then they brought the stuff they’d come with up to his room. Needless to say, a trip to Wally World wasn’t warranted after the surprise shopping spree the Bailey’s brought to him. Now he had a stocked mini-fridge, a microwave, and matching bed and window accessories.

“How’d you guys know I didn’t have any of this stuff?” Trevor asked.

“Shanice told us you were driving down on your own,” Isaiah said.

“And we knew Phil didn’t have a clue,” Brenda said. “Besides, we couldn’t let Elena and David’s only son go without a proper college send-off.”

Trevor’s throat tightened at the mention of Elena and David. He just hugged Brenda, then changed the subject.

“So, where’s Zeke and Ezra?”

“They’re with grandma being spoiled to high heaven,” Isaiah said.

Brenda popped her husband playfully on the back of the head. “My babies are not spoiled,” she declared.

Isaiah bristled and backed away from his wife. “Actually, the boys are little angels,” he said with an elaborate roll of his eyes.

“Well, they’re not as spoiled as some of the other children at church, anyway.” Shanice said.

Brenda smoothed the comforter on Trevor’s bed one final time and stood back up. “Did we run your roommate and his parents off?”

“No,” Trevor said, running a hand through his hair. “They went to dinner.”

“Speaking of,” Isaiah said. “We’d like to take you out to eat before we head back home, unless you’ve got other plans.”

“Plans? What plans?” Trevor said grabbing his keys off his bedside table.

Dinner went by too fast for Trevor, but he wasn’t about to be a wuss and beg the Baileys not to leave. They were just about the only people he’d miss in Orlando, to be honest.

When they dropped him off in front of the dorm they all got out again to say a proper goodbye.

Isaiah shook his hand and gave him a hug. “You have our numbers. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to call.”

“Thanks, Isaiah.” Trevor said.

Brenda hugged him tight, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. “I’ll send you care packages,” she promised.

“Who does that anymore?” Isaiah said.

“I do,” Brenda said with a stubborn hike of her chin. “My parents sent them to me when I was in college. There’s nothing like getting little surprises in the mail.”