Relentless Hope (Resilient Hearts) (9 page)

T
he ringing of my phone snaps my mind back to
reality from the book I’ve been immersed in. David’s been taking long naps in the afternoons recently, and I’ve started reading in my room to pass the time. I take a look at the caller ID on my phone and don’t recognize the number.

There are very few people that have my new phone number and I have all of their numbers saved in my phone. Curiosity gets the best of me, leading me to pick up the phone, but I instantly regret that decision, as I hear the voice on the other end.

“Hey little sister... Miss me?”

My stomach drops instantly, as a cold shiver travels up my spine. Shock and panic overtake my body, making my words choke out in my throat.

“What? You forgot how to talk?” Shane asks mockingly.

“How did you find this number?” I finally manage to say with a trembling voice.

The sound of his sinister laugh makes my blood run cold.

“You underestimated me little sister. You think you can just run away and do whatever you want and we won’t ever find you? Think again... And if you think you are safe because you’re living in some rich old bastard’s house, then you’ve got another thing coming.”

Raw panic sets at the pit of my stomach, making my hands tremble at the knowledge that he knows where I live.

He laughs again. “You didn’t think I could find you, did you?”

Despite the panic overtaking my whole body, I realize at this moment that what I say next could make the difference between being left alone or being threatened and harassed. I have to act like I’m not afraid. Even better, I have to somehow scare him. That’s the only way he may back away.

“Stay away Shane. You don’t know what you’re dealing with. These people have a lot of money and a lot of influence in this town. You
don’t want
them as your enemies. Plus, this time around, if I see you anywhere within a hundred feet of me, I’m calling the police. Don’t think for one second that I will keep my mouth shut to protect you... With your record, do you really want to get in trouble with the law?”

I manage to say this with as much conviction as I can muster, praying silently that he believes me.

“Nice try little sis. You don’t scare me and neither does your rich pimp. You’re going to pay for what you’ve done to our family,” he snaps back. A few seconds later the line goes dead.

As soon as I realize he’s disconnected the phone and I no longer have to put a brave face on, I fall apart. Panic overtakes my whole body, turning my stomach into a millions knots, with cold sweat breaking all over my skin.

This cannot be happening. Just when I thought my life was falling into place, my family has to show up and ruin it all again. My relationship with David may be unorthodox, but it’s still a valuable friendship to me and I don’t want to lose it.

As thoughts of David cross my mind, I’m suddenly jolted out of my panic induced daze. I have to let David know. Shane is crazy, and I wouldn’t put it past him to do something stupid like coming up here.

When I get close to David’s room though, I realize it may not be a good idea to upset David. He has been feeling worse recently, and worrying about Shane would not be good for him. So instead, I walk back to my room and grab my phone quickly to call Lou.

As soon as he picks up, I give him a brief summary of the conversation I had with Shane, also including some background information about why I left my family’s house so he knows how serious this is.

“You did the right thing by calling me first before telling David. He doesn’t need to worry about this right now, but we do need to be very vigilant. David’s house has a high-end security system, but that’s not enough. I’ll hire some security personnel for the house and someone to go with you outside when you have to leave the house. In the meantime, talk to Maria and Nick. Make sure they understand that
no one
should be allowed in the house unless they personally know them…and Aleah?”

“Yes,” I manage to say.

“I’m sure this is terrifying for you, but don’t worry, we have your back. We won’t let your family harm you again.”

His reassurance warms my heart, mitigating some of the fears, but it would be a long time before they are completely gone.

An hour later after talking to Nick and Maria, I’m back in my
room
trying desperately to distract myself with my book, when I hear commotion coming from David’s room. I rush to his room to see a towering man with salt and pepper hair, barking orders at the nurse.

In the midst of the chaos, I hear David’s impassioned plea. “Stop, Tom. What do you want?”

My guard goes up immediately. This must be David’s oldest son. I remember Aiden’s warning to me a mere few days ago to stay away when he comes around. I debate for a few seconds whether or not I should go in, before I hear David again.

“You can’t do that Tom. You have no authority.” His voice is laced with pain, telling me that he needs me. Even though, my stomach is in knots, I push through my fears and walk in the door. As soon as he sees me, Tom stops talking, instead running his eyes up and down my body. After a thorough appraisal, he tilts his head back to David.

“So that’s the
caregiver
, huh?” he says, making quotation marks with his fingers for the word caregiver. When David just stares at him, he whirls around to face me.

“Go and pack your bags girl. You’re leaving.”

“WHAT – What do you mean?” I almost shout.

“I mean you’re taking your ass out of this house right now. Go and find yourself another old man to mooch off of.”

I stand frozen, unable to believe my ears.

“You can’t do that Tom. She’s my caregiver and this is
my house
. Last I checked, I get to decide who stays here and who leaves,” David exclaims.

“Last you checked, you were healthy and of sound mind. You’re neither of those anymore, as is evident by your choice of caregiver. You’re letting a gold digger skank stay at your house
and
get paid, just because she has a pretty face. Your mind doesn’t work right anymore. It’s time to give it up Dad. I’m taking you to a care facility where they can take proper care of you.” He says the last word in a cold and calculating voice.

“You have no authority to force me to go anywhere. Even if I had lost my mind, you would need a power of attorney from me to make decisions on my behalf. You don’t have that and you can’t make me do anything I don’t want to do,” David says firmly.

“I am your oldest son and I have all the authority in the world. You are leaving this house today,” and “you,” he says pointing to me. “Why are you still here? Didn’t you hear me say to go and pack your bags? I recommend you do that before I physically throw you out of this house.”

I remain rooted to the floor. “I’m not going anywhere,” I say firmly.

“Go to your room Aleah. Let me handle this,” David pleads.

I look from David to Tom and back. I don’t want to leave David alone with this maniac, but there’s not much I can do here either. David seems to need legal and physical support right now, and I can’t provide either. What I can do is to go and call Lou and Nick for help. And that’s what I decide to do. I rush to my room to get my phone, forgetting to lock the d
oor behind me.

Lou picks up on the first ring.

“Everything okay, Aleah?’ he asks in a worried voice.

“No−David’s son, Tom is here and he is making a huge scene. He says he’s going to take David to a care facility and I have to leave the house immediately
. David told him he doesn’t have authority to make those decisions, but he’s standing his ground and threatening to physically throw me out of the house.”

“Are you serious? Go to your room and stay there. He can’t do any of that, but someone has to stand up to him. I’ll leave work right way and should be there in about thirty minutes. Stay put,” Lou suggests, before hanging up.

The sound of the door knob turning makes my stomach drop. I watch in horror as Tom opens the door and strides in.

“Let’s go. Where are your bags?” he asks, looking around for my bags.

When he doesn’t see any bags, his face gets red. “You think I’m joking, you little wench? Grab a bag and start packing
now
,” he yells in my face.

“Why are you doing this?” The words escape my mouth before I can stop them.

“Why? He’s my dad, and I’m here to take care of him. Make sure people like you can’t take advantage of him in his old days.”

His arrogance makes my blood boil.

“You’re here to take care of your dad? Where were you the past four months, while he was slowly dying here? And you want to take care of him by forcing him out of the home he loves and into a care facility where no one will care about him?
Yea
, that sure sounds like taking care of him,” I say, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

He takes a step back for a second, surprised at my outburst. Then, all of a sudden, he charges towards me until his face is mere inches away from mine and his hands go towards my back to grab my ass.

Panic washes over me, blood draining from my face as images of another physical assault flood my mind. I bring my hands up instinctively, ready to push him away, but he doesn’t touch me. Instead, he locks his cold eyes with mine.

“Don’t worry I won’t
ever
touch the old man’s dirty second hand goods,” he says with a smirk on his lips. “Now you listen to me, and listen carefully. You
do not
talk to me like that ever again. You may feel pretty comfortable right now thinking you have the support of the old man in there, but he’s losing his marbles rapidly and will soon be dead. I on the other hand, will be around for a long time. With the way you left things with your family, you don’t want to have me as another enemy.”

My jaw drops, and the look of surprise on my face makes him laugh. “Caught you by surprise there, didn’t I? I know a lot more about you than you care to know and I know a lot of people in this town. You don’t want to get on my bad side,” he repeats, “get in your closet and start packing. You have ten minutes before I come in and throw you over my s
houlder and out the door,” he warns, before walking out and slamming the door behind him.

I run to the door to lock it this time and reach for my phone to call Lou again.

“Lou−Tom is
insane
. He just came into my room and made all sorts of threats. Told me I have ten minutes before he throws me out. What should I do? I have no intention of leaving, but I also don’t want to get into a fist fight with him.”

Lou releases a deep sight. “I’m really sorry you have to deal with this, especially today. I’m on my way. I should be there in twenty minutes, but for now start packing a bag and pretend like you’re leaving, but drag your feet as long as you can. If he makes you leave the house before I get there, go and sit in your car, but don’t drive off anywhere. I don’t want you to leave the house by yourself right now. We have to take your brothers threats seriously.”

“I know,” I whisper, my voice filled trepidation. I hang up the phone and cover my face with my shaky hands. Could this day get any worse? I know I can’t afford to fall apart right now, but how much can one person take in one day? I’m only a twenty-year old woman, one who was very much sheltered from life up until three months ago. How do I deal with all this?

I take a look at my watch and realize that I don’t have time to drown myself in
self-pity. According to Tom’s schedule, I only have about five minutes left to pack my stuff, so I will my legs to get up and move fast.

Five minutes later I have a bag full of some of my essential belongings on my shoulder as I slowly open the door and peek outside. Tom’s pacing the living room floor in furious strides. I duck back inside and stay there a few more minutes in an attempt to buy more time, but as soon as I hear his steps towards my room, I walk out before he has a chance to come in. He notices the small bag on my shoulder and raises his eyebrow in question. “Is that all of your stuff?”