That was one of the most important nights of my life. The best and worst all mixed together.
King grabbed my face and forced me to look at him. Our eyes locked right there in the kitchen. A house of hell. Jim on the floor, groaning in pain. Aunt Jane somewhere behind me.
“I fucking love you, sweetie,” King whispered. “I’ll always take care of you.”
“I love you, King,” I whispered back.
“You two get out of here,” Aunt Jane said. “I’m trusting you, Kingston. Just go. Keep her safe.”
“Always,” King said.
And just like that, King grabbed me by the hand and led me out of that house.
I cried and smiled at the same time when I climbed on the back of his motorcycle.
I threw the middle finger to the house as he sped away.
I had loved King for a long time before that night. But that was the night I knew I would never truly be happy unless I was with him.
24
(Lindsey) AFTER A STAFF MEETING revealed the intentions to close the facility I was drained and ready for a drink. Going to Aunt Jane’s proved to be wise because she always had wine ready to go. Along with pot, but I didn’t touch the stuff. She didn’t smoke around me though, which I respected. And even the wine, I managed one glass and then quit because it didn’t sit right. Nothing sat right. All I could do was stare at my cell phone, waiting for time to speed up so King would come back.
I had no clue where he was. Why he was there. What he was doing. And if he’d actually come back. Waiting a week was torture, but if something happened and he was gone for weeks, months, or years (again), I was screwed.
“So you need to stay here why?” Aunt Jane asked. “Leaky gas? Water main break? Bugs?”
I looked at Aunt Jane. “King told me to.”
“Kingston. Again.”
“Not again. He was never…”
“So that guy you were seeing,” Aunt Jane said.
“And the guy you were seeing? The one younger than me?”
She waved a hand. “He fell too hard and fast. I had to let him go. Packed his lunchbox and sent him away to the bus stop.”
“That is gross,” I said. “So gross.”
Aunt Jane grinned. “Tell me about King.”
“You know about King. He somehow got out of prison and now he’s gone to do something, somewhere. He told me I should stay with you. Things with Nelson didn't end so well.”
I gave her to quick, one minute story of what happened the night Nelson hit me and King beat the shit out of him.
All Aunt Jane could do was smile. I always knew that Aunt Jane had a thing for King. At least that was one obsession she could manage to control herself from though. She knew what King had always meant to me.
“Oh, Kingston,” Aunt Jane said. “Always the same. You two were always on that path together.”
“What path is that?”
“Destiny,” she said. “It’s a tough path though because no matter what, you’re always going to feel it for each other.”
“That strangely makes sense,” I said. “I have no clue what he’s doing and no clue what’s going to happen.”
“So you take what’s in front of you and run with it,” Aunt Jane said. “That’s what I would do.”
“I want more. Is that wrong?”
“You want more,” Aunt Jane said and nodded. “Who doesn’t want more? That’s why we’re alive and doing what we do. Sometimes you just have to accept what’s here and that has to become good enough.”
“That’s the thing, Aunt Jane. King hasn’t told me much.”
“And what do you want him to say? If he tells you the truth and it breaks your heart, how does anyone win?”
I adverted my eyes. I knew she was right.
“What about you?” I asked her. “You’ll never settle because of destiny.”
Aunt Jane reached for my hand. “No, Lindsey. I didn’t have destiny. I had a romance obsession that scarred me for life. Don’t compare yourself to me. Learn from me. You were there with me through the worst of it all. Running out of that house from Jim. Scrambling to buy this house. Trying to make sure I could keep my hours at my job, get you through the last little bit of high school. It wasn’t easy.”
“And I never thanked you for that,” I said.
“You don’t need to. That’s what a… a mother would do.”
The night took that turn then, leaving me and Aunt Jane hugging each other, crying. Yeah, she had done some dumb things in life but she always took care of me. Even then, letting me stay with her. I had no idea what to expect with King being away. If I’d ever see him again.
That night, as I slept in my old bed in my old room, old memories flooded back to me. I ended up turning on the light in the middle of the night. And I did something I hadn’t done in a really long time.
I wrote King a letter.