Folding Hearts (10 page)

“This cha
nges nothin’!” He yelled from
on the ground. “She is still nothin’ but a common whore. You think your family can keep all of her dirty laundry hidden? Everyone knows
it
.”

I gav
e him one final kick in the side
before I heard the sirens coming our way.

I have no idea how long it really took, but the
police arrived and Colt forced me to walk away
.  While Tucker was being subdued and put into handcuffs, I rushed to Miranda’s side. She was already surrounded by Conner’s girlfriend and
Van.
Colt suggested I steer clear of the cops due to the fact that I already was on
probation
in another state. Even
though it was nothing compared to a violent type of crime, it still wouldn’t help with my future if I continued to get into trouble with the law.

They had to force me away from Miranda’s side. Colt handed me his keys and suggested I wait it out in the back of the car. All I could do was think of Miranda. I needed to see that she was okay. The last thing I saw was her face covered in blood. She needed to go to the hospital.

After at least thirty minutes, I noticed the police cars driving away. Colt headed in my direction, followed by Van holding a very distraught Miranda.
Colt leaned over and got the seat pushed down so that Miranda could climb into the back. Just like when she was giving labor, I pulled her head on top of my lap.
I stroked her hair away from her face.
She was still crying out and it wasn’t just from being upset. I could sense from the way her body was tensed up that she was in a bunch of pain.

“Are we taking her to the hospital?” I asked as we pulled out of the parking lot.

“Yes, we will be there in fifteen minutes. Van, can you call my aunt and tell her to meet us there?” Colt handed her his phone as he continue to drive.

“What the hell happened back there? Did anyone see that asshole come into the bar?” Colt asked.

“Not that I know of. She was dancing with me ten minutes before. That bitch Courtney cut in and the next thing I know Conner and
I were looking all over for her,
” I explained.

“I told Conner that his threats were goin’ to cause more problems. Damn him for not listenin’.”

Colt was pissed and I could tell from the way his foot hit the accelerator on the stang. “Let’s get her taken care of and we can figure out what to do next.” I suggested.

Van turned around and shot me a look. “There is no ‘we’. You are going to go home Ty. You can’t be here for any of this. You are on probation already. We don’t need you being involved in any of this anyway. We can handle it ourselves.”

“You can’t ask me to leave, not now.”

Colt look
ed
in the rearview at me. “She is right Ty. You need to pack up your shit and head home. We can take  care of things here
. You don’t need any more trouble on your plate.”

I kept shaking my head. “Hell no! I am not leaving!”

We pulled up to the hospital and got Miranda inside. Luckily there was no wait and they took her right back. Conner came rushing in behind us and went into the back with her, while me, Van and Colt waited in the designated waiting area.

Miranda’s mother came running in a while later. She had Izzy with her and approached us as soon as she
spotted
us sitting there. “What happened?”

“It was Tucker.
He got her alone and jumped her,
” Colt explained.

“Oh my God! I need to go see her. Can you take the baby for me?” She cried.

I stood up and grabbed Izzy out of her reluctant arms. I think it still shocked the family that I had a connection to her the way I did. “It’s okay. Go ahead. We have her taken care of.”

She handed us the diaper bag and made her way toward the triage nurse to be let into the back where her daughter was being cared for.
Two hours later, they came back out. Miranda’s face was cleaned up, but it looked so bad. The bridge of her nose was busted open and had butterfly stitches. Her left cheek was swollen and already turning purple. Dried blood was caked over her scalp. Her busted lips were both swelled to double in size. Miranda had a sling on her right arm and walked like she was in pain elsewhere.

We all rushed to her side, but she never spoke. Her mother took Izzy out of Van’s arms and the three of them made their way to her car instead of Colt’s. I understood, but I couldn’t help but want to make sure she was okay.

The ride home was quiet, with the exception of Colt and Van telling me I needed to pack up my shit and leave first thing in the morning. They didn’t want the police to know that I had been involved. The plan was to say that I came home a day earlier and had nothing to do with being at the small dive bar.

I argued with them, but left as they suggested. I was so pissed that I made it home in record time. I was glad that I could kiss Izzy goodbye, but Lucy said that Miranda stayed the night with her mother and I didn’t want to wake them to say goodbye.

Chapter 11

Miranda

I should have screamed or at least let someone in that bar know that I felt threatened by Tucker’s presence. I should have known that he was going to hurt me.

For three days my mother stayed by my side and nursed my wounds. Tucker had slapped me before, but it was nothin
g
compared to the beatin
g
that he gave me. I had t
wo cracked ribs, a broken nose,
contusions
all over my face and
a
dislocated shoulder.

I couldn’t hold my daughter and if I thought the pain of losing her father was bad before, well, knowin’ what he was capable of made me feel so sad for her. I had a family that would make sure she never wanted for anything, but I knew
firsthand
what it was like to grow up without a father. Not having that in my life caused me to rebel against my mother more than I wanted to admit.

After three days, I left my mother’s small house and headed to
the
main house. My mom and aunt argued with me about it, but I needed my space. My shoulder wasn’t better, but I had Lucy to help me with Bella and could manage the rest by myself.

The truth was that I was tired of bei
ng
judged. They refused to admit they were doin
g
it, but I could see it in their eyes. They blamed me for this happenin
g
.

Nobody ever considered that all of this might be hard on me. I mean, first I cat
ch my no good boyfriend cheating
, then he says he wants nothin
g
to do with our daughter, and finally he beats the sh
it out of me in a public parking
lot.  How could I not be a bit messed up over all of this?

To make matters worse, I hadn’t been able to talk to Ty since it happened. Sure, he had been callin
g
and textin
g
me like crazy, but after everything I didn’t know what to say to him. I had been ready
to throw myself at him that night with no regard as to what would happen afterwards. We were friends and he had made it clear that was all we were. Whatever happened between us was just us thinkin
g
without our minds. Neither of us wanted to get involved with each other.

I had seduced my share
of guys and none of those times had ended with a healthy friendship. Ty and I needed to take a break from each other, in order to forget that either of us ever considered takin
g
things further.

Tucker was convicted of assault and sentenced to one year in jail. He was order
ed
to attend drug and alcohol
classes
while incarcerated. As much as I
appreciated that he was behind bars
, it still didn’t make me feel any better about my life or
current situation. I had nothing
to show for as far as a future for me and my daughter.

A month went by before I was able to pick up the phone for one of Ty’s calls and then I felt so embarrassed for waiting so long that I couldn’t figure out what
to even say. He asked a million
questions about Bella and even if he could video chat
with her. I felt bad for keeping
him from her. He hadn’t done anything to dese
rve being shut out. I was acting
like an immature child. He clearly cared so much about my daughter. I was an asshole.

I s
pent the next four months trying
to get my life back on track. Since Lucy’s kids were both moved ou
t, she actually enjoyed watching
Bella while I took cosmetology classes. I was lucky enough to have a mother that offered to pay f
or any kind of further schooling
I was interested in, but I had to admit t
hat school just wasn’t something
I was ever really good at.

With me being so busy, I hardly had time to even think about my friendship with Ty or lack
thereof
.  I couldn
’t say it was for lack of trying
on his part. He called or text
ed
at least three times a week. Apparently he had gotten a job at a
local shop working
on cars. He said the money was pretty
good and he didn’t mind workin
g
a nine to five job during the week.
What that really mean
t was that it helped him not be
so lonely. He rarely talked about Van, but I knew he missed having her around. They still talked often, but with her and Colt’s wedding coming up, I could imagine the conversations weren’t to his liking.

Speaking
of the wedding, it was only
months away.
Van had decided on an outdoor theme here at the ranch. Colt and Conne
r had been working to restore an
old red barn where the service was to be held. The thing hadn’t been usable in at least ten years and was filled with random farming equipment.
I got that Colt wanted everything to be perfect for the big day, but he could have built a brand new barn in less time.

Things finally seemed almost normal. Our family was back to normal
cy. Mundane days led to relaxing
nights curled up on a couc
h watching sitcoms. And watching
mundane sitc
oms was exactly what I was doing
when I got the call.

I was sitting next to Lucy watching a popular singing
competition when my cell phone rang with a blocked number. I had no idea who it
could
have been, but I answered it
anyway. My friends played jokes
and cranked called people when we were younge
r so I just assumed it was going
to be a fun kind of call, in fact I answered it with a sarcastic tone and waited for whoever to hand me some punch line.

The voice on the other end sent the fear of God into me.

“You think you can just go about your life like you didn’t ruin mine? You better watch your back you little bitch. I am getting out early and when I am through wit
h you, they won’t be
a
b
le to identify either of the bodies.
I am goin’ to cut you slow so you can watch yourself bleed out.
”

I threw the phone on the floor and just stared at it for a moment. Bella was asleep in the porta-crib just feet away, so I knew she was safe. I picked up the phone and started screaming into it. “Don’t you dare threaten me or my family you…….hello? Hello?”

Lucy had already stood up and grabbed the phone out of my hand. The call had probably ended before I got a word in.

“Who was it?” She asked.

I couldn’t answer her. I was still in shock from hearing Tucker’s threat.

She started grabbing the house phone and dialing some numbers while she talked in Spanish.
I tried to grab the phone to stop her, but just one look at my innocent child and I knew that this was more serious than I could handle myself.

It only took my family
about ten minutes to be standing
in the living room with all of their hands on their hips, demanding a detailed
explanation
.

I put my hands in my face and shook my head. “Tucker threatened Bella and I. He says that he
is getting out early and…..,” I started getting choked up. “
And
he will make sure that you can’t identify our bodies when he is done with us.”

I had my face still buried in my hands, but I could hear the gasps fill the room.

“This shit has got to s
top. We need to call the police,
” Conner said angrily.