The Coincidence 06 The Resolution of Callie & Kayden (15 page)

Me: Good. Nothing too exciting is going on. Well, except for the fact that my dad just made Jackson and I huddle up so he could give as a play by play of how we were going to get through the store.

Kayden: Must be the coach in him.

Me: I guess so. Or that he’s just getting crazier with old age.

Kayden: God, I wish I could be there. I miss u so fucking bad.

Me: I miss you, too. Is everything ok?

Kayden: Yeah. Actually things are good. Liz ended up burning the dinner, but we ate at this really nice place. And Dylan and I have been talking a lot. I even got to see Tyler for a day and he seemed a lot better.

Me: What about your parents? Have u heard anything more?

It takes him a little while to answer. And by the time the text comes through, I’ve made it to the shelf with a small selection of staples on it.

Kayden: Yeah. Dylan talked to my mom a little bit yesterday. My dad’s in really bad shape. Not sure if he’s going to make it. My mother’s still not saying how he got there in the first place. But I found out they’re in North Carolina.

I’m shocked. Not going to make it? Oh my God, how do I even respond to that? Normally, I’d feel really sorry, but I know from the conversation I had with Kayden in the car, his feelings about all this are buried in confusion created by years of physical abuse.

Me: I’m so sorry. Do u want me to call u when I get out of the store?

I grab a box of staples and turn to leave the aisle, ready to get out of there so I can hear well enough to call Kayden and make sure he’s doing okay. I’m distracted by my phone, not paying attention to where I’m going, and I end up slamming into someone.

The box of staples and my phone slip from my fingers. ‘Shit,’ I curse, bending down to pick them up. ‘Sorry about that.’

‘Don’t worry about it.’

The sound of the voice sends the hairs on the back of my neck on end. I haven’t heard that voice in over a year. It’s a voice I wish I’d never heard to begin with, wish to God I wasn’t hearing now.

‘Fuck,’ I mutter under my breath, scrambling to pick up my phone and the staples without looking at Caleb.
He can’t be here. He can’t be here.

He just can’t.

But he is, something I painfully have to acknowledge after I collect my stuff and stand back up. He’s right in front of me, wearing that stupid look on his face, the one that says he thinks he has control over me.

But he doesn’t anymore.

I do.

‘What the fuck are you doing here?’ I’m surprised at how steady my voice is. I make myself carry his gaze, but those dark eyes of his are still hard to look at it.

‘Wow, you’ve developed quite the mouth on you,’ he says. He looks rundown, bags under his eyes, holes in his jeans and the oversized coat he’s wearing nearly swallows his thin body. This isn’t the Caleb I used to know, but he still sends my heart racing with fear. ‘That’s two fucks and a shit that’s left your lips in the last minute. The Callie I used to know couldn’t even say crap without getting flustered.’

‘The Callie you knew doesn’t exist anymore.’ I suck in a breath, feeling my heart trembling in my chest. ‘And honestly, you never really knew her.’

‘Didn’t I?’ His gaze flicks across my body. I’m not wearing anything revealing – jeans, a coat, and boots – but suddenly I feel like I’m standing in front of him with my Halloween costume on, vulnerable as if he’s seeing all of me. And it’s not for him to see. Ever again!

‘I’m leaving.’ I dodge to the side to swing around him. I’ll go find my dad and Jackson where I know I’ll be safe, and then call the cops. Caleb violated his probation when he skipped town after drug charges were pressed against him so he’s in trouble. I just wish it was for what he did to me.

Before I can skitter around him, he shuffles to the side and blocks my path. There are a couple of people nearby, but they’re too distracted by bright neon sale stickers to notice what’s going on. Or they’re just too afraid to do anything about it.

‘Relax, Callie. I just want to talk.’ His lips curl to a smirk, revealing the monster side of him. This is what he’s always done to me, tried to torture me and get under my skin just by looking at me. I think he actually enjoys seeing me panic, but I’m not going to give him the satisfaction of it like I used to.

Standing up straight, I turn to head in the opposite direction. However, things get brutally ugly as he snatches hold of my arm and his fingers dig through the fabric of my coat. A fire and a chill whirl through me simultaneously, the chill stemming from my fear, but the fire giving me anger, giving me strength.

Without even flinching, I whirl around and shove him back with the pent-up rage of the last seven years. ‘Don’t fucking touch me.’ My voice is calm, but firm as he stumbles back in shock. I don’t wait for him to say anything because I don’t care what he has to say.

Nothing that he does matters.

He’s not part of my life anymore.

I’m in control.

I am strong.

Still, by the time I make it to where my dad and Jackson are, I’m on the verge of crying. Not because I’m afraid, but because I’m so angry.

‘Shit, Callie. What’s wrong?’ Jackson asks as I rush up to them.

‘Call the police. Tell them Caleb’s here,’ I say, wiping my tears away with the back of my hand. People are staring at me like I’m crazy, but right now, I don’t care. I just care about getting out of this store.

‘Did he hurt you?’ Jackson asks then takes off in the direction I just came from without waiting for my response. ‘I’m going to beat his ass.’

I snag the sleeve of his coat before he can get too far. ‘He didn’t hurt me. Just call the police, okay? It’s way better than beating his ass and then you getting in trouble for it.’

He glances back and forth between the aisles and me, conflicted. Eventually, he gives in. ‘Fine.’ He takes out his phone, muttering, ‘Dumb fuck must be hiding out at his parents’ house.’ He storms off toward the doors, shoving people out of his way as he puts the phone to his ear.

I try to breathe quietly, but I start to struggle for air. I keep scanning the store for signs of Caleb, waiting for him to appear again.

Finally, my dad removes the staples from my trembling hand and sets them and the bulbs down on the nearest rack. ‘We can wait to get those,’ he says, then puts an arm around me and steers me out the doors to the truck, even though I can tell that, like Jackson, he wants to turn around and beat the crap out of Caleb.

He asks me a thousand times if I’m okay. Jackson does the same thing when he gets off the phone. I keep telling them yes because I really am okay. Yeah, Caleb is a horrible person who did horrible things, but I stood up for myself finally. I didn’t panic, didn’t let him win.

It’s taken me seven years to get to this place, and even though I’m still terrified, I’m also strong. Stronger than I used to be.

Stronger than the monster.

It’s the day after Thanksgiving and I’m sitting on the sofa, watching some television with Dylan and Liz, and texting Callie on and off during the commercials. It’s been both a rough but decent day as we all struggle through our feelings about my dad being in a coma while trying to enjoy each other’s company. I don’t think any of us knows what to do with the information about my father, so we’ve all just sort of been quiet, afraid to be the first one to speak, to say what we’re all thinking – that we might not be as upset as we should be. I could see it in Dylan’s eyes the more we talked and in Tyler’s eyes, too, which were less hazy than the last time I saw them. We didn’t get to visit him for too long, but it was nice to see him when he was not high and out of his mind. He kind of reminded me of the Tyler I knew who taught me how to ride a bike, not the one that took off and left to become a drug addict.

‘I’m going to go make some popcorn,’ Liz announces during a commercial, getting up from the couch. ‘Kayden, do you need anything?’

I shake my head. ‘No, I’m good.’ I take out my phone and text Callie again. She hasn’t responded to my last two texts and I’m starting to wonder what’s up. It’s making me uneasy, but that feeling could also be stemming from the fact I’m under a lot of emotional stress and haven’t picked up a razor yet.

Kayden: Hey, it’s me again. R u okay? I’m starting to get worried.

I hold my phone for a while, waiting for a text to come through, but instead it starts to ring. Callie’s name flashes across the screen and a smile touches my lips as I get up and go back to the guestroom where I’ve been spending my nights.

‘I’m glad you called,’ I say, shutting the door behind me. I don’t bother turning the lamp on, since the sun’s still up enough to light up the room. ‘I was starting to get a little worried.’

‘I know you were,’ she replies remorsefully. ‘Sorry. I should have called sooner.’ There’s an edge to her voice and I know right away that something’s not right.

‘Something is wrong’ – I shove some of my dirty clothes out of the way then lie down on the bed – ‘isn’t there?’

She lets out a shaky breath. ‘Kind of. I mean, everything’s okay now.’

My body goes rigid. ‘But it wasn’t a while ago?’

‘No, not really.’

I hesitate, unsure if I should ask because of the reluctant tone she has. ‘Do you …? Do you want to talk about it?’

‘Not really,’ she sighs. ‘But I probably should.’ Another sigh. Then another. It’s driving me mad knowing something happened, but not knowing what. ‘I ran into Caleb today.’ Her voice is barely a whisper.

I bolt upright from the bed, completely taken off guard. ‘What? Where?’ My hands ball into fists and I have to stab my nails into my palms to keep myself from losing it. I need to calm down. Need to de-stress somehow because I’m feeling that pull again, toward my razor … my flesh … the pain … the blood … the relief. I squeeze my eyes shut. ‘Please, tell me you’re okay.’

‘I’m fine, Kayden. I promise. I just ran into him at the store while I was texting you. It’s why I stopped.’ Her pause seems to last forever. ‘I’m okay, though. I totally stood up to him and even shoved him when he tried to grab me.’

‘He tried to grab you?’ I’m so angry I have to pry my nails away from my palms and grab onto a nearby throw pillow to grip the shit out of it. ‘In a fucking store?’

‘Yes, but it’s okay,’ Callie says quickly. ‘I got to stand up to him like I’ve always wanted to do. And Jackson called the cops and they arrested him. God, I can’t believe he’s behind bars.’ She sounds happy about it, but I’m not, still stuck on the part where he put his freaking hands on her.

‘I want to beat the shit out of him right now,’ I admit, chucking the pillow at the wall, ‘for touching you.’

‘But you don’t need to this time,’ she says proudly. ‘I took care of him myself. I stood up to him and Jackson called the police and he was arrested for the drug charges pressed against him last year, so he might end up in jail. And I know it’s in no way enough for what he did to me, but it still feels like I’m getting a little bit of resolution.’

‘Callie …’ I struggle with what to say, with what to do, with how to calm myself down, and not have another slip up.

‘Kayden …’ Her tone is way lighter than one would expect it to be. How can she be so calm? While I’m a wreck? And it doesn’t even have anything to do with me.

‘Tell me what to do,’ I say in a strained whisper. ‘I need to do something; otherwise, I’m going to lose it.’

‘You can tell me about how you are,’ she suggests. ‘I need the distraction.’

‘Really? That’s all you need.’

‘Yes.’

‘I can do that.’ I blow out a breath and try to relax and tell her about my trip, even though I’ve already texted her about the majority of it. But she asked me to do it and that’s all that really matters at the moment. Not
my
need to beat Caleb or
my
rage. It’s not a
my
thing, but about
her
.

After I’ve yammered her ear off for about an hour, long enough that the sun is slowly descending behind the mountains, I stop to give her some time to speak, asking her what her plans are, besides snowboarding with her brother.

‘Well, I should probably tell you I’m heading back to Laramie tomorrow morning,’ she says and I can hear her typing on her computer, probably writing either a story for class or an article for her internship.

‘But I thought you weren’t going back until Monday morning?’ I slip my shoes off and kick them off the bed.

‘Yeah, but Jackson wants me to show him all the fun partying stuff to do in Laramie on Saturday and then hit some slopes down there on Sunday. Honestly, I’m ready to get out of this town. As much fun as I’ve had decking out the Christmas tree, I miss our home.’

I smile as I lean against the headboard and stretch out my legs. ‘I miss our home, too, but I have to ask,
you
showing
Jackson
the party scene? Really?’

She laughs and it’s the most serene sound I’ve ever heard, like what music does to some people. ‘Yeah, crazy, right? I’d worry I’d disappoint, but he seems to have chilled out on the partying and I think it’s been a while, so I’m hoping that means it won’t take a lot for him to have fun. Plus, Luke and Violet are there.’

I can’t contain my laughter. ‘So you, Luke, Violet, and Jackson are all going to hang out?’

‘Hey, I’m friends with them, too,’ she protests, offended. ‘And I already texted Luke to tell him what’s up and he said he was down to chill.’

‘I know you’re friends with them.’ I let my laughter die down. ‘Sorry, it was just a little unexpected. I’m sure you’ll have fun, although I’m jealous I can’t be there.’

‘I’m sorry you can’t either, but I’m totally going to have fun,’ she says mischievously. ‘I’m going to wear that dress I wore on Halloween and be a party animal.’

‘No way. No wearing that dress without me around.’

‘You sound jealous.’