Bent not Broken (368 page)

Chris nodded and handed me my purse, directing his voice to the speakerphone, he assured her, “I grew up in Southside. We’ll be there as quick as we can.” Something about the sound of his voice gave me the sense that he was scared too.

I held the phone in my hand as we were walking out the door. “Okay, honey. We’ll be there soon. Can you tell me exactly where you’re at? A road? A neighborhood?”

“I don’t know, mom. I think it’s called Park-something.”

Chris’s eyes darkened and a grave look flashed across his face. His voice was stone cold when he spoke. “Parkwood Heights. Got it.” Then softening his tone, he spoke to Alexis, “Don’t worry, honey, we’ll be there soon.”

Stoic, he stalked to the car and held the door open for me. Circling to his side, he sank into the driver’s seat and started the engine. He was starting to freak me out.

His solemnness spoke volumes as he silently steered the car out of the driveway. His knuckles were white, firmly clutching the wheel. I tried not to lose it as I watched his jaw twitch in the darkness. Clearly Parkwood Heights was no place for my daughter.

The streets were lined with vehicles. Multiple duplexes stretched from one corner to the next. The neighborhood was dark. Only a few porch lights were illuminated. When we pulled up to a stop sign I noticed a few dark figures sitting in folding lawn chairs around a small fire pit.

“Don’t look,” Chris hissed. “The people in this neighborhood won’t think twice about smashing our windshield with a crowbar.”

I snapped my head forward, tearing my eyes away from the scene. My heart pounded in my chest. “Why would she come here?” I pleaded, begging for some kind of understanding.

Chris shook his head solemnly. “Teenagers do crazy things. Text her and ask where I need to turn?”

The phone shook in my unsteady hands as my fingers nervously tapped out the message. I immediately got a response.

“She said the party is near the old high school. She remembers driving by it. I guess we just look for a bunch of cars parked out front.”

“Got it,” Chris said with an unexplainable look of fear, mixed with anger and vigilance.

We pulled onto the street behind the old high school and suddenly I understood Chris’s plight. An eerie feeling washed over me as we drove down the dark and empty street. I just wanted to find my daughter and get the hell out of there. I silently thanked God when we pulled up to a house with a driveway full of cars and all the lights on as though there may be a party going on inside.

We’re here. Coming in to get you,
I texted Alexis.
Oh god, I hope she’s okay.

Chris pulled me out of the car and wrapped his arm around my trembling body. “Don’t worry,” he said as he closed the car door behind me. “It’s gonna be all right.”

We walked toward the front door of the house. A few guys were leaning against the railing of the front porch while a couple of girls sat on a dilapidated sofa.

“’Sup?” Chris said, nodding in their direction. “Alexis here?” The tone of his voice was deep and confident. I, on the other hand, I was shaking like a leaf under Chris’s protective arm.

“Who?” one guy asked, chugging his beer and tossing the empty bottle into the bush behind him.

There was no time for explanations. “My daughter,” Chris demanded. “I came to get my daughter.”

The guy shook his head. “Sorry, man. I don’t know anyone here by that name.”

One of the girls on the sofa giggled. “You lookin’ for that skinny white girl that Deuce been tryin’ to hook up with all night?”

Chris nodded. “Yeah.”

She pointed toward the window. “She’s prolly inside. Deuce can’t keep his hands off her.”

Chris stiffened beside me, bristling with anger. “Thanks,” he said flatly and pulled me toward the front door.

The bass of the music thumped in my chest the moment Chris opened the door. We waded through a sea of plastic cups and long neck bottles, searching for Alexis.

Making our way to the kitchen, we hoped we’d find her quickly. Sifting through the hazy shroud of exhaled chronic that lingered above our heads, I heard the clinking of glasses as a small group was playing a game of Quarters on the kitchen table.

Suddenly, someone stepped in front of us. “Yo, you lost?” the guy asked.

“Nah, man,” Chris shrugged. “Just looking for Alexis. You seen her?”

“There’s no one here by that name,” the guy said flatly, obviously unwilling to help.

Chris wasn’t fazed. “Maybe your boy Deuce can help us find her.” He stared the kid down, unyielding.

The dude glared back, stepping toward him. “Sorry. No one here by that name either.”

Chris’s eyes darkened. “Look, kid. Don’t fuck with me. I’m here to get Alexis. Now you either point me in the right direction, or you and your buddies can all find yourselves stuffed in the back of police car by the looks of this little
shindig
you’re throwing.” Chris pinched his finger and thumb together, held them to his lips, and inhaled as if he were smoking a joint.

The guy’s face hardened. “You threatening me, asshole?”

Chris stared him down. “Nope,” he deadpanned.

After an intense moment of clenching fists and twitching jaws, the guy finally relented. “Down the hall,” he said, flicking his head in that direction. “You might find her there.”

“Thanks…pal,” Chris said sarcastically, patronizing him with a friendly pat on the shoulder.

We made our way down the hall. That’s when I heard it…the quiet whimper of Alexis behind one of the closed doors. I knew it was my daughter. I knew the timbre and tone of every noise she’d ever made her whole life.

Chris froze beside me. I could feel the intensity of his rage radiating off of him. “Mother fucker,” he breathed, barreling forward.

Flinging the door open, he burst into the room with no holds barred. I barged in behind him. All I saw was Alexis’s hair against the wall with another guy trapping her there. The guy’s hands were on either side of her head, and he was leaned in like he was going for a kiss. In an instant, the guy who was pressing my daughter against the wall was lying flat on his back on the floor with Chris’s forearm against his throat.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing, asshole?” Chris growled, shaking with intensity.

Alexis ran toward me in a disheveled mess. “Mom!” she cried, collapsing into my arms, sobbing against my chest.

“Get off me,” Deuce hissed through his teeth.

“What did you do to her, mother fucker?” Chris snarled, pressing his arm harder against Deuce’s throat.

“Nothing,” Deuce choked.

Restrained rage exuded from Chris. After all, this kid looked like he was still a teenager. Otherwise, I didn’t think Chris would have held himself back like he did. “Oh yeah? Well, that’s not what it looked like. Now did it?”

“I didn’t do shit.” Deuce’s breathing was labored under Chris’s weight.

Chris released the pressure a little on Deuce’s throat. “You better hope and pray her story matches yours.” He glanced toward us huddled in the corner. “Did this punk hurt you, Alexis?”

Alexis shook her head. “I’m okay,” she whispered.

With one final shove against Deuce’s neck, Chris drove his point home. “You’re lucky,” he said through clenched teeth.

Releasing Deuce from his grasp, Chris stood up and reached out to Alexis. “You okay?”

She barreled into him, eager for security in his strong arms. He wrapped his arms protectively around her and glared at Deuce who was still lying on the floor, catching his breath.

“Let’s get out of here,” he said as we made our way back outside.

“What about Olivia?” I asked as we settled into the car. I’d climbed into the backseat beside Alexis, who was distraught and trembling.

“She’s spending the night with Briggs,” Alexis said, still very shaken up.

Shocked by Olivia’s complete lack of judgment, I blurted, “So, she brought you here and left you at the party by yourself so she could spend the night with her boyfriend?”

Alexis grimaced, wiping away the smudge mascara beneath her eyes. “It’s complicated, Mom, but basically…yes.”

My mind was boggled, but I was just thankful to have her with me, safe and sound.
Teenagers.
They thought they were invincible. Alexis was no exception.

The emotions on Chris’s face were unreadable. He drove us back to our house in silence.

Without speaking another word to either of us, he traipsed into the house and disappeared into my bedroom while Alexis and I stood in the living room.

“Please, Alexis,” I begged, “I hate that I even have to, but I’m pulling the mom card here. Never go back to Southside ever again.” I looked at her dead in the eye so she sees how serious I was. “It’s dangerous.”

Alexis shook her head vigorously. “I won’t, Mom. I swear.”

I crossed my arms over my chest, suddenly overcome by mental exhaustion. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

Alexis nodded, but hung her head in shame knowing what a scare she gave us. “Yeah. He didn’t hurt me. He gave me the creeps, but he didn’t hurt me.”

I narrowed my eyes, not sure I should believe her. “He had you against the wall, Alexis.”

She nodded, looking as exhausted as I was. “I know. He kept trying to get me to kiss him. You guys literally showed up the minute he backed me into the corner.”

I pounced on her then, not even caring if she minded. I had my daughter back and I wanted to hold her close. I couldn’t imagine what would’ve happened if she hadn’t called us. Talk about a mother’s worst nightmare. This was it. “I’m so glad we got there when we did. Thank you for calling me.”

“I’m just glad Chris was with you,” she said gratefully, clutching me tighter.

“Me too, honey.” With a new sternness I added, “About Olivia. You tell her that she has twenty-four hours to confess this little fiasco with her mother, or I will. I don’t try to include myself in what other people’s children do, but when it involves my daughter, I make it my business. Do you understand?”

Alexis had never seen me so furious. Wide-eyed with shock, she blurted, “But mom!”

I held up a finger, glaring at her. “No buts! My decision is final.”

She rolled her eyes and huffed, but I knew deep down that she understood the severity of all of this. “Okay,” she mumbled and trudged up the steps.

“I love you, honey,” I called after her. “I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t love you.”

She slumped her shoulders and hung her head shamefully, but didn’t say another word as she disappeared around the corner.

****

I found Chris lying face up on my bed, staring at the ceiling. His eyes were glassy, and his arms were folded across his chest.

I sat down on the bed next to him.

“You all right?” I asked.

He nodded, but said nothing. I stared at him as we sat quietly for several minutes.

Chris finally broke the silence, vocalizing my worst fears. “She could have gotten herself killed out there.”

I gulped, forcing out the mental pictures that had been haunting me since I saw her shoved against the wall in that bedroom. “I know,” I said softly.

“I’m glad we got there when we did. That guy could have…he could have…” Chris couldn’t finish his sentence.

“I know,” I whispered, shutting my eyes tight.
Don’t think about it.

His drained voice curled itself around me. “I’ve never been so worried before.”

I lay down and curled up beside him, resting my head on his chest. Listening to the gentle thump of his heart, I whispered, “Me neither.”

Chris wrapped his arms around me. “I don’t know what I would have done if something had happened to her. Tonight made me realize just how much I love
both
of you.”

“We love you, too,” I whispered, kissing him on the cheek.

We curled up together, clutching each other, thankful Alexis was home safe and sound. Eventually our breaths synchronized, and we both fell asleep in each other’s arms.

****

CHRIS

I listened to quiet sound of Salem’s breath against my chest. Thinking back to the dangerous streets of Southside caused me to shudder beneath her. Things had changed so much in fourteen years. Southside had always been considered the ‘wrong side of the tracks,’ but in the fourteen years since I’d lived there that area had become a cesspool of crack houses and meth labs. Alexis could have been killed.

The thought made the lump in my throat return, but I swallowed it back. Suddenly, I knew what I needed to do. I eased out from under Salem and slipped down the hall in the moonlit shadows toward Alexis’s room.

Quietly, I knocked on the closed door. “Alexis?” I murmured.

“Come in.” I heard her muffled voice through the door. Cracking it open, I saw her leaning back against the headboard of her bed, cradling her laptop across her legs.

“Hey, Chris,” she said, folding the screen down and placing the computer on the floor beside the bed. She slid higher against the headboard and bent her knees up to make room for me to sit down.

I sank down on the foot of the bed, tossing one of the throw pillows onto the Papasan chair in the corner.

“Hey,” I said quietly, looking at her with my need to protect still in overdrive.

She stared at me wide-eyed, reminding me of the sweet innocence she easily could have lost that night.

“I’m glad you’re okay,” I told her, feeling a little self-conscious to be baring my soul to this fourteen-year-old.

She glanced away, embarrassed. “Thanks for coming to get me.”

“Please promise me you’ll never go back to Southside again. I lived there once. It was rough then, but nothing like it is now. It’s dangerous.”

“I know. I’m sorry.” Her voice was full of shame.

I scooted closer, placing my hand on her knee. “You’re a beautiful girl just like your mom, Alexis. I could easily see a jerk like Deuce trying to take advantage of you.” I wanted to a much stronger word to describe Deuce, but thought better of it. “You have to be careful. Trust me…I’ve seen firsthand the damage guys can do to beautiful, sweet, innocent girls like you. I don’t know what I would have done if something had happened to you.”