BrookLyn's Journey (3 page)

“Thank you for having my daughter over
,
”
h
e said.

“No problem. We’ll take good care of her
,
”
Tiffany’s dad assured.

“I appreciate that. There’s no alcohol, right?”

“Of course not, they
are underage.”

The longer the conversation went
,
the weaker
BrookLyn’s
knees became. She was just about to lose her balance when her father turned to leave.

“She needs to be home at eleven o’clock. No later.”

Tiffany’
s dad nodded
,
confirming her
curfew
.

As he
r father
walked back to his car
,
he looked at
BrookLyn
sternly
,
before motioning for
her
to walk over near him
.
She was
stunned by his gentle demeanor
a moment earlier,
but knew he’d be different
toward
her.
With her head bowed, she walked the short distance back to the car.
Could he be so cruel to make me go home
?

“Yes
,
sir?”
She looked him in the eyes, as she knew he expected her to.

“Don’t make your first party your last one
.
”
His words were
cold, but low enough for only
her
ears
, then w
ithout another word, he
opened
the car door.

“I won’t
,
and thank you
.
”
She
turn
ed to walk back.
There was no way she was going to blow this. Regardless of why he let her go, she was here all the same.

“See you at eleven,” he yelled back
,
as if he was just another friendly dad dropping off his cherished daughter. He
wav
ed
toward the small group gathered out front.

“Okay,”
she
hollered
,
running
up to
Tiffany.

“We’ll get her home safely. Don’t worry,” Tiffany’s mother
shouted to him.

“Ugh, parents
.
”
Tiffany
laughed.

“You’re telling me
.
”
BrookLyn
rolled her eyes and tried to
sound like a regular disgruntled teenager
.
A
s
she
saw
her
father’s Volvo disappear
, she
giggled
at her newfound freedom
and ran toward the house
with her friend
.

“Let’s get this party started,” Tiffany’s mother yelled.

“
Wow.
Your mom is cool
.
”
She was the exact opposite of
BrookLyn’s
mother
,
who was always ice cold
and
never produc
ed
anything other than a frown.

“Those aren’t my
real
parents
.
”
Tiffany winked.

BrookLyn’s
mind wandered back to the prison
her
parents kept
her
in
,
and
she
felt
her
cheeks
getting warm.
She must have been wearing
the
apprehension
on her face
,
because Tiffany gave her a playful nudge.
“Stop worrying about it and have fun
,
BrookLyn. You’ll be fine
.
”
Then
Tiffany
smiled and ran off.

Chapter Two

Tiffany socialized all night so
they
didn’t spend too much time together.
BrookLyn
talked to some people that
she
knew from school
and
church.
She
had some fun
and
i
t was nice to be a kid not under the evil eye of
her
parents. Before
she
knew it, ten o’clock was screaming in
her
face.
She
wasn’t ready to leave but knew
she
had no choice.
BrookLyn
started looking for Tiffany
for
help
with
her
ride home.
She
was giving
her
self an hour for anything to go wrong.
She
was determined to get home on time so
she
could attend another party.
She
was getting home on time no matter what.

“My cousin, Max, is going to drive you home, BrookLyn,” Tiffany said once
she
’d
found her.

“Your fake dad is my ride home?”

Tiffany
didn’t say anything she just bent over laughing.

“I’m glad this is funny to you. If my father finds out he isn’t your dad
...
”

“He’ll only find out if you tell him. You’ll be safe with Max. He doesn’t bite.”

My father will,
she
thought.

Max stood
,
g
nashing
his
pearly
-
white teeth at
her
. He had a red baseball cap on backwards
and was wearing
a large white
t-shirt and blue jeans
.
BrookLyn
wondered what happened to the Argyle sweater he
’d
had on when
her
dad was here. His pants weren’t sagging before either.
Now they were
,
and his plaid boxers w
ere showing.

“I don’t even know him,”
she
cried.
Her
eyes were wet from tears.
BrookLyn
couldn’t believe
Tiffany
wasn’t going to ride with
her
.
Some kind of friend Tiffany
is
turning out to be
,
forcing me to ride with a complete stranger. I
don’t
care if he
is
her cousin
. Riding with a man alone made
BrookLyn
nervous.
Looks like I
’m
going to have to walk home.

“Well, you know
me
.
”
Tiffany’s
cousin, Gabriella
,
walk
ed
up
alongside
her
.

BrookLyn offered a half-hearted grin.
Gabriella
was the only
black girl
with blue eyes
that BrookLyn had ever met
.
The uniqueness of it made her even prettier.
“Hi
, Gabriella
.
”
BrookLyn hadn’t
realiz
ed
she
’d been
there listening to
their
conversation.
She
kind of knew Gabriella from church
, although they
went to different schools
,
she
saw her from time to time.

“I’ll ride with you,”
Gabriella
offered.

“Are you sure?” Tiffany
asked
with a devilish grin on her face.

BrookLyn
didn’t
know why Tiffany was
suddenly
acting as if she cared.

“Of course,” Gabriella said.

“Thanks for coming
,
BrookLyn. I’ll see you in church tomorrow. Or not
.
”
Tiffany giggled and skipped off, completely ignoring
BrookLyn
’s
disappointed
attempt at a
smile
.

BrookLyn
didn’t say anything
about it
because Tiffany was the only friend
she
really had.

Max turn
ed
toward the street where he was parked.
“Ready?” He winked
and
pulled up his sagging jeans.

“Yes
.
”
BrookLyn
slowly follow
ed
him and Gabriella to
Max’s
sleek, silver Toyota Highlander.
She
had no choice
,
especially since eleven o’clock was peeking at
her
.
She
had
to make curfew.

BrookLyn
hopped in the backseat
and
Gabriella climbed in
after
her
,
sitting quite close.
She
wasn’t sure why
Gabriella
didn’t hop up front with Max.
Maybe she
’s
trying to make
me
feel
more
comfortable
.

Max turned on the radio and drove
a little too
fast to
BrookLyn’s
house. Gabriella leaned her head back onto the seat and closed her eyes.

BrookLyn
got lost in
her
own
thoughts
too
,
listening to the beats
—both those
coming through the radio and
from
her
thunderous heart
.
What’s going on with me? Why am I suddenly feeling so weird?
She felt nervous
and warm
, as if her temperature had just risen
, yet
the temperature in the car
hadn’t
change
d
.

S
he
soon noticed
they
were driving down
her
block. It was close to eleven o’clock but
she
still owned a few minutes before
she
would be punished. Before
BrookLyn
could move
to get out, Gabriella grabbed
her
hand and squeezed it.

She
looked down
then
back toward
Gabriella’s
face and smiled
.
What
is
her
intent
?
Instead of asking,
BrookLyn
didn’t say anything
.
S
he just
got out
and
then
stumbled
slightly as her feet touched the pavement
.

A
s
she
ran up
to
her
porch
she
felt an odd sense of
regret that eleven o’clock had come so fast.
“Thanks for the ride,”
she
called
to Max
.
He waved
at her but didn’t drive off.

BrookLyn
tried putting
her
key in the door but
it wouldn’t
work. It wouldn’t
even
go
in the lock
.
W
eird.
It had been fine when she
had
used it earlier
in the day
.