BrookLyn's Journey (40 page)

Gabby kissed the back of
her
neck
and BrookLyn
felt
her
self leaning into it.
Her
body wanted to
give in,
but
her
mind was ready for the truth.

“Can you do me a favor?”
BrookLyn
tr
ied
to focus on making
her
sandwich instead of on
Gabby’s
soft
lips
.

“Sure,” she mumbled
,
her lips
still
fluttering
the nape of
BrookLyn’s
neck.

“Stop kissing me
.
”
BrookLyn
turned around abruptly
,
look
ing
into confused
blue
eyes.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“You can’t be serious, Gabby.”

“I am. What did I do?”
Gabby just looked and threw
her hands up in the air.

“You left me hours ago. Why did it take so long to get your car?”

“It took longer than I thought.”
She shrugged
it off.

BrookLyn
rolled
her
eyes and twisted
her
lips in disgust.
I guess she
’s
just going to keep this lie going.
“I lived a very sheltered life before I met you
,
but I’m not stupid. Please, give me a little credit
.
”
BrookLyn
stomped
toward the table with
her
sandwich.
She slammed her plate down hard
er
than she planned to
.

“You’re not going to make me a sandwich?” she asked.

“Did I know you wanted one?”

“I’ll make my own sandwich,” she said taking the bread out of the bag.

“I know you think I’m stupid
,
but while I was here lost deep in a nightmare, you were up to something. I needed you and I woke up to Max. Don’t get me wrong I’m glad he woke me up. But you, you always said you’d be there for me. Gabby
,
you weren’t
!
”

Gabby
didn’t say anything. She sighed as she made her sandwich.

BrookLyn’s
tears rolled
down her cheeks and
onto
her
plate
, creating soggy little puddles on her sandwich
.
She
didn’t want to eat anymore
,
and
felt like
she
was going to be sick.
She wiped the peanut butter and jelly
from
her face with her napkin.

“Look, I went and got my car. Then I went and took care of some stuff I had to do.” Gabby was looking in
BrookLyn’s
direction but she was looking pas
t
her
.

“Why won’t you look at me?”

“I am
.
”
Gabby
glanc
ed
her
way.

“No, you’re looking past me. You know why?”

“Why?”

“You can’t look me in the face as you tell your lies.”

Gabby didn’t respond. She poured a glass of soda
, dropped two ice cubes in it
,
and sat down across from
BrookLyn
with her dinner.

BrookLyn’s
stomach was dancing and
her
head started pounding
like African drums
.
She thought she could almost hear her ancestors
’
tribal ceremony
loudly in her ears
.

“Sweets, I’m not lying to you. I might not be telling you where I was but I’m not lying. I’m just leaving a few things out of my story.”

“Gabby
,
you’re intelligent enough to know that’s still called lying. I asked you more than once and you won’t tell me. You asked me to trust you
,
but
now I don’t.”

“I’m sorry you feel that way. I guess we’ll agree to disagree on the issue. I haven’t lied.”

“Whatever. I can’t sit here with you and act like everything is okay. I’m going to bed.”

“Didn’t you just wake up?”

“I didn’t say I was going to sleep. I’m going to lie down and watch TV.”
BrookLyn
tossed the rest of
her
uneaten sandwich into the garbage.
She
should make
her
lunch for tomorrow
,
but
she
wanted out of the kitchen.

“Can I come up and lay with you?” Gabby asked.

“It’s your house
,
I can’t tell you what to do. I can’t even get you to tell the truth.”
She
turned and
trudged
out of the kitchen.

It had
to have
something to do with Shante. Maybe Gabby was trying to protect
her
.
She
didn’t know
, but
if
Gabby
was seeking retribution on
BrookLyn’s
behalf
, she
deserved to know.

She
put on
her
pajamas, turned on the TV
for background noise
and climbed under the covers
, adjusting the
pillows under
her
head
.
B
ut b
efore
she
could find something to watch
, her sandwich threatened to come back up. She
threw the covers off and
dashed
into the bathroom.
She was vomiting when
Gabby
came
in
.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“I’m hugging the toilet. What do you think?”

BrookLyn
closed
her
eyes
so she
didn’t have to
look at Gabby’s
eyes
. She was
wounded
.
BrookLyn
could feel it.
But instead of walking out,
Gabby
came closer
and rubb
ed
BrookLyn’s
back. It soothed
her
stomach.

When she
stood up
to brush her teeth,
Gabby pulled
her
close. She hugged
her
tight and whispered, “I’m sorry.”

“I am too,”
BrookLyn
said into her neck.
They
st
ayed like that
for a few
moments
until
BrookLyn
couldn’t take the sour taste in
her
mouth any longer. Gabby stood silently looking at her hands while
BrookLyn
brushed
her
teeth.

As BrookLyn
watched
Gabby
in the mirror
, she
looked sad.
She
dried
her
face, turn
ed
to Gabby
,
and said, “I really needed you today. Max said I was running
in my sleep
and calling out your name.”

“He told me. I’m really sorry I wasn’t here,” she said.

“Gabby, where were you? Were you with Shante?”

“I stopped by her house
.
”
Gabby refused to meet BrookLyn’s eyes when she finally admitted it.

“See how easy that was?”
she
mocked.

“Yes,” she said
again
.

BrookLyn waited
for her to continue the story
, but when
Gabby
didn’t open her mouth,
she
grabbed her hand
,
rubbing her soft skin.
BrookLyn then
kissed the back of
Gabby’s
hand then led her into the bedroom.
I hate fighting with her.

They sat together
on the bed
.
“Please, tell me what happened. I need to know.”

Gabby looked toward the floor. She shifted from side to side
,
cleared her throat
,
and finally started talking
.
“Basically
,
I picked up my car
then
I went over
to
her house with a few of my cousins and friends to talk to her.”

“Okay,”
BrookLyn
said
,
rubbing
Gabby’s
hand.

“
I
didn’t have a plan
,
but I wanted to handle things before they got out of hand
—s
he wasn’t there.”

“Why were you gone so long
then
?”

“We searched all over Middletown looking for her. We couldn’t find her and I was determined to deal with her today.”

BrookLyn wanted it over too
,
but she was glad that Gabby didn’t find
Shante.
Not having a plan could’ve resulted in something awful.

The doorbell rang
and
Gabby walked downstairs toward the door.
“I wonder who that is.
”
BrookLyn followed
behind
her.
Gabby
opened the door quickly
without looking through the peephole.
Her
immediate
regret
was evident when she tried to slam the door shut
.

BrookLyn stood
at the bottom of the stairs
just as
Shante
stuck her foot in the doorway, preventing Gabby from closing it.
Her heart started beating fast
.
T
his night just got worse.
It took
only
seconds for things to erupt
into
a
heated
conversation
.

“I heard you were looking for me.”
Shante spat the words in Gabby’s face.

“I was. I wanted to talk about things. I need this over.”

BrookLyn didn’t know why
,
but she walked to the door
and stood
alongside Gabby.
The fear that she felt the last time, and the anxiety when she
first
noticed her tonight, drifted outside into the cool air of the
dark
night
, replaced with a braveness she wasn’t used to
.

“Ah, I get it. You’re up in here playing house with this little girl.”
She pointed toward BrookLyn.

“I don’t want to do this, Shante. Let’s just
squash
things and move on.” Gabby’s voice
remained
calm despite
the look of rage that showed on Shante’s face.

“You think you’re a woman, now? Running away from home
,
little girl.” She glared at BrookLyn.

“I didn’t run away
,
and I am grown.” BrookLyn wasn’t sure how she had found her voice. Shante looked equally as surprised
with her response
and
Gabby seemed indifferent
,
as if she always knew it was there.

“Why are you here?”
BrookLyn was on a roll.

“I’m here to take back what belongs to me.”

“I’m not a possession.” Gabby laughed
,
walking out onto the porch
, forcing Shante to back out of the door too
.