Debt

26: Last Time

Shayla just smiled, blinking back tears. "I'll be fine. - Evan still have school, so he'll be back Sunday."

"I thought you said you just needed the one semester," Shawn told his nephew, perplexed.

"For high school. Dual enroll, remember?" Evan reminded him.

"A'right. I'll see you when you come home, Shay. I love you."

"I love you too."

"Take care of my sister, Evan."

"Bye, Unc."

The three parted ways, and Shawn watched his nephew put his arm around his mother in a gesture of comfort as they walked to their terminal.

On the plane, Shayla immediately put her earbuds in and closed her eyes. Evan opened a book.

The two hour flight was filled with silence, and neither of the two said much except for Shayla asking whether Evan wanted to stop and get something to eat before they made the long car ride from Tallahassee to Naples.

Shayla had a version of claustrophobia where crowds gave her anxiety. She was fine in small spaces, like the back of a van. But crowds, there was something about them that made her uneasy. She always feared losing someone or being snatched without the prior knowledge that it would happen.

So although it would have been faster to land in Miami, she didn't want to deal with the large crowds.

Evan mumbled a yes as they made their way to her driver and he greeted the two with a head nod. Shayla asked the driver to take her to a little diner she knew of, and he nodded.

When they arrived and were being seated, Shayla was fussing over Evan's clothes, which was a nervous tendency she had had since they were both kids together.

"Mama, are you okay?" he asked, taking her hands from his drawstring and holding them together like she was the child.

"I'm fine," she said, scanning the diner with restless eyes.

"Are you expecting someone?"

"No," she answered honestly, still looking around as if she was.

A waitress came over and took their orders, and when she was gone, Evan watched his mother making her nervous movements. He knew she didn't want to have to do what she had to do. But she was going to.

When their food came back, they ate in silence, Shayla paid the check, and they were on their way to Naples in complete silence; Shayla listening to her music, and Evan reading his book.

When they arrived, Evan took their bags out of the trunk and they walked up to her father's door.

Evan rubbed his mother's hand, looking around the large estate. Nothing had changed since the last time he had been there when he was a boy. The grass was just as green as ever with the flowers planted in rows varying by color.

The walk was made of a pristinely white, shiny rock, little lights lining the way for when it was dark. The porch was long and wide, the sort of porch that could house a barbecue full of people. But Shayla knew her father was never entertaining people.

She took the key from her pocket and closed her eyes, pulling in a deep breath. Evan rubbed the small of her back, sending a wave of comfort through her before she opened the door.

The house was deadly silent as the mother-son duo made their entrance. The only sounds in the house were the chime of the old grandfather clock in the living room and the sound of the wind chimes on the door.

The house was elegantly decorated as if Abasi was ever going to have company. The foyer had a wooden table with a mail drawer and a pair of car keys resting in the middle of it. There was a hunting rifle beside it, resting as if it were tired.