Where We Left Off

Chapter Nine - Where We Learn

        Chapter Nine

        Where We Learn

        “Pass me the wrench.”

            Belle hands me to cool metal and I slide back under the Mustang Fastback, moving it towards the part I need to change. She ducks under to watch me and I feel her excitement to be doing something normal. Back home, with Dad, we never got to spend time together like this. Instead we were always in the company of our father, who refused to let us out of his sight.

            “Isn’t Jacoby supposed to be helping you?”

            My jaw tightens as I move the wrench with more force, putting my frustration into the car. I don’t know why but ever since Lark, Carson and I went to his house, I’ve been so into working on the Mustang that I hardly do anything else. Because of working with my dad, I know a good chunk about cars. However I do need Grandpa’s help a lot and Google printouts have been a lifesaver.

            “I don’t think Jacoby is going to be coming around much more,” I tell her honestly. He’s been calling the house and showing up occasionally, but I always tell Grandpa that I don’t want to see him. He dropped off the car parts I needed but after that, his efforts have been lessening quickly.

            “Why not?”

            “Belle,” I grunt, rolling out from under the car. “Just drop it, okay?”

            “I was just asking,” she mutters, climbing onto my chair. The three kittens play underneath it and she watches them with bright eyes. “Did you ever call dad?”

            I roll back under the Mustang, not wanting her to see my face. I told Grandpa I tried and got no answer, but really, I didn’t even touch the phone. I sat by it and thought about it a lot, but decided against it.

            “No, Belle.”

            “Why not?”

            “Because we don’t want to go back to that monster until we have to.”

            My words make her quiet and despite being thankful, she’s ruined my calm mood. Everything I had been pushing to the back of my mind has been surfacing and I don’t want to deal with it right now.

            Without so much as another word to Belle, I head out of the shed and into the daylight. Shielding my eyes from the sun, I stomp across the gravel walk and head into the plantation fields. Belle asks me where I’m going, but when I don’t respond, she doesn’t follow. I just need to be alone right now.

            I walk along the grove, passing the spot where Jacoby and I buried the mother of the kittens. Pushing away the thought, I will my feet to take my further, unsure of where I’m going. My chest hurts, feels like my heart inside it is breaking. But it’s not real pain; it’s a faint ache that gets worse when I forget it’s there.

            “C’mon, Stevie,” I mutter to myself. “Get a hold of yourself.”

            When I finally do stop, I realize where I had unknowingly been leading myself. A large Oak tree twists its way through the smaller trees in the grove. I don’t think as I move towards it, my hands grasping the familiar branches. Once I’ve pulled myself up, I lean back on a branch that feels much smaller than it did when I was a kid.

            Before I can do anything else, I’m wiping tears from my eyes. Everything that I’ve been holding in since Belle and I came here starts spilling out. My father’s possibly dead. If he isn’t, he’s going to come and get us and things are going to get worse. My mom doesn’t remember me. Jacoby’s been hiding that-