On this day, I met Baylor's friends that he left behind a few months ago. Lane (like our friend back home but two different people), Christian, and Ansley. They had tattoos and piercings. And I mean a lot. They were actually pretty cool people. I could tell Baylor had gotten along well with them.
"How long have you guys been together?" Christian exaggerated.
"Seven months," Baylor answered.
"That's a broken record for our boy, Parker," Ansley stated. I don't know why it surprises people when they're told that Baylor is in a relationship.
I was currently in the kitchen helping Mrs. Victoria cook dinner. Baylor was off somewhere around the house with his friends.
"Do you like his friends?" Mrs. Victoria asked.
I shrugged my shoulders. "They're cool. But seeing Baylor now, I wouldn't see him hanging out with that kind of crowd. But I guess if having friends like that and it makes him happy, then I'm happy for him."
Mrs. Victoria poured some tomato sauce onto the noodles.
"Honestly, seeing a difference in him makes me not worry about him. Adalynne, he's changed so much in just a short amount of time."
I arched an eyebrow. "How was he like back then?"
"If I tell you, would it change your feelings for him?"
I shook my head while stirring the meat. "Absolutely not."
She sighed. "After Coluer left, he just drifted into this state of mind where he didn't want to harm anyone but himself. He was so pitiful and it hurt so bad to see my son like that. I didn't care about Coluer hitting me and calling me a bitch and such. What really hurt me the most was Coluer calling Baylor mean, nasty words that were not true at all."
She cut the noodles into squares.
"He began to drift away, into a different person. It hurt so bad to see him blend in with the wrong crowd. I'd get calls from school, saying that he wasn't there. And if he was, he had gotten into a fight. He had gotten so angry before, to where when he'd come home, he'd slam things around. I could never sleep, I was so worried about him. I'd catch dime bags in his jean pockets. There were bags in his dresser drawers of cocaine and he'd come home drunk. I couldn't control him. He had turned into someone else, and I thought I had lost him. The Baylor that I loved so much. And I loved him then. He was my son. The only one I really loved. The one who meant the world to me. And with him committing self-harm - that really ate me up inside."
She was sniffling like she was crying, but I glanced at her and her concentration was on the creation of lasagna.
"And one day I had enough of it."
I cut the simmering meat off and stood to watch her.
"One day he came home drunk, so drunk that he was out of his mind. I followed him upstairs with a glass of water. He had knocked it out of my hand, making the glass shatter everywhere. He told me that he didn't need my help anymore, that he could take care of himself. So I let him. I didn't do his laundry, I canceled his credit card to where he couldn't buy beer from someone who had it. I took out the money that was in his wallet. One day, he came home sober, which was a first. He looked so weak. I had left him alone to tend to his own business. And after about an hour or so, I heard this clash upstairs. I ran as fast as I could to see if he was alright. His bathroom door was creaked open, and when I entered, he was lying on his back, like he had fainted. There was a big flow of blood right from his wrist. I had to call 9-1-1. I was so afraid that I had lost him, I had lost my world. When he was in the hospital, the doctors suggested a psychiatrist. Baylor argued with me, saying that he didn't need a damn psychiatrist because he didn't have any problems; that he was only being a teenager. So I made a deal with him. I told him that he would take the classes, and he said that if he did, if he could move back to Shady Grove. So I said that he could when he turned eighteen."
After mixing the meat between another layer of noodles and spreading sauce on the top layer with cheese, Mrs. Victoria placed the prepared lasagna in the oven.
"He is so loving and kind, but he's so sensitive. You had to be careful about what you said around him."
I didn't interrupt, but I understood what she was saying.
"And just seeing him change his whole entire life around - that just warms my heart and makes me so happy that a girl like you can control him the way you do. You have something that I don't have, and I honestly thank you so much for bringing out the good side in him that I always knew he had."
What she had spoken from her heart touched mine, and I was crying.
I hugged her and she squeezed me into a comfortable, bear hug.
"I love him beyond measures, Mrs. Victoria."
***
"Babe, is it okay with you if I go out with the guys for an hour? Just to catch up on things?" Baylor asked after we were done with dinner. We were currently cleaning up.
I smiled, "No, I don't care. Go hang out with your friends. You don't see them as much as you see me."
He lilted. "Are you sure?"
I nodded. He had stayed to help Mrs. Victoria, Mr. Dan, and I clean the kitchen up. He then headed upstairs.
"Where is Baylor going?" Mrs. Victoria asked when we went to the living room.
"He didn't tell me exactly where; just that he was going out with his friends," I answered.
She bobbed her head.
"I'm going out." I peeked at Baylor and he had changed his shirt to a plain black t-shirt. Looking at him, after what Mrs. Victoria had told me, made me love him even more. Baylor told me that he regretted the choices he made, and I know he does just by the way he acts around his mother.
"Bye, I love you all," he shouted. Simple as that.
"Be careful!" His parents shouted. But at that, the door had already been shut.
"Well, let's bring out the baby pictures."
There were old Polaroids of Baylor, Aiden, Derek, Lindsay, and I all in a few photo albums.
There were photographs of Baylor when he was a baby.
Baylor - 9 months was written on the back of a picture of Baylor with a toy in his mouth. The other was also a "9-month" picture that had Baylor in his playpen, asleep.
The picture of Aiden was the same one that was currently on my dresser. "I have this picture at home." I showed her the picture.
"Look at this," Mrs. Victoria said.
It was a photograph of my mother and Mrs. Victoria. Both of them smiling really big, like they were really happy.
"You look just like Lynne. All beautiful and such." Mrs. Victoria smiled.
"I know that she's happy that you've moved on to happy things. It's what your parents would have wanted," she said.
I grinned warmly. "I do miss them."
I put the pictures back into the dusty photo albums and placed them into a cardboard box. I carried them to the attic, right behind Mrs. Victoria.
"Thank you, darling."
Baylor hasn't texted me, and it's been about two hours now. I don't want to seem like I'm interfering with his time with his friends. I do want him to spend quality time with them. I just would like a text or so to pop up on my phone to at least let me know what or at least how he's doing.
Mrs. Victoria decided to go upstairs and take a shower. I thought about calling my brother and seeing how he was doing. I let the phone ring and he finally answered.
"Hello?" His familiar voice peeked through the phone.
"Hey big brother."
"Hey sis, how's it going?" he asked. He was smacking on something, and knowing Aiden, he was probably eating.
"Can you please not smack in my ear? Dear Lord." He done it even worse and began to laugh. "It's going good. I really like Mrs. Victoria."
He hummed. "Jo is in a really cranky mood," he whispered.
"What'd you do?" I cackled.
"Nothing! She won't let me touch her. She won't let me kiss or hug her or anything," he said with all seriousness in his voice.
"It's her hormones. Just remind her that you love her and you'll do anything for her."
I heard the bag of whatever he was eating roll up.
He sighed. "I offered to rub her feet and give her a massage, but she said no. I think she's afraid that I'll call her ugly or something."
Let alone hearing the door open, I did hear it close. The scuffing of feet were heard and a chair was bumped and it slid across the floor. A silent groan echoed from the kitchen. The only person I could think of would be Baylor.
"Hey, I gotta go." I hung up the phone and walked towards the kitchen. I ended up bumping into a figure that smelled like straight alcohol.
"Baylor?" I asked, cutting on the nearby light.
He grinned, "Hey, you're pretty cute." He slid his fingers under my chin. I knitted my eyebrows together in a misunderstanding.
"Where did you go?" I watched him sit on the couch.
"Hmm?" he hummed.
"Where'd you go?" I asked more seriously.
He groaned, "So many questions." He slammed a pillow over his face.
I was taken aback by his answer. I shook it off and walked towards the couch to sit beside him. His long body took up all of the couch but I managed to find a spot.
I peeled back the pillow from his face and his eyes were the size of saucers. The alcohol stench was strong, and I shuttered.
"Baylor, answer me."
He stared at me and yawned. I looked away. He placed his hand on my cheek that wasn't facing him and pulled my chin to see him.
He leaned up and placed his lips on mine. The alcohol taste on his lips was disgusting, and I couldn't find the urge to kiss him back.
He cackled, "Oh c'mon, you love it when I kiss you."
I gave him a scornful look. He arched his eyebrows. "Don't look at me like that."
I got up from the sofa to go up to his room. He wrapped his fingers around my wrist and grasped hard, terribly hard. I hissed.
"Ow!" I cried. He looked at his hands wrapped around my wrist and he loosened his grip.
I snatched it from his loose grip and started to waltz my way upstairs.
"Where are you going?" he asked.
"To bed," I shortly answered.
When I entered Baylor's room, I flopped down on his bed.
Where could he have possibly gone? To a bar? And drank? I've never seen him drunk before and I don't like him at this point - how he's acting and such.
The door slammed open, making me jump.
"I found you," he laughed.
I huffed, "Why'd you get drunk, Baylor?"
He rolled his eyes. "My God." He began to rise his voice. "I can't do anything fun. I have to stay inside for a majority of the time. Give me a break." He threw his hands up in the air near his head as if he were surrendering.
He sat beside me and grabbed my hand. It really pained me inside because I felt like he just admitted the truth. Drunks always speak the truth, right? He seemed like he wasn't happy with what we done together. I thought we had fun together; laughing and picking at each other. I'm not controlling, am I? I wanted him to go out and get together with his friends because I know he's always with me and he never gets to see them.
"Well I'm sorry."
As I got up from his bed to change, he laid down. He lied on his stomach with his head turned outside. I figured he had fallen asleep so I changed into my pajamas.
"You're the sexiest thing I've ever seen," he slurred. I finished changing my clothes and put my dirty clothes into a basket.
"Where are you going?" he asked when I walked to his bathroom. He got up to follow me; his stature stumbling here and there.
"Baylor, you need to sit down," I said.
"Don't tell me what to do." He sat on the toilet and I looked at him with a sour look. I didn't like when he was drunk - this is his first time ever being drunk since we've been together.
"Wh-" he hopped off the toilet fast and held it open. He held his head in the bowl and let out his contents.
I placed my hands on his back to soothe him, but he nudged his shoulders to rid my hands.
"Quit being an ass, I'm trying to help you." I left the bathroom without helping him clean up. I grabbed my phone from the nightstand and left to head to the guest bedroom to sleep.
I pulled the duvet and sheets back and fixed the pillows the way I wanted them. The fabric smelt of fresh laundry on a Sunday afternoon. I got into the big bed and laid my head on the pillow. I pulled the duvet on top of me and scrolled through Facebook.
"Adalynne?" Mrs. Victoria peeped her head in.
"Yes ma'am?" I asked.
"Is everything alright?"
I sighed, "Well Baylor is drunk and he's a bit on the sour side so I decided to sleep in here."
She huffed. "Oh, not again." She ran her hand over her forehead.
"Well goodnight sweetie. I'll talk to him in the morning about it," she said.
"Goodnight, Mrs. Victoria."
She shut the door quietly.
I closed out of Facebook and then went to Instagram. I never really posted anything on here except about every two months or so. That's because I'm not a big fan of social media.
I scrolled through the feed and liked a few pictures. A majority of the pictures I liked were mainly of Jo's, where she posted of her updated ultrasound picture, a photo of her and Aiden, and a picture of a movie they were watching.
I had closed out of Instagram and locked my phone and slid it under my pillow. I nestled my face into the pillow and tried my best to get comfortable without a warm body beside me, arms wrapped beside me and lips pressed to my forehead. Although he was across the hall from me, I still wanted him here, but sober.