Aggro - CoraLee June Page 0,48
had given way to night long ago. I had no idea what time it was, but my body was aching for sleep. I took Chase by the hand and led him up the stairs to his bedroom.
Chase’s room looked different. Beer cans littered the floor. His clothes and photos of Violet were scattered aimlessly around the room. His navy bedding was twisted and tangled on his mattress, and there was a hole punched through the drywall. The rest of the house looked serene and peaceful. But here? Here was where Chase fell apart.
I helped him out of his T-shirt and shorts, settling him into the queen-size bed. I slid into the other side, taking his head on my lap. I ran my fingers through his hair in slow, gentle strokes and watched as he breathed in and out. Each breath was clogged with emotion.
“I would have been an uncle,” Chase finally spoke. “I would have been a good uncle.” My heart broke at his words. His heartbreak. More tears streamed from his bloodshot eyes, and I wiped them away with my palm.
“Tell me what I can do,” I pleaded. I just wanted to help him.
Chase never answered me. We both knew the truth. There was nothing we could do. There were no words or acts that could bring Violet back. Nothing could make the gruesome reality of her death disappear. So I just held him. I stroked his hair. I watched him cry until he fell asleep.
And then I allowed myself to completely fall apart.
Hours passed. I tucked Chase into bed and watched the steady rise and fall of his chest, only pausing to call my mom and let her know I was staying here for the night. It wasn’t until three a.m. that I decided to get up. My heart knew where I needed to go far before my brain did. I slid on my shoes, grabbed my keys, and after kissing Chase on the cheek, slipped outside.
My headlights illuminated the sunbaked road as I drove. My eyes felt heavy and swollen. The wind whipped at my cheeks as my tangled hair teased my neck. I was dizzy with exhaustion but fueled by a purpose bigger than myself.
When I parked the Jeep outside Kai’s converted bus, I sat there for a minute in the eerie dark, listening to the crashing waves in the distance and the whirring of crickets. Clenching the steering wheel, I worked up the courage to wake Kai up in the middle of the night to ask him my questions. I had to know. I couldn’t rest until I did.
My feet carried me to his front door, and before I knew it, I was knocking with a curled fist. Fumbling and groans from inside made my nerves go haywire. And the exact moment Kai opened his door, I realized that this was a bad, bad idea. “Breeze?” he said while rubbing his eyes. Kai was shirtless and wearing a pair of gray sweatpants that hung low on his hips. His dark hair was a mess, and he rippled with tension when our eyes met. “What are you doing here?”
“Did you know?” My voice was hoarse. In the distance, thunder boomed. Seemed fitting a storm would hit. It was nothing compared to the hurricane in my chest. Violet and I used to love watching the dark clouds roll in.
“Did I know what?”
“Did you know she was pregnant?” I asked as fat drops of water hit the top of my head and slid down my cheek. I clutched my middle as more wind whipped around me, and Kai took a step closer.
“Let’s go inside, Breeze.”
I kept my feet solid, refusing to budge as lightning struck. More thunder boomed and echoed around us. The heavens opened up, and a torrential downpour enveloped me. I didn’t care. Kai grabbed my arm, but I shrugged him off.
“Did you know?” I asked again, shouting over the loud rain and angry sky. “Did you know she was pregnant?”
Kai reached for me again, and I took another step back. And another. I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t be here. Stalking closer, he then grabbed me by the waist and dragged me inside. I didn’t fight him anymore.
My clothes were sopping wet and dripping on his floors. I stared helplessly at the puddle growing at my feet while he locked the door and searched for a towel.
“Fuck, Breeze. You’re going to get sick.” He handed me a towel, then disappeared inside his bedroom, reappearing a