Page 13 of The Ones We Fight For

“I think I can do it,” the teenager hiccuped.

Not sure she believed her, Talia opened the passenger door and monitored the situation as the girl slumped into the seat, her body moving like she was on a boat, swaying with the waves. After carefully shutting the door, making sure all limbs were safely inside and buckled in, Talia made her way around to her own seat, attention still focused on her passenger.

“My name’s Talia, and I will be your driver for the evening.” She mimicked an overly friendly Uber driver.

“Piper.” The teenager tilted her head toward Talia and gave her a sad look, bleached hair falling into her face a little. “I’m sorry. I’m usually not like this.”

“Don’t be sorry. I’m happy to help.” Talia returned a smile. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, I’m fine with just driving you home, but if you want to tell me the long story, I’m a good listener. Either way, I’m gonna need your address.”

“436 Juniper Ssstreet,” Piper recited, head lolling to the side. “I’m so stupid. I shouldn’t be drinking at all.”

“We all make mistakes. It doesn’t mean you’re stupid. At least you’re not driving.”

Talia drove in the direction of Juniper Street, or, at least, where she hoped Juniper Street was. She thought she had passed a street with that name on the way to Amala’s once, but she wasn’t the best with directions. If all else failed, she’d get her phone to give her directions. Piper had stayed silent for a while, and Talia thought she might not speak further until silent tears started to fall down the girl’s face.

“I threw his keys in a blackberry bush so he couldn’t leave,” Piper said, as if Talia had any clue who she was talking about. “He wasn’t supposed to drink but he did anyway and was gonna get in the car, so I had to. Why would he do that when he knows?”

Talia pulled out the package of tissues she had stashed in her center console and handed it to Piper, thankful that she’d transferred most of the stuff from her Lexus into the rental car. She was always prepared for a mental breakdown or allergies.

“You did the right thing.” Talia passively patted the girl’s shoulder to offer comfort. “You probably saved his life or someone else's. Alcohol sometimes makes people feel invincible. The part in your brain that registers bad decisions gets… confused.”

“He broke up with me,” Piper said, her face downcast.

“Well, he sounds like a dick, and I think you deserve better,” Talia responded.

Piper snorted and bobbed her head, a glob of drool trailing down the side of her mouth. “You’re probably right. He knows about my parents and was still gonna drive.”

“Your parents?” It took Talia a second to register the words, because Piper’s speech was almost unintelligible, but the underlying current to the conversation seemed to have taken a turn.

Piper looked even more miserable, head hung low as what little color was left on her face disappeared. There was something Talia wasn’t quite getting, but the uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach made her want to join Piper in upchucking her last meal. If Talia was driving the girl home just to encounter an even worse fate with her parents, then she’d rather let Piper sleep it off at her house. There was a spare bedroom, and Piper looked close enough to her size to borrow clothes.

“Yeah,” was all Piper said. “He’s probably going to be so mad at me.”

“Who is? Your dad?” Talia pried.

“You think if I sneak in through the window he won’t notice? It’s this house, right here.”

Piper pointed past her at the most beautiful house Talia had ever seen. The large, two-story home was well-kept, but not in an in-your-face kind of way. The olive green paint, white trim, and black accents were simple, but classy. Assorted shrubbery and colorful flowers lined the yard in between lanterns that hung off small poles, lighting the way to the front door. It looked warm and welcoming. A place for a big, happy family. But Talia knew that looks could be deceiving. Anyone could’ve looked at the house she’d lived in with her parents when she was little and assumed everything on the inside was just as kosher as the outside.

Mind racing, Talia knew she had to expedite her decision-making process even with limited information. Judging a book by its cover or a family by its house was, no doubt, the wrong move. Trying to obtain pertinent details from a drunk girl was like wading through molasses. Eyes fixed on the black front door to the house, Talia nodded once and turned her torso to Piper, holding out her hand.

“Give me your phone,” Talia ordered. “I’m going to put my number in it so you can call me if you need to, and then I’m going to walk you to your door to make sure you’re okay when I pass you off to your parents. I don’t think you’re capable of climbing through the window right now.”

“I don’t have to worry about my parents.” Piper handed over her phone and looked down at her feet, a flash of sadness passing through her hazy eyes. The queasy feeling hit Talia’s stomach again as she tried to work out what Piper meant. Coming up empty-handed, Talia quickly plugged her number into Piper’s phone and dialed.

“My number is the last one called, if you need me,” Talia said, hanging up before handing back the phone. Getting out of the car, she made her way around to assist Piper.

Piper had slipped further into her drunkenness, even more unsteady on her feet than before. Talia wasn’t a bodybuilder, but she was strong enough to half-drag Piper to the front door. Sucking in a deep breath to ready herself for whatever Piper's home situation looked like, Talia knocked. There was no immediate response, so she rapped on the door again before lifting her finger to hesitate over the doorbell. A scurrying sound inside the house made Talia drop her hand and pull Piper into a more upright position. The door ripped open on its hinges a minute later to the one person Talia never expected to see behind it. Her spine went ramrod straight, and her stomach somersaulted. Clenching her jaw to keep it from dropping in surprise, she swallowed the massive stone that had lodged itself in her throat.

“What the hell? Piper?” Walker stood in front of them wearing gray sweatpants. Shirtless. The black tattoos spiraling up his left arm like tendrils of smoke flexed as he rubbed at his bloodshot eyes, a red pillow crease slashed across his left cheek. A rush of comprehension and something else swarmed Talia's head.

“I shouldn’t be drinking at all.” “I don’t have to worry about my parents.”

“What did you do to her?” he growled, the sleepy look on his face replaced with anger. The cold edge to his voice quickly sucked away the heat developing in Talia’s core.

“Besides find her on the side of the road vomiting her guts out and drive her home safely? Nothing,” Talia snapped. Walker glared at her, his nose twitching in indignation, and Talia recentered her focus on what really mattered: Piper. “She’s really drunk. I don’t think she can walk.”

“Oh, fuck me!” Walker groaned before his eyes widened a fraction of a second and squeezed shut like he was in pain. He ran a hand through his messy bedhead, a cowlick of hair standing firmly in place. The sleepy look would have been oddly cute to Talia if she didn’t know he was a jackass.

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