Page 108 of Cornered

Nancy released Lahela’s hand and then wiggled her finger at Briggs to come closer. He kindly obliged, leaning in.

“You have very nice hair. And muscles. And cows. But if you hurt my best friend, I will kill you.”

Lahela’s jaw dropped. “Nancy.”

But Briggs just chuckled. “Understood.”

“Good.” Nancy’s eyes started to drift closed but then shot back open. “My cat. I have to take care of Mr. Boots. He’ll be scared.” Her voice rose. “My cat. I need to get—”

“I’ll do it.”

Briggs looked at Lahela and she shrugged. She didn’t even know Nancy had a cat.

“I can go to your house before school and check on—”

“No.” Nancy tried to sit up, but her head just lolled to the side like a rag doll. “He’s probably so scared. Please will you go ... Mr. Boots.” Nancy drew out the last word like she was well on her way to la-la land again.

“Okay, I’ll go tonight.” She saw the clear plastic bag on the counter with Nancy’s items and dug through them to find her keys. “I’ve got your keys and—”

“She’s out,” Briggs said.

“You don’t think she’ll mind I just took her keys, do you?”

Briggs raised an eyebrow. “I’ll be surprised if she remembers this conversation at all.”

Lahela looked at Nancy’s sleeping form. Her broken and battered body. It was hard to think someone would purposely run into Nancy’s car.

Inside Briggs’s truck, Lahela gave him Nancy’s address and then leaned against the door trying to wrap her mind around the chaos of her life. Her family believed in God and reliedon their faith—especially after losing Ikaia. But was her faith as strong? Right now it didn’t feel like it.

“Do you want to talk about what happened?”

Lahela slid a look at Briggs. “Not really.”

“Daph loves you, and not in the drugged-up confession way Nancy does.”

Guilt pricked her conscience again when she didn’t find Daphne waiting. She shouldn’t have snapped at her like she did but—“She shouldn’t have called my brother.”

“Why?”

Lahela looked over at Briggs and he met her gaze. He wasn’t pushing her for an answer but inviting her to share. What if she did? The last time she shared her feelings, it hadn’t ended well.

It was weird how core memories were forever ingrained in the brain. Quick to pop to the surface with the same powerful emotions they held the first time.

“When my brother Ikaia died, my parents were distraught. We all were. Especially Kekoa. There’s something indescribable about witnessing your parents cry and hearing their howling grief at night.” Tears burned the back of her eyes. “Kekoa couldn’t handle it and blamed himself. He left the island, making it feel like I didn’t just lose one brother, I lost two. I think my parents felt the same way and I didn’t want them to worry about me, so I hid my grief. I waited until I was at school and then I cried in the bathroom. My friends were there for me at first, but then as the days, weeks, and months passed, their lives moved on, but my life was stuck in a nightmare that I couldn’t share with anyone. They stopped calling and hanging out with me. I don’t blame them. It was my burden, not theirs.”

The truck stopped, and Lahela realized they were at Nancy’s house already. She started to reach for the door, but Briggs put a hand on her arm and remained silent until she faced him.

“Lahela, I’m so sorry you were abandoned by your friends when you needed them most.” He reached his hand to her face and brushed his thumb against the tear running down her cheek. “Maybe they were too young to handle the grief, or didn’t know what to do with it or how to make it better for you—but you didn’t deserve to face it alone.”

Emotion choked her, so all she could do was nod.

“We—Daphne, Nash, and I—arenevergoing to abandon you. Ever.”

“D-don’t”—her voice broke—“make promises you can’t keep.”

“I never make a promise I don’t intend to keep.” He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles, his gaze locked on hers. “Now let’s go find Mr. Boots.”

At the door, Lahela used the key to unlock it and then entered the house. “This feels so weird.” Lahela searched the wall for a light switch, and when she flipped on the lights, she gaped at the mess. “Did someone break in?”

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