Page 16 of Riding Through Life

I inhale a deep breath moving my wrists up and yanking them down and apart in a fast motion. Pain shoots through my wrists up my arms but the zip ties give way and my hands are free. “Shit. That hurt.”

“Good job, Lil’ Kay. Now you need to do that with your feet.” My dad praisesme.

I take a deep breath and repeat the movements I did with my arms and wrists with my legs and feet. It takes a couple of times, but I finally get the zip ties to break apart. My head is pounding even harder and I feel like I’m going to throw up.

“Let me help you up and then we can get out of here.” Dad carefully helps me stand and a wave of dizziness takes hold. Bile climbs its way up my throat and I lean over and vomit. “It’s OK, Kensi, let it out and then we can get moving.”

“Where are we and what happened to those monkey suits?” I ask between dry heaves. Once I feel my stomach is empty and I’m not going to vomit, I slowly stand up. “Fuck, my head hurts.”

“They dropped us off in this apartment complex and left one guy to guard us. The assholes misjudged me and my capabilities.” I can hear the smirk in my dad’s voice. “He’s currently nursing a bad headache with a few cracked ribs while he’s hogtied and gagged.”

“Did they say what they wanted? Why they did this to us?” We slowly move and since I can’t see where I’m going, my dad has ahold of my arm guiding me.

“The one dick said he was from the FBI, but I don’t believe it. It smells like a cover-up for a case I’ve been working on.”

“What makes you think that?” I have to stop for a moment and catch my breath. Who knew being hit on the head would make you breathless?

“Because the FBI doesn’t kidnap and beat people who don’t want to join them. And it’s a feeling I got. They don’t smell like Feds to me. Remember, I used to be one?”

I snort, making my head pound. “Ouch.” I rub my temple and wince.

“I’ll take a look at it once we get out of these bright lights.”

“Why can’t you turn them off?” I ask again.

“It would alert the others that something is wrong and they’ll come back. And we’re not walking out the front door, we’re going down the fire escape. That is the only place where there isn’t a camera. Come on, we’re almost there.” Dad carefully leads me down a hallway and into a room.

A cold breeze blows across my body and despite the warm clothes I have on, I shiver. My teeth chatter causing my head to hurt. “Damn, this sucks.”

“We’ll be out of here in no time and get you checked out,” Dad assures me. “Ok, are you ready?”

“Can I take this towel off my head?”

“Once we step outside you can. But don’t look down. If you have a concussion, it will make the vertigo worse.” Dad takes my hand and guides me out of the window. “Ok, slowly remove the towel and blink but be prepared, even this light might be too much.”

I remove the towel and close my eyes, preparing myself for the harsh lights invading my eyeballs. When I open my eyes, I’m greeted with darkness and only a street lamp glowing dimly in the night. “This I can handle.”

“Good, Lil’ Kay. Let’s get the hell out of here.” Dad responds. “I’ll go first and you follow. That way if you slip, I can catch you.”

Taking a deep breath, I nod my head, “Let’s do this.”

We slowly make our way down the rickety old fire escape, having to stop a few times when dizziness takes hold of me. Luckily, I don’t throw up again, even though I want to. Once we reach the bottom, Dad and I search around for a car or something we can borrow to get the hell out of here. Not finding anything, we take off on foot.

“Where are we going?” I ask after an hour of walking. We’re in the middle of nowhere and it’s so dark, I have no clue where we are.

“We’re almost there, Lil’ Kay. Just a few more miles and we’ll be to safety.” Dad answers cryptically. I follow along, trusting him to keep us safe and protected. My mind keeps replaying back to the beginning of this whole shitshow. Wishing I made different choices when it came to the decision to leave Aftermath.

After drowning in my doubts and making my head hurt worse, I bite the bullet and ask my dad the question I should have asked when this all started. “Dad, do you think I overreacted in this whole situation with Aftermath?”

Dad stops walking and turns to look me over. “I think you’re miserable and in pain, Lil’ Kay. Your trust has been broken along with your heart. I don’t think you overreacted, but I do think you weren’t being rational.”

“He called me earlier tonight and I hung up the phone on him. Should I have let him explain?”

He releases a deep breath, “I think the two of you love each other enough to get past whatever happened. What is it exactly you’re afraid of?”

What am I afraid of? I think about this question long and hard before answering. “I’m afraid of being like Mom and leaving when things get tough,” I whisper. “Crap. I did exactly what she did to you, didn’t I?”

Dad offers me a tight smile. “There’s a difference between you and your mom, Lil’ Kay. You’re worried you’re like her, but you’re not. I know this because you have regretted leaving the way you did and she didn’t.” Dad wraps me in a warm hug. “No matter what, you will always have my support, but I do think you need to hear Aftermath out and figure out where to go from there.”

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