Page 44 of The Riley Effect

Jalen tucks a piece of my hair behind my ear. He kisses my forehead before he says, “I’ll always be here to help you, Ivy.”

He must feel my body tense because he removes the arm resting on my thigh. I wish Jalen was honest. He won’t always be there for me. Every man who said he would be there for me has left. This is just supposed to be fun, and he knows that.

Jalen gets out first when we get back to my apartment. He takes my hand so he can guide me across the seat and out of the car. I grab his wallet after he digs it out of his back pocket. “I can’t let you pay. You would still be at the party if it wasn’t for me.”

He carefully tugs his wallet out of my hand, and the same gentle look from when I told him we should just keep things light appears in his blue eyes. “Ivy, I got it.” The words are simple but tug at my heartstrings. Jalen makes the smallest efforts feel like the grandest gestures.

Jalen interlocks our fingers as we make our way to the front door. I slam my bag into his chest. “The key is somewhere in there.”

His low laugh draws a similar laugh from me, “Do you think I’d be able to work a lock right now? I’ve embarrassed myself enough tonight.”

He places his hand on my bare shoulder and turns me until I face him. “Don’t ever worry about embarrassing yourself with me.”

I throw my heels on the mudroom floor the second we enter the apartment. I’m heading for my bedroom when Jalen stops me. “Where are your glasses? I will get us some water while you get ready for bed.”

“They are in the cupboard next to the sink,” I slur.

One glance at my bed, and I know I just need to lay down for a little while, then I’ll take off my makeup and change. I must have passed out the second my head hit the pillow because the next thing I know, there are fingers running over the bottom of my foot.

“What do you want?” I groan without opening my eyes, burying myself deeper into my pillow.

“I have your water. I really think you should drink some. And you probably should change out of that dress. Where do you keep your pajamas?”

Without opening my eyes, I point to the dresser that sits across from my bed. I hear Jalen place the glasses of water on my nightstand before he goes and grabs the oversized Westvale basketball shirt I sleep in.

“Thanks,” I say appreciatively to Jalen when he hands me my shirt. “Do you mind unzipping me?”

When Jalen nods, I get up and turn my back to him. He takes his time unzipping the dress, making sure his knuckles brush against each vertebra that lines my back.

Jalen helps me out of my dress and then helps me into my t-shirt.

Before I get into bed, I move to give Jalen a hug. “Thanks for getting me home safely. Please text me when you get home.”

“I’m not leaving you here alone, Ivy. I’m staying until one of your roommates gets home.”

“You really don’t have to,” I tell him, but I immediately get lightheaded and stumble backward until I land on my bed.

“Yeah, I’m definitely not leaving. Throw me a pillow.” He must see the confusion in my eyes because he continues. “So I can lay down on the floor.”

I may have tried to usher him out of my house, but I can’t let him sleep on my bedroom floor.

“You’re not sleeping on the floor.” I slide under my comforter and hold it up until Jalen gets the message. When he notices his shorts and t-shirt are clean on my desk, he strips down to his boxers before putting on the clothes I wore the last time we were in the same bed.

The last thing I remember before passing out is Jalen wrapping his arm around my waist and hoping this keeps the nightmare I have every Halloween far away.

As I fall asleep, I’m transported to the day my dad lost his job at the steel factory where he was the Vice President Of Operations.

My dad takes me outside to work on some basketball drills while Mom is getting dinner ready. He loves that I’m showing interest in the sport that he loves so much and never says no when I ask him to practice with me.

On the second day of this dream, when I get home from school, Dad is in the living room with a beer in his hand and five empty cans on the side table next to his chair. I run up to him and try to sit in his lap, hoping we can watch an episode of my favorite cartoon before I have to start my homework. For the first time in my life, I’m disappointed by a man who is supposed to love me. After he places my feet back on the stained carpeted floor he stands and walks back to the fridge with his shoulders slumped and releasing a deep sigh. He grabs another beer, but instead of returning to the living room, he takes his defeated posture up the stairs to my parent’s bedroom. He slams the door causing the house to shake.

Moments of the next year loop throughout the night. The time Dad yelled at Mom for cooking his steak rare instead of medium rare. The time he told me he didn’t have time to play basketball with me because he needed to look for a job, but when I came inside after I practiced, he was sitting in front of the TV watching the same lame reruns.

The final scene of this nightmare is from that Halloween night fourteen years ago. When I get off the school bus I notice a yellow piece of paper is tapped to the door. It looks important, so I rip it off the door and hand it to my mom. Her face turns a ghostly shade of white before she tells me to finish my homework so I can go trick-or-treating later.

Ruby and I have the perfect night with our friends from the neighborhood. The smiles that have been permanently glued to our faces fall when we get home. Mom yells at us to go upstairs. I’ll never forget the panic in her eyes. We never see Dad. I faintly hear her yelling stop, but the first floor is silent by the time Iget to my room and dump my candy on my bedroom floor. The house goes silent like it always does after my parents have a big fight. Only this time, there is one more screeching stop that comes from my mom before a loud bang shakes the house.

That night has haunted me ever since.

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