Page 42 of Easy Reunion
Chapter 18
Kelsey
Ispend the next week locked away. After I burst into the house with tears leaking out from behind my sunglasses, Angel’s “What the hell?” did little to soothe my ragged emotions. Nor did her “Do I have to kill him?” This might have been funny if it weren’t for the fact I knew she was serious, and at almost six months pregnant, she shouldn’t be threatening bodily harm.
“I’m never going to escape what I was,” I sobbed briefly before rushing away to find the one place I could seek solace and resolve all my problems.
My writing.
I threw myself back into the story I thought I had plenty of time to complete before I received a call that put an enormous burden on my shoulders. One I gladly accepted by the time I hung up the call. My publisher contacted me to ask if it would be possible to move up the due date of my manuscript by over a month since another author who I’m friendly with had been in an almost life-threatening automobile accident. I assured them it would be no problem at all before immediately asking what kind of help the family needed.
As for the book, Pilar’s struggles were almost resolved; she would emerge stronger but still not overall triumphant. In this installment, Pilar decides to try out for the swim team only to be told that she’ll be kicked off if she’s more than five pounds overweight. She’s secretively and dangerously running laps around the cul-de-sac she lives on with trash bags strapped to her chest by duct tape to attempt to drop weight.
Throughout the book—and with Angel’s expertise as a dietician—I demonstrate the effects of malnutrition and dehydration. Pilar passes out in the water, almost drowning, during tryouts.
When questioned, she tries to deny it until the doctor talks to her privately. “I went through the same situation, Pilar. I feel your agony. But true happiness is found in what you accomplish for yourself, not because someone else decrees you don’t fit a perfect mold.” Dr. O’Hara lays her hand across Pilar’s compassionately. Pilar yanks her hand back.
“Do you? Then why haven’t you stepped in when they’ve touched me? Shoved me? I’d have rather drowned than let this go on.”
Suddenly Pilar feels another presence in the room. And there he is.
After typing the word “mold,” the growling in my stomach makes me wonder if there are any Jell-O cups in the house. Stretching, I shove away from my desk and open the door to something even better.
The sound of a blender.
“Aren’t you both supposed to be working today?” I tease Angel and Darin.
“She lives,” he cries. I shake my head in rueful acknowledgment over the fact I may have been here, but I haven’t exactly been present since my date in the park.
“And for the record, you’ve been in the cave a week.” Angel’s voice holds more than a touch of amusement. “I hope whatever torment wave you were riding was productive.”
“It’d better be.” I quickly tell them about the call I got from my publisher.
“Oh, how horrible!”
“So, that deadline I wasn’t under? I have four days to turn in the book for editing,” I say grimly before taking a sip of a power smoothie Darin slides in front of me.
“Well, I have the perfect way to celebrate when you’re done,” Angel announces.
“Oh, what’s that?” I take another slurp of berry deliciousness that I know has all kinds of good things buried inside.
“How do you feel about coming down to talk to the kids at Morgan’s about your experience?” Angel names her boss who runs the center she volunteers at. Most of the boys and girls there have suffered through some emotional devastation, whether that be the trauma of homelessness, drug-addicted parents, physical abuse, or even school bullying. “It might help them to know there’s a path other than gangs, drugs…”
“Sex,” Darin pipes in.
Angel nods. “That too. I found out today one of our juniors, Melissa, is pregnant for the second time. We’ll do all we can, but…” Her voice trails off, telling its own tale.
There’s only so many lives they can touch.
I tap my fingers against the counter. “Let me call Jim with an update on the book and see if maybe he can get some of my books shipped down here to give away. But how about I come in at the end of the week? Get the lay of the land, meet a few kids. That gives me plenty of time to finish, and then I can figure out what I want to say.” And how I want to say it.
Angel jumps out of her chair and runs toward me, her stomach bouncing like one of the balls Darin used to dribble on the court. “Jesus, hold on to my niece if you’re going to move like that!” I joke right before she slams into me.
“You won’t regret this,” she promises me.
“I’ve never regretted anything with you,” I murmur. Giving her one more tight squeeze, I pick up my drink. “It’s time for me to make a quick call and head back to work.”
“I’m dragging you out for dinner,” Darin warns. “You’re wasting away.”
