Page 2 of Lilah
"It's beside Irene's Bait Shop," he slightly glares at me, "you know where that is. Go get it."
I remain seated next to mom as I look over at him pleadingly. All I want is for him to have at least a little bit of soberness in him to realize I really don't want to go.
"Go before I get my belt," he warns and I rise up from my seat, dreadful memories of him hitting me with his belt in my mind.
But it's only when he's drunk.
I pull a navy sweatshirt over my head and slip on a pair of flip flops. My father hands me a crisp twenty dollar bill and I take it reluctantly.
"Be careful, doll," my mother calls out as I leave my room. I pull out my phone from my sweatshirt pocket and check the time.
10:38 p.m
I make my way down the stairs and I carefully step over the broken glass when walking through the kitchen.
I'll clean that up when I get back.
I grab the keys to my beloved older model Toyota Forerunner before leaving out the front door.
I enter the driver side and take deep breaths, my routine every time I have to drive myself somewhere.
Although driving nearly sends me into having a full-blown heart attack, it's not nearly as bad as riding in the passenger side.
Terrible memories come with riding on the passenger side.
"Azzy, you want ice cream?" Jake rolls his head over to me, his right arm extended and gripping loosely onto the wheel.
I grin cheekily at him. He knows how much I love my ice cream.
"What a silly question!" I shake my head at him, the cheeky grin still present.
He lets his Ray-Bans fall down on his nose and his brown eyes peek at me over the top of them.
"You're crazy, Az."
I blink my blurred eyes and shake my head, clearing the memory.
~~~
I park a little way out of town square. Maybe it wasn't the best decision though.
During the daytime, town square is wonderful. It's filled with happy people walking, smiling, laughing, shopping, and having a good time.
At night, the lights turn off, except for a few distant light poles, and everything is just a tad dark.
I've never really been a fan of the dark.
I climb out of my car and land on the sidewalk at which I parked parallel to. I wrap my arms around myself, in an attempt to make me feel a little less scared.
Loud laughter creeps up the long street from a little ways behind me and my heart falls to my feet.
When the boutiques and stores close, Red street's bars open.
Due to my slower pace a walking, a trait I've had since I was able to walk, the group of people soon catch up to me.
My heart returns almost back to normal as they stumble past me without sparing a glance my way.
Thank you for that one, God.
