Page 66 of Bracing the Blue Line (Bracing for Love 1)

“No, it's Sunday.” I pull away from her neck, my stomach a ball of nerves as wonder if I should ask this. Bo was right, damn it. I hate when he's right. “Do you want to go with me?”

I wasn't expecting a frown, but her lips do indeed dip. “Are you sure they would want me to be there?”

“They would love to meet you, Audra. If you don't want to go-”

“No, I'll go if you want me to,” she interrupts. One hand goes to her belly, a tell-tell sign that she's nervous about this. Me too, Audra. Me too.

“It'll be fun,” I promise. “What's more fun than a bunch of six and seven year olds at a birthday party?” She nods but doesn't say anything. I kiss her temple, wishing I didn't have to leave yet, but I do. “I need to go. So do you. Don't forget that I won't see you Friday, but call if you need anything, okay?”

“Okay. Ma said we were going to your game Saturday, by the way.”

Once I nod, she stands. I grab my burger, kiss her temple one more time, and then leave. I'm not really hungry anymore, so I go ahead and call Bo. As soon as he answers, I go right into it.

“I told her everything. She's coming to Alice's birthday party and she and her mom are coming to the game Saturday. What in the hell has my life become?” I'm a breath away from freaking out.

Bo laughs. “I'm glad you told her and that things seem to be going well. Alice is going to go nuts. Does this mean I get to have Sunday off?”

“Seriously? That's what you're focused on? Audra is going to meet the Lanier's!”

“Calm down, Neil. It'll be fine.”

I hope so. I can't handle anything else. “There's another thing.”

“What is it?” he asks.

“She lives in a one bedroom apartment. My place is bigger and I'll be more helpful if we live together, but there are issues with me asking her. She got ill the first time and then there's all you guys. I mean, y'all can stay if you want, but I doubt y'all are going to want to always be careful about waking a baby or having to listen to her cry.”

“Don't worry about us, Neil. As long as you give us plenty of time, we're good. As for Audra, maybe wait a little longer to bring it up to her. You don't want to overwhelm her.”

No. No, I don't.

Instead of going home, I go to the rink. I want to get away for a while.

DREAD FILLS MY stomach as Lucy leads me through the cemetery. We drove two and a half hours to get here, and Lucy has barely mumbled a word the entire time. She stops in front of one large headstone and then turns to face me.

“Sit,” she orders. I take a seat on the long wooden bench. “I have a few conditions that I need you to do for me.” I nod. “Open your legs, so I can sit.” I do and Lucy presses her back against my chest. My hands immediately go to her hips, but she takes them and pulls my arms around her. “Hold me tight.” I squeeze her closer to me, so she knows that I will. “Absolutely no talking once I’m done. None, Grant.”

“Okay,” I agree.

Lucy holds her hands out to the headstone in front of us, and I finally read the names. Marvin Kennedy and Jennifer Kennedy. Son, Daughter, Father, Mother, Husband, and Wife are each written on the respective sides.

“They are my parents,” she says quietly. The date of their deaths is the same and Lucy had to have been six, I believe, when they died. The date was the other day when her brothers made a fuss because she wanted to be with me. That must be why. She chose me over them on the day their parents died. Now that it's about to happen, I'm not so sure I want to hear her story. “Today is the anniversary of their funeral. What I’m about to tell you will answer any questions you’ve ever had about me.

“My brothers went to spend the night at my grandparents. I stayed home with my parents because I was sick. I was asleep in their room because I always slept with them when I didn't feel good, but I was awakened by yelling and screaming from the other room. Something wasn’t right about it. My mom sounded like she was crying and there were voices I didn’t recogni

ze. My dad was pleading, begging for something. It scared me, so I grabbed my favorite stuffed animal and hid in the closet.

“I started crying, but when I heard footsteps coming towards the room, I was terrified. My parents were yelling something and I didn’t want to be loud, so I somehow managed to be completely quiet. I think my dad said something to piss the person off because he turned around and walked away.”

Lucy stops talking as her breathing has sped up a little. I rest my chin on her shoulder and pull her closer to remind her that I’m still here. Tears begin to fall. I want to tell her to forget it. That she doesn’t have to tell me anymore.

“Then I heard lots of commotion and gunshots. People were walking around really fast and someone came into their room. The closet door swung open and a guy saw me. I remember that he looked really surprised and a little worried. He put his finger to his lips to show me to stay quiet. Then he closed the door and I heard him running down the hall, talking. After about five minutes, I think, tires squealed as they were leaving.

“The house was so quiet, so, so quiet,” she whispers, lost in her memories. “I wanted to go find my parents, but I was too scared to leave my hiding spot. So I stayed there all night, wondering if the people were coming back, and what happened, and why my parents hadn’t come to get me yet,” she finishes, her voice catching.

“Next thing I remember were my brothers screaming and a lot of crying. Patrick kept yelling, ‘I know where she is! Let me find her!’ Finally, he swung the door open, found me, hugged me, and then they were all there, surrounding me. They kept hugging me as my grandparents took us outside. Cops were everywhere. I don’t really remember much after that.

“My parents were murdered for some gang initiation. That’s why they robbed and killed my parents.” She pauses for a few minutes. “I stopped talking for a while after that, but when I started again the only person I would talk to was Patrick. I didn’t really know what was going on except my parents weren’t there anymore. Patrick was like my barrier. Whenever I got overwhelmed or just couldn’t keep talking to people, he would do all the listening and talking for me to make people leave me alone. I haven’t done that in a long time, which is why Corey reacted like he did the other night. That’s why my brothers are the way they are. They haven’t left me since that night.”

---