Page 17 of Pit Stop

Thirteen

Odette

The ride to the high school that Odin attends is quiet on my part. Odin talks a mile a minute, filling Onyx in on everything that has happened the last eight months she’s been gone. Eight months felt like a lifetime. Onyx has always been my best friend. When something happened, we would instantly seek the other out to tell her about it. It was always like that. Losing her felt like losing a huge part of myself. These past few months I have felt like I’ve been on autopilot. Before she went to jail it was us against the world. We always knew the three of us would make it because the three of us handled everything. Onyx and I more so than Odin since he’s younger, but then suddenly she was gone, and it was all on me. Talk about a whirlwind of emotions.

Blindsided.

Betrayed.

Anger.

Sadness.

After our lives had been turned upside down with our uncle's death, Onyx took on the weight of keeping a small roof over our heads. I kept trying to help but she didn’t want me to worry about it. At the time I was struggling to keep up with my nursing classes. She kept telling me she had it handled and I believed her. The rent and bills were paid. We had food to eat, and she told me she had a job as a cocktail waitress and made killer tips. Foolishly, I believed her. Onyx is gorgeous, long caramel colored hair, the kind of hair that’s naturally curly and big but somehow still beautiful. Dark gray eyes, pale skin, tall and thin. She took after our mother in looks. Onyx is also great at flirting and never meets a stranger, so it was easy to believe she’d make great tips. I let it slide until one night she didn’t come home.

Three in the morning. I roll onto my back and stare at the ceiling. Onyx is always home before this time of the night. Odin is across the hall sound asleep. I can hear him snoring from here. Sitting up I reach for my cell phone on the nightstand where it’s charging. I press the speed dial for Onyx and wait as the phone rings and rings before going to voicemail. My gut twists painfully. I know something is wrong. I climb out of bed and go down the short hallway of our two-bedroom apartment to the large room up front that is the living and dining room with an attached kitchen. Our apartment isn't much but it’s ours.

I peek out the large window that overlooks the parking lot but there’s no sign of Onyx or her car. ‘Where the hell are you?’ I think to myself. Pacing back and forth through the living room I attempt to call Onyx four more times. I contemplate waking up Odin and going to look for her. Check the bar she works at and local hangouts, but he has school tomorrow and it’s nearly five now. As I sigh, I sit back on the couch and close my eyes, taking a few deep breaths to try and calm my worry.

The next thing I know my shoulder is being shook. I jump up from the couch, causing Odin to stumble back. “Odette, calm down. It’s just me.” Odin’s eyes grow large as I try to calm my frantic breathing down.

I nod my head and survey my surroundings. ‘Why am I in the living room?’ I ask myself. Last night comes back to mind and I look in every direction. “Is Onyx here?” I ask Odin. Even though I know the answer. If she had come in and I had managed to sleep through that she would have woken me up and made me go to bed.

Odin pauses. That’s the only confirmation I needed to know I’m right. “No. Did she not come home last night?” he asks. The worry in his voice breaks my heart for him. He shouldn’t have to go through this again.

“No, but it’s okay. You know Onyx. She’s always up to something. Go get ready for school. I let you oversleep as is. I’ll make some breakfast really quick.” Odin’s eyes swim with confusion and worry. I understand both. I’m trying to play off the situation so he doesn’t spend his entire school day worrying about her, but I feel exactly like he does. In the kitchen I make some cinnamon sugar toast and a glass of orange juice before heading to the bedroom I share with Onyx. I manage to fish out a pair of denim cutoffs and cream colored, ruffled tank from one of the duffle bags that most of our clothes are shoved into. The closet is small and it holds the best of our clothes for work and school. I stop to look in the mirror, my head pounds from a headache coming on.

After I drop Odin off at school, I’m going to find Onyx. My hair is still in a messy bun which works because it’s going to be warmer today anyways. The dark circles under my eyes... well I can’t do much for them I realize when I look at the time on the clock. I grab my purse, dial Onyx one more time, but this time it goes straight to voicemail. Something is wrong. We don’t do this to one another. We all know we’ve been through enough. I pinch the bridge of my nose and try to get my emotions in check before heading back out to get Odin to school.

Odin is just finishing up as I approach the kitchen. He’s washing his dishes. “Just leave them on the towel to dry and I’ll finish up when I get back. We’re already running late.”

“Is Onyx okay?” he asks as he grabs his backpack. I take a moment. He’s grown so much in the last year. He’s as tall as I am now. Not saying that I’m tall, but I’m so used to him being shorter than me.

I feel horrible for lying to him, but that gut instinct is to protect him until I know what the hell is going on. “Yeah, of course she is.” The smile I plaster on feels so fake I have to resist the urge to roll my eyes. “Now come on, we have to get going.” I urge him out the front door and out to my car. It doesn’t go unnoticed by me that Odin’s knee bounces the entire ride to school. It’s something he always does when he’s nervous. Anger blooms in my stomach. How could Onyx be so careless? She had to know we’d be worried. Why didn’t she come home? Why doesn’t she answer her phone? Why doesn’t she call or text?

We pull into the school drop-off line and Odin hops out. “I’ll see you later.” He’s gone before I can reply, but he stops and turns around to study me. It's almost as if he’s trying to memorize me because he’s worried about what’s to come. Admittedly, so am I. I drive around Los Angeles. The place may be huge, but there’s only so many places I know to look. I check in her normal hangout spots, where she works, and that’s about it. I call every hospital in the city to see if she’s been checked in as a patient, but she hasn’t. My heart thunders in my chest. I sigh, hating the feeling of defeat as I turn my nearly empty car back around and head home. I have no clue what else to do at this point, but it feels like I’m giving up and I hate that.

As I pull into the parking lot, I spot Onyx’s car in the parking lot. Everything seems to stop and the worry I have been feeling all night turns to full-blown rage. I park my car as soon as I can, stomp up the stairs and throw the door open. Onyx isn’t in the living room, so I march to the bedroom where I find her lying in bed. Flipping on the light my blood boils. She groans and rolls over. “What the---?”

“Yeah, what the??? That’s what I’ve been thinking all damn night. Where the hell were you Onyx? I’ve called and texted since last night and you’ve been radio silent. Yet here you are looking just fine to me.” My voice is laced with sarcasm. My anger is evident.

She sits up and grabs a pack of cigarettes. I knew she didn’t quit. The sight of her with cigarettes only angers me more. “I lost my phone.” Her tone is so nonchalant that I can’t even breathe for a moment.

“You lost your phone? Did you lose your car too because you know... you didn’t come home, either.” I cross my arms after tossing my purse onto the bed.

Onyx sighs but refuses to meet my eyes, so whatever she is about to say is a lie. “Some stuff went down.”

“What stuff?” I demand.

She meets my eyes. I see the pleading in her dark gray eyes. “Please, don’t ask that. The less you know the better.”

I throw my hands up in frustration. “That sounds so cryptic. I need to know what is going on. I just dropped Odin off at school. He’s worried sick. I’m worried sick. Then you magically reappear and now you won’t even tell me what is going on.”

“Odette…”

Shaking my head, fighting back the angry and sad tears. “There was a time when you would have rushed home to tell me what was going on. I miss that. I miss that version of you, Onyx. I don’t know you anymore. I don’t know what’s going on, but for whatever reason... I feel disconnected from you. We’re supposed to be a team, but you can’t just leave Odin and I out of it. It doesn’t work like that,” I tell her as I leave the room and head into the living room. Sitting on the couch I stare at the peeling white paint on the wall in front of me. Our apartment has seen better days but it’s affordable and just big enough for the three of us. At that thought Onyx appears in the hallway. She leans against the wall and sighs. Dark circles frame her eyes. Worry swims within her pupils as well. I need to know what’s going on but it’s up to her to tell me.

“I can’t handle the thought of disappointing you,” she whispers. If the space between was any larger I wouldn’t have even heard her.

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