Page 46 of Pit Stop

Thirty-Three

Tillman

As I pull up to the campus, I scan the area looking for any sign of Odette. I wrack my brain trying to remember the directions that Onyx gave me before I left this morning. Eventually I have to hit the Bluetooth on my steering wheel and have it dial Decker. Luckily, he answers on the third ring. “I need Onyx, please tell me she’s there.”

“Hold on,” he replies. I hear rustling and him heading downstairs all the while that feeling that something is wrong keeps growing and growing—taking over every part of me. Whispering is heard on the other end of the line before Onyx comes over. “Hey, what’s going on?” I explain I can’t remember the directions and the feeling I have. “Calm down and just breathe. Odette is fine, I’m sure. She should be out of class, but she’s probably got her phone still silenced from being in the lecture hall. She can take care of herself. Now, tell me what you see and I’ll tell you how to get to her.” I calm down some, but I won’t fully be okay until I see Odette with my own two eyes. Onyx manages to get me going in the right direction.

Suddenly, out of nowhere sirens blare through the air. As I’m driving through the other parking lot, the one that Onyx says will get me to Odette I notice a car. A navy-blue Chevy Impala. The same one I noticed yesterday when leaving Pike’s. My blood runs cold. Grabbing the first parking spot I come to, I pull in and throw the car in park. My eyes scan the area. Finally, I spot Odette. She’s trying to stand her ground, but someone is holding onto her upper arm, and I don’t even need to see his face in order to know it’s Lyle. Anger rages within my body and I start to run. My sights zeroed in on Lyle, but then Odette’s eyes light up with a fire of their own and the next thing I know her knee comes up connecting with a part of his body that never wants tobe handled that roughly, she shoves him away from her before her arm goes flying back only to sail forward and connect with his face.

The minute it connects I know she’s in pain. Her eyes widen and her face scrunches up just before she grabs her hand and cradles it against her chest. I break through the small crowd that has started to form. “Odette,” I call, slightly out of breath.

Lyle lays on the ground, rolling around like a hurt dog. He deserves it though. Odette spins around. Unshed tears in her eyes. “Tillman,” she says on a sigh. She starts to move forward just as the cops appear.

Just when we think it’s all over, Lyle snakes his arm out, his hand locks around Odette’s ankle causing her to fall to the ground. She tries to catch herself but she’s coming down too fast and hard. Even with her smaller stature it’s going to hurt. The minute her hands collide with the sidewalk below she cries out in pain. I rush forward despite the cops telling me to stay put. When I reach her, I kneel down and scoop her into my arms. “Odette, are you okay?”

She sighs. A few stray tears leak down her cheeks. “I am now.”

Onyx and Decker show up a little later. Odette is sitting in the back of the ambulance that the cops called despite her insisting on not wanting one. I had to agree with them though. While she’s being examined, the cops have been getting her statement about what happened. When Onyx and Decker show up, I’m surprised because I actually forgot to call them in all the craziness. They have another girl with them. She could be a model by the look of it, but she introduces herself as Bridgette. She explains that when Lyle showed up she was with Odette and she made her leave with the address to the hotel to go find help. “Thank you,” I tell her. At least I know that if I hadn’t gotten her when I did, help was on the way. It makes me feel better, but it doesn’t stop the erratic beating of my heart.

The emergency personnel examine her wrist. Moving this way and that way, she winces but never makes a noise. “I don’t think it’s broken but I think you should get it looked at just to be safe.”

“I’m sure it’s fine,” Odette says. She’s waving off any concern, but I think it’s more of the money issue than anything else. That’s not something she’s going to have to worry about anymore.

I step towards them. “I’ll make sure to take her so she can get it checked out, if that’s okay.”

The guy examining her wrist looks over at me and nods his head. “Yeah, that’s fine. Just take her to the emergency room or her regular doctor and they will get an x-ray to make sure that it’s not broken. I think it’s just sprained.”

“I’ll make sure she gets there,” I reassure him.

Onyx steps up beside me. “You know that’s going to be really hard. Odette isn’t one for doctors.”

I chuckle. Odette looks over and glares at me. “I think I can handle it.” We wait while Odette finishes giving her statement and while Lyle is being placed in the cop car. They find drugs on him which satisfies me even more. He’ll go to jail for a good while for possession plus the assault on Odette. Witnesses have given their statements as well. Lyle protests as he is shoved into the back of the police car. Finally, they release Odette to go. She walks over to me and I pull her into my arms. Her entire body is tense, and I wish I could do something to make it better. “How are you doing?”

She sighs heavily against my chest. “I’m okay. I’m exhausted.”

“Let’s get to the emergency room so they can make sure your wrist is not broken.” Odette looks up at me.

She shakes her head and pulls away. “It’s fine. It’s not broken.”

I cup her face between my hands. “Well, we’re going to go make sure.”

“Tillman…”

Shaking my head, I stop her from continuing. “If you’re worried about the money, please don’t. I’ve got it taken care of but we’re going to make sure it’s okay.” She sighs and nods her head. Onyx rides with us while Decker heads back to the hotel.

After waiting for a couple of hours in the waiting room they finally take Odette back to be examined. Onyx goes with her. I step outside to call Axell and let him know I’ll bring the boys by the shop tomorrow and fill him in on everything that happened this afternoon.

“Is Odette okay?” he asks.

“Yeah, she seems to be doing okay. Just waiting to find out about her wrist now,” I explain.

“And how are you doing?” Axell asks.

I blow air out of my lungs. “Man, I don’t know. That shit scared the hell out of me. I’ve seen so many horrible things. I’ve done horrible things, but seeing Odette like that, not knowing if I was going to get to her in time. It was a new level of fear. It was unlike anything I’ve ever felt before.”

Axell is quiet on the other end of the line for a bit. I’m just beginning to wonder if we actually got disconnected when he finally speaks. “Yeah, that can happen. It’s the worst feeling in the world too.”

“Yeah, it is.”