Page 110 of Road Trip
I heard quiet voices in the background. “My stepdad came over. He’s here fighting with Julian’s uncles. I can’t call the cops, Ms. Mora. They’ll kill me. But my mom and sister are here.”
“I can call them, Sergio. It’s on me. It’s better if they get him away from you.”
I heard screams and loud cracking noises as the phone went dead. I called 9-1-1 as I booted up my laptop and found Julian’s address. I gave them the address I had as well as those for his emergency contacts just in case, and the information Sergio gave me.I called Kelly’s number immediately after, but he didn’t answer. Then I remembered Kelly had given me Manny’s number.
“This is Ramirez,” he answered.
“This is Abra, Manny. I’m sorry to call, but I can’t reach Kelly. Something ugly is going down at one of my student’s places, and it’s related to Kelly’s assault. He was afraid to call the cops, so I did.”
He asked me, very businesslike, for the address and any information. I told him what I could as I heard his engine revving.
“I’m right near there. I’m calling it in. Thanks, Abra.”
I thanked him before hanging up.Damn!I called Geri to let her know, and she said she’d call the police department and see what she could find out. After we hung up, I balled my hands into fists and paced my room. I hated this! I hated sitting on my thumbs doing nothing. I went out to the living room to check on Mom and she wasn’t there. Startled, I called for her and received no response. I started making my way through the house and became even more worried when I didn’t see her in the kitchen or in her bedroom. Gran was sleeping soundly when I got to her room, but no Mom. I went back to the hallway and saw that the alarm had been set, so she had to be in the house.
The bathroom door was shut. The light was on. I knocked, but there was no answer. I called out. Nothing. The door opened easily in my hand. Mom was sitting on the toilet lid. Her arm was resting on the counter. Her eyes were closed.
“Mom?” I stood in the doorway, afraid to move closer. I could see she wasn’t breathing from where I was frozen. Tears pricked at my eyes, but I blinked them back. I stepped closer and touched her cold skin, finding no pulse. Mentally, I reached back and remembered I hadn’t seen her since after dinner. Two hours ago. She must have come in here and…
I sat on the floor of the bathroom and just stared at her for a long time. I had never felt so alone in my life. I knew she was finally at peace from the demons that had plagued her for so many years, but I still felt incredibly alone. I knew, too, that I needed to call someone, that I couldn’t sit in here forever, but I wasn’t ready for the insanity, or for this to be over. So I stayed there, watching her motionless form. I replayed the information Gran had given me several weeks ago when I had just gotten home from my road trip with Kelly. Her heart was weak, the doctors had said. They were afraid to give her any more medication, or make any changes, because she had been stable. There had been no episodes and no outbursts since I’d gone back to work. But Gran had warned me that she wasn’t doing well. As I berated myself for not doing more for my mother, for being a total waste of a daughter, my phone buzzed. Kelly.
“I’m sorry I missed your call. I’m—”
“My mother is dead.” That was all I could say. I heard him ask me questions. I may have responded. I just kept staring at the woman who had brought me into this world. She and I looked so much alike, with the exception of her gray hair. She sort of had a little smile on her face, and I wondered if she had finally found happiness. Kelly was still talking, but I hung up. I stood and wanted to walk to my gran’s room, but I was afraid to leave Mom. Instead, I went into the hall, turned off the alarm, unlocked the front door and left it ajar, then went back to the bathroom to wait with her. I held her cold hand in mine and just tried to find some sort of comfort in knowing that my mother was no longer trapped in her mad world.
Kelly
Chaos surrounded me at the department as I made my way to find Lt. Reynolds as she was in charge of the current shift. I knew they’d found the other guys involved in my little scene and were bringing them in after there had been some sort of disturbance. My phone had been buzzing, but I couldn’t answer Manny’s texts right now. I had to get to Abra.
“Lieutenant,” I said to her when I finally found her in dispatch.
“Graham, you need to get up to the detectives and—”
“Lieutenant. My…girlfriend’s mother just died. I have to go to her.” I’d never once left during a shift, much less during some crazy situation like this.
We stared at each other for a few seconds before it registered to both of us.
“You need to see the detectives. Check in with them. Then go to your girlfriend. You need me to put in the call?”
I told her the address, and she assigned the call to a dispatch officer. She reminded me that the area was out of our jurisdiction. I hoped the sheriffs they sent would handle things compassionately.
The detective in charge told me to take off, that he’d update me after it was all said and done, that information was still coming in. I thanked him and took off like a bat out of hell.
Abra hadn’t said much, just that she’d found her mother in the bathroom. I kicked myself for staying away from her, cursing my job and my stupid responsibility to the case. I felt a need to be by her side that was so strong…
I broke several speed limits on my way there. Her yard was flooded with lights from the emergency vehicles. She and her gran sat on the front porch, watching everything with dead eyes. I parked a bit away and hurried up the steps. She barely acknowledged my presence, so I sat next to her and took her hand in mine.
“Bettina, I’m so very sorry.” I didn’t know what else to say. I tried to get Abra to look at me, but she was zoned out.
“Thank you for coming, Kelly. The officers you sent have been wonderful. They’ll take Adrianna to the hospital and from there the crematory will collect her. She didn’t have a will, but they allowed me to make the arrangements.” She glanced at Abra with a sad smile.
“I will help however I can,” I said softly.
She squeezed my hand and said, “Would you please take me back inside, Kelly? I think I need to lie back down.”
Abra jumped at that. “I’ll take you, Gran.”
The two of them fussed over each other as Abra pushed her wheelchair into the house. I followed behind, feeling like a fifth wheel. I stopped and talked to the deputy in the living room, and he told me what Bettina had said, that arrangements had been made. They already had Adrianna loaded into the ambulance and were just waiting for final approval from the investigator to take her in. I shook his hand, gave him my card, and he said he’d take good care of everything. I appreciated that.
