Page 40 of The Charmed Friends of Trove Isle
“Lazer?” Melody repeated.
Liz rolled her eyes. “He was no good. He had a record and he had all the wrong connections. He helped Bri get more pain medication when her doctor decided it was time she start weaning off.”
“He was Bri’s boyfriend?” As the question rolled off her tongue, Melody gasped and pulled a hand to her mouth. “Is he . . . Ally’s father?”
Liz’s entire expression twisted in disgust. “Ew! No. Ally’s father is a decent guy from what I can tell. He was a one-night stand for Bri. She met him at a failed attempt at rehab—the first time. From what I understand, Daren has stayed clean.”
Melody relaxed a little. “That’s good.”
Liz nodded. “Anyway, Bri flunked out of rehab and went back to Lazer. In order to get the pain meds, Lazer started forcing her to be his seller for other stuff. She didn’t want to, but an addict will often do whatever it takes in order to get their needs met. Bri swears she never tried any of the other stuff. She was caught once and got off easy. The second time she was arrested, the judge was less forgiving. Bri was sentenced to four years.”
Melody swallowed. “Wow. Thanks for telling me. I should have already known the facts.”
Liz reached across the console and squeezed her hand. The touch was brief, but welcome. “Have you ever been inside a prison before?”
Melody shook her head, looking up at the building off to their right. “All I know of prisons is based on half a season ofOrange Is the New Black.”
“Then it’s a good thing you have me.” Liz unbuckled her seatbelt and started to shift around, gathering her things. Melody did the same. Then they stepped out of the car and walked up to the gate where a guard was standing out front. After flashing their IDs, they were let through for further inspection before finally being allowed to meet up with Bri at a picnic table outside.
Bri was already waiting in the visiting area for them. She had long, dark beautiful curls just like she’d had in high school. Instead of wearing her hair down past her shoulders though, it was pulled back in a ponytail.
“Hey, stranger,” Bri said with a warm smile that caught Melody off guard. That was not the greeting she’d expected. Not that she’d known exactly what to expect. Maybe a knock against the forehead. She would have deserved it. “I’d get up and hug you, but that’s frowned on around here,” Bri said, almost teasingly. “A place that discourages hugs. Can you imagine?”
“She wouldn’t last a day here,” Melody said, pointing at Liz as they took a seat across from Bri at the picnic table.
Liz offered a reassuring smile. “This is true.”
Melody fidgeted with her hands below the table. Whereas Liz had always been an open book, Melody had kept hidden any outward signs of her emotion, especially the negative ones. She’d pushed them down and run from them when they’d threatened to consume her. You could only run so far for so long though. At some point, you had to face things head-on.
Melody looked at Bri, took a breath, and put her shaking hands on the table in front of her. “I’m really sorry that I haven’t visited you sooner, Bri,” she said, still bracing herself for the Bri of old to tear into her and tell her what a horrible person and friend she was. Bri had never been one to pull punches. The night Melody had run away after Melody’s mom died, Bri hadn’t rushed to give Melody a hug when she’d found her. Instead, Melody had been scared Bri was going to fight her at first.
“You scared me to death!” Bri yelled, anger flaring her cheeks a dark-red color. “I thought you were dead.”
“Well I’m not dead. Just my mom.” Melody just wanted to be alone. She wanted to disappear.
“If you ever scare us like this again, you’re going to wish you were dead because I might beat the crap out of you.”
The way she’d said it that night made Melody wonder if she was telling the truth. Bri could be a little scary. She definitely intimidated people when they got in her way.
The Bri sitting across the picnic table right now, however, just shrugged. “I understand.”
“You do?” Melody said, surprised.
Bri shared an amused look with Liz. “Well, okay, not really. But Alyssa was your sister so I have no idea what you’ve been going through. I know it was more than the rest of us though.”
Melody lowered her gaze for a moment. Alyssa’s name still gave her heart a jolt. They had been true sisters, but Liz was right in saying that she, Liz, and Bri were sisters as well. She hadn’t realized how much she’d missed them until returning to the isle.
Melody swallowed hard and looked back up to Bri, who seemed relaxed in her pale-blue jumpsuit. “So, how do you like it here?” It was a stupid question. She knew it as soon as the words had left her mouth, but her nerves had gotten to her. “I’m sorry. That was rude. I didn’t mean anything by that question.”
Bri cracked a grin. “There’s the Melody I remember. You always said the funniest, most inappropriate things that made us all laugh. Do you remember?” she asked Liz.
“I definitely do.” Liz smiled as well.
Bri pointed a finger across the table at Liz. “Remember when Melody came to my grandfather’s funeral two days after Christmas. And she asked my grandma if she had a nice holiday?”
Liz put a hand over her mouth, muffling the small giggles that erupted. “It wasn’t funny.”
“But it really was,” Bri argued.
