Page 94 of Without Bound
“How could you two betray me?” His voice is choked with emotion, but I really don’t care what he’s feeling right now.
“How could you do this to your best friend? And to me?!”
“He’s not my best friend. He’s not the man that I thought I knew.”
“Yeah, well neither are you. Bishop’s not done, I’m done. Withyou.”
I turn my back to him once more and don’t lift my head again until the EMT’s are pushing their way in the small office.
They put him on a gurney and I look over to where Phoenix was standing, but he’s gone.
It’s best that he is because if anything happens to Bishop, he’s the one who should be scared for his life.
31
Anais
“Don’t you think we should just bring the bed down and move your office stuff into the garage for now? I don’t want you walking up and down the stairs.” I have my hand lightly wrapped around Bishop’s torso on one side and Vaughan does the same on the other.
“Baby girl, I do not need y’all moving things in and out of the downstairs office. I’ll be just fine. I’ll stay mostly in my room and only come down to eat.” Bishop puts some weight on the two of us as he takes the first step.
“Man, I agree with Ana. Hayes and Luca and I can move things around. It won’t be a problem.” Vaughan takes the lead in front of Bishop to take more of the weight as we move upstairs.
“It is a problem. I don’t want to put you guys out for something that will be fine in a couple of days. I didn’t break anything and yes, I’m sore. But I can manage going up and down the stairs,” he says with a loud grunt.
“A couple of days?” I ask, skeptically.
When we arrived at the ER the other night, it was sheer madness. I was being asked question after question. My mind was a muddled mess because while I wanted to spill everything and throwPhoenix under the bus, he’s still my Uncle and I love him despite all of this. I tried to tell them it was a blur, but they began rushing him off to a room. I wasn’t allowed back and I had to beg them to come get me when they had news. I think they thought I was his family in some way, but in that moment I didn’t care. I just wanted to know every detail and for him to be okay.
It was a few hours before they let me back and I ran as fast as I could down the hall. Just as I had assumed, his nose was broken and his left cheek was fractured. He had a huge cut above his eye that had been stitched up as well as on his lip. His face was swollen –one eye completely shut– and he had some sore, but not broken ribs.
They kept him there for two nights just to be sure he was fine, but he insisted on coming home on the third day, which is today. He’s not big on people fussing over him. The only people I called were Bishop’s parents. I was so angry with Phoenix that the others were on my shit list by default.
I did have to reach out to Vaughan for his mom’s number as I didn’t have it or Bishop’s phone. When he asked why I needed it I told him, “Because I do”. I think my attitude was enough for him to just comply.
It was the next day when everyone else started to show up, but by that time I had informed his parents about what happened –after introducing myself as Bishop’s girlfriend– and I begged them not to let anyone else back.
His mother, Francine, was quite hesitant at first, but finally agreed after deciding he needed to rest and heal before the gang descended. To say that they weren’t happy is an understatement but again, I don’t care.
My phone was blowing up after they found out what happened. The fact that Phoenix returned home with busted and bloody hands was a giveaway that something bad had happened. I only answered my mom’s calls and she wasn’t really thrilled over the revelations.
“Anais. What did you do?”She asked.
“What did I do? Why don’t you ask your asshole brother that question?”
“Hey. He is still your Uncle and you will not disrespect him.”
“Momma, if you saw what he did, you’d say the same thing.”
I explained to her in extreme detail what happened and even sent pictures of Bishop’s face. She was appalled and even cried when I told her how Bishop wouldn’t even lift a finger because Phoenix is a brother and he refuses to hurt him.
She was upset that I was dating a much older man and not at all happy about how our relationship had progressed so quickly, but she has known Bishop for many years and knows exactly the kind of man he is.
We talked it out, I told her how I feel, how Bishop feels, and let her know that if she didn’t support us, she could join her brother in the ex-family line. Happy to say that she’s here for me. Forus. Now I have to talk to my gramma, but I have a feeling she will not need to be won over. She’s all about my happiness.
We make it to the top of the stairs and we’re greeted with smiling faces. Francine is right there ready to practically pull Bishop into her arms, and the rest of the ladies all stand silently happy. I’m sure they’re all relieved to see that he is okay but in all honesty, I don’t want to see any of them. I just want to hide away with Bishop and shut them out.
“Oh my baby boy,” Francine says, rushing to his side.
