Page 93 of Tripped By Love

Marco

LIFE AIN’T FAIR

“’Cause if I got what I had coming.

If I got what I deserved,

I guarantee that I’d have nothing,

Close to good as you for sure.”

Performed by Canaan Smith

Written by Smith / Hubbard / Crowder

Dropping Cassidy off at the airportwas like sliding a knife through my stomach, especially when I knew she’d be gripping the arms of the seat, full of worry and fear as the plane left the ground. But she was right. I had to come to terms with the reality that I couldn’t be there to protect everyone all the time. I couldn’t be at her side and also be here for Jonas and Maliyah. I couldn’t split myself in two physically, and instead, it caused me to be split emotionally.

I kissed her goodbye with the same fierceness and wildness that we’d come to find in each other. A burning flame that would never be extinguished. Then, I made a plea to a God I hadn’t prayed to in a very long time that he’d keep her safe until I could be at her side again.

When I got back to the house, I made a few calls and then settled in to do some research. First, I had to figure out who Mel’s parents were, because I knew that neither Jonas nor I would rest until we’d tried our best to prevent one asshole from ruining a vibrant girl’s life. Then, I needed to do what Cassidy had suggested?check in on Petty Officer Warren. I didn’t need to talk to her and risk bringing back those dark days, but I could poke around her life and see if she was really living or holed up in a dungeon of my making. I turned on my computer and used Garner’s system for personal reasons for the first time ever in order to find out what I needed to know.

The data on Mel was easier to find than the information on Warren. I had to put out feelers that would take a few days to get back to me regarding the petty officer. It would have to do. It was a step toward burying my past that I’d held too close for too long.

I gathered the phone numbers I’d collected on Mel’s parents and went in search of Jonas. I told him what I intended to do, letting him have a say because it would impact his life directly.

“She’s never going to forgive you if I talk to them,” I told him.

“I’ll never forgive myself if you don’t,” he said quietly with a maturity and wisdom I wish I’d had at his age.

So, I placed the call, told her father what we thought had happened with her black eye, and how we were worried about her safety. Her dad was stunned. His silence was filled with anguish, but he thanked me before hanging up.

Jonas received a text from Mel almost immediately, saying he should never contact her again. He was heartbroken, and I still didn’t know how to help him with that.

Instead, we turned our attention to the other woman in our life who needed our help?Maliyah. We made a united decision not to tell her the truth about what had happened with Mel, Arthur, and the fight. We simply told her that Jonas had gone back to the house to try and fix it up as a surprise, and then we spent the next three weeks doing just that. We painted the outside of the house, replaced the dried grass out front with xeriscaping, and fixed every loose faucet, knob, and handle inside. Finally, we converted the downstairs study into a bedroom and hauled Maliyah’s things into it so she wouldn’t have to navigate the stairs until she was ready.

After that, we brought her home.

She was beaming with pride and love as we pulled up to the house. Tears rolled down her face as she tugged us both in for a three-way hug, holding on longer than was normal for her. “I’m so lucky to have you boys.”

She used her cane to mount the two small steps to the front door and then fluttered around the house, looking at everything we’d done with a smile that wouldn’t leave her face.

My phone rang, and my heart flipped as it had every single time Cassidy had called me while I’d been here. We’d talked more apart than we probably ever had together. “Hey,” I said.

“Did she like it?” Cassidy asked.

I sent her a picture of Maliyah. “What do you think?”

Cassidy sighed. “She looks so happy.”

“She does.”

“And how’s Jonas?”

“Beaming almost as much as Maliyah because he got to do this for her, but he’s nervous about school starting soon,” I said quietly so Maliyah didn’t hear.

“Mama, Mama, Mama! Look, I cook!” I heard Chevelle call in the background, and it made my chest ache. I missed him. I missed the way he buried his face in Hippo, and clasped Cassidy’s shirt tight, and how he patted my face in greeting.

Cassidy burst into laughter.