Don’t Let Me Break by Linda Verji

 

 

CHAPTER 27

 

When Marley woke up, it was dawn.

Had she spent the whole night on the couch? She slowly sat up only to see Sebastian asleep on the adjacent armchair. He’d slept in that uncomfortable chair all night? Why when he had a perfectly good bed in his bedroom? Was he afraid to leave her alone in the living room? No, that didn’t make sense. He could’ve just woken her up, and they would’ve gone to bed.

Also, what had happened to his face? He had three long pink lines on his cheek, as if someone had scratched him. When had that happened?

Grimacing, Marley swung her legs off the couch to set them on the floor, only to hear crackling beneath her feet. She looked down and found that she’d stepped on a bag that was half-full of chips. Littered around the bag were several crumbs; like someone messy had been eating the chips then gotten tired and let the bag just fall on the floor.

The hell? Aghast, she stared at the mess. Who’d done this? It certainly wasn’t her.

Sebastian? No way. He was even tidier than her.

Before she could find an answer, Sebastian shifted in his seat. He groaned, then his eyes opened.

Marley smiled. “Good morning.”

“Morn-” His hooded eyes narrowed. “Marley?”

“Yeah?”

“It’s you?” He sat up straighter in the seat. “It’s really you?”

Confused, she asked, “Who else would it be?”

“It’s you.” This time it was a confirmation and not a question. His words were followed by a wide grin. Abruptly, he moved forward and set his palms on the couch behind her to trap her between his arms. His mouth lowered and met hers in a hard kiss.

The kiss was so unexpected that she couldn’t even react. She just sat motionless while he plundered her lips. When he ended the kiss, she could only stare up at him with a slack expression. “What was that for?”

Smiling, he sat back in his seat. “I missed you.”

“Huh?” Her confusion rose by a couple more notches. How could he miss her when they’d spent the night together?

Sebastian soon cleared that up. “Hazel was here last night.”

“What?” Marley’s head jerked backwards. Hazel had appeared?

Why would Hazel be here? The answer came crushing in like an unmanned bulldozer. Memories of everything that had happened last night tumbled in.

The detectives telling them Leslie was dead.

The questions about her whereabouts.

The questions about Kenny-

Oh God! Marley’s hands flew up to cover her mouth. Kenny!

Kenny couldn’t have done it, right? She couldn’t have killed Leslie, right?

Oh, who was Marley kidding? Kenny had killed their father to protect Marley and their mother. She was perfectly capable of getting rid of a thorn like Leslie. And she certainly had the opportunity. She was quite high up in the chain at the club. If she said she needed to leave for an hour or two, no one there would bat an eyelid.

Mistaking that Marley’s terror was because of his news about Hazel appearing, Sebastian said, “Don’t worry. Hazel didn’t do anything crazy. She just watched TV until she fell asleep.”

“That- that’s great!” Marley breathlessly said. Though she was still distracted by thoughts of Kenny, she asked, “Was- was Hazel the one who did that to your face?”

Sebastian raised his hand to cover his cheek. “Yup!”

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” Marley apologized profusely because, technically, she was the one who’d hurt him. “I’m really, really, really sorry.”

“It’s okay.” His smile widened. “I’m just glad you’re back.”

Just then, Marley’s phone rang. It was her alarm, letting her know that it was time to get up and ready for work. The alarm was labeled work, so even Sebastian saw it.

“Ugh!” He groaned. “I forgot that it was a Wednesday.”

“Are you going in to work today?”

“Yeah.” He stood. “Let’s get ready. We can talk about Hazel on the way to work.”

But Hazel was the least of Marley’s concerns. While Sebastian was showering, she tried to call Kenny several times. Kenny didn’t pick up, likely because she was already asleep. Marley sent her a message asking her to call her as soon as she woke up.

Because she and Sebastian had decided to keep their relationship between them, arriving at work together was out of the question. Sebastian dropped her off at a bus-stop that was just five minutes away from About It then went ahead of her. She walked the rest of the way to work.

Work was unexpectedly drama-free. No one came after Marley. Though Vicky and pals kept throwing her dirty looks, they kept their distance. Her three friends, on the other hand, seemed to have completely forgotten about being interrogated by the police and the confrontation afterwards. They were just as nice to her as they usually were.

Watching the trio smiling and laughing left Marley with the impression that none of them was the culprit. If any of them was the culprit, there’d be some guilt or at the very least some dodgy behavior. But the three were just behaving as they normally would. They couldn’t have done it. It wasn’t them.

At about noon, her phone rang. It was Kenny.

“Hey,” Marley greeted breathlessly. “I’ve been trying to get a hold of you.”

“Sorry,” her sister apologized. “I was asleep when you called then when I woke up I was called in by the police so I completely forgot to get back to you.”

A chill raced down Marley’s spine. The cops had already called Kenny in? Did they, like Marley, think that Kenny could’ve killed Leslie?

Sounding amazingly relaxed for a prime suspect, Kenny asked, “Yo, did you know that Leslie was dead?”

“Um… yeah. I- I knew. The cops told us yesterday. That- that’s why I wanted to talk to you.” Her heart in her throat, Marley asked, “Where are you right now?”

“Just coming from the police. Heading home.”

“Could you drop by About It?” Marley requested. “I need to talk to you.”

“Ugh! That’s so far away,” her sister whined. “Can we talk when you get home in the evening?”

That was a reasonable suggestion, but there were too many nervous butterflies fluttering in Marley’s tummy. She wasn’t sure that she could keep her cool for so many more hours. She pleaded, “Please! Just come here for a few minutes.”

“Fine!” Kenny sighed. “I’ll let you know when I get there.”

About half-an-hour later, Kenny called. She was in the parking lot. Marley got up from her desk and headed out of the building. Kenny’s emerald green SUV was so distinct that Marley immediately found it among the sea of black and white cars. She hurried over and got in the car with her sister.

“What’s up?” Kenny greeted with a smile. Though it was noon and all Kenny had done the whole day was wake up and go to the police station, there was a hint of alcohol in the air. As if she’d taken a shot.

Worried, Marley asked, “Should you be driving?”

“What do you mean?” Kenny’s smile immediately dropped. “Why shouldn’t I be driving?”

The defensive note in Kenny’s tone was enough to make Marley back down. Mentioning Kenny’s alcohol problem would unquestionably cause a fight, but Marley wasn’t here to fight.

“Nothing. Forget I said anything.” Changing the subject, Marley asked, “What did the police tell you when you went to see them?”

“They just told me that Leslie was killed and asked me where I was the night before last,” Kenny explained. “So I told them that I was at work.”

Marley blinked rapidly. “And they believed you?”

“Why wouldn’t they believe m-” Kenny stopped talking. She turned in her seat to face Marley. “Wait! You didn’t think I did it, did you?”

“Um… n-o, no, no,” Marley haltingly denied. “Of course- of course not.”

“Marley Carter!” Kenny drew in a sharp breath. “Did you really suspect me of killing Leslie?”

“No. No. No.” Marley tried to keep from stuttering but she couldn’t stop. “I- I really didn’t.”

Rather than calling her out on her lying ways, Kenny said, “I didn’t kill, Leslie. I didn’t. I’m not a killer.”

You killed Dad, remember?That kind of makes you a killer, Marley thought. But she didn’t say it aloud.

“And even if I wanted to, I didn’t have the opportunity,” Kenny defended herself. “I was at work the whole night. I have people who can prove it.”

Still afraid to be hopeful, Marley asked, “Really?”

“Really,” her sister assured. “That’s what I told the cops, and they believed me. If they check our club’s CCTV, they’ll see me there too. I didn’t do it.”

Thank God! Marley collapsed back into the seat in relief.

“Whoa! I’m so disappointed in you,” Kenny shook her head slowly. However, the small smile that crooked her lips belied the harshness of her words. “You really thought it was me, didn’t you?”

Marley gave her a sheepish smile. “I’m sorry.”

“No wonder you tried calling me so many times.” Her sister asked, “You were panicking, right?”

“I was,” Marley admitted. “After the cops came, I was really, really worried about you.”

“You must have been.” Kenny canted her head to observe Marley. “It’s strange. Usually when you’re this worried, Hazel shows up.”

“She did. Last night,” Marley revealed. “But this morning she was gone.”

Kenny frowned. “That fast?”

“I’m surprised she left that quickly too.” Frowning too, Marley asked, “Do you think that’s a good thing?”

“I think it is.” Kenny nodded. “Your doctor said that infrequent appearances and shorter stays is a good sign. It means that you’re getting better.”

Immediately, Marley felt lighter and happier. She hoped that her sister was right.

Kenny changed the subject. “Did the cops tell you how Leslie was killed?”

Marley’s brow crinkled as she tried to recall what the detectives had said. “Someone shot her.”

“Hmm!” Kenny paused in thoughtful silence. “Do you think it’s the same person who came for you?”

“I don’t know.” Marley frowned. “But it’s too much of a coincidence that Leslie died right after Sebastian’s poisoning.”

Kenny tensed. “What if she was working with someone in your company, and that person killed her to keep her silent?”

Any other time Marley would’ve thought that the idea was farfetched but too many things had happened for her to chalk Leslie’s death to a coincidence. She frowned. “Do you think that’s possible?”

“I think it is.” Worry in her eyes, Kenny reached over and grabbed Marley’s arm. “It’s time to quit.”

Shock shuttled through Marley. “What?”

“You promised last time that if anything else happened, you’d quit or at least take a break,” Kenny reminded her. “And something just happened.”

“But it didn’t happen to me,” Marley protested.

“It happened to someone you know. That’s enough for me.” Kenny’s tone was as determined as her expression. “You’re quitting today.”

Marley was so used to obeying Kenny that her first instinct was to say yes. However, something made her shake her head. “No, I’m not quitting.”

Now it was Kenny’s turn to be stunned. “What?”

“I don’t want to quit,” Marley said softly. “I don’t want to run and hide. I want to stay here.”

“But you can’t,” her sister protested. “What if something happens to you?”

“I can’t keep living based on what ifs,” Marley said. “We don’t really know if my attacker is the same as Leslie’s killer. We’re just assuming. Maybe it was another one of her junkie buddies. Maybe it was someone else she was trying to blackmail. Running when we don’t even know what really happened doesn’t make sense.”

Marley took a breath then firmly added, “I think I’ll stay until the cops come up with something. Who knows? They might catch the person before anything more happens.”

Kenny was so used to Marley easily yielding to her demands that for a minute she could only stare at her in stunned silence. When she finally spoke, her tone was soft. “Is this because of him?”

Marley’s brow furrowed. “Him?”

“Sebastian.” Kenny paused for a beat then asked, “He’s not gay is he?”

Marley hadn’t deliberately held off on telling her sister about her new relationship. It was just that in the last few days since she and Sebastian had decided to date a lot of things had happened that had distracted her. She hadn’t had time to sit down with Kenny and tell her what was going on. But it seemed that it was now time to tell her.

“You’re right.” Marley nodded. “He’s not gay.”

“Whoa!” Kenny exhaled loudly. “I guessed it when you started spending time in his apartment, but I wasn’t sure. After everything Hazel said… you know.”

“Hazel must’ve misunderstood him.”

“Or she just lied so I would stop asking questions.” Curiosity shining in her eyes, Kenny asked, “So what’s actually happening between you and Sebastian?”

“We’re dating.”

“What?” Kenny exclaimed. “Since when?”

“Since Monday.”

“Wait, wait, wait! I need a minute to process this.” Kenny closed her eyes and leant her head against her seat’s backrest. A beat later, she opened her eyes and sat up straighter. “Does he know about Hazel?”

“He does.” Marley explained, “He caught us that day when he brought Hazel home.”

“And he’s okay with it?” Her sister gave her an incredulous stare. “With all of it?”

Marley nodded. “He says he is.”

“Okay, first, I’m happy for you. I really am,” Kenny said. But in her gaze concern shone, not happiness. She asked, “You know I want you to be happy, right?”

Marley smiled. “I know.”

“And you know that I’m your greatest supporter, right?”

“I know.”

“If you want to date Sebastian, I’m one hundred percent behind you. But…” Kenny’s sentence faded into silence. She nibbled on her bottom lip as if trying to decide whether it was okay to say what she itched to say.

Marley prodded. “But what?”

“But are you sure that he’s doing this for the right reasons?” Kenny quickly went on to add, “I’m not saying that he’s weird or anything. It’s just that most people become wary around you when they find out about… everything. And he isn’t, which kind of makes me wonder about him a little.”

Kenny wasn’t saying anything that Marley hadn’t thought of herself. So Marley wasn’t offended.

“I actually thought the same thing,” Marley admitted, “and I asked him. But he says that he likes me despite my illness.”

“Good, good. That’s great,” Kenny breathed, but her gaze still seemed troubled.

“Actually, he has family members that are a little like me so that’s why he didn’t mind too much,” Marley said. She could’ve said more and even told her sister about Sebastian’s father, but she didn’t want to over-share about his private life without his permission.

“That makes me worry even more.” Kenny sighed. “Are you sure he’s not the fixer type?”

Marley was confused. “Fixer type?”

“You know the Captain Save-A-Ho’s.”

Marley cut her eyes at her sister. “I’m not a ho.”

“I know. I know.” Kenny laughed. “But you know what I’m trying to say. They’re the kind of person who is always looking for someone broken to fix. They see the people in their lives as projects they need to fix, and as long as you need them, they’re fine. But when you start veering off on your own, getting better and needing them less, they get insecure because their love is tied to being needed.”

Kenny took a breath then continued, “I’m not saying that that’s who Sebastian is, but you need to make sure you’re not getting into that kind of situation. That he really, really likes you for you and not because he thinks you need him. That you guys are getting into this relationship on equal standing.”

Everything Kenny said made sense. But Marley wondered how Sebastian would take it if she broached the subject. She’d already questioned if he actually liked her, and he’d confirmed that he did… very vehemently. Now she was supposed to put him on the spot again about why he liked her?

Was it too much? Would he be offended? Would he want to end the relationship?

It was almost as if Kenny could read her mind because she said, “If you’re worried that talking to him will cause friction, then think of it this way. It’s better to know now so you can decide what to do, rather than to find out in the future and get really, really hurt.”

Kenny was right of course. But her advice left Marley in a dilemma.

How do I bring it up?