Page 6 of Life In General

CHAPTER FOUR

BRITTANY

While I appreciate General wanting to stand up for me, answering Josh’s annoying and never-ending calls, I’m frustrated. I’m a mixture of mad at myself for allowing Josh to bug me so much, mad at General for interfering in something he knows nothing about, and at Josh again for not moving on and leaving me alone.

I haven’t given him one clue that I want to get back together, but as soon as he realized I was pregnant, it was like he made it his mission to get me back. He even told me once, when I made the mistake of answering the phone without looking to see who was calling first, that if he couldn’t have me, no one else could either.

I’d rather be alone for the rest of my life than spend one more day with that loser.

General definitely wants to know more about the situation, but I’m very quickly running out of steam. This pregnancy has been a major energy sucker. I need at least one nap a day and that time is quickly approaching.

“Look, I know you want to know everything right now, but I’m about at my breaking point.”

“Can you just tell me how you ended up here?” General asks. “Here working with my grandpa, I mean.”

“Amanda, his last aide, had to move because her husband got a new job out of state. I was a floater for just over a year for the agency, so they reassigned me here to Albert.” I take a sip of water, hoping the cold will give my insides a jolt and keep me awake just a little while longer.

Glancing around the kitchen, I remember Albert and his love of this home. I think he would be sad to hear that General is selling it, but now that he’s gone, and because I’m not family, it’s not my place to give my opinions.

I look a little closer at a collage of picture frames hanging on the wall by the hallway. Never looking for a connection before, I didn’t notice until just now how similar General looks to a younger Albert, except with bigger muscles, facial hair, and taller stature. Seeing Albert in his early years, and General now, they could have passed for brothers.

“I’m sorry we didn’t reconnect sooner,” General starts, but I can’t listen to whatever else he has to say. Between being too tired and my hormones, the dam is about to break and I need to go.

“I know we need to talk more, especially about the baby, but I need the night to calm down.” Standing up, I rezip my jacket and grab my purse. “We’ll talk more tomorrow after the funeral.”

CHAPTER FIVE

GENERAL

Brittany didn’t come to the funeral. She didn’t answer any of my calls either.

After the fiasco with her douchebag ex, I didn’t want to bombard her, so after the third attempt with no answer in just as many hours, I decided to try again the next day.

That brings us to today, Wednesday. I started my day with a text to her, just in case she’d rather communicate that way, but after a couple hours of silence, I decided to call. No rings this time, just straight to voicemail.

Call it voodoo, juju, or just plain old biker’s intuition, I know something is wrong. My hunches for calling trouble before I see it are always spot on, and I have a very bad feeling. I wanted to ride over and check on her last night, but I knew I needed to give her space, so I stopped myself several times from grabbing my keys and going anyways. Now, I’m regretting it.

Finding a parking spot right in front of the store she lives above, it takes less than a minute for me to pick the locked front door. I try not to make too much noise climbing the stairs in case she’s asleep, but when I get to the top and hear noise from a television through the door, I know she’s awake and has been ignoring me.

“Not cool, Cherry,” I half-yell through the way-too-thin wood panel door as I knock. “I know you’re in there. We need to talk.”

I hear shuffling as she gets closer to the door. “General? Is that you?”

“You know its me,” I reply back. “Let me in.”

“No.”

“Please?”

“Not right now.” Was that a sniffle? “Maybe tomorrow. I’m kinda tired.”

“Not happening, babe.” I rattle the doorknob to find it locked too. “I already picked one lock today. I’m not afraid to do another.”

The tumbler thumps and she unlocks both the doorknob and deadbolt, but the door only opens a crack. Her right eye appears in the sliver of light now shining out into the hall. “What do you want?”

Her voice sounds too small . . . and hurt. I don’t like it. Something is really wrong.

“Let me in, Cherry. I need to see you.” I place my hand on the door to try and gently push my way in, but she tries to push back too fast and her face flashes in pain.