Page 168 of Toxic Wishes
At the same time, my heart burst when Josh came out of the bathroom. “Dude, that game was fire. I mean, whoa. I see why they pay you the big bucks.”
Josh looked like he had freshened up, too, with his hair slicked back and enough cologne to swarm a pack of thirsty women towards him.
“Where did she go?”
“You looking for Abigail?” Josh asks as he takes a bite of some beef jerky.
I don’t even speak. I just give him a look that says, what the fuck do you think I’m here for.
“How did you even know her room number?” Josh asks through a mouthful
“One word, cash. Now tell me where she is?” I was starting to lose patience.
“Naomi was giving her trouble when we left the stadium, and she knew Naomi would be at the after-parties. So rather than dealing with it, she switched her flight back home to tonight.”
“Fuck” I whisper shout.
I knew it would be hard to get out of the stadium with all the questions from the reporters about Blake and of course, the game. They wanted to know why I never talked about Blake, why it was so hidden from the tabloids, and, of course, they wanted to know how he died. I never opened up about Blake because I wanted to keep that sacred. I know how ruthless the media was, and I didn’t want my dead brother to be looked at as some druggie who overdosed. I answered enough questions to keep the reporters happy and not chase me down the stadium, even though one reporter tried. Troy held them back to allow me to break free, but by the time I got someone at the hotel to give me Abigail’s room number, it was too late. Abigail was gone, so I’m standing here talking to these two instead.
“She left about an hour ago,” Josh says.
“If you move fast enough, you may be able to catch her,” Mel says, crossing her arms over her chest.
“What airline?”
“American,”Mel says.
“Thanks.” I tapped the door, turned around, and started jogging down the hallway. Mel and Josh were shouting behind me. “Good luck.”
I needed it, and it would take a miracle to catch her on the same flight. If not, at least I knew where she was headed.
Twenty-four hours later and more bribing, I ended up at Abigail’s sister's doorstep. It was worth the five grand to get Josh to fork up where Abigail was living now since Mel was in the background, drunk off her ass, telling him not to do it.
I broke Abigail’s heart once. I didn't need to do it again. Needless to say, my nerves were in overdrive, and lack of sleep wasn’t helping. I rang the doorbell and waited. Praying to the God above, she was here.
When the door swung open, it was Adalee. I recognized her right away from the wedding, but she didn’t have a baby on her hips then. She took me in, no doubt, slightly different from the version of me she met at the wedding.
Adalee had spit-up stains on her shirt, so I wasn’t sure if that was the reason why she had a resting bitch face or because I wasn’t her favorite person to see right now.
“Abigail is at her old school.”
I cursed under my breath. I was getting damn tired of this goose hunt.“Am I supposed to know where that is?”I ask.
She set the baby down, who tried to walk but immediately fell to her bottom, and she started crawling the opposite way. Adalee crossed her arms.“Maybe if you actually gave a shit about someone other than yourself, you may know more about Abigail and the hell you put her through on top of the shit she’s already been through.”
“She told you that?”
“No, she didn’t have to, but the fact that you’re on my doorstep tells me a lot. And knowing Abigail, she hasn’t told me much about you because she didn’t want me to worry. Especially about her eating.” Her left foot tapped a chaotic rhythm. “Abigail is like that, always putting others before herself.”
It was hard to picture her sister with a baby since I pictured her as selfish as all of Abigail's cousins, but Adalee seemed to sacrifice more than the others did, which gave me a sliver of hope.
She sighed.“You want a piece of advice?”
I didn’t say anything. I let my pleading eyes do all the talking.
“If you can’t get your shit together and treat Abigail right, don’t string her along or use her for your pleasures. She’s gone through enough pain and suffering to last a lifetime.” She twisted the door handle while the baby began crying and closed the door before I could answer.
Ten thousand dollars worth of bribing, and over twenty-four hours later, I finally saw Abigail. I slowly drove up to the parking lot and parked my car where I could see her. She was sitting on a bench, and I wasn’t sure if she was talking to herself or possibly talking to Blake’s spirit since the song written about Abigail mentioned that there was a bench where she and Blake used to meet for lunch since she had no other friends.