Chapter 14 I'm down for church, brunch, aggravated assault, movies, working out. Whatever. I'm a multi-purpose friend. -Audric to Creole CREOLE No matter how you try to prepare yourself for it, nothing can prepare you for seeing a person with half of their face, and all of their jaw missing. I thought that I had it under control, but the flinch still took me off guard. Before I could control the way my face visibly reacted to Audric's mom, she looked over with her one eye and saw the reaction. I don't know exactly what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't what I was looking at. No wonder she couldn't eat and had to be fed by a tube. My god. "Mom," Audric said, pulling the woman's attention away from me and to her son. "I know I don't usually come in during the work week, but I have to talk to you about something." The mom's attention went to her computer that she had in her lap, and she typed with one hand on the laptop. Her entire left side didn't look like it worked correctly. An animatronic voice came from the computer a few moments later. "What is it? Is it about your dad?" Audric blew out a breath. "Actually, it is." Again, typing. The tap-tap-tap felt loud in the small room. "Out with it." I looked to Audric who looked like he was struggling with his words. I elbowed him, and he looked over at me with surprise. "Tell her," I muttered. He blew out a resigned breath and then said, "I want you to divorce Dad." Her one single brow went straight up. It was weird, because it went to a mangled hairline where hair grew in patches. "In a few months, they're going to try to start taking money from him for your stay, and we just can't afford it anymore. We have no money left to pay for your care, and to keep us out of debt, Dad will want to sell the house on North Shore." Now I watched Audric's mother wince. "We've barely stayed afloat. And you know it was only Laney's money that got us out of that nightmare for as long as we were. But we don't have that cash flow anymore, and we need you to make the smart decision and file for divorce. Dad won't do it." Audric paused before making a killing blow. "Dad and I deserve this. We have sacrificed a lot in the last decade. We've lived paycheck to paycheck. We've worked our asses off with overtime. I went into the military hoping that I could live a life, and realized I couldn't because Dad was over here drowning in problems that you made for us. I had to leave a job I loved to become a plumber's apprentice in the hopes that one day I could make enough to keep up with the fees for this place. And just sayin', but short of selling drugs, I'll never be able to do that. You just took the last thousand dollars out of my account, and I can't do it anymore. If I ever want to start a family, I won't be able to with your bills hanging over my head. Because I would never do that to my family." A sound came from Audric's mom that felt like a wounded animal. "The other reason I'm here is to tell you that this place might not be an option for you when we stop paying. I'm not sure where they'll take you, but I want to make sure you don't list us as responsible parties." The animatronic voice sounded again. "You'll still come visit?" It was Audric's chance to flinch. "As much as I can..." He trailed off and said, "Stand it," underneath his breath. He probably couldn't stand it all that much if I had to take a guess. I wouldn't be able to, either. I'm sure that he looked at her and saw her when she'd first done it. I'm sure that Audric's father felt the same. Audric's mother got to typing again and said, "Is this your soon-to-be wife?" Before Audric could answer, I blurted, "Yes. We're getting married in the fall. Neither one of us is that well off, so we're going to have to go to a courthouse to get married." Sorry we're not ever going to invite you. The rest of the visit was about as depressing as the beginning. Audric didn't have much to say. I stayed silent other than my outburst about us getting married. And Audric's mom took so long to type and ask questions that the conversation was stilted at best. Needless to say, after we left thirty minutes after we arrived, Audric was in a terrible mood. "Let's go see your dad," I suggested. "Tell him not to fight it." Audric looked at me. "You think he would?" He actually sounded worried. "I think that he's a man, and he feels responsible, and we're going to have to set him straight so that he doesn't fight it." I paused. Was it horrible of me to be happy that she was gone, though? If she wasn't gone, I wouldn't be pressed up against a man as we drove to a fire station in the middle of Dallas. When we pulled up, a few men looked over from a distance. It wasn't until Audric caught my hand and held onto it like a lifeline that I realized that I recognized a few of the men. Posy Hicks, one of Audric's fellow Truth Tellers, was the first one to catch my eye. He was wearing the regulation blue uniform. Navy blue shirt that said 'DFD' on it, short for Dallas Fire Department. And the navy blue tactical pants that had a ton of pockets for all kinds of things. They finished off the outfit with black tactical boots that laced up past the ankle. Audric's dad, however, was sitting right next to Posy. Audric's dad, Carter Ingram, had aged like a fine wine. If Audric looked anything like his father in thirty years, he would be drop-dead gorgeous. Audric looked nothing like his mother, and everything like his dad. "Well if it isn't Little Miss Creole Williams." Carter gave me a beaming smile. "Holding hands with my boy." I glanced at said boy and blurted, "I just lied to your wife and told her that I was marrying your son. If she asks, you have to play along." Carter's eyebrows rose. "You went to see Ellis?" Audric audibly swallowed before he took over the conversation. "We came over here to tell you not to fight her when she files for divorce." Carter's face went blank. "What do you mean?" Posy shifted on his feet, his arms crossing over his chest, and I could tell he was torn between leaving and staying where he was. Hell, I was in the same boat. If Audric didn't have such a tight grip on my hand, I might have slipped away already. As it was, I couldn't feel my hand. Audric explained everything, ending with, "And I know you'd let it go, but I don't want to. The North Shore house is special, and I will die before I let it go." Carter's shoulders slumped. "Fuck." Audric finally let my hand go, and blood instantly rushed back into my fingers. I stepped away and felt more than saw Posy follow me. "What was that all about?" he asked. I looked over at Posy and spilled all. "Whoa," he breathed. "I knew that there was some issue there with Laney and Audric. He'd told me a lot of it. But I hadn't realized all that. He never talks about it." "It's a sticky situation," I said. "How do you tell anyone that your wife isn't your actual wife, and the only reason that you're with her is because your mother attempted suicide and failed?" He studied me for a few seconds before he said, "You would've married her and shared like he did?" "In a heartbeat," I admitted. "I was going to. Really I was, but we all knew that the Combs would fight this tooth and nail. They would've never let me win, and I had a lot going on. With my son and my mom both sick...I couldn't have handled that. I would've folded like a house of cards. Audric was really the only answer." "Audric's a strong man," Posy admitted, his eyes laser focusing in on me. "Don't hurt him." I flinched. "I'm past that point in my life. I'm not scared or angry at him anymore. In fact, he's quickly becoming something more." I turned to look at the two Ingram men staring at each other. "I thought that he was the bad guy. I was wrong, and I missed out on a lot of years with him when he needed me the most. I'm not going to keep making the same mistake." I blew out a disgusted breath. "I hate myself for thinking he'd do something so sick anyway." It didn't surprise me that Posy knew. "The mind plays tricks during times of high stress. I'm sure you were confident. Kind of like how he was confident in what he saw." Posy shook his head. "My suggestion? Let go of the past. Focus on your future." He stared at me for a long moment. "And know that we're fucking loyal. He's our boy, and he's gone through a lot." I knew what he wasn't saying. They wouldn't hesitate to ruin me if I hurt him. But I was confident in myself. "I won't hurt him." He nodded. "Let's go save them from all those dark and broody looks they're giving each other." We walked back over to Audric and his dad when Posy called out, "Now you can stop acting like you're not in love with a woman halfway across the world." Carter whipped his head around to glare at Posy. "Ahh." I nodded. "The pineapple lady." Carter's eyes came to me. "They were really good pineapples," I admitted. "I'm sorry I ate one, but I totally replaced it."