Rum and Coke

Matt was standing in his backyard, talking to Jason Berry, when he saw Brian’s Escalade tear down the street. Excusing himself, he went into the house to find Val comforting his sister-in-law on the couch.

“What happened?” Matt asked, taking a swig of beer from his bottle.

“Your lead guitarist is an asshole, that’s what’s happened!” Val yelled, causing Michelle to whimper. “You better be glad he still has his limbs attached, because when I get a hold of him, there will be nothing left of him!”

Mich let out a loud sob and buried her head even further into Val’s hair. Matt went over to them and started rubbing Michi’s back. She flinched away from his touch, causing Matt to quickly retract his hand. Bri flew down the stairs and out of the house before anyone could say anything. Matt furrowed his brow in confusion as he looked back to Val.

“Tell me what exactly happened. This has gone way beyond what we thought.” Matt said, looking at his sister-in-law.

Val looked to her sister, who nodded slightly, before looking around the room. “He called her Danni,” she whispered as her sister let out a loud sob.

“I’ll talk to him. Put her in one of the guest rooms and hold down the fort. I’ll be back soon, don’t worry about a thing.”

“You don’t even know where he went,” Val said slowly. She didn’t doubt her husband at all when he said that he would be back…but how could he know where to find

“Yea, actually, I do,” Matt replied as he slip on a pair of my flip-flops and grabbed his keys. “See you later.”

~*~

Brian pulled up to a familiar curve next to a beach that he knew all too well. Of fucking course I had to end up here, Brian thought bitterly to himself as he parked his car on the shoulder of the road. He mentally kicked himself before daring to gaze at the house that he had hand-picked more than twenty years ago. He could still see them- he and the girl of his dreams- living there, making memories and laughing. He could see their smiling faces on the front porch, watching their kids running around- wait, why were there teenagers running around?! Brain panicked, breaking out of his imaginary scenario to see two teenage girls running across the lawn, laughing hysterically as two boys around the same age came barreling from the side yard. The two guys tackled the two girls to the ground, reminding Brian of he and the guys when they were growing up.

The shorter of the two guys pointed in Brian’s direction when they stood up and spoke to the others in his group. The shorter girl laughed at him before shaking her head and crossing the street. She crossed in front of my car and continued onto the beach, abandoning her shoes near the sidewalk. One of the guys- the stocky one with medium brown hair- jogged after her. Blue-grey eyes sparkling, the taller girl laughed as she took out her phone and waved the other boy away. As soon as he hit the road, she dropped down to sit on the plush lawn. It was then that Brian noticed the “For Sale” sign was gone. His heart sank a little.

Brian turned his attention back to the girl sitting in the grass. She was talking animatedly with her hands. Smiling at her actions, Brian drove up to the nearby beach parking lot and walked down to the shoreline.

~*~

“So, what have you been doing?” Kale asked his niece as he flipped through papers. He silently cursed himself for teasing Danni about them when she was still alive. Sorting through and trying to make sense of them all was far harder than Kale had ever imagined.

“Not much of anything, really,” Ellie said as she sat down on the plush grass.

“I find that hard to believe.”

Ellie laughed. “Well, now that you mention it. I stopped by that address you gave me.”

“And? What about it?”

“I’m renting it.”

“Ellie!” Kale scolded. “I gave that address to you so that you could use it to research, not rent it! In case if you haven’t figured it out yet, So Cal is expensive-”

“No more than New York,” Ellie argued back.

“And don’t worry, I’m only renting it for two weeks. I’m much closer to L.A. now than when I was staying with Aunt Suzy.”

Kale grumbled. “How much should I transfer into your account?”

“Nothing, I’ve got it covered.”

Kale pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “Ellie, that is your trust fund. It’s supposed to last you all four years of college and leave you with a little bit on the side so that you can support the house.”

“Relax, Kale, I’ve got it all worked out. I have several million dollars in scholarships. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”

“Whatever you say. So, have you called Adam yet?”

“Not since we’ve arrived. Why?”

“Because he’s going insane over here.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, last I heard, you were kidnapped by Cubans, smuggled over the border, and now you’re in a whore house…oh! And you’re beaten every night after you get your daily dose of H.”

“Lovely,” Ellie said with a smile. “So, when I call him, should I act high?”

“No, just call the poor man before he drops dead from a heart attack.”

Ellie rolled her eyes. “Fine, fine…ruin all my fun. I’ll call him. Talk to you later, Skittlehead.”

“Same here, Hellion.”

Shaking her head, Ellie disconnected the call and dialed her dad’s number.

“Ellie?” He greeted with a shaky voice.

“No,” Ellie said with a Cuban accent. “This is Don. You’re precious daughter is wiv me. If you vant to see her alive, you vill send ten million American dollars by Friday. If you don’t, she vill continue to please me and my fellow men.”

“Anything. Just give me the address!” He said, panicked.

Ellie laughed hysterically. “Wow, daddy…just, wow.”

“Ellie,” Adam said sternly. “Don’t do that. You scared the living shit out of me.”

Ellie immediately hushed up and bit her lip. “I’m sorry, but really? You thought that I was in a Cuban whorehouse flying high on H or Crystal Meth?”

“You didn’t call like you said you would.”

“We got in really late and I was dead tired. I’m sorry, I thought you wanted a coherent phone call and not a sleep-drunk one. My bad.”

Adam mumbled something incoherent.

“What was that?”

“I said that you sounded just like your mother.”

Ellie’s expression became stony. “That’s not funny. Goodbye.” She said before hanging up and shutting off her phone. She stood up and quickly brushed herself off before heading over to her friends. As she passed by the Escalade, she gave a small smile and a wave to the driver.