Break Apart My Heart

“Oh Nikki, where are you going off to in such a hurry?” A voice called out as I was leaving the Banger Club.

I turned to face who it was and immediately regretted it. Remember the 3 men my age I saw while dancing? Well, I figured out where I knew the guy from. A few years back, Bella and I had gotten ourselves into a little bind. To make a long story short, we needed some cash and decided to sell Coke for a well known dealer out of town. We tried some, liked it, and wound up blowing the whole stash ourselves. The guy lived in Concord, and we never told him we didn’t live there, so we figured we’d be okay if we laid low for a while. My guess is that didn’t work as well as we planned …

“I-I’m sorry, I think you’ve got the wrong person.” I stated, and continued walking at a faster pace. I heard his footsteps behind me before a hand connected with my wrist, pulling me back.
“Oh no, I’ve got the right girl.” He snarled. “You and you’re little bitch owe me over a grand. I knew I’d find one of you sooner or later.”
“P-Please, I-I-I don’t know what you’re talking about. My names Julie, I have my ID to prove it.” I pleaded as I pulled out my fake ID.
He grabbed it from my hands and eyed it suspiciously. He glanced from me back to the ID a few times before handing it back to me.
“Sorry about that, miss.” He frowned, and began walking the opposite way.

I kept my stride up until I rounded the corner, where I began running like hell for the bus stop a few blocks down. I finally got to the bench and fell onto it, gasping for air and shaking uncontrollably. That was almost a very bad scenario, ending very badly for me. Drug dealers don’t like to be fucked over, or conned, and I’ve done both. It’s no secret Ben, the man from earlier, has shot people. The crazy fuck is actually proud of it, and keeps memorandum from each dead body like a sick collection. I’m glad I avoided that mess …

The bus came a few minutes after I had calmed down. I handed the bus driver my tokens and took a seat behind him. I never thought I’d be this happy to get home. Unfortunately, that happiness was short lived.

I walked through the front door quietly as to not wake anyone up and tiptoed to my bedroom. I walked in and my lights were on, and my mother was sitting on my bed.

“Mom? Why are you up? And why are you in my room?” I asked, tossing my bag onto the floor.
“Nicollette,” She sighed heavily. “I don’t even know where to begin.”
“Start with you leaving so I can get some sleep.” I smirked.
“You know, you’re making me regret this decision less and less with every word that leaves you’re mouth.” She snapped.
“What decision?” I raised my eyebrow.
“Obviously I went wrong somewhere, and this town isn’t helping the matters, so-”
“Do not tell me were moving again.” I cut her off.
She chuckled. “Well, I’m not.”
I stared at her for a few minutes. “What do you mean You’re not?”
“You’ve just gotten worse and worse over the years, and I don’t know what to do with you anymore. Pack you’re things, I’m sending you to live with you’re father. You’re flight is on Tuesday morning.”
“What?!” I yelled. “Fuck this shit, I’ll just move in with Andy. I’ll be 18 next Tuesday!”
“Exactly, you’ll be 18 next Tuesday. And until you actually turn 18, you can’t move in with him.”
“Say’s who?” I shot.
“Say’s me, and I’m sure the court system would agree with me if I reported you as a runaway.” She smirked.
My eyes widened. “You wouldn’t.” How could she be so evil?
“Try me.” She stated. “If that’s what it takes to save you, then I will.”
“I don’t need to be saved, I’m fine!” I yelled.
She ignored my statement. “You might want to start packing. Incase you forgot, it’s Sunday night which doesn’t give you much time if you want to say goodbye to you’re friends.” With that she walked out, leaving me standing there stunned.

I can’t believe her! First, she uproots me from the only home I’ve ever known, and all the people I loved to live with her crazy ass parents in a piece of shit town. Then, I adapt to the piece of shit town. She’s scared off all the boyfriends I’ve had by threatening to call the police because I was, and still am, a minor; all of them were 18 or older. And now I’m happy again, with a job paying me great, and two of the best friends any girl could ever ask for and she’s uprooting me again and tossing me back into a life that I don’t belong in anymore. It’s like a puzzle. You have one puzzle you grow tired of, so you take a piece of it and cut it enough to fit the new puzzle. Then, you grow tired of that and toss the piece back to its origin, where clearly, it no longer fits.

I grabbed my suitcases from my closet and dumped all my drawers onto the floor. I slowly sunk down against the wall, tears flowing down my cheeks, and started putting my things away. She’s right, if she calls the police and they find me, I can be put in a Juvenile Detention center until I’m 18. She knows I’d go right to Andy’s house. The police would bust in, find all the drugs, and we’d all go to jail for a long, long time. If that were to happen to them because of me, I’d never forgive myself.

I leaned over to my Stereo and pressed play, knowing my Pantera CD was already in there. I folded my cloths slowly, placing them in one by one, a million thoughts running through my head. Does dad already know about this? Does Brian? What happens if Ben finds Bella while I’m gone? I won’t be able to do anything all the way in Huntington. What if she gets really hurt?

I sighed and picked up the cordless phone, punching in Bella’s number. It’s not that late, only 11 P.M. It was slow, so they didn’t need me at work. It rang a few times before she answered.

“Hey baby doll, what’s up?” Her voice was so cheery, it made me feel worse.
“M-My mother’s sending me back.” I choked.
“Sweetie I think you’re a little to big to get back up her twat.” We both laughed.
“No, she’s sending me to live with my father.” I sighed.
“Oh.” She was quiet for a few moments. “Well, it’s not like you’re moving across the country. You’re only a few hours away.”
“That’s still a few hours too many.” I pouted.
“Baby doll, cheer up. I get my license back in a few weeks, so it’s not like we’ll never see each other again.” She stated.
“I guess you’re right.” I blew a strand of hair out of my face. “OH! Shit, I almost forgot. I, uh, I saw Ben tonight.”
“What?!” She yelled. “What happened? Are you okay?”
“Yea, I’m fine. He came to the club, and he found me outside. I played dumb and showed him my fake ID.”
“I always knew you was a smart cookie.” I smiled.
“Yea, just be super fucking careful, you hear me?” I warned. “If anything happens to you I’ll fucking kill myself.”
“Oh hush, you’ll do no such thing. Besides, nothing’s going to happen to me. He doesn’t know where we leave, and where the hell do I go besides Andy’s house?” She giggled.
She was right, we both have no lives.
“So when do you leave?” She asked.
“Tuesday morning.” I grumbled.
“Okay, so tomorrow morning you’ll go to Banger and tell that jerk where he can shove it, then stop by Andy’s for a little fun, right?”
I nodded, although she couldn’t see me. “Yea, definitely.”
“Alright doll face, get some sleep, yea? And I’ll call you in the morning.”
“Okay, goodnight.” I hung up the phone.

I decided against calling Amy; she’s been busy with her first semester of college and needs her sleep. I’ll just surprise her on Tuesday, along with everyone else. Everyone else ….

It hit me. I ran over to my closet, and pulled out the large wooden box and placed it on my dresser. I rummaged through it for a few minutes before I pulled out the item I’d long forgotten about; my golden locket. The picture of Matt and I inside was still perfectly intact, and I latched it around my neck; a new beginning to an old ending.

Maybe going back won’t be so bad after all.