Tell Me, Will It All Be Okay?

Chapter Thirty-Two: "When Both Our Cars Collide."

I had just gotten the news about Frank disappearing, while intoxicated. I jumped out of bed and ran downstairs. I was the only one that was fully alert, so I was the one that had to go driving to look for him. I grabbed Mikey's car keys and went out to see if I could find Frank. I drove around most of the town. I was starting to get frantic, and I was loosing that alertness. I did wake up when I almost crashed into a parked car almost in the middle of the street. I slammed on the brakes, almost hitting my head on the steering wheel. I looked up at the car, and I recognized it easily through the darkness.

"Shit!" I shouted as I got out of Mikey's car.

I ran to his car, and saw no smashes on it. Thankful he didn't crash it, I started running around the area calling his name, hoping he would respond. Nothing. I braved the darkness and ran into the cemetery, thinking he would probably be in there. I got to the small pond in there and saw someone sitting by it. I slowly walked up behind them, and recognized the familiar side swept mowhawk.

"Frankie?" I said quietly, trying not to startle him.

"What?" he grumbled a reply.

"Frank, what's the matter?" I asked, sitting by him.

"Nothing," he grumbled still.

"You scared us. Disappearing in you car while drunk. You could have gotten into an accident," I said, scooting closer to him.

"Sorry," he said.

"Will you come home?" I asked.

"Not right now. I need to think."

"About what?"

"About what I did wrong. How I hurt my little sister." He was talking like I wasn't there, someone else was instead. Did he know it was me? "How I hurt myself, the guilt I felt after hitting her."

"Frank, do you know that it's me?" I asked.

"Yes."

"Okay. I forgive you, Frankie. No one has control over themselves when they're drunk." I finally got the courage to look over at him. I was shocked to find his cheeks tear-stained. "Were you crying?" I asked.

"No," he said, noticeably lying.

"Tear-stained cheeks don't exactly prove that answer," I said.

"Lisa, I hurt you. I hurt you in a mildly drunken rage. What if I was even more drunk? What if I was holding a beer bottle or something when we fought? I could have seriously hurt you, as if I haven't already."

"What do you mean by that?" I asked.

"The fact that I had sex with you twice, once while you were still really young. The fact that I got you pregnant and you had to terminate it. The fact that I hit you tonight. The fact that..."

"Frank, just forget about it. I'm fine." I cut him off. "We really have to forget that and focus on the future. What about Emily? She loves you very much, and I know you love her just the same. And I have Mikey, he loves me very much, and I would die for him. I want us to love each other like a brother and sister should. I want us to act like brothers and sisters should. Can we--you--do that?"

He looked me in the eyes. I knew every one of my words got to him. I saw a few tears fall from his eyes too. He reached over and pulled me into a tight hug. He repeatedly apologized into my neck, and I repeatedly responded that it was fine.

"Now. Can we go home?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said, getting up and pulling me up too.

"You drive in front of me so I can keep an eye on you," I said.

He laughed and we walked back to the cars. He got in his and started to pull away past mine. I got in mine and caught up to him. I started to catch up, but I was caught by a red light. I saw him turn a corner, as if he was going around the block to hopefully be around so I would turn up behind him. I started to zone out as I pressed the gas on the green light. I was zoned out that I totally missed the stop sign. I turned and was blinded. A blinding white light. I slammed the gas down and turned the wheel violently away from the oncoming light. I saw the light turn a little, and I slammed the brakes as their back end bumped off the side of mine. I put the car in park and sat there, staring straight ahead, in shock. When my heart came back down, I stepped out of the car.

"Holy crap, Lisa. I'm so sorry," someone said, pulling my shaking body into them.

I snapped back into reality and saw Frank hugging me.

"Oh my God," I said. "I totally missed that stop sign. Are you ok?" I asked.

"Are you?"

"I'm fine. Just shaken."

A few deep breaths later, my breathing returned to normal and I was fine. Frank and I looked over the damage. Just a few scratches and dents. Quick and right thinking kept this from being a whole lot worse. We got back in our cars and made it safely back home, where everyone else was passed out, drunk, all over the living room and a few were outside. Ray and Megan were curled up sleeping on a raft in the middle of the pool. I went upstairs to my room, changed into my pajamas and crawled into bed, Mikeyless, because he was sprawled out on an inner-tube in the middle of the pool also. I just thought about how they could do that after sending me to find Frank. I was in a light state of sleep when I felt someone crawl in behind me and hold me. I was too out of it to turn and see who was there. But I had a feeling that the morning was going to be eventful.