Let Them Speak

I got up, threw on a shirt, and grabbed Addison’s hand. I pecked his lips.

“I’m always with you, Addi,” I whispered, smiled, then dashed out of the room, down the stairs and from the house in a hurry, Addison in tow.

My footing didn’t falter as my father drove into the driveway and saw us leaving, hand-in-hand. He looked perplexed.

“Darryn!” He shouted after us and I stopped and looked back at him, I tightened my hold on Addison’s hand.

“What?” I snapped.

“Where are you going?” He asked, looking weak. Did he forget that he had kicked me out of the house.

“Away.” I said and almost turned around to start walking again.

“How long are you going to be gone?” He asked meekly, and when I looked at my dad, I didn’t see a grown man, I saw a scared child.

“A while, I don’t know. There’s some things that need to be done, that you just wouldn’t understand. There’s a lot of things you don’t know about me, or Addison, that you just didn’t bother to learn. But right now, I don’t need you holding me back. Just go inside, do what needs to be done, and when I get back, we can talk if you really want to learn about who you’re son really is,” I ranted, then turned and started walking away.

“Darryn!” He screamed and I stopped with a huff.

“What?!” I screamed back. He was walking toward us quickly, his fists clenched, I thought he was actually going to hit one of us.

He held out a hand and the keys to his car dangled from them.

“Take the car, it’ll be quicker and safer instead of walking. The temperature is supposed to drop tonight.” He said, and once I had my fingers curled around the keys, dropped them into my palm, turned and walked into the house without a word or a look back at us.

I nodded, looked at Addison, smiled a small smile and walked toward the car as if afraid it was going to blow up when we got too close.

I got into the driver’s seat, Addison got in beside me and we stared at the dashboard for a long minute.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

Addison tilted his head back against the head-rest.

“Anywhere safe,” he murmured. I nodded.

“I need to stop at Lacey’s really quick to grab my clothing. Then we’ll drive,” I said and picked my way through the streets.

We stopped in front of Lacey’s house and I rushed inside. I had a feeling that I would never see this place again, this town, these people. I ran up to Lacey’s room, knocked and then walked in. Lacey was on her computer and jumped when I walked in.

“Darryn, what’s wrong?” She asked when she saw me hastily pushing my clothing into my duffle.

“I’m leaving for a while Lacey, I don’t know when I’ll be back okay? You need to protect yourself while I’m gone,” I smirked, trying to add a little humor. It didn’t work.

“Darryn, what’s going on?” She asked and fisted her hands in my shirt.

“I’m not quite sure Lacey, but I have to go,” I whispered and brushed her hands off my shirt.

“B-but Darryn-”

“Goodbye Lacey,” I said, tugged her into a hug, then turned with my bag and left her house without a word. She didn’t try and follow me, but I felt her sadness engulfing the entire house.

I threw the duffle into the back seat, got into the drivers seat and just started to drive, almost aimlessly.

“My mother bought a summer home in Newport, Rhode Island. I can get us there, if you want to travel that far,” I told Addison and got on the highway.

Addison shook his head.

“I think I have to deal with Jenna first,” he murmured. I nodded.

“Tell me about her,” I said. I already knew who she was, she was the girl Addison had been with when I met up with Lacey in town.