Love in All the Wrong Places

I froze where I stood, and just stared at Dave wide-eyed, praying that this was some kind of sick joke. I kept searching his face for any signs of fault in his story. Much to my dismay I didn’t see any. He was telling the truth. I lost whatever control I had been trying to hold for the last couple of weeks and started screaming, then cried.

Dave turned me around and brought me into his chest to comfort me as I continued to cry. Travis heard my screams and crying out in the hallway and came to the doorway to see us standing there, me in Dave’s embrace as I cried.

“Guys, I don’t know what’s going on, but Dave, dude, you really need to clean up your nose. I’ll show you where the bathroom is so you can clean up, and I’ll stay with Chris while you’re gone.”

Dave nodded, and lead me inside and sat me on the couch. He patted my shoulder and kissed the top of my head before following Travis’s directions to the location of the bathroom.

I sat on the couch, in utter shock at my new reality. Jessie couldn’t be dead. She was one of my best friends. This can’t be real. I just sat on the couch, completely in a daze. Travis sat next to me with a sympathetic look on his face, unsure of how to comfort me since he had no clue what was going on. He scooted close to me, put his right arm around me, and brought me into his side as I turned my head into his right shoulder and continued to cry. He brought his left arm around the other side of me, and rubbed soothing circles onto my right arm and across my back. We didn’t sit in that position long before Dave finished cleaning up, and came to take Travis’s spot on the couch.

I’m not sure how long I sat there and cried, but as I felt my sobs subduing, I pulled out whatever calm I had to try and stop crying. It was only then that I realized that Dave had been crying too. I could feel his light sobs that shook his body as he held me to him. Right now we were here comforting each other. God, when things happened to me, they happened all at once. No rest for the weary. I was still trying to get through the shit that happened a couple of weeks ago when I left Chicago, and now Jessie is dead. How the hell did that happen? I was determined to find out how she died and make sure whatever bastard killed her would pay for what they did. I wanted to tell Dave about this, but I figured now may not be the best time. I mean, the love of his life, the girl he was determined to marry, is now dead.

As I continued to sit there, wrapped in Dave’s arms, I couldn’t help but think of how I last left Jessie. I called her awful names, and slapped her before storming off. She was just looking out for me, and I wouldn’t listen. She was right, Jake turned out to be a sleaze that cheated on me, but how would she know? I guess now I would never find out unless I talked to Jake, who I was still in love with despite everything that happened. That’s what makes this whole damn situation shittier; the first time I ever let a guy come between me and my best friend, we fight and leave things unresolved. Then I run away, and she dies. I felt like such an awful human being. I hated that mine and Jessie’s friendship ended so sourly. Not once in these few weeks that I’d been gone did I ever try to contact her or apologize. She tried calling me a couple times for a few days after the fight before she gave up calling. I, of course, ignored every call she made and refused to check any voicemails I had. Now the curiosity was eating away at me. I had to hear what she had to say.

I leaned up from Dave’s embrace and pulled my phone from my pocket. I looked at his red, tear stained face. He gave me a weak smile and rubbed my arm comfortingly before encouraging me with a nod to go ahead and do whatever I needed to on my phone. I bit my lip, unlocked my phone, and called my voicemail. I had six messages. I took a deep breath, and prepared myself to listen to whatever was on the other end.

“Please enter your password….You have 6 new messages. First message, sent Friday, April 15th, at 10:27 am Central time.”

“Hey C, it’s Jessie. Look, I’m sorry about what I said yesterday. I don’t regret what I said because I meant it, but I shouldn’t have said it. I just wish you understood that I’m only looking out for you. But look, I’m getting really worried about you. I haven’t seen you since our blow up yesterday and neither Dave nor Jake knows where you are. If you get this, please call me back. Love you girl.”

“To delete this message, press 7, to save it in the archives, press 9. Message saved. Next message, sent Saturday, April 16th, at 8:30am Central time.”

“Hey doodle bug, it’s Mom. I just wanted to say that I had a blast seeing you and meeting Jake last night. He’s quite a catch. Keep him around for a bit. Don’t be strangers now, and come back and see us again soon. Love you.”

“To delete this message, press 7. To save it in the archives, press 9. Message deleted. Next message, sent Monday, April 18th, at 7:48am Central time.”

“Hey C, it’s Jessie again. I’m getting really worried about you. I know we’ve fought before, but it’s never lasted more than a couple of days, and now no one has heard from you since Friday afternoon. Please please call me back. I’ll explain everything. I’ll tell you what’s going on and why I’ve been acting the way I was. Just please call me back. I miss you girl! Love ya.”

“To delete this message, press 7. To save it in the archives, press 9. Message saved. Next message, sent Monday, April 18th, at 7:52am Central time.”

“Ok C, I can’t just sit around and hope for you to call me back. I just need to get this all out in the open. Whew. Here we go. Yes, I know Jake from a long, long time ago. He’s a big part of a dark past I once had and will never return to. Just to clear the air, no, Jake and I never dated, but we used to be extremely close. In order for you to understand what’s going on, I need to go back to when I was twelve. I used to live in Nashville. I know, I never told you. I don’t know why. I had a guy there that I used to be quite smitten with named Travis. He’s quite the charmer and I hope someday you get to meet him, because he was a huge part of my childhood. He’s an aspiring singer, and has the talent to make it big. Who knows, maybe you could design for him someday. Anyway, when I was twelve, my family moved from Nashville to Chicago and I was absolutely devastated to be separated from Travis. We had been practically inseparable since I was born. I cried the entire drive to Chicago. I didn’t even get the chance to say goodbye to him before—“

“To delete this message, press 7. To save it in the archives, press 9. Message saved. Next message, sent Monday, April 18th, at 7:54am, Central time.”

“Sorry, ran outta space. I didn’t get to say goodbye before we left. I was so heartbroken. I didn’t understand why we had to leave. The only answers I could get from my parents was that we needed to get out of Nashville as soon as possible, and Chicago was the best place for us. My parents had always been super secretive about what they did, and it never bothered me until now. Up until this point in my life, whatever they did in their private lives never affected me. Now it was tearing me apart from my best friend. For the first time in my life, I actually hated my parents. I had no idea why we had to uproot our perfectly wonderful lives and move to shitty Chicago. You know now, that I absolutely love Chicago, but it wasn’t always that way. We made it to Chicago, and my parents and I unpacked our car and truck into our new house. After we unloaded all the boxes in the house, my parents sat me down on the couch and told me they needed to talk to me. They said—“

“To delete this message, press 7. To save it in the archives, press 9. Message saved. Next message, sent Monday, April 18th, at 7:56am, Central time.”

“They said,’ Jessie, we feel like you’re old enough to know what we do and why we’ve been so secretive.’ I just stared at them dumbfounded, wondering what the hell they were going to tell me. My father sighed, looked at my mother, and then back at me. ‘Jessie,’ he began, ‘you’re mother and I are drug dealers. We are part of a small drug cartel located here in Chicago. We were initially one of their stations in Nashville, and then the police started to get a hint of what was going on, so we had to relocate to the home base. Before you were born, we were stationed here in Chicago, but when your mother became pregnant with you, they told us to relocate to Nashville until you were old enough to join the cartel. We still think twelve is still a bit young, but given that we had to move so suddenly so we wouldn’t be caught by the police, we wanted to explain what happened. What I just told you must never be repeated to anyone. Ever. This is a family business. This is how I met your mother, her family was also part of this drug cartel, and we met on assignment. Now we’re passing this on to you. Don’t let us down.’ Needless to say, I was awestruck at what my father had just told me. No way were my parents drug dealers. My mom was a soccer mom, she drove a minivan to transport me and my friends to practice, games, made chocolate chip cookies. My father drove a small luxury car, grilled every weekend, and liked to make things by hand. I was in—“

“To delete this message, press 7. To save it in the archives, press 9. Message saved. Next message, sent Monday, April 18th, at 7:58am, Central time.”

“I was in shock to what they told me. Well, I was soon introduced to the other families that were part of this cartel. That’s how I knew Jake. His father was the head of the cartel. He was the only one that was my age there. He had a couple older brothers in high school that had been part of the cartel for a couple years already. He was being shown the reigns of what his family did, as much as I was at the moment. He and I ended up being partnered up during our teenage years and shadowed under his brothers. He couldn’t wait to finally be a part of what his brothers did. He looked up to them so much back then. I, on the other hand, wondered how the hell I got thrown into this situation. I wanted nothing more than to get out, but had no choice. So, from ages 12-18, I was part of a drug cartel that my parents were a part of, and sold drugs, illegally, until I was old enough to move away to college. Jake, on the other hand, he—BANG BANG BANG!!”

I heard the phone drop, some heavy footsteps walk across our floor, and pick up the phone. An indistinguishable person picked up the phone and through a voice changer said,

“Sorry, Jessie isn’t able to take any more calls.”

“End of messages. To delete this message press 7. To save it to the archives press 9. Message saved. Main menu. To disconnect press star. Goodbye.”

I ended the call and dropped my phone. In complete astonishment at everything that was just revealed to me. I blanked out to everything around me and was so absorbed into my own world.

Dave shook me slightly to get my attention, wanting to know what I heard on the phone that made me so startled. I turned my head slowly towards him and replied, “That was Jessie. Her family was a part of a drug cartel, and she used to be as well when she first moved from Nashville to Chicago. That’s how she met Jake. His father was the head of the drug cartel her parents were a part of. She knew Jake from when she used to have to sell drugs. She was in the middle of telling me this story when she was shot. Her killer picked up the phone and said that she was unable to take any more calls and hung up.”

Dave stared at me wide-eyed as we both let this new information sink in. Jessie used to be a drug dealer. Jake was, and maybe still is, a drug dealer. He may or may not be connected to Jessie’s murder. I’m in love with a very dangerous guy. My perspective on him completely changed. It was so contradictory of his personality to be a drug dealer. He was a damn good actor and I was so taken by him. I began to question those around me that I was closest to, and wondered how much they were keeping from me.

Dave noticed me eyeing him suspiciously before speaking up. “C, I swear I didn’t know anything about this! This is just as shocking to me as it is you. I don’t know about you though, but I wanna find out who this son of a bitch was that murdered her, and make sure they pay.”

I just nodded in agreement. We had quite the mystery to solve, and quite a big adventure ahead of us. Who knew my love life would be this complicated. I had a new mission now, and I wasn’t sure where we would start, but I knew with Dave’s help, we would figure it out. I felt like Travis should be a part of this too, especially since they were so close as kids. Maybe there are some details about her family that he could recall from before their move that could help us. He could actually give us some great clues as to her life before she joined the cartel. I just needed to figure out how best to break the news of what just happened and everything I found out to him.