Total pages in book: 56
Estimated words: 52639 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 263(@200wpm)___ 211(@250wpm)___ 175(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 52639 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 263(@200wpm)___ 211(@250wpm)___ 175(@300wpm)
Sure, I assumed it was O’Leary since that is who my dad and Thomas crossed. In the end, though, I was wrong. I went to the closet as Diem asked of me and called Colton. I put the video on just before being found and yanked around. I had all intentions of coming out as soon as I got my phone ready. Fate had a different plan. Getting me out in the open in front of my friend, the man held me firmly as Thomas took a knife to Diem. I watched helplessly as her own father (that’s what we thought our whole lives and now knew to be wrong) caused her physical pain.
It didn’t end there, Thomas Reigns shot me. I got lucky that it didn’t kill me. A bullet to the brain. Thankfully, the damaged parts have healed mostly. I had to learn to do things again but endured. To this day, I struggle with short term memory problems and a little delay in my speech, but otherwise no stranger could recognize I have a traumatic brain injury. I know what I live with. I know the struggles I’ll never bother to share with anyone. They remain inside my head and my heart and will forever be mine alone.
Some things never change though.
Brain rattled or not, when my mom called and begged me to help, I listened. I had two months of life with Wesson after I healed before my mother reached out. She was very specific with her instructions. I didn’t have time to think or weigh my options. Family matters, right? How can I turn my back on her?
I did exactly what she wanted. I lied to Wesson. I lied to Diem. I have lived the last year playing the part. I call Diem and tell her another lie. I can’t let them find me. I can’t go home until I help my mom.
I’m stuck. From the moment I took my mother’s call until now I’m stuck. She was clear that I couldn’t tell anyone, and I had to make them think I was all over the place. Even now, she still pulls the strings.
It all started when I hung up the phone and I got in my Mustang and drove inland. Avoiding the major roads, I took the backroads. I was putting Haywood’s Landing and my shattered dreams behind me. The less scenery the less reminders. It’s North Carolina, these open highways should be mostly pine trees. That was my headspace. Leave everything in the rearview. At least for the short term. It wasn’t supposed to last this long, either. I should have asked more questions. I should have demanded more of an explanation. Or I should have hung up the damn phone.
Hindsight is always clearer. Now, though, there isn’t anything I can change or escape. My mindset is find a way to have a new life for myself.
It’s hard to do that, though, when everywhere I turned from the moment I left to now, I find myself face-to-face with a reminder.
My first stop was a bus station. I followed the instructions provided and left my car, getting into the silver Chevy Cruze that was in the exact spot they told me it would be. It made my first lie to Diem easy. I was on a bus trip across the country to see and explore. Knowing the trauma we both endured, she didn’t even question my abrupt need to escape life on the coast.
How is this real? I had hoped I would arrive at the bus depot and the car wouldn’t be there. This would all be some weird dream and I would wake up. Only at every step it all stares me vividly in the face.
I left my life behind. I am doing exactly as instructed. How long until the next step? I don’t know.
What I do know is I can’t escape the Hellions. They seem to be everywhere.
The first time it was blaring me right in the face happened in Salemburg, North Carolina. I wasn’t low on gas, therefore stopping here wasn’t a big deal. Minding my business, driving along, I finally got the tears to stop, I was pulling myself together in that moment. This was it; I began my next phase in life. Drive until the gas runs out and begin there until I knew what was expected next. That was the plan until I passed a garage and a reality hit me.
Honey’s Hot Rods.
The shop isn’t the problem. Well, not exactly. The set-up is similar to the Haywood’s Landing garage where Wesson works as far as appearance. Red metal building with black accents. There was a half of a truck attached to the deck at the entrance. That is different than Haywood’s Landing. They even put a skeleton wearing a beanie in the driver’s seat. It’s definitely eye catching and memorable. What got me though, was the sign. It was just like Haywood’s Landing, font, colors, logo, all of it, including the Hellions insignia on the sign in the bottom right-hand corner.