On the one hand, I was irritated that she thought I was some kind of Uber or something. I live 25 miles away and it was the middle of the night. On the other hand, she called me instead of letting some drunk friend drive her home. This was what every big sister hopes will happen.
“You want a ride?”
“If it’s okay. I mean, if you have a guy there or something…” She giggled as she said it.
“Very funny.” I rubbed my eyes and yawned. It was going to be a long night. “Text me the address and I’ll be there in about 40 minutes.
“Thanks Sis.”
* * *
An hourlater we were in my car. I’d had to go into some frat house down by Cal State Dominguez Hills and go inside to find her.
It was like some kind of horrible gauntlet of drunk college boys. “Hey there. What’s your name?”
“My name is ‘I’ll kick you in the balls if you don’t take that hand off my arm.’”
“Geez. You don’t have to be like that.”
The entire place smelled like cheap beer and weed. It reminded me of my college days, honestly. Empty pizza boxes all over the place. Red Solo cups. The party seemed to be winding down, but there were still probably 25 people hanging around, drunk and laughing and being obnoxious kids.
Finally, I found Bailey outside on a bench, looking like she was about to hurl. I was a combination of furious and relieved. This was no place for a sixteen-year-old girl. But the lectures could wait until tomorrow.
We got her things and made it down the hill to my Honda. As I was buckling her up, I noticed that she reeked of alcohol. There was no way Mom and Dad wouldn’t notice. Hopefully the smell would dissipate before morning.
“Where are we going?” Bailey was in the passenger seat of the car and I was just praying she didn’t puke in the ten minutes it would take to get her back home.
“Home. Where did you think we were going? Taco Bell?”
“I can’t go home like this!” Bailey said. “They’ll know I was drinking.”
“Just sneak back in the way you snuck out.”
“My room is on the second floor! I can’t climb that tree.” I knew from experience that she was right. It was much easier to sneak out of that house than to sneak back in. The house alarm would activate unless you left your window open a crack when Mom or Dad were setting it so it would bypass your room. Then, if you opened any other window or door, the alarm would sound.
“So what are we supposed to do, Bailey?” I was annoyed. It was late. I was tired. I just wanted to go home.
“Mom and Dad have tennis in the morning. Can I sleep at your place and then you bring me back while they’re gone?
Nothing like an extra fifty-mile trip. “Sure, Bailey. You can sleep on my couch.”
Remind me never to have kids…
* * *
For a second,I forgot where I was. It was quiet and there were birds chirping and the gentle sound of an airplane flying overhead. The peace and calm reminded me of being home in Verde Hills. Until I heard a siren and remembered that I was in La Playa.
La Playa. Such a nice-sounding name for a shitty place to live. To be honest, not every place in the town was bad. There were some really nice areas near the university and the country club. But the areas that were bad were SO bad.
The memory of last night started to come back to me and I remembered that Bailey was here. We needed to get her back before Mom and Dad got back from tennis and then their weekly lunch with the Schweigers at the club. I would talk to her about making better choices on the way there.
Rolling out of bed, I grabbed my robe and yelled through the door, “Bail? Are you up yet?”
The apartment was silent, so she was probably still passed out. I opened my bedroom door and called her again. “Bailey. We need to get going if we’re going to get you back home before Mom and Dad.”
No response. “Bailey?”
She wasn’t here! The blanket that she’d used was on the floor and the bathroom door was open, which meant she wasn’t in there. That was all there was to this apartment. She was most definitely not here.
