“I killed him. You didn’t do anything wrong; I did.” She shakes her head.
“I killed him,” she mutters once more. I grab her face in my hands, forcing her to look at me as I shake my head.
“It was me. Say it. Royal killed him,” I tell her, keeping her face between my hands.
“I …”
“No, baby. Royal. Royal killed him. Say it,” I demand this time. Her eyes jerk to mine before her lips part.
“Royal killed him,” she repeats softly.
“That’s right. If anyone asks, Royal killed him.”
“But …”
“No. No buts. Royal killed him. Say it again,” I order her.
“Ro-Royal killed him.” I nod my head.
“That’s right. I killed him, not you. Put this on,” I tell her as I step back and pull my shirt over my head and slip it over hers. She puts her arms in, and I move to the closet to find another shirt to put on to cover the gun in the back of my jeans. I find one and slip it over my head before moving to River once more.
“Let’s go. We’re leaving.”
“Royal, am I going to jail?”
“You didn’t do anything wrong. You hear me? I did it. I killed him, not you. Remember that for me, okay?” She nods her head slowly before I wrap my arm around her and walk her out of the room, closing the door behind me. My heart is racing as I walk her down the stairs and out of the party. Jeremy must have seen me because he races outside to catch up.
“We’re leaving already?” he slurs.
“Shit happened. We need to go.”
“What’s with her?”
“I said shit happened! We’re not talking about it right now,” I snap at him. He nods his head and follows us as we walk back tothe warehouse. Once we get there, River rushes to the bathroom and throws up. I run my hand through my hair and look over at Jeremy.
“We need to stay at the hotel tonight.”
“Okay. You going to tell me what’s going on?”
“When you’re sober,” I tell him. He nods his head as I gather our things. I store the sleeping bags in the corner like usual before moving to get River from the bathroom. I lead her back out and down the road to the closest affordable hotel I can find for the night and check us in.
Once we’re in the room, she’s back in the bathroom throwing up again.
“I’m sober enough. What the hell is going on?” Jeremy asks this time. I run my hand over my face and tell him what happened.
“Jesus. Where’s the gun?” I reach into my jeans and pull it out, showing it to him. He walks over and grabs it.
“I’ll take care of this. Take care of her,” he says. I nod my head and watch him walk out of the room before I go to the bathroom to deal with River.
She sits on the floor, clinging to the toilet as tears roll down her cheeks.
“I’m sorry.”
Chapter 22
River
So many things are racing through my head right now. I can’t keep them all straight. I feel sick to my stomach, but I’ve already thrown up everything in me.
