My brain tried to rationalize that it could have been something completely innocent, like a Tylenol, but I couldn’t shake the thought that it was something less over-the-counter.
“Dude, I am about to go full-on psycho stalker right now.”
“Woah. Slow your roll, big guy,” Jae mumbled back as we watched the car pull out and drive towards the exit.
“He looks like he could be a freaking pervy thirty-year-old with a virgin kink.”
“Alright, I love this protective energy, but let’s maybe dial it down a notch so you don’t get arrested. It could have been a Tic Tac for all we know,” Jae reasoned, and I rolled my eyes.
“Really? Says the guy who’s been convinced for weeks now that Shiloh was doing drugs. I was right. She was definitely acting shady about not being available to answer texts.”
Jae blew out a breath but the tension in his face looked like he was debating whether I needed psychological help. “Look, why don’t we just call your dad—”
I put the car in reverse. “Her ex is shady as fuck, and it looks like she was going to stay with him. He could be forcing her. She said they broke up weeks ago.”
“Well, I guess. Although, it looked more like a romantic getaway. She didn’t seem overtly upset about being with the guy.”
“Yeah, but she also managed to hide the fact that she was grieving the death of her brother for a whole month. So, I don’t think she’s incapable of having a good poker face.”
“Jesus, you’re a jealous motherfucker, aren’t you?”
“Shut the hell up,” I growled as I pulled out onto the main road. I could see their car was about four cars ahead of us. I wasn’t an expert on tailing anybody, but I knew enough from watching TV that I shouldn’t get too close. Jae tried to talk me out of following them, but I didn’t listen. Until I saw them getting on the highway towards the big city.
“Great. They’re going out of town.”
I pulled off the highway and into a What-a-Burger parking lot.
“Am I being paranoid?”
Jae pursed his lips and gave me a look. I groaned in exasperation and scrubbed my hands down my face.
“Don’t worry. I have no qualms bringing up the fact that we saw her with her ex-boyfriend over the weekend. She can’t deny it when we both saw her.”
I sighed and nodded in agreement. It’s not like we were trying to police what she did in her free time, but when she was out-right lying to us both, combined with whatever pill he gave her…something wasn’t right. And I wasn’t going to be lied to again.
???
November 8, Monday
Shiloh
Inever considered myself a fiend for marijuana, but I would have stabbed my own eye out to get my hands on a blunt. The Xanax that Adrian gave me before we left town on Sunday had obviously worn off. I found myself staring at the drop ceiling of the room I was sharing with an older woman that snored worse than my dad.
My mind was racing with scenarios of the horrible trajectory my life could take if I didn’t wind up the wife of Theodore Walsh.
The fucked-up part was that I was actually accepting the fact that marrying Theodore would be my best future possible. Indirectly involved in the gang, married to a pastor, or I think they called themselves reverends. How fucking bad could it be? At least I wouldn’t have to deal with gang violence and drug addicts.
But being with Theodore would be high profile, something that wouldn’t go unnoticed by my friends. How the hell was Carlos going to explain my sudden absence without anyone from my past interfering? Fuck, if Enoch showed up and ruined my identity, we’d both be killed.
The what-ifs were endless and I desperately needed a fucking blunt to calm the fuck down, but that wasn’t going to be possible when they made me do a drug test just to get a room in this shelter. I understood now why Carlos had been so strict about me staying away from drugs.
Yesterday was spent performing menial tasks around the facility— meeting with one of the career and life counselors, attending a workshop to write a resume, and cleaning to preparefor the party. Basically, I spent a lot of time practicing how to be a nice and likable person and my face fucking hurt because of it.
My only reprieve was when I was alone in my room to shoot a message to Adrian or at night in bed. Adrian was supposed to be my only contact with my real life during this ‘operation’. They hadn’t allowed me to bring my phone, instead they gave me a burner. I was meant to check in every six hours. If I went more than eighteen with no contact, they allegedly would send someone nearby to check on me.
I was annoyingly the only new person, having filled the final empty bed in the facility, so I was subject to a plethora of getting to know you questions and a tour of the facility. I swore I had torn a facial muscle with all the smiling I had to do, and I wasn’t looking forward to the charm and innocence I was going to have to ooze today to try and catch Theodore’s attention.
On the bright side, I knew I was doing something right when one of the other women in my hall took the empty seat next to me in the dining room where we were waiting for the church members to arrive.
