He coughs. “For me?”
“Who else? Eddie?” I almost laugh.
“Delaney, do you not remember?”
“I remember sofa cushions all over the floor and this chair right here,” I say as I drag it to the center of the kitchen, “with ropes.” I grin and shake my head. “Ropes, Khannan? Really?”
Khannan moves away slightly then sits down at the table. “Let’s go through this from the beginning. Eddie claimed he was sick this morning, so he stayed home. I came home before lunch to check on him and found him naked in this chair, struggling to get up. I heard noises by the front door, so I ran to check them out. A . . . teenage girl, as you put it, was frantically trying to put on her clothes.”
I try not to smirk and laugh but can’t stop a weird bark from escaping my mouth. “So Eddie’s the one messing around. Not you?”
“Certainly not me.”
“And who was the girl?”
He bites his lip and narrows his eyes. “You, Delaney.”
I’m drowning in ice water and cover my mouth. I can’t breathe.
“It’s OK, Delaney.” He stands. “We can keep this between us, and I’ve already spoken to Eddie. That will not happen again.”
I close my eyes.
* * *
My phone vibrates, and I gasp for breath. I jerk up in my car seat, reach for my phone, and see a message from Mom. I just received exciting news! Will be home soon.
I’m still having trouble breathing, so I open my car door, hoping to let in some cool air. But an 80° breeze blows against me. It’s December in Austin, Texas, and it’s this hot!
Am I going crazy?
I close my eyes and try to see the girl’s face again, but so much is covered by her sunglasses. Her hair is my color, and our figures are the same—large in the bust, slim in the hips.
Me with Eddie? I shudder. Why would my imagination take me there?
I grab my stuff, lock the car, and walk toward the house. Some leaves have fallen, mixed with acorns, but not because of any change in the weather. Just exhaustion from hanging on during this endless summer. Seems like we run the air conditioner year round.
Panic surges for some reason as I open the door. No smell of weed. No overdose of Febreze.
My legs wobble as I call, “Khannan!” Silence. “Eddie!” More silence.
The sofa. Check the sofa. I stumble-run into the living room and note the cushions. All correctly placed. Then into the kitchen where I grab a chair and check for glue. Nothing.
My heart thumps against my chest. I sling my pack onto my shoulder, pinning my hair against my back. Damn! I yank my hair out from under the strap with a snarl and a yelp.
I try to calm down, breathing slowly, deeply, and feel sweat trickle from my armpits.
The screen! I race to my bedroom, toss my pack on the bed and collapse onto my knees, reaching for the screen, which I had removed earlier. Nothing. Looking up to the window, I notice the screen in place and the window locked.
But I removed it. I couldn’t have locked the window from outside.
Unless I never went out the window and raced out the front door like Khannan said.
I run to the kitchen again and kneel down to check the chair, carefully rubbing my fingertips along the back. Nothing. No groove. No ridge.
If there’s no crack, then I’d just imagined Khannan’s story about me and Eddie. Why would I do that?
But if the window is locked, then I never jumped out of it.
Unless Khannan put the screen back and flipped the lock. What’s the point of that? Is he trying to make me believe I didn’t come home today?
I growl in frustration. Khannan will get away with his cheating by making me look crazy!
Ropes. Where are the ropes?
I run to their bedroom and snap open the door. Of course, the bed is made. Another of Khannan’s endearing traits.
I walk through both of their closets. His is immaculate, but he certainly doesn’t clean hers. Dirty underwear litters her floor, and several garments hang precariously on tilting hangers.
The nightstands!
All I find in his are some books, a pistol, and a few bottles of pills.
But Mom’s bottom drawer contains the ropes. Lots of them. More than I saw this afternoon.
And a half-opened box, revealing two vibrators. Carefully lifting the box lid, I find fur-lined handcuffs, a blindfold, and two ball gags. My stomach sinks, but for some reason my heart races. Vibrators?
Footsteps coming down the hall!
I shut her drawer then see the vibrator in my hand. Khannan opens the door, and I whip my arm behind me.
He stops and stares, clinching his eye muscles.
My chest won’t stop heaving. “I . . . I needed something.”
He holds a shopping bag from Barnes and Noble. “That’s OK.” Gracious. Pleasant. As always. “Did you find it?”
“Yeah. I’m so embarrassed.” I know my face is blood red. My brain is frantically searching for a reason to give him. My hands slowly move to my stomach, my right grasping the vibrator. His eyes widen and he smiles.
“Mom said I could borrow one of hers.” I know he’s blushing, but his dark skin won’t show it. “I should’ve waited until she was home instead of searching through her drawers.” I look to the floor. “Maybe we could keep this to ourselves?”
Almost too quickly, he says, “Sure, Delaney.” He strides to the dresser and sets the bag on top. “I won’t tell anyone.”
“Thanks, Khannan. I appreciate this.” In our first version, he also said he wouldn’t tell anyone about me and Eddie. Earlier, I was trying to decide whether to tell Mom about him and the girl.
“Never tell anyone” seems to be my refrain.
He turns his back and opens a drawer. “Not a problem.”
I move toward the door, trying to decide if I should ask about earlier today, but I’m not sure I want to hear the answer. “Were you in the house at lunch today? I came home to get my calculator, and I thought I heard footsteps. Kinda freaked me out.”
He turns around and smiles.
My mind flashes through scenes like I’m channel surfing. I swear I hear Khannan say all this at the same time: “No, but Eddie stayed home.” Then, “Yes, I was, and I thought I heard footsteps too. But when I checked, no one was there.” Then, “No.”
I stare at him. What did he really say? My chest cramps. “Weird.” I turn to leave.
“Delaney?”
I stop and jerk around. “Yeah?”
“Maybe you should put that . . .”
I see the vibrator in my hand and gasp. “Right.” I shove it into my shirt. “Thanks.”
I half-run to my room and shut the door. Sagging against the wall, I pull the vibrator from my shirt and look at it. Why did I take this? I don’t even remember picking it up.
I’ve never seen or held one of these, but for some reason, it seems familiar. Bright pink with buttons on the end.
I can’t believe my mother has this. Or that she would use it with him. My stomach flips, and I can’t get enough air into my lungs. I clutch the toy to my stomach and look to the ceiling.
What about the girl? And the chair? What’s going on with me?
I close my eyes and see Kaitlyn squirming on the floor, moaning, as Marissa laughs, pointing her phone at her.