To You, Iyla, page 20
“Let her go, Ambert.” Korey instructions were cut short by the sound of a motorcycle echoing down the street.
I truly felt as though I was about to have a heart attack.
Get into the car.
I willed my legs to carry me down the driveway as Ambert rushed his way ahead of me. “Iyla…” He sought any sense of clarity in my distressed face. “Talk to me. Tell me what’s going on.”
“I…I really can’t be here anymore.” I clutched onto the door handle. “I just can’t, Ambert.”
“But why?” he intensely scanned my face. “Did I do something wrong? I’m sorry if I did, Iyla.”
Nothing ached quite like seeing his expression turn weary and stressed at the thought that this was in any way his fault.
“It’s not you, Ambert, it’s—”
A motorcycle pulled into the driveway, my legs going limp as I became certain that I would collapse from total disarray at any moment.
“Is everything alright?” an unfamiliar voice triumphed over the chaos.
“Zeke…” Korey spoke, causing me to whirl my head over to the man who had just arrived.
Dad.
The shock of seeing Zeke again was far greater than I’d imagined. A few minutes ago, Zeke was nothing but a stranger, but now, that stranger meant so much more—he was so much more.
I was frozen in place.
“What the hell is going on?” Zeke raised his voice with a look of concern.
Korey positioned a hand on his shoulder, one that Zeke immediately brushed off as his eyes fell on me, staring with a look of sheer absolution. I’m confident we were both thinking the same thing at that moment—is it really you?
We both stood still in disbelief. It was as if the world had stopped and time was standing still. I would’ve believed it if the tears weren’t streaming down my cheeks.
“I’m sorry,” I choked out, stepping back into the car as Zeke inched his way forward. “I need to go…I can’t do this anymore.”
My weak hands attempted to reach for the door handle, but Ambert beat me to it. “Let me go with you, Iyla. Let’s talk this out.”
“No!” I shouted, my anxiety and confusion finally expressing themselves as frustration. Everyone turned silent for a second—halted in place as they stared at me, whereas I’d shifted into full-blown hysterics. “Did you know?!” I turned around, meeting Ambert’s eyes. “Have you known this whole time? Was this all a part of your search?!”
Ambert was perplexed as I threw Claire’s words back to him. “Search?” he repeated as if it was a foreign language. “Iyla…I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He looked back at his parents and Zeke, who clearly did.
I couldn’t carry on like this. “I’m leaving,” I announced. I’d had enough. I needed time. I needed to process this.
“Iyla.” Zeke stepped towards me, causing me to cower inwards...I didn’t know how to react to hearing my name come out of his mouth. It was a name that he seemed to know all too well.
“I don’t want to see you again,” I said with assurance, cutting off whatever he was about to say. It didn’t matter anymore. Nothing did. “Any of you.”
“Stop,” Ambert pleaded, tears swimming in his eyes, the eyes I had come to know and love. “We can talk about this…whatever this is.”
“This,” I met his eyes before swinging open the door. “This was a mistake.”
Copyright Kate Lauren 2023 thewriterkate1@gmail.com
The
Fourteenth Entry
C E L E S T E
August 23
“Go back to the bar,” Zeke demanded, his voice stricken with panic.
“What? Now?” I asked in confusion as I looked up at him.
“Yes, now!” The look of concern behind his eyes betrayed his attempt to keep his voice steady. “Go!”
I attempted to step backwards, my mind whirling in confusion until my body collided with another, causing me to spin around and see who it was.
It was a face I couldn’t imagine ever forgetting.
Chaz.
“Hello, beautiful.” He smirked, firmly grabbing hold of my arm. “Long time no see. Has Zeke been hiding you from us? We never did get a chance to finish up our dance.”
“Get the fuck off her, Chaz,” Zeke snarled, charging his way over. “You and I can talk. She doesn’t need to get involved.”
“I beg to differ,” Chaz retorted, pulling me back into him and placing a hand on both of my cheeks. “She does need to be involved. Perhaps it will give you some incentive to answer me.”
Frozen.
There I was, yet again, frozen in fear. My stomach dropped to my feet—a deep-rooted sense of anxiety rattling my core.
Danger. You’re in so much danger.
“Where’s the money, Zeke?” Chaz spat out, the impatience in his voice jarring.
“Get off of her, then I’ll speak to you.” Zeke’s aggression grew, along with my fear.
“Wrong answer.” Chaz clutched my face much firmer as a result, forcing a whimper to fall out of my mouth. “Oh, you are a beauty.” He peered into my eyes, the malicious look in his own causing me to cower away in fear. “Now, ask your little boyfriend here where my money is.”
I didn’t even get a chance to process his request before Zeke lunged at him, forcing a scream to escape my mouth as he sunk his fist into Chaz’s face. Two of Chaz’s posse instantly appeared from the shadows, almost as if they’d been waiting there for ages, grabbing Zeke’s arms and dragging him back.
They each wore a leather jacket embellished with their initials and a skull in the corner. In my frenzied state, I found my eyes locking onto their jackets. They seemed familiar, and as I looked down at my frame, I realized they were. I was wearing the same one with a matching skull and the initials “E.R.”
Ezekiel Reeves.
“Oh, son…” Chaz messily wiped some blood from his nose. “You’ve got some explaining to do.” He aggressively grabbed my arm, his fingers pressing into my skin with such an intense force that I let out a cry, already feeling a bruise forming. “Now I’ll ask you again,” he demanded, his voice growing more impatient by the second. “Where. Is. My. Money?”
“I gave it to Blake,” Zeke spat out as he struggled to break free from the other guy’s grasp. “I gave it to Blake a few days ago. He told me he would give it to you.”
“Hmm…” Chaz shifted his glare onto me, his tongue sliding along his teeth. “Blake, huh? Did Blake come by a few days ago, beautiful?”
My mouth was parched as I hesitantly opened it to respond. “Blake?” I countered stupidly—my mind was in disarray, tears prickling my eyes and blurring my vision. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Chaz’s eyes lit up with delight. “Well, well, well.” He coyly looked over to Zeke. “She doesn’t know, does she?”
“Chaz,” Zeke pleaded. “Don’t get her involved.”
“Zeke…what is he talking about?” I stood still in fear but somehow managed to mutter out that question. “What don’t I know?”
“My love.” Chaz tucked me into his side—as if his comfort would ease this situation rather than send a shiver down my spine. “Z is my right-hand man. One of my best employees…as much as I hate to say it. You see, I’ve saved his ass time and time again. Quite a temper on this one.” He shook his head in disdain.
I glanced over at Zeke, whose face was pained as he realized I was slowly piecing the details together.
Chaz was the owner of Club Affinity. Which meant that Chaz was the person who found Zeke after that fight on the boardwalk. Chaz was the person who gave him the job.
But that still left one unresolved question: why was Chaz asking him for money?
“Tell me, darling, do you know what Z does for a living?” Chaz questioned, running his hand along my cheek.
“He works at Club Affinity,” I weakly responded, my stomach churning from his cold and daunting touch.
“Ding, ding, ding!” he answered theatrically. “But…” He lifted his finger into the air. “You’re forgetting one key piece of information. Dig into that little lawyer brain of yours and figure it out.”
How the hell did he know what I was studying? How did he know anything about me, for that matter?
“I don’t know…” I felt the tears threaten to spill down my cheeks as I shook my head, desperate to get out of there. “I don’t know.”
“Let me save you the suspense.” He released me from his grasp as he strode towards Zeke, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Z-man here handles underground financial affairs…and dare I say, he’s pretty fucking good at it.”
I stared momentarily at the two of them, unwilling to believe that any of this was happening. “What does that mean?” I finally dared to ask, my voice just barely above a whisper.
“Well, doll face,” he spoke condescendingly. “Zeke ensures that I get my money…in whatever way necessary.”
“What money?” My gaze shifted from Chaz’s devious grin to Zeke, who refused to meet my eyes and instead kept his own trained on the ground.
Chaz nodded with sickening amusement on his lips. “Lots of questions. There’s that lawyer brain. I can see why you like her.” Chaz shot a suggestive glare at Zeke. “Is she this vocal in the bedroom too?”
“Chaz, I swear to fucking God!” Zeke attempted to push his way forward but was held back once more by the two men holding onto him.
Chaz smiled wickedly before turning back to me. “Club Affinity is what’s on the surface, my dear. That’s what pretty little people like you see when they come down here for spring break. But we run a much grander scale operation that you wouldn’t have seen.” He reached into his pocket, pulling out a small bag of white powder.
I squinted at the bag before looking back at Zeke. His eyes were visibly full of despair.
“Let’s just say all of us, Zeke included, like to blow our guests away.” He confirmed my assumption that the crushed-up powder was, in fact, cocaine. “But sometimes, people don’t like to pay up. So that’s when my friend Zeke here gets involved. Without him, we wouldn’t be able to run this whole thing.”
I refused to believe any of this. “No.” I shook my head. “Zeke wouldn’t be a pusher. That’s not who he is!”
“That’s not who he is?” Chaz mimicked me, letting out a maniacal laugh. “Guys…” He turned back towards his posse. “That’s not who he is,” he repeated, prompting the group to join in on the laughter.
“Oh, my dear…” He stopped inches away from my face. “If that’s not who Zeke is, then how do you think he can afford the bike he drives? The place he lives in? The bed he fucks you in?” he snarled, pulling back with a smug look on his face. “I thought you were a smart girl. I guess not.”
“Celeste,” Zeke desperately spoke back up. “It’s not what you think. Let me explain, please…let me tell you everything.”
“I’ll report you to the police,” I snapped, disregarding his pitiful attempt at an explanation and simultaneously halting Chaz in place.
He turned around with a blank stare on his face as I carried on. “I’m not kidding!” I held my ground—finding a brief stint of confidence. “Do you think you can get away with something like this? This is wrong. This is illegal.”
An eerie silence fell between the group until it faltered by Chaz’s hysterical laugh. “Aw…” He wiped the moisture out of his eyes. “Guys, princess over here is going to report us to the police.” He turned towards his buddies, who joined in on the laughter once again.
I was still frozen in fear when Chaz’s demeanor changed in a split second, his menacing smile dropping from his face as he charged his way toward me, wrapping his hand around my throat. I instantly gasped for air, desperately trying to grab his wrists and pull them back—but it was useless. His hands were strong, determined, and commanding. He wasn’t going to let me go.
“You listen to me, Celeste,” he hissed my name, his hot breath singeing against my skin and making me feel sick to my stomach. “You don’t think we already know enough about you? I can make your life a living hell. Do you realize what reporting us will do? It’ll do nothing but land you and your little boyfriend in a lot of trouble. So, if you tell a single fucking soul, let alone a police officer, about what’s going on, just know this.” He rested his face against mine, causing me to force mine away in disgust. “I. Will. End. You.”
And just like that, there I was.
That helpless little girl watching in fear as my father’s hands clasped around my mother’s throat. But this time, my mind replaced my mother’s face with mine and my father’s with Chaz’s.
Life was playing a trick on me.
Was nine-year-old me going down the stairs that night the same as 22-year-old me going to Long Beach this year? A cruel and unforgiving metaphor?
I didn’t know. All I knew was that as the oxygen heading to my brain dwindled, and black spots started crowding my vision, I had to force myself back into reality.
I was seconds away from collapsing to the ground when the tension was suddenly released from around my neck. I immediately fell onto my knees, my heart thudding against my chest as I blinked rapidly to get the black spots out of my vision.
“Blake better have my money, Z.” I heard Chaz snarl, listening as his footsteps slowly inched away from me. “Let’s go.”
The guys followed Chaz’s demand and released Zeke from their grasp. Without wasting a second, he raced to my side and knelt beside me, wrapping his secure arms around my disoriented frame. “Angel, I’m so sorry. I’ll explain everything to you, I promise. I’m so sorry, Celeste.”
“Let go of me,” I whispered shakily, pulling back from his embrace and slowly getting up on my feet. “I don’t have anything to say to you right now.”
“Celeste,” he pleaded. “I promise, I’ve been trying to stop, but it’s much harder than it sounds.”
“You told me I didn’t need to worry when I was with you,” I spat out. The tears I had been holding in this entire time finally started to flow down my cheeks as I pathetically gasped for air between each word. “You lied to me, Zeke.”
“Cel, I—”
“Tell me the truth right now!” I cut him off, angrily brushing my hands along my inflamed neck. “That day when we went to Tim and Sally’s, Korey mentioned that you were living with him at one point. It’s true, isn’t it?”
He nodded his head reluctantly, swallowing deeply. “It’s true.”
“Then, out of the blue, you just up and left. Somehow managed to buy your place. Korey thought it was weird that you could afford it. I guess I know the reason now.”
He released a breath, closing his eyes for a moment. He looked tired, overwhelmed, but most of all, unfamiliar. “Celeste,” he whispered. “I didn’t have a choice. When I started working for the club, I had no idea what I was really signing myself up for.”
I couldn’t believe this was happening. How had I been stuck in the dark this whole time?
“So, let me get this straight. You’ve had me staying at your place, which you only own because of your drug money. You let me sleep in your bedroom where you keep stashes of hidden cash. That’s why those sketchy people were pounding on your door in the middle of the night!” My voice inflated with each word. I’d never screamed at someone before.
But I’d never felt so betrayed by someone before, either.
“The money?” My words took him by surprise. “How did you know about the money?”
“I found it, Zeke!” I cried, physically feeling the pain of each teardrop as it fell from my eyes. “I found it earlier this week. But I thought I knew you enough…hell, I thought I trusted you enough not to question it. I guess I was wrong.”
“Celeste, this isn’t what I wanted.” He took an urgent step forward, holding a hand out for me. “I don’t give a shit about Chaz’s money,” he insisted. “I swear to you!”
“Yet, here you are, still working for him years later. Taking advantage of others, using his money to funnel your life, and most of all…lying to me.”
He gently placed his hand on my arm as I watched the panic swimming in his green eyes. “Please, Celeste,” he begged. “You have to understand that there was no real reason for me to change before I met you. What the fuck did I have in my life?”
His statement answered everything that I needed to know.
“Then you didn’t really want to stop, did you?” My voice broke in realization as I looked up at him. “If you only wanted to stop because of me, then that’s not good enough of a reason.”
“Celeste,” he pleaded. “You’re the only reason I would want to do anything good in my life. You’re the only good thing that has ever happened to me.”
I shook my head, pulling away from his touch—a touch that was now foreign to me. I didn’t know this man. This wasn’t my Zeke. “I don’t want to see you again.” The harsh words left my mouth. “Ever.”
“Celeste,” he repeated my name again, desperate to hold my attention. “What about everything we just spoke about, huh? Did that mean nothing to you? You told me that you loved me!”
“I told the person I thought you were that I loved them!” I shouted back at him. “I don’t love this person.”
“Please…stop. You know the real me.” He lowered his voice shakily. “The man you fell in love with, that’s me. I’m not this other person. This is only what my life is right now.”
“If this is the life you want to live, then I don’t want any part of it.” I turned away from him, my voice resolved.
“I want a life with you!” His voice was shaking as he pulled me back into his embrace, burying his head into my shoulder before turning me around to face him and gently lifting my chin up. “I’ll change. I’ll get myself out of this mess. I’ll do anything, Celeste…” Tears threatened to fall down his cheeks. “Because I love you.”
