I shut the door to my small one bedroom apartment, leaning against the closed door for a moment. Trying to stop the tears that hadn't stopped since I left the cemetery. I tore off my scarf, the constricting fabric making it hard to breath. I ripped off my jacket feeling the sudden heat of being indoors. I tossed both into the corner of the room and slowly sank to the floor continuing to sob. I didn't know if the tears were still due to the fact that Evelyn was gone or because seeing Bobby brought up so many past unwanted memories. I was unsure of exactly how long I sat in front of my door, trying to get in control of my emotions. Once in a while kicking and punching the air out of anger, most of the time just trying to remember how to breathe. Eventually I managed to stand up and walk over to my blinking answering machine. The number 4 blinking every couple of seconds, letting me know I had messages. I pondered for a moment at the number. Laughing to myself thinking that things always came in fours, never three's like everyone said. I hit the button as I walked into my kitchen for a glass of water, parched from sobbing.
"Message one at 7 A.M." the monotone robotic voice said.
"Hey Chelsea its Jer, you going to ma's funeral? At least come to the reception thing Camille and I are planning afterword. Just call be back, OK? Love ya."
Beep.
"Message two at 8 A.M."
"Hey Chels, it's Jack. Am I going to see you at ma's funeral? Jer said he called and left a message. I haven't seen you in forever and I miss you sis. Please call me back."
I could feel a smile smile creep across my face at Jack's voice. It has been a couple months since I had seen him, he was so busy touring with his band. When Jerry had called four days ago to tell me about Ma being killed, I ran over to Jerry's home so we could call Jack and Angel together. Jack was somewhere in Ohio when we called him to tell him the news. It was heartbreaking hearing him breakdown on the phone. He said he would be back in Detroit the next day.
Today was the first day, since Jerry's, that I had left my apartment. Two days of nothing but drinking the grief away. I wouldn't have even remembered that it was Evelyn's funeral today if it wasn't for my boss calling me this morning at 6 A.M. He screamed into the phone about not coming to work in the last four days. I told him that I was sick and that was the reason I had called in the night she was killed and that I had been grieving. He gave me his condolences, which were half assed if you asked me. He then continued to say that I needed to come in today, even though I was still grieving. I guess the night I had called out someone broke into the diner and the waitress who was covering my shift, quit. She wasn't able to handle the stress of being in an armed robbery. I couldn't blame her, honestly, it was terrifying.
"Message three 10 A.M."
"Hey Chelsea, it's Jer again. the funeral starts in a couple of minutes. Where the hell are you, girl?"
"Jer, who you callin'?" I froze at Bobby's voice in the background.
"I'm calling Chels to see if she's comin' or not man."
"Who knows, we will just keep a seat ready. Come on man it's about to start."
"We'll save a seat for you in case you come. I hope you do and you're not avoiding that idiot."
Beep.
I couldn't move or even think as the next message played.
"Message four 12:30 PM"
"Hey Chels, its Angel. I can't get a hold of Jer, I think his phone is off. I missed the funeral, my flight got fucked up. Maybe we can go to the house together or something. Love ya sis talk to you soon."
Beep.
Snapping out of my confusion I hit the button that glowed 'Delete'.
"Would you like to Delete all messages?"
I hit it again to say yes. I walked back into the kitchen and poured a shot of whiskey. I held the amber liquid in my hand and shot it back, the burning liquid falling to the pit of my empty stomach. I was thankful that my boss at least let me attend the funeral. He had known Evelyn well enough to know that I was wanted at the funeral. Working at the diner for the last 10 years of my life, he knew about my past with the Mercers, knowing I was basically family. Honestly his condolences were probably the most human thing he had done in the entire time I had worked for him.
I sighed as I walked over to my bedroom and stripped off my black dress. I slid on the jeans and t-shirt lying in the corner of the room from days ago. I walked back out into the main room grabbing my phone and dialing Jerry's number. I had to at least call him, letting him know I was at the funeral and heard from Angel. I held the phone up to my ear as the phone rang. As each ring went by I knew that with all the boys being in town we would all meet up at some point. The anxiety in my chest grew knowing soon I would have to face Bobby. Knowing we would have to hash out the drama between us. It's what Evelyn would have wanted.
"Hello?" Bobby answered. Shit.
"Hi, can I please speak to Jeremiah?" I said trying to disguise my voice as much as I could.
"Chelsea?" he asked. Dammit.
"Please Bobby?" I pleaded with an almost growl.
I heard a sigh then a brief silence, I was surprised he wouldn't put up a fight. "Hello?" Jerry said.
"Hey Jer it's me."
"Hey girl. Where the hell have you been the last couple of days?" He said with concern.
"I've been at home." I said looking around at my apartment. It looked like all hell had broken loose, it was a mess.
"Chels." he said in a warning tone.
"So, I've heard from Angel, he missed his flight. That's why he wasn't there." I said ignoring him.
"And you weren't there because?"
"I was in the back."
"I'm glad you were there even if you weren't with us." He said with a comforting voice. .
"Yeah, I know" I said after a long pause on the phone between us I spoke up again. "Is Jack there? I need to talk to him."
"Ya sure lemme get him for ya."
"Thanks Jer, Love ya."
"Love ya to sis."
There was an even longer pause then there was before. "Hello?" the youngest brother said.
"Jackie! How are you doing lil brotha?"
"I miss you sis, when am I gonna see you?"
"Probably tomorrow. I have work."
"You're avoiding Bobby aren't you?" he said, it was always difficult to hide things from him.
"Jackie, you don't understand."
"Like hell I do sis. I was in town when that whole thing went down. I know he hurt you and all but that was 5 years ago."
"Jackie, I know but I just don't want to deal with him right now. There is already so much shit goin on."
"Ya I know."
"We will get together before you go back on tour. I gotta go Cracker Jack. I love you and I'll see you soon."
"Love ya too Chels. I'll see ya soon." Jack said then hung up the phone. I could tell that he was upset and it broke my heart a little. I let out a groan before I tossed the phone on the couch and grabbed my discarded coat from earlier and walked out the door.
Once I got into my car I grabbed my phone and called Angel, there was a couple of rings before it went to voicemail.
"Hey Angel. It's Chels. I let Jerry know that you would be here soon. Uh-I'm off to work. I hope to see you soon brother. Love ya." I left the message before tossing my phone into the seat and drove off to work.
I couldn't help the thoughts that ran through my head as I drove. I wasn't the selfish bitch that couldn't get over a relationship that ended 5 years ago. It was just that, Bobby was well Bobby. We were together on and off for so long that not being with him wasn't normal. It's hard when you know someone for so long and they just up and leave one day with no explanation whatsoever. I remember Jerry had called me a month or so after he had left to let me know that he was in jail in a different town. That was the day I knew for sure our relationship was truly over. Since I had known all of them for so long, I knew all of them too well. Maybe that was the main part of Bobby's and my downfall.
I pulled up to the diner as Mac, my boss, stood outside on the phone looking pissed as all hell. He was on the phone staring at the wooden boards that replaced most of the glass windows. He turned around at the sound of my car as I pulled into the parking lot and drove to the back of the building. Whatever armed robbery that had happened must have been bad if the windows were boarded up.
I walked into the back door, Mac greeted me as I walked into the kitchen. "Where have you been?" He asked as I took my coat off and hung it on an old nail.
I let out a sigh as I turned back to him. "We talked about this already. I was at Evelyn's funeral." I walked over and grabbed an apron, he followed my every step.
"What about the days before that?" He said with a sneer. I stood up and looked to him like he was a complete dunce.
"Grieving, you know what people do when someone they love dies." I said.
"Bullshit Chelsea. You called in the night the store was robbed. Did you know it was going to happen?" He accused me. I slammed my fist into the counter.
"Oh, you mean the night my mother was murdered? Let me think about that Mac." I said with sarcasm and anger. My blood began to boil and I tried to breathe the anger down.
"You called out way before that happened. I read the papers." he all but yelled back to me.
"You know what Mac-" I said as I put my apron on. "-today is my last day. I expect my check to by deposited in my account by Monday. I'm done with your bullshit." I was able to stop my hands from punching him in the face like I wanted to. "And no I had nothing to do with the robbery. I got food poisoning that night and called in."
"Fine, Chelsea." He said throwing his hands into the air and walked away. Once he was gone I looked down to my hands shaking slightly. I grabbed my notepad and pen and walked into the front of the diner. Stopping in my tracks as I noticed a man sitting at the counter looking into his coffee cup.
"Angel!" I exclaimed as I walked around the counter and over to him. He looked up from his coffee and stood up pulling me into a bear hug.
"Damn girl you get sexier every time I see you." He said. I let out a laugh and pulled out of the hug squeezing his arms.
"My god you have muscles!" I teased him, he let out a fake laugh.
It had been at least 2 years since I had seen the man in front of me. We looked up to each other for a moment, both of us full of smiles and happiness despite the reason he was in town. "How long have you been working at this broken joint?" He asked as he grabbed his coffee, downing the remaining contents.
"Ten whole years. Remember the day I got this job? I ran home so excited to tell you guys that I forgot you and Bobby and drove me here." I said laughing at the memory.
"How could I forget? Ma thought we left you here. She was so pissed." he said with a chuckle.
"CHELSEA GET TO WORK!" Mac yelled from the window between the coffee bar and the kitchen. I rolled my eyes.
"And today is last day of putting up with that asshole." I said turning to him with a smile.
"You quit?" Angel asked as he sat back in his seat and I walked around the counter to get him more coffee.
"Wouldn't you?" I said as I poured the hot liquid. "What can I get you?"
He looked at the menu behind my head and pondered for a moment. "Bacon cheeseburger with fries and a water." He said, sipping on the coffee I had just poured him. I wrote his order down on the pad and placed it on the window for the cook.
I turned around to Angel and smiled again, happy to see him after so long. "I'll come over when I'm on my break."
I went over to the couple that had just come in the door with waters. I was sure today was going to be slow since it was Thanksgiving. Every holiday we were open, except Christmas day. Usually on holidays we would get a handful of people to come in. I never understood why Mac insisted we stay open for these days, we lost more money by paying employees time and a half then we got customers.
As I waited on the few patrons I began to reflect on Mac's and my conversation. I couldn't believe he had accused me of being in on the robbery a couple days ago. I mean I had called out before Evelyn had been murdered, but it was because I had spontaneous plans. It was odd though that the diner was robbed the same night Evelyn was killed. I shook off the thought remembering where I lived. These things happen all the time, unfortunately. But the diner had only ever been robbed 3 times since I had been here, one of them being the other night, and never to the extent of property damage, or armed robbery for that matter. Was it coincidence that she was killed the night I was supposed to work? Or was I jumping to conclusions? This place was a shithole, barely passing code each term. It hadn't changed since the 60's. Why would anyone want to rob this place?
I looked up to the clock and realized it was time for my break. Seeing I was the only waitress here I made sure the 2 patrons were good before I went over to Angel and poured myself a cup of coffee. I walked around the counter and sat next to him, sipping on the hot beverage.
"Thanks for waiting." I said as he sipped on his water.
"Anything for you." He said with a smirk.
We sat there for a moment in silence just happy we were in each others presence. "Angel, can I ask you something?" I said as he perked up, curious at what I was going to ask. He looked over at me with a nod. "I might be completely crazy about this but I've been thinking about it a lot. And for the love of god you cannot mention this to the other brothers, especially Bobby."
Angel let out a groan. "Please tell me you're not still pining over him."
I smacked his shoulder causing him to jump back at the reaction. "No!" I exclaimed. "I just know he'll take it to the left nipple and considering he's Bobby he probably is here to cause shit with the guys who shot mom." He looked to me a little more serious now that he had gotten that out of the way. "The night ma was killed, I was supposed to be working. I called out before my shift and then the diner was robbed at gunpoint." I said gesturing towards the boarded windows. "You think it was coincidence?"
"Babe, we live in Detroit." he said as he took a sip of his water.
"No shit." I said frustrated I wasn't getting my point across. "I was supposed to be closing alone though. The waitress who took my shift was beat a little and quit. Nothing to that extent has happened here."
"Where were you?" He asked. I rolled my eyes again and let out a groan.
"I was on a date. When I got the call from Jerry- I left him at the restaurant and went over there." I looked up to him as I sipped on my coffee, feeling the slight amount of caffeine affect my system. "I just can't help but think they might be connected."
Angel looked to me as he mulled over my thoughts. "I think you're nuts. But you might be onto something." He said glancing to the boarded up window.
Silence overtook us again for a moment before the nagging in my head became to much. "And you won't tell the others?" I asked.
He looked over to me with a smirk. "Not unless I have to." he said as he let out a sigh. "You gonna come by tonight?"
I shook my head. "I don't know, probably not. I wont get out of here til probably 11 or later." Angel stood up to stretch his legs, not hiding the disappointment on his face. He nodded and pulled me into a hug.
"I love ya sis. Don't be a stranger, even if he's here." He said, I nodded into his chest. "It's a hard time for all of us."
"I know. I love you too." I said as we parted. He grabbed his jacket off the back of the chair and with one last look he was out the door.
I stood there looking at the boarded windows after Angel left. Would it really be so bad if I did swing by tonight? "Get back to work." Mac hounded from the kitchen. I retained a growl and began busting the counter where Angel had sat.
