Chapter 2
"He wasn't drinking!" she shouted
"How do you know he wasn't?!"
"I wouldn't have gotten in that car if he had!" she swore up and down
"But you did…"
"Because he hadn't been drinking!" she covered her face.
"Haley, she was your friend…how can you protect the boy who may have killed her?" he asked her gently.
She slammed her fist against the table.
"HE'S HER BROTHER! NOT A KILLER!" she screamed, her voice was gone after she shouted the last word.
She clutched her throat as she collapsed against the table, sobbing.
"Let her go" the officer waved his hand as the other cop helped Haley out of the room.
She stepped out of the interrogation room, she saw her parents rushing towards her.
"Haley! Haley!..."
Her eyes fluttered open.
"Haley?" she heard and she rolled over squinting into the light, it was her mother. "They guys are downstairs" she smiled before leaving.
She sat up in her bed stretching. She had the same reoccurring dream; it used to be a nightmare, but she had it so often, that she was no longer scared. They had gotten past that whole event in real life, she didn't understand why she couldn't shake it subconsciously.
She climbed out of her warm bed and changed into her bathing suit, brushed her teeth quickly and pulled her hair up into a pony tail before heading down stairs.
"And you always gripe about us being late" Jake scoffed
"Sorry I overslept" she smiled as she hugged Lucas and Jake
"No Nate?" she asked softly
The two boys shook there heads no. She sighed.
"Don't worry Hales, he'll come around soon" Lucas referred to there friend.
"Yea I know…I just worry about him"
They were about to head out the door when the phone rang, Haley grabbed it.
"Hello?"
"Is Mr. or Mrs. James present?" a scruffy voice she didn't recognize asked
"Yea hold on" she made a confused face and handed it to her mother.
"Yes this is she….is everything alright….oh…" her mother seemed shocked and scared at the same time.
"What?" Haley whispered, her mother waved her on.
Apparently they would talk later. Haley slowly turned on her heels heading toward the door.
"Come one Hales, we have no time to waste, just two more days before school starts!"
Deb knocked on the door repeatedly. She wasn't sure if he could here her over the music. She turned the knob and found him stretched out on his bed.
"Can I come in?" she wondered
"You kind of already are" he told her as he lowered the volume of his stereo.
She nodded "Yea…well you didn't answer when I knocked…" she trailed off
"And what did you think that meant?" he deadpanned.
She sat on the edge of his bed "You cant keep acting this way…its been 3 months…"
He sat up, "Does that mean its supposed to be any easier?" he wondered
"No" she shook her head, her eyes welling up "It wont ever get easier, not for you, not for me, not for you father…but you cant move on if you just sit in your room"
"I have no where else to be" he whispered laying back down.
"What about Lucas, Haley and Jake? What are they up to?" she asked
He pointed to his answering machine, bored with there conversation. The number blinked
"48 messages?" she asked astonished and hit the button.
The voices quickly filled the room
"Hey Nate, its Luke, give me a call. Nathan, its me Jake, lets meet up later. Hi…its Hales…I'm worried about you…call me back, please?" and they continued and continued.
"They don't sound sad" Nathan stated
"You know they are" she whispered
"I know but they just don't sound it"
Deb crossed her arms as she made her way to the door.
"You know Nathan…I think if you really listened…the sadness in there voices, would be all you could here" she nodded before closing the door behind her.
Nathan closed his eyes once his mother was gone, tears rolled down his cheeks, he angrily swiped them away.
Deb sat on her own bed and her husband sat next to her.
"Did you talk to him?" he asked
"I tried, he didn't say much" she shook her head
"It's going to be ok, I promise" Dan nodded
"He doesn't get it" she cried "We lost a part of us to, he lost a sister, but we lost a daughter" she sobbed
The two boys stared at Haley.
"What?" she laughed "Never seen a bikini before?" she wondered
"Not on you" Jake told her
Haley shrugged as she lay down on her towel.
"This summer…made me realize I need to…be more outgoing, do more of what I want…have fun…be…" she struggled to think of the words
"More like her?" Lucas whispered
Haley looked over at him
"Maybe" she whispered. "Is that wrong?" she asked them both.
"No" Jake shook his head "She would be proud" he smiled
Haley sighed, a happy sigh. Resting her head back on the towel and soaking up the sun.
"Is that real?" she heard Lucas asked
"Luke, you should never ask a girl that" she laughed
"Look for yourself" she heard him say so she sat up and looked.
They were focusing there attention on Jake.
"Yes, its real" he nodded
"Did it hurt?" Lucas asked as Haley traced the ink permanently placed upon Jake's inner rib cage.
'Like Hell" the boy nodded.
"It's beautiful" Haley admired it.
In a beautiful script, the tattoo red: June 6 2006
"Come on" Haley jumped up and grabbed her stuff.
He poked his head out of the door
"Mr. Martin?" he asked expecting to find an older man.
But the only person sitting outside was a young man, not any older than his daughter
"That's me" he spoke.
"Come on in" Keith nodded a bit surprised
He watched as the young man, who seemed a bit nervous, sat down before him
"So Mr. Martin-"
"You can call me Stephen" he nodded
"Ok Stephen, do you have much experience?" Keith watched him.
"As a matter of fact I do, In Mississippi I worked in an Import Shop as an apprentice. I've been building and taking apart cars just about my entire life. I dappled a little in body work, but it all felt a little sneaky if you ask me" he shifted in his seat.
"Well…" Keith was caught off guard "What kind of cars have you worked on, because I mean, we don't really get many imports"
"You name it, I've worked on it"
"Dodge?"
"yep"
"GMC?"
"of course"
"Honda"
"Who hasn't?"
"Your Hired"
Stephen rubbed his hands together as he walked out the front of the auto shop. He had just landed himself a job, a good one. And he had to admit he was proud of himself. He walked around the corner and kept walking until he hit the only apartment complex in Tree Hill.
He jogged up the steps and opened the door into his apartment. It seemed to be colder in there than it was outside.
"Ma? Is the heat on?" he asked loudly
"did you get the job?" a sickly women came out from the kitchen.
"Yea" He said distracted as he looked at the thermometer.
He turned it and nothing happened, it was just one more thing for him to fix.
"How much does it pay?" she followed him around
"Enough. Aren't you supposed to be in bed?" He asked her confused
"What good am I in bed?"
"What good are you out of bed?"
She stared daggers at him.
"I'm sorry mom I didn't mean it like that" he whispered
"Yea you did" she frowned as she walked to her bedroom.
"Mom, you know I didn't" he followed her
She climbed in bed and he covered her with one of there only blankets.
"You'll be warmer in here" he nodded
"I love you stephen" she told him
"I love you to mom"
"I cant believe this!" Haley Laughed
It was 11:00 at night and she was on her way home, Lucas and Jake were going to drop her off.
"I cant believe it either" Jake shook his head, he was driving.
"did it hurt there?" Lucas pointed to her hip
"did it hurt there?" Haley pointed to his inner arm.
"Hell yea" they both laughed
They had each gotten the same tattoo as Jake.
"My mother is going to freak out" Haley shook her head
"Because of the tattoo or you breaking curfew?" Jake wondered
"Ah…a little of both" Haley smiled
"Well your finally living on the edge James" Lucas nodded as they pulled up to her house and she got out.
"Just don't fall off" Jake called after her.
She gave him the finger and than ran up her front porch. The lights were still on, she took a deep breathe and pushed open the door.
She heard voices in the kitchen, voices she didn't recognize. She walked to the back of the house, she found the voices in the kitchen, her mother and father and three people she didn't recognize.
"Haley" Karen smiled
Keith walked over and put an arm around her.
"What's going on?" Haley asked confused.
"Well" keith cleared his throat "These are your cousins, there going to be staying with us" he said slowly.
Haley squinted.
"This is Rachel, Willa and Darcy"
Stephen cleaned the top of the bar. Keith's Auto shop would pay good, but not good enough. So he had picked up one more job, working the graveyard shift at the local watering hole. It was pretty dead so he was surprised when the door jingled. A young kid walked in, disheveled looking.
He took a seat at the bar.
"Just a coke" he whispered
He rolled his eyes he handed him a beer and the kid looked up.
"I wont tell if you wont" he nodded
"Thanks" he whispered
Steve continued to wipe the counter put things away and clean up.
"You look like he had a ruff day" he stated.
"How many movies have you watched that are about bartender's?" the kid asked
"I don't know, why?" he looked at the stranger
"I don't want to confess my problems to you, I know you really don't care and believe me, you wouldn't even understand the half of it" he gulped the beer.
He stopped.
"I'm 17, I work two jobs I just moved here last week because we got evicted from our last place, and with my free time I like to stay home and watch my mother slowly die because I cant afford her medication" he stated calmly.
They boy looked up. He held his hand out.
"Nathan Scott"
"Stephen Martin"
They shook hands.
Rachel sat on her bed quietly. She looked around her room, Ashley and Willa had decided to share the room next door leaving her to her own devices.
This one room was as big as the entire trailer she had crammed her sisters into. There was a knock on the door and she looked over her shoulder. It was Haley.
"Hi, can I come in?" Haley asked
"Of course" She nodded
Haley slowly walked in and sat down. She forgot about her tattoo and winced in pain
"Are you ok?" Rachel asked
"Yea, I uh…" she whispered "I got a tattoo" she pressed her lips together.
"Wild" Rachel nodded
Haley rolled her eyes "I know it may not seem like it is…but for me…its really crazy" she smiled
Rachel laughed. It must have been nice to live a sheltered life.
"What are you guys talking about?" Willa and Darcy entered
"Haley got a tattoo" Rachel informed them as she started to unpack her one bag.
"Aw, me too" Darcy squealed
"What?" Rachel whipped around.
"Surprise?" Ashley wondered
Rachel shook her head as Darcy lifted up the back of her shirt revealing the design on her lower back.
"tramp stamp" Willa mumbled as she sat down on Rachel's bed.
"I agree" Rachel nodded
"Come on, did you ever want to do something spontaneous?" Haley asked Rachel.
Willa and Darcy looked at there sister.
"After years of spontaneity it kind of grows old" she whispered
Haley nodded "Well this is just about the most spontaneous thing I've ever done" Haley crossed her legs.
"Well than congratulations and welcome to the dark side" Darcy laughed
"Lets try and stay on the bright side, ok?" Rachel asked
"It's a little late for that" Willa directed her eyes at the floor
"What do you mean? Ever done something crazy?" Haley asked interested
Rachel studied her sister.
"Nothing worth talking about" Willa nodded.
Lying through her teeth.
"Girls, why don't you try and get some rest" Karen said in passing.
Karen entered her room and plopped down on her bed.
"there's something that cop didn't say" she whispered
"Well whatever it, I'm sure we'll figure it out soon" Keith got into bed beside her.
"I feel horrible" he whispered
"You feel horrible? There my sisters kids, and I let them live on there own in some disgusting trailer park" Keith whispered
"Well…what matters now is that there safe"
It was very late at night, but the jet lag left Rachel wide awake in her dark room. She was stretched out on her bed, somewhat lonely. She had grown accustomed to the cramped warm space. She rolled over to the side of her bed and grabbed the cell phone Cooper had given her.
She dialed his hotel room number.
"Hi can you connect me to Mr. Cooper Scott?" she asked when the women answered.
"I'm sorry Miss, but Mr. Scott checked out just a few hours ago"
"oh…uh…ok, thanks" she said confused and than hung up the phone.
She rolled back to the center of her bed.
Her life as she knew it was over.