Tag Archives: Matt

Out of Sight, Into Mind; chapter nineteen, part two

“You better be decent.”  I rapped lightly on the door before pushing my way in.  Even though I had my game face on, I couldn’t help grimacing when I saw Matt who was battered and bruised.  Not to mentioned bandaged and bored.  I could tell he was bored by the way he was flipping through the television channels, much to the chagrin of his roommate who appeared to be trying to rest.

“Hey, it’s my best girl,” Matt said, setting down the remote.  I noticed his roommate, a young guy in his early twenties, perked up as well at my appearance.  “Did you get Danny?”

“Yeah, we got him,” I said, sitting in the chair by Matt’s bed.  I patted his hand, afraid to touch him for fear of breaking something.  “He stayed the night with me, and he’s with my parents right now.”

“I told my parents about him,” Matt said, grimacing as he spoke.  His mother was deeply religious, so I could only guess what she’d said to that bit of information.  “They want to see him.”

“Sure, if it’s ok with you,” I said cautiously.  “Do you think it’s a good idea?”

“Yeah.  After my mother calmed down, she was dying to see him.  I think she thinks this might be the only chance she’ll have to have a grandchild.”  Matt smiled, but it held little mirth.  “So, fill me in.  Did we get the bad guys?  Is Kayla back?”

“We got Digger and Brenda.  We don’t have Kayla yet, but the cops are working on it.”  I didn’t tell him that they were at a dead end because I didn’t want to cause him any grief.  “What did the doctors say?”

Turned out that because Matt was in such great shape, most of the wounds were superficial.  Only the one across his abdomen had done serious damage.  Oh, there was another semi-serious one on his left bicep, but it wasn’t as bad as the one on his stomach.  The doctors wanted to keep him for a few more days, but they were optimistic that he’d regain full mobility if he followed his physical therapy plan to the letter.  Knowing Matt, he’d do as much and more than they planned.  They would have to stop him from doing twice as much as they wanted because he’d be determined to get out of the hospital as soon as possible.

“Don’t you ever do that to me again,” I said, punching him lightly in the arm.  “Do you know—I thought…”  I let my voice trail off because there wasn’t any reason to say what I’d thought now that Matt was going to be ok.

Continue Reading

Out of Sight, Into Mind; chapter nineteen, part one

Something was shaking me.  It wasn’t a pleasant feeling, so I tried to brush it off.  I swatted and I grumbled, but the shaking wouldn’t go away.  After abandoning my sweet dreams of me and Martinez tangoing in our swimsuits on the beaches of Jamaica, I reluctantly opened my eyes to find Danny staring down at me.  For a minute, I thought I’d waken up from a dream into another dream—I’d done that before—but then I quickly remembered the events of the night before.  I struggled to sit up, glad that I had remembered to wear shorts and a t-shirt to bed.  Wouldn’t want to be charged with child abuse or endangerment or something like that.

“What is it, sweetie?”  I asked Danny, glancing at my beside clock at the same time.  It was nearly one, which meant I got close to seven hours of sleep.  Not bad.

“I’m hungry, Auntie.  And I want my mommy.”  Danny was holding Percy in one hand and sucking the thumb of his other.  “I also have to go potty.”  I leapt out of bed and dragged him to the bathroom where he did his thing.  I silently thanked Kayla for potty-training Danny so early as it made things much easier.

“Let’s see what I can make you,” I said, grabbing Danny by the hand and taking him to the kitchen.

“I want my mommy,” he repeated in a louder voice.  “When are you going to find her?”

“It’s not that easy, Danny,” I said, rummaging through the fridge.  I tried to remember how long the eggs had been there, but I couldn’t.  That meant no eggs as  I wasn’t taking a chance of giving salmonella to Danny.  Pancakes.  I could make pancakes.  “Do you like pancakes, honey?”  I asked, reaching for a box.  Danny nodded yes, but he refused to be distracted.

“You found me.  Why can’t you find my mommy?”  Before I could answer, my cell phone rang.  I gave Danny an apologetic glance, but I raced to find it. Who knew what important information it could be?  It was my mother.

“I’m back.  That poor, poor boy,” Mom said, clucking her tongue against her teeth.  “And poor Julia so worn out.  I made her promise she would take a whole day to show Banana the sights.  How are you, dear?”  The answer to my prayers!

“Mom, are you busy today?”  Before she could ask why, I filled her in on the situation—leaving out my little escapade at the club last night, of course.  She was properly appalled and agreed to watch over Danny while I visited Matt and talked to Martinez.  She told me to come right over, that she would defrost a few of her frozen goodies which she saved for an emergency such as this.  Knowing her, it would be a seven-course meal, but I had no objections.  I couldn’t remember the last time I’d eaten a real meal, and my mom was a better cook than I could ever hope to be.

Continue Reading

Out of Sight, Into Mind; chapter seventeen, part three

“Matt, are you ok?  What happened?”  I clutched at Matt’s hand, the one which wasn’t hooked up to a million wires.

“I’m fine,” Matt said, his words slurred.  “Bitch hit me with something, then Digger came to finish the job.  Told me he had you.  I was scared.”  I was touched that he’d thought of me during his ordeal.  I knew we were linked on a deeper level.

“Scarlett, he has to go the hospital.  I’ll fill you in on the way,” Martinez said, patting me on the back.  Even though I didn’t want to let Matt go, I knew it was for his own good.  At least Martinez realized that I had to be with Matt in his time of need.

“I want to ride in the ambulance,” I said, my voice firm.  To his credit, Martinez merely nodded.  A thought struck me.  “Is he going to need surgery?”  Stupid question, really, with all that blood, but I had to ask.  Martinez nodded again.

“Daily, we’re going to the hospital,” Martinez shouted out to Daily who nodded without making a smart comment.  Maybe she and I could be friends some day, but I wasn’t holding my breath.

The EMT told me Matt had a concussion and needed to stay awake.  That was all fine and dandy except that Matt wanted nothing more than to sleep.  He also wanted to know if the cops had gotten Danny back and who was watching him.  It struck me that Brenda and Digger must have left Danny by himself for long stretches of time, and that pissed me off even more.  I wished I’d been able to kick Jamie where he most deserved it, and I wished I could have slapped the shit out of Brenda.  How could they do that to a poor, defenseless boy who’d never done anything to them?  I also wanted to kick Kayla for her part in all this, but that would mean finding her first.

Continue Reading

Out of Sight, Into Mind; chapter three, part one

A horrible feeling washed over me.  No, not that Danny was dead, but that Kayla knew exactly who had taken Danny and why.  If she didn’t know for sure, she could make a pretty educated guess, but for some reason, she was choosing not to share.  I knew that Matt was going to have to sweat her to get the information we needed, but I had a feeling that it was going to take a lot to get her to spill her guts.  For some reason, and I wasn’t sure why, she was more afraid of telling what she knew than she was of losing her son.  I knew Matt wasn’t going to like hearing that, but I couldn’t lie to him.  This was too important for massaging egos and tiptoeing around hurtful truths.  Matt was a big boy; he could take care of himself.

Danny was in a closet.  In an…apartment?  I couldn’t be sure.  It felt like a small space around the closet, but it was just a vague impression.  He was being fed three times a day and taken to the bathroom four times daily, but that was it.  The rest of the time, he was kept in the closet which locked from the outside, of course.  I concentrated harder, hoping to come up with more.  There were two people.  They switched off taking care of him, but they weren’t averse to leaving him alone in a pinch.  I had the definite feeling that Danny knew one of the people, but I wasn’t sure about the other one.  Neither person laid a hand on Danny, but they didn’t comfort him, either.  Neither told him why he was there nor what would happen to him.  I couldn’t tell much about the people other than they weren’t pedophiles.  Small comfort, but still a relief.  The picture faded out despite my best efforts, and I opened my eyes.  Just as I thought, Matt was watching me intently, waiting for me to impart my wisdom.  I finished half my sandwich while deciding what to say.  Then, I ate the truffle, partly to replenish my energy and partly to stall.  I hated to let Matt down, but I just didn’t have much.  I related as much as I could remember before falling silent.  After Matt digested it, he spoke.

“We have to work on Kayla,” he said, his voice wavering slightly.  “She has got to tell us what she knows.”  He slammed his fist down on the coffee table, making me jump.  “Goddamn her, goddamn her to hell.  What the fuck is she into that she has someone snatching her son?  My son.  Our son.”  Tears shone in his eyes, but he refused to let them fall.  “She knows the person, the people who did this, doesn’t she?”

“I think so,” I said cautiously, though I was ninety-eight percent sure.  “Like I said, she at least has an educated guess.”

Continue Reading

Out of Sight, Into Mind; chapter two, part one

“Scarlett, thanks so much for doing this.”  Kayla’s eyes were reddened as she greeted me, but that might be because of whatever she was on.

“It’s Scar,” I reminded her sharply, knowing it was useless.  One of the things I loathed most about her—and the list was long—was the fact that she refused to call me by my nickname because she didn’t consider it a real name.  As if Kayla was any less made up.  “I’m doing this for Matt,” I added, feeling like a shit doing so.  Whatever I felt about this woman, her son was missing.  I could only imagine what kind of hell that was.  “I’m sorry, Kayla, about Danny being missing.”  I gentled my voice, not wanting to get off on the wrong foot.

“Do you want to see Danny’s room right away?  I’m not sure how this sort of thing works.”  The way she said it indicated the she considered it just this side of witchcraft, which was actually quite useful.  I wasn’t a witch, but I knew a few who had helped me out with a spell now and then.  I didn’t respond to Kayla’s comment as Matt and I followed her into her modest home.

“I don’t know how it works, either,” I said honestly, not wanting to give any false hope.  “I’ve never done anything like this before.”

“But Matt told me that you had ESP!”  Kayla protested, her eyes darting back and forth.  Her right hand was trembling, making me suspect that she was on coke or heroin.  No, I’ve never done either, but I had friends who did drugs.  No, not the witches—they were more into dandelion wine and things like that.  “You have to find him!”  Kayla clutched my arm with her red talons so hard, I winced.

“She’ll do her best,” Matt said, detaching Kayla’s claws from my forearm.  She immediately transferred her grip to his arm, and he took it like a man.

Continue Reading