Part 21 (1/2)
”Did she tell you what happened?”
”She just said he came after her, and she hit him with the bottle.”
Yumi looks perplexed. ”So what was all that whispering and hand-holding about?” she asks.
Rei a.s.sumes his poker face. ”She's just nervous. She thinks her mom will be mad at her. When's Lydie coming, anyway?”
Yumi looks unconvinced. ”She's leaving now, but she wants to stop at the hospital for a few minutes to check on Steve. She should be here in an hour or so. Rei,” Yumi pauses, ”you know you don't have time to get involved with girls right now.”
This seems to catch Rei completely by surprise. ”Huh?”
”Rei, think about it. You have all the pressure of keeping your GPA at school, aikido cla.s.s, work, college applications, and things will only get busier next year. When would you have time to date? And I know you're very fond of Anna, but dating your best friend is just asking for trouble. Trust your mother on that one,” she smiles and reaches up to pat his cheek.
”That's not something you have to worry about,” Rei tells her in a wintry voice.
Suddenly, I have this overwhelming urge to topple a teacup.
CHAPTER 31.
Taylor pretends to sleep. I know it. Rei knows it. I think Yumi knows it, too. When my mom gets to Rei's house and tries to wake her, Taylor feigns sleep like she's the living dead. Oh, how silly of me. She is the living dead. Rei ends up scooping her up into his arms and carries her across the dark path back to my house.
My mom opens the door for them, and Rei deposits her on top of the lavender comforter in my bedroom. As soon as he slides his arms out from beneath her, she is suddenly wide awake.
”Rei?” She catches his hand in hers.
”What.”
”Will you just think about what I said?”
”Yes.” He gently slides his hand out of hers and leans over her to take the empty vodka bottle off the bookshelf.
”Rei?”
”What.”
”Don't you ever want to break out of the box they put you in?”
He hesitates. ”Yes,” he admits. ”You should get some sleep.” He shuts the door on his way out, leaving her in the dark.
My mom stands at the kitchen sink surrounded by an army of bottles lined up on the counter, and she pours the contents of them, one by one, down the drain. I'm feeling a little tipsy just breathing in the fumes.
”Any more?” Rei asks.
”There should be a box in the garage,” she sniffs.
Rei comes back with four bottles full of whiskey and the empty vodka bottle in a cardboard box and sets it on the counter. As soon as my mom empties each bottle and rinses it, he fits it into the box between the cardboard slots. When they are done, there are ten empty bottles in the box. My mom opens the refrigerator door and pulls out a half empty bottle of Chardonnay. She looks at it wistfully, then uncorks it and pours that down the drain, too. Rei adds that bottle to the box, locks the cardboard flaps under, and shoulders it.
”I'll bring it to the store and recycle them for you.”
”Thanks, hon.” My mom sighs and blows her nose on a paper towel. ”Did she tell you why she hit him?”
Rei shakes his head. ”She hasn't really been herself since she hit her head.”
”No, she hasn't.” My mom rips another paper towel off the roll and wipes a few random drops of whiskey and water off the countertop. ”He's not a bad person, Rei. I don't know if you remember what he was like before the accident, you were so young. I know Anna doesn't remember.”
”She will. She'll get her memory back, and who knows, maybe this was good. Maybe he'll stop drinking.” Rei s.h.i.+fts the box over to his other shoulder.
My mom sighs. ”She didn't remember anything good about him even before she hit her head. She just ... I don't know. I don't think she wants to remember. She doesn't understand this isn't his fault. And what's really frustrating is we were getting along so well this week. I felt like we were finally connecting.”
”Um, yeah, I've got to go. I'm in court on Friday and I still have some homework to finish up tonight.”
”Oh, that's right. How did your deposition go today?”
Rei shrugs. ”I don't know. There are a lot of different versions of what happened.”
”Is that why you two haven't been talking as much as usual?”
I'm surprised she noticed that. I thought she was pretty oblivious to my social life.
”That and other stuff. There's a lot going on.”
”She had to tell them the truth. You know that, right?”
”Maybe she thinks she's telling them the truth, but I know Seth. He would never kill anyone. I'm surprised they even believe her after she hit her head.”
My mom looks uncertain. ”I wasn't there at the falls, Rei, but why would she lie? She doesn't know this girl. I can't believe she would jeopardize her friends.h.i.+p with you and testify against Seth unless she was absolutely positive.”
Rei looks too tired to argue with her. ”I have to go,” he repeats and pushes through the screen door into the darkness.
I'm waiting for him in his room when he gets home.
I'm sorry, I type on the keyboard even though I really want to type YOUR MOTHER HATES ME! He looks too wiped out for me to bring that up now, though.
”Aren't you the one who said we must be the two sorriest people in the world and that you were sick of apologizing?” he asks.
Yes, but I'm still sorry. If I had just listened to Rei and stayed in my body, well, maybe Taylor would still be dead, but there would be no eyewitness. What was the term I heard on Law & Order? Burden of proof? Unless some of Seth's DNA survived underneath her fingernails during her extended bath in the river, they couldn't prove anything.
Rei rolls onto his bed and lies on his side, his elbow angled under his head. ”She said if I go out with her again, she won't testify against Seth.”
Wow. What a deal.
”I can't do that.”