Chapter 17
It’s a chilly day in Georgia. The park is mostly abandoned. Lily is making her way around the playground as fast as her small legs will take her. Hope and Kelley sit on the park bench, waiting patiently for Kyle to show up.
Hope sits, silently, letting her thoughts take over. She agreed to come with Kelley after everything that happened yesterday. The bartender had a hard time coming to the realization that her parents truly want nothing to do with her.
Hope flinches at the loud ‘bang’ of the door slamming closed. She holds the blanket to her chest and makes eye contact with Kelley, who’s face is fully flushed. Hope blinks a couple of times, still slightly shocked at what just happened.
Then, Kelley chuckles, earning a glare from Hope. “This isn’t fucking funny, Kelley. Your mom is gonna kill me.” She says, seriously. This only makes Kelley laugh harder. Hope stares at her for a few seconds, before cracking a smile. “I think she likes you!” Kelley says, through her laughter. Hope finally joins in on the laughter, as she slips her jeans back on.
As they make their way back downstairs, Kelley leads them into the kitchen to say ‘goodbye’ to her parents. Both Karen and Dan are sitting at the kitchen table nursing a cup of coffee. Karen looks like she’d just seen a ghost, while Dan is glaring at the couple, clearly aware of what just occurred.
“Just coming in to say ‘bye’.” Kelley states. She stops in the doorway between the kitchen and the living room, not wanting to get any closer than necessary. After only getting angry looks, in response, she continues. “We leave on Tuesday. Not sure if I’ll see you again.” She mentions, somewhat awkwardly.
“Please, don’t come back, Kelley. Don’t bring her back here.” Karen motions to Hope, once again. “You’ve put us through enough. Just let us be.” She finishes, softly, as if she’s the victim. Kelley raises her eyebrows. “So you don’t want to see Lily again, either?” She asks, trying to clarify what her mother’s saying.
“We don’t want our granddaughter to be exposed to your lifestyle. She’s only a child, Kelley. You should reconsider what you’re doing.” Dan jumps in. His voice remains eerily calm. “My lifestyle? Lily loves Hope. I love Hope. There’s no ‘reconsidering’ to be done. This is who I’m with. If you can’t accept that, then I have no reason to be here anymore.” The bartender raises her voice, a little bit, her emotion getting the better of her.
Hope places a soft hand on Kelley’s lower back, in support. The action isn’t missed by Karen, who shoots the tall brunette a hard look. “I guess there’s nothing else to be said.” Karen states. Kelley stares at her for a few seconds, taking it all in. This is probably the last time she’ll be inside of her childhood home. She leans up and places a lingering kiss on Hope’s cheek, before looking both of her parents in the eye.
She doesn’t give them any final words, before she takes Hope’s hand and leads her out of the house. The Uber ride back to their hotel is silent. Hope places a supporting hand on Kelley’s thigh, while Kelley simply stares out the window.
“You think he’s gonna blow her off?” Kelley asks, breaking Hope’s train of thought. The goalkeeper sighs and looks towards the parking lot to their left. Lily still doesn’t know that she’s here to meet her father. The child probably thinks she’s at the park to simply play on the playground. Hope and Kelley agreed it’s better that she isn’t told ahead of time, in case he doesn’t show up. As of now, it looks like that was the right decision.
“What time is it?” Hope asks, in response to Kelley’s question. “11:05.” The shorter woman answers, after looking at her phone’s lock screen. They had agreed to meet at 11:00. “It’s only 5 past. Maybe he’s running late.” The brunette tries to remain optimistic, tries to give Kyle some credit.
Kyle shows up 10 minutes later, wearing dark blue jeans and a white t-shirt. “Sorry, had to stop and pay my buddy back.” Kelley rolls her eyes at the excuse. He saunters over to them, confidently.
Hope gives him a dirty look. ‘I already hate this guy.’ She thinks. “Let’s go get Lil.” Kelley states, motioning for Kyle to follow her. Hope tries to ignore the fact that Kyle is basically a dark-haired Ken doll. ‘We aren’t competing.’ She assures herself, as she watches the two make their way to the play area.
“Lil, come here.” Kelley calls out. The child climbs down the stairs and looks up, innocently, at the new face standing in front of her. Hope watches, from afar, as Kyle squats down to be at eye-level with Lily. “Hi, Lily. I’m Kyle.” She hears him say to the child.
Kyle’s first time meeting Lily went relatively well. Hope and Kelley ended up sitting on the bench, while Kyle and Lily made their way around the playground. They all (mostly Kelley and Kyle) agreed that Kyle shouldn’t tell Lily about who he really is, just yet. They figure that getting to know him a little bit better would be beneficial before she’s told that he’s her father.
By 2 o’clock, Kelley could tell Lily’s energy level has plummeted. She begins rubbing her eyes and glancing over at her, tiredly. “Maybe we should go get lunch?” The freckled woman calls out to Kyle. He nods, nonchalantly and holds out his hand for Lily to take.
Hope and Kelley stand up and Hope picks up Lily’s backpack. They all make their way to Kyle’s car, while Kyle runs across the street to an old coffee shop to use their bathroom. He had agreed to give them a ride to lunch and then back to the hotel so they didn’t have to call a taxi. Hope ignores the fact that Kyle hasn’t said one word to her since he’s arrived. She sits in the back seat with Lily, while Kelley sits up front with Kyle.
They barely make it out of the parking lot before Lily’s eyes droop shut. Luckily, for her, the restaurant they’re going to is about 20 minutes away so she’ll be able to take a short nap before she eats. “We’re going to Margarita’s, right?” Kelley asks, looking at Kyle from the passenger’s seat. He nods, in affirmative.
“Gotta get you drunk so you see what you’ve been missing.” He says to Kelley. Hope’s eyes snap up to meet Kyle’s, who’s looking at her through the rear-view mirror. Piercing blue eyes glare into each other, challengingly. Kelley just rolls her eyes at the crude remark. She decides to let it go, for now.
“Seriously, Kell. You know me. You know how well I’m doing. Just come back to Georgia. I miss you.” He says, too seriously. Hope scoffs and shakes her head. Kelley looks at him, eyes squinted in suspicion. They come to a stop light and Kelley reaches out. She grabs ahold of Kyle’s chin and turns his head towards her.
“You’re fucking high.” She states, in bewilderment, after studying his eyes for a few seconds. “No. No, I’m not. I had a beer before I got to the park. That’s it.” He immediately becomes defensive, only further proving Kelley’s suspicion. Hope simply raises her eyebrows and watches the situation play out.
“What did you take?” The bartender isn’t hiding her anger. “Pull over the fucking car.” She continues. Kyle simply nods his head. He doesn’t answer Kelley’s question, instead choosing to scowl as he pulls to the side of the road.
He and Kelley switch seats and Kelley drives them back to their hotel, not bothering with lunch. “Kelley, I’m sorry. I just needed something to take the edge off. I was nervous.” He babbles, as they pull into the parking lot. She pulls into a spot and puts the car in park, before opening the door and stepping outside.
She motions for Kyle to do the same. If they’re gonna have this conversation, the last thing she needs is Lily to wake up and overhear it. “You said you were clean.” She states, seriously. She looks up at him, sadly. He used to be a man she was proud to be with. Sure, they had their issues, but she loved him. She never thought he would turn to drugs.
“I was clean.” He puts his hands in the front pockets of his jeans. “I went to Danny’s yesterday and…he was using. I just couldn’t…” He trails off. He rocks back and forth, moving his weight from foot to foot, rocking from his toes to his heels.
Kelley runs her fingers through her hair and looks at the pavement, shaking her head. “You can’t see her anymore.” Kyle’s eyes widen, frantically. “You can’t take her away from me, Kelley. I haven’t even been able to tell her who I am yet. You can’t do this to me.” His voice gets louder and he rips his hands from his pockets, motioning angrily.
Hope watches from the car. Thankfully, Lily is still fast asleep. The goalkeeper listens to the conversation. She knows what’s going on, but she stays seated. She doesn’t want to interfere unless she has to. Something tells her that if she tries getting involved, it’ll only serve to make Kyle angrier.
“Get clean, Kyle. You need to take care of yourself before I’d ever let you near her. She doesn’t deserve this. Once you’re clean for at least a year and feeling stable, you can see her. Until then, you’re gonna have to accept the fact that you’re in no condition to be around her.” She’s trying to be empathetic. She’s trying to show him that she does care about him. She just can’t allow Lily to be hurt, to be around drugs.
“Fuck you. Fuck you, Kelley. You have no idea what it’s like. You’re sitting pretty in an apartment in Seattle, fucking your dyke of a girlfriend. I’m here living off of nothing.” He says, loudly. He starts clenching and unclenching his fists, in anger. The heroin is still flowing through his veins, only adding to his emotion.
Hope finally decides she needs to try and defuse the situation. It’s clear that Kyle is only getting angrier, by the second, and Hope doesn’t want it to escalate any further. The car is running, the AC blasting through the vents to assure Lily will be okay while they talk just a few feet away. Kyle’s eyes snap to hers when he hears the car door open.
“Get back in the fucking car. We aren’t done talking.” He spits out at her. Hope simply puts her hands up, in surrender, while walking towards them. “I just want to help.” She states, calmly. She’d be lying if she tried saying she hasn’t had experience with people who are tweaking. Hell, her dad was high on cocaine pretty much every time she saw him when she was young. She knows this is an unpredictable situation.
“Let’s just go up to the room.” Hope says, softly, to Kelley. She looks up at the brunette and nods. “Kelley, we aren’t done fucking talking.” He says, while stepping in between them and the car. His voice is loud and his eyes aren’t focused, as he glares at the two women in front of him.
Hope swallows, nervously. Kyle’s clearly too out of it to realize what he’s doing. “Why don’t we meet up for breakfast tomorrow morning, before our flight?” Hope offers. She knows Kyle doesn’t like her, but she needs to try something. She needs to figure out a way to calm him down, to peacefully get Kelley and Lily back up to their room in one piece.
“Shut the fuck up.” He says, nastily. His eyes are darting around them. He’s tweaking out and at this point, Hope knows there’s no way to talk her way out of this situation. “Kell, back up. I’m gonna go get Lily.” Hope whispers, so softly that Kyle can’t hear her.
Kelley almost protests. Almost. She wants to be the one to get Lily, to get her out of this situation. But looking at Kyle, seeing how aggressive he’s being, she knows Hope is the only one who will be able to do it.
So, Kelley takes a few steps back. Kyle stands in front of Lily’s door, his muscles twitching. Hope slowly walks past him and to the other side of the car. She opens the door, quietly, hoping Lily will just stay asleep through this mess.
“Lil, it’s just me.” She says, softly, as she reaches over to unbuckle her seatbelt. “NO! NO! NO!” Kyle yells. He grabs Hope, by the waist, and pulls her out of the car. He pushes her away, roughly, causing her to fall backwards onto the pavement. She grimaces, as she feels her elbows and her lower back scrape against the rough terrain.
“I told you, we aren’t done talking!” He yells, as he walks up to her, aggressively. Kelley gasps, as Kyle lands a solid punch to Hope’s nose. “Kyle, stop!” She yells. Hope brings her hands up to her face, already feeling her nose drain blood. She looks over to Kelley, who has a hand covering her mouth as she watches. She tries to speak with her eyes. Go get her. He’s distracted. Go get her. She thinks, hoping Kelley will get the point. Finally, it clicks and Kelley quietly walks to the car.
Hope had successfully unbuckled the child, so all Kelley had to do was get her out. “What do you want to talk about?” Hope looks up at Kyle and asks. He’s standing over her, looking at his fist, which is probably aching. Not that he feels the pain. He scrunches his face, before responding. “I need to see her. I need to see her from now on. She needs me.” He says, almost sadly.
“I know. I know you do. And you’ll see her again, Kyle. You just need to get better first.” She adds in that last part only after seeing Kelley heading to the hotel entrance, a sleeping Lily in her arms. “Shut up! Shut up, shut up!” He yells at her. At this point, people are starting to notice what’s going on.
People, who are making their way to their cars, stop to see what’s going on. “Calm down. Look at the attention you’re getting. Do you want someone to call the police? Do you want to go back to jail?” She asks. With people watching, she feels comfortable enough to stand up. She brings the bottom of her shirt up to wipe some of the blood off of her face.
“No. I just need to see my daughter.” He states, as Hope gets back on her feet. She backs away from him, a little bit. He turns his body towards his car and finally notices that Kelley is gone. His eyes widen, as he walks to the car and sees that Lily is also gone.
People continue to their cars, as Kyle gets distracted with looking for his daughter. Hope backs away even more. The only thing stopping her from going back to the room is Lily’s bag. It’s sitting on the floor in the backseat and the child’s favorite blanket is inside. She can’t let him leave with it.
“Where did they go?” He asks her, his words becoming more and more slurred as time passes by. “They had to go back to our room, Kyle. Lily needs to get some sleep.” She tries explaining. He looks down to the ground, his anger seemingly dissipating.
“I’m never gonna see her again?” He slurs out, sadly. Hope sighs and takes a couple steps towards him. “You just need to think about going to get help. Once you’re better, you can see her.” She tries explaining as best she can. “She needs her backpack. Can I grab it from the car?” She asks, after he doesn’t respond.
He simply nods his head. Hope quickly gets the bag and grabs Kelley’s cell phone, which was left in the front seat. “You probably shouldn’t drive. Do you have money for an Uber?” She asks Kyle, who’s eyes are drooping shut as he stands next to the car. He nods his head.
Hope takes the keys from the ignition and takes Kyle’s phone out. She opens the app and calls for a ride for Kyle. She leads him to the Uber pick-up area and waits with him until his ride got there. Once he’s finally in the backseat with his car keys and his phone, she heads back upstairs to the room.
She ignores the stinging pain coming from her lower back, which took the worst of the damage from the fall. Finally, she makes it upstairs and knocks on the door, as Kelley took her room key when she came up.
Kelley’s looking out the window, when she hears the knock on the door. She turns around and walks towards the door, walking past a sleeping Lily. “Are you okay?” She asks Hope as soon as she walks inside. She pulls the taller woman into her arms. Thankfully, Hope’s nose had stopped bleeding, leaving only dry blood on her face.
Hope grimaces, when Kelley wraps her arms around her back and brushes her wound, but she allows herself to be held anyway. “What happened? Are you okay?” Kelley asks, quickly. She steps back and inspects Hope for any serious injury.
“He was fine after you guys left. I got our stuff and put him in an Uber. He’ll be okay, for tonight, at least.” She explains. There’s no need to go into detail about it right now. All that matters is that they’re all okay and Kyle will hopefully get some much-needed help.
Kelley sighs, in relief. She leans up to give the taller woman a lingering kiss. “I’m sorry. I should have just listened to you.” Hope shakes her head. “You were just trying to do what you thought was right for Lil.” She brushes off the apology. Kelley shrugs, before grabbing Hope’s wrist and leading her into the bathroom.
“It doesn’t look broken.” She mentions, as she turns on the sink and wets a facecloth. Hope shakes her head. “It’s not broken. I would have felt it.” She states. She’s broken her nose before, so she knows what it feels like. Kelley ignores her and gently wipes the dried blood from Hope’s face.
Hope grimaces, as Kelley puts antibacterial cream onto her back. “I’m sorry, baby.” Kelley whispers, as she places a bandage over the open wound. She kisses the brunette on the back of the head. “All done.” Hope stands up and looks at Kelley’s work through the mirror. The scrape was bigger than she thought, but it’s nothing that can’t heal on its own.
“Do you want to press charges?” Kelley asks, casually. Hope shakes her head, without hesitation. “I don’t want this going public.” Kelley nods, in understanding. She knows that Hope has been doing what she can to keep herself out of the limelight.
The goalkeeper pulls her shirt down, before looking at her darkening nose through the mirror. “That fucker got me good.” She mentions, grimacing as she touches it. Kelley sighs and runs her fingers through her hair. The guilt of her ex-boyfriend attacking Hope is seeping through her.
Luckily, they arrived back at the hotel rather early, which means they have plenty of time to pack their clothes and gather everything for their flight home tomorrow. Kelley can’t help but be excited to get the hell out of Georgia and Hope definitely doesn’t disagree with the sentiment.
They spend their time making the most of their last night in Georgia. They order some pizza for dinner and bring Lily to the pool. When the bruising on Hope’s face becomes more visible, Hope has to tell Lily that she ‘walked into a pole’ to keep her from thinking her father is a monster.
In the morning, they simply get some breakfast and change into more comfortable travelling clothes, before heading to the airport. Lily can’t wait to get on another airplane, while Hope has to stick her nose in a book to try and ignore the fact that they’re miles above land. Then, they’re finally back in Seattle. ‘Finally home.’ Kelley thinks, as they walk towards baggage claim.