Baby For The Mountain Man

Leo returned just about fifteen minutes later. I still was holding the bottle of pills in my hand. He didn’t even know about my addiction, no one had. I was good at keeping secrets. I had been my whole life.

“Where’s Berkley? I didn’t think she would leave you alone on your first day.”

“We had a fight,” I said gruffly, trying to play off the questions that were about to be thrown at me.

“What kind of fight? What did you say to her?”

“Why the hell is it always my fault?”

“Because good girls like that? They don’t come around very often. And they know about guys like you.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“I know what you do in your spare time. You sleep around, and I’m guessing that’s why she left. Found a pair of panties lying around here or some other God-awful thing. I?

??ve kept you off the streets, and I thought that I had taught you how to be a proper man. But if you let a girl like that go, then I haven’t taught you a damn thing.”

No one spoke. He moved to the window and stared out into the afternoon. I’d had enough. I couldn’t stand the deafening silence that was in my head anymore. Leo was right—she was one of those good girls. “I have a problem,” I said in a low voice.

He spun around for the window and looked at me concerned. “What is it?”

I held the bottle in my hands like it was my lifeline. Like if he took it from me I just might die right there in that crappy apartment, in a secondhand bed. But if I was going to die, she was the one worth dying for.

“I’m addicted to Oxy. And I need your help.”

SEVENTEEN

BERKLEY

I ran from the building and got into my car, slamming the door behind me. How could he be so stupid? Throwing his life away like that! I just couldn’t understand. I thought Dillon had grown, that he would stop being so dangerous after this past fight, but instead he just wanted more trouble now than ever. How had I not seen the signs? How could I not tell that the guy I was going crazy over was addicted to pain medication?

Every thought raced through my mind as I drove, but I didn’t really know where I was going until I had been driving for over an hour. Naomi was blowing up my phone and I finally had calmed down enough to answer. “Hello?”

“Where the hell are you? I thought you would have been home by now! You said you were just going to do a drop in visit.”

“Well my drop in turned into a drop out, and now I’m on my way to my parents.” I’d had no idea that’s where my mind had taken me, but I knew from the surrounding area that I was on a small highway that took me towards upstate New York. And to the Cassidy family residence.

“What happened?”

I sighed heavily, not really wanting to talk about it. “Dillon is as dangerous as you said he was. And he doesn’t want anything to do with me and my nice girl qualities. We’re over.”

“Again?”

“Again. And this time I think it’s for real. He practically threw me out of his apartment Naomi! I can’t even believe it!”

“I’m so sorry, honey. He’ll notice what he lost, trust me. I know he will. So how long do you think you’re going to stay with your parents? I mean, we don’t have classes all weekend. Though you’re going to miss a crazy toga party tomorrow night.”

“I think I might just stay for the whole weekend. I need a break from all of the craziness that is school and Dillon right now.”

“Well tell your parents I said hello. I like being their favorite.”

I laughed in spite of my bad mood, “I will. Talk to you later.”

“Bye.”

I drove for another forty five minutes in complete silence. I didn’t even turn on the radio for fear of what mushy love song I would find that would just bring the tears back into my eyes.

I didn’t want to cry over Dillon Jackson.