Don’t Let Go

31. Tyler

31

Tyler

The next morning, over breakfast, I talked Rory into riding to school with me and allowed Carmen to drop Lizzy off with the Charger. Carmen was over the moon, excited to have the keys in hand. She ate her eggs greedily with the scariest grin I’d seen since the last horror flick I watched.

Lizzy frowned as she cut up her eggs. A piece of egg fell on her lap next to her stuffed bunny. Lizzy quickly grabbed the egg. “Not for you,” she whispered to the bunny.

“Why the long face, Lizzy Bug?” Rory asked, setting her glass of juice down next to her plate.

“I don’t want Carmen to take me to school. Today is show and tell, and she’s a crazy driver.”

Carmen laughed darkly and hissed, “Shut up,” to her little sister.

Rory pointed her fork at Carmen, and her forehead crinkled as her anger grew. “That’s enough,” she said with an edge to her voice. She turned to Lizzy and her face became soft, more friendly. “Why don’t you like riding with Carmen? Define crazy.” Her tone became sweeter than honey. The look Rory gave Lizzy was so protective. I think she’d beat anyone’s ass, even if they accidentally pushed Lizzy while walking down the street.

Lizzy cleared her throat, thrilled to have the floor. “She stops too fast and has bad taste in music. She won’t play my Disney princess playlist.”

Rory nodded, trying to remain serious, but there was a crack of a smile on her lips. “Oh. Her horrible music gave you a headache?”

Carmen blew a piece of black hair out of her face. She looked better with the darker hair. It wasn’t as jarring as the orange wannabe blonde hair. “Please. I put on some rap music. My friend Alisha swears by it. She loves old-school rap. Tupac is her absolute fav.”

Rory nodded, seeming to think about each side as if the kitchen table had turned into a courtroom and she was the judge.

“So other than her poor music taste and quick stops,” Carmen shot Rory an evil glare, dissing her new appreciation for rap. “Was there any other reason you don’t want to ride with Carmen?” Rory leaned forward on her elbows. Her face was blank as she looked at her baby sister.

Lizzy thought for a moment, tapping her finger on her chin. This girl was a ham. “No. I got mad because she said my playlist sucked, and she tossed my phone into the backseat.”

Rory raised her eyebrow. “Were you in the front seat?”

Carmen stared at her plate. She focused too hard on a piece of bacon. Lizzy smiled. “Yeah. I was! I liked it!”

Rory sucked in her lips and slowly let them go. The crease in her forehead deepened, and it took a lot of strength not to reach over and smooth her skin with my thumb. “I see. Well, I guess Lizzy is riding with us.” She looked at me as if seeing if it was alright.

Carmen puffed up. “I’m sorry, but I… wait… what?”

Rory stood, clearing her side of the table. “You can drive yourself to school, but Ty and I will drop Lizzy off.” She turned and walked into the kitchen.

Carmen appeared taken aback. She gathered her dishes before joining Rory in the kitchen. They continued to talk about the matter, but I couldn’t make out anything they said.

Lizzy bounced up and down in her seat. “Cool! Your car is awesome.” She beamed at me with her cute little smile that was missing a front tooth.

“Thanks. It can go really fast,” I said quietly, winking.

“Can we play my princess playlist?” She grew serious all of a sudden. What was on this playlist? It was like her anthem.

I grabbed my coffee mug, cupping the bottom and feeling the heat absorb into my hand. “Of course. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“Yes!” She jumped down from her chair. “I’m going to go get my stuff,” she said, leaving with her bunny wedged under her arm.

Rory leaned against the kitchen doorway. She cleared her throat. “Did you forget something?”

Lizzy swiveled her whole body around. “Oh, yeah. Sorry, Rory.” She grabbed her plate and glass, taking them into the kitchen.

Rory roughed up her baby sister’s hair as she walked by. “Hey!” Lizzy cried.

Rory looked at me with those gorgeous eyes of hers and shrugged. “I couldn’t resist.”

I leaned back in my chair, stretching my arms over my head. “You run a tight ship.”

She pointed at me. “You need to get a move on, too,” she joked. She attempted to look intimidating, but her thin grin curling on her lips ruined it.

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Of course. I don’t want to be in trouble.”

Carmen walked by, making a gagging noise as she put a finger down her throat. “Gross. You two need to get a room already. Yuck.”

Crimson crept up Rory’s neck, and she flicked her hair in front of her face to hide her blush. “I’m going to finish getting ready.” She went upstairs without a second look behind her.

About ten minutes later, we were all ready to go. Lizzy struggled with a giant white poster board as she climbed down the stairs.

“You need help?” I asked, grabbing it for her so she could finish going down the steps without tripping.

“Thanks. That’s my science project. Look at it!” She sounded so proud of herself.

I opened the board’s wings and saw the full display of her project on bananas with salt and without salt and which would turn brown first and why. It was extremely detailed and organized for someone her age.

I was blown away by it. “You did this yourself?”

Rory chuckled as she shouldered past. “She had some help.”

Lizzy bounced on the balls of her feet. “I did all the work with the bananas. Mamma and Rory helped with the board.”

Now I knew why there were sliced bananas randomly sitting on the kitchen counter a couple of weeks ago.

“Very impressive,” I said, closing the board’s wings again.

Lizzy was a ball of energy. She took her board back and sat it on the floor, leaning it against the couch. “It’s also show and tell in homeroom. I’m going to show them this.” She boastfully held up a golden locket around her neck. “This was a gift from my papà. I don’t remember him, though.” She pouted for a moment.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rory freeze, the pain that shot through her eyes was like she was stabbed in the heart by an ice pick.

Lizzy continued, unaware her words stung Rory. “I’m also bringing a family photo. It’s in my backpack.”

I put my hand on Lizzy’s shoulder, squeezing it gently. “Looks like you’re well prepared. I’m sure your dad would be proud of you.”

Carmen fingered her keys, making them jingle. “I’m off. See you at school.” She waved her goodbyes as she headed for the door.

A sense of panic went through Lizzy. She dropped her backpack on the floor; it hit the carpet with a loud thump. “Wait!” she shouted. “I forgot my phone!” She ran past Carmen and dashed outside to the car.

Carmen shook her head, but a small smile clung to her lips as she hit the unlock button on the car’s keyfob as she stepped outside.

Rory reached down and grabbed Lizzy’s backpack. I snagged her science project and stood next to Rory as she locked the front door.

I heard a car door open, and then after that, there was a loud popping noise. It was like a ton of fireworks going off outside in the front yard all at once and a monster bag of popcorn exploding in the microwave.

I dropped the poster board and wrapped my arms around Rory as we ducked for cover. I looked over to my left and saw Carmen in the fetal position in the grass.

A car peeled out on the street, leaving a faint amount of smoke in its wake. It went too fast to catch a license plate. All I could see was that it was a blue car, and the make and model were questionable.

Rory wiggled out of my arms. “Lizzy! Where are you? Lizzy!” she shouted, getting back on her feet. Lizzy’s backpack tripped her, but she managed to save herself from falling.

Carmen sat up, hugging herself tightly. “What the hell was that?”

I stood, brushing off my jeans. “I have no idea.”

“No!” Rory screamed. She made an agonizing and torturous wail. My ears ached at the almost animalistic cries she made.

I stumbled over to the car, and the sight that laid before me would haunt me forever. The driver’s side door remained open, but the window was shattered. My shoes crunched the glass as I knelt beside Rory. She cradled Lizzy. The little girl was bleeding from her head and stomach. A pool of crimson lazily grew, engulfing Rory and slowly flowing down the carport.

“No,” Rory whispered, holding Lizzy close to her chest as she rocked her back and forth. Lizzy was limp. Her eyes were half closed.

All the world’s noises faded away as if someone hit a switch, and all I could hear was silence. I fell onto my knees next to Rory. Blood seeped into my pants, but I didn’t care.

I reached out to move some matted hair from Lizzy’s little face. She looked like she was asleep if you looked past all the red.

Tears clouded my vision. I looked up to see Carmen on her phone. She was talking and crying, but I couldn’t hear any of her words.

Rory wouldn’t let go of Lizzy. She held onto her as if she could keep her alive.

An ambulance and fire truck came. Their red and blue lights were blinding despite the morning sunshine.

“Let her go,” the EMT said softly to Rory.

She shook her head. “I can’t.”

Another EMT put a hand on Rory’s shoulder. “You can come with us to the hospital, but you need to let us help her.”

Both the EMTs knew Lizzy was gone. She looked like a doll, frozen for all eternity.

I stood next to Rory, offering her my hand. “I got you,” I said.

She finally released her baby sister and wrapped her scarlet-coated arms around my legs. My stomach shook, and my mouth was dry. I couldn’t imagine how Rory was feeling. First to witness her father getting shot and now her baby sister, there was no way to explain how that could feel.

Carmen was on the phone, away in the grass, calling their mom. She kept repeating herself because her tears kept cutting off her voice.

“We have a weak pulse,” the EMT shouted from inside the ambulance before the other EMT slammed the door shut and ran to the driver’s seat.

After the fire truck and ambulance left, I noticed we had piqued the neighbors’ interest. They hung out in their front yards, acting like they were checking the mail or getting the paper. Some sat on the porch with their coffee as if our tragedy was a show to them.

I coaxed Rory to stand up. We left the scene as it was, backpacks on the ground and glass sprinkled around like sharp glitter. All that was left of Lizzy was her pink right shoe, her bloodstain on the cement, and the phone she was reaching for on the driver’s seat of the car.

The police put up yellow caution tape around the carport and escorted us inside to talk about what happened. As if we could explain what happened to Lizzy like it was the weather report or a summary of some movie plot.

Rory clung to me as we settled on the couch. “They will pay,” she muttered under her breath.

“What?” I asked gingerly, looking up at the two police officers. They were busy talking in the living room and taking notes as Carmen spoke.

“They’ll all pay,” she said again. Her face was blank of expression. Her jaw was set. Her nails dug into my arm like cat claws. What scared me the most were her eyes. Her once beautiful jade-green eyes that made me feel like a siren was staring into my soul turned soulless black. As if all the light was snatched out of her, leaving only darkness and destruction. She looked out at nothing as if plotting, as if my siren was slipping away, turning into something else, turning into something sinister.