Stitch: Satan's Fury MC(3)

The next morning Wyatt was already up and getting dressed by the time I had gotten out of the shower. When he finished getting ready, he stood at my bedroom door, sporting his favorite pair of red tennis shoes.

“Ready,” he told me with a wide smile.

“Breakfast?” I asked.

“I got a granola bar.”

“You know that’s really just a snack, but I’ll let it slide today,” I said, playfully rolling my eyes at him “Want some juice or something?”

He shook his head no and headed out the front door towards the car. Overall, it was a great morning, and things continued to go well until I got to my last class of the day. I’d always wanted a career in family counseling and after my divorce, my parents encouraged me to go back to college to get my degree. They helped pay for my classes until my financial aid kicked in, and Mom helped with Wyatt when I was in class. I couldn’t have done it without them, and things were going really well until I started my Counseling Theories class.

“I don’t know how much more of this I can take,” Rachel whined. “He has to be the most boring man on the planet.”

“I feel ya, girl. I’m on my second cup of coffee, and I’m still having a hard time staying awake,” I grumbled. I was just a few classes away from graduating, but first I had to survive Professor Halliburton. Thankfully, I had Rachel there to keep things interesting. I’d met her last semester in my Crisis Management and Prevention class when she asked to borrow my notes, and we’d been friends ever since.

“It’s his voice. Seriously, every time he opens his mouth, it’s like nails on a chalkboard,” she said, drawing out her words as she spoke.

Several heads turned and looked in our direction when we both started laughing. “You’re a nut, Rach.”

“Hey, you want to catch a movie after the gym tonight?”

“I wish I could, but I can’t. Wyatt will be with his dad after school, so I’m going to try to run some errands.” I wasn’t exactly lying; I really did have lots to do. My laundry was piling up, and I had to get some studying done, but those weren’t the reasons I didn’t want to go. I knew I wouldn’t be able to enjoy myself knowing that Wyatt was with Michael.

“Wren, we both know why you don’t want to go, but I get it. I know it’s hard sending him over there.”

“I’m sorry. I just get so anxious when he has to go over there. It’s like I’m always waiting for the other shoe to drop,” I explained.

“I can only imagine. It has to be just as hard for Wyatt,” Rachel told me.

“It is, but at least he has Mrs. Daniels. I don’t know what I’d do without her. She’s really good with him.”

During our divorce, Michael fought hard for joint custody of Wyatt. Sadly, it had nothing to do with being with Wyatt. No, it was just another way for him to try to hurt me, to exert his control over me. He thought he was being so clever, but I knew exactly what he was doing. His random calls to check in on his son were never about Wyatt. It was just Michael’s chance to interrogate Wyatt on what I was doing or where I’d been. Pushing for joint custody was just his vindictive way to get my child support reduced, knowing full well that less money would make it difficult for me to make it on my own. It was all just a ploy to make me miserable, and it was working. I didn’t feel like I was making any progress, until I found Mrs. Daniels. The judge suggested her independent service company for Michael’s supervised visitation, knowing that they had experience working with children with special needs. With Mrs. Daniels’ background, she knew what to expect with Wyatt’s Asperger’s. He was high functioning, but dealing with all of his little quirks could still be difficult.

“He’s lucky to have her. You both are,” she said smiling. “I’ll tell you what… why don’t we hit the movies this weekend? We can take the kids with us and grab a pizza after.”

“That sounds great. Wyatt loves Annalise, and he’s been wanting to see that new Charlie Brown movie.”

“Great! It’s a plan then. Having something to look forward to might help me get through the next thirty minutes of Dr. Boring,” Rachel said laughing.

After class, we both headed over to the gym for self-defense training. Rachel was a little hesitant about taking the class until she met the instructor, Brandon. Even though she spends most of the hour gawking at him, it’s nice to have her there with me.

“Is it just me, or does Brandon look like Joe Manganiello?” Rachel asked as we were walking out of the gym.

“Hmmm… no. Not even close,” I told her laughing.

“Yeah, well, he probably has a girlfriend anyway.”

“For a guy with a girlfriend, he certainly keeps his eyes trained on you,” I told her as my phone began to vibrate in my duffle bag.

“Really? He looks at me?” she asked like she didn’t know what I was talking about.

“All the time,” I told her, looking down at my phone. My heart dropped when I noticed that I had three missed calls from Mrs. Daniels. “Shit. Mrs. Daniels has been trying to call me.” I dialed her number and prayed that she would answer.

“Wren?” Mrs. Daniels asked.

“Yes, it’s me. Is everything alright?”

“I tried calling earlier, but I couldn’t get through to you. I knew you had your class tonight, but no one answered the phone there either. I wouldn’t have left, but I didn’t have a choice when I couldn’t get in touch with you,” she explained.

“Left? What do you mean?” I asked, feeling the panic begin to grow in the pit of my stomach.

“My husband was taken to the hospital, Wren. I called one of my associates, and she is on the way over to Michael’s house now to see about Wyatt. Everything should be okay, but I wanted you to know what was going on.”

“Wyatt’s there alone with Michael?”

“Just until Anita can get there. He was fine when I left. Michael was finishing up some work on his computer, and Wyatt was playing one of his video games.” She paused for just a second before she continued, “Wren, you know I wouldn’t have left him unless it was an emergency.”

“I completely understand. I’m on my way over there right now to make sure everything is okay,” I told her. “Thanks for calling to let me know.”

“Let me know if there is a problem. I will call Anita and let her know you are coming.”

“Thanks,” I told her as I hung up the phone. “I’ve got to head over to Michael’s and make sure Wyatt’s okay!”

“Why? What’s going on?”

“Mrs. Daniels had an emergency and had to leave,” my voice trembled. I fought back my tears as I started walking towards my car.

Following close behind me, Rachel asked, “Don’t you want me to go with you? You don’t need to be driving when you’re upset like this.”

“No. I’ll be fine. I just need to get over there,” I explained as I got in my car and started the engine. I didn’t have time to explain why having her there would only make it harder. Michael wouldn’t be happy about me showing up there early and having someone with me would only make it worse.

My mind raced with a million awful thoughts as I pressed my foot against the accelerator. I couldn’t stop thinking that something terrible had happened. I needed to pull it together. Wyatt didn’t need to see me upset. I took a deep breath, trying to push back the agonizing panic that was spreading through my chest. I hated it. What if Wyatt had one of his meltdowns when Ms. Daniels left? What if Michael lost his temper and hurt him? Damn. I was so sick of worrying all the time. Sick of being scared.

It was just starting to get dark when I pulled up in Michael’s driveway. Looking at Michael’s house, I found it hard to believe that I once called it home. Michael’s parents bought it for us as a wedding present. They wanted us to have the perfect place to start our new lives together, and I fell in love with it the moment I saw it. It didn’t take us long to make the place ours, and I actually loved living there. That was a long time ago. Now, it seemed so unfamiliar, haunting. The porch light was on, revealing all the leaves and dirt scattered by the front door. I shook my head as I thought about how hard I used to work to keep the place clean. I knocked on the door and tried to be patient as I waited for someone to answer. The door swung open, and Michael greeted me with an angry snarl on his face.

When he didn’t say anything, I said, “Mrs. Daniels called, and I came to see if everything is okay with Wyatt.”

“Of course you did,” he growled.

“Look, I don’t want to get into an argument with you about this. Just go tell Wyatt I’m here to get him.”

He stood in the doorway, arms crossed with a smug look on his face and said, “Can’t do that.”

“And why’s that?” I asked, trying to hold back my anger. It was so hard for me not to cuss at him. A million profanities were sitting at the tip of my tongue, but I kept them to myself, knowing I needed to keep my cool.

“He’s not here,” he said with his eyebrow raised in defiance.

“What do you mean he’s not here? Ms. Daniels called ten minutes ago and said she left him here with you.” He repulsed me. I couldn’t believe that the man standing in front of me was someone that I’d actually cared about, that I had once loved. Looking at him now made my skin crawl.