Then There Was You(111)

My mind was boggled, but I was just thankful to have her with me, safe and sound. Teenagers. They thought they were invincible. Alexis was no exception.

The emotions on Chris’s face were unreadable. He drove us back to our house in silence.

Without speaking another word to either of us, he traipsed into the house and disappeared into my bedroom while Alexis and I stood in the living room.

“Please, Alexis,” I begged, “I hate that I even have to, but I’m pulling the mom card here. Never go back to Southside ever again.” I looked at her dead in the eye so she sees how serious I was. “It’s dangerous.”

Alexis shook her head vigorously. “I won’t, Mom. I swear.”

I crossed my arms over my chest, suddenly overcome by mental exhaustion. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

Alexis nodded, but hung her head in shame knowing what a scare she gave us. “Yeah. He didn’t hurt me. He gave me the creeps, but he didn’t hurt me.”

I narrowed my eyes, not sure I should believe her. “He had you against the wall, Alexis.”

She nodded, looking as exhausted as I was. “I know. He kept trying to get me to kiss him. You guys literally showed up the minute he backed me into the corner.”

I pounced on her then, not even caring if she minded. I had my daughter back and I wanted to hold her close. I couldn’t imagine what would’ve happened if she hadn’t called us. Talk about a mother’s worst nightmare. This was it. “I’m so glad we got there when we did. Thank you for calling me.”

“I’m just glad Chris was with you,” she said gratefully, clutching me tighter.

“Me too, honey.” With a new sternness I added, “About Olivia. You tell her that she has twenty-four hours to confess this little fiasco with her mother, or I will. I don’t try to include myself in what other people’s children do, but when it involves my daughter, I make it my business. Do you understand?”

Alexis had never seen me so furious. Wide-eyed with shock, she blurted, “But mom!”

I held up a finger, glaring at her. “No buts! My decision is final.”

She rolled her eyes and huffed, but I knew deep down that she understood the severity of all of this. “Okay,” she mumbled and trudged up the steps.

“I love you, honey,” I called after her. “I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t love you.”

She slumped her shoulders and hung her head shamefully, but didn’t say another word as she disappeared around the corner.





I found Chris lying face up on my bed, staring at the ceiling. His eyes were glassy, and his arms were folded across his chest.

I sat down on the bed next to him.

“You all right?” I asked.

He nodded, but said nothing. I stared at him as we sat quietly for several minutes.

Chris finally broke the silence, vocalizing my worst fears. “She could have gotten herself killed out there.”

I gulped, forcing out the mental pictures that had been haunting me since I saw her shoved against the wall in that bedroom. “I know,” I said softly.

“I’m glad we got there when we did. That guy could have… he could have…” Chris couldn’t finish his sentence.

“I know,” I whispered, shutting my eyes tight. Don’t think about it.

His drained voice curled itself around me. “I’ve never been so worried before.”

I lay down and curled up beside him, resting my head on his chest. Listening to the gentle thump of his heart, I whispered, “Me neither.”

Chris wrapped his arms around me. “I don’t know what I would have done if something had happened to her. Tonight made me realize just how much I love both of you.”

“We love you, too,” I whispered, kissing him on the cheek.

We curled up together, clutching each other, thankful Alexis was home safe and sound. Eventually our breaths synchronized, and we both fell asleep in each other’s arms.





I listened to quiet sound of Salem’s breath against my chest. Thinking back to the dangerous streets of Southside caused me to shudder beneath her. Things had changed so much in fourteen years. Southside had always been considered the ‘wrong side of the tracks,’ but in the fourteen years since I’d lived there that area had become a cesspool of crack houses and meth labs. Alexis could have been killed.

The thought made the lump in my throat return, but I swallowed it back. Suddenly, I knew what I needed to do. I eased out from under Salem and slipped down the hall in the moonlit shadows toward Alexis’s room.

Quietly, I knocked on the closed door. “Alexis?” I murmured.

“Come in.” I heard her muffled voice through the door. Cracking it open, I saw her leaning back against the headboard of her bed, cradling her laptop across her legs.