The Death of Lila Jane (15 page)

March 5, 2019

“Did you get the baby?” my mother asked as I cut into my slice of king cake
[44]
.

I shook my head as I shoveled another bite of cake into my mouth.

It was a tradition for those who found the plastic baby in their slice to host the next King Cake Party. But I had been hosting it for the last few years, ever since my mother became ill and needed someone to look after her.

At first, it was just the two of us, but recently we’d added a few others to our celebration. My eyes went to Eva, who adjusted the clip in her auburn hair that she’d recently cut to just below her ears.

“That baby is a choking hazard,” Eva warned as she dipped her finger into the creamy center of her cake before sticking it in her mouth.

I rolled my eyes because I knew she just didn’t understand. She wasn’t from Louisiana.

“It’s tradition,” I groaned.

“Just because people have done something for a long time, doesn’t make it right,” she shot back as I pushed from my seat, grabbing both our paper plates to throw in the trash.

My mother held her hand over her plate to keep me from taking it. “I want a second slice,” She laughed.

“Back home we just eat donuts,” Eva continued and my mother rolled her eyes. We’d all heard this story so many times but it didn’t stop Eva from telling it again. She grew up in Pennsylvania and on Fat Tuesday, she’d celebrate Fastnacht Day
[45]
.

              The sound of an actual baby crying cut her story short as she pushed from the table. “Speaking of babies.”

              “I’ll get him. Relax,” I called out as I headed to the bedroom. Riley was standing up in his playpen, his face red as tears streamed down his cheeks. He had been running a slight fever as his first tooth began to erupt.

              “Hey, little man,” I muttered as I lifted him into my arms. Riley laid his head against my chest as he rubbed his chubby fist against his eye, still exhausted. His thin, dark hair sticking up haphazardly.

              I carried back to the main living area and he immediately perked up at the sound of Eva’s voice.

              “You want your mamma?” I asked as he leaned over, struggling to reach for her. She took him with thanks before she lifted her shirt and began to nurse him, pulling a receiving blanket over his head.

              I trudged to the fridge, grabbing myself a beer. I popped off the cap and began to guzzle down the contents.

              “I’m going to get some air.” I grabbed a strand of purple beads from the counter and dropped them over her head. “There.” I laughed as she grabbed a plastic party hat and tossed it at me.

              Laughing, I stepped out onto the front porch of my house into the muggy afternoon heat. It was the first place I’d ever felt like was really my home. It was full of new happy memories and endless possibilities for the future.

              That didn’t mean that the past didn’t continue to haunt me, but I’d learned to grow from it and learn. I couldn’t control the things that had happened to me, but I could use it to be a better person. That’s exactly what I did.

              I now made my livelihood building homes like my own for families in need; struggling people who are looking to start off their life with more than just a bad attitude. I offered them work and soon had my own thriving business.

Everyone worked hard because they all knew what it was like to not know where their next paycheck would come from. We grew to be a family. There wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do for any of them, and I knew I would never have to worry about being alone again.

I drank my beer as the condensation on the bottle pooled in the palm of my hand. It was a hot one and the heat showed no signs of letting up. My eyes danced over the black Dodge truck that sat in my driveway. I’d traded in my Impala long ago to be able to haul supplies to housing sites. It stung to have to give it up but what I got in return meant so much more.

Had I not run away with Lila years ago, I wouldn’t have any of this, but that didn’t mean I didn’t regret it. The only reason her father didn’t make sure I got in trouble was because I’d promised to stay away from her. That was an easy choice because I knew after I’d called him, she’d never want to talk to me again. But he didn’t want me right across the street either, so I never went back to Daven’s. Instead, I embraced my past and used it to grow.

I’d spent many nights wondering if I would have taken her to the mall that night, what would things be like now? Would she ever have gotten her chance to feel like she was alive?

Leaning against the porch railing of my home that I’d built with my own hands, I smiled as I could hear a Second Line parade
[46]
approaching.

“Eva, Mom! Get out here! You’re gonna miss it!”

The screen door banged behind me as I hurried down the front steps, smiling and yelling as the parade made its way up our road. I took Riley from Eva’s hands and we joined in with the others, dancing and following the band on the road to
As the Saints Go Marching In
.

Eva grabbed my free hand and I spun her as she giggled, throwing her head back without a care in the world.

When I’d first met her, she had pretty much given up on life. It felt amazing now to watch her embrace it, even when the times got tough. That was the spirit of New Orleans. Things got bad but we always managed to make things work and pull through by helping each other.

Even after all of these years, there was no shortage of people still feeling the effects of Hurricane Katrina. Everywhere you looked you could still see the remnants of its destruction. But people still came together and danced in the streets, thankful they had survived.

Eva pulled Riley from my hands, holding him up in the air as he laughed. I pressed a kiss to the top of her head as I spun around. My bottle slipped from my fingers and busted against the pavement below.

My past had caught up with me. And my future, continued on, leaving me standing alone in the middle of the road, not sure which direction I should be pulled.

A woman stood in front of my home, and though she was nearly a block away, there was no mistaking who it was. Lila’s eyes danced over my new house, that stood where the dilapidated shack my father used to own once was. I was unable to save the original structure, the damage was too severe. But from its foundation, I created something better.

I watched as she said something to the blonde beside her and they turned to leave. I was unable or unwilling to move as they made their way back to the sidewalk, but Lila stopped in front of the mailbox, her hand going to her mouth as she read the name.

That’s when her friend noticed me, standing alone and separated from the parade. She pointed in my direction and Lila spun around, her eyes wide like she’d seen a ghost.

I barely registered Eva as she stepped in front of me and placed Riley into my arms, her smile beaming before it fell and she was asking me if something was wrong.

“I think I know her,” I mumbled and Eva turned around to look at the women.

What happened next was like a slow motion explosion from a movie.

“Lila,” I called out but I could see her expression had fallen and her flight or fight instinct was quick to take over, just like it had all those years before when I had her in my car. I’d talked her out of running last time and what happened after nearly destroyed her life.

              She hurried off the curb, grabbing her friends arm and pulling her with her. I began stalking toward my house, my feet moving on their own accord. Eva was at my side asking me questions but I couldn’t register her words.

“Take Riley. I’ll explain later. I promise.”

Eva took the baby from my arms and I continued on, alone.

“Lila! Just wait,” I called out as I began to jog down the road. When I stopped in front of her, I couldn’t speak. She looked the same but so different. She was a little taller now and her figure had filled out a little too. “You came back,” I muttered as her friend looked between us.

“You’re still here,” Lila whispered as if she didn’t believe to actually find me. Maybe she wished she hadn’t. That stung but it was the way I’d wanted it. I made sure she was forced to move on and I couldn’t blame her if she actually had.

“How are you?” My eyes danced over her body and instead of crossing her arms or averting her gaze as she would have in the past, she stood confidently now, her eyes searching mine for answers.

“I’m okay. You… you’re married? And you have a baby.” She glanced up the road to where the parade that was now barely audible.

I laughed before shaking my head. “No. I’m not married. That’s Eva,” I explained but her expression didn’t change. “Eva is just someone I helped out. She moved down here when her boyfriend left her. The father,” I elaborated and hoped that my incoherent ramblings made sense to her.

“Oh.”

“I’m going to go check out that parade,” Bridget interjected as she looked to both of us before hurrying up the road to give us some privacy.

I shoved my hands deep into the pockets of my jeans. “What about you? I heard you were dating Silas. You guys set a date yet or…? I never got my invitation.” I laughed but it was forced.

“How did you know about Silas? Daven.” She nodded and let out a small laugh. “Well, that’s interesting because he would barely tell me anything about you, except that you went to take care of your mom.”

“I did but I realized this is where I belonged so I brought her back with me. I figured she could use a fresh start too and I wanted to give her some happy memories of this place.” I gestured toward the house and Lila turned to look at the structure.

“Looks a lot different.”

“A lot of things have changed over the years.”

Reaching out to me, she hesitated before rubbing her fingers along my stubbled jaw. “I can see that.”

“I meant to shave but it’s been a long week with Mardi Gras.”

“No. I like it. It suits you.”

I smiled widely but hers fell. “What?”

“I can’t see your dimples now.”

My eyes lingered on her for a moment before I gained the courage to ask her what I’d wondered for years. “So Silas. Is he good to you?”

“He always has been,” she admitted. “We’d started dating a few years ago but broke things off when he left for college. I didn’t want him to not get the full experience, you know?”

“Yeah. I know how crazy those astrophysicists are,” I joked and she let out a genuine laugh.

“So Eva,” her voice trailed off.

“Never happened. She’s like a little sister to me.”

“That’s… nice. I’m glad you have your own little family around you now. I was worried you’d be alone.”

“Do you… want to maybe get something to eat or…?”

“You wanna go get
bourbon faced on Shit Street?”
She asked, her eyes narrowing as her teeth pressed into her plump lower lip.

I held out my hand and she slid her fingers over mine, intertwining them.

“I need to get some beads,” she mused and I shook my head.

“I’ll get you whatever beads you want, but this time, I’m going to make you
earn
them,” I joked, winking at her as she smacked me playfully on the chest.

***

April 3, 2021

I married Lila Jane in the lacy white dress she’d worn the first day I met her with a real pearl necklace hung around her neck.

That winter, I gave her matching earrings to celebrate the birth of our son, Kaden James Harken the second, my p'tit boug.

My mother passed away three months later and we made sure her life was celebrated with a second line parade. As my business grew, we moved away from the city to settle down in a small town to raise our son, but I refused to sell our old home, knowing one day I would pass it down to my own son. I still sang from time to time but now it was to a much smaller audience who preferred lullabies. Lila continued to attend college even though I knew it was hard on her. But I didn’t want her to have any regrets in life. I was going to make sure my family had everything they ever needed because I knew what it felt like to not have anyone.

I was one of the lucky few who’d gotten a second chance and I wasn’t going to waste a single second of my life with Lila Jane.

THE END

TERESA MUMMERT
grew up in a small town in Pennsylvania where she began dating her husband when they were only sixteen years old. They married at eighteen and soon moved to Louisiana as her husband began his military career. They are the proud parents of four children that they are raising in Georgia.

Teresa began writing when her husband was deployed to Afghanistan as a way to cope with him being away at war. She soon became a 
New York Times
 and
 USA Today
 bestselling author. Her work includes the word of mouth bestselling, 
White Trash Trilogy
, which landed her a three book publishing deal with Simon & Schuster. She has also written the 
New York Times
 and 
USA Today
 bestselling novel 
The Note
, the
 USA Today
 bestselling novel 
Safe Word
, as well as
Perfect Lie
, 
Pretty Little Things
, the 
Honor series
, 
Rellik
, 
The Good Girls
, 
Something Wicked
,
The Death of Lila Jane
and the
USA Today
bestselling co- written novel
Sweet Nothing
. 

Future releases include 
Crave, Cruel, Depravity, Hollow, Weeping Willow, Paper Doll, The Deep, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead,  Rocked, Before I Wake, Fall to Pieces,  Something in the Water, Superficial,
and
 Victim.  
She also has a Middle-Grade children's novel coming out soon titled 
The Seeker 
under the
 
pseudonym T.S. Mummert.