The Truth She Knew (3 page)

The party brought my thoughts back to Walker and a small smile passed my lips. I’d never seen eyes so blue, and his dark hair made them even more prominent. He had grabbed my attention when the group arrived at the party. They were all hot, but he was by far the best in the group.

I grabbed my purse off the floor and rummaged for the small piece of paper with his phone number on it. Maybe I would call him tomorrow . . . or not. I wasn’t comfortable picking up the phone and calling a stranger, but he’d asked. I wondered if the phone number was really his.

I folded the paper and put it back into my purse. I would call him tomorrow.

I rubbed my eyes and glanced at my alarm clock. It was 9
a.m.
I sat up on the edge of my bed and slid into my fuzzy slippers. I paused for a moment to listen, but only silence responded. Hope flickered through me.

As much as I loved Fridays, I hated Saturdays. I made sure I was scheduled to work every weekend. If I wasn’t, I volunteered to take someone’s shift. My coworkers thought I was a great team player who needed the money, which was true, but I also needed a legitimate excuse not to stay at home.

As I made it halfway up the stairs to the living room, my skin began to itch with the tension in the air. I hesitated and considered going back downstairs, but my stomach growled and propelled me forward.

Mama sat in her favorite chair, and Patsy was on the couch.

“
Morning, Lacey.”

“
Hi, Mama,” I said. I walked over and placed a kiss on her cheek.

“
Does anyone want breakfast?” I asked as I approached the kitchen.

“
No, but get yourself something to eat and then I want to talk to you,” she said.

Patsy stared at her feet. I couldn’t read her face, and that put me at a disadvantage. I tingled with the all-too-familiar feeling that something was up, but I couldn’t tell which one of us was in trouble.

“
What’s your schedule today?” Mama asked.

“
I leave in a few hours and work from noon until six
.
”

“
Well, this won’t take long. You received a phone call last night after nine o’clock and you’re aware of the rules.”

“
Who was it?” I asked between spoonfuls of Grape Nuts.

“
Some boy named Walker.”

My spoon stopped midway to my mouth.

“
Walker?” I squeezed my eyes shut as I realized which one of us was in trouble.

“
Do you know a Walker? Don’t you lie to me either. Who’s Walker?”

“
I met him last night, but I never gave him my phone number.”

“
Well, how in the hell did he get it then, Lacey? You’re lying—it’s written all over your face.”

“
No, Mama, I swear I just met him last night. Maybe Joss gave it to him.”

“
Tell me who he is and who gave him the number if it wasn’t you. Your friends know not to hand out your information, and they don’t call after nine
.
”

“
Mama, I’m sorry. I’ll find out and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

“
Yes, you will. I pay for an unlisted phone number, and that means I don’t want it given to other people.”

I got up from the table, rinsed my bowl, and loaded it into the dishwasher.

“
I need to get ready for work.”

“
No, I’m not finished yet. Come sit down.”

I winced and grabbed the blanket off the back of the chair. I might as well get as comfortable as possible; this was going to hurt.

“
Are you lying to me about going to work today?”

“
What? No.” I tried to remain calm, but my heart knocked against my chest, and my head began a throb in rhythm with it.

“
Where did you meet Walker?”

“
At Joss’s last night. Her brother invited friends over and he introduced himself.”

Her eyes narrowed as she searched my face. I had nothing to hide, but I’d been defending my interest in boys since the age of thirteen. I’d been a late bloomer, and when I had my first kiss I told Mama about it. She screamed at me for an hour. She called me a slut and a whore. By the time she finished, I had promised myself never to share those first moments with her again. I took the piece of me that wanted a good relationship with her, locked it, and buried the key.

Mama turned to Patsy. “What do you think, Patsy? Do you think she’s lying?”

I turned to Patsy and mentally reminded her that she owed me for last night. I didn’t have to come home and help diffuse the situation. I could have made up a story about a flat tire and left Patsy to fend for herself.

Patsy glanced at me briefly as fear flickered across her face.

“
No, I think she’s telling the truth, Lynn,” she said. Her body tensed up as the words left her mouth.

We both waited in silence for Mama’s reaction.

“
Lacey, you’re not trustworthy enough to date boys. You’ve been boy crazy since you were in kindergarten and have made horrible choices since you were thirteen. I thought, after all this time of praying for you, it might help, but there’s something deeper here. I’ve been praying more, and God has shown me you are possessed by a demon. It’s a demon of lust, and it draws you to these boys who just want to sleep with you. Then, you give out our phone number to anyone who pays any attention to you. You don’t show any regard for me, Patsy, or even yourself. I’ve told you before, and I guess I’ll say it again to get it through your thick head. You don’t give out my telephone number unless you ask my permission first. I’ve told you that over and over again. Yet, here you are giving it to some boy you met for five seconds.”

“
Mama, I didn’t give it to him,” I snapped.

I sank back in the chair realizing that my frustration had gotten the better of me.

“
Shut up, you filthy demon! You won’t take my daughter!” Mama spat.

Silence spread through the air like a bad disease and Mama glared at me. I didn’t dare utter another word. I’d said too much already.

Fear flowed through me, and I tried to ignore the small voice inside my head telling me she was right again. A heaviness settled inside my chest as I realized she was telling the truth. I had made some wrong choices with guys. I didn’t know why I liked the bad boys, but I did. I tried to hide it, but she always found out. I was tired of screwing up and I was sick of hurting Mama. My eyes filled with tears.

“
Mama,” my voice came out as a whisper. “I’m sorry. I don’t want a demon. I’ll keep praying and change.”

“
That’s what you always say, Lacey, but nothing changes. Don’t you understand how much I love you? Don’t you recognize that I’m protecting you from making mistakes? Lacey, you’re my baby. I realize you’re eighteen, but you’ll always be my baby. I’m saving your soul. I’ll keep fighting and praying for you until we win this battle.”

Her expression softened as she began rocking. The squeak of the recliner was the only sound in the room. I glanced at Patsy. She remained tense and quiet.

I flicked a piece of lint off the blanket. I needed to tell Walker not to call again. I couldn’t date anyone right now; I was too screwed up. No one wanted to be in a relationship with someone who had a demon. I needed to make the bigger choice and stop things before anything else happened.

“
Go get ready for work, Lacey,” Mama said.

I wasn’t stupid enough to sit there any longer. I wiped a tear from my cheek as I went downstairs and got ready for work.

“
Hey, Lacey,” Becky said as I walked into the children’s section of the department store.

“
Hey, Becky. Was it busy this morning?”

“
Not too bad. It’s so nice outside that I think people are at the lake instead of shopping today.”

“
That could be good or bad I guess. There’s nothing worse than standing around for six hours,” I said as I punched my ID number into the register.

“
Well, since tomorrow’s Sunday and a new sale is starting, I changed the signs for the petite section. You only need to take care of the ad for your department.”

“
Thanks, Becky.”

“
You okay, hon? You seem a little down.”

“
Yeah, I’m good.”

“
Okay then, see ya later.”

Becky waved and walked down the aisle past the fine jewelry and men’s suits departments. She’d taken me under her wing when I first started working at the store. Although she was in her forties, we worked well together and had become friends. I’d thought about talking to her at times, but if she ever found out how messed up I was, she wouldn’t want anything else to do with me. I didn’t want to lose her.

No one understood how Mama heard God. They didn’t realize how special her gift was. Even though she hurt me sometimes, I couldn’t let my friends talk bad about her. She was still my Mama.

The day moved along quicker than I had anticipated. Although the children’s department was small, it typically stayed steady with customers. We sold great clothes, and some of the kids were beyond cute. I wasn’t sure I wanted kids personally, but I figured working around them would take care of any baby cravings for years to come.

I glanced at the clock: 5:45
p.m
. Only fifteen minutes left.

“
Hi, I was wondering where the toddler shirts are?”

I froze immediately, recognizing his voice. My eyes flicked up and met the same pair of intense blue eyes I’d seen at Joss’s last night.

“
Walker? What are you doing here?” I tried to hide my surprise, but I never expected him to show up at my job.

“
Well, I was a little concerned about calling you last night. Your mom wasn’t too happy when she answered the phone. I decided to call Tammy and ask her where you worked, so here I am. I wanted to talk to you,” he said. His eyes gleamed as he rested his hands on the counter and leaned toward me.

“
Tammy? Did she give you my phone number too?” I asked as I crossed my arms in front of me.

“
Yeah, after you left the party she came over and started talking to me. I’m sure she’s nice, but I wasn’t interested in anything other than getting your phone number. She was cool about it and helped me out.”

My brows knitted together as I realized who had caused me so much grief with Mama.

“
Walker, Tammy wasn’t being cool about it, she was mad. She knew Mama would be hot pissed if you called after nine.”

“
Lacey, I’m so sorry, I did call late. I just wanted to talk to you and make sure you were okay. You mentioned leaving due to a family emergency.” He stepped back from the counter and ran his hand through his dark hair.

“
It’s alright, Walker. It’s not your fault. Tammy was playing her games. I’ll deal with her later.”

“
Am I allowed to call anymore?” His jaw tightened as he waited for my response.

“
I’m not sure. Besides, what if I don’t want you to call me?”

“
Then say the word, but all I ask is that you go out with me one time before you decide.”

I bit my lip and leaned back against the counter. I reminded myself about the promise I’d made earlier, but he was amazingly hot and my entire body tingled at the thought of being alone with him. Even Mama’s warnings couldn’t compete with him standing in front of me. The longer he stared at me, the more the arguing in my head quieted. But just when I was about to agree, all the years of “stranger danger” surfaced. I didn’t know anything about him. My face paled as hundreds of scenarios played through my head.

A smile spread across his face. “It’s okay, Lacey, I won’t kidnap you. We can grab a bite to eat and stay in public, alright?”

I laughed—my face had betrayed my thoughts. I really needed to work on that.

“
Let me ask Mama,” I said.

He lifted one eyebrow. “Is it really a good idea to ask her? I don’t think she likes me.”

“
I’ll take care of it. I’ll meet you out front in ten minutes.”

“
Perfect!”

He walked away, looked over his shoulder at me, and smiled from ear to ear.

The second he turned away, reality crashed down on me. What was I about to do? I stared at the phone and balled my fingers up. One dinner wasn’t going to send me into a demonic frenzy, right? I could control myself for a few hours. I grabbed the phone and punched in the numbers before I changed my mind.

Mama answered and I told her I was going to grab a bite to eat with Joss after work. I couldn’t tell what kind of mood she was in, but that wasn’t my biggest problem at the moment. I was going to spend time with Walker, the exact thing I had told myself I wasn’t going to do. Arguing with myself was a moot point now; I’d already said yes. And even though I realized it was wrong, I wanted to go out with him.

Sonic was packed. Walker had chosen Sonic so we could eat in his car and talk without anyone bothering us but still be surrounded by people. Sonic and Central Avenue were the places to be on Friday and Saturday nights.

The occasional horn honked as high school and college students drove up and down the street and scoped the scene for friends and parties. Sometimes I was in the long line of cars, but Mama didn’t approve of cruising the strip. She said it was a hotbed for demons, drinking, and sex. I had no idea if she was right or not but I wanted to hang out with my friends, so the rare times I went, I kept it on the down-low like everything else. So far God had kept his mouth shut about it. I couldn’t figure out why he told her some things and not others. I wondered if he would tattle about me having dinner with Walker tonight. I pushed the thought out of my head.