When Hell Freezes Over (25 page)

Nikki looked at Meridan. “Are you serious? You think Sam would be stupid enough to do something like this?”

“Sam's capable of anything; you know that,” she said nervously.

Nichole sat there, contemplating what to do next. She looked over at Meridan and asked, “What do you want to do?”

“It might be a good idea to call Deacon so he can check things out.”

Picking up her cell phone, Nikki said, “That might not be a bad idea, Dee.”

Minutes later, Deacon was there and sure enough, someone had broken in through the back door and shut off the power in the house. Nothing was stolen, but spray painted on the living room wall were words which shook both of them to their core. Deacon took pictures and filed an official report. Worried, he advised Nikki to stay with him for a while. He also told them he would check in with Sam's probation officer to get more information. Nikki refused to leave her house and decided to keep her handgun closer to her. Before Deacon left, he helped them paint over the words which read,
Get ready to meet your maker
.

 

K
eaton woke up early for some strange reason. He was a little concerned that he hadn't heard from Meridan. She'd told him she would call when the banquet was over, but she hadn't. He looked over at the clock and noticed it was around five a.m. He turned over and found MaLeah asleep on the pillow next to him. He smiled and kissed her on the cheek. He decided he would try and call Meridan in a couple of hours.

Jacob woke up with a serious hangover. Some of last night was a blur, but he remembered his confrontation with Meridan. He crawled out of bed and walked over to bedroom Meridan slept in. He knocked on the door. “Meridan? You up?” There was no response. He knocked again, but there was still no answer. He turned the knob and said, “I'm coming in.”

He looked at the bed and noticed that it hadn't been slept in. On the pillow was a note:

Jacob,

I don't know who you were last night. You've really hurt me. I can't believe you said the things you said. I can't believe you would intentionally try to ruin our friendship. No one and I mean no one can make me do anything I don't want to do. I'll always care about you, but I'll never look at you the same way ever again.

Goodbye,

Meridan

Jacob sat on the bed and stared at the note. Had he lost Meridan forever?

MaLeah woke Keaton up, singing her favorite nursery rhymes. He turned over and asked, “What are you doing in here?” She had been there for a while and he knew it, but decided to tease her.

She giggled. “Monsters were in my room.”

“Why didn't you go wake up your daddy?”

Frowning, she answered, “He was making a funny noise.”

“What kind of noise?”

MaLeah started snorting her nose like a pig.

Keaton tickled her. “He was snoring, Shorty. Are you hungry?”

“I want ice cream, Uncie Key!”

“Shhh! Come on so I can fix you some breakfast.”

“K!”

Downstairs, Keaton pulled out a skillet and the eggs. MaLeah turned on the TV and started watching the
Rugrats
. He pulled bacon from the refrigerator and placed it in the pan. Staring at the clock, he'd waited as long as he could. He reached for the telephone and dialed Meridan's cell phone. It rang several times before her sleepy voice picked up.

“Hello?”

Just hearing her voice made him melt. He smiled. “Good morning. I'm sorry I woke you up, but you said you were going to call me last night.”

She took a breath and said, “I'm sorry, Keaton. It was so late.”

“It's okay. I can't wait to see you this afternoon.” A brief silence followed. “Meridan?”

Solemnly, she answered, “I'm here. Keaton, I'm already back in Philly.”

“What do you mean, you're back in Philly? What happened? Why didn't you call me?”

Fear swept over his body, then he got angry.

Sitting up in bed, she said, “I'm fine, Keaton.”

Cutting her off, he asked, “Are you at home?”

“No, I'm at Nikki's house.”

That confirmed to him that something was very wrong.

He gritted his teeth. “I'm on my way over.”

“Keaton!”

The telephone went dead.

Keaton turned off the stove and picked MaLeah up and hurried toward the stairs. He gave her a Pop Tart and said, “MaLeah, Uncie Key has to go somewhere. Come on so you can get in bed with your parents. Okay?”

“I wanna go, too!”

Running up the stairs, he said, “Not this time, Shorty.”

Keaton hurriedly dressed and ran out the door in record time. He knew in his heart something had happened to Meridan. He was trying not to let his imagination get the best of him, but if Jacob had harmed her in any way, he was a dead man.

Keaton came to a screeching halt in Nichole's driveway. She met him at the door and could see the stress on his face as he stalked toward her.

Gritting his teeth, he asked, “Where is she, Nichole?”

Trying to block his path, she said, “Keaton, calm down. She's fine. You can't go barging upstairs upsetting her.”

He grabbed Nichole's shoulders, shaking her. “What did he do to her?”

Meridan walked into the room and softly said, “I'm okay, Keaton. You can stop shaking Nikki.”

He stared at her for a moment. He didn't know what he was expecting to see, but he felt instant relief.

He hugged Nichole and said, “I'm sorry. Did I hurt you?”

Rubbing her shoulder, she answered, “It's okay and, believe me, I understand how you feel. But, damn, you have a grip!”

Keaton had already tuned Nichole out. Meridan walked over to him and laid her head against his chest. His voice cracked when he spoke to Nichole. Trying to hold his composure, he asked, “Nikki, could you give us a minute?”

She gnawed on her nail. “Sure, holler if you need me. I'll be in my room.”

There was silence in the room for what seemed like hours. Keaton picked her up into his arms and sat down on the sofa, placing her in his lap. Meridan was unable to look at him at the moment.

“Are you ready to tell me what happened and why you didn't call me when you got in?”

She cleared her throat. “Jacob and I got into a big argument. He yelled, I yelled, and I just thought it would be best if I didn't spend the night there.”

He swallowed hard and calmly asked, “Did he put his hands on you?”

Meridan looked into his eyes and saw fire. She could tell he was trying to be calm. She knew he was a ticking time bomb, but she couldn't lie to him.

He cleared his throat and asked again, “Meridan? Did he put his hands on you?”

She opened her robe and showed him the mark on her neck.

He jumped up from the sofa, nearly knocking her to the floor. He paced back and forth across the floor. “Son of a bitch! What did he do to you?”

Closing her robe, she said, “That's all he did, Keaton. He did it just to piss you off.”

“Well, he succeeded. I'm going to break his damn neck! Do you hear me!”

Meridan stood up and tried to calm him down. He continued to pace the floor and started mumbling in his Navajo dialect.

Grabbing his hands, she yelled, “Keaton! Keaton! Listen to me! Forget about him. Please don't get yourself all worked up over Jacob. You have to think about your blood pressure and he's not worth it. You're all I care about so please don't! I would never forgive myself if you made yourself sick over Jacob. I should've listened to you. I should've never gone down there.”

Meridan hugged his waist and cried. She cried because Keaton loved her enough to defend her honor.

He hugged her tightly and softly said, “Get your things. I'm taking you home.”

Shaking her head, she said, “I don't feel like going home right now.”

“No, you're going home with me to Texas…Today!”

Keaton wanted to get Meridan out of the environment so they could regroup.

For all he knew, Jacob could come to Philadelphia, looking for her. If he did that, he would have to kill him for sure. What he didn't know was Jacob was the last person he should be worried about.

“Texas! I can't leave my job and run off to Texas!”

Nikki rushed into the room after hearing all of the yelling. “Why are you two yelling? Meridan, did you tell Keaton about Sam?”

Keaton stopped yelling and looked over at Nichole curiously. “Who the hell is Sam?”

Nikki and Meridan looked at each other in disbelief.

Meridan sat down and said, “Damn, Nikki!”

Stuttering, Nikki said, “What? You didn't tell him?”

With her head still hanging, she answered, “No, not yet.”

“My bad, Dee,” she apologized.

Keaton folded his arms and angrily yelled, “When is somebody going to tell me what the hell is going on?”

“This is such a mess, Keaton.” Meridan sighed. “Besides what went down with Jacob, that classmate of mine is…is—”

Confused, he folded his arms and asked, “What?”

Meridan sat down. “Keaton, remember when I told you about how I got this scar?”

“Yes,” he responded with a frustrated look on his face.

Hesitating, she said, “Well, it happened because I pressed charges against the person who sexually assaulted me in college. Me, Nichole, my friends Chris, Freddie, Valerie, Steve, and Sam were hanging out in the dorm. I had too much to drink and it just happened. Sam was the person who assaulted me and stabbed me with the bottle.”

Keaton's eyes widened as he listened. He swallowed hard, then asked, “I thought you were a virgin?”

“I was, Keaton,” she whispered. “You don't have to have intercourse to be sexually assaulted.”

A lump formed in Keaton's throat but he was able to say, “Is this the same person who's been calling on your phone?”

“Yes,” she said, hesitating.

He embraced her. “I'm sorry, Meridan.”

Meridan continued, saying, “Sam's out of jail and threatening both me and Nikki. Someone broke in here last night and spray painted a threat on the wall. We both believe Sam is behind it.”

“What kind of threat?”

She sighed. “One that intends to do harm to both of us.”

Keaton really didn't know what to think or what to say. He had always felt Meridan had been holding back information about her scar all along, but he never dreamed it was something this serious.

He turned to Nikki and asked, “Did you call the police?”

She gnawed on her nail again. “My boyfriend, Deacon, is a policeman. He came by and took pictures and filed a report.”

“It's not safe for you guys to be here. Nikki, do you have somewhere else to stay?”

She frowned. “I'm not leaving my house because of Sam!”

He walked over to Nikki. “Look, it's obvious this Sam person is unstable. What do you think would've happened if you two had been here? I don't want to see you guys hurt. Now, if you don't have anywhere to stay, you're welcome to come to Texas with us, but you're not staying here until the police close the case. Now go pack, Nichole!”