The Marx Brothers

Chapter Thirty Nine - 'Lost & Found'

Today was the day my sister was due to come home.
It had been four days since the fight, three since I had last seen Jett, Phoenix or Nova. I had been avoiding the bombard of texts I had been getting from all three, as well as Oscar and Bradley. Apparently, Bradley had been at the fight and had spotted me, every day he had texted and called me, demanding answers.
It wasn't easy to avoid them all, especially the 'brothers' and Nova. I had trusted them with my life, believed everything they had told me, but now was a completely different story.
I went on with my life, spending my time alone in my home, cleaning, washing, playing with Dee, sleeping, anything that helped to pass the seconds, minutes, hours.

Friday morning, I was awake early, lying in bed with Dee curled up in between my ankles. I was excited about Gracelin coming home, but in the back of my mind, I was nervous too. Was I expected to tell her about what had happened alone? Or was Jett going to do that for me? Either way, I knew it wasn't going to go down well.

With the sun escaping in through the loose slits in the curtains, I opened my phone and read over the texts and missed calls.

The first was from Bradley 'Call me back Eden, you need to explain to me what's going on, I deserve that much'
No, he didn't. I shook my head and moved on to the next, it was from Nova:

'I know you need time babe, but I miss your face, txt me back when you're up to it, we can go grab some burgers or something'

I missed him too. But his face reminded me of what once was, and what was now. It was heartbreaking, and confusing and it gave me a headache.
The last was from Phoenix, and like every other time I saw his name, or heard his name, or even thought his name, I felt a small piece of my heart crack, threatening to collapse completely into my chest.
Unlike the last few messages I had received from him, this one he had left, was simple.

'I won't contact you again, I understand'

My eyebrows creased, I didn't know if this was a tactical reverse psychological attempt or the truth. Most of the times he had contacted me, had solely been to inform me of what was happening with the case, what was happening with Gonzales and the others.
They either remained in jail on refusal of bail or had been released on strict orders in line with their ankle bracelet or parole officers.

I believed that I was safe, for now, but who knew how long that was going to last. What if Jaston and Gonzales had decided that I was in on it the way the Phoenix and Jett were? What if they assumed I had known they were cops the whole time and had set them up? This could only have been the beginning for all I knew. I had been brought into this in such a daring and dangerous way.

Sighing, I pushed my phone away, startling Dee who's head perked up.

"Sorry" I apologized, only having to reach back out for it when it rang.

"Hey" I answered, sitting up

"How are you?" Grace replied, hustling and bustling at what I assumed was the airport

I grit my teeth "Good, and you?"

She gave a sigh "Pretty exhausted, but I'm excited to be coming home. I'm at the airport, so I'll be home in a few hours"

"I'm excited to see you, I feel like it's been ye

ars" I pulled myself out of bed and began walking towards the kitchen

"Make sure we have popcorn and movies ready. I want a shower and then I want you and I to spend the night catching up and hanging out like normal sisters are supposed to"

Catching up. That was going to be interesting.

"Yeah that sounds good, we have a lot to catch up on" I nodded, preparing a bowl of cereal.