Blind Fate

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

"Officer Dawson texted you," Mandy prompts as she comes into the bathroom where I was brushing my teeth, my phone in hand. I grab my phone from her hand, sliding it open to read the message. Mandy eyes me suspiciously. I spit the toothpaste out of my mouth and rinse off the toothbrush. I then rinse out my mouth. Then, I read the text out loud.

"Have you received any letters?" A look passes between Mandy and I before I walk past her to the door. I pull it open slowly, just to make sure that a letter hadn't been left outside the door for me to find. I look out on the ground and then down the hallway. Nothing. I close the door then, making sure to lock it afterwards. I text Dawson back, telling him that I hadn't.

    Amanda wears confusion on her features, probably mirroring my own expression. I just shake my head at her, indicating that there's nothing outside. She lets out a breath, releasing the death grip she had on the door frame of the bathroom. Dawson then texts back, asking if I have my license to carry. In fact, I did. On my 21st birthday, I went out to get it. The fear of my father being released from prison early was always in the back of my mind and carrying made me feel safer. However, I had left my gun at home. I obviously wouldn't be able to get it through airport security without being arrested.

    I told Dawson this, that I had my license but I didn't have a gun. His reply was simple yet dangerous.

    'Get one'.

    He knew that things were going to escalate and I knew, too. When I met Amanda's eyes, worry was in them once again. I reached into my pocket, making sure my car key was in it. She watches me with careful eyes.

"Where do we have to go?" She asks, knowing just from my expression that Dawson needed us to do something.

"I have to buy a gun."

———

I scanned my eyes over all my options before looking back up at Mandy. She shrugs, as if saying 'you'll know better than I do'. After a little while, I pick out a handgun and a holster, show my license for it, and pay for it. After that, we leave the gun shop and head to get something to eat. We sit down at a local BBQ restaurant that Mandy suggested and look over the menu.

    After a few moments, the waiter comes and we both end up ordering bbq chicken sandwiches. Once the waiter leaves, I turn to Mandy. There was something on my mind that had been bothering me and I knew I had to voice it. "Mandy, I need to ask you something."

    "Hm?" This specific thing had been bugging me since our conversation in the middle of the night last night.

    "Do you remember anything at all? Or are those two years just completely blank?" I had been meaning to ask her this since the accident happened but she was fragile after the accident so I couldn't ask.

    She thinks to herself for a moment, her eyebrows scrunching together in thought. "I remember some things very hazily. But only things that I've been told happened. Like you. And Max. And some of senior year. That's why I'm so interested when people tell me about things that happened. It makes me sort of remember in a way. But the memory is never clear. It's almost like my mind knows that those two years existed, but it decided to block it out. I guess you could say that it made those two years a giant puzzle and threw away the pieces. Then, as people tell me things, my mind starts to fill in those pieces. I don't know if I'll ever get the full puzzle but for right now, I'm fine with the pieces life has given me."

    As she finishes, I nod, taking in everything she was saying and then I look down, thinking about if there was anything else I could help her remember. There was so much that I could tell her but I wanted it to be a good one. I smile before looking up and meeting here eyes. I decided on one specific memory.