Whodunit

Chapter 14

"Dmitri, please don't go," Anisa begged as Dmitri grabbed the glass, alcohol bottle Ximena had left on the coffee table.

Nubia had retreated upstairs to keep an eye on Zaria. The two of them agreed to keep watch downstairs to make sure no one or nothing sneaked in. Not to mention, someone had to unlock the door when Jordan came back.

Dmitri gripped the nozzle of the bottle. "I'm not going far. I'm just stepping on the driveway to see if I can see Jordan. I could've sworn I heard a loud boom."

Anisa treaded close to his heels as he treaded towards the front doors. "It was probably thunder." She glanced out the tall, ceiling high windows lining the main wall. Lightning lit up the room through the glass. Leaves flew in a spiral like a tornado looming in the air. "The storm looks really bad."

"Yeah." He nodded and reached for the door handle.

Anisa tugged his elbow before he could open the door. Tears gave way to her shaky whisper, "Dmitri, please."

Dmitri locked eyes on her twisted face. His heartbeats sounded off louder than the thunder in his ears. Not even a stethoscope would make his heartbeat clearer. He didn't want to leave her for even a second, but he also didn't want his best friend to die if there was a possibility he could save him. The pain of thinking Desi's name made him want to slam his head against a wall of bricks. He didn't want to have to avoid memories of another homeboy who had grown to be like a brother to him. He had lost too many homies. He couldn't fail another.

So, he pulled Anisa into the desperate hug he'd been contemplating giving her the moment he laid eyes on her at her nan's house. The way she embraced him like she'd never let go, made him feel like she had fallen in love with him all over again. For a split second, the hug erased the burden of messing up that weighed on his chest. To be able to feel her chest against his and smell the scent of almond oil and shea butter in her locs intoxicated him. In that moment, she belonged to him again. And he belonged to her. Still, he would betray his own heart and give up the feeling of being in her arms if that meant it wouldn't be under these circumstances.

Not by choice but out of self-enforced obligation to protect his friend, he pulled away from her and cupped her chin in his hand before dropping it in the same beat.

"Stand right here in the doorway. That way I can see you, and you can see me. I'm just going to walk to the edge of the driveway to see if I can see him or call out to him." She blinked up at him with wet eyes, and he wondered if he would regret his decision. "Okay?"

She stepped back and nodded. "Okay." Her shivering arms crossed over her t-shirt dress.

Dmitri pulled his hoodie over his head and handed it to her. "Here."

She squinted at him and hesitated to fully take the jacket away from him. "But it's raining outside, and you hate getting wet."

The fact that she cared enough to remember that little detail gave him the adrenaline he needed to open the door and face the storm.

"You need it more," he said over the rhythm of the rainfall.

The slight hint of a crinkly-eyed smile touched her lips, but that was enough for him. Rain plummeted from the ledge of the roof and the sky like broken icicles falling in an avalanche. The drops stabbed his skin as he marched through the pushing, heavy winds. The winds reminded him of Anisa, trying their hardest to convince him to go back in the house. Their shrilling cries chilled him to the bone. But he soldiered through.

He squinted through the mist and dodged the rain as best he could with the back of his hands. He reached the end of the driveway sooner than expected. His eyes peered through the obscure fog. The trees' shadows danced in the haze, but he couldn't make out Jordan. Even when the lightning crackled through the darkness. No Jordan.