Not made for each other - 13. Way to Heaven

Chapter 13: Way to Heaven

Zune

In the next few weeks many things changed. I never said a word to either Edward or Kevin, neither had they tried to talk to me but I was not complaining. Honestly, I was happy with my situation; at least I was away from any drama and stress right now.

Our friends were still trying to get Kev and I together but their efforts went futile. I didn’t think we could ever be together again. It was not like I didn’t love him. It was like whatever we would do, I was sure we could never be like we were before. We made some horrible mistakes including some wrong decision-making, and hid some truths which were needed to be told; I guess these things are more than enough to destroy any relationship.

There was a mutual-unsaid-agreement among all of us. If Carol and Jake were hanging out with me, then Daryl and Ron would be with Kev and vice-versa. But there was a small loophole; all of us could never be together like the old times but I guess we had no other choice.

I met Becca twice at the Grey’s Cafe but could never gather the courage to tell her about Edward and I. She was happy and I wanted her to remain that way. She told me she’s thinking about filing for a divorce. John still didn’t want her to work and she was tired of sitting at home. She had started feeling like she was in jail. The way she was blinking rapidly, hesitating while talking, I was sure it was not the only reason she was thinking about divorce. I advised her to at least talk to John once more.

Mom and Matt were finally thinking about getting married. Carol and I were overly excited.

We were done with our exams and now we were waiting for our results. Carol, Jake, and I were planning on going to the same college but many things were dependent upon our results, which we wouldn’t see for about a month.

One mundane morning, out of the blue, Carol thought of going shopping. I think she was plotting so she could destroy my peaceful day. I had no other choice but to accompany her. It took her more than five hours to buy a single dress. I tell you she’s such a bitch. After that, she got a call from mom who needed her advice on her wedding dress as she and Matt were getting married next month. Carol hurriedly kissed my cheek and left for the dress shop in excitement, leaving me all alone. I so hate her. I actually needed a coffee so I headed towards Grey’s Café.

I ordered my favorite coffee, paid for it, and left a nice tip for the barista. I was still waiting for Katie, aka Bubbly, to bring me my coffee when I saw Daryl in the farthest corner sitting with a guy who looked to be around thirty. He had countless piercings on his face and unusual tattoos on his arms. Daryl seemed pale and on the verge of tears. There was a cruel smirk on the other guy’s face. I was about to stand and make my way towards their table when Daryl saw me and he seemed panicked, though he gave me an unconvincing, nervous smile and typed something on his mobile. A few seconds later I got a message from him.

Don’t come here. I’ll explain everything to you later.

I was confused but did as he said. Meanwhile, Katie brought my coffee and I took a small sip of it but my eyes never left sight of Daryl and that weird guy. The whole time, Tattoo Guy was talking with a grin and Daryl was responding with a word or two, and ducking his head down. A few minutes later I caught the tattooed guy’s attention. He raised his left brow and murmured something in Daryl’s ear. In a moment Daryl’s whole demeanor changed. He looked furious. Daryl suddenly stood up, making his chair fall back. He roughly grabbed the other guy’s collar, pulling him up to his feet.

“HOW DARE YOU?” Daryl yelled. Rage was flaring in his eyes.

I immediately ran towards them.

“Daryl, Daryl, leave him,” I ordered him in a panic.

“So I was right. You know him,” Tattoo Guy concluded, eyeing him.

Daryl lost his senses and smacked his face. People who were sitting around Daryl and Tattoo Guy got up and left their chairs.

“Daryl, please,” I begged while trying to drag him away from Tattoo Guy.

Tattoo Guy spat blood out of his mouth and stared at me with a strange devilish smile. Daryl was about to punch him again when I literally dragged him out of the café. When we were walking out Tattoo Guy shouted behind us, “Think about it, Daryl!”

Daryl and I were walking towards my home. He was awfully quiet and seemed to be in a dilemma.

“Daryl, would you say something?” I finally asked. He glanced at me with a worried look.

“Zune, if that guy ever tries to talk to you or stalks you, promise me you’ll tell me,” he requested in a deadly serious voice. I was totally not expecting him to say anything like that.

“Why would you say that? And who was he? And why were you looking so upset? And why were you talking to him? And why the hell would he try to talk to me or stalk me, for that matter?” I bombarded him with my questions in a bewildered tone.

“The only thing you need to know is that he’s extremely dangerous, Zune,” he divulged in a cautious tone which was suggesting something was definitely very wrong.

“But who was…”

Daryl cut me off. “Zune, right now Uncle Matt and your mom’s wedding is more important than all this crap, so please don’t worry about this. And promise me you won’t say a word about this to Carol or any of our friends,” he demanded.

“But…”

“Zune, please let me handle this, please. Trust me,” he pleaded. I reluctantly nodded.

Trust is a big word and has an vague meaning. Daryl had told me to trust him and I did trust him, but I had no idea it would be the worst decision of my life. My life was about to change and I hadn’t even the slightest idea it would happen.

I never discussed this incident with anyone, not even with Carol. Within a week I forgot about it and everything went back to normal.

There was only one week left in Mom and Matt’s wedding and we all were busy with the preparations. Carol was handling the guest list and invitations. The food department was undoubtedly taken care of by Jake. I was looking after the flowers and decorations. Kevin was working on the seating arrangements and all the outdoor décor were Daryl and Ron’s responsibility. Matt was the one who invited Kevin and I obviously didn’t like it. There were many incidents when Kevin and I crossed paths but we conveniently avoided each other.

The next day I was in the garden deciding about the color of the curtains. I had two samples in my hand which Daryl brought yesterday from the shop, white ones and the peach ones. I was confused between them.

“I think white would look better.” A familiar voice made me to turn around in surprise. It was Kev. We stared at each other for a few seconds and then I lowered my eyes for some unknown reason. I couldn’t keep looking in his blue orbs because I knew all those feelings I had buried somewhere deep inside, would crowd my thoughts once again.

“Thanks for your unasked and unneeded advice,” I responded sarcastically. I was still looking down at the white curtains in my hand.

“I…I want to talk…”

“I have to go.” I cut him off, turned around and hurriedly went inside.

For the next few days he kept trying to talk to me and I kept ignoring him like the plague, but two days before the wedding he grabbed my hand, and literally dragged me to my bedroom, locking the door behind him.

“What the hell are you doing?” I asked incredulously.

“Just trying to talk to you,” he answered calmly.

“There is nothing left to talk about. There is nothing between us.”

“As far as there is ‘us’, there’ll always be something to talk about.”

“I think it’s already pretty clear that there is no ‘us’.” I stated gruffly.

Kev slowly stepped forward and whispered, “I love you, Zune.” I tried to hold that sigh which eventually escaped from my mouth.

I gathered all my courage, looked into his eyes and responded, “But I don’t.”

“You’re lying.”

“Prove it.”

He remained silent for a few seconds and then he suddenly grabbed the back of my head, pulled me towards himself and ferociously attacked my lips with his own warm mouth. I tried to resist my urge to moan but couldn’t help myself and began responding by kissing him back. In that kiss there was anger, sorrow, apology, forgiveness, passion, desperation, pain, and love. We parted, gasping for much needed air, and resting our heads against each other, panting heavily.

He softly kissed my forehead.

“Zune, I really love you,” Kev muttered and continued to speak in a hushed tone. “I know we made some bad decisions but we are human beings and are allowed to make such mistakes, but I think we can overcome them. Our relationship can’t be that weak.” He made me look at him by holding my chin. “I want you to give ‘us’ another chance, Zune. I know we could make this work and I can’t do this alone. I need your help. I…I need you.”

I was just peering into his crystal clear eyes in awe. There was sincerity in his soft, determined voice.

“I don’t want you to make a decision right now but I want you to think about it and if your answer is yes then meet me at my house tomorrow.” He gently pressed his lips against mine and left quietly before muttering ‘I’ll wait for you’. I stood there dumbfounded, in a complete haze.

Kev’s words continued to echo in my mind. ‘I love you, Zune’, ‘I want you to give ‘us’ another chance, Zune’, ‘I need you’. Oh God, what the hell was going on? I knew I was still in love with him but was I ready to give ‘us’ another shot? Well, I was not sure about that.

Jake was living with us until the wedding to help us. Daryl, Ron, and Kev had already left an hour ago. I had a few hours to myself to make up my mind about Kev, so I talked about it to Jake and Carol that night.

“Was the kiss hot?” Carol asked seriously.

“Shut up, Carol. Can’t you be serious for a second?” Jake scolded her and looked at me with concern. “Zune, ignore her. Okay, so tell me, was the kiss hot?” I couldn’t believe that. They both burst out in laughter, high-fiving each other.

“You both are fucking assholes,” I cursed them hiding my red cheeks perfectly. This made them laugh even harder, bloody morons. I so hate them.

After a few minutes, their cackling subsided and finally they were ready for some serious talk.

“What do you want?” Carol asked squarely.

“What do you mean?” I was confused with her question.

“I mean, do you want Kev in your life or not?” she elaborated.

“I…I don’t know,” I answered hesitantly.

“You know we always have the answer with us. We just need to realize it,” Jake interjected in a thoughtful voice.

“Look, Zune. It’s your own decision to make,” Carol spoke raising her brows.

“Yes, so make your decision irrespective of anyone’s opinion. Just follow your heart…” Jake advised.

“…It’ll never betray you,” Carol completed for him in a philosophical way. I slowly nodded musing over their words.

Later that night, I kept thinking about ‘us’. I closed my eyes and relished thinking about every golden moment I spent with Kev. Those memories were everything to me but then things turned ugly and everything got ruined, but now I had the chance to make everything good or even better. Should I take this chance? Could I trust Kev, and could I trust myself for that matter? Could we make this work between us? And then I found my answer deep in my heart. I always knew what the answer was but I never had the courage to admit. I loved Kev and I was more than ready to give ‘us’ another chance. We were surely gonna make this work.

It was like everything was perfect, it was similar to the feelings I had before all the shit hit the fan. Tomorrow, Kev and I would be together again and the day after that, Mom and Matt would also be together, as husband and wife. After that, Carol, Jake, Kev, and I would go to the same college, and the upcoming happy days would surely make us forget any bitter memories of our past. Suddenly, life seemed so beautiful, so perfect. I was just waiting for the morning to arrive.

“We are gonna make this work,” I whispered to myself, grinning like an idiot and then I went to sleep, hugging my pillow.

The next morning, I woke up ecstatic and elated. I hurriedly made my way towards the bathroom to get ready to meet Kev. I was looking forward to telling him what my decision was. I kissed my mom, Matt, and Carol before I left. I was super-excited to see him and tell him that I love him and that we’re gonna make this work between us. I was literally running to get to his house with a stupid grin plastered over my face.

I was minutes away from his house when my phone rang. It was an unknown number. I answered the phone, still racing towards Kev’s house.

“Hello?”

“Zune.” It was Daryl’s voice.

“Hey, Daryl. Wassup, and whose number is this?”

“Zune, I…I want you to meet me at one of my friend’s places, asap,” he said in a panic. I stopped abruptly.

“Daryl? What happened? Is everything okay?” I asked worriedly.

“Zune, do as I say, please. I need you right now and don’t tell anyone about it. Just note down the address,” he pleaded.

“But…”

“Do you trust me?”

“Of course Daryl, but…”

“Then please do as I say,” he requested again. I huffed but memorized the address anyway. I was standing a few steps away from Kev’s front door. I stared at the door for a long minute, and then disappointed, I turned around and headed towards the dictated address.

After one and a half hours travelling in bus I reached the secluded place Daryl was talking about on phone. It was kind of scary. I took a deep breath and knocked on the old wooden door. Daryl opened it with a sad grimace on his face.

“What happened, Daryl? Why did you wanna meet me so urgently? This better be something important,” I continued my tirade, walking into that mysterious house. It had a grand living room.

“And whose house is this? We could have met at Kev’s or somewhere else, why here, so far away from the city? And who is your friend who lives here? Why…”

“I am sorry,” Daryl cut me off and apologized with a pained look on his face right before he looked down at the floor.

“Sorry? For what? Oh God, you didn’t cheat on Carol, did you? Because if you did then I’ll kill you myself,” I threatened him in a dead serious tone. He raised his eyes to meet mine. His wet eyes were filled with remorse. I walked towards him and hugged him tightly.

“You know Daryl, you can tell me anything, right?” I whispered, resting my head on his shoulder. He couldn’t control himself anymore and burst into tears. I made him sit on one of the sofas nearby and I sat down beside him, rubbing his back soothingly. All of a sudden his phone rang and we jumped slightly in surprise. He picked his phone up and disappeared into another room right across from where we were sitting, talking in a hushed and irritated tone. I looked around at this unusual place. It was like looking at an historic house you saw in period movies. I felt wrong about being here and thought of running away but I couldn’t leave Daryl here not unless I found out what was bothering him so much. I patiently waited for him and he came back after a few minutes.

His eyes were puffy and red and his voice was sad. He never looked at me. He hesitantly sat beside me, staring at his intermingled fingers.

“Daryl, you are scaring me now. Please tell me what the hell is wrong,” I demanded impatiently. He kept quiet.

“Okay, if you are not gonna tell me, I’ll have to call Kev and Carol here.” I kind of blackmailed him but my voice wasn’t very convincing. He glanced at me with his pleading eyes.

“Zune…I…I’m sorry,” he apologized again for God knows why.

“Daryl, will you please tell me what you did that you are apologizing for again and again?” I said, putting my hand on his trembling knee. After a few seconds, he composed himself and thankfully started talking.

“Mitchell…the guy I punched in the cafe that day,” he divulged dejectedly. I knew he was talking about Tattoo Guy. “I met him at a bar a few months back and we exchanged numbers and hung out many times. I thought he was cool,” Daryl continued staring at something invisible.

“One fateful day he introduced me to the world of betting and gambling.” I instantly scooted closer to him and began listening to him more intently. “I started gambling with him and when I didn’t have any money left, I didn’t hesitate to take loan after loan from him just to gamble more, and he never refused me. I had no idea that I was sinking deeper and deeper into debt. A few weeks ago, he demanded his money back but I had none. Later, I came to learn that he’s a very dangerous man and has links to the drug mafia. He threatened to kill me and hurt my family, my loved ones. I put him off time and time again, but I was never able to get the money I owe him,” Daryl confided, sounding ashamed.

“Look Daryl, we’re all human beings. We all make mistakes. I know you are sorry for what you did and that’s what matters. Don’t worry about the money. We’ll all think of something. You are not alone in this,” I consoled him and took a relieved breath. This was not a big problem and we could all get through this together.

“No one could help me except you, Zune,” he muttered vaguely.

“Wh, what do you mean only I can help you? What are you talking about?” I inquired, furrowing my brows in suspicion.

“One hundred thousand dollars. That’s the amount I have to pay him in one week and I’m afraid we could never gather that much money in seven days,” he responded in a defeated tone.

“So how come you said that only I could help you out?” I asked again, irritatedly.

“You remember I punched Mitchell that day?”

“Yes Daryl, but what the hell does that have anything to do with me helping you out?” I nearly shouted.

“He told me my entire debt would be considered paid off if…” He couldn’t complete his sentence and began crying again.

“If?”

“If…” he uttered between his sobs.

“IF WHAT, DAMMIT?” I snapped, losing last bit of my patience. Somehow, I had an idea of what the deal was. Suddenly, I was filled with anger and hatred for Daryl.

“I…I’m sorry, Zune, but…but I had no other option,” he stuttered, looking at me with teary eyes. I couldn’t believe it. I wished it wasn’t what I was thinking. I was confused. I was angry. I felt betrayed. I felt nauseous.

All the numerous escalating emotions made me slap Daryl. He was gazing at me in astonishment. The corner of his mouth was bleeding. Before I could stand and leave, the doorbell rang.

“I’m sorry,” Daryl coldly whispered those words and went to open the door. I was frozen in my seat. I was numb. Daryl came in with three other guys; one of them was Tattoo Guy who was looking at me with a sly grin. I, suddenly, sprang out of my seat and ran towards the stairs. Two unknown guys appeared out of nowhere smiling crookedly, blocking my way. I shivered in disgust and fear. I turned around. My eyes were brimmed with tears. My vision was blurry. I was shaken from inside.

Daryl was standing right behind Mitchell, gazing down. I ran towards him and started slapping him, punching him, cursing him, but he didn’t retaliate. He never reacted.

“I BLOODY TRUSTED YOU!” I screamed at the top of my lungs, “YOU WERE MY FRIEND!” My body convulsed in sobs like my world had just ended, “YOU CAN’T DO THIS TO ME, YOU CA…” Two of the guys pulled me away and began dragging me towards the front door. “DARYL, DARYL! PLEASE HELP ME! PLEASE DON’T DO THIS TO ME! PLEASE DON’T LET THEM TAKE ME AWAY! I AM YOUR FRIEND! FOR GOD SAKE PLEASE!” My screams, my pleas were doing nothing to him. He just stood there, ducking his head.

“DARYL, DARYL, PLEASE! I BEG YOU DARYL, PLEASE!”

One of the guys put tape on my mouth and the other two tied my wrists behind my back and tied my legs with rope and threw me roughly in the backseat of their car. Only Tattoo Guy entered the car, sliding into the driver’s seat. He roared the engine to life and sped his vehicle down the street, towards my destiny.

I was ferociously kicking the locked doors with my tied legs, but it was of no use. I felt the stinging of nettles in my eyes. My words were dying inside my mouth. My throat was dry. I was terrified to even think of what was going to happen now. This fear never let me stop crying.

“Don’t waste your energy, kid. Your fate has been sealed by your so called ‘friend’, so cut it out,” he mentioned calmly like I was nothing but a tradable baggage. I continued to hit the doors, to try to speak against the tape that was touching my mouth but after awhile I gave up. I was tired. I was helpless. I was broken.

“I know you’re probably excited to find out where we are going, aren’t you?” he asked sarcastically, in a mock friendly tone after a few minutes of driving. “Well, we are on our way to heaven.”

TBC.

I really wanna know what you guys think about this chapter. I will wait for your views.
A very BIG thanks to Lisa, Lilansui, Miles Long, Silentdreamer, GulabJamun, Gregg and all my readers for reading, reviewing and liking the last chapter.
  LISA