The apology Faith had been anticipating never happened, and as the night progressed she became increasingly uneasy. Even if he didn't eat, she really hoped he hadn't skipped his medicine, or even worse, added to his regimen if his 'friends' were feeling generous. She was genuinely scared to go into his room now, out of fear of what she might find in there. Not knowing was eating away at her enough as it was, but if the police ever did storm the house unexpectedly any time soon, she'd likely have a better chance of at least saving herself if she could truthfully tell them that she'd never physically seen him using or selling anything illegal. The main thing that bothered her, above everything else, is how he'd fare in prison. Would he at least get the help he needed, or would he be targeted by other inmates for acting like he was stronger than he actually was?
She knew she had every right to be angry at him, but how much did it really matter who was right or wrong? Poor Rowan was no match for the coldness of the streets, and likely saw this whole thing as a game that his mean girlfriend wasn't allowing him to play. There was a difference between acting out of sheer desperation with nowhere else to turn as she'd done at Happy Scoops, and just trying to look and feel tough.
For hours Faith tossed and turned, trying to turn off her mind if life would allow her to...just for a couple of hours. However, at this point it had been a couple of hours already, and she hadn't been able to think about anything else except the idea of Rowan letting his emotions get the better of him and leaving for a night, just to mess with her. Of course he would never mean to leave permanently, but the company might have other plans for him. They were likely waiting for an opportunity just like this--the two of them getting into an argument, Rowan temporarily leaving in a moment of anger...only for them to snatch him up into their grasp the minute he exited their little suburban fortress. Rowan had assured her repeatedly that even if they did catch him, they were no longer interested in her, but looking back, sometimes it sounded as if he wanted to be caught--almost as if it would be a relief for him when, rather than if, they caught up to him. But what good was that if she had to live the rest of her life wondering where he was and whether he was alive?
Letting out a frustrated huff, Faith flicked her bedroom lamp back on, got up, and opened her closet to take an old construction chain of sizeable length from the nail it had been hanging on inside. She stared down at the chain, remembering how she'd gotten it. Back when she believed that Rowan's friends were a resistance group against the company, per the glamorous stories Rowan told her and she'd believed without question, she had tagged along with them once at an abandoned construction site. She'd hoped to learn more about their cause at the time, but all they really did was smoke and drink and rough people up every time they all got together, though of course Rowan reassured her that they 'only hurt bad people'. That day at the construction site, Rowan had found the chain laying around and given it to Faith, saying that it might come in handy one day in protecting themselves. Technically it would tonight, though maybe not in the way that Rowan had imagined.
Faith was tempted to turn on the hallway light, but she wasn't willing to risk Rowan noticing from inside his room, so she would have to work in the dark, as quietly as possible. Point A was Rowan's door, and across from his room was a built-in linen closet, which would be point B.
She cringed every time her chain clanked against the door of Rowan's bedroom as she fastened the best double knot she could with the thick links around the knob before rushing to do the same to the knobs of the linen closet. If I can't work quietly, I guess I'll just have to work quickly. And if I can't undo the knots tomorrow and have to explain this to first responders, I'll just tell them it was a prank gone wrong. I know they wouldn't believe anything Rowan told them, with his mental illness and his record.
She kept expecting him to wake up and investigate, since it was an inevitably noisier job than she had hoped, but...he never did. She only heard him occasionally toss and turn from her side of the wall, which relieved her. That meant his heart was still beating, he was okay...and he was safely inside that room where no one could harm him. Their windows had always been tricky to open, which might also deter any intruders trying to get in that way. Unless of course, they broke the glass and...
Stop overthinking, Faith chided herself, taking a moment to view the finished product. You've done all that you can for him tonight. He may be angry at you tomorrow, but one day, he'll thank you for this. He'll be safer, healthier, and maybe even be able to have an education and part-time job. He'll remember just how much he needed you, and he'll appreciate everything.
A series of banging on the walls of the house would be Faith's early alarm clock the next day. Even though the last time something like this had occurred was a false alarm, there was no such thing as being too careful.
She grabbed her .38 special from her night stand--she hadn't bothered keeping it in a drawer anymore during the night--and readied it for firing if she had to. Venturing out into the hallway, Faith yelled out, "Rowan! Where are you?!"
"Where do you think?" a tired and annoyed voice answered back.
"Rowan...?" The chain stretched out across the hallway in front of her startled Faith at first, but then the recent memories of last night all came back to her.
His door was just barely cracked open, as far as it could go under the circumstances. This time there were no sympathetic expressions, no calming words...just anger emanating from his person as he glared at her through the cracked open door. Maybe even hatred. "I could've just used the window to leave if I really wanted to, you know."
"But you didn't, and that's what matters. Now, time to get these untied..." Faith muttered, setting her gun back onto the nightstand and returning to the hallway. She checked her phone which she'd brought out with her, and was relieved to see that it was still only 7:15--she might have some spare time to undo at least one of these knots.
Rowan wasn't making it easy for her to focus, however. "You'd think you were the crazy one, not me. Why are you so obsessed with controlling me and my decisions? Why can't you just move on from me like everyone else has?"
"I know what you're doing. You're just trying to make me angry enough so I'll get burnout and kick you out myself. But that's not going to happen. Now close your door--the knot is too tight with it open. Just be quiet and find something to do in there in the meantime."
"Ooh. Sounds like I hit a nerve now."
"How is that different from any other day with you?" Faith shot back. "If it hadn't been for what happened yesterday, I wouldn't have felt the need to do this to begin with."
"Hm, fair enough. Still, what's the point of getting me away from my grandfather if you're just gonna keep me prisoner here all over again?"
"Because I don't-- You know what? The more you talk, the longer I'll leave you in there. How does that sound? Just--get out of my head and let me finish this!"
Finally, a sigh of defeat. "Whatever."
Fortunately, Faith didn't need to call anyone for assistance; all she needed was quiet in getting the knots undone. While this hadn't been practical at all, she ultimately believed this had been worth it. It had kept him safe for one more night last night, and she hoped Rowan would eventually see this for what it really was--her devotion to protecting him from both others and himself.
"Seriously, what if I needed to use the bathroom in the middle of the night, or just got hungry and wanted a snack?" Rowan asked as he was finally able to step out and made his way to the kitchen with his prescription bottles.
"I thought of that, but I rarely ever hear you leave your room in the middle of the night. It was a risk I thought was worth taking under the circumstances--and it was."
She expected him to yell at her as she watched him pour himself some water and take his medicine, but he only shook his head silently and went on with his usual routine.
After a while, he was somewhat more reasonable. "Are you...hungry, Faith?" he asked about thirty minutes later, approaching the couch where Faith now sat in front of the TV screen that she was staring at numbly.
"No. I don't want anything," Faith said truthfully. Maybe it was the lack of sleep, or maybe it was the fact that she'd just been compared to none other than the likes of Spencer that was beginning to catch up with her.
"Well, I do." As she continuously channel-flipped, looking for no channel in particular, she subconsciously listened to him shuffle through the fridge and cabinet, cook himself whatever he wanted out of what they had, and sit down beside her with his plate. "You should really stop saving all the food for me. You look paler than usual."
"I should probably start my work," Faith mumbled, getting up from the couch. At least she felt she didn't need to keep as much of an eye on him for right now, now that his mood had once again flip-flopped for the better.
"Uh, before you do that...I made you something anyway, even though you said not to."
"Oh...thanks, I guess." She didn't feel like thanking him, but she did just to be on the safe side. If she continued to act overly angry with him, he might once again try to leave.
Apparently today he was in the mood for fried eggs, but the eggs and bacon he'd put on the plate to form a smiley face didn't amuse her; if anything, it annoyed her more. Did he expect this to fix what he said to her, and the way he'd been undermining all her efforts in general?
"Oh, and Faith? I know I don't always act like it, but I really do notice and appreciate what you've been doing all this time for me. I won't ever forget it."
"Stop it, Rowan," Faith said, simply unable to make herself sound happy. "You make it sound like you're dying or something. You're not. Now please...I really need you to not cause any more trouble from now on."
"I won't cause any more trouble for you, Faith...and this time, I mean it," he said, staring down at his lap.
"Good..." Faith sighed as she made herself eat. He may have been acting nicer now, but she could tell that it was because he pitied her. He wasn't sorry for his own actions.
Perhaps in a way, he had been right--she was becoming less and less different from Spencer. She hadn't even been able to give him the normal, comfortable home he needed, with or without her parents' support. And the only way she could even get close to her goal was by, ultimately, becoming more of a jailer or a minder than a girlfriend. Again, she considered her options on who could safely get involved and potentially help them. She thought for a split second of calling one of the numbers on the card Sherm had showed her, but they were vigilantes, not therapists. While she and Rowan needed rescuing, they didn't need physical rescuing. At best, they would just sit Rowan down and give him the "drugs and gangs aren't cool" talk, and at worst they would probably also turn him in to the authorities. Even if those guys could provide some intel on Spencer and the company's whereabouts, the collateral damage may not be worth it, especially considering the fact that she still owed money to the brother of one of them.
Having lost a good deal of valuable time by now worrying over what she should do, Faith just accepted the fact that she would be working late tonight and possibly tomorrow. All she knew was, she would be putting in for some time off from her editing work as soon as possible.
"Oh good, you're back," Faith's mom smiled tiredly as Faith entered the front door of their home. "Rowan hasn't really left his room today, except to ask if you were home yet."
"That's sweet," Faith beamed, giving a final wave to the car that pulled out of their driveway before closing the door behind her. "I need to go see how he's doing."
"Well...he's doing, technically," her mom sighed before her dad joined them in the front room.
"Wait a minute, honey. Before you go see Rowan, I wanna know how your trip went." His smile had a similar forcedness to it.
"It was fun, as usual," Faith replied. "I'll have to show you the pictures I took later. It would've been better though if Bethany would've shut up with all these know-it-all comments she'd been making the entire drive back here. I kept expecting Aunt Chloe or Uncle Tim to stop her eventually, but they just ended up joining in."
"Well, it doesn't sound like them to do that without a reason," her dad commented. "They love you a lot, and they're probably just curious after everything that's happened."
"Well, Beth was trying to say that Rowan's a manipulator, and that I'm naive for believing everything he told me about the company. Just because it sounds crazy to ordinary people, doesn't mean it actually is."
"But you've never considered that as a possibility?" her dad asked, eyeing her critically. "That your friend back there might be...stretching the truth somewhat?"
"I know I've considered it," Faith's mom muttered. "I think he's delusional about some of this stuff he's told us."
Faith shook her head. "I can't believe you two."
"Believe it," Faith's dad said. "We're tired, Faith. Of all of this craziness. We already wondered if we lost you once before."
"Well, do you know what Rowan and I are tired of?" Faith asked, setting her suitcase down and walking closer to her father. "We're sick of people trying to preach to us about things they know nothing about. We escaped that house on our own. We were there--none of you were."
"Oh, you think we're ignorant? Okay. Come with me." Abruptly taking Faith's wrist, he pulled her over to the kitchen counter and pointed to a piece of paper that laid there. It was covered with letters from magazine clippings forming the words on it, which read: "I'm here and I'm always watching. Give up while you still can."
Faith brought her hand to her mouth, feeling sick to her stomach. She'd thought she would get used to these eventually, but each time was just as terrifying as the last, if not more.
"That's right. We got another one today. We weren't gonna let you see this, but I thought it might help you understand what your mother and I've been going through, while you were out on that fun carefree family trip."
"Understand what? You just proved my point! We can't just hand him over, not to somebody who keeps sending things like this!"
"We've explained this to you several times," her mom said impatiently. "We wouldn't be giving him over to Spencer, or who you call 'the company.' We'd be giving him back to his brother, who's his real legal guardian now. He could handle this better than we could."
"No. We've tried that, and Rowan can barely stand being around him! I've only met Chance a few times, but from what I've seen he just treats him like a burden. All he and his roommate do when they're not at work is pick up women, go to parties and get into fights. Well, mainly his roommate, but still! I'm tired of Bethany and everybody else trying to judge Rowan, AND me for that matter."
Reaching into the fridge for a beer, which likely wasn't his first one that night, her dad muttered, "Well, if your own family bothers you that much now, maybe you should just stop engaging with them. It's obvious what your true priorities are here."
Faith was shocked. For some reason, she had expected her parents to be more understanding than this. Nodding at the can he held in his hand, she replied mostly out of anger, "And it's obvious what yours are, too."
"What was that?!" her dad suddenly yelled, whipping around to look her in the eye. "You wanna repeat what you just said to me?"
Faith swallowed hard. "You heard me..."
"Guys, stop, please," her mom pleaded, coming between them. "That kid's gonna hear us."
"Well...maybe Dad's right," Faith said quietly. "Maybe Rowan and I do just need to leave, once I get a good job and get enough money saved up."
Her mom rolled her eyes. "Come on, Faith. You don't actually mean that. We're gonna send that boy and the rest of his belongings back to Chance's apartment, and that'll be the end of it. We can all just go back to normal."
"If you do decide to leave, though..." Her dad picked up the letter, eyes narrowed. "Look out. Because if you leave, it'll be a lot harder for us to help you if something else happens."
She didn't know how long Rowan had secretly been standing nearby listening, but he'd probably heard the larger half of the argument, as she suddenly heard footsteps rapidly storming away from around the corner, back toward the guest room.
Her dad stormed outside to the back porch in response, and her mom mumbled, "I'm getting a headache. I'm going to go lie down."
Faith couldn't understand why this kept happening, but after desperately knocking on Rowan's door and finally convincing him to let her in, she made a promise to both him and herself: one day, once she'd finished college and found a good paying job, she would whisk him away from all of the chaos, all of the people who weren't taking the time to understand Rowan for who he truly was--a boy who just wanted a home and a family.
All her life, she and Sherm had dreamt of becoming heroes...and now this was her chance to be one in reality.
ns 15.158.61.51da2
