“BJ, it’s Mandy, call me back immediately.
It’s Nick.” BJ Carter felt her blood freeze in her veins as she
played back her voice mail. It’s Nick.
Oh God. Her stomach hurt. What if he’d overdosed again?
BJ had barely helped him the first time. She packed a small
backpack and grabbed her purse. She had already called the airline and
ordered herself a ticket to Orlando. She quietly opened her bedroom door
and made her way down the hall. The house was asleep, and BJ was not
about to be the reason they woke up. “Where ya going Beej?” Leslie Carter
appeared in front of her sister.
BJ
almost screamed, “Damn it, Leslie, trying to give me a heart attack?” BJ
breathed.
“Where
are you going BJ?” Leslie repeated her question, staring at her sister
intently, “I’ll wake up Mom, if you don’t tell me.”
BJ
groaned and stomped her foot, “Leslie this is important, I don’t have time for
this game!”
“You’re
not going out to…”
“No,
I don’t drink anymore if that’s what you are hinting around too!” BJ fumed,
“Now out of my way!”
“I’m
gonna get Mom.”
“Leslie
it’s about Nick, not me. He needs my help, and I have to be in Orlando,”
BJ found herself actually pleading with her younger sister.
“Nick?
What about Nick? What’s wrong with him?” Leslie immediately looked
frightened.
Nick
was unstable and everyone in the family knew it. “I don’t know Leslie, I
just have to go…”
“Take
me with you,” Leslie threw herself in BJ’s path once again , “He’s my brother
too BJ! Just because he likes you better…”
BJ
grabbed her sister roughly by the arms, “What did you just say?”
“Oh
come BJ, you know it’s true.”
“Leslie
he loves all of us the same. He just, he feels he can confide in me more.
Leslie, this is not for your eyes to see, ok? Trust me.
Don’t tell Mom where I am,” BJ started down the stairs again but Leslie
grabbed her, “Either I go, or neither one of us go at all.”
BJ
almost screamed at her, but knew it would do nothing but get her caught and
Nick needed her, “Fine, fine, but you have no time to pack… And you need
a plane ticket…. God.”
“I
can buy one at the desk. How many people want 2:15 in the morning flights
to Orlando?” Leslie said taking her sister’s arm, “Lets go.”
“Who
did you call back at the airport?” Leslie questioned her sister as soon as they
were on the plane and high above the clouds. BJ had settled back into her
seat listening to her portable CD player, “I called the hotel where Nick was
supposed to be.”
“Why?”
“Well
I figured the guys might be worried in the morning if they woke up and Nick is
gone. I let them know he’s gone back home,” BJ said closing her eyes.
“What’d
they say?” Leslie was curious. Just how much did they know about Nick?
BJ
shook her head, “They were so shocked to hear from me…. They asked if I had
heard from Nick. I told them he’d gone home. They said they were on
their way…” BJ bit her lip as she wondered how much they knew about the
situation. Leslie knew nothing of her brother’s darker tendencies to
experiment with drugs, but she did know about his eating habits…
Leslie
nodded, “They’re good friends.”
BJ
shot her a look, but kept quiet with the nasty comment she was going to make.
She turned up her music and relaxed. Don’t be stupid Nick, I’m
on my way. The plane just couldn’t go fast enough for BJ Carter.