Kill Me
Chapter 13
By: Makena
"Where do you reckon she went?" Jeremy asked, leaning in the doorway.
"I don't know," Sam answered truthfully.
"Do you think she went to live with her mom?"
Billy shook his head.
It was early morning, and the sun was just coming up. Billy and Sam had gotten back to their hotel just a couple hours before, but thought that maybe she had gone to find them at the concert hall. Now, they thought otherwise.
"Why not?" Jeremy asked, moving into the room. "What would stop her from leaving?"
Billy nodded to the floor and kicked the black back pack that was propped against the bed. "She left her stuff here," he said. "I doubt she'd go far without her stuff."
"Okay, so... where'd she go?"
Billy shook his head and shrugged, sticking his hands in his pockets. "I couldn't even begin to think about where she went."
Sam sighed sadly, hoping that he hasn't lost one of his better friends. He walked towards the window and looked out over the city and the ocean. Smiling, he remembered how much fun they had swimming in the great pacific ocean.
"The beach," he said suddenly. "I bet she's at the beach."
-----
Callie had walked down to the beach after crying for a while. She hadn't brought any of her things with her, because she hadn't intended on staying long. She was going to sit at the beach, thinking things out by the sound of the waves rolling into the shore, and then she had planed on returning to the hotel. Even if she didn't return in time and everyone left her there, she figured she could move in with Lily and live with her until she got a job and could support herself. Before Callie could decided to go back, she fell asleep on the soft shore.
Billy and Sam walked down to the beach, like Sam had suggested, and found Callie fast asleep on the sand. At first, they stood by the beach and just watched her, waiting for her to move or wake up. Finally, Sam walked over to Callie and knelt down next to her, shaking her softly. Callie stirred softly and tried to go back to sleep.
"Callie," Sam whispered. "Callie... wake up."
Callie groaned slightly and yawned, opening her eyes to look around. Suddenly, she seemed to remember where she was and quickly sat up. Sam laughed slightly and helped her stay up.
"Sam?" Callie asked, rubbing her eyes. "Why are you here? How - how did you know I was here?"
"Lucky guess," Sam replied, helping her stand up. "We couldn't find you at the hotel room and we figured you were some where else."
"How do you know I didn't take off?"
"Billy found your back pack," Sam said, throwing his head back to where Billy was still standing.
Callie blinked and suddenly noticed Billy standing at the edge of the side walk where the beach began.
"Come on," Sam said, leading her towards Billy. "Let's go back."
-----
Sam had gone to the mall, leaving Billy and Callie in the room alone. Callie sat and stared at Billy for a while, both sitting on opposite sides of the bed.
"What?" Billy asked finally.
Callie shrugged and sighed a little.
"Oh," Billy said with a small laugh. "I know."
He climbed off his bed and reached his duffel bag where he pulled out his heroin stash. Callie watched and waited for him to finish preparing two needles, and anxiously took hers without question. Billy was the first to inject, and Callie watched as he slowly took it in, watched as he tipped back and forward for a moment before laughing shortly at Callie and then crawling to the floor where he passed out.
Callie looked at her needle and sighed, placing it to her vein. She hesitated, thinking about what she had seen in her mother, her phone conversation with her uncle Joel, thinking constantly about her father...
She shook her head and tightened the belt around her arm before placing the needle to her vein again. Callie looked down at Billy and suddenly jerked the needle away before piercing her skin and she dropped the needle to the floor.
"Fuck," she whispered, trying not to cry as she unwrapped the belt from her arm.
She knew she couldn't stay there any longer, and she knew she couldn't stay in California with her mother and Red. She only had once place left in the entire world. Callie grabbed her back pack and made sure that she had everything she and brought with her, and grabbed her guitar, setting it gently in it's case before closing it and walking towards the door. Pausing, Callie threw a backwards glance at Billy and sighed.
"Good bye, friend," she said. "I hope you get well soon."
She swung the door open, threw her plastic card key to the table, and waltzed out of the hotel room and down to the lobby. She didn't exactly know where to go, and what she would use to get there. Frustrated by the lack of cash and the fact she hadn't thought about HOW she was going to get there, Callie sat down and began to cry.
"Callie?" a voice questioned after a while.
Callie spun around in her seat and quickly tried to dry her tears. Sam was standing near the entrance way, staring at her with a concerned look on his face.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
Callie shrugged. "Nothing," she said with a sigh. "I'm just thinking..."
'I could sell my guitar?' she thought randomly. 'That should get me to Illinois... maybe.'
"What are you doing with all your stuff?" he asked, walking towards her and finally sitting down in the chair across from hers.
"I was... I was going to go somewhere," Callie replied.
"Not back to your mom's, were you?"
Callie shook her head no. They sat in silence for a shot while until Sam figured it out.
"Oh," he said. "I understand."
Callie nodded and sighed. "I can't get there, though," she told him. "I don't have a lot of money left - how am I supposed to GET there if I don't have any money?"
"Well... *I* have money," Sam said.
Callie blinked and stared at him. "I can't take your money," she said. "You worked hard to get it - I don't..."
"You're my friend," Sam said. "You can pay me back when you get the chance... it's not like I don't have enough money as it is, anyway."
Callie sighed and finally accepted Sam's money.
-----
"One way ticket to Waldorf, Maryland, please," Callie told the woman behind the desk. Sam was standing behind Callie, waiting for her to get her ticket.
"There's no direct flight to Waldorf," the woman said, clicking away at her computer. "But there is a flight to Chicago that leaves in about thirty minuets with a couple of seats open - I can put you on that and you can get a flight to Waldorf from there."
Callie nodded. If it was the best she could do, then she would take that plane home. She paid for her ticket and had to give the woman her guitar, because she couldn't use it as a carry on, but she got to keep her back pack.
"I can't believe you're going home," Sam said, walking towards security with Callie.
"Yeah," Callie replied. "It's probably the best thing for me."
She placed her back pack on the conveyer belt and stepped through the detector. Laughing, she watched as Sam set the detector off and had to empty his pockets and take off his shoes.
"That sucked," Sam said, struggling to put his shoe back on.
"It was funny, though," Callie said.
Sam shrugged and they found Callie's gate. She still had about 15 minuets till boarding time, so Sam grabbed them something from the vending machine to munch on and sip until they called Callie up. They sat in silence for a while, watching people get off random planes and hug their loved ones, or board other planes while kissing their husband or their parents or their children good bye. Finally, they called Callie's flight and she stood up, crinkling her chip bag up.
"I'm gonna miss you," Sam said, hugging Callie.
"I'll miss you too," Callie said, returning his hug. "But we'll see each other again... you live in Waldorf."
"I guess you're right," Sam said.
"Don't worry about me," Callie said, gathering her back pack and hoodie. "I'll be okay now."
Sam laughed slightly as they stood apart from each other for a while. Finally, Callie hugged him again before walking off to her flight. "Well, good bye," Sam said.
"It's not good bye," Callie replied. "It's see you later."
Sam smiled and watched as she began to board the plane. Callie stopped before she could hand the attendant her ticket and ran back to Sam.
"Here," she said, dropping an object into his hand. "I don't need it anymore - give it to Billy."
Sam nodded as Callie gave him a smile and walked off, disappearing down the terminal. He looked down in his hand and smiled - sitting in his open fist was a rubber band.
-----
Callie took a long nap on the flight to Chicago and dreamt peacefully about Sam and the friends she had made when touring with Blue Body Sanctuary. She transferred planes in Chicago, but had to wait a couple of hours and bought herself a bagel and a soda while she waited. Finally, she was on the flight home to Waldorf, and was suddenly feeling anxious.
When she arrived, Callie didn't exactly know how she was getting home, so she grabbed her guitar from luggage return and counted out enough money, realizing that she had just enough for a cab ride home. The ride home took longer than she had expected it would and she couldn't stop closing her eyes, wishing that she could just sleep.
Finally, the cab driver stopped in front of a two story, blue painted house with two cars sitting in the garage. Callie tipped the driver, paid him whatever she owed, and climbed out. It was much colder in Waldorf than it had been in California, and Callie shivered from the cold. Slowly, Callie walked up to the front door, wondering if anybody inside had noticed her come home.
"Okay Callie," she said. "You can't run away this time - you can't go back with Blue Body anymore, because they're gone."
She sighed and rolled her eyes, realizing that it was stupid of her to talk to herself. Finally, she knocked on the front door and rang the door bell once, in case nobody had heard her knock. Slowly, the front door opened to reveal Kelly. Kelly stood there with wide eyes, blinking twice to make sure that her eyes hadn't deceived her.
"Callie?" she whispered. "Oh, Callie... I..." she paused. "I'll get your father..."
"No," Callie said, putting and hand on Kelly's arm. "Don't... I mean..." She sighed. "I know you try hard to be a good mom, so I'm sorry I haven't been a great daughter... but I appreciate it. So... thanks."
'Woah,' Callie though. 'Where the hell did THAT come from?'
Kelly blinked a couple more times as a couple of tears began to fall. "Oh, Callie," she cried softly, throwing her arms around her step daughter. "Come inside - it's freezing out there." Callie stepped inside and set her things down by the stairs. "Your father is upstairs," she whispered.
Callie nodded and slowly began to climb the steps. She reached her room and found that the door was open and her father was sleeping on her bed. Trying not to cry, Callie walked into her own room, took her worn out shoes off, and laid down next to him.
"I'm home, daddy," she said, kissing his cheek softly. "I told you I would see you later." Benji stirred slightly. "Daddy?" Callie asked.
Benji opened his eyes slowly and blinked a couple of times. He looked around for a moment and finally looked up and into the face of his daughter.
"Callie?" he questioned. "Is that... is that you?" Callie nodded and let her father embrace her.
"Callie, I missed you so much," he said, crying for the millionth time that month - although, these were happy tears instead of lost, depressed tears.
"I missed you too," Callie said, also beginning to cry.
"Where have you been? Why didn't you call? What made you come home...?"
Benji babbled questions to his daughter and Callie answered every one of them. She told him about her trip with Blue Body Sanctuary and California, and Sam and meeting her mother and about Billy's heroin addiction, because she secretly still loved him and hoped that he would get better. Whatever it was - the good and the bad - Callie told him and Benji listened. Because Callie was glad she had finally found her place. And she was finally, for the first time in her life, happy.
END.