Page 60 of Property of Sugar
Kalani:I don’t think I can.
Kalani:I want to un-on her.
Kalani:I want to un-on her real bad.
Birdie:Take a breath.
Birdie:Sit down and close your eyes.
Birdie:Meditate.
Birdie:I’m on my way.
“Coochie!” I yelled as I grabbed my phone and keys. “I gotta go!”
“Hold on, Bird. What’s going on?”
“I don’t have time to explain!” I ran for the door. “Are you coming or not?”
“Yes, but I’ll drive.”
“Well hurry it up. Kalani’s at work and Ashley just walked in.”
“Fuck! Does Sugar know?”
“She said she told him. Damn it! I knew we should’ve stayed in town.” We’d driven to a coffee festival for the afternoon. It was only forty-five minutes from Kahakai, but that felt like an eternity at the time.
“I’ll get us there as fast as I can.”
When Coochie’s phone rang with Whisker’s name on the screen, he handed it to me. “Put it on speaker.”
“I’m in the truck with Birdie,” Coochie said when the call connected.
“Have you talked to Sugar?”
“No, but Birdie’s talked to Kalani.”
“We’re headed that way.”
“We are too.”
“I’ll let you know if we hear anything.”
“Same.”
I stared at my phone in silence, watching for a text from Kalani while simultaneously hoping I wouldn’t get one because she was meditating. She’d been practicing with one of the sirens and seemed to like it, but trying to meditate away the urge to kill Ashley would’ve been difficult for seasoned meditators.
My stare down with my phone screen was interrupted when Biscuit called Coochie. I answered and put it on speaker without being asked, anxious for an update about Kalani. “Is she okay?”
Biscuit chuckled. “We have Ashley, and Kalani is unharmed. How far out are you?”
“About ten minutes. Why?”
“Because Ashley said Hannah is in the trunk of her car. When we find her, that little girl is gonna be scared as hell. Was hoping Birdie could help.”
“Why me?” I asked. “Kalani’s there and Hannah knows her.”
Biscuit sighed. “Kalani is covered in Ashley’s blood.”
