Page 41 of The Time It Takes
“Yes,” I responded anxiously. “Who’s this?”
“It’s Sadie.” There was a long pause and my stomach dropped.
“What’s wrong?”
I focused on the noise in the background for the first time since picking up the phone. My mind was still fuzzy from what happened between Oliver and me, but I heard the distant sound of engines coming to life and thumping music.
“It’s your brother.”
WE PULLED UP to the dragstrip and Oliver slammed on the brakes of his jeep, causing the tires to lock and skid in the mud. The heavy rain from earlier now fell in a drizzle. I jumped out and I was immediately greeted with blaring music from the speakers hovering over the stands. I could feel the ground pound under me with each furious step I took toward the looming crowd.
“Slow down before you fall!” Oliver shouted as he tried to match my steps. I absolutely was not going to slow down.
As we got closer, Sadie spotted us and headed our way in a jog. We met in the middle.
“Where is he?” I asked sharply, my voice not sounding like my own. She didn’t say much over the phone other than the fact that Benji was acting out of character lately. I could tell she sounded genuinely worried about him which is why my blood pressure was probably through the roof right now.
She looked over at Oliver, a small flirtatious smile playing on her lips. Or maybe it was just in my head. “Hey, Ollie.”
“Hey,” he said, looking past her at the circle of people surrounding Ben’s Camaro.
“My brother, Sadie. Where is he?” My voice was disgruntled.
Her eyes narrowed between me and Oliver before grumbling, “This way.” She turned for us to follow and I caught a glimpse of her ass hanging out from under her shorts.
I shot Oliver a glance and found him looking too. When he looked at me, he only shrugged. I shook my head in annoyance, but I couldn’t fault him, because I looked too.
We followed her toward Ben’s car parked on the side of the tracks. It was surrounded by faces I’d never seen before. I found Ben sitting on the hood, another girl who wasn’t Sadie standing between his legs. He cradled her back to his chest. I peered over at Sadie but found no jealousy in the way she was looking at him—only concern. Her eyes darted between my brother and me nervously.
I studied him closely and noticed he could hardly keep his eyes open. His posture was slouched over.
Only then did I realize what he was doing, and my dinner rose in my throat. I watched as he moved the girl’s hair off her shoulder. She poured a white substance onto it, and I witnessed in horror as my brother dipped his head down.
I lunged forward, grabbing the girl by her hair to yank her back.
“What the hell?” she shrieked as she stumbled. I pressed my foot into the back of her knee causing her to collapse into the bystanders.
I grabbed Ben’s face in a grip I knew would have hurt if he still had any feeling there. I looked him in the eye and saw a stranger. “What the fuck are you doing?” My voice was laced with so much rage I could hardly breathe.
“Oh shit,” a male voice said somewhere behind me.
I watched as Ben struggled to focus on me. He wiped at his nose with the back of his hand as he sniffed. His eyes were so dilated they were nearly black.
“What in the hell are you doing to yourself?” I asked again, my voice pleading for an answer.
A soothing hand fell onto my shoulder, and I shoved Ben away when he continued to say nothing, his back fell against the hood. His eyes widened and his head darted up as if to say, “What the fuck?”
“Why?” I asked, my voice cracked in newfound agony.
“Willow?” He squinted at me; only then did he seem to recognize me from my voice.
What else was he on?
I whipped around, my anger suddenly needing to be placed somewhere. The girl was watching me with a smug smirk on her face. She wiggled the small plastic bag in the air between us.
“If you wanted some all you had to do was ask, pretty girl,” she challenged.
“Fucking bitch.” The words cracked in my throat. I lunged for her, but strong arms wrapped around my waist and yanked me off the ground. I kicked my legs, but the hold only tightened. My elbow connected with something hard, but I didn’t stop trying to free myself. I was going to tear her apart.
