Free Just Ride: Legion of Guardians by Xyla Turner Page A

pleaded.
    He looked down at her in his arms and said, “Hold on, Susan. We’re going home.”
    The distinguished man looked at me and said, “You are?”
    “Razor.”
    “Guardians?” He asked.
    “Correct.”
    “Nice to finally meet you.” He took the frail woman outside and loaded her up in the car.
    “O-kay,” Shay raised her eyebrows.

Invasion
    K ylie :
    After that big blow up with Razor, I stayed up all night trying to figure out how to avoid the man at all costs. The only thing that needed to happen was spending the rest of the week with Will while he was still in town. Shay would cover the carnival, and Lori would cover the game on Saturday. Hell would freeze over before I would voluntarily be in the same room with that son of a bitch.
    The next morning before Shay could even go to work at the doctor’s office across town, I went in on how the evening at the movies went. That was my girl, so I told her every sordid detail and fuck if I didn’t feel like a stupid whore.
    The more I thought about what happened, the worse I felt. Around eleven that morning, my father texted me that he got us lunch at my favorite restaurant. That was one way to do it, since I hadn’t seen him yet.
    When I arrived, my dad was already there.
    “Hey baby, how are you?” He asked.
    “I’m good, Dad. How are you these days?”
    “Better, when my daughter acknowledges that she has more than one parent?”
    Ah, he was in one of those moods.
    “Sorry, Dad. I got caught up. How’s the office and everything going with the re-election?”
    “That will take care of itself. I want to talk about you. Why did you end the tour?”
    “There were some complications and …”
    “Are you pregnant?” he interrupted me. “Sick, or did you quit because of some guy?”
    “No, dad.” I was laughing at his assumptions. “Nothing like that. I just had to take care of some personal things.”
    “Does this have anything to do with your mother?” He asked.
    I had mastered the art of lying since I was a teenager, but that question caught me off guard. It was almost like he knew something and was testing me to see if I would lie. As I formed my mouth to answer, a waitress came to take our order. My dad told the lady what we wanted because I always had the same thing. The beef tip salad with a side of fries. Then she took our drink orders and left.
    “Are you on a diet?” I asked after she left with his order of a diet coke.
    “No, just watching my intake. The doctor told me I was on the verge of diabetes, so I’m trying to be conscious.”
    What?
    This was not happening again. I was only thirty-fucking-two, and my parents were sick and having major shit happening to them. I couldn’t take it.
    “Kylie, what’s wrong?” My dad’s face went pale. “What’s wrong?”
    “I just.” I hiccupped as I felt the hot tears running down my face. “I just can’t deal, dad.”
    “What?” he was up on his feet.
    “You’re sick. Mom’s sick. What the fuck is going on? How am I supposed to deal with all of these things? I just can’t.” I was shaking my head and picking up my purse.
    “Your mother is sick?!” He exclaimed.
    “Yes, Dad. Breast cancer. She swore me to secrecy, but I can’t keep something like that. It’s not good, and it’s not getting better. That’s why I stopped touring. She needs help, Dad.” I was full-on crying in the restaurant with my dad standing over me.
    My dad did not get angry often, but when he did it was not really pretty. I was also not in the place to argue with him, so I stood to leave.
    “I’m s-sorry, dad. We can do this another time.” I raised my hand as he looked at me backing out of the restaurant.
    “Kylie,” he growled, but I shook my head and left with stinging tears streaming down my face.
    It felt like my entire world was crashing down around me. The rocks and solid foundations in my life were no longer stable. My dad, the big strong mayor, and my mom, the fierce lady to be