CHAPTER 8

Jake

The next morning, Alex and I were sucking Lily's nipples and my hand was ambling down her stomach towards her bush, when she found her voice — which was a bit shaky in the midst of what we were doing to her — and said, "Guys?Guys.There's something I have to tell you."

Now when a woman announces there's something she has to tell you in the middle of foreplay, that is when a guy most takes notice.We lifted our faces from her boobs and my hand halted its journey to her pussy as if someone had slammed on its brakes, and we stared curiously into Lily's eyes as they darted back and forth between us.

My first reaction was, Oh my God, she's pregnant.One of us knocked her up.What are we going to do?

But my thoughts scrambled in my head, trying to make sense of the moment.When did she find out she was pregnant?And why wouldn't she have told us until now?Was she screwing up her courage while the two of us were busy screwing her?

Hesitantly, I asked her, "Lily, what's wrong?"

She pulled herself up against the pillows and headboard, and we dragged ourselves up on either side of her.I could sense Alex was as anxious as I was."Did we do something?" Alex asked."Whatever it is, we'll fix it; promise."

"No, no," said Lily.She touched both our faces tenderly."Neither of you did anything.Well, no, you've both done plenty."She gave us a reassuring smile."But you haven't done anything wrong.As a matter of fact, you've both done everything exactly right.You guys have helped me with something.Which is why I was able to decide, and it's something I have to tell you now."

On the surface, it didn't sound like anything we should be worried about, but then I started to think more about it.Alex and I had taken her in, shared this bed and the rest of the apartment with her, given her sex that made the three of us feel as if our brains and muscles were melting — and, we thought, made her happy.She'd said when I was on top of her on the bath mat just last night that we'd made her happy.Was that it?Had we made her so happy that she'd found the strength to get on with her life — to leave us?The thought of Lily leaving us practically made my heart drop into my stomach.Could that be it?

"Okay," I said, bracing myself for anything."What is it?"

"I've decided," said Lily, "that I want my life back.The rest of my life, from before I met you — and before I met Mark.When I was with Mark, he took over my life completely, isolated me from my family and my friends.I've decided that I want to start taking back my life."

We greeted this news with a moment of stunned silence.This was not the same kind of bombshell as the possibility of her being pregnant, but the fact of Lily wanting back everything she'd given up to be with Mark was unexpected.And yet, as I thought about it, this made perfect sense.She'd become someone that she wasn't, living under Mark's claws.Of course Lily would want to get back to who she really was.It might not be easy, but it was natural — and, I realized, it was necessary.

While Alex just nodded and touched her supportively on her arm, I said, "Right.Yes, right.Sure you want the people you love back.You've got to miss them.It's like the next step in your life.You should want to see them again after that bastard made you cut them off.At the very least you should want them to know you're away from him and you're okay."

Lily grabbed me by one arm.She sounded excited and looked as if the weight of the world was suddenly flying off her shoulders."Yes.Yes!Oh, I'm so glad you guys understand!"She gazed at Alex, her eyes filled with hope and getting a little wet."Oh, you do understand, don't you?"

"If I was you, I'd want the same thing," Alex said.

"You've done so much for me.You've been so good to me.I'm glad you get it," said Lily.

"Sweetheart, you deserve to get your life back," Alex said.

"Absolutely," I agreed.Then, thoughtfully, I asked, "Have you tried calling anyone?Or E-mailing or texting?"

"No," said Lily."I've been scared to use my phone.I've been mostly keeping it off because Mark can trace it."

"Yeah," I said."Okay, that's good.You don't want him getting a fix on you that way.You don't want to use that phone any more at all.In fact you should get rid of it."

"Without my phone," Lily said, "I've still felt cut off, even if I'm not with Mark any more."

I ruffled my hair with my fingers."That's stupid of us."Then, I quickly added, "It's not your fault, we just should have thought about that."

"We've had other stuff on our minds," Alex pointed out, which was obvious enough, considering the three of us were lying naked in bed together and Alex and I were good and stiff down below until she told us what she was thinking.

"All right," I said, "if you're going to go through with this — and we don't want to talk you out of it, because you've got a right to get your life back — there are some things we're going to have to do for your safety.Guys like Mark, when they dig their claws into something, they don't like to let go.He could not only be looking for you; he could be watching your friends and your family to see if you try to get in touch with any of them.If you want to see them, that's fine.But…," and I hesitated a little bit to mention this, "I don't want you going anywhere alone.We want to go with you."I glanced over at Alex to see the same determination in the set of his jaw and the nodding of his head.We both studied Lily for her reaction.

Lily rolled her eyes and bit her lower lip, weighing the idea."I don't know, you guys.I don't know how any of them would react."She quickly explained, "It's not as if any of them are prejudiced against Drakes, but it was a Drake who cut them off from me, and now I'm with two of you.I don't know what they'll think, what they'll say.They might think I'm obsessed with Drakes, like I've joined a cult or something.They might be as scared and freaked out as they'd be if I were still with Mark."

"Well, you could explain how it's been since you met us," I suggested.

"Mmm, I don't know how they'd react to that, either.Going from one psycho Drake boyfriend to two Drake guys."She pulled up her knees and wrapped her arms around them, defensively."And I mean, it's not as if this is any kind of conventional relationship.I don't know how they'll take the news that I'm being intimate with two of you.To most people, a ‘couple' is…you know…two people, not three.Even if one person in the couple happens to have two bodies, it's still two people.You guys are the best, but what we're doing, it's not something that most people do."

"Are your folks really that conservative?" Alex asked.

"It's not like they're really all that conservative," Lily said."I mean, they're not racist or homophobic.And they've never been prejudiced against Drakes, even if they don't like Mark.It's understandable that they don't like Mark.No reasonable person likes a guy like that.They don't hold it against anyone that they are who they are.But a three-way relationship is just outside of most people's thinking, you know?My parents could think I've gone from something sick and abusive to something just weird.They could be just as worried as if I were still with Mark."

Hearing her call the three of us a "relationship" felt good.But her misgivings about us were valid.Even other Drakes would cock an eyebrow, at the very least, at the thing Alex and I had with Lily.I had never actually told my own parents that Alex and I went to bed with girls together.We knew it was fun, but for most people it was pretty much "outside the box."Lily had a point.

Rubbing her leg and trying to be comforting, I suggested, "Well, maybe you wouldn't necessarily have to tell them that the three of us are sleeping together.You might just tell them that we're a couple of friends you met, who've been helping you out."

She cracked a smile and almost looked ready to laugh at that."I get what you're saying," said Lily, "but — and this is no offense — everyone knows how Drake guys are.They'd take one look at you guys and know that I must be involved with at least one of you."

"So," I said, "one of us could be the new boyfriend and the other one could be his close buddy.I mean, the part about Alex and me being close buddies, at least that's the truth."

"Uh-huh," said Alex, rubbing his head."So which one of us gets to be the boyfriend and which one gets to be the buddy?"

This was a kind of moment that Alex and I had never had before.In all the time we'd been screwing girls together, we'd never been territorial about it; never wanted to bogart the female for ourselves.There'd never been a hint of jealousy; it was all "share and share alike."As much as both of us cared about Lily, I never wanted anything, including her, to hurt our friendship in any way.The truth was that Alex was the brother of my heart.I loved him and I knew he loved me.

"Does it matter which one is which?" I asked."Don't we care about her just the same?We're not competing, Alex.It's not about which one of us cares more about her.It's about what we do for her together."

"Easy for you to say," Alex argued."Who's really got more to offer her?"

"You're not going to turn this into a thing about where you come from versus where I come from," I argued back."What's important is the two of us wanting the same thing for her."

Before Alex could respond to that, Lily reached out and touched each of us on the chest, like a referee telling us to go to our respective corners — or the master of a Joust warning us to back off before blood was shed.Hey!Hey!None of that!Claws back!

"Guys, guys, please," Lily said, soothingly."You've both been wonderful to me.You've both saved my life and made everything better for me and you both want what's best for me.And I love you both for it.But I'm actually thinking that maybe my parents aren't the place to start.There's someone else I have on my mind too.Someone else who's important to me."

"Who?" I wondered for both Alex and myself.

Lily looked off into the distance, as if seeing something that we couldn't."There's also Elyse.My best friend, Elyse Simmons.There hasn't been a day that I haven't thought about her.I want her to know where I am, what's been happening with me.I miss Elyse as much as I miss Mom and Dad."She wiped away the tear that formed in one eye."I want to see Elyse again.I need her."

"Tell us about her," I said.

"Elyse is the best.The very best.We've known each other since the Seventh Grade.There was never anything Elyse and I couldn't tell each other.Except for my music teachers, Elyse was the one who most encouraged me to follow my dreams with my piano career.I don't think there was ever a dream that one of us had that we didn't share with the other.So many times the last couple of years I've thought, I wish Elyse were here.I wish I could talk to her.One of the reasons I stopped talking to her, besides Mark making me cut everyone else out of my life, was that I was afraid he'd do something to her.Guys, I need Elyse.She lives over in Dewsbury.I want to call her and see if she wants to get together."Looking seriously at both of us, she said, "This is important, guys.Getting my life back, I want to start with her."

"Then we'll get you and Elyse together," I told her with a hard nod of my head."If she's your best friend, she is the best.She is important.We're doing this.Right, Alex?"

I offered him my fist and Alex bumped it."Yeah.We're doing this."

"Okay then," I said."I'm getting a plan for how we'll make this happen.And we will make it happen."

Lily made a smile that was like another sunrise inside the bedroom.She reached around our shoulders and pulled the two of us into a hug."Oh, you guys.What would I have ever done without you?You're the best.Both of you."

We both cuddled up closer to her and the three of us turned into one embrace.After a few minutes, we all sank back down onto the bed and began to celebrate the decision we'd just made.

_______________

The plan came together quickly.The reunion of Lily and Elyse, we mutually decided, shouldn't happen in Haventon.Lily would go to Dewsbury.She told us that Dewsbury was the first place she had thought of going the night we met her.Knowing Elyse, she would offer to let Lily stay with her there, and they would probably call the police or whatever advocacy services for abused women they could find, and figure out what to do from there.The only thing that made her hesitate, as she said, was the fear of Mark going after Elyse.But we'd be careful about it and watch our step.And the important thing we made up our minds about was that Lily would not go anywhere without the two of us.

This was set in stone, as far as Alex and I were concerned.She would go to Dewsbury — with us.We'd take her there personally and bring her back when they finished their visit.Lily accepted this because she respected our concern for her, but she also insisted on having some alone time with Elyse.There are things that best girlfriends say to each other that are for their ears and theirs alone, which was something we had to respect.Understanding all that, worked out what we'd do, not only about Lily and Elyse, but about Mark.

Alex and I would take Lily to the most convenient branch of her bank, where she'd empty or close her account and open a new one, in case Mark was spying on her transactions.She hadn't used her account much since she'd been with us because she'd taken out cash in an emergency fund for her getaway, which was smart and made things a little simpler.She'd buy a "burner phone" with a number that Mark didn't know and couldn't trace.That would become Lily's one and only phone, with a number that only Alex and I knew — which she would share with Elyse when she called her.

When she got Elyse on the phone, the two of them screamed happy screams and cried happy tears at each other, and Alex and I went out flying while they had their reunion talk.While we were gone, Lily told Elyse what we had in mind and Elyse agreed to it.The next step in the plan was to set up a meeting for the two of them at a cafe in Dewsbury.They'd meet indoors, not in the outer seating area, where it would be less public.And there the two girlfriends would be reunited for real.

All that was left then was the train ride to Dewsbury.To be extra safe, Lily would go in dark sunglasses and a scarf to make sure she was traveling incognito.We joked with her about it:This was the way that Lily would have to travel in the future, when she was a great recording and concert star and everyone knew who she was, and she'd have to go incognito so that she wouldn't be mobbed by adoring fans screaming for her autograph.She joked back that she'd only have to go that way if she went touring in Europe, where they treat jazz musicians like rock stars.Lily Turner might have fans in America, but not screaming mobs.

"You're gonna get to Europe and you're gonna have those screaming mobs after you," Alex said with certainty.

"We'll make sure of that," I said without a doubt.

_______________

On the train ride to Dewsbury, Lily kept on the scarf and the glasses, but didn't act a bit like a girl who was trying to hide from anyone.She talked and laughed with us the whole way, telling us stories of the great jazz artists that she'd read about and admired, like Ella Fitzgerald, who was discouraged from becoming a singer because people didn't think she was "pretty enough."Lily talked about the great music that the world would have missed if Ella had listened to them.I couldn't help thinking about the great music that the world would miss if she didn't become the star she was meant to be — or who she could have become if she had stayed in that relationship with Mark.In his hands, Lily might have wound up a sad, scared shell of a woman — if he didn't end up killing her outright.But she had gotten herself out of that mess, and Alex and I would make sure she stayed out.

We found the cafe in Dewsbury, and sitting there in a comfy chair in the front was a young woman of a similar type to Lily — pretty and curvy — reading something on her phone.When we walked in, she looked up and the biggest smiles in the world broke out on both her face and Lily's.They ran into each other's arms and jumped around, hugging, laughing, crying, and pretty much making a spectacle of themselves, while the baristas and other customers looked on.No one said anything, but everyone could tell this was a happy reunion and everyone seemed very touched.People smiled and my heart melted.Alex stuck his hands in his pockets and grinned slightly, touched and a little embarrassed by the display of emotion.We've done a good thing, I thought.

Lily introduced us, and Elyse thanked us through tears and shook our hands warmly.It seemed to be all she could do to throw her arms around Alex and me and squeeze us with gratitude.We told her that Lily had told us all about her and we knew how important it was to get the two of them back together.Elyse said Lily had told her a few things about us, mainly that we'd given her friend a safe place to be.She thanked us again, and this time she did hug us.We didn't know if Lily had told Elyse the full extent of our relationship with her, and of course neither Alex nor I brought it up.It wasn't the time or the place to discuss the fact that the two of us together were boinking her best friend day and night.If Lily brought it up to Elyse, that was between the two of them.

But we excused ourselves and gave the two girlfriends some time to be alone together and catch up in person, and reminded Lily of what time we'd come and get her for the train ride back to Haventon.With that, Lily and Elyse found themselves a table at the back of the cafe, and Alex and I set out to find something to do for the rest of the day in Dewsbury.

As we walked away from the cafe, Alex kept his hands in his pockets and looked at the sidewalk more than anything else — a sure sign that something was on his mind.

"What?" I asked him.

"I'm just thinking," he said."This is the first step.In taking back her life, I mean.She's got her best girlfriend back.She's on her way."

"Yes, she is," I agreed."And it's good.Lily is becoming her real, whole self again.It's the best thing."

"For her, yeah."

"What do you mean, ‘for her?'It's just good.It's all good."

"If you say so."

"Why shouldn't I ‘say so'?" I asked.

Alex looked over at me finally and replied, "Lily's ‘whole, real self' was this whole other life that we weren't part of.What if sooner or later she wants to move on without us?Jake, this girl is brilliant, and if she hooks up with the right people she could be going places.And maybe not hooking up with us any more."

I frowned at that."Is that what you're worried about?That she'll leave us and won't want to sleep with us any more?"

"All I'm saying is, what if she does?"

Pondering that, I didn't really, entirely believe it was possible."Look, if Lily decides eventually that there's no place in her life for us any more, it'll hurt and we'll be sad.But I'll understand.I'll be happy for her and I'll be grateful we had a chance to help her turn her life around.And I'll be proud that we knew her.That's how it ought to be.Anything else…man, that's kind of selfish."

"I guess so," said Alex in a glum tone."But like we were saying before, we're never gonna find anyone as good as her again.We're never gonna have anything again as good as what we've got with her.She wasn't brought up to have a life where she screws around with two guys, Drake or otherwise.She's not that kind of girl.Taking back her life and having the career she wants, Lily could cut us loose."He faced me, looking more serious than I'd ever seen him look in all the time I'd known him."I don't think I want that, Jake.I want her with us.I don't think I'm ever gonna stop wanting her."

At the bottom of my heart, I didn't believe Lily was the kind of person who would just decide she didn't need us any more and walk away from us.She had too much depth, too much feeling, for that.And what Alex and I had talked about earlier was true.What we had with her had quickly turned into more than just what went on in bed and so forth.It had turned to something real.It was something that I didn't want to go out of my life, either.

Lacking anything else to say, I put an arm around Alex's shoulder and said, "We'll be okay, buddy.We'll all be okay."

And we walked off together down the block.