Hidden Intentions 2 Read online

  “Nya, that feels good. You know I like it tight.”

  Sweat was dripping from both of our foreheads. We didn’t care.

  Tory picked me up, threw me on the bed, and turned me around to enter me from the back.

  “I missed this dick.”

  “He’s back for good now,” he declared, pulling my hair and giving me deep, hard strokes.

  This time, we both came together and collapsed on the bed.

  Chapter 27

  The next morning, desperately wanting to find out why Tory was home so early, I tiptoed downstairs to use my cell phone. Dr. Waters hadn’t given me a definitive date of his return home, so I didn’t know if Tory was scheduled to come home at all. Yes, I loved the idea of having him home with me again, but I was ready for him to stay away from me for as long as it took to get all the necessary treatments, rather than spend a lifetime with him as a drunk.

  Once in the living room, I noticed a black bag under the chair. Enclosed was an empty bottle of Bacardi rum, two bottles of Absolut vodka, and a bottle of Chivas Regal scotch. He didn’t make a good attempt at hiding it from me. I thought, on our last visit, he was making progress.

  I ran in the kitchen. I needed answers right away. I ransacked the drawer, looking for Dr. Water’s cell phone number.

  “Dr. Waters speaking,” he answered the phone.

  “Hi, Dr. Waters. This is Nya, Tory Sothers’ wife.”

  “Nya, you’re just the person I need to talk to. Yesterday evening, I left you a voice mail on your cell phone and home phone about the status of your husband.”

  Last night, too tired, I didn’t bother answering either one of my phones. “What’s going on? Why was Tory released so early?” I inquired, not beating around the bush. I didn’t want Tory to wake up and overhear my conversation.

  “Last week, Tory and the other patients at the treatment center went on a retreat in the woods. It’s good for them to get out. Most of the patients embrace the opportunity. At first, Tory was enjoying himself. Then, after a while, he demanded to go back to the center. I decided to go back with him. We had a talk and—”

  “Why did he leave?”

  Tears began to stream down my face. I would be very disappointed if Tory had left against orders. That would prove to me that he didn’t seem to realize that his actions affected other people’s lives. Especially me, his wife. His mom was also hoping that he would complete the program, no matter how long it took. It would break her heart if she found out he dropped out early.

  “Mrs. Sothers, it boils down to this. Within the walls of the treatment center, Tory can handle coping with the loss of his father and getting a grip on the alcoholism. In his words, and I quote, ‘Doc, this place is a protective shield for me.’ Once he’s outside in the real world, he simply can’t handle it. Last night, he hopped on a plane and left. Plus, I think he missed you as well. Right now, Tory doesn’t realize he can make it through this. Until he makes that decision, it’s going to be a vicious cycle of him relapsing over and over again.”

  “I can’t believe he left. He damn sure fooled his family and me. So has he been kicked out of the program?” I asked between sobs.

  “No, no, no. He’s welcome to come back. If this program doesn’t work, I can recommend others. Nya—excuse me, pardon my manners. May I call you Nya?”

  “Yes.”

  “The most difficult battle is the one within yourself. This may be a long hard road for Tory. I hope I’m not crossing any boundaries with what I am about to say, Nya. You may need to make the decision of whether to stick around or not. Each person has a limit to what she or he can bear. I know it hurts to realize a bottle is more important than you. Please try to remember, alcoholism is a disease. Please don’t hesitate to call me if you have any other questions, or if Tory wants to come back.”

  “Dr. Waters, thank you for taking the time to speak with me. Hopefully, I can get him back into the program,” I said, disappointment and resentment in my voice.

  After pressing the end button on my cell phone, I dialed Steven. He couldn’t believe his brother had walked out like that. We both decided that perhaps he could talk some sense into him.

  I threw my cell phone on the kitchen counter and ran upstairs to our bedroom.

  Tory smiled after I walked through the bedroom door. He placed the empty bottle on the nightstand. “Chivas Regal scotch was my father’s favorite drink.”

  “Hmm, I don’t remember your father drinking himself to death. Did you know your father’s favorite thing to do was teach? Follow in his footsteps that way.”

  “I know you’re pissed. I overheard you talking to Dr. Waters. It never fails. You almost always seem to get up before me. I married an early bird. I tried to go downstairs and hide that bag in another place, but of course, you beat me to it. Right now, I got a huge headache and don’t feel like hearing your damn mouth, or feel your wrath about my drinking. I just came home. You should be fixing me something to eat. Grits, eggs, biscuits, and a glass of orange juice would be nice. Thank you,” he said, a smirk on his face.

  “Starve, for all I care.” I folded my arms.

  “I missed you. I put last night on my top-five-most-memorable-times-of-having-sex-with-you list.” He inched closer to me.

  “Don’t even think about touching me!” I yelled, looking into his eyes. “Why did you leave?”

  “Please, don’t yell. I can’t stand it when you yell. Your voice pierces through my ears.” He shook his head, moving away from me.

  “Are you going to tell me or not? You owe your family and me an explanation. I’m so glad we don’t have kids together. You don’t give a fuck about anybody but yourself. Did you know how many days and nights your mother has worried herself over you?”

  “My father is dead; yours is not. Can’t you understand that?”

  “Using your father’s death as a reason to drink yourself to death is not an excuse.”

  “I don’t think I’m strong enough to cope outside in the real world. I just can’t. Are you happy now?” He barked. “You got your answer.”

  “Go back to the program. Dr. Waters is willing to take you back. Or you can try another program. Tory, I thought I made myself clear the first time. It’s either the bottle or me.”

  “Nya, don’t do this.”

  “Don’t do what? I’m trying to save your life. Alcoholism can kill you. Alcohol ruins your liver, and they’re hard to come by. Any organ donation program would hesitate to give an alcoholic a healthy liver over someone who doesn’t drink. You have to learn to cope with life. You have a lot of thinking to do. I’m not the most perfect woman in the world, but I go above and beyond to take care of you and keep you happy. You, me, and our possible future kids can have a good life together. Taking vacations, breakfast in bed, oversleeping, and growing old together is what we dreamed of. Please don’t throw it away. I called your brother, Steven. He and Anne waiting for you at his house. They want to talk to you.”

  “I can’t believe you told them I was here. I’m not ready to face them or my mom.” Tory walked out of the room and headed down the stairs.

  I chased after him, screaming at the top of my lungs, “We’re trying to save your life! Why is that concept not getting through your damn brain?”

  He was too fast for me. Before I knew it, he grabbed his truck keys from the table in the foyer and slammed the door behind him.

  Too tired and stressed to go to work, I called Jill to let her know I wouldn’t be coming in. My stomach was killing me.

  I quickly ran upstairs and searched through my medicine cabinet to pop a pill in my mouth for the ulcer, which was pulsating in my stomach. Now, I regretted not telling Tory about the ulcer. If he knew, it would have made him feel guilty.

  While in the shower, I cried. I was hoping Tory would pick me over a bottle of alcohol and we could spend the rest of our lives together.

  A few hours later, pacing my bedroom wasn’t helping at all, so I went to lie down. I had ignored
the house phone and my cell phone all day. I didn’t want to talk to anyone right now.

  The biggest fear wearing on my mind was not knowing what his decision would be. I wasn’t prepared to accept him choosing alcohol over me, but I had no other option but to accept it and deal with it if he did.

  Before I knew it, I drifted off to sleep in my robe.

  Chapter 28

  When I woke up, there was a yellow rose lying next to me with a card. Enclosed was a letter.

  Dear Nya,

  I have been telling you over and over again that my father is DEAD. Mom, Steven, Anne and you all act as if you want to go on with your lives. I can’t face the truth he’s never coming back again. Without the alcohol, I can’t cope. I’m sorry.

  Love always,

  Tory

  Where the hell did he go? I thought, looking for my cell phone.

  Once downstairs, I quickly dialed his cell phone number. It was disconnected. I called Verizon Wireless, only to find out he had disconnected the phone without a forwarding number.

  His truck was parked in the driveway and the truck keys and wallet were on the kitchen counter.

  I had seven missed calls on my cell phone, all from Steven and Anne. Instead of dialing either one of their numbers, I threw some clothes on and raced over to Steven’s house. I got dressed so fast, I accidentally tore a hole in my favorite grape-colored velour pants. At that point, I didn’t even care. Tory was far more important.

  “Did you talk to him? Where is he?” I asked Steven after he opened his front door and I barged in.

  “Nya, Tory is gone. He came here to tell us to stop wasting our breath about him giving up alcohol. He ignored everything we had to say to him. Nothing we said or did can convince him to seek help again. We talked to him for over an hour. My brother is a grown man, and none of us can force him to do anything.”

  “He left me a note.” I showed it to him.

  He read it, and so did Anne.

  “Nya, Tory has made his decision. There’s nothing we can do about it,” Anne whimpered, hugging me.

  I couldn’t feel my legs. It was almost as if I was in shock. I couldn’t believe he just left me. How could he do this to his family and me? “I’m going to the police station.”

  “Why?” Steven questioned.

  “To fill out a missing person’s report.”

  “Let me drive you. Nya, you’re in no condition to drive anywhere.”

  It seemed like it took forever before we got to the police station. Each second I realized Tory was gone felt more like hours.

  “I need to fill out a missing person’s report please,” I explained to the police officer after walking up to the counter.

  Anne took me over to the waiting area to sit down, and Steven began explaining the situation to the police officer.

  The next thing I know, the police officer came walking over to me. “Mrs. Sothers, I’m Officer Ross, your brother-in-law explained what happened to your husband. Unfortunately, under these circumstances, we’re unable to fill out a missing person’s report because, technically, he’s not missing. He chose to leave you. He not only told you, but his brother and sister as well. In addition, we cannot file a report until he has been missing for more than twenty-four hours.”

  “Don’t say he left me!” I snapped.

  “Ma’am, I know this must be difficult for you.”

  “Please . . . can you bend the rules?” I begged.

  “It would make me feel better if the report was taken seriously. He’s probably drunk somewhere and may get hurt. At least, the missing report may help to locate him sooner.”

  “Mrs. Sothers, I’m sorry, but I can not make any exceptions to our rules and policies.”

  I didn’t want to accept his response, so I refused to leave, demanding that even more officers listen to my story and try to find Tory.

  After a while of my ranting, Anne called Yvette, Tara, and Leah. She must have retrieved their numbers from my cell phone. Even with them there, I still refused to leave.

  The officers advised Steven that I had to calm down or leave the premises, or they would have me arrested me for disorderly conduct. Steven had no choice but to take me out of the police station kicking and screaming.

  I couldn’t bear going back to my house, so Yvette and Leah took me to my parents’ house.

  I stayed in my old room over the next several weeks and didn’t do much of anything. I didn’t go to work. I couldn’t go to work. The only person I called was Jill. I gave her a vague explanation of what happened and requested time off. She was very understanding and told me take all the time I needed.

  The whole situation felt surreal. It felt like I was never going to feel better. My fucking husband left me for an alcohol bottle.

  I was driving myself crazy every morning by checking our bank accounts and credit card accounts online to see if there was any recent activity from Tory’s card.

  I was hoping to locate Tory myself. I even hired a private investigator, which turned up nothing. Tory had vanished and didn’t want to be found. Was coming back here too hard to bear?

  Every night, I prayed God would bring Tory back to me. At this point I didn’t know if he was alive, but it felt as if the person I married had died. Days and nights seemed to clump together.

  Yvette, Leah, Tara, and Mommy tried their best to be there for me, but I shut them out and didn’t want to be bothered. All I wanted to do was think about my husband, and if I did talk to any of them, it would be about him. They were probably sick of it by now. Mom even brought the pastor of her church to pray for me.

  My cell phone was with me at all times. I wished Tory would call me so I could hear his voice. Until now, I didn’t realize how much I truly loved him. Was this all a bad dream? Did I deserve such cruelty to my heart?

  Chapter 29

  It was an unusually warm day for winter. The temperature crept up into the mid-sixties. I woke up feeling helpless and hopeless. I was too drained to cry another tear. I didn’t want to move, I didn’t want to go on with my life. All I wanted to do was stare at the wall in my old bedroom, have my cell phone right by my side, and reminisce about the most cherished times with my husband. I didn’t want anyone feeling sorry for me.

  Surprisingly, out of everyone, Leah, my self-centered sister, came around most often to check on me. She didn’t even insult me like she normally would.

  My cell phone and house phone mailboxes were full. Unless the messages were from Tory, I didn’t care to listen to them. Even if Jill fired me for being out so long, I didn’t care. Being an experienced registered nurse, I could get a job at any hospital or medical facility.

  There was a knock at the door.

  “Come in,” I announced.

  “Morning, sunshine.” Daddy greeted me with a smile.

  “Hey, Daddy,” I responded, not smiling.

  “Nya, one of the qualities you got from me is not beating around the bush. I’m your father, and I hate to see you like this. So many nights I’ve came to check on you at least three times before I lay my head down, and you look a mess.”

  “My husband left me,” I whimpered.

  “I know your husband left you. We all know your husband left you. It’s sad and unfortunate. Right now, I’m not Tory’s biggest fan. While he’s been out drinking and God knows what else, I’ve been cutting the grass at your house and emptying out your mailbox every day so the mailman won’t send back your mail.”

  “Did Tory send me a letter?”

  “No,” he replied, shaking his head.

  “It’s not his style to write letters, anyway, and mail them. Leaving a letter on my pillow is more like him.”

  “This isn’t about Tory. I’m in here for you. Look, Nya, I know you’re devastated he left you. All I’m asking you to do is, don’t let Tory’s shortcomings define your life. You’ve done all the crying you can and have had the biggest pity party for yourself. Now, it’s not going to be easy to cope without him, but you got
to try to enjoy yourself again. I haven’t seen you smile in weeks. Your momma has been so worried about you.”

  “The last thing I want is for Mommy and you to be worried about me.”

  “Well, give us a reason to put our minds at ease.”

  “Daddy, I think you’re right. I do need to get up and pull myself together.”

  “Now, that’s my daughter talking. Put some clothes on, I want to take you to lunch.”

  “All right.” The idea of food had enticed me for the first time in a while.

  “I have two surprises for you,” Daddy announced, heading outside of my bedroom door.

  “What is it?”

  “First, I got your momma to sew up those grape-colored velour pants that you love wearing. She noticed they had a hole in them. I would have bought you a new set, but knowing you, this is better.”

  “You got that right.” I was happy my pants were back intact.

  “For your second surprise, I bought two pounds of those sweet Rainier cherries. I know they have distinctive colors and are hard to come by around this time,” he said with a look of accomplishment.

  “Daddy, they’re not in season. How did you get them so early?” I said already starting to eat a few.

  “I got a buddy down at the Farmers Market on Princess Anne Road. While you freshen up and put some clothes on, I’ll go put the rest in the refrigerator.” He headed out of my bedroom door.

  “Daddy?”

  “Yeah, baby?”

  “Thanks for everything. I guess I owe you guys some rent for as long as I’ve been staying here,” I said, smiling again.

  “You’re welcome. Nonsense. I’m not taking half of a penny from you. Now, hurry up. It’s almost one o’clock, and you know I got to eat before I take my medication. A cheeseburger and onion rings dipped in ketchup are calling my name at Fuddruckers. Don’t tell your momma. She’ll be on me about my cholesterol and blood pressure.” He winked at me.