Before I Break Read Online Free PDF Page B

why would I talk to Dexter about fixing this instead of my parents. I call Jenna and pray for her to pick up. If anyone can tell if this isn’t my voice, it’ll be her.
    “Don’ t call me anymore Chris!” she yells at me.
    “Jenna. I really need to see you,” I plead.
    “ Oh, you need me? What about the wife you were oh so protective of? The one you supposedly don’t know,” she says sarcastically. I’m really starting to rethink letting her listen to this message.
    “ Jenna. I’m scared,” I interrupt. I’ve always been honest with her, and I hope that will count for something. There’s a long pauses.
    “I’ m on the corner of 4th and Higgins,” she says and hangs up the phone. 4th and Higgins is only about three minutes away. I don’t usually speed, but today is an exception. I see her car parked right on the corner. I get out and walk to the driver side.
    “Can I get in?” I ask.  The scowl she gives me answers that question. I try to think of the best way to preface the message. To explain to her that I don’t know why this voice sounds like me, and the fact it’s talking about things I have no idea about. I really need her help in figuring this out.
    “What? You’ re really making me nervous!” she says, looking up at me. I know there’s no disclaimer that can prepare her for what she’s about to hear. I just hope that she’ll say it isn’t me.  If I’m really optimistic, she’ll say we’ll figure this out together. I take a deep breath, play the message, and watch her face go from angry to horrified.
    “ What the hell Chris?!” she says angrily. My stomach drops. This conversation isn’t going to go how I hoped.
    “Is this a fucking joke?” she yells at me.
    “ Jenna that isn’t me,” I say hopelessly. It sounds like me but it can’t be...
    “ Bullshit! It sure as hell sounds like you! How could…why are you doing this?” She starts to cry.
    “That’s not me Jenna. I don’ t know how this is possible, but it’s not me,” I plead with her. “Why would I do this, Jenna?  Why?!” I tell her as she rolls her window up. I stick my arm in to prevent it from closing completely.
    “ What am I supposed to say to this?” she screeches
    “I don’t know,” I say exhausted.
    “ Help me figure this out, I need you,” I plead with her.
    “You’ re saying this isn’t you, but it sounds a hell of a lot like you. You’re saying—you’re saying you’re fucking married in the message, right after this crazy woman shows up and says she’s your wife. I’m starting to think maybe you’re the crazy one, and she’s sane as hell!” she says, her voice straining.
    “ If I was lying, why would I let you listen to this, Jenna?” I shout back at her. She’s shaking her head furiously. Jenna has always been analytical and able to cut through bullshit. She can tell if someone is lying before they open their mouth, but now she can’t do any of it.
    “ Help me think, Jenna. What are the reasonable explanations for this? You’re in law school. You’re all facts, right? What are the facts here?” I grab the back of my head with one hand in frustration, keeping the other in her car window since I’m still not sure she won’t pull off if I move it. She lets out a sigh.
    “ Get in, Chris,” she says defeated. I do so immediately, but she won’t even look at me.
    “Let me see the phone,” she says, letting out a deep breath. I hand it to her and replay the message. Her face is now stoic. She plays it again and again and it makes me cringe each time.
    “ This is your voice, but it doesn’t really sound like you at all. The tone, inflection, phrasing are all wrong. You hardly ever swear.” She sighs again and rubs her temples.
    “ He says I haven’t figured it out,” I say, referring to the voice as another person because it’s not me. Not in a million years.
    “About him. It has to be. He’ s introducing himself at the end of the call. He’s smug and arrogant