Total pages in book: 190
Estimated words: 185785 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 929(@200wpm)___ 743(@250wpm)___ 619(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 185785 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 929(@200wpm)___ 743(@250wpm)___ 619(@300wpm)
“Thanks a fucking bunch, Violet,” Ray snaps and storms out of the room.
“Just go. Please just go,” I say.
I don’t know if he can hear me out there, so I say it louder.
“Please just fucking go, Ray! Leave me alone!”
I hear a series of bangs, crashes, and cuss words and then he’s in the doorway holding a folded twenty.
No. A couple twenties.
“Really, Violet?”
I blow out a breath and grip my hair in my hands on either side of my head. He’s found my stash in my tea canister.
He shakes his head in disgust. “You hiding more cash from me?”
I shake my head. “Maybe I was saving it for a birthday present for you.”
Bile rises in my throat.
“You lyin’ bitch,” he hisses.
I swallow.
Bitch. Lyin’ bitch.
“Now on top of all the other shit you do to me, you call me names too? That’s just lovely,” I choke. “Please go, Ray. I can’t take this anymore. Please just go. I don’t love you anymore. I want you to leave.”
“What the fuck, Violet? Is there more? More here in your other hiding places?”
He yanks my underwear drawer wide and starts flinging things around the room.
“How could I hide more than that? You have my bank card. You ran up my credit cards and I have nothing…” The word nothing trembles. With pain. With accusation.
He shakes his head and tosses the drawer in his hand at the wall. Another dent. He proceeds to open every one of my eight remaining dresser drawers and rifles through everything.
“Oh yeah, I’m a piece ‘a shit. Just a piece of fuckin’ shit, ain’t I?”
I slump against the headboard and cradle myself, sniffling.
He goes through what’s left in my purse and my heart races thinking he’ll find that coffee-stained business card, but it doesn’t happen.
When he storms out, I hear multiple doors slamming.
I sit there, heart pounding, body trembling and do so for a good fifteen minutes, unsure of what’s coming next.
The bedroom is trashed. There’s another dent in the wall and more tear streaks down my cheeks.
Finally, I shakily get off the bed and head to the bathroom. It’s trashed, too. I use the facilities and wash my face, straining to hear if there’s any activity outside the door.
I hear nothing.
After a few minutes, I dare to go out. I find the apartment empty. Empty, but messed up. The candelabra from the shelf is on the floor. My aloe plant and my little juniper bonsai are knocked over. The picture on the wall tilted to the side. A hole the size of a fist in the drywall beside the fridge. Kitchen canisters knocked over and my tea canister on the floor, contents spilled out. Of course the cash is gone.
I’m afraid to breathe a sigh of relief that he’s gone. I don’t know how long of a reprieve I’ve got before he’s back. I shakily tidy up, my chest feeling like it’s caving in. My phone miraculously survived, but the side of the phone case is covered in scratches and drywall.
Ray’s phone is ringing again from the bedroom.
The same Hennessy B name is on the screen.
My stomach churns.
I shower, trying to get the water to calm my nerves, then get ready for bed again, on pins and needles, expecting him to come back any time.
He doesn’t.
I know I’m not lucky enough that he’ll leave like I told him to.
I should go. I should go to my parents’ house.
I should.
But I don’t. It’s like I’m paralyzed, like there’s an invisible fence around this apartment.
***
I wake up in the morning for work after another shitty sleep that saw me awake nearly every hour, and he still isn’t here. I look out the window and my parking space is empty.
I quickly get ready for work and leave twenty minutes early, bloodshot eyes and feeling like I’ve got on weighted boots, hoping and praying I won’t see him coming in before I woodenly walk out and head to the bus stop.
6
Killian
The ass wipe didn’t call me about the game, so early afternoon, I call Hennessy.
“Kill! Yo, buddy.”
“Hey, Henny. Iadanza pay up?”
“Nope. Dodgin’ my calls, too. I’m about to start collections. Wanna share why you’re interested? Call me curious, but calls from you two days in a row? Can’t help it.”
“Maybe I’ll buy the debt.”
Silence for a beat. Then, “Seriously?”
“Serious,” I confirm.
“It’d save me some hassle, Kill. But… I’m surprised.”
He knows this isn’t my style.
“I have other business with Raymond,” I tell him.
“Clearly. You wanna, it’s yours. I’m happy to be done with him.”
“Good. Consider it done. Send Lou over to Genesis?”
“Sure. When?”
“Have him see Alana before close and she’ll settle. 85%? I’ll be the one to tell the shithead. Keep this between us. Should he show up with the money or an excuse, you take it, tell me and we’ll settle later, but give him the sweetheart Henny treatment.”