Total pages in book: 122
Estimated words: 115590 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 578(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115590 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 578(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
“What the hell?” The words fell from my lips.
“Oh, baby.” My mom came at me with wild eyes, her greasy hair in disarray. “Ya stepdaddy got beat.” Stepdaddy? She was on that again? Every time, she thought we were going to be one big happy family with a crack whore, a meth dealer, and a stripper daughter. Fun. How Dayton.
On a grunt, Jerry managed to sit up. And holy shit, Jerry did some sketchy shit, but I had never seen him hurt. And this was beyond hurt. His right eye was swollen shut, and a few extra teeth were missing. The uncomfortable feeling tearing down my spine quickly replaced my temptation to smile.
Jerry stared me down like he thought this was something to do with me. “When I find out who would have the balls to try to come at me…” Rage filled his one good eye. “I’m gonna bury the little shit. Don’t think I won’t find out, Monroe.” The accusation was right there, written all over his face. Why the hell would he think I had anything to do with this?
A thread of fear pulled at my gut. Call it intuition.
I had no doubt that Jerry had enough dirty cops, desperate hookers, and shady drug dealers in his pocket to find out almost anything in Dayton, and I knew—I just knew this was Zepp. And that terrified me.
29
Zepp
“Hand me that wrench.”
When Hendrix scooted out from underneath the car, I tossed the tool to him, then went back to the engine. Working on cars brought me some sort of peace, a way to lose my thoughts in hand motions, the way drawing did.
“Shit. Hey, Zepp. Incoming!” Wolf shouted from the back porch just before the door banged shut.
I glanced around the hood at Monroe barreling off the porch, face red and fists clenched at her side. Holy shit. She was pissed. What the hell could I have done to piss her off within the hour since she had left? Swiping the sweat from my brow, I stepped around the front of the car.
“Was it you?” she shouted when she passed the birdbath.
“Was it me what?”
“Did you go after Jerry?”
I hoped Dizzy had beat the shit out of him. “Jerry?” I grabbed a screwdriver from the grass and went back to the car.
“One request.” She paced beside the car, shaking her head and rambling to herself. “Don’t go after him.”
“Roe!” I glanced over the hood. “You’ve been with me the past three days…” And what a fucking alibi.
She stopped mid-step to look at me, her teeth working over her lip. “Well, someone beat his ass, and he’s pissed.”
He was a drug dealer. A roughneck. Like he hadn’t had a beating or two in his life.
I almost snorted while I tightened a lug nut. “Ass beatings are part of the business.”
“Not for Jerry,” she mumbled.
I tucked the socket wrench into the back of my jeans, then slammed the hood. I couldn't figure out why she was pissed; the shithead beat on her; she should be gloating that someone handed his ass to him. “Why do you even give a shit, Monroe?”
“Because he’s practically digging a hole in the damn woods for whoever did it already.”
Good luck killing Dizzy. Jerry didn’t stand a chance against him. “Again, why do you care?”
She punched me in the chest. “Why do you think, asshole? I swear if you had anything to do with this, Zepp…”
I fought a smile. She was worried about me. “Like I said, Roe. I’ve been with you for the past three days.”
“Doesn’t mean shit. You’re a shady fuck, you know it?”
I grabbed her by the hips and yanked her against me. “Good to know.” Then I kissed her.
Something whacked me on the side of the head. “Sick-ass fuckers,” Hendrix mumbled, pushing up from the ground and dusting his hands on his jeans. “I thought you were going home, Red? I need a break.”
“Changed my mind.” Monroe flipped him the bird. “I’m staying.”
“So I gotta listen to you two bumping uglies? Again.” Hendrix groaned. “I can’t deal with it. You sound like a hyena when you get off.”
She glared at him. “Like you aren’t trying to take out your bedroom wall with some random skank most nights.”
I grabbed the glove Hendrix had hit me with and whacked him in the face. “Shut up.” Then I snagged Monroe by the waist and led her toward the house. Those two would keep going at each other until they were separated. “Come on, my little hyena. I’mma make you howl.”
Laughing, she elbowed me in the ribs. “God, your brother is a dick.”
* * *
The next day I got sent to the principal’s office at the end of last period for breaking some dickhead’s nose for calling Monroe a slut. Two days of detention. Brown was going soft as shit.