“That’ll teach you to disrespect our daddy, bitch,” Snake muttered.
I stayed on the floor in a heap for a good hour, well after River, Snake, and my father took off to the market for more beer. My insides were on fire when I pulled myself off the floor and carried ice trays to the bath to soak in.
Despite my predicament, my mind forgot the pain and the assholes who now lived with me. I even let my mind forget the fact that part of what my father said was true—about my momma. She hadn’t tried reaching out or contacting me since she’d left years ago. I used to cry myself to sleep at night, missing her, but when I was with Avalee, I forgot about the pain for a while. Now, she was gone too. And just like with my momma, I had no way of contacting her to even see if she was okay. I didn’t know where she was or if she’d ever come back.
“Avalee,” I said out my window, after I’d soaked in the ice bath until my body was numb and carefully dressed in soft sweats, to the endless night sky. “Wherever you are, stay there. Don’t ever come back to this hellhole.” I paused, looking up at the moon. Avalee once told me she’d always look up at the moon and think of me, knowing I would be somewhere under the very same satellite. I’d laughed at that and told her the moon wasn’t a satellite, but of course, she was right. She was smart, funny, and an all-around badass. No matter where she went in life, I knew she’d do just fine. I thought hard about the next words I would say, considering she might be out there looking up at the moon, or satellite, too. “I love you, Avalee. I will always love you. Just don’t come back to this miserable place and have a good and long life.”
While my body ached from being physically beaten, my heart ached from being invisibly broken.
I drive down my winding driveway and press the button to open the garage and park. I glance up at the moon and smile. Funny how life seems to take so many weird twists and turns. I never imagined I would get a second chance with Avalee. I hold my keys in my hand, gripping them until my fingers bleed. Now, I not only have this prick who hurt her on my target list, but my dumb-ass, half-wit half brothers to worry about too.
Tonight, I won’t be sleeping. Instead, I need to work off some of this energy, so I change into a pair of track pants and go for a midnight jog to clear my head. I told Avalee most of the story, but the next part, the part that actually involves her, will be the hardest yet.
Nineteen
Avalee
I check myself in the mirror and run the peach lipstick over my lips one more time, then spritz myself with some perfume.
“You got this, Avalee,” I say, pointing at my reflection. “You are a strong, beautiful, and courageous woman.”
Ruin has invited me to his place for the first time and is picking me up any second. We are taking Stormy out to his house for the night, to let him stretch his legs and run free of a leash for a change. As if he senses me thinking about him, a wet nose pokes my calf, and he paws at my feet.
I giggle when I glance down at him. He’s growing so fast, and his features are changing just as quickly. Still, his lopsided smile and one bent ear always brighten my day. I squat down and take his furry little face in my hands and plant a kiss right on the end of his wet nose. Scratching the back of his head and behind his ears, I smile and feel so happy just to be alive. “I love my little dude,” I say, squishing him up for another smooch.
Stormy’s one bent ear perks up, and he lets out a little yip, then takes off running out of the bathroom and for the front door.
“Is Daddy here?” I ask and blush. I called Ruin Stormy’s daddy without even thinking about it, holy mess.
Stormy barks wildly from the front room, something he never does with Ruin. That is the first indication I have that something is off. Prickles of fear crawl up my spine when I hover at the threshold to my entryway, just out of sight, as two cognac leather oxfords enter my view.
“No.”
“Virtue,” he says, grasping my elbow as he does.
“Don’t.” I yank my arm away. “What are you doing here?”
My father’s eyes darken. I must’ve forgotten to lock the door, and he let himself in. “You haven’t been answering my calls.”
“I’ve been busy.”
“Bullshit,” he snarls.
“Dad, please, I’m meeting a friend tonight.”
“That boy isn’t a friend to you. He only wants one thing from you, just the same as it was then. People don’t change. You’re just lettin’ him play you for a fool.”
White-hot anger boils through my veins as I stare back at the man who gave me life, only to take it from me so many years later. “My friends aren’t your business.”
My father’s lips purse at my quiet disobedience. “Virtue.”
“Don’t call me that. It’s time you left. I’m too busy to reopen old wounds with you.” I move to push my father out of my front door, when, in a surprise move, he clenches my forearm and twists me into his hard form.
He’s seething, and his words cut to the bone when he says, “I won’t let him steal the most precious thing in the world to me.”
“Let me go. You don’t have any right to interfere in my life! What next? Are you going to hold me captive to keep me under your control?”
“Control?” my father grits out. “I want you safe. All I’ve ever wanted is your safety.”
