What she didn’t know was that shortly after, the drink would appear at least once or twice a week.
I was good at pretending, even though she most likely saw right through it.
The kitchen was filled with all types of food, but nothing sounded good and everything tasted like dirt. Bypassing any of the food, I drank a glass of water before making my way to sit on the porch for a few minutes.
I’d be in the shade, and alone, just like I enjoyed these days. Dawn wouldn’t be home for another few hours, and hopefully I could pretend, again, to be busy ‘working’.
I couldn’t remember the last time that we spent time together, other than in the car on the way to a therapy appointment. Even then, those times had been few and far in between since I got my driver’s license.
I wanted to be happy about that, since at one time I never thought I’d be able to have such freedoms. But all it did was put more pressure on my shoulders. Pressure that was all my own doing.
My little car, a black Volkswagen bug, sat to the side under a carport, hidden fromanyone and everyone. It was perfect, even though I hated it at first. But I was thankful for everything Dawn had done, and more.
I did have to use it more often than I planned at first. There were a few places in town that requested my baked goods, giving me a nice price for simple cookies. They didn’t care that I didn’t talk. They only cared for the profit they got to make off of my stuff.
Small stores were nice that way.
A few people had requested treats for birthday parties and the like, so I was kept busy enough. And it kept Dawn happy to know I wasn’t wasting my life away, even if my body was doing just that.
Hearing a car door out front, I slipped back inside, making sure that the door was locked. I didn’t need unannounced visitors entering.
Over the past year, Noah and Asher had tried to come see me, and those times, I hid out of sight.
They’d want answers that I couldn’t give. They’d want to fix me, and I wasn’t fixable.
I was permanently broken, and nothing was going to change that.
Peeking through the front windows, a dark blue truck had pulled up to the house next door. The man had long hair, hiding his face from view as he stood in front of his vehicle, looking at the house.
He seemed well put together, and most likely a family man if he had a truck like that. I bet he had a nice, pretty wife, and was the happiest person on the block.
Turning away, letting the curtain close shut again, I decided I was done. Done with what, I don’t know. Just done. Maybe done hoping. Maybe done waiting. Maybe just done.
Something had to give.
Maybe, it was time to grow up. Act my age. Move out of this house and move on with life.
Chapter 42
A week later, when it seemed like the new neighbor on the street was fully moved in, I found myself standing on the porch with Dawn. She held a paper plate full of a mix of things I’d made this week covered with plastic wrap.
I was pretty sure it was only one person who lived here, since there was only one truck, and one person didn’t need so many treats. But I didn’t say any of that as she loaded the plate with a bit of everything.
I should have thought about what I tossed on this morning, as the long-sleeved shirt was too big, and the heat on my back was warm. But Dawn hadn’t given me time to find an excuse for not coming to meet the new neighbor.
So, as she rang the newly installed doorbell, I stuffed my hands into the front pockets of my jeans. It was more to hold them up than anything.
It didn’t take long for the new owner to pull open the door, causing every thought I had to freeze.
Not again.
Why did fate hate me so much? Just when I thought I’d have some sort of plan tomove on, someone like this would be placed back into my path.
I should have noticed sooner, but those tattoos, those eyes, were my very undoing.
My dick thought so too, as it began to fill up and I flushed all over. It’d been well over a year since the thing down there was so demanding.
Now was not the time. Nor ever.
