“It was. I know where Laura is now.”
“And where is she?”
“She’s with Johnny Four Fingers.”
Dr. Black lets out a long sigh. “Might be time to let this one go, boss. That’s not a fight you’re going to win.”
He has to know that saying that is only going to spur me on. All these years, all these people who know me as well as anybody can, and they still think I don’t know what I’m doing.
CHAPTER 16
Laura
I’m up early. Five a.m. It’s the best time to get breakfast without getting in the way or answering any questions about why I’ve been hanging around the house for so long.
John comes in wearing his hi-vis. Mom packed him a big lunch last night, which will go in the chiller in his truck. He’s heading out for a while, I’d say. A few days at least.
“Hey,” he grunts at me while pouring himself a gallon of coffee.
“Hi,” I say, eating the yogurt that is going to make Serenity lose her shit later if I don’t go out to replace it.
“You can go back to school today,” John says. “You don’t need to hide out in the house anymore.”
“Oh?”
“That teacher fuck was waiting outside your apartment,” he says. “We beat the brakes off him. Nobody fucks with my family.”
I am seeing a whole new side of this man.
“You beat him up? He’s famous.”
“Yeah, famous people got ribs and balls too. And if he comes near you again, I’ll cut the latter off. So you can go to school, or go back to your apartment, or do whatever the fuck you want. He’s not going to bother you anymore.”
“What did you do to him?”
“Don’t worry about it,” he says. “Just know he’s not going to fuck with you.”
I am skeptical. I feel as though there’s nothing anybody could do to Sam to make him afraid. Sam doesn’t seem to have a sense of fear as far as I can tell. But I also know that John showing up probably means that Sam knows I’m here now.
“How bad did you beat him up? Did you kill him?”
“Nah. He’s too famous to kill. But we ran him off. Don’t worry.”
I do worry, but I appreciate the effort. “Thank you,” I say. “That was really nice of you.”
“Don’t worry about it,” he says. “Go get back to living, okay?”
I go back to bed. That’s living.
A couple more days pass. I don’t go to class or work. I just don’t feel like it. I like being back home. Reminds me of when I was small and safe. I can’t be touched here. I know that, because Sam hasn’t come in through the window in the middle of the night like he did when I was in my apartment.
I hang out with my sisters, help Mom with the kids, and just generally let the notion of making something of myself slide away. I feel a bit seedy most days too, though I put that down to the fact my whole life has fallen apart.
“Get up,” Serenity says, sitting heavily down on my bed one afternoon. She’s looking at me very expectantly, and she’s carrying a brown paper bag in her hand.
“What do you want?”
“You haven’t gotten your period,” she tells me.
