Chapter 4
Zoey
“Son of a bitch,” Imuttered to myself when I went out to the driveway and saw my car. All four tires were missing the valve covers and deflated.
She wasn’t a son, but she was definitely a bitch. It’s shit like this that Riley thought was funny, and she did it knowing I had no way to fight back against her bullshit. If I did what I wanted, which was to bitch slap her like she deserved, my uncle would not punish Riley for her part in this, nope. He would punish me to make my life more miserable than it already was. Extra chores, take away the keys to the small beat-up piece of shit car he bought me, or worse, having to spend the hours I wasn’t at work or at school at his office.
I tried to get Riley back once when we were in high school. She’d snuck into my room while I was sleeping and put several pieces of gum in my hair.
The next morning, all my hair was clumped together, and I ended up having to miss school to go get my hair cut. My long tresses had been down to the middle of my back, and by the time they were done, it was a pixie cut. I cried having my hair cut off, and the hairdresser had been angry on my behalf.
“Who did this to you?”
I sniffled as I watched her cut away at my hair. “It doesn’t matter. Nothing will be done about it.” I wiped the tears away and watched as each clump of hair fell away and hit the floor.
“It’s such a shame. Bullies suck,” she muttered.
“Yeah, they do.” Especially living with them, I added silently to myself.
When I got home that day, I was in a rage. I should have known better than to try to get Riley back, but I wasn’t thinking with the mind of a rational adult. I was angry and hurt and so damn tired of my cousin’s bullshit and the lack of my uncle stepping in to stop her.
I went into her room with my scissors and cut up her homecoming dress, leaving the luxurious fabric in shreds on her bed. It was cathartic in the moment, but when she got home and had a tantrum, I not only got a bloody nose from where she hit me, but my uncle took a belt to me for destroying her dress.
He also told me how much the dress cost and told me about the fines that I could face should he have pressed charges for the destruction of property. It was that threat that kept me from talking about the fact that my back and legs were black and blue from the belt.
I missed school the next couple of days to heal from the beating I took. Riley got her daddy’s credit card and a new dress—more expensive than the last—and I learned a lesson I would not forget. No matter what Riley did to me, reacting and retaliating was only going to cause me pain. I needed to keep my cool and not let her get to me, no matter what. Sometimes that was easier said than done.
From that day on, I locked and blocked my door each night so Riley couldn’t get to me, and when I left during the day, I locked the door to keep her out of my room. It amused her I went to such lengths to keep her out of my room and away from me.
I also made sure I was always busy, so the only way she could get to me now was through my car, and she did—often. Letting air out of my tires was slightly more inconvenient than siphoning my gas since I kept a gas can hidden in the garage.
I grabbed my phone and looked at the time. It was already after nine fifteen. If I didn’t get a ride, then I would be late for my test at school.
“Please pick up,” I muttered as I pressed Krista’s name into my contacts.
“Hello,” Krista grumbled, sleep still clouding her voice.
“Sorry to wake you. I need your help.”
“What’s up?” she asked around a yawn.
“Any chance you can come get me and take me to school?”
She sighed and groaned. “Did that bitch siphon your gas again?”
“Nope. She deflated my tires, though. All four of them, so it’s not like I can just put my spare on.”
