Page 51 of At The End Of The Day

“You ain’t real,” I whispered when I was within a few feet.

“Shut the fuck up, bitch. What the hell are you doing, living down in a goddamn cave instead of taking care of business, huh?” I shouted, my voice booming around me like a physical assault. “What happened to cleaning house the other night, huh?”

Confused, my eyelids thinned and my head tipped. “The… other night? What are you talking about?”

“You said you was gonna take care of them that night. Man, it’s been days.”

I snorted and tucked my chin to the side. “No, it hasn’t.” My brows shot up. “Has it?” If it wasn’t Thursday, then what day was it? Just exactly how long had I gone without food?

“Dude, you are dumb now. So fucking dumb. You are wasting time. Get the fuck up there and get rid of them.”

“But…Tiny…” I wheezed, grief twisting my chest.

“Is fucking another man. Christ, she’s probably been fucking others, too. Why the hell else would Dash help her out, huh? She’s probably slicking that dick, too. I bet they’re all running a train on her up there right now. Tyler, Dash, and Vinny, all fucking each other’s cum out that gaping cunt.”

“No!” I screeched, shaking my head. “They wouldn’t. They wouldn’t betray me like that—”

“They already have, moron!” I bellowed, shrugging my arms out. “Those probably ain’t even your kids.”

My heart turned to ice and sank, my stomach bottoming out. “What?”

“Think about it. You tracked her car to that hotel a few years ago and she stayed for almost two hours. The same time Tyler was back in town for his mother’s funeral. You bought the lie that she had a flat tire and sat there and waited for roadside service.” I chuckled bitterly and rolled the toothpick. “She got serviced, all right. Got that pussy all lubed up. That ain’t your kid. Neither one of them are.”

“But I had a test—”

“Man, look at you being dumb again. Those tests ain’t shit. Those ain’t your babies.”

Everything inside slowed and numbness took over, my brain whirling.

“She’s been playing you since day one. Remember pretending like she was just acting like his girlfriend to get him in rehab? Please.” I snorted and clucked my teeth, rolling my eyes. “No man is gonna do stuff like that without getting at least their dick sucked. And how long did she fuck you and that tall, scrawny nerd before breaking up with him? You thought you were grooming her to be your perfect woman? You got played, she totally turned you into what she needed.”

My teeth clamped, my eyelids thinning with rage. The chaos in my brain began to slow with clarity, my attention turning up the mountain in the direction of the house.

Suddenly right beside me, my voice against my ear, I said, “Get up there and finish this. What the fuck are you waiting for? You really gonna let them run off into the sunset and have a happily ever after? You’ll be a laughingstock the rest of your fucking life. People will whisper and snicker behind your back everywhere you go. You’ll be a bitch until the day you die.”

I snarled, curling my fingers to fists yet again, no longer feeling the pain.

“That ain’t your best friend, that ain’t your brother, that ain’t your wife, and those ain’t your babies. Clean house, Jackyl. Kill. Them. All.”

Straightening my stance, I shifted my feet and gradually climbed the mountain, the voices in my head silenced for the first time in days. All I heard was my own on repeat. Clean house. Clean house. Kill them all.

No more procrastinating. Time to finish this.

Chapter 21

Vincent da Silva

“You say you don’t want nothing to change, but you keep shutting me out and I’m damn sick of it.”

My eyelids closed and I cursed, my stomach sinking. Sitting up to smash the cigarette out, I slumped in the chair once more, propping my elbow on the arm to rub a temple. I was afraid this would happen. Since the last time something happened between us, I had barely spoken to him again, especially since the trip to Billy’s. I was hoping he’d wait until this mess was over and we were home, but it seemed he was ready to hash this out now.

“What the fuck is going on, Vinny? Huh? Why you ghosting me in my own goddamn house? What’s up with you?”

No longer having the energy to be defensive, I gave an honest answer. “Billy.”

“Billy? What? The guy you took the kids to the other day?”

“Yup.”