by Emily Minton
With those words, she turns and runs into the house. I’m right behind her, reaching the door just as she slams it shut. I turn the knob, but it’s locked. I start to pound on it, screaming for her. “Daisy, let me in, or I’ll break the fuckin’ door down!”
I continue to beat on the door for what seems like hours. I’m just about to break a damn window, anything to get to her, when Lula swings it open. “Hello, Preach.”
I shove past her, determined to find Daisy. I rush to her bedroom, but it’s empty. I turn around and see Lula leaning against the wall. “Where is she?”
“She left out the backdoor as soon as she came in the front,” she replies, a smile on her face. “Guess she wanted to make sure you couldn’t get to her.”
“Where did she go?”
Shrugging, she pushes off the wall and walks toward me. “I’m not sure... probably ran to her Grams. She always runs to Mom when she’s upset.”
Fuck! Mary might not share a house with Wayne and Holt, but they live right next door. Getting through them is gonna be hell. I try to walk past Lula, wanting to get to Daisy before she makes it to her Gram’s house, but Lula grabs my arm. “No reason to rush off. I can do things to you that my daughter has never even dreamed of.”
I look at her, not even trying to hide my disgust. I jerk my arm away before letting her know just what a skank she is. “I wouldn’t fuck you with someone else’s dick.”
Not waiting for a reply, I head out of the house and climb back onto my bike.
Moments later, I’m pounding on Mary’s door. “Mary, you have to let me in. I need to talk to her.”
I get no answer, but I keep banging. I hear movement inside and know they’re planning to just ignore me. Well, that shit’s not gonna work. I’ll break the door down before I leave without straightening shit out with her.
“I’m not leaving, so either, open the door, or I’m kicking it in,” I shout.
“Leave now, son.” I hear from behind me.
I jerk around and see Mary standing there. She must have snuck out the backdoor while I was trying to get into the front. “I need to talk to her, Mary.”
She shakes her head. “She doesn’t want to talk right now, not even to me. She came in and went straight to the bedroom. She won’t even tell me what’s wrong. Now that you’re here, I guess I know.”
I slump down on the porch step and drop my head to my hands. “I gotta talk to her, Mary. I’ve gotta explain.”
“Explain what?” she asks as she takes a seat next to me.
“I fucked up. I fucked up so damn bad, and I swear it wasn’t planned. Hell, you wouldn’t believe the story if I told you.”
“Try me.”
I tell her everything that has happened from the first day I laid eyes on Daisy until now, even the parts I want to forget. “It should’ve never happened.”
“No, it shouldn’t have,” she says with a shake of her head. “But, I’m not sure what man would turn down a naked woman offering to suck his dick. Y’all aren’t known for thinking with the right head.”
She’s so blunt that I almost laugh. “I swear that shit won’t happen again. You gotta help me, Mary, please. Get her to talk to me.”
Mary shakes her head before slowly standing up. “Just because I can see how it happened, doesn’t mean I think she should forgive you. In fact, I think that right now, the best thing for you two to do is spend some time apart.”
“No, if I don’t talk to her, she’ll never understand what happened.”
“She’ll never understand anyway. You made her feel special and precious to you, and then you betrayed her in the worst way. Nothing you can say will change that.” She turns around and starts to walk to the back of the house. Just before she gets out of sight, she shouts over her shoulder, “Just go back to the clubhouse and give her some time. She’ll talk to you when she’s ready.”
DAISY
“Are you sure you wanna do this?” Grams asks as she hands me the last of my clothes.
Tossing them in the suitcase, I turn to look at her. “Dad needs me, and I think going with him is a good idea. There’s nothing keeping me here anymore.”
“What about Preach? Are you really gonna just leave things the way they are, without even trying to talk to him?”
I snap my suitcase shut before answering her. “There’s nothing to talk about. He cheated. I can’t be with a cheater.”
Grams walks to me, laying a comforting hand on my arm. “You haven’t heard his side of the story. You should at least listen to what he has to say before you leave.”
Preach has been by every day since our fight. It takes all of my willpower not to answer the door. He calls damn near every hour on top of his visits, but I never answer. I also delete his texts as soon as they come in, without even looking at them. For my survival, I have to cut him out completely. If not, I’ll cave, and I can’t do that. I can’t be with a man that would lie to me the way he did and hurt me so deeply. I don’t’ think I can ever forgive him.
“There’s nothing he can say to explain away what he did.”
“No, sweetheart, there isn’t, but are you willing to turn your back on him, without even listening to his side of things?”
“He told me he loved me. How do you do something like that to someone you love?”
Grams wraps her arms around me, pulling me in for a hug. “People make mistakes, Daisy girl. We all do, but I also know that if you go away without talking to him, it’s not only going to hurt him something fierce, but it’s going to hurt you more as well.”
“This wasn’t just a mistake, Grams, and I hope he feels every ounce of pain that he’s given me. He deserves nothing less.” I want to tell her that what he did ripped my heart in two; that knowing he betrayed me killed any dreams I’d ever had of finding someone to love me, but I just can’t find the right words. “It hurts too bad, Grams, and honestly, I just can’t talk to him right now. I can’t even see him. I need to go with Dad. I need to get away from here. I need to do this for me, for my sanity.”
Nodding her head in understanding, she holds me for a little while longer while rubbing soothing circles on my back. “You know you’re the light of my life, girl. The day you were born, I just knew that you were gonna be something special, and you are.”
“I love you too, Grams.”
I have just finished up packing when I hear a car pull into the driveway. Grams grabs my suitcase and smiles at me. “Sounds like your Gramps and Uncle Holt are here.”
We walk outside, both of us carrying my bags. As soon as I step onto the front porch, I see Gramps leaning against an old blue car. It’s not a junker, but it’s a bit of an eye sore. “Whose car is that?”
Grams ignores my question and walks around to the back of the car where Uncle Holt is opening the trunk.
I look to Gramps and see a smile on his face. He pushes off the car and walks toward me. “Well, what do you think?”
Confused, I scrunch my brow. “About what?”
Motioning back to the car that has seen better days, he says, “Your new car.”
“What?” I whisper, too shocked to say more. Mine? The car is mine?
Gramps grabs the bags in my hands and starts walking back toward the car. “I know it ain’t much to look at, but the motor is solid. It’ll get you wherever you need to go.”
“How?” It seems one word sentences are all I can handle.
“Wayne and I bought it for you. We didn’t like the idea of you being all the way in Atlanta without a way to get around.”
I stare at the car, not noticing the dents and rust. Right now, it’s the best car in the world, because it’s mine.
“I love it!” I shout, finally finding my ability to speak again. I rush to Gramps, nearly knocking him off his feet, and cover his face in kisses. Its Uncle Holt’s turn next, but he’s ready for me.
Grabbing me around the waist, he swings me into the air. “It’s the least I could do for my favorite girl.”
> He spends the next few minutes telling me about the car and making sure I know what to do if I have any trouble during the drive. After reassuring him that I’ll be able to handle any and all car emergencies, we all say our goodbyes. I can’t hold back my tears of gratitude any longer. Just knowing that it could be months before I see them again has left my already broken heart just a little more tattered.
I’m barely out of the driveway when I hear the sound of a bike coming up behind me. I know who it is, and for a second, I’m worried that he’ll try to stop me. Instead, he pulls in the driveway. I continue down the road and mumble, “Goodbye, Preach.”
PREACH
I pull into Daisy’s driveway and see damn near her whole family standing in the front yard, but she’s nowhere to be seen. Cutting off my bike, I swing my leg over it. “I need to talk to Daisy.”
I haven’t seen Wayne or Holt at the clubhouse for the last few days, not since everything went to shit. I’m not sure how much they know, but I bet they know enough to want to tear me a new asshole. I deserve whatever they’re gonna throw my way, but not right now. They can beat my ass after I talk to Daisy.
She’s been avoiding me for days. I’ve been everywhere looking for her. That shit is over. She may want to call it quits, but I’m not gonna let her. Daisy’s mine, and she is going to listen to me.
Wayne steps forward first with a look of pure hatred on his face. “I told you not to hurt my girl, but you did it anyway.”
“I know I fucked up, but I’m gonna do what I have to, to make it right.”
Holt comes up beside him, just as angry as Wayne. “There’s some shit you just can’t make right.”
“I just need to talk to her, to explain.”
Holt shakes his head. “You can’t explain this shit away. You think there would be an explanation good enough, if she had someone else’s head buried between her legs?”
Oh, fuck! Just the thought of that has me seeing red. Could I forgive her if the roles were reversed? “I would listen to her. I love her enough to give her a chance to explain.”
Even as I say the words, I know they’re a lie. Yeah, I would listen, but I would also kill the motherfucker who had dared to touch her. I might be able to get to the point of where I forgave her, but I would never forget that it happened. It would linger in my mind until the day I died.
“If you had loved her like you should have, you would’ve never done that shit,” Wayne says, fisting his hands.
I’m tired of this shit. They have the right to be pissed, but we can handle that later. “I do fuckin’ love her. Just let me the hell in that damn house to talk to her.”
“You’re too late,” Mary says from the porch.
I look up just in time to see Lula walking outside the door. She walks to her mother’s side with a satisfied smile crosses her face. “Sorry, she’s not here.”
“Bullshit! Let me the fuck in!” I yell at her, frustration snapping my control.
“She just left. You pulled in right after she pulled out,” she says.
“Where the hell did she go?”
Her smile spreads as she answers, “She’s taking care of her daddy.”
“Fine, I’ll go to the hospital.”
Before I can even turn around, Lula starts to laugh. “You got a long ride.”
Her words stop me in my tracks. A conversation I had with Kidd comes to my mind, where he mentioned Maker is heading to some specialty rehabilitation center in Atlanta. Shit! No way she would have left without telling me, would she?
I rush past Mary and Lula and run straight to Daisy’s room. As soon as I open the door, my world crashes around me. It’s empty, nothing but out-dated furniture left behind. She’s gone; really gone. I can’t believe she just left me, not even giving me a chance to talk to her. Anger starts to course its way through my body, leaving me shaking with rage.
“How could she just fuckin’ leave me?” I shout as I send my fist flying at the sheetrock.
“After Leah told me about the two of you, I had to tell Daisy. She’s my daughter, and it’s my responsibility to make sure she stays away from men like you.”
I jerk my head around and see Lula leaning against the doorframe. “No, you fuckin’ told her because for some fucked up reason, you can’t stand the fact that your daughter is a better person than you. You just couldn’t handle the fact that she was happy, so you had to ruin it.”
“No, you ruined it,” she says, a cruel smile playing on her lips.
Without thinking, I stride across the room and grab her around the throat, pushing back until she hits the wall. “I may have fucked up, but you enjoyed shoving it in her face.”
Not realizing the danger she’s in, she continues to talk. “Not as much as you enjoyed shoving your dick down Leah’s throat.”
My hand tightens around her throat before I finally release her. I have to get out of here, or I’m gonna strangle this bitch. “You are a piece of shit.”
She lets out a hoarse laugh as I walk down the hallway. Her words follow me out of the house. “You’re no better than me. I’ve treated the girl like shit her entire life, but I never hurt her the way you did.”
The truth of her words sends bile shooting up my throat. Daisy is the only woman that I’ve ever loved, and I broke her heart. That’s something her whore mom could never do.
As soon as I step back outside, I see that Wayne and Holt are still standing in the same spots as I left them in the driveway. There’s no damn way I’m getting out of here without getting my ass kicked. Maybe the pain of the beating will take away some of the pain I feel inside.
I’m just about to step off the porch when a hand wraps around my arm. I look back and see Mary with unshed tears in her eyes. “I only saw you two together a few times, but I thought you were the perfect man for my Daisy. I can’t believe that I was so wrong about you,” she says before stepping away and shutting the door in my face.
Damn, that fuckin’ hurt. No matter what Wayne and Holt do, nothing will inflict more pain than Mary’s words.
I take a step off the porch, and Wayne walks toward me. “I told you, and Holt told you, but you didn’t listen. You broke Daisy’s heart, so now you know what that means, boy.”
I nod in understanding. I know what I did, and I know that I deserve to hurt for it, so I don’t defend myself. I stand and take the punishment, each hit reminding me of what a fuckup I am. My father’s words ring loud and clear in my ears as the world fades around the edges. He was right. I am worthless.
My last thought before the world turns to black is: Goodbye, Daisy.
Part Two
Here we go again!
Chapter Eight
DAISY
“Damn, it’s good to be home,” Dad says as he lies down on the couch.
We’ve just gotten back to Big Clifty after nearly three years of being away. When I decided to go with him to Atlanta, I never thought it would take so long for him to get better. He was only in the hospital for four months before being admitted to a clinic for physical rehabilitation near where his mom lives. After getting out of there, we moved in with her right outside of Atlanta.
The first few weeks were pretty rough. Dad could barely take a few steps at a time and had started to get depressed over the amount of physical therapy that was laid out before him. Eventually, he found his way past the pain and refused to come home until he could walk on his own again. I agreed to stay with him because, honestly, there was no way I could leave him for Granny Jean to take care of on her own. He’s a lot to handle when he’s drunk, but he’s even worse when he’s sober.
When he was finally able to walk again, he still wasn’t ready to come back. It was pure pride that kept him away. His reasoning behind this was because he couldn’t let his brothers see him until he was one-hundred percent sure he could ride again. It didn’t take him long to climb back on his bike, but the pain kept him from actually riding. He’s spent the last year just learning how to bear it for longer t
han a few minutes at a time.
Part of me wanted to come home as soon as he was able to get around on his own, but another part of me was glad for the time away. I talked to Grams and Ice a few times a week to keep everyone updated on Dad’s progress, but the one person I didn’t want to talk about ended up dominating the topic of almost every phone call. According to them, the Preach I knew and loved is dead and gone. In his place is a drunk that sticks his dick in anything that moves. I’ve been dreading running into him since we crossed the state line. So far I’ve lucked out, but one thing’s for certain; in Big Clifty, everyone knows everyone’s business. I’m sure Preach already knows that I’m back, which means running into him is inevitable.
“Go see if the bitch has any food in fridge. I could take a sandwich if there’s anything in there to make one. Knowing your mother, there’s a bottle of gin and a half empty jug of orange juice, but nothing else,” Dad says, pulling me away from my thoughts.
Just as I turn to head to the kitchen, the bitch herself walks in. I haven’t seen her since the day I left. Not once, not one damn time did she come to visit. Even when the rest of the family came to see us, she would always claim to be too busy; doing what or whom, I have no idea, and honestly, I don’t care to ever find out.
“You’re late. You were supposed to be here this morning,” she says on a huff as she walks around our suitcases.
“Traffic was a bitch,” Dad says with a shrug.
“Well, you could’ve at least called.”
He looks her up and down, taking in her smeared make-up and wrinkled dress. “I figured you were too busy to notice if we were a few hours late.”
Knowing that a fight is coming, I walk out of the room. Sandwich forgotten, I head straight to my bedroom. When I open the door, I am so pissed I want to scream. I turn around and head straight back to the living room. “What did you do to my room?”
Mom looks at me and shrugs. “You weren’t here, so I put it to use.”
“What the hell’s she talking about?” Dad asks, pushing himself off the couch.
“She got rid of all my stuff and put a tanning bed in my bedroom.”
