by Vivian Ward
“You like your job at the bank, right? You wouldn’t want charges filed against you and your boss to find out, would you?”
That gets her attention. Her head whips around as she looks up at me. “You wouldn’t dare!”
“Technically, I can’t do anything because it’s not my place, but Toni could,” I say, making her realize the grave decision she made when she decided to tear shit up. “I’m pretty sure you’d lose your position with them.”
“She wouldn’t do it. She’s too soft, and the fact that you’re here with me and not with her speaks volumes. My guess is she either sent you over here because she’s afraid of me, or she tossed you to the curb. Either way, I’m not worried.”
My hands ball into fists and I feel every vein in my neck popping out. I’ve never seen Alicia behave this way before, and my blood is boiling that she doesn’t even care about what she’s done.
“Yeah? You should be. The only reason Toni’s not here is because she’s too busy cleaning up the mess you made. You know, Alicia, it takes someone real special to piss me off the way you have today. All I can say is that you’d better be glad that you’re not a man.”
She gets off the couch and gets in my face. “Or what? You’d hit me? Go ahead, Lucas. We can add that to your list of charges with the DUI’s and whatnot.”
“If I were you, I’d stay far away from Toni and me because it’d be in your best interest,” I say, reaching for the door. “Because next time, she might be the one paying you a visit, and I don’t think you’d like that.”
If Toni came here, she’d probably beat Alicia into next week. I don’t doubt that for a minute, but I don’t say it because Alicia might see it as a challenge and go cause more damage just to get a rise out of her.
“You’ll be back,” she says as I open the door. “You’ll never find anyone like me.”
“I never want to find anyone like you,” I say, slamming the door shut.
I have to try to talk to Toni and see if I can’t get her to file charges because that’s the only way that Alicia is going to stop. She doesn’t think this is serious, but if she’s at risk of losing her job, I think she might change her tune.
Chapter Eighteen
Toni
Sweeping up the broken glass, all I can do is cry. I can’t believe that she did this and how much money it’s going to cost. I’d cry but my tears might freeze to my face.
It’s so cold outside and with no windows, it’s making it even colder in here because there’s nothing blocking the wind. Everyone who walks or drives by stares into the place which embarrasses the hell out of me. Who’s going to want to come here once the laundromat is fixed up after seeing that someone vandalized the place?
My phone buzzes and I look down at the screen to see if it’s Mon calling me, but it’s not. It’s Lucas, and I’m not answering it. I cannot deal with him right now. I have so many mixed emotions that range from sad and depressed to anger and resentment.
I’ve got the left side of the door all cleaned up and begin working on the right side when Mon pulls up. Her smile immediately fades and her jaw drops as she sees the damage. The worst part is that I already swept the sidewalk in front of the laundromat. The last thing I need is someone getting hurt and suing my ass.
Getting out of the car, she’s armed with two coffees from Starbucks and I’m so glad because I could use one about now.
“Wow, she really did a number, didn’t she?”
“Yeah, she did. Can you believe you this shit?”
“No,” she shakes her head, handing me the coffee. “I didn’t know how you’d like it so here are some creamers and sugars,” she digs them out of her pocket.
“You’re a lifesaver,” I say, taking the lid off the cup to fix up my coffee.
“It’s freezing in here,” she say, rubbing her arms. “I thought it was cold when we were all working here the other night, but it’s really bad now.”
I nod, “Yeah, that’s because the windows kept the wind out of here. Now it’s just as cold inside as it is outside.”
Gulping down the hot coffee, it helps warm my insides but I try to go slow because I want to hold it for as long as I can to keep my hands warm.
“What’s the plan?” She asks.
“The plan for what?”
“The windows! You can’t leave it like this. You’re lucky nobody’s come in here to strip the copper wiring out of this place.”
“Oh, that,” I nod, sipping my coffee again. “I’ve called a local glass company. They claim they can replace it in one day but I’m doubtful. That’s an awful lot of glass to have on hand and install in one day.”
She shrugs. “I don’t know. These companies today have just about everything or a way of getting it. Any idea on how much it’ll cost?”
“No,” I shake my head. “And I don’t want to know. I’d imagine a few grand.”
“Really? That much?”
“I’m afraid so. I know when my windshield had a crack it in, that piece of glass was about five hundred bucks and it’s nothing in comparison to the size of these windows.”
“Shit. I bet you’re right. What did Lucas say about all of this?”
“Huh? Lucas? I told him that he needed to go! He’s the cause of all this.”
“Yeah, but he didn’t intentionally cause it or do it directly, hun. I mean, sure his girlfriend did it—is she his girlfriend? I didn’t get that vibe from the two of them when they came to the meeting, and why now? Why didn’t she do something the first day he was here?”
Sighing, I shake my head and close my eyes. “I don’t know. Maybe it was because she didn’t know who he was really with, or maybe it’s because she caught us on a little date last night, or maybe it’s because he stayed the night at my place?”
Maybe I brought this on myself. If I wouldn’t have gone out with him for shakes, she wouldn’t have seen us. Maybe if he didn’t stay the night at my place, she wouldn’t have done this.
“What?! Details! I must know details! I’ve only been hearing about this guy forever and you two went on a date? Where’d you go? What’d you wear? What’d he say?”
Even as pissed off as I am about the windows and as much as I feel bad for pushing him away, yet again, I can’t help but smile. Deep down I still love him and that’s never going to go away.
“Chill,” I laugh. “We went to the diner for milkshakes. The two of us were minding our business, having a good time, and bam! The bitch walks in and gets her panties all in an uproar. She caused a big scene before she finally left, and we thought that was the end of it. I invited him back to my place and I showed him the letter—,”
“You showed him the letter? The one that you wrote while you were working the steps?”
I nod, “Mhmm, the very one.”
“What’d he say about that?”
“Before or after he worshipped my body?” I laugh.
“You did not!” She gasps.
“Did so, and now I’m paying for it big time.”
“That sucks, honey. I’m so sorry. Tell me how I can help.”
“I was hoping that you could give me a ride back to my place so I can get my car. Then I’m going to make a trip to the store for some space heaters because I can’t even call the gas company until Monday, and then who knows when they’ll come.”
“You’re still going to work in here? In this cold? Are you out of your mind?”
“What else am I supposed to do? Sit in my warm apartment and mope until I get hammered with a notice to get out because I can’t pay the bills? Of course, I’m going to work on this place! Once I get the space heaters in here, I have a couple of the guys from our meeting coming back over to help me measure the drywall so I can go pick it up.”
She nods and pats my arm as she teases me. “You’re a brave little soldier. Are you sure you weren’t in the army? A colonel or superior of some sort?”
“No, but I should’ve been,” I laugh.
“Okay, let’s get you out of this cold b
efore you end up coming down with something and I’ll help you today.”
“Mon, you’re so awesome,” I wrap my arms around her and give her a big hug.
“Come on, let’s get in my car while it’s still warmed up.”
The two of us jump in her car and I crank the heat up to full blast. It feels like my entire body is frozen, but I didn’t realize it inside the laundromat. It was probably because my body had started going numb as I swept up the last of the glass.
As we pull up in front of my house, my phone starts buzzing with another call from Lucas but I push the button to ignore it and hop in my car.
“I’ll meet you back at the laundromat in about an hour,” she yells from her car window.
“Sounds good,” I say and take off on my way to the store to pick up a couple of space heaters.
I decide to only get two because I’m not sure how much good they’ll even do with the way the wind is whipping through the building, but it’s worth a shot. As I’m leaving the store, Lucas starts calling me again but I ignore it once again because I have to worry about the laundromat today. We can talk later.
To my surprise, three of the guys—including Mark—from AA are sitting around inside the laundromat waiting on me.
“Need some help with that little girl?” Mark asks as I pull the boxes from the trunk and struggle with my purse.
“Yes, please, and little girl? Who are you calling little?” I say in a playful protest.
“You! You’re just a little short stack, you can’t be toting around boxes and your purse. You look like you’re about damn near ready to fall over.”
Laughing at each other, I hand him the boxes and slide the strap of my purse back onto my shoulder. “Well, thank you. I think.”
The heaters don’t make much of a difference, but at least we can walk over to them to warm up a bit. Once we’re done measuring for drywall, we hop in Mark’s truck and the other two guys follow behind in their truck.
“Thanks so much for helping,” I say. “I’d be totally screwed without you guys.”
“It’s what friends are for,” he winks. “Sorry to hear about your windows in the building. That’s terrible.”
“Thanks, and I know. The glass company should be there around one o’clock. They say they can replace all of them this afternoon.”
“Just like the saying goes in AA, one day at a time.”
“I hear that.”
After we’ve loaded the trucks up with drywall and supplies, we head back over the laundromat to finally get things started. Cold be damned because new walls are going up today, one way or another.
We’ve only just begun when the bell chimes and I look up to see Alicia standing in the frame of the door. Her deep-set eyes burn a hole through me as she stares at me.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I stand up and wipe the sweat from my brow. Despite it being cold in here, my coat is helping retain all of my body heat and I’ve been hauling a lot of drywall into the building with the guys today.
“I swear to God, you bitch! If you even call the cops on me to file charges, I’ll light a match and burn this place to the ground.”
I have no idea what she’s talking about, but I don’t take threats lightly. This crazy chick has already busted out every window in the place so I don’t put anything past her.
My hands ball into fists and all I see is red. I’m going to kill her if she doesn’t get out of here.
“I think you’d better go,” Mark says, stepping in front of me. “Or the cops will be called because I’ll call them myself.”
Chapter Nineteen
Lucas
Calling Toni all day, I can’t get through to her. As soon as I left Alicia’s, I went back to the laundromat but she was nowhere to be found. I even drove by her place and she wasn’t there either. I have no idea where she could be. She didn’t even have a car when I left, and I’m not sure how she got back to her place to go anywhere.
I’ve contemplated stopping to buy a six-pack, but I know that’s not the right answer. If anything, that would only get me in more trouble. Instead, I’ve been sitting at my house wondering what I should do next.
The only way to make Alicia leave her—and us—alone is to get the police involved. She’s been working her way toward a management position at the bank where she works, which is why she’s been working a lot of overtime in the evenings and weekends. I was actually surprised that she wasn’t there this morning when I drove by the bank.
Tired of waiting and wondering, I decide to go back to the laundromat. I’m hoping that maybe she somehow went to get a few things and is there working on things. She has a lot of friends so it’s possible that she called a few for some help.
On the drive over, I think about how I’m going to convince her to call the police and file a report so they’ll press charges for vandalism, or destruction of private property, or something. It doesn’t have to be much, just enough to put the fear into Alicia that she could not only lose the position that she’s been working for, but also lose her sole source of income.
As I pull onto the block of the laundromat, I see Toni’s car and a couple of trucks. That’s when I spot an extra car—it’s Alicia’s.
“Oh, fuck,” I mumble as I throw my truck in park and jump out. Running up to the building, I can hear the two of them yelling at each other and see Mark, our AA leader, standing between the two of them.
“What’s going on?” I ask as I pull the broken door open. “Why are you here?”
Alicia spins around and glares at me. “You’re a real piece of work, Lucas! Not only is she a bitch, but her friends are threatening to call the cops on me!”
“Alicia, get out of here. Now!” I growl at her.
So help me, God, I’ve never wanted to hit a woman as bad as I do her right this minute, but I restrain myself from doing so because it wouldn’t be right. That doesn’t mean that I don’t hope Toni won’t deck her ass. She might be little but I’ve seen her get into a scuffle once before, and she came out on top.
“Can you please, for the love of God, make your girlfriend leave before I have her ass thrown in jail!” Toni shouts at me.
“She’s not my girlfriend,” I quickly correct her. “Alicia! Go. Now. Nobody wants you here and all you’re doing is causing trouble.”
“Did you hear what she said, Lucas? She called me your girlfriend. Everyone knows I’m your girlfriend, even your little side bitch.”
Before I know it, there’s a loud series of pops. Toni’s got Alicia pinned to the ground and is punching her in the face repeatedly.
“Oh shit!” I say as I reach down and grab Toni around the waist. “Babe! Babe! Stop!”
“You fucking bitch! I’m going to kill you!” Alicia spits, her mouth full of blood.
“Yeah? I’d like to see you try you fucking troll.”
Just as we’re peeling Toni off of Alicia, we hear police sirens and they’re right out front. Someone must’ve called the police. As I’m turning around to make sure Toni’s okay, I hear a loud crack. Monica punched Toni right in the eye.
“What the fuck?” I say. “Why would you do that?”
“Is there a peace disturbance here?” One of the officers say as he walks into the laundromat, noting the broken glass.
“That’s her!” Monica points to Alicia. “She came here this morning and busted out all of the windows, and then she assaulted my friend Toni! Lock her up!”
Toni’s holding her hands over her face, but I swear she’s smiling. She can’t be though, can she? What the fuck is going on here?
“Ma’am,” the officer says to Toni. “Are you the owner of this place?”
“Uh-huh,” she slowly nods. “And that woman over there, she broke out all of my windows and then attacked me. Thank God my friends were here to pull her off of me.”
“That’s not true!” Alicia shouts as the other officer begins to cuff her. “She jumped on me. Do you see my face? Look at my mouth and how bloody
it is!”
Crying, the officer carts Alicia off to the squad car while the other officer gets statements from everyone inside. They all go along with Monica’s story that Alicia attacked Toni. Standing near Toni’s side, I don’t say a word. All I can think is what the fuck is going on here.
After the officer has his statements, he comes back to Toni. “Ma’am, would you like to press charges against her?”
She looks at me for advice and I give her a stern nod that yes, she does need to press charges. If she doesn’t, Alicia will think she can get away with it and she’ll be back the minute they release her from custody.
“Yes, I’d like to press charges. She’s bat shit crazy and I don’t ever want her stepping foot in my laundromat again.”
The police officer nods. “Okay, we’ll need you to come down to the station to file an official report. Are you okay to do that or do we need to call an ambulance?”
“No, Officer. I think I can manage. Let me just grab my things and I’ll follow you down there.”
“I’ll drive you,” I say. “You’re in no condition to drive.”
Her eye is already swelling shut and turning black. There’s no way she needs to be driving like that and I’d feel bad if she wrecked on her way to the station.
“Okay,” she agrees. “I have to grab my purse.”
As soon as we’re in the truck, I look over her before I put my key in the ignition. “What the hell was all that about?” I ask.
“What?”
“Monica punching you in the face and then all of you saying that Alicia attacked you.”
“Oh, that?” she giggles. “You don’t think my best friend in the whole world was going to let me go to jail for pounding her in the face, did you?”
How is she laughing at this? This is fucking nuts. “No, but that was some pretty fast thinking on all of your parts.”
She cocks her head to the side and grins. “Us girls have got to stick together, and there’s no way any of the guys were going to let me get into trouble.” Chewing on her lip for a moment, she asks, “How come you kept calling me today? I figured you’d be mad that I basically kicked you out of the laundromat and told you to piss off.”
