by Holly Hood
“When did you get back?” As he approaches I realize he is the same man I saw so many times when I was younger. I think his name is Bob or Ben, I can’t say for sure.
“Almost a month ago,” I tell him.
“Shit, I don’t think I’ve seen your dad in ten years,” he says, running a greasy hand over the front of his t-shirt.
I look down at the ground, my feet are caked in dirt.
“Everything okay?”
“Define okay,” I say with a huff. I cover up my words with a lie. “My car broke down.”
Bob or Ben backs away from the truck he is working on. “Where’d you say this car is?”
“I really could use a ride home,” I tell him. “I’ll worry about it tomorrow.”
He pulls his keys from his pocket and starts shutting down the shop. “You make sure you call me tomorrow. And tell Adam Ben sent you. I’ll have her up and running in no time.”
I smile and follow him out the door. “Sounds great. Thanks so much, Ben.”
He drives an old pickup. I’m pretty sure it’s the same one he drove when I was a kid.
“You tell your dad I said hello.” He climbs in on his side while I buckle up.
I lean my head back against the cracked leather seats and sigh.
I’m going home.
10
Ben’s truck disappears around the corner and I can still hear the grumble. I let out another sigh, I’m so happy to be looking at my house.
“She’s alive,” Slade says standing up. I’m not sure how long he’s been waiting on the porch swing but I have a feeling it’s been awhile.
“Of course I’m alive.” My voice is hoarse. And my head is throbbing. I head up the sidewalk and prepare myself for whatever it is he is about to say to me. And what I am about to say to him.
I don’t know what to say.
“I wouldn’t have known,” he says. “Because you never showed up for the show.”
I look around hoping I can get the words out and shove ratty locks of hair from my eyes. My nails are caked with dry dirt.
Can’t he tell I look like shit?
“I was on my way,” I say. I swallow down the panic at the thought of what happened and what is about to happen when I tell him what Charlie did.
Kidd comes out of my front door breaking up our meet and greet and I am thankful.
“She’s back.” He shakes his head looking me over. “You look like shit.”
“Thanks, Kidd.” I look past him. “Where’s Karsen?”
He points toward her house. “Karsen is across the street passed out. You know how she gets when she is alone at a bar.”
I smirk. I know all too well. Karsen hates being alone in public, so now she’s at home in bed wasted.
“What did she drink?” I ask.
Kidd starts down the stairs and sits down next to me. He’s pretty wasted too. “A ton of margaritas.”
Slade sighs. “Are you trying to ignore me?”
“No, I’m not ignoring you.” I look past him to the door. “But I am thirsty.”
“Go get something to drink,” Slade says not buying any of my shit.
“Come on,” Kidd says. “Go get her something to drink. And check on Karsen for me.”
Slade stands up. “Check on your own girl. I’ll be right back with your drink and then you’re going to tell me what the fuck is going on.”
I watch him go inside and then look at Kidd. “Thanks for that.”
“I know when someone needs to get something off their chest.” He crosses his arms. “Sometimes you can’t tell the one person you want to tell the most.”
He is so right.
“Something bad happened and I don’t know how to tell him. I’m afraid what it will do to him if he hears any more bad news.” The thought of Slade on a rampage doesn’t make me want to say anything.
“He’s always going to protect you,” Kidd assures me. “You can tell him anything. Just be there for him when it’s too much to handle and he’ll get through it.”
Slade comes out the door. “It was between diet coke and orange juice.”
I accept the coke and Kidd stands up. “I am going to check on sex kitten. You two need to talk.”
Slade waits until Kidd is across the street before he says anything. “I know something is wrong. So just come out with it.”
“I don’t know how to tell you that everything is going to shit.” I pause. “So I guess I should just say it.”
Slade sits forward, elbows on his legs, hands clamped together. “What happened now?”
“Charlie Knight happened,” I tell him. “Charlie was so sure I was doing something wrong he harassed me at the gas station when I was on my way to see you.”
“This doesn’t shock me,” Slade says.
I crack open my coke. “Charlie informed me someone in Cherry is willing to pay twenty thousand dollars for information about me.”
“Because of the pastor.”
“I don’t know, probably. But the whole point of me telling you this is to get to the point of what happened to me.” I sigh. I skim on the details and move on to the matter at hand. “I ended up in the woods.”
“What the hell do you mean you ended up in the woods?”
“I ended up in the woods. I don’t know what he was thinking. But him and his two friends took me out to the woods.” Slade stands up ready to attack. I grab him by the arm and yank him back down. “I’m not done.”
“I’m going to kill each and every one of them.”
“I already did,” I say, I don’t hear the words, but he does. And he doesn’t say anything for what seems like an eternity.
“What do you mean you already did, Hope?” He sits up, running a hand through his hair. “While we were off playing music you were killing people?”
“I didn’t know what else to do. I’m so tired of people trying to ruin everything for us,” I tell him. “Just for once I want to not have to worry about anything but us.”
“So you kill them?”
“Yes, I killed them. Did you think I was going to just wait until they tried god knows what with me?” I know he remembers Tucker and his fucked up dad.
“No.” He touches my face. “If you did than I’m sure it was for the right reason.”
“I buried them,” I tell him. “Nobody is ever going to know they’re there.”
“Good.”
“It would be if Charlie wasn’t still running around, with a freaking hard on for twenty thousand dollars. People do stupid things for money,” I say.
“You killed his friends. Put the fear of god in him and he’ll keep his mouth shut,” Slade says. “It’s simple.”
I swallow. “The guy dragged me through the woods with his psycho friends. I don’t think I can scare him without dragging him there and showing him what I did. And that isn’t going to happen because I don’t ever want to think about what I did ever again.”
Slade stands up. “Where can we find him?”
“Slade, I am not seeking out Charlie. Why can’t you just go rough him up and scare him for me?”
He shakes his head. “Because I know you’re capable of taking care of this on your own. You don’t need your big bad boyfriend doing your dirty work.”
I sigh. “I feel like I do.”
“Come on,” he motions.
I don’t want to. “I don’t even know what to say, and look at me I’m filthy.”
He sighs. “You’re a witch. Take care of it.”
“You said abusing magic was wrong,” I argue.
He opens the door to his car and flashes me a warning glare. “It’s not abuse when you look like you were drug through the mud.”
I was drug through the mud. I close my eyes and do my best to perfect one of the spells I know to clean myself up. I wish I could change more than my clothes. I wish I could change a lot of things, like all these people out to get me.
I get in. “I’m not used to going around threatening people.”
I look down at my legs happy to see them free of dirt and debris. Thankful to be in fresh clothes, I twirl a finger above my head and smirk at my reflection, a perfect ponytail has taken over my tangled mess. “Nothing about me is intimidating. I don’t know the first thing about scaring someone.”
“It’s easy.” He pulls backwards down the driveway. “Oh and your mom said to tell you your brother will be home tomorrow.”
My heart dips into my stomach and a swarm of butterflies pirouette in my chest. I haven’t seen Griffin in a long time. I miss my little brother. Elliot and Easton are almost men. Griffin is seven and capable of cute kid things still.
I squeeze Slade’s hand. “I can’t wait to see him.”
“I know.” He squeezes my hand back. “I think it’s good she has sort of eased him into things with your dad.”
I agree. The idea my dad wants to pop back into his life is a bit crazy. I can’t imagine what Griffin will even think about it.
“And you haven’t seen your dad in a while either.” Slade tells me. I already know this. I have been thinking about my dad every day since I came home.
“It’s hard to see someone that does everything he can to stay far away from you,” I say with a sigh.
Slade shrugs. “He’ll come around.”
11
Most kids my age hang around the bowling alley or the drive in because there isn’t much to do where I’m from.
Terrytown is as far away from Cherry than you can ever get. Nobody follows the latest trends, people don’t care about the things people in Cherry care about. They are enjoying the day to day. Things back home are laidback, the way I used to be. But not anymore.
Tonight I am sitting at the bar of the bowling alley looking for Charlie Knight.
“What makes you think he’s going to be here?” Slade ask taking a swig of his beer. He studies the bottle. “This taste like shit.”
I ignore his complaint. “Because Charlie’s parents own the bowling alley.” Back when I was in school Charlie was really popular because his parents owned the coolest hangout.
And I remembered on the ride across town Charlie was bragging at the party the other night how he worked late nights for his parents a couple times a week. I hope tonight is one of those nights.
“This guy isn’t going to show up at a bowling alley after attacking you at a gas station.” Slade sets his beer down when he appears behind the counter. “Unless he really is that fucked up.”
I swallow. Charlie looks normal, not like a person who attacked someone hours ago. What kind of psycho goes to work after what he did? I can’t believe I am right, there he is.
And I don’t know what he will do when he sees me. But I am about to find out. I drop from the bar stool. “I’m going to talk to him.”
Slade lifts his chin. “And I’ll be right here watching.”
I walk right up to the counter and get behind the couple waiting for shoes. In a few seconds I am going to be standing face to face with the person who tried really hard to make my life miserable once again.
“Thanks and have a nice time at Knights Lanes. I can help whose next,” he says.
I step forward. “I need a lane. And the biggest shoe you can find so I can shove it down your throat.”
Wide eyes stare at me, he isn’t saying anything.
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” I tell him, planting my hands on the counter. “Don’t try anything because my boyfriend is right over there watching my every move.”
“I’m sure he is.” He places his own hands on the counter. “And I’m sure he wants to kill me.”
“He could kill you.” I correct him. “He could kill you without lifting a finger. He should.”
He shakes his head. “But he won’t.”
I raise an eyebrow.
Charlie licks his lips a smug smile taking over. “This isn’t how pissed off boyfriends work. If he wanted to kill me he would be over here not you.”
“I came to warn you.” I stare him down. “Back off. Stay far away from me. And if you ever try what you did again I can’t promise you you’ll make it to work the next day.” There. I was intimidating.
He takes a pair of shoes from a young girl before he gives me a response. “I still want the money.”
“That’s too damn bad.”
“What do you think would happen if I told this entire town they could make a phone call and they could have their hands on a lot of cash?” He leans in. “Do you think they would sit back and do nothing?”
I’m doing my best to keep my cool. “I wouldn’t be the only one in trouble.”
“I’m not the one with the secret.”
I shrug. “We all have them. I’m pretty sure this town doesn’t know how much of a loser you are.”
“I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t be happy to see who is gunning for you,” he takes another pair of shoes from another girl and drops behind the counter and stands back up.
“What do you want me to do?” I say. I have a few ideas of who would want my head on a platter and I know they are capable of having it that way if they really want to.
I’ve made some bad choices recently I can’t sit back and call his bluff.
“I want the money.”
“That’s not possible. How can that be possible?”
He shrugs. “I had it all planned out. I was going to turn you in.”
I could slap him.
“They get whatever it is they want from you and I get my money.” He raises an eyebrow. “I don’t care how it happens. I’m just really tired of sitting in a bowling alley all the god damn time.”
The reward for me is twenty thousand dollars. Someone wants to pay a lot of money to get their hands on me. I know Slade would refuse to give in to anyone. He would never let me come back to the table defeated.
“That’s not going to happen,” I inform him. “So do whatever you think you need to do. But it won’t end well for you.”
I turn on my heels. And keep walking away, not giving in. Not giving up.
It doesn’t feel good at all. It feels horrible, because deep down I know something bad is about to happen.
“How did it go?” Slade asks before my ass hits the seat.
“Basically it went nowhere,” I explain. “He still wants the money and he thinks one way or another he will get it.”
Slade stands up taking one last drink of his beer. “The fuck he is.”
I try to grab him by the arm but he’s already moving across the bowling alley his eye on Charlie.
“What do you think you’re going to do that I haven’t done?” I ask, running alongside of him. “He’s a moron.”
“I’m going to kick the shit out of him. And if he is lucky he might be alive when all is said and done.”
I run a hand through my hair, there’s a line now. The naïve part of me believes Slade won’t cause a scene but he’s pissed. He goes around everyone and cuts to the front.
“Wait your turn, asshole,” some cocky teenager says before he gets a look at who said it. When he notices Slade he backs away from the counter. “I mean by all means. Go right ahead.”
Slade plants his hands on the counter. Charlie sets down the shoes. “What can I help you with?”
“I’m not the one who is going to need help.” Slade takes the bowling ball from the lady behind him. She takes off without protesting.
“What do you think you’re going to do with that?” Charlie raises an eyebrow. “Are you going to make a scene right here in front of everyone?”
Slade shakes his head. “I’m going to bash your fucking skull in.”
I grab Slade by the shirt. “Stop.”
He doesn’t see me. He’s locked onto Charlie.
“I’m not afraid of you,” Charlie tells him. “If you were going to do it you would have.”
“Slade,” I say again. He’s standing on top of the counter and there isn’t anything I can do about it. I look around, waiting for someone to come over and take
control but everyone backs off. Nobody says anything.
He drops behind the counter nose to nose with Charlie.
“I don’t have a lot of patience.” He tilts his head to the side bowling ball still in his grip. “Forget about the money and I will let you walk away with all your teeth.”
Charlie doesn’t agree. He stands there staring Slade down. He must have a death wish.
“Wrong answer,” Slade says. He jerks the ball up grabbing it with both hands and hits him in the face. Charlie drops to his knees blood gushing from his nose. Everyone is talking and ready for the next move.
“Slade, that’s enough,” I tell him.
Slade grabs him by the back of his shirt and yanks him up. At this point I’m pretty sure jail is in his future.
“Are you still feeling like a bad ass?” He waits.
Charlie spits blood wiping at his face with his arm. “Still feeling pretty bad ass.” He gains his footing and wrenches away from Slade.
Slade shoves him into the counter, one hand on the back of his neck he forces his face down hard. “What about now?”
I sigh. Charlie’s poor defensive skills are hard to watch. He’s not putting up a fight. He’s letting Slade beat the shit out of him.
“Did you wrestle in high school?” Charlie forces out, Slade’s is hurting him but he is too much of a prick to admit it.
I flinch when his head thuds against the counter again.
After several minutes of Slade using Charlie’s head as a battering ram someone comes over.
“That’s enough.” A tall guy around our age says. “We have a line. Do I need to call the cops?”
Slade won’t let go.
“No, we were just playing around,” Charlie says. He twists around and throws an arm around Slade. “Right dude?”
I look at Slade. He looks at me. Neither one of us know what to say.
“Whatever. Why don’t you take your break and clean that shit off your face.”
Slade shakes his head watching the guy walk away leaving us to do whatever we want, this is so not Cherry, it’s more like the twilight zone.
Charlie grabs a roll of paper towels from underneath the counter. He presses one to his nose.
