1001 Dark Nights: Bundle Fourteen

by Kristen Ashley

  Of course, that’s the kind of thing that boyfriends did.

  Shade: Ok. You work tomorrow night?

  Me: Dont know. Bone does the schedule on sunday afternoons.

  Shade: I’ll talk to him. Make sure he leaves some time for us

  Me: I need those shifts to pay the bills. Keep your nose out of it. Your just a guy I had sex with

  Shade: Keep telling yourself that. I’ll talk to bone

  “Looks like lover boy wants more of that sweet McBride action,” Hannah said, sticking her finger in her mouth and poking the side of her cheek out with her tongue in the universal symbol for blow job.

  “You’re disgusting.”

  She leaned closer. “You’re horny—I can smell it on you. Just don’t forget to make him work for it.”

  “I’m not making him work for anything. It really was just a one-night stand. I’m sworn off men, remember?”

  “Yeah, right,” Hannah said. “Sell your shit to someone else. I saw the way you two looked at each other when he brought you home. You’re not done yet.”

  Ignoring her, I stared down at Shade’s message, trying to decide how to answer… Should I take a stand or just wait and see what happened? I waited for Wonder Woman to speak up and tell me, but she wasn’t talking.

  Fuck it.

  I’d let it go and see what happened. Future Me was a smart girl. She’d figure it out.

  Sure enough, Hannah and Heath hadn’t come home by the time it started getting dark. I’d taken the kids down to the park after dinner and run them hard, then threw all three of them into the tub together and read them the Berenstain Bears while they splashed around.

  A second bear story got us through bedtime. I tucked them in, then grabbed a beer and the TV remote, hoping Hannah was having a good time. She was right about one thing—Heath really did seem like one of the good ones.

  He’d brought flowers when he picked her up.

  For me.

  Said he wanted to thank me for watching the kids so he could take her out. I’m not saying I melted into a little puddle of warm goo or anything, but a girl’s just not natural if she doesn’t love fresh flowers.

  I’d made it through both my second beer and a second episode of the Kardashians when my phone buzzed.

  Shade: Hows it going?

  Me: I’m drinkng alone in the dark and watching the kardashians.

  Shade: ouch

  Me: No kidding. They don’t even work for a living. Why do they get to wear shiny stuff and travel all over while I have to wait tables?

  Shade: Well the fact that the $500 I gave you as a tip is still sitting in Bones office might be part of the problem. If your goal is money then you’re doing it wrong

  He made a good point. I looked around the room, thinking of all the things we could do with five hundred bucks. I’d start with a new couch, I decided. I could probably find one on Craigslist for less than two hundred. Preferably one that didn’t still smell faintly of the disgusting AXE body spray Randy loved so much.

  We could really use a new table, too. Or a new TV—ours had a blue band on the left side, running right through the picture. I took another drink. If I had to be honest, everything in the whole damned house needed replacing. The girls had a decent bed, of course. And we kept it as clean as we could. But the trailer was old and faded and there was a strange smell in the bathroom that never quite went away…

  To hell with new furniture—we needed a new house. Five hundred bucks wouldn’t make a dent. Depressing.

  Me: I’m bored. What are you doing?

  Shade: I’m at the bar. Bone has been glaring at me all night because I told him you can’t work tomorrow

  Me: We already covered this. I’m going in to work. New topic

  Shade: What are you wearing?

  Me: Clothes. You?

  Shade: I’m in a bar. What do you think?

  Me: A fancy dress with lots and lots of ribbons

  Shade: Sure, it’s red with black lace. And underneath it is super sexy lingerie. Now tell me what’s under your clothes…

  I snickered. Had to give him credit—the guy never gave up. Pushing myself off the couch, I went over to the girls’ door and peeked in. All three of them were sound asleep, the pink glow of the night-light bathing their little faces. Then I walked into the kitchen and grabbed another beer before going into Hannah’s room. She’d said I could have the bed that night and I planned to take her up on it.

  Setting the beer down, I unbuttoned my jeans and pushed them down, grabbing a pair of sleep shorts out of the laundry basket. Then I slid my arms into my shirt and reached around behind to unhook the bra. Feeling lazy, I let it fall to the floor before climbing into the bed and propping myself up against the pillows.

  The phone buzzed again.

  Shade: Waiting

  Me: I just took off my bra and got into bed

  Shade: Tell me more

  Me: About what?

  Shade: Tell me what else you took off or I’ll come and see for myself. I could be there in five minutes

  Oh, shit. Would he really come here? Of course he would. Shade didn’t do the whole boundaries thing. He didn’t do shame, either. He wasn’t the kind of guy to show up with pizza while you’re babysitting, but he’d make a booty call after the kids went to sleep. I’d bet money on it.

  Me: Bad idea

  Shade: Talk to me then

  Me: I’m wearing sleep shorts and a T-shirt. Not sexy at all

  Shade: Nope, definitely not sexy. You should take them off. Much sexier

  I laughed despite myself, then took a deep drink of the beer. Warmth settled into my stomach, and I scooted lower into the bed.

  Me: I’m leaving them on, but I’m sliding my hand down into my shorts.

  Shade: Touch yourself. You wet?

  A tingle of awareness rushed through me. I shivered.

  Me: where does phone sex fall in terms of one night stands?

  Shade: Phone sex doesn’t count. But think how much fun it’d be if you didn’t have to type everything. Call me.

  Calling was probably a bad idea, I thought.

  He’s right, though, Wonder Woman said. Phone sex doesn’t count. Everyone knows that.

  Hmmm…she probably knew what she was talking about, right? I mean, she was a demi-goddess. I killed the rest of my beer, found his name in my contact list and hit the dial button.

  “Mandy,” he said, that low, gritty voice of his sending shivers through me just like it had the first time I’d heard it. “Wasn’t sure you’d call.”

  I heard the noise of the bar in the background, but it was getting softer. Like he was walking away.

  “Where are you?” I asked.

  “Just stepped outside,” he said. “Heading around the back of the building. I like the picnic table there. Fond memories.”

  My cheeks grew warm. It was a nice table—hadn’t left a single splinter in my ass, even though we’d been going at it hardcore. God, I was such a slut.

  “So, you never answered the question,” he said.

  “What question?”

  “Are you wet for me?”

  I slid my hand down, under the covers and into my pants.

  “Yeah, I am.”

  “Christ, I’d love to be there eating you out right now. You got a real cute little clit—did you know that? If I was there, I’d start by flicking it with my tongue. Use your fingers and tell me what it feels like.”

  I closed my eyes, relaxing back as I touched the little nub.

  “It’s slippery,” I said, sliding from my clit down to my opening, then swiping back up again. My lower body tightened, and while it wasn’t as good as him being there, just the sound of his voice made me hot.

  “You’re tight,” he told me. “I knew it’d be good, but when I first got inside, I thought I might die. You were so damned tight. Squeezing me.”

  “I love the feel of it…”

  “Of what?” he said. “I want all the details.”


  “Your cock,” I said hesitantly, fingers moving faster as the tension started to build. “When you first—”

  “Auntie Mandy?” Callie stuck her head through door. I jerked my hand out of my pants, heart racing.

  “What is it, baby?” I asked, fumbling with the phone.

  “I found something in the bathroom,” she replied, turning on the light. My eyes flooded from the sudden glare. I blinked as the little girl walked across the small room, holding something out to me. A baggie. “It’s one of Daddy’s secrets.”

  My eyes widened and I sat up, forgetting all about Shade. Callie handed it to me, looking scared. The bag held a handful of white crystal rocks. Holy shit… Was that what I thought it was? Meth. That was meth. Had to be. I was holding a bag of Goddamn meth—a bag delivered by a five-year-old child.

  “Motherfucker…” I whispered, and Callie frowned.

  “That’s a Daddy word,” she told me. “Mommy says we should never say it.”

  I raised my eyes from the bag to look at her, feeling sick. “You said this was Daddy’s secret. Does that mean Mommy doesn’t know about it?”

  Callie squirmed and looked away. “I’m not supposed to tell, but Daddy said that if I ever found more of it, I needed to give it to him right away. Not Mommy. You know, so the twins don’t try to eat it again. But he’s not here and I’m worried. He said it could kill them.”

  Taking a deep breath, I set the bag carefully on the side table. That was when I realized the phone was still on. I reached for it and hung up on Shade. Hopefully he hadn’t heard anything, but if he had, I’d deal with it later. Right now I needed to focus on Callie.

  “It’s good that you told someone,” I said slowly. “You said that you’re supposed to tell him if you find more so the twins don’t try to eat it again. Does that mean they’ve tried to eat it before, baby?”

  Callie’s eyes started to water and she looked away.

  Fuck. This was real. This was really happening. Fucking fuck fuck!

  “It’s okay to talk to me,” I said, catching her little hand. It was cold, with just a hint of a tremor. The poor kid was terrified. “This is important, Callie. Talking about it is the right thing to do. You know how there are good secrets and bad secrets?”

  “Yes, like people touching my privates,” she whispered. I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her up and onto my lap.

  “This is one of those bad secrets, baby girl. Even if Daddy said not to talk about it, he was wrong. You need to tell me everything, so we can be sure you and your sisters are safe. When have you seen something like this before?”

  “Sometimes Daddy and his friends…” she whispered. “When Mommy’s at work, sometimes they had stuff like this. And one time I found the twins playing with some. They thought it was candy but I yelled at them and they stopped. Daddy ran in and took it away from them. He said not to tell Mommy, that it was important because we’d all get in really big trouble.”

  That motherfucking asshole.

  I couldn’t believe this was happening. I knew Randy was scum, but leaving meth where his babies could eat it? What the fuck? And how the hell had Hannah let things get this far?

  “And did you ever share the secret with Mommy?” I asked her, wondering what I’d do if she said yes. If my sister had knowingly allowed this to continue… No. She wouldn’t. Not Hannah. She’d slit his throat before she let him put the girls in this kind of danger. I had to believe that.

  “No,” Callie said, sniffing. Holding her tight, I started rocking her softly, rubbing her hair. “I didn’t want Daddy to yell at me. It was really scary and his friends were mean, too. One of them made me sit on his lap. Then he took away my Lambie. He said I’d only get it back if I kept the secret. I’m scared he’ll come back, Auntie Mandy.”

  “It’s okay,” I reassured her, even though it wasn’t. It wasn’t okay even a little bit. I couldn’t even wrap my head around how not okay it was, but I had to stay calm. Otherwise she’d panic. “Just tell me—besides that time and today…have you ever seen it any other times?”

  Callie nodded her head, then started sobbing. I cradled her little head against my shoulder, rocking harder. It hurt. It hurt so bad to think of her going through this alone.

  I wanted to kill him.

  This wasn’t just me being angry, I realized. I literally wanted Randy dead. Then maybe the girls would be safe.

  Callie cried harder, sniffling loudly as I rocked her harder.

  “It’s okay, baby girl,” I said, even though that was a big fat lie. It wasn’t okay and it never would be. “You cry all you want. You’re safe now. I’ll never let them scare you again.”

  “You promise?” she said. I kissed her head.

  “Yeah, sweet girl. I promise.”

  “Pinkie promise?” She pulled away, holding one tiny, trembling finger up for me. I wrapped my own around it, catching and holding her gaze.

  “I promise on my pinkie that I will never, ever let those men scare you again.”

  Callie nodded slowly, then laid her head back down on my shoulder. I rubbed her back until the tears started to slow, kissing the top of her head every few seconds. It was warm and just a little sweaty. She still smelled like baby. This wasn’t right. It wasn’t fair.

  “Are you going to tell Daddy?” she finally asked. “He’ll be mad. Really mad. He said that if I told anyone, they’d take us away from Mommy. That she’s a bad Mommy and they’ll find out and take us away!”

  Her voice rose and I clutched her tighter. “No, baby. Nobody will take you away from your mom. I promise. Me and her, we’re going to make sure you and your sisters are safe. Whatever needs to happen. Sometimes we have to do tough things, baby girl. You did something really hard by coming to me with this, but it was the right thing to do. I’m proud of you.”

  She nodded sleepily and I continued rocking her, my thoughts racing.

  Randy had been doing drugs—heavy drugs—here at the trailer with his friends.

  Counting tonight, they’d left those drugs where the kids could find them at least twice, and one time the twins had nearly eaten them. Then he’d taught his daughter to lie about it, and God only knew what other time bombs were still waiting to be found. Or whether he’d bring anything else over, for that matter. He still considered it his right to come into the trailer—we’d learned that the other day, when he’d broken the locks to get inside.

  For all I knew, there were more baggies of this crap somewhere.

  Then I heard a low, distinctive noise. Motorcycle. Ah, shit. I’d totally forgotten about Shade. Glancing down at my phone, I saw three text messages from him, demanding to know what was wrong. Next to it sat the bag of meth. Jesus. Randy had invited his druggie friends into his children’s home. His kids could’ve died, but all he’d cared about was keeping the secret from Hannah. What the hell had he been thinking?

  He wasn’t.

  He wasn’t thinking at all, because Randy didn’t give a shit about anyone but himself. Up to now I’d seen him as scum—a loser who’d abandoned his family—but that wasn’t the case anymore.

  Nope, Randy had just graduated to active-threat status, and I couldn’t let that stand. Hannah and I were going to have to get the hell out of this trailer. It wasn’t safe, not when Randy felt free to break in whenever he wanted and there was motherfucking meth in the bathroom. We needed to move, and we needed to move soon.

  Guess I’d be claiming that five hundred bucks after all.

  “Why don’t you go to sleep in here?” I told Callie as the motorcycle grew louder.

  “Okay,” she whispered, crawling into the bed. Then I went into the living room and peeked out the window, expecting to see Shade. Sure enough, he was just pulling up outside. My hand clutched the phone and the baggie tight as he swung his leg off the Harley. Oh, shit. I needed to hide the drugs, and hide them fast.

  He knocked on the door and then the knob was turning. Crap crap crap! The little lock in the knob must not have caught and
the deadbolt was still broken. I shoved the baggie down my shorts as Shade pushed through the door.

  “Hi!” I said as he took me in.

  “What happened?” he asked. “I heard part of it. What the fuck’s going on?”

  “Nothing,” I said quickly. “Callie just had a bad dream.”

  “Bullshit.” He stepped in, closing the door behind him. “You were freaking out and you’ve been crying.”

  I reached to touch my cheeks, startled to realize he was right. They were wet. I shifted nervously, and the bag of crystals in my panties poked uncomfortably. That’s when the full horror of the situation hit. There was a baggie of meth tucked up against my crotch.

  Could meth go through plastic?

  I had no fucking idea. I’d known plenty of meth heads—hard not to, growing up like I had—but I couldn’t remember ever hearing anything specifically about whether it could seep out of a baggie and into your coochie. I needed to get the drugs hidden somewhere else. Immediately.

  “Sit down,” I said, pointing to the couch almost desperately. “I’ll get you a drink.”

  Turning away from Shade, I walked into the little kitchen, trying not to waddle. Then I opened the fridge door, using it as cover to reach down and dig out the baggie. I stuffed it quickly into the vegetable drawer and then grabbed two beers.

  I turned around to find him standing right behind me. Shit. How long had he been there? Had he seen anything?

  “Here you go,” I said, offering him a beer with what I had to assume wasn’t the world’s most convincing smile. “Let’s go sit on the couch.”

  He didn’t move for a minute, studying me thoughtfully. Shit. He must’ve seen something.

  You don’t know that, Wonder Woman said calmly. It’s like playing poker—you’re bluffing. Don’t crack.

  “Don’t you want to sit down?” I asked, hoping I didn’t sound desperate. Shade reached out, taking the beer. For an instant I thought he’d call me on it, but then he stepped back, holding out his arm, inviting me to go first. We’d just reached the living room when I heard the sound of a car pulling up.