Chasing Butterflies

by Terri E. Laine

  “Kelley, promise me. Otherwise, I’ll go back home to my parents before I let you give up your dreams for us.”

  “They’re my dreams. And maybe I never thought I’d be a father. But I am. And I’ve never felt more inspired to do the right thing until now.”

  I got out of the truck and helped her out as she sat looking at the door to the apartment house.

  “What if he’s here?”

  “Then I’ll have an excuse to kick his ass if he touches you.”

  She nodded, and I put my hand at the small of her back. She was so tiny in that moment as she slowly made her way to the door. I wanted to kiss her, but it was too soon. I’d let things go too far last night because our emotions were raw. And it had been as good as it was the first time. It hadn’t been my imagination. She’d been the only girl I’d wanted more from after the deed. And that still held true.

  Inside, the place was nicer than it looked from the outside. I hadn’t paid attention the first time. And I was treated to the knowledge that Ox could take care of my family better than me. A while later, she turned in my direction.

  “Do you ever talk to your dad?” she asked, making conversation.

  I paused from stuffing Mason’s clothes in a suitcase.

  “Nope. I haven’t seen him since he left Pam years ago.”

  “What is she like?”

  I let the air out of my lungs and felt a smile form.

  “She’s great. Almost as great as my mom. She was there for all my games. She worked nights, but made me breakfast every morning. She encouraged me when I wanted to give up. I stopped wondering when the next hit would come or when we would move. I was safe.”

  The word nearly choked me up. I hadn’t thought about how much she changed my life.

  Once I started, I couldn’t seem to stop. “She was like my mother, hardworking and strong. Her only rule for me was to stay out of trouble. She forged Dad’s signature on things so I could stay in school and graduate. She was my lifesaver, and I owe her everything.”

  “She sounds amazing.”

  “She is. And I should call her and tell her about Mason. She’ll probably drive here so she can meet him.”

  “She should. I can’t wait to meet her myself.”

  I had questions too, but I didn’t exactly want to know how Ox had been a father to my son the last couple of years. He’d probably been there when he was born. They probably had pictures. I felt the anger stirring inside me. I wasn’t mad at Lenny or even Ox. I was mad at myself. If I hadn’t lost my temper that day, Dad might not have moved us out of the state. Though even I knew better than that. Dad would have gotten kicked out of that woman’s house. But maybe not before I found out I was going to be a father. Then I could have found a way to stay.

  “What’s wrong?” Lenny asked.

  I met her eyes. “I just wish I had known.”

  Silently, she came over and took my hands in hers. “It wasn’t your fault. It was my parents and Ox and Debbie. If any of them had done something different, you might have known sooner.”

  She rolled to her tiptoes and brushed her lips against mine. I wanted to kiss her back, but I wanted out of that place sooner.

  “We should hurry,” I said, pulling back.

  I watched disappointment cover her face. She didn’t know it, but she wasn’t ready for a relationship. How could she be?

  “And, Lenny?”

  “Yes,” she said, her lashes fluttering in anticipation.

  “We can’t start anything. I won’t be your…” I snapped my fingers as if that would conjure the word I was thinking of. “Rebound. Yeah, that’s what you girls call it. I won’t be your rebound guy. I’m here for you. But we can’t be together. Not yet.”

  She nodded before turning and giving me her back. As we worked to pack up all her things, I thought I heard her crying. But every time I saw her face, her eyes were dry. She claimed they didn’t have much, but we made over a dozen trips between the apartment and the truck to bring everything out.

  It took the rest of the afternoon and evening to get them settled in. We ended up driving into one of the bigger small towns to a Walmart to get a futon and a toddler’s bed for them to sleep on. Thank goodness for my truck.

  When they were settled, I was more at peace for the first time in what felt like years.

  It wouldn’t be until the middle of the following week before the guys came to get me from my room to tell me it was time.

  The gleam in their eyes said they were just as pleased as I was for what we were about to do. I knocked on the downstairs room that had become Lenny’s.

  She opened the door dressed for bed. Her legs looked appetizing in her sleep shorts. Even though her breasts were hidden beneath her shirt, they were firmly in my memory. I swallowed.

  “We’re going out for a while. You’ll have the house to yourself,” I said, trying to get my thoughts back on track.

  “Where are you going?”

  “We’re not together, Len. I don’t answer to you about my comings and goings. Neither do you. This is just courtesy so you’re not alarmed if you went looking for one of us and found that no one was here.”

  She bit her lip, and I swear my dick jumped in my pants. I wanted so badly to kiss her, but we needed more time apart. I had to focus on getting to know my son and making sure he was safe before I would start anything with his mother. I didn’t want him to see us together and then apart if it didn’t work out.

  “Keep the doors locked.”

  She nodded, and it took a herculean effort not to toss her over my shoulder and fuck the shit out of her. My dick wasn’t happy, but my conscious was clear. I had something to do tonight. And it would take God himself to stop me from what I was about to do.

  Mason was asleep on the tiny bed that was still too big for him. I cradled my phone to my ear, wondering when it would be cut off considering it was in Ox’s name.

  “So what are you going to do?” Brie asked.

  Brie had wanted in for so long and when she proved herself by coming to me in my time of need, I finally gave in. Not every girl out there was Debbie. And Brie was trustworthy. She hadn’t told anyone about my son. It wasn’t a total secret as it wasn’t anyone’s business.

  “He hasn’t touched me since…” I blathered the whole story to her in tears. It was a good thing Mason slept like the dead. He hadn’t stirred through all my sobbing.

  “Do you want him back?”

  “Of course I do. But he made it clear there was nothing between us.”

  Brie huffed into the phone. “Do I need to come over there? That guy has it bad for you. Maybe he just wants to take things slow.”

  “I’ve waited four years. I don’t want slow.”

  “Then you know what you need to do,” she said.

  We ended the call, and I got dressed, or rather undressed. I had to leave some clothes on in case I ran into the guys, but I would make it easy for Kelley to get to my important parts effortlessly.

  After finding and setting up the baby monitor, I was halfway to the stairs when my phone rang. It was late, so I figured the only person calling me would be Brie.

  “Don’t worry, I’m on my way to his room right now.”

  “Whose room?”

  The deep voice shocked me stupid for a second. It took a few seconds to register who was on the phone.

  “Mr. Prescott?”

  “Yes, Lenora.”

  I veered from the stairs and sank deep into the couch. Humiliation flamed in my cheeks.

  “I’m calling on behalf of my son.”

  “Figures,” I said out loud and covered my mouth when I realized I’d done that.

  “I’m sure you can imagine how heartsick my wife and I are. We are very sorry about what our son did.”

  “So you believe he did it.”

  “The detectives showed us your picture. We are hoping you would drop the charges since part of this is your fault.”

  “My fault?” I practically yelle
d and then glanced down at the baby monitor. Mason’s gentle breathing didn’t change tempo. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  “He was upset about finding out Mason isn’t his.”

  I sat there slack-jawed for a second. “He’s always known that.”

  “Then why did he allow you to put his name on the birth certificate?”

  “His name isn’t on it if any of you had bothered to ask. And besides, he knows damn well he wasn’t the father considering we hadn’t had sex when I got pregnant.”

  Okay, so I made myself out to sound like a whore, but I didn’t care.

  “So my son helped you out. That’s got to count for something. Do you even know who the father is?”

  Of course he would go there. He should have put his wife on the phone. She wouldn’t have said something so blatantly stupid to someone who was holding most of the cards.

  “You know what? Your son is a liar, but that doesn’t make me a slut. You want to know the truth? The truth is I caught your son having sex with my best friend on my birthday. If not for that, I might not have taken that next step with someone else. And Kelley was my first and only until your son offered to help me out with my problem.”

  “Is that the guy you’re staying with?”

  “That’s none of your business,” I spat. “If you’re here that means your son is out. And I have to worry about my safety because even if you don’t want to believe, this isn’t the first time he’s hit me. But I’m damn sure it’s just the last. I’m tired of paying for his help by enduring his wrath.”

  “I can assure you he won’t harm you.”

  “How can you? He’s done it for two years.”

  “Lenora, I’m begging you to drop the charges. We are willing to compensate you. And my wife is bereft at the thought of never seeing Mason again. Even if he’s not our blood, we love him as if he were our grandchild.”

  I closed my eyes. They hadn’t ever been horrible to me. In fact, they worshiped the ground Mason walked on. “I have to think about it.”

  “That’s all we can ask. And for what it’s worth, we’re sorry this happened.”

  He hung up, and I sat on the sofa curled into myself. The tank top and shorts I wore didn’t help the sudden chill I felt.

  When my phone rang again, I jumped. “Hello.”

  “Lenora Wells?”

  “Yes, this is her.”

  “Hi, this is Greg, Shelly’s brother.”

  “Oh, yes.”

  “I wanted to let you know that Odin Prescott has been released.” That wasn’t news thanks to the call from his father. “You should know that a condition of his release was that he shouldn’t get within fifty feet of you, on purpose that is. He does attend the same school. But if he sees you, he should go the other direction. If you feel threaten by him, give the station a call, and he will be picked up.”

  Not having anyone else who may know how to advise me, I said, “His father called me actually a few minutes ago.”

  “He did? I imagine they want to settle this out of court.”

  “Yes, they want me to drop the charges.”

  “I can’t tell you what to do, but I can say that my experience with domestic violence is that the person doesn’t change, not without consequences.”

  “They offered me a settlement.”

  “I’m not a lawyer like my father. But I can tell you that you don’t have to drop the charges in order to sue them in civil court. It won’t be easy, but you have options. I’ll get Shell to talk to you. She’s the future lawyer in the family. And who knows, my dad has a soft spot. He might be willing to take you on as a client pro bono. But you have to talk to him.”

  “Thanks,” I said before we hung up.

  It was strange that a girl I thought was my rival might turn out to be the helping hand I needed.

  When my phone rang for a third time, I muttered, “You’ve got to be kidding me,” to the air.

  I read the display and put the phone to my ear. “Mom.”

  “Lenora, we heard.”

  Ox’s parents must have called them because I hadn’t. I didn’t hate my parents, I just didn’t respect them. Everything they’d done indirectly had screwed my life.

  When I didn’t respond she said, “You have to know your father and I are sick over this. But maybe you should consider the Prescotts’ offer. Think of your son.”

  “Or maybe you and Dad are thinking of yourselves. If not for you guys pressuring me to date him, none of this would have ever happened. Even though I would do it all over again to have Mason.”

  “You have to know both your father and I love you.”

  “I know, but your love has ruined my life.”

  “Lenora.”

  “I need you to tell me the truth.”

  “Okay.”

  “Did a guy other than Ox call the house for me over the past years?” She said nothing and the silence was my answer. “Did he send me a letter you never gave me?”

  “You have to understand. Your father was understandably upset when he found out you were pregnant.”

  “I haven’t forgotten. I had to live with the Prescotts until Dad let me come home. That’s something I won’t ever forget.”

  She sighed. “Your father was only mollified that your trouble came from a respectable boy in the community.”

  I rolled my eyes, wishing she could see I wasn’t buying the bullshit.

  “The way the boy begged to talk to you, I guessed he was most likely the father. He was the boy you’d been tutoring, the one who drove you home after you spent the night away.” She paused, waiting for an answer, but I gave her none. “It was easy to put it together that he’d been the father. Your dad not understanding how a woman’s body worked didn’t put it together. But I did. The math worked. Plus, even if Odin had taken responsibility, I knew you barely tolerated him. But he had money and could give you a good life. That other boy, hell, he even called collect a few times. He couldn’t offer you anything. I couldn’t let him destroy your life.”

  “And boy what a good life I had, Mother. I want you to send me the letter.”

  “I don’t know—”

  “Find it. I have to go.”

  “Lenor—”

  But I hung up. She may have meant well, but that didn’t mean it was right. I tried not to be angry, but I certainly didn’t feel the least bit sexy anymore. Instead, I felt drained of every drop of good will and humor. I felt like an M&M with no chocolate, naked and hollow and alone.

  Chance eyed me as we stood in a dimly lit room. He and I were the only ones not dressed in dark cloaks. The hooded figures stood in a semi-circle around a chair. It felt like the start to a good movie, but fuck if it wasn’t real.

  Cloaked in shadow, one of the hooded figures spoke like he was Dark Vader come to life.

  “Odin Prescott, you have failed us. You have broken one of our sacred vows.”

  When the guy didn’t elaborate, I gave Chance a what the hell is this all about look. He shrugged.

  “And for this reason, you shall be punished.”

  Someone stepped forward to where Ox was bound to a chair with a sack over his face. As I hadn’t pledged any fraternities, I didn’t quite understand why he would willingly submit to being almost hog tied. A hand snaked out of the robe and quickly yanked the covering from Ox’s face, leaving him to blink and let his eyes adjust from darkness to the little light we had.

  “What the fuck? Why is he here?” Ox ranted.

  “I’m your punishment,” I said darkly, getting into the spirit of the atmosphere. “Untie him.”

  There would be no satisfaction in beating his ass if he couldn’t try and defend himself. When no one moved, I glared at the hooded guy who had taken the sack from Ox’s head. Someone else nodded dramatically, and the guy got to work with his bindings.

  Free, Ox rubbed his wrists and got to his feet. With a humorless laugh, he asked, “What? Are you pissed I’ve been fucking your little slut for the past four yea
rs?”

  I uncurled my arms from across my chest and took two steps away from Chance. It was time. And as much as I liked to keep my business personal, I needed to bait him.

  “Funny, she felt practically virginal when I was with her the other night.”

  That did it. Ox lunged at me. I didn’t move, needing him to strike me first. If the asshole tried to claim I assaulted him, I would have witnesses who said I only defended myself. I dodged some, not wanting to take a direct hit to my face. His fists connected with my shoulder and the blow rattled through my bones. I knew it wouldn’t be easy to take him down. He wasn’t a small guy.

  Big and clumsy, he left himself open to a gut shot that knocked the air from his lungs. He stumbled back but didn’t go down.

  “Is that all you’ve got, pretty boy? I’ll mess up your face and then your shoulder. And we’ll see who Lenny comes to cry when you’re no longer the starting quarterback.”

  “She won’t have time for crying. Her mouth would be otherwise occupied.”

  Again, I hated to say that out loud, but I got the desired results. Ox barreled forward like the unskilled fighter he was. He used his brute strength and overall size to bully people. But he was only a little wider than I was. And I knew how to fight.

  I went for another body shot and lifted my elbow in the same motion to clock him under the chin. Blood flew as he no doubt bit his tongue. There was no time to step back and enjoy. I had to finish it. Ox didn’t give up. He got in a few blows to my side that would hurt like hell in the morning.

  “I’m going to kill you,” he said, sending bloody spittle everywhere. “And then I’m going to have her begging to swallow my dick to take her back.”

  Speaking of dick, he was busy missing his blows to my face, so I got a knee to his balls.

  “Don’t think about her. Don’t talk to her. Don’t fucking dream about her. Or I’ll make you a fucking eunuch. Then all you have to do is shave your head and you can be cast as Varys’ stunt double on Game of Thrones.”

  He made a loud indiscernible sound. It didn’t matter. I was done. It was time to stop toying with him and end it. With my left hand, I throat punched him, which caused him to stumble back and try to catch his breath. Then with my right, I caught him squarely in the nose with an arm rattling blow. He went down, lights out for him.