Vantage Point

by Amy McKinley

  They didn’t like me and didn’t want me. No one did.

  “You spent more money on that goddamn kid?” he yelled, and I clung to the new shoes Mom had gotten me at the resale shop.

  “He starts first grade soon,” she dared to reply, and I flinched. It was better to stay silent. I’d learned that the hard way. “If I send him without shoes, they’ll make him go home.”

  “I don’t care. You won’t spend any of my hard-earned money on that little bastard.”

  She cried out, and I rose on shaky legs and inched toward the window. I heard the sound and knew what it meant. He’d hit her. I wanted to help, but it never went well. He only got madder at both of us.

  “Blue fucking eyes, Eve!” he screamed.

  From the thump, I could picture her on the ground. He would start kicking soon. “Those aren’t mine. No one has blue eyes in my family. Not yours either.”

  I pushed the window open. I was already wearing most of the clothes I owned, along with the shoes that weren’t new, though they were to me. My palms rested on the windowsill as I waited for the next noise so I could sneak out. If he heard me, it would be so much worse. I wouldn’t be going to school then. I would have been lucky if I survived. He hit so hard.

  Their yelling got louder. Another crash, and I scurried through, careful to push the window closed behind me so that only a crack remained. I could fit my fingers in there to open it if he passed out. I didn’t dare go back until then.

  If he caught sight of me, he would only get angrier. I’d learned that more than once. The bruises on my back weren’t visible any longer, but they would forever be as indelible as tattoos beneath my skin.

  Rain splashed against my skin. It was dark but not too bad. Pressed against the side of our house, I crept toward the back until I found the small broken board by the steps. There was enough room for me to fit inside, underneath the stairs. It was dry enough. The spiders and other bugs were a safer bet than staying in the house. I curled on my side with my head on my bent arm. The shivers that racked my body were more from fear than the chill in the air.

  Out there, the yelling was muffled. I tried not to think of what I would find in the morning. Will she still be alive?

  I jerked as a shiver crawled up my spine, violently expelling me from that night. A few deep breaths and the warm, dry room snapped me back into reality. God, I hated thinking about those days.

  My mom and her husband fought about so many things, and money was the root cause. If it wasn’t about that, they would fight about me.

  I wouldn’t let Red live in fear the way I had. Unlike me, she had someone to protect her.

  Stella

  My fingers curled around my keys, and I dragged them off the counter along with my purse. I had ten minutes to get to work, which was fifteen minutes away on a good day without traffic. It was Max’s fault. I was still reeling from his visit yesterday. The things he’d said…

  I yanked open the door to my apartment, shut and locked it, then turned and slammed into what felt like a brick wall. “Umph.” What?

  I bounced off whatever I’d hit, my hair flying into my face as I lost my balance. Before I crashed to the ground, a firm hand wrapped around my arm and steadied me.

  Shoving my hair out of my face, I blinked up at what I’d crashed into. My sight cleared, bringing the well-defined chest that my face had smashed into better focus. A gray T-shirt stretched across his chest, accentuating his pecs. Fear licked up my spine. No, no, no… Is he one of the thugs sent to shake me down for Max’s debt?

  Tilting my head back, I released a held breath in relief as recognition filtered through my panicked brain. It was my neighbor, the one I’d noticed more than once thanks to his chiseled face, broad shoulders, and tapered waist. I swayed toward him in appreciation of his drool-worthy looks. Heat climbed my cheeks.

  “Sorry about that, Red. You okay?”

  Red? Is he serious? Who was I kidding, I’d be fine with that overused nickname rolling off his tongue. His voice was deep, smooth, and made me shiver. Little electric pings continued to race along my arm where he’d touched me.

  His brows rose.

  Oh right, he’d asked me a question. My cheeks heated further at being caught ogling him. “Yes. I wasn’t watching where I was going. I’m so sorry. Work, you know?” I pointed to the fitted black T-shirt with Edmund’s Café printed across my chest in white script.

  A grin curved his mouth as his gaze flicked down. Oh God! I took a step back. I’d pointed to my boobs. I had to say something. Distract! “Red? You nicknamed me?” I’d much rather he called me by my given name. What would that sound like leaving those lips I keep glancing at?

  He chuckled, and warmth spread through me again.

  Dammit. I have to leave, not stand here and fangirl over the hot neighbor.

  “I don’t know your name.” He gestured at my hair. “I’ve been calling you Red in my head since I saw you at the mailboxes.”

  I’d seen him too. “Oh, well, my name is Stella.”

  The corners of his lips twitched, and I narrowed my eyes, not in the mood for a joke like my ex-boyfriend used to dramatically yell—it’d been one of the reasons I eventually dumped him. He was an idiot, and shouting “Stella” like that hadn’t been remotely close to that scene in A Streetcar Named Desire where Stanley yells “Stellaaa!”

  I shifted from foot to foot, conscious of the minutes ticking by. I opened my mouth to mutter a hasty goodbye, but he beat me to it.

  “It’s nice to put a name with your face. I’m Hawk.”

  Interesting. “Great to meet you too, but I’ve got to run.” Too bad I can’t stay to find out the meaning behind his name. “Late for work.” I desperately needed that stupid waitressing job. I couldn’t wait to dish to Val, a fellow waitress, about finally talking to my hot neighbor. She’d been harassing me to pull up my big girl panties and ask him out. I would have, but he was sort of intimidating, in a way that blew my mind.

  I snapped back to the moment as the amusement melted from his face, and I almost took a step back. His features pulled taut—he was so intense. The look had an immediate effect on me.

  “I know this is none of my business, Stella, but I overheard a few arguments you and your boyfriend have had.”

  No. This is not happening. I tucked my chin, letting my hair curtain around my face. Damn you, Max. Way to ruin my chances with the hot neighbor. “I’m sorry for disturbing you. My brother aggravates me.” I pointed to my hair. “It’s true what they say about redheads. Quick temper.”

  He didn’t respond right away or laugh as I’d expected. I peeked through the bright strands of my hair. Wait. Is he relieved? His previously furrowed brows had smoothed back to their natural position. I probably imagined it because I could use some attention from a guy who looked like him.

  “It wasn’t your anger that I’d noticed. I was concerned you were in trouble.” He paused. “Are you? Because if you are in a bad situation, I can help.”

  Oh wow, how embarrassing. I was mortified. Those fights between my brother and me had been very loud. I bit my bottom lip. The air around us electrified. My body reacted and grew tense. Something was off.

  I tilted my head, taking in more details. Oh, whoa. There was a stillness about him that went hand in hand with barely leashed danger. I’d pegged him as a loner. He kept to himself. He hadn’t said more than one “hi” to me in passing. Come to think of it, I rarely saw him. The others in the building, I’d seen too much of, which caused a bit of an awkward situation when my brother ignited my temper.

  “No, I promise. I’m totally fine. Normal sibling stuff, really. Do I want to slap my brother upside his idiotic head and knock him into tomorrow? Yeah. But that’s the extent of it.” I arranged my lips into what I hoped looked like a reassuring smile.

  Truthfully, there was something different about how Max had been acting, and I wasn’t entirely sure I was in the clear. His parting words the night before played again in my mind. �
��Out of curiosity, why would you help me if I was in trouble? I mean, unless you had a winning lottery ticket you wanted to give me? That, I’d be on board with.” I winked at him, expecting a smile in return, but it didn’t happen.

  Silence filled the space between us, and I waited, fighting the urge to fidget. I was late. There was no getting around it. My boss was going to flip, whether I was ten minutes tardy or twenty.

  “Your brother sounded pretty frantic. Desperate people don’t always do the smartest things. And”—he shrugged—“I’m in security. I thought I would offer to help.”

  Huh. Makes sense with the muscles and high-and-tight haircut he has going on there. What I needed was money. “Thanks. That’s very sweet, but I’m fine. Just a family dispute.”

  He nodded, and I stepped around him with a small wave. “Got to get to work, but it was nice meeting you.”

  “It was.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “The offer stands if anything changes. No charge, of course.”

  Noted. I would keep that in mind, since he wasn’t going to ask me for money I didn’t have. “I appreciate it, but I don’t need any help.” At least I hope I don’t.

  Chapter 3

  Stella

  If I’d had any idea what the night would’ve held, I would have called off work. Chatting with the hot neighbor would have been a much better use of my time.

  I hurried down the sidewalk. The amber glow of streetlights pooled on the walkway. My shift at Edmund’s Café went exactly as I’d thought it would, at least sort of. One of the other waitresses was sick, so we were short-staffed.

  My boss screamed at me then tossed me my apron, and everything except the state of my feet went back to business. Waitressing was tough, even at twenty-seven. Each step delivered a volley of pain. In my hurry to leave my apartment earlier, I’d grabbed my old flats, the ones that lacked all semblance of support. The shoes were ancient and falling apart.

  My shift ended relatively early for the streets to be empty, so I weaved around a bevy of late-night partiers. They wore varying expressions, from boredom to drunken revelry.

  Two overly large men appeared through a break in the crowd. Their hard gazes drilled into me. My spine snapped straight, and my steps faltered. I broke eye contact with them, just in case.

  Those guys couldn’t have been related to what was going on with my brother. No way. Max better not have involved me in his situation. I worried my lower lip. Could he have?

  Those two did not fit with the crowd.

  My heart pounded inside my chest, and Max’s words ran through my mind again: “I can’t keep you safe. It’s only a matter of time before they find you and use you against me.”

  I picked up my pace, wishing I had a hat or something to throw over my hair. There were way too many blocks to go until I reached my apartment. With the scary men, the fact that my entire body ached, and the lateness of the hour, I decided to splurge and hailed a cab.

  As soon as one stopped at the curb, I climbed in and slumped against the vinyl seat, ducking down. We pulled away. I took a chance and peeked out the rear window. The men hadn’t followed or even turned around. My entire body sagged in relief. It was a coincidence, that was all. I relaxed and pushed the incident from my mind, well, as much as I could in the back of a cab.

  It took no time at all until I was dragging myself out of the car and up the stairs of the brownstone where I lived. I unwound my hair from the messy bun I’d worn while waitressing, eager to strip off my dirty clothes and fall face-first into bed.

  I climbed the last few stairs with my shoes in hand, shoved the door open, and turned the corner for the short walk to my apartment. The dim light in the hallway did little to chase the shadows away, which was why it took me a second to notice the crumpled silhouette against my door. Not for anything would I have expected to find what greeted me.

  “Oh no!” My shoes fell from my fingers as I rushed to where Max was slumped. His jaw was red and crusted with dried blood at the corner of his lip. His left eye was swollen shut. I dropped to my knees beside him and gently shook his shoulder.

  Tears fell unchecked down my cheeks. “Max, wake up.”

  His right eyelid opened wide. He pushed me back as he stumbled to his feet. “Open the door, Stel. Hurry.”

  I picked myself up and would have shot him a severe frown if the circumstances had been different. Adrenaline pumped through my body, and my hands shook as I tried to fit my key into the lock. On the third try, I finally got it in, turned it, and flung the door open. Max limped in behind me then slammed and locked the door.

  I flinched. Bet my hot neighbor heard that.

  I flipped on the lights then whirled around. “Are you okay?” I couldn’t help it. Dread pooled heavily in my gut. It wasn’t good. Maybe those two guys I’d seen on my way home weren’t a coincidence. “What the hell happened?”

  Max limped to the cabinet where I kept the whiskey. I’d recently changed its location, as he’d polished off my last bottle. I didn’t realize he knew where I’d put it. I couldn’t even be mad about it. He looked like he needed it. So did I.

  After retrieving a bag of frozen peas from the freezer, I handed it to him for his eye. He ignored it. Instead, the bag sat on the counter between us.

  “You want to know what happened?” At my nod, he yelled, “They happened! I already told you, Stel. I need money. Like yesterday.”

  That put a stop to the river that ran from the corners of my eyes. This again. Shit. I waited while he downed his drink without stopping. I needed one myself. I set a glass down next to him so he could fill mine too. Once I had a good two fingers of whiskey, I waved his heavy hand away and took a sip. The amber liquid burned a satisfying path down my tight throat.

  “Who are you involved with this time?” I didn’t want to know. I really didn’t. But with how panicked he was and the beating he’d taken, there was no choice. One of us had to face reality. “Who are you into?”

  He drained his glass, set it down with a loud thwack, and spun to face me. His good eye flashed a combination of fear and determination. “You’re better off not knowing.” He held up a hand at my ready protest. “I’m begging you, help me.”

  “I’m trying!” My voice rose, and I raked my hair from my face. What the hell am I going to do with him? I had nothing—nothing of value, anyway. If I did, I would gladly have given it to him. “You’re aware I’m a waitress. I don’t exactly have a bankroll stashed away from the minimum wage and tips I make.”

  With a snap of his fingers, he said, “Oma,” as if that singular name was the solution to all our problems.

  I didn’t get it, and my eyebrows furrowed. “What about her?” Our grandma, our one stable relative, had died several years ago. I missed her.

  “She whispered incessantly about a treasure to you. Family heirlooms. I heard her more than once, telling you about it when we were growing up.” He pointed an accusing finger at me. “You know where it is.”

  “You’re crazy.” I shook my head in denial. Sure, she was always going on about some treasure and something about it being close to her heart, but that was just the ramblings of an old woman whose husband, the love of her life, had passed away. “There’s no treasure, and you know it.”

  With a limp, Max went to my table. He stood there for a minute, perusing the contents strewn across the cheap plastic tabletop where I sat when time allowed to make jewelry I one day dreamed of selling. The tools and supplies were bought with the last of the money I’d gotten from the insurance company after our parents’ death.

  In one swoop, he upended the table, scattering spools of sterling silver, beads, and tools in a clanging mess across the wooden floor. I cried out, heartbroken at the wreck he’d made of my work, of my hopes and dreams.

  A loud pounding thudded at the door, and we both turned as one.

  “Red.” Hawk’s muffled voice sounded through the door.

  Max raised his arm, fear swimming in his eye as he whisper-shouted, “Do
n’t open it.”

  I swung it open.

  Hawk stood there, his blue eyes blazing with fury. In an impressive display of muscle and height, he filled the doorway and glared at Max. Oh, hell. My embarrassment was complete as my hot neighbor witnessed my train wreck of a life.

  I looked where Hawk did, at my brother standing amidst all my jewelry in a scattered mess on the floor. Max was beaten and bruised, looking like hell, and my table was on its side. It was bad.

  My idiot brother barked out, “Who the hell are you?”

  Christ. “He’s my neighbor.” I flung my hands up at Max. What was I supposed to do? Really? Not answer the door after he’d made so much noise?

  “Is everything okay?” Hawk’s deep voice rumbled, and I caught myself from almost swaying toward him.

  That snagged my brother’s attention. I wanted to groan. “I’m fine. I don’t need help… yet.” Because really, I wasn’t entirely sure what Max had involved me in. I flashed the hot neighbor a smile. “I promise I’ll let you know if anything changes.” I glared over my shoulder. “And Max was just leaving.”

  Hawk stepped to the side and waited until Max took the hint and brushed past both of us. But of course, Max had to open his mouth and humiliate me further. “This the new boyfriend?”

  Kill me now. “No. There’s no one. The hell, Max?” Yeah, I didn’t have to add the “no one” in there, but it was for the hot neighbor’s benefit, not my brother’s. I saw the gleam in my brother’s eye and didn’t like it one bit. Sure, I’d like to date Hawk, but that wasn’t going to happen with the disaster that was my life. And I knew where Max was going. Hawk had offered help, and that’s what had interested Max, not my relationship status.

  It wasn’t until my brother left that Hawk said goodnight, reiterating that if there was anything I needed, I should let him know. Oh, I needed all right, but not what he was referring to. At least, I didn’t think I should take him up on his offer to help, although the image of my brother slumped against my door reminded me that maybe nothing was okay.