by Voss, Deja
I try to breathe naturally, try to keep my expression completely blank.
“What is it?” Arthur says.
“It burns,” I lie. “I think I’m having an allergic reaction.”
Gavin is slowly slinking into the living room and I try not cringe as he walks across the floor, but he’s stealthy and quiet. He reaches for his gun in his pocket.
“Shit!” I scream, as water and dye runs into my eye. Arthur jumps, startled.
I can’t believe I just did that. I basically just gave him my death wish.
“Let me grab a towel,” he says, and my heart stops beating. As he turns around, it’s clear what’s about to go down. “What the fuck, Sloan?” he hisses.
He quickly grabs me, using me as a shield, and I just stand there, limp in his arms. I’m reciting those prayers again as quickly as possible in the back of my mind as I feel him fish around in his waistband, and I know I have to do something fast.
I grab for the half empty bottle of bleach and begin blindly squirting it over my shoulder, aiming for his eyes. It might have worked, because I feel him let go of me, staggering backwards towards the sink.
“Grab his gun!” Gavin yells. Arthur is clawing at his eyes, his tortured screams like music to my ears. I reach into his pants and pull out the revolver, my hands trembling.
“You fucking bitch,” he screams at me. “You shady fucking bitch!”
“You want me to shoot him?” Gavin asks.
“No,” I say, my voice wavering only for a moment. “I want to play with him a little bit first.”
I shove Arthur’s head in the sink and flush his eyes out while Gavin just stands here watching, his jaw agape.
“You wanna tell me what’s going on?” he asks. “Definitely not what I expected to walk into.”
“Well, today I learned that the very guys who were supposed to be protecting and serving me basically drew this fucker a map to my house and invited him in. I thought they caught him and locked him up again months ago but this crazy asshole has been in hiding getting plastic surgery, dying his hair, and planning our escape.”
“I have the letters, Sloan,” Arthur yells. “You wanted this. You’re just saying that because your boyfriend is here.”
“You good?” I ask, pulling him by the hair from the sink, shutting off the water. “Can ya see?”
He doesn’t answer me.
I clutch the back of his head with all the rage and anger I have inside of me, everything I’ve stored up over the years. I’ve wanted to do this so many times, and having to force myself to play nice just so the police could get what they wanted from me was nearly impossible. Now I have him right where I want him, and I’m about to get my revenge.
“First of all,” I hiss, “I didn’t write those letters. I would never in a million years write you a letter. I wanted nothing more than for you to rot in prison for the rest of your life. You got tricked, Arthur.”
“Get in the living room,” I bark, pressing his gun into the base of his skull, just like he did to me moments ago. “How’s that feel, Arthur? You feeling a little scared now? What’s it like being on the other side of the gun? Because I really like where I’m standing right now.”
“This man right here,” I tell him, pointing at Gavin. “He’s not my boyfriend. He’s just a decent human being with amazing timing. The truth is, he’s too good for me. That’s what a real man looks like, Arthur. Nothing like you.”
“Just fucking shoot me and get it over with, Sloan. You’re gonna do it anyway.”
“Oh I know,” I assure him, “and it’s going to be fucking awesome. But for once, you don’t get to dictate what I do and how I do it.”
The look of terror in his eyes has me fired up, almost turned on. Knowing I have his life in my hands to do whatever I wish with it is really empowering. There is no pity in me. There is no mercy in me. Gavin just watches, keeping his distance enough to let me do my thing, but making sure Arthur is well aware that he’s the muscle if he tries anything.
“You tried to take everything away from me, Arthur. You thought you owned me. You never had ME though, Arthur. You had the person you made me into by beating me into submission and threatening to hurt the people I loved. The real me never went away; I just went into hiding. It took me years to realize who I am without you. And now I’m going to make sure I never have to think about you a day in my life ever again.”
I could go on and on for hours, but he’s not worth any more words. The only person worth my words from now on is standing in the corner of the living room, patiently letting me have my moment.
I let my mind go blank and just pull the trigger right between his eyes.
Holy shit, guns are loud.
My hands quiver, not so much because of the sight laid out in front of me but because of the noise and the recoil that felt like it was going to tear my shoulder out of the socket. Fortunately I was shooting point-blank. It all happened so fast.
“I’m not good at that,” is all I manage to stutter. My face feels sticky. I stand over Arthur’s dead body, kicking him a couple times.
“He’s dead, Sloan,” Gavin assures me.
“I know,” I say, but for some reason it just feels good. “Thank you,” I hoarsely whisper as I drop the gun to the ground with a thud. I don’t have any words. I’m drained. On one hand, I’m happy. I’m finally free. On the other hand, there’s a lot of questions that need answered.
After a few moments of silence, he comes over and squeezes my hand.
“You want me to call the cops?” he asks. I look at him, perplexed. I just killed a man in my living room. Sure it would be self-defense in the long run, but that just seems like one hell of an ordeal to go through.
“Absolutely not!” I say. Plus, I don’t want those crooked assholes to get any credit for taking this guy off the street. I’m sure it would get twisted in some way. Nobody knows he’s still out of jail; for all I know he paid someone off to do his prison sentence. Maybe no one will ever know what happened there.
“So…” He is staring at me like he’s afraid to say the wrong thing. I’m sure I’m a sight to behold right now. “Olive says you’re going on vacation for a few months.”
I smile through my tears. “Well, I don’t think I can stay here.”
He begins to roll up the throw rug around Arthur’s body, and I just stand there watching.
“I’m sorry you have to do the dirty work,” I say. “I just…” I’m sure he notices the way I’m shaking right now. I just killed a man. It was a man I wanted dead. It was something I’d dreamed of for most of my adult life, but right now I’m an emotional wreck.
“Relax,” he says. “Been there, done that. Why don’t you just go grab a bag or something and we’ll go up the hill and get things sorted out for the night. You can stay at Esther’s house if you want.”
It’s funny how willing he is to help me through this disaster, with no expectations whatsoever. I haven’t seen him in nine months. Hell, I don’t even know why he’s here, but right now he is acting like my perfect partner. He truly is a good man.
“Can I stay with you?” I ask. “I mean, if it’s ok. I don’t know what your current situation is.”
“You’re my current situation. You have been since the day I met you, Sloan. But we’re going to have a serious law enforcement situation here if we don’t get moving.” He heaves Arthur’s body, wrapped in the rug, over his shoulder with a groan. “Little fucker is dense,” he laughs.
I wish I had something articulate to say. I wish I could just throw him down right here and tell him that I love him and that I want to spend the rest of my life with him. I kiss him softly on his lips. The way he feels is so overwhelming, so true, so right. I begin pacing around, scooping up odds and ends of evidence and throwing them in my duffle bag as quickly as possible.
“Don’t worry about it,” he says. “I’ll get somebody to take care of it. We need to get out of here now, though.”
Chapter 39
Gavin
“So, uh, hey,” I say as we sit in my truck. “I’m gonna start driving now.”
She’s shivering, her face white as a ghost.
We wrapped Arthur in the throw rug and carried him down the steps without any incident. She popped the tailgate for me as I heaved him in the bed of the truck. She tossed her duffle bag over the back seat as I helped her get inside and buckled her seatbelt tight.
She’s staring off into space, her lips moving, but no words coming out.
“I’ll send some prospects down tomorrow to finish cleaning up. We’ll get your car and you can go wherever you need to go.”
She goes to look in the rearview mirror, but between her badly chopped orange hair and the blood all over her face, I have a feeling she’s going to freak out. I reach up and turn the mirror to the side.
“Maybe we don’t do that just yet,” I suggest.
“That bad, eh?” she finally says, breaking the silence.
“I mean, I still think you’re beautiful.”
She puts her head in her hands as if she’s about to cry, but instead a roar of laughter fills the air.
“Fuck, Gavin,” she says through bursts of giggles, “Am I misfit enough to join you up on that mountain?”
“Well from where I’m sitting right now, I think you’d even give my old man a run for his money.” I pull off to the side of the road and kiss her hard, cupping the back of her head in my hands. Tasting her lips again after all this time fulfills me. This is exactly what’s been missing from my life. I don’t want to ever stop, but we have the rest of our lives to do that. I just need to get us back to the farmhouse in one piece.
“Take me home, Gavin,” she sighs, resting her hand on my thigh. The sweetest words I’ve ever heard coming from the only person I want to hear them from. We take the trip up the mountain in complete silence, but there are no words needed to fill in the blanks of our time apart. It sucked, and now it’s not going to anymore. She’s so easy. We’re so easy.
I don’t even bother pulling the truck into the garage, just drive straight up the driveway to the front door. The party is still going in full force, and even though I know everyone will be more than happy to see her and talk to her, I don’t want to overwhelm her.
“Straight to the shower?” I suggest. “I’ll send Ollie up with your bag?”
She presses her lips to mine gently. “Sounds good.”
“We’ll get rid of that,” I say, motioning to the back of the truck. “You’ll never have to worry about him again.”
“Thank you,” she whispers. “Just… thank you.” Her face is slick with tears, but she’s smiling.
I get out of the truck and drop the tailgate, my brothers gather around in the dark, watching in fascination. Hopefully I can distract them long enough that she can slip inside unnoticed.
“What ya got there, bud?” Brooks asks, confusion on his face. “You get a new rug?”
I pull back the corner, exposing the corpse with the half blown off face while he bends over and starts dry heaving.
“Well ain’t that something,” Heat laughs.The truck door swings open, and Sloan steps out, offering a weak smile and wave to my crew before turning for the porch steps.
“Holy shit,” Brooks mutters. “She looks like a cheese doodle dipped in ketchup. Still sexy, but damn, Gavin, what did you do to her? You were only gone for a couple hours.”
“You still haven’t figured out how this dating thing works, have you, son?” Heat chuckles. “Dinner and a movie. Not gunshots and haircuts.”
“I have a feeling this is a long story,” Clutch says, grabbing the rug and heaving it over his shoulder with a grunt. “And I want to hear all of it. But let’s do something about this first.”
Olive pushes through the crowd, waving her arms, screaming my name.
“Where is she? Did you get her?”
I smile and hug her close. “Her bag’s in the back of the truck. She’s in the shower. I told her you’d be up.”
“What’s that?” she asks, motioning to the rug.
“Arthur,” I say.
“No,” she whispers hoarsely.
“I think you should go talk to her,” I urge.
“You better be up soon,” she scolds. “Sloan and I might be best friends, but it’s your turn now, too. You’re gonna be the one she needs to talk to when she’s going through shit. It’s your turn to be her best friend.”
“I know,” I assure her. I want nothing more than to be holding her in my arms right now, comforting her, promising her that I will never let anything like this happen to her again as long as she lives. “But first I gotta find a nice tree to string this fucker from. The bears sure will be happy.”
She turns and leaves, grabbing Sloan’s bag and making her way inside.
“So this is actually happening, huh?” Goob pulls me aside with a snarl on his face. “I’m sure you won’t last much longer as vice president if Dad and I have anything to say about it.”
“Fuck the title,” I say to him. “You and Dad do whatever you want. These men here have my back. And so does she. Things are going to change around here, Goob. You’re gonna have to choose what side you want to be on.”
Brooks whistles. “You coming?” he shouts.
“You coming?” I ask Goob. He turns his back and disappears into the darkness.
I join my men, my main crew, my merry band of Misfits as we use our cellphone flashlights to navigate through the woods, taking turns carrying the load, laughing all the way.
Nothing can ruin my mood tonight. I’ve got my family by my side and my lady waiting for me. We’ll deal with the rest of the details when everything calms down, but right this moment, my life is perfect.
Chapter 40
Sloan
“Sloan.” She wraps softly on the door of the bathroom, catching me off guard, pulling me from my trance. I’ve been staring in the bathroom mirror for I don’t know how long, trying to figure out who this hot mess is looking back at me. “Hey! Can I come in?”
“Don’t laugh,” I warn. “I’m telling you, it’s not good.”
She doesn’t even look at me, doesn’t even say a word, just scoops me in her arms and hugs me tighter than she’s ever hugged me before. She’s bawling, her tears sticky on my shoulder.
“Hey,” I whisper in her ear. “It’s going to be ok. I’m here now. I’m alright.”
“What happened?” she asks. “Did he hurt you?”
“The only crime he committed was one against fashion,” I giggle, showing her my butchered locks.
“Fuck,” she says, examining my head, her eyes wide.
“You look really pretty tonight, though,” I don’t know why, but what I need right now is just some casual conversation. Everything that happened in the last twenty-four hours was so heavy, so dark. I just want to pretend like I’m normal for a little bit. “Did you have a hot date?”
She walks over to the bathtub and begins to run water in it for me. She digs around in the cabinets, but all she can find is Gavin’s body wash. “This will have to do,” she says. She grabs the bottle and squirts a liberal dose of it into the running water.
I don’t care. I love that smell. I missed that smell.
“You want some privacy?” she asks.
“No,” I urge. “I would love it if you want to stay here with me. I mean, if you want to go back to the party, I completely understand.”
She helps me out of my bloody clothes and I slide into the tub while she sits on the toilet seat next to me. She has to be one of the best friends in the world.
“Oh!” she says, grabbing for her purse. She pulls out a joint and lights it up. “Might as well celebrate, huh?”
She passes it to me and I start coughing up a cloud of smoke before I can even exhale. We both start cracking up, laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation.
“So are you going to tell me what happened tonight or not?” she urges me.
“I promise I will, Ollie.
But right now I just want to hang out. I don’t want this to be about my shit. I just want to sit here in the bathtub and smoke weed with my best friend like a normal human being.”
Neither one of us can stop laughing. It probably has something to do with the insanity of the situation, and maybe a little bit to do with the marijuana. Maybe it’s just because it feels so good to be back together again as best friends.
“Tell me about your night,” I say to her. “I feel like it’s always all about me. I want to talk about you.”
“Well, let’s see…” she says. “I think I’m in love, but I don’t know what to do.”
“You are? With who? Do I know who he is? Is he here?”
“It’s complicated,” she sighs. “But yes.”
“Is he hot? Did you bang him?”
“Yes and no.”
“Oh boy, so it’s serious, then?” I tease. “You waiting for marriage or what?”
Just then, there’s a knock on the door. My heart flutters a little bit, hoping it’s him, hoping that I can finally talk to him now that I’ve unwound a little bit.
Olive walks over and opens it a crack. “You want company?” she asks.
I dip down in the tub so that only my head is sticking out from under the water. “Sure.”
Gavin stands in the middle of the room, looking around with a goofy grin across his gorgeous face.
“What are you girls doing in here?”
“Just catching up,” Olive says. “I was just gonna go.”
“Oh, Ollie, you don’t have to,” I assure her.
“Listen, I love you, and I will be back tomorrow to help you figure out what we’re going to do about that hair of yours. I mean, if you want to, that is.” She gathers up her purse and plants a kiss on my forehead.
“Yes please,” I say. “Be careful! I love you!”
“I’m so glad you’re safe. And I’m sorry if…”
“Stop,” I say. “Go have fun.”
“Night, Gavin,” she says, navigating the narrow bathroom. “Do you want me to help clean up downstairs or anything before I leave?”