“Thanks, Mara. I’ll talk to you later… okay.”
Mara nodded and watched in astonishment. One thing she had to say for the girl was that she had driven when she really wanted to do something.
Lilly didn’t wait one second… she flagged down the first taxi she could find that was going in the right direction toward her home. “I don’t have any money…” She said softly.
“Sorry, toots… no, ride.” The man shrugged.
“Please… What can I do?” Lilly asked knowing it was a bad thing to ask.
The guy turned quickly with a lust-filled glint in his eye and he smirked. “Show me your tits,” He winked.
“What?” She squeaked.
“You wouldn’t believe how far it could get you.” He shrugged. The guy really hadn’t been that slimy. He was probably only in his twenties and kind of good looking.
“I can’t believe I’m doing this.” Lilly groaned as she quickly lifted up her top, closing her eyes and looking away from the man.
“Very nice” He breathed as he slowly turned around. “Alright where too,” He asked gruffly.
Lilly spouted out her address and the driver quickly stepped on the gas. When they finally made it to Lilly’s home, she was in a way shocked that Frank wasn’t home. She slowly slid from the car thanking the driver for the ride then made her way up to the door.
She had once hidden a spare key and this was the day she was going to need it. She reached down beside the door and grasped a statue of a big black dog which her mother had once put there and tipped him over. Deep inside his left paw she pulled out the key which she had taped there.
Slipping the key into the door she looked around cautiously. Frank was nowhere in sight and she had to trust what Mara had said, she didn’t have any choice. She turned around shoving the key back up inside the statue dog’s body before rushing in the door.
First she raced into the kitchen and chugged a refreshing gulp of cold milk then grabbed an apple and made her way to Will’s room. Slowly she opened the door and took in his scent, which still lingered there, with a sigh.
Nothing had been touched and for that Lilly was thankful. Frank hated her brother with a passion, why would he mess with the bedroom. Quickly, Lilly scrambled to Will’s half made bed and tossed the blankets up in haste. She lifted the mattress up and there it was; an envelope with her name on it.
Lilly’s fingers slowly moved until they reached the envelope grabbing it and looking around as if it was a joke. Any minute, she thought, someone would come tearing through the house to attack her, but nobody came.
Frank had left on occasion for his so called ‘business trips’ but never for such a long period of time. Maybe she could engorge herself in things she really needed like, food and peace of mind. Lilly flattened out the bed sheets grabbed one of the pillows and curled up against it, sucking in deeply her brother’s scent and what home used to be, family and love.
Slowly she ripped open the envelope surprised to see a carefully written note inside.
Dear Lilly…
If you’re reading this, I am sorry I am not around anymore. I have planned out many things for you though; including a friend to tell you about the letter, which you are holding and another to train you to protect yourself. There is a spare set of car keys hidden in the closet underneath the right side floor board. There also you will find all the cash I had hidden there. Feel free to take anything from my room because Frank doesn’t know much about what is in here. He won’t drive the car so… it is relatively safe to use.
If you can get out of here do it! I mean it Lilly. I don’t want him to kill you. I love you.
I want you to get in the car and drive to 786 Twenty-First Ave., just east of town. Take the main road out to Heath and then turn left. Go down to Twenty-First Ave and turn right. Take care and I will be watching over you.
Love your brother,
William.
The note seemed to lack something and Lilly couldn’t quite place it… maybe the name of the building which Will wanted her to go to for instance would have been nice to know. But she trusted Will’s every word and so without a due Lilly raced to the far side of the room skidding to her knees as she entered the closet and began to dig for the hidden spot in the floor boards.
Sure enough, within minutes Lilly’s fingers slid over a small cut out just big enough to dig a finger into and lifted it. Inside the hole held a small cardboard shoe box which must have been hers at one time. She lifted the box up into her arms and flipped off the lid.
Lilly’s eyes nearly bulged at the sight of what was inside; car keys like Will had mentioned and three big wads of money. She urgently shoved the money into her pockets along with the car keys and put the box back within the floor. With care, she placed the board back over the floor and slid away from the closet.
Her eyes settled on the bedside table. It held two picture frames one of her and Will only a few months before he died and another of Will and Mara. Walking over to them she grasped them with fierce. Those were hers and she was going to keep them. She needed to search the room for a minute. It had been killing her for the last few months not to go through his things, but that could wait.
Right now she had to get to the building in the letter. Lilly grabbed her backpack off the floor and walked over to her room. She set the bag in her closet and grabbed hold of a sweatshirt and small purse which was her mothers. She shoved one wad of the money inside. It had to be hundreds of dollars that Will had stored down there, but that didn’t matter. She quickly moved herself over to the dresser pulled out the bottom drawer and shoved the remainder of her new found money into a small black box which she had hidden in there.
After Lilly placed the drawer back in its spot she took off toward Will’s car. She hoped it still started. She had never gotten her driver’s license because Frank wouldn’t allow it, but Will had taken her out many times and taught her how to drive. Cautiously, Lilly looked around the front yard and the street before her. Praying that Frank was truly gone, she hopped in the car and drove off.
What did I get into?
Chapter 11
786 Twenty-First Ave. 786 Twenty-First Ave. Lilly continued to repeat the address over and over in her head as she surveyed the area. The place her brother’s letter had mentioned must have long since gone out of business and that worried her. It was beginning to get dark and it looked like he had taken her down a back alley of a horror film. Unconsciously, Lilly pressed the auto lock button on the doors and frowned.
Finally coming to the end of the strange alley Lilly saw it. 786 Twenty-First Ave in big white letters across a fairly large old brick building. The alley had ended in a parking lot with a dumpster on one side and several cars parked on the other. A dimly lit street lamp tried its best to light the expanse of the area but failed miserably.
Nervously, Lilly parked the car beside a few others and unbuckled her seatbelt. This was one of those times she had wished she had invested in mace or something for protection. Taking a big gulp of air, she grasped the door handle and pushed it open.
She made her way across the alley to the door which was beneath the white letters of the address and lifted her hand to knock. She could hear loud muffled music from the other side and sighed when nobody came to the door. Slowly she lifted her hand up, grabbed hold of the door handle, and took a risk.
It was unlocked and in a way it was a relief yet slightly scary that she could easily enter the building. The music was an upbeat rap which seemed to make your body want to move with it. Her pace quickened toward a lingering light at the end of the hall. She would have called out but it was more than obvious nobody would hear her. So she trudged on.
When Lilly finally burst through the dimness and out into a vast gym with a huge boxing ring in the center she stood frozen. Had she accidently wandered in a place where she shouldn’t have gone? The answer came all too fast when nearly every head in the room snapped toward her. The music was suddenly gone and men,
mostly in their twenties or older, stared at her.
“Uh…” she said softly waving her hand toward them.
The biggest man in the room who was also the closest rose an eyebrow and half smiled as he made his way toward her. She had made a mistake and her brother’s note had led her into a death trap of rape and torture. Lilly quickly spun around stifling a scream as she began to sprint away.
“Hey, what gives, where’s my music?” A familiar voice called out. Light burst from somewhere before her and Lilly didn’t have time to react her body slammed headlong into a rock solid mass.
“I’m sorry. I must have made a mistake…” She whimpered. The man’s arms folded around her steadying the girl from falling and pressed her back to her feet.
“Hey… it’s okay.” He assured.
“Please don’t kill me.” She cried as the man reached toward her, his hand was so close and tears began to well in her eyes.
With a swift flick Lilly was blinded by the hall light, her hands flew to her eyes and quickly scrubbed at them. “Lilly?” the man said in a husky voice.
Lilly looked up, sighing in relief as her eyes met that of Grayson, the boy next door. “What are you doing here?” Grayson asked softly rubbing his thumb across her cheek clearing away stray tears.
“This letter, Will left it to me it told me to come here.” She frantically pulled the crumpled paper from her pocket and produced it for Grayson’s examination.
“You know this girl, Grayson?” The scary man from before asked.
“Yeah, Henry it’s all good. Sorry about the disturbance men you can turn the music back on.” Grayson called out. Henry shrugged and muttered something under his breath as he strode away.
“Come on. This is my office.” Grayson said turning Lilly toward the doorway where he had exited.
Examining the letter seemed to be somewhat saddening to Grayson. Will had been his friend and he never once thought his friend’s sister would be in danger after his death. “What’s this about him killing you?” Grayson asked.
Lilly paled thinking of what to say, she finally spout out “Oh… just a metaphor you know.”
“Who’s your friend, Grayson?” A man asked. Lilly turned around quickly noticing a stocky well-built older man with salt and peppered hair leaning against the frame. “I thought I asked you not to have any more girls here. I don’t want the police getting word that we’re running a burlesque or something.” The man sighed.
“This is Lilly Walker. Will’s sister.” Grayson said confidently “she’s just my neighbor.”
The man scratched his chin for a second his brows furrowing “Lilly Walker you say?” He asked.
“Yeah, Carl. Lilly this is Carl, my manager.” Grayson grumbled rolling his eyes.
“That name sounds familiar. Let me go check my records a minute.” Carl said as he walked away.
“Huh?” Grayson shrugged, “Anyway… what are you doing here? This area of town isn’t the best for a girl at night.” Grayson scolded gently.
“I don’t know…” Lilly told him honestly.
Carl soon returned interrupting them again. “I guess our Grayson here is going to be training you?” Carl asked.
“What!?” Both Lilly and Grayson asked in confusion.
“Well it says in my records that Will Walker paid for a year membership for Miss Walker and the beginning date, I had made a note…” He flipped a sheet of paper “was unavailable. So I guess since your free you can start training her tonight.”
“I can’t do that Carl… have someone else train her. I can’t get along with her.” Grayson pointed an accusing finger at Lilly, ‘I don’t train girls.” He said firmly.
“Yeah you can. Just be a little gentler…” Carl chuckled.
“Heck I can’t train her, she’s a klutz!” Grayson yelled.
“I’m not a klutz,” Lilly muttered under her breath.
Grayson rolled his eyes at the girl.
“Your last client is on leave for his surgery for the next six weeks and Will requested you specifically. Henry and I are both booked. Besides you already know the girl. She was your friend’s sister, train her.” Carl said with one final word he walked away.
Carl wasn’t going to let Grayson have his way. He had been known to only want to train the ones he chose. Such a headstrong and arrogant kid, but Grayson was the best of the best in the tournaments so… he was allowed a little too much free rein.
“Grr…” Grayson growled. “Fine!” He yelled after Carl.
Lilly looked down not quite knowing what was going to happen next and not daring to move as Grayson stood from his chair shoving it back against the wall with force. With his body tense, Grayson stalked around his desk toward Lilly.
“Come on.” He hissed.
Lilly scrambled to her feet and quickly followed Grayson down the dark hallway toward the gym once again. “You better not ruin my perfect track mark,” he snipped. “Are you going to go change?”
Lilly looked down at herself and then back up to Grayson shaking her head. “What is this place? I didn’t know…”
Grayson rolled his eyes. “A training facility, what does it look like? I guess its balance then today.” He said eyeing her outfit; if nothing else the jeans and baggy shirt would provide some comfort when she hit the floor. “Tomorrow you will wear something more appropriate.” He said flatly.
Lilly nodded not quite sure what a girl should wear. Most of the guys wore loose fitting shorts and weren’t wearing a shirt, but Lilly certainly couldn’t do that.
“Up.” Grayson pointed as he stopped beside a balance beam. It was low to the ground only about a foot from it, but it served its purpose here.
Lilly turned her head to where Grayson pointed and scurried toward it. She lifted her leg and placed one foot on the beam before bringing the other up as well. She smirked. Grayson’s training was going to be easy if he was going to have her stand on a beam. Her shoes easily gripped it and she stood firmly. Grayson raised an eyebrow “Shoes?”
Lilly’s smirk faltered and she hopped down quickly tossing her shoes away from the mat before climbing back aboard the beam. Grayson walked toward the wall pulling up a chair and sat. “Walk.” He told her in a duh tone.
She was making this difficult on herself. If she wouldn’t be so dumb she would have known what he wanted, he thought. Lilly sighed and slowly took one step in front of the other. Half way across the long beam she whipped her hands out trying to balance but it was too late. Lilly toppled over doing a slight hop as she fell onto the mat. Luckily, she had caught herself but the other thirty-five times that Grayson made her walk across it well she wasn’t as lucky.
“I guess you can work on that one.” Grayson sighed. Lilly had fallen off that beam more than anyone he had ever trained. Thirty-five times he had counted. “Okay,” Grayson said looking at his watch. “Time to go.”
“Finally!” Lilly let out an exaggerated breath.
“Oh… don’t worry we have a lot more to work on tomorrow.” Grayson smirked. He was evil underneath that handsome bad boy physic Lilly could see it now.
Grayson gathered his things into a duffle then walked Lilly back to her car. “Will’s car?” He questioned.
“Uh… yeah.” She looked down at the key in her hand.
“It’s Saturday so seven am sharp tomorrow!” He snapped then slid into his own car. Lilly’s head snapped up in the direction of where Grayson had been. At first she thought he was going to be nice but then… that.
Training
Chapter 12
Lilly had driven home and parked the car in the very same location as to where she had retrieved it from, successfully. Frank wasn’t home and she was beginning to think that maybe Mara was right. He was going out of town.
She quickly made it to the kitchen and grabbed a few things to eat before she made her way to her room. If Frank was gone she had all the opportunity in the world to get stuff from the kitchen. He wouldn’t think anything of it if the thi
ngs she chose would have spoiled without him here.
Grayson couldn’t help but wonder why Will would have done this to him. Grayson had never liked Lilly’s uptight and poor look. She had once seemed to not bath as often as he would have thought she would… then there was the constant weight loss. She was so bony at times that he couldn’t imagine her in his arms and that was rare for Grayson. He could have any girl and he usually did.
He mulled it over and couldn’t imagine why Will would want him to train his sister. They had become, in a way, rivals before he died. They had been planning the next fight and it was supposed to be big. Will versus Grayson. They were both equally matched in strength and size. The pending fight had separated their friendship and now Grayson was sad about that.
Lilly had set her alarm for six am. She was up, showered, and dressed by six twenty. Her arm had healed quite nicely, but it still held an angry red line filled with stitches and a bandage to protect it so when she dressed she had pulled on a fitted tank top, sports bra, and a sweatshirt along with yoga pants, and tennis shoes. She hoped it would be good enough for Grayson. She was nearly on her way out the door when the thought of food began tempting her groaning stomach she just had to do it. Grabbing the fridge and ripping it open, Lilly’s hand hesitated hovering over the jug of milk. She would be sure to replace it along with the other many items she was beginning to devour.
She nodded. Replacing the items would be the best thing. She added the nearly empty milk jug to the grocery list and added another apple to the list. She was in a great mood this morning, no surprise to her… Frank hadn’t been home.
Will’s car started with ease. She made the fifteen-minute trip to the far side of town and down the long alley stopping to park in the same space she had the day before. This time she could clearly see Grayson’s slick Mustang parked there with the top down.
She didn’t bother to knock this time. It would be silly. Pulling the door open, Lilly wandered down the hall until she came to Grayson’s office. The lights were off and his door open clearly he wasn’t inside it. She frowned.
Fight Like A Girl Page 4