by L. J. Woods
“Let’s do it,” she nods before I step on the gas, a taste of freedom on my tongue. Delilah pulls the rosary from the rearview as we leave the empty church lot, throwing it out the window. “Sayonara, cocks!”
Epilogue
Gabriel
One Week Later
“Is that our last bar?”
“Maybe,” Delilah answers, her lips covered in chocolate.
Rain patters against the paint of the car, pouring down the windshield. Never thought this kind of weather would greet us so far out.
Reaching over, my eyes on the wet road, I rub a thumb across the smudge on her face, bringing it to my lips. “Don’t eat them all, we’ll starve,” I remind her, licking the chocolate off my finger. She bites her lip when I do, spreading her legs in the passenger’s seat.
“You got plenty to eat right here, Godfrey,” she smirks. With that gold bikini back on her tits, a pair of joggers below, I wouldn’t mind having my own Delilah buffet. But we’re almost there. “Besides, if your mom would answer the phone, maybe we can work out a deal. It’s been two weeks and she hasn’t said anything.”
The grief of losing my dad isn’t half as bad as losing Elijah. Not even close. It’s like I’d already mourned his death long before it happened.
“Mariam says she sold the church,” Delilah continues, finishing the rest of her chocolate bar. It’s one of the only things we can afford to eat besides the chips and leftovers we took from her grandma’s. “So now, your mom has more money than all the gods I know.”
I shrug. “Don’t care.” Don’t care that Mariam’s still in Clementine after all that shit. Don’t care that my mom hasn’t spoken to me since the … incident. Bringing my hand to her thigh, her warmth settles me. “Only you, Dee.” The classical music in the background seems to get louder when I stare into her eyes before I turn back to the road.
The back seat is a mess of blankets, clothes and food wrappers. It’s driving me crazy but I’m hoping when we get to where we’re headed, it’ll all be worth it.
“Holy shit.” Delilah sits up in her seat, her mouth hanging open as she stares out the rearview. “We’re here!” Glancing over, her face beams at the first row of palm trees coming the highway. “We fucking made it!” Falling back in her seat, she pushes her hair out of her face. Longer, wavier and messier than when we left. “God, Elijah would’ve killed to see this.”
Don’t I know it.
We’re far away from Clementine, miles away from the east coast. As I roll the windows down, the wind pushes rain into the car, on my face, on the dash.
“What’re you doing?” Dee asks.
Holding a hand out the window, it’s the best I’ve felt since that night I came back to Clementine. Since that night I kissed Dee. And I’m sober for it. “Taking in the west coast air.”
She laughs, the sound of it sending a wave of heat to my core. When I look over, her head’s out the window, tongue out too and I fall that much more in love with her. The highway opens up to the ocean beside us, grey clouds above. “Wait! Pull over!” She points at a small exit and with her looking that sexy, who am I to say no? After driving for hours, I could use the break. The minute the car stops, she climbs out and onto the hood. Splaying her arms wide, the rain soaks her body. “This feels amazing.”
When I climb out the car, I pull my hood over my head, staring out at the ocean. It takes thousands of miles away from Clementine for me to feel free. For me to feel at peace. And with Dee at my side, that makes it all the better.
My phone buzzes in my pocket and when I pull it out, there’s a notification on my banking app. Don’t even know why I have the thing, Haven’t had access to my account in months. And after what happened at the church, not sure I ever will. It’s a sacrifice I made to get out with Delilah, one I’d do again. Opening the app to clear the notification, my finger hovers over the screen.
The fuck …
Money sits in my account again and it’s not what I had before. It’s a lot more.
Mom.
When I try calling her, it doesn’t even ring. Like it’s disconnected. Checking the app again, I make sure I’m not kidding myself. “Well, fuck,” I mutter.
“What?” Dee asks.
Turning to look at her, her joggers and hair stick to her body, skin wet and inviting. This sight makes me happier than the news on my phone. She looks like a mermaid. One that needs some warmth. My warmth.
That pull already takes me to her and the minute I get there, those joggers come down. Delilah lifts her hips, her eyes on me as my tongue hits her folds. She’s already wet and it’s not from the rain.
“What’s gotten into—fuck!” I’m sucking on that pearl like I haven’t eaten in hours. Which I haven’t. Her or food. Explains how ravenous I am, the way my tongue lashes at her clit, the rain soaking through my clothes like how she’s soaking for me. “God, yes!” The classical music booms through the speakers when I flip her over.
There’s a voice in my head telling me I get to have it all. The money. The girl. My new hardcore drug, Delilah. I’m one lucky fuck. Her arms splayed across the hood of my car, I sink my cock into her. My lips move to her ear before I tell her the news. “I got my account back.” Then I fuck her to show her how happy I am she’s by my side. How happy I am she exists. How grateful I am that my cock is so deep inside her I can feel every inch. Every twitch.
But she wants more, the greedy girl she is. “You rich fuck!” she bounces back against me, rain water collecting and splashing where my hips meet her ass.
“Your rich god.” My hand on her ass when I smack her in the rain is an image I’ll never forget and there’s no way we’re not doing this again.
The sounds of the ocean and cars blend with her moans. I don’t give a fuck who sees because right now? This world is ours.
Her body tenses, her hands in fists and I know where she’s headed. To fucking heaven. But before she does, I pull her off the hood, out of the rain and into the car so she can ride herself to glory.
My head falls against the headrest and everything goes white.
Pure. Fucking. Bliss.
A towel comes over my face before Delilah appears in front of me again. A glow on her face. “So that was about getting your money back?”
Chuckling, I pull her on my lap. “It’s about more than that, Dee. I got my life back. A new one. One with you and all this? It’s going to us. For our future. Not theirs.”
The smile on her face tells me she approves and the kiss she plants on my lips tells me I’m right. She settles into me, our eyes on the ocean, rain pouring down the windshield. Delilah’s always been my one true family and if there’s one last thing I can do for Elijah, it’s keeping his sister safe. Forever.
We swap back into our seats while I try to find a hotel for the night. This’ll be our first sleep in a real bed in days and I can’t wait to get some shut eye with her by my side. Never thought sleeping would be this easy.
“Now can we listen to something other than this grandpa shit?” Reaching over, she changes the radio to another station. We’ve been battling for it the entire time.
“Told you.” Turning back onto the highway, I give her a wink. “Don’t sleep on Beethoven.”
That Jay-Z song blasts from the speakers. Elijah’s favourite. “No Church In The Wild.” Delilah settles back in her seat and I don’t have to look her way to know that she’s thinking about him.
I am too. “I still feel like I never got to honour him,” I confess.
“You can’t blame yourself,” she reminds me, her hand on my lap. “Wait, I do know one way you can! Pull over at the next stop.”
“Again? I don’t think fucking his little sister was the thing he had in mind.”
She laughs. “No. Trust me.”
I do, letting her use her phone to direct me all the way to a tattoo shop. Before I can ask, she’s out of the car, the sun setting as she pulls on the handle. Locking the car, I follow her to the desk, giving a nod to t
he guy behind the counter. Letting him know she’s mine and mine only with the way my eyes narrow. He straightens up. Understood.
“This one.” She points to a flash photo in the binder. “But with like, the words from the song. I’ll get one too! It’s been playing non-stop and was his favourite. And if you think about it, it makes so much sense considering—”
“Alright, alright.” I already have a ton of ink on my body, what’s another? Especially for him. Couldn’t think of a better way to spend the influx of cash in my account. “Let’s do it.”
“You sure?” The guy behind the counter speaks up in a striped shirt, tattoos on his bald head. “They say matching tattoos are a couples’ curse.”
Shaking my head, I wave him off. “No. This is different.”
Standing up, he stretches. “Lemme get my stuff altogether. I’ll call you in a sec.”
Nodding, I take a seat on a pew they’re using in the waiting room and I can’t help but chuckle. My phone vibrates again, Delilah way too nosy to sit still. She looks around while I glance at my screen, her phone chiming too.
It’s from the SAA email.
I’m transferring my credits to a university on this side of the country but it might be important. So I open it.
A video plays. A scream coming first. The same one comes from Delilah and when I look up, she’s looking at her screen.
“I-I’ll do it! I’ll—”
SPLASH!
I don’t watch the end.
Looking at the email it looks familiar. A bunch of numbers attached to the SAA domain.
“What the fuck?” Delilah asks.
“Who the fuck sent this?” We’re the only ones with the footage, all on one hard drive that Adam has. Mariam knows what happened but why would she leak his death?
“It’s a different email than the one before.” Delilah sits on her knees in the spot next to me. “And it’s cc’d to me, you, Hazel, Adam, and Mariam.” I’m already texting Adam. Mariam too. “We’re not in the video though. Only Hazel.” Her phone rings. She jumps when I do, and fuck am I happy we’re a long way from home. Part of me wants to forget this shit ever happened. Change my name and start a new life. But something tells me we’re all on the hook here.
“Hazel?” Delilah answers before she puts her on speaker. “Gabe’s here. Did you get the video?”
“Of course, I got the video!” It sounds like she’s driving, her voice loud, metal in the background. “Did you get the others?”
“What others?” I ask.
“There’s one of me spiking David’s drink before the accident. Another one has me running from the office. You guys didn’t get it?”
Scrolling through my inbox, Dee checks hers. She shrugs. “Nothing there.”
“Oh no … do you think they think I did it? Are they trying to frame me?”
“What the fuck would they want with you?” If anything, it’s me they should be coming after.
“Fuck,” Delilah groans, her brows low. “What are we gonna do? Aren’t you halfway to Europe by now?”
“I’m in Iceland,” she says. “And there’s only one thing I can do.” Delilah meets my eyes, and I hope she doesn’t say it. “I’m going back to Clementine.”
Delilah’s Playlist
No Church in the Wild - Jay-Z + Kanye West, Frank Ocean, The Dream
Big Poppa - Notorious B.I.G.
Hail Mary - Tupac
Runnin’ - The Pharcyde
Creep - TLC
The Crossroads - Bone Thugz-N-Harmony
Boyz-N-The-Hood - Eazy E
A.D.H.D. - Kendrick Lamar
Listen on Spotify
Gabriel’s Playlist
Mount Everest - Labrinth
Drugs - UPSAHL
Oh My God - The Pretty Reckless
Tessellate - alt-J
High For This - The Weeknd
Fire In The Trees - Reyn Hartley
Little Bit (feat.. Lykke Li) - Drake, Lykke Li
All For Us - Labrinth
Listen on Spotify
More, You Say?
Join my Deliciously Dark Newsletter for not one, not two, but SIX (6) bonus scenes from “OMG”.
Sneak Peek
KING: A DARK HIGH SCHOOL BULLY ROMANCE
Jo
Darkness surrounds me.
The air is hot. Scorching. Suffocating.
There’s no clarity even after rubbing my eyes and when I call out, I realize I can’t breathe.
I’m choking. Gasping. And I’m too disorientated to find a way out.
Mom, dad, Willow, the life I’ve always known flashes in front of me before the darkness eats me whole.
“Eden Gardens!” the conductor’s voice booms through the overhead speaker. Jolted from another nightmare, my eyes open, cheek against the cold glass. “The stop is Eden Gardens!”
A literal weight lifts off my shoulders and I pull my head off the window to see Willow rub her eyes. My little sister squints under the train’s yellow lights before she looks into the grey aisle. There’s a crease on her sandy-brown cheek, her fried-straight hair a mess on her round head. The way she looks tells me I should check my own reflection. When I do, I confirm my state. A damn mess.
My curls are in knots, scrunched against my head, dark circles under my eyes somehow look worse than when we left. Taking my fingers to my hair, I detangle the mess as the train comes to a stop in the dark tunnel.
Passengers stand and shuffle about, the car getting louder with clacks and chatter. I pull on my leather jacket, a treasure from my dad’s closet before turning to my sister. As passengers start to make their way off the car, I give her a weak smile, “At least we both look like shit.”
Willow matches my smile with an even weaker one, her eyes doing that thing they do when she’s barely awake. One open. One half-closed. She waits until everyone is almost off the car before she gets up and I pull my beat up Jansport from under the seat. Once I’m on my feet and in the aisle, she hands me one of two lumpy trash bags from the overhead. She takes the smaller one before I usher her towards the train’s exit.
With a thank-you to the attendant, we make our first steps off the train and into Eden Gardens. The place we once dubbed, “No Man’s Land”.
It’s a short walk down the platform and up a set of stairs before the station opens up into a miniature Grand Central.
“Woah.” Willow’s awake now, her brown eyes wide, head whipping around.
Light pours in from arched windows near the roof. Long brick columns lead my eyes to them. A large board with arrival and departure times hangs in the middle of the massive space. If it wasn’t for that and the ticket booths, I would have mistaken the station for a cathedral.
There’s a mix of flowery perfume and pastries in the air. It’s unfamiliar. New. But considering the station we came from smelt like roasted meat and piss, Eden Gardens is already an upgrade. A few men in expensive-looking suits wisp by, strong cologne encompassing them. Around them are women in colourful dresses. They all have matching handbags or heels that clack against the polished floor.
I look down at my boots and cut off denim shorts. My ripped Nirvana t-shirt hangs off my frame under my jacket. I pull my sister close, she’s not too far off in a black oversized hoodie and baggy leggings. I try not to draw too much attention to ourselves, but we already stand out like weeds.
“We’re not in The Grove anymore.” Willow’s jaw hangs as I lead her towards a set of shiny wooden benches.
My eyes wander the space as we move. A giant brass clock stands in the middle of the main concourse, time on each of its four sides. I take a look at my dad’s gold Rolex confirming the time. Minutes to six.
“Still got time before Daddy Warbucks arrives?” Willow sits on the bench, her trash bag falling to the floor. With an elbow to her knee, pointy chin in her palm, I can tell she’s as thrilled as I am.
“Just enough time to grab a snack.” I plop my trash bag on the spot next to her before I try forcing an
other smile. “And I smell donuts.”
She sits up for a second before her shoulders drop. “Nah, it’s okay. You don’t have to use your cash.”
“Hey, we’re in Eden now!” I sling my backpack off, putting it on the bench before opening my arms wide. “We deserve to splurge a little. Wait here.”
I head towards the smell of sweet dough and try my best not to get lost. Down a long corridor, the smell heightens and I see a display of donuts and pastries behind a glass wall. There’s already a crowd in front of the counter and I join it, my eyes on the colourful pastries in the display. Cupcakes. Croissants. Things dripping in chocolate.
Standing on my tiptoes, I scan the menu ahead. My shoulders fall. “Five dollars for a donut?” Groaning at my first taste of Eden prices, I rummage through my jacket pocket. Pulling out enough crumpled bills, I’m relieved I have enough for what I promised.
It takes a few minutes, but I finally get to the front, a short barista in a black hat pursing her lips my way. I’m about to order a Regular Glaze when I’m interrupted by a wide man in a black suit, “One Americano and a pesto panini.”
The barista nods and turns around before her blonde coworker smiles towards me. I open my mouth to speak but it’s not my voice I hear.
“Two double espressos.”
I turn around to see a woman in a white pantsuit holding up two manicured fingers.
You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.
The blonde barista nods and turns around to get the order while I’m left to stand there. More people in suits push me from side to side, yelling their orders at the baristas who continue to ignore me.
I try my hand at their tactic, yelling towards them, “A glazed donut please!” No one even glances my way so I try again. “Glazed donut!”