by Aven Jayce
“Jack.”
“... I’ve measured the beast a couple of times. I have the length penciled in on my bedroom wall. The sucker’s still growing...”
“Jack.”
“... I’ll drive it inside you and we’ll see how small you think it is. You’ll be screaming, ‘ohhh... please Jack, no, it’s the Titanic, ohhh, it’s a Bigfoot cock, Lord help me.’”
“Jack, I never said it was small. I said Quinn’s was bigger. You’re a giant, okay? Let it go.”
“You want me to call Nadine for you?” Quinn jumps in and thankfully changes the subject.
“No, but the offer’s nice. I’ll step into my big girl panties and do this... soon, not now. I’m still mad about something she said.”
“Pussy,” Jack says under his breath.
“Yes. I. Am. So what? I’m a pussy. I’m a pussy with big girl panties who’ll take care of things when I feel like it.”
“For Christ’s sake, you sound like my dad.”
“Your dad wears panties?” Quinn cocks his head in confusion.
“No. He just talks to my stepmom in kinky... God, would the two of you just shut the fuck up. I don’t want to talk about him. I’m losing my mind. What’s wrong with you guys?”
“See, moody,” Quinn says. “Bet he’s hungry. I’m hungry. Can we stop and eat?”
“You already asked me—” He holds up his hand for Quinn to keep quiet as an incoming call from Emma appears on his dash.
“Hey, Em... Emma? Fuck, she hung up. Why’d she call and hang up?”
“You suck with women.” Quinn leans back and places his hands behind his head, acting dominant.
“Who asked you?” He calls her back, tapping the steering wheel as she takes her sweet time picking up. “Em? I’m on my way. You doing okay?”
Nothing but heavy breathing comes from her end.
“Help me out. I can’t remember what motel I left you at. I think I’m close, though.”
Heavy breathing.
“Emma... hey, it can’t be much farther. It was a full day’s drive from where you are to the retreat when I left. Those hours are up. You gotta be around here somewhere.”
More heavy breathing.
“Great Zodiac killer impersonation... can you at least give me a fucking clue, a good one, not anything I can’t decipher. What’s the name of the town or the motel?”
“Pussy pasture,” she says in a smooth and sexy voice, much like Jack’s, only higher.
“Is that a reference to what I’m gonna get if I find you? Your pussy pasture?”
“Pussy. Pasture,” she repeats, even slower this time.
“Did you grow it out over the past week? It’s been a while since I’ve seen it that way... I’m game if it’s a pasture.”
She hangs up and Quinn laughs. “Man, you really suck with women. That was terrible.”
“Wow, I’ll say. How long have you been married to this poor girl?” I ask.
“I don’t know.”
“You must know. One, two, three years? What?”
“Well... she won’t... she... we’ll be married as soon as she says yes.”
Quinn tumbles onto the seat and bursts into a fit of laughter. I think he gets a kick out of the fact that Jack has weaknesses, it makes him more relatable and flawed like the rest of us, and it puts Quinn in a good mood. Must be some competitive guy thing.
“So you’re not married? If you keep talking to her like that, she’ll never marry you. I’m surprised she’s even with you now,” he says.
“Hey, hey, look at me.” Jack lifts his chin and finger combs his hair. “How could someone not fall in love with this face? Huh? Tell me that, asshole.”
“Here we go again,” he murmurs.
“How could a woman not want my naked body over her and my cock pounding into her all night long? Tell me. I’m a goddamn super model... well, I will be once my face heals from your pummeling. Hey! Don’t look at my ears. I saw that. Look at the rest of me. Look. Look! I’m handsome.” He admires himself in the mirror. “Fucking gorgeous. Admit it.”
“Did your dad tell you that?”
I reach back and smack Quinn’s knee for his comment. After the release in the cornfield about his dad, it wasn’t the best thing to say, and I don’t feel like fighting. I’m just way too hungry for all of us to argue.
“Stop egging him on,” I say. “And Jack, anyone who brags about being good-looking or good in bed, isn’t good-looking or good in bed. Take my advice, you’ll do better with your girlfriend, and women in general, if you don’t act so narcissistic.”
“Bullshit. What do you know?” He looks in the mirror with his jaw clenched, then stares ahead, then back, then ahead, then back, before making a sharp turn off I-80. The car skids and comes to a rapid halt when we reach the stop sign at the end of the exit.
An older man stops next to us and furrows his brow at Jack’s reckless driving.
“What are you looking at,” he says, even though the guy can’t hear him. He raises his hands and passes along a dirty look, presenting him with a what’s your problem, expression.
Poor guy, all he can think to do is turn up his nose at us before driving away.
“Now what?” Quinn asks.
I see a line of restaurants and spring forward, pointing to the first one. “Look, there’s a McDonald’s. Can we eat, please? Pleeease. It’s been such a long day and I have to pee.”
“Yeah, can you feed us and take us to the bathroom?” Quinn rags him on.
“Pleeease,” I say.
Jack drops his head to the steering wheel, takes a deep breath, then makes the turn toward the McDonald’s parking lot.
“Excellent,” I exclaim.
“I’m never having kids.” He groans, tapping a button on his steering wheel to answer another incoming call from Emma. “This must be how my dad feels... hey, Em? Hey, I don’t have a clue as to where the fuck you are. Just tell me.”
“Pussy. Fucking. Pasture. You prick.”
“I heard you the first time, but what the hell does it mean? Are you close to a McDonald’s? What’s the exit number?”
The line cuts out and Jack smacks the wheel. “I can’t believe she’s this upset.”
“She’s mad about where you live? At the hotel?” I ask.
“I shouldn’t care. Why do I care?” He grabs his baseball cap and takes his sunglasses from his shirt collar, passing them back to Quinn. “Put these on, go take a piss, and I’ll get the food, then get back to the car, pronto.”
“Order me a—”
“You’ll eat whatever I buy. My head’s in a fog from all that driving and I’m not gonna try to remember a food order.” He gets out of the car and waves for us to hurry inside. “Addie, after you come out, check your cell for the motels within a thirty-mile radius, the ones right off the exits. Tell me what’s around.”
“Thought you didn’t care.” I follow close behind, hopping on one foot as I try to put on my sneakers. I’m fine with behaving like the pestering younger sister, after all, he said we were siblings.
“Don’t start.”
“You truly love her?”
“Don’t.”
“She has a pretty name.”
“Give it a rest.”
“When did you know she was the one?”
“Stop it.”
“Does she love you, too?”
“Stop.”
He opens the door and acts like we’re not together, ignoring my questions and walking off on his own.
“Isn’t it funny how much he hates and loves us at the same time?” I ask.
“Not really.”
“I think so.”
“All I’m thinking about is you, my future, a juicy burger, and a serving of salty fries, not Jack’s love... I’ll wait for you outside this door.”
He enters the men’s room and I head into the women’s restroom, seeing it empty and locking myself in
the first clean stall I find.
As my bursting bladder’s relieved, I decide to carry out what most of the world does nowadays while sitting on the toilet... I make a phone call.
Taking a deep breath, I tap my aunt’s home number, listening to it ring.
“Nadine?”
“Addie, where are you? I’ve been calling all day. Who’s number is this? Why aren’t you answering your cell? Are you alright?” Her voice is sad and wavering. “I’m so sorry I said that about your mom... I didn’t mean to get so angry, it’s just that Brian... he was furious, and I didn’t... I just didn’t mean to hurt you... and you see... well, a detective called and, and... I’m so sorry I accused you. I wish you’d answer your cell so we could talk.”
“A detective called? About what?”
There’re several reasons they would be contacted, I can’t even guess what it is, but I assume they found a connection between Quinn and me.
“They have a suspect, honey. And there’s more evidence this time.”
“For what?”
“What do you mean, for what? The murder.”
“I know, sorry, I saw. We saw it on the news last night. Quinn’s being cautious; I am too. I can’t believe he could be arrested for her murder. It’s not right. He was the least involved out of all of us. This is awful.”
“Addie... I’m talking about the murder of your mom.”
Chapter Nine
LUCK
“ADDIE? YOU THERE?”
I lean forward in the passenger seat of the Hellcat with my fingertips swiping my forehead, feeling lightheaded and starting to hyperventilate. I don’t know how I even made it to the car with such tottering jelly legs.
“Addie?”
“Give me a sec, Nadine.”
I’ve said that to my aunt ten times already. Seconds are turning into minutes as the sun makes its way below the horizon. I’m becoming lost inside the darkness moving upon us.
Quinn slips into the back seat and takes off Jack’s cap and sunglasses. Lurching forward, he tosses them to the floor by my feet and puts his ear close to the cell, trying to hear her words.
“There... there’s a suspect? Who? I-I don’t understand... is he in custody? How?”
“Another attack happened in the same area where your mom was found.”
“Dear God.” I sit back and rub my hand on my leg, wiping the sweat off my palm. “Is the woman okay?”
“She’s alive. She was being strangled by a man when her attacker was scared off.”
“What? How? What happened?”
“The detective wasn’t able to give us too many details about him or his name just yet, and the reports we’ve read online haven’t said much either, but we have been told there’re similarities to your mom’s case.”
“Like? What kind of similarities?”
“Personal items were taken... Brian, it’s Addie. She called. I got her on the line... don’t give me that look... sorry, he’s been in a sour mood for days, doesn’t want to talk to a soul... you still there?”
“Yeah. What else?”
“She was taken from the main trail to a more secluded area, like your mom, and not raped either... the detective said the woman told them she was touched, but, you know, he... he tried and she said it didn’t work, he couldn’t... it made him furious. That’s when he took out a cord and—”
“Oh my God... Mom.”
“The woman was jogging in that same area, the same one. It has to be him. They got him. They’re still combing the woods for evidence, but they got him.”
My chest tightens... “That trail?” I ask. “Is it the same one? The same exact one my mom was...”
“Honey, I’m sorry.” Her voice becomes soft and sympathetic. “I’m so sorry.”
“We... uhh...”
I can’t think straight. We were just down there. I can’t believe it.
“I... we were... when? When did this happen? Was she on that trail, too? The same one?”
“The same area, yes, but a different spot from your mom. The woman survived because someone was firing off a gun. It scared the guy away.”
I turn to Quinn, seeing he’s frozen in place, not a blink or a breath, same as me.
Holy shit.
He saved her.
He. Saved. Her.
Quinn firing the gun at Jack that morning saved that woman’s life.
It was us.
We were the ones.
Quinn was the one.
“Everything comes full circle. Remember that. Prepare for it. It’s coming.”
Jack’s words to me after he murdered Trent now ring true.
“Everything comes full circle.”
I peer at Jack, observing a gummy smile plastered across his face as he eats. Hamburger bun is stuck between his teeth and onion pieces are on his shirt. His demeanor has changed because he has food, typical for many men when they’re consuming a hunk of meat.
He takes big bites, chews noisily, and swallows hard, ending each gulp with a back of the hand swipe across his lips.
Tilting his head back, he dumps a pile of fries into his mouth, crumbles the fast food bag into a ball, and pitches it over his shoulder at Quinn.
“Here.” He passes a second large bag into the back seat. “It’s for both of you. Don’t eat it all yourself.”
“Addie? Was that Quinn? He’s wanted for questioning along with Dylan. Wanted in connection with Trent’s and Charletta’s deaths.”
“I know. I told you, we saw the news. Don’t change the subject, what else happened on the trail? Do they have any idea who shot the gun and why?”
Jack whistles softly, swiping his hands free of crumbs then taking out his cell to search for motels. He remains unresponsive to what’s happening with my conversation—too busy searching for the pussy pasture.
“No. They didn’t mention ‘who’ or ‘why’ to us. We read that people called 911 because they heard shots in the area, and when the police arrived they found the woman. The guy was far ahead on one of the trails, deeper in the woods toward the opposite edge of the forest from where she was when they caught him. But they haven’t said anything about the shots or why they were fired.”
“We got lucky,” I say under my breath.
“Yes, she did, we did. This may be the closure you need,” she responds, hearing what she wants to hear.
Jack starts the car and turns on the headlights, motioning for me to put on my seatbelt. He drives out of the parking lot while glancing between his cell and the dimly lit road.
I sense a small amount of misery and resentment escaping my body. It’s a start. I can’t feel joyous at this very moment, or even overnight, that’s impossible. My mom’s still gone... plus the selfish part of my brain is taking control, making me wonder why she wasn’t the one who survived, why this woman lived and she didn’t. I need time to make sense of all this, even though it is good news.
“You’re right. It should bring some closure,” I say.
I reach back and take Quinn’s hand, wanting the tiny amount of joy that I do feel to stream between us.
“Nadine... I need to tell you... umm...”
Maybe this isn’t the right time to say we left. Or maybe I’m chickening out because I don’t want to start another argument after this news.
“I... I think I need time to process all of this. Can I call you tomorrow?” I ask quickly.
“Tomorrow? No. When are you coming home? Brian and I have an idea for Quinn and—”
“What idea?”
“Can I finish?”
“Sorry, yeah, go ‘head.”
“He can stay in our garage until we get a chance to—”
“Get real! This isn’t something that’s going away in a month or even a year, what happened is forever. He’s not living in your garage for fifty years.”
“He can stay in there until you realize you’re throwing your life away.”
&nb
sp; “What?” My jaw drops from her absurd comment. She’s about to launch an attack, I can feel it.
“Once you get back here for a face-to-face discussion and we can talk some sense into you, you’ll come around and ask him to leave. Until then he’s welcome to sleep in the garage while you get your head screwed on straight.”
“Again, what did you say?”
“You’re young, Addie. This is hard for you to understand, but Quinn’s not the one you’re going to be with for the rest of your life. He’s not the man you’re going to marry.”
“This is my fucking life. Stop this.”
“He’s not the type of person that’ll stay by your side forever.” Her voice booms in my ear. Here it comes... here it comes... “I saw his father on the news. I know his brother’s been in prison. Quinn’s one of them.”
“Excuse me?”
“Brian and I have been patient.” Her finger taps a hard surface as she speaks. “We’ve been polite, considerate, and sympathetic, now it’s time for some tough love. You come from a good family. We’re educated people. He’s not. He has no values. Your mom would have called him a nothing, a nobody. White trash.”
I draw in such a swift breath over her words that saliva gets sucked down my throat and I begin to gag. What she said was downright wretched. Totally disgraceful.
Quinn rubs my back as he makes an effort to stop my cough. I raise my hand that I’m okay, but point to my cell that the conversation isn’t, putting the call on speaker so he can hear.
“That was appalling,” I say.
“Appalling is the company that you keep.”
“Huh!”
“You’re coming home tonight and you’re laying out your plans for the future with us, especially in terms of school. Your manipulative friend can tag along, but I promise you, by the time you’re back in your big air-conditioned bedroom, ordering takeout, and watching your favorite shows on the flatscreen we’re buying you, you’ll forget all about him.”
“I’m not thirteen, I’m twenty. And I can’t be bought. Don’t you dare try to bribe me!”
“Nooo, I’m not bribing you.” I imagine that came out of a smiling face. “I’m reminding you of all the nice things you have with us. He can’t give you what we can, and you can’t throw your life away over silly puppy love.”