by J. L. Perry
Such an arsehole!
I’m happy mum’s life is better now. After everything she endured at the hands of that monster, she really deserves the happiness she now has. As far back as I can remember, my father beat her. The big house and ‘things’ aren’t important to her. The love and respect Jim showers her with, is all she has ever wanted.
****
Connor woke me when we arrived in Sydney. It was around 4:00 a.m. in the morning. After stopping for fuel, food and what seemed like a million toilet breaks, we finally made it. We are both exhausted. I had fallen asleep the last hour of our journey.
The unit where we are living appears nice but I can’t see much in the dark. I can’t wait for the sun to rise, so I can take in the spectacular view of Sydney Harbour Connor has told me about. Apparently the best scenery is from the back balcony of the unit.
During the drive, my brother explained his friend, Mason, had just bought an apartment on the floor above ours. He will be moving in in a couple of weeks. Connor and Mason had grown up together. He is a few years older than Connor, but they had been neighbours when they were growing up. He said Mason practically lived at his house when they were young but they drifted apart when he moved to Melbourne.
They rekindled their friendship when Connor moved back to Sydney, he talks about him all the time. I’m looking forward to meeting him. Any friend of Connor’s is a friend of mine.
We park the car and while Connor grabs my two suitcases out of the back, I retrieve my overnight bag and the small bag he’d brought with him on the plane.
In the elevator, on the way up to our apartment, Connor informs me he has already made up my room. He bought a red and white striped comforter for the bed as well as a matching set of red and white sheets. He knows red and white are my favourite colours. He has also stocked my bathroom with all my favourite products. He’s such a sweet and thoughtful brother.
“I left the rest of your room bare,” he says. “I thought you might want to put your own special touch on it.”
I kiss his cheek and tell him how sweet he is.
The apartment is so much bigger than I thought it would be. I also love the way he has furnished it. The kitchen is massive and I can’t wait to start cooking. I love to cook. I did most of the cooking back home in Melbourne. Because mum and dad often worked late, I would cook for Connor and me. I always made sure there was something put aside for them when they got home, just in case they hadn’t eaten. On the weekends, we usually ate as a family at one of the many high end restaurants that Melbourne has to offer.
Connor offers me a full tour of the apartment, but I’m too tired and he understands I need to go to bed. He puts my bags in my room for me, before kissing me goodnight. “See you in the morning Jaz.” It’s already morning, but I am too tired to correct him.
“Goodnight Connor,” I reply as I follow him to the door. “Thanks for helping me move here. I love you.”
“Love you too little sis and it was my pleasure. I’m glad you’re finally here, I have missed you so much.” He leans down to kiss my forehead before he walks down the hall towards his room. I have a quick shower and fall into bed.
I’m totally exhausted.
****
It’s after two in the afternoon before I drag myself out of bed. I check Connor’s room, he’s still asleep. I’d planned on making us a nice breakfast, but find his cupboards and refrigerator empty. Shit, he doesn’t even have coffee. I need some damn coffee!
I decide to have a quick shower and get dressed. I had planned to spend the day unpacking, but instead, I’ll be visiting the store to stock up on groceries.
After showering I dress in a pair of black tights and my favourite red hoody. Even though it’s summer, it’s raining outside. I’ve been looking forward to coming back to Sydney for the warmer, dryer weather. I can’t believe it’s friggin’ raining here.
While I’m waiting for Connor to wake up, I check out the apartment. I can’t go to the shops until he’s out of bed. I’ve never been to this part of Sydney before, I have no idea where the Supermarket is, the last thing I need is to get lost.
Even though the furniture is great, the place needs a good dust and vacuum. Typical male, wouldn’t know one end of a vacuum cleaner, duster or mop, from the other. Once I’ve stocked the house with food, I’ll get on to scrubbing this place from top to bottom. Surprise, surprise, he has a pile of dirty clothes in the laundry as well! Men!
I put on a load of washing while I’m waiting. Might as well get a start, I have a lot to accomplish today. After the shopping and cleaning are taken care of, I need to unpack all the stuff I’ve brought with me. Even though I haven’t been here for a full day yet, I want to start job hunting as soon as possible. I’m going to pick up the paper while I’m out so I can search the classifieds later.
Connor must have heard me pottering around the apartment, he staggered from his room, rubbing his eyes. He was dressed in a pair of grey boxer briefs, nothing else! He really does have a great body, tall, tanned and toned. Dark hair and light caramel coloured eyes ensure my brother is one sexy man.
I’m not very tall. At only five feet, I barely reach Connor’s chin. Standing near him, I feel like a midget. My hair is blonde and my eyes are blue.
He tells me constantly I’m too thin but no matter how much food I eat I can’t seem to gain weight. Mum is the same, I assume it’s genetic. I’m happy with my body shape, but my boobs are far too big for my thin frame.
I’ve been a dancer since the age of thirteen. Cass and I also took up pole dancing a few years ago. No, we’re not strippers. We took it up originally for the exercise and found it’s a great way to stay in shape. It’s also a lot of fun, heaps better than working out at a boring old gym.
“Morning sis,” Connor greets me as he approaches.
He leans down and kisses my forehead. It makes me smile, he’s so affectionate.
“Did you sleep okay?” I’m not sure if he’s referring to my nightmares, or asking because I’m sleeping in a strange place. Either way, I slept like a baby. Exhaustion will do that to you. I think I fell asleep before my head even hit the pillow.
“I slept like a baby.” I’m so happy to be here with him. “I checked out the apartment while you were sleeping, you don’t have any food in the house. Where is the nearest shop, if you want to eat I need to do some grocery shopping?”
“Yeah, sorry about that. You know I can’t cook for shit. I got used to living on takeout. I’m looking forward to tasting your cooking again. I missed it almost as much as I’ve missed you.” The cheeky grin on his face ensures me he’s kidding.
“If truth be known, that’s probably why you wanted me to move here,” I place my hand on my chest in a theatrical gesture. “My heart is breaking. Here, I thought you loved me and you really only wanted someone to cook for you.”
He gives me a quick hug and chuckles. “Give me a couple of minutes to dress, you can drop me off at the gym on the way.”
On our drive to the gym, Connor shows me where the shops are. I drop him off and assure him I will call and let him know when dinner is almost ready.
“I’m looking forward to it,” he says as he slips from the car. I glance down as I’m backing away and notice he has left his phone on the passenger seat. Shit! How can I call him if I still have his phone?
I put the car into drive and pull back into the parking spot. Figures, as soon as I turn off the ignition, it starts to pour down with rain. Typical of my luck. My friggin’ umbrella is in the trunk of the car but thankfully, the undercover awning that stretches across the length of the gym is only a few metres away. I grab the damn phone off the seat and pull the red hood of my top over my head to keep my hair dry. Cursing and swearing under my breath, I dash for the awning.
CHAPT
ER THREE
Mason
My day has been shit, I want to wind the clock back and start again. I got a call from the school informing me my son, Blake, had a fall and
injured his wrist. I immediately left work and rushed to him. I’m glad the X-ray showed his wrist isn’t broken but badly sprained.
The doctor informed me the X-ray did show some old fractures in his arm. He looked at me like I was responsible, my blood fucking boiled. I would never harm a child. Knowing he has been repeatedly mistreated by his mother makes me thankful he is with me now. I can protect him.
Blake has been through so much. The poor little guy has only been living with me for a few months. I can’t believe he’ll be six in a few weeks. It makes me angry that I’ve missed so much of his short life.
I only found out I had a son three months ago. His mother turned up on my doorstep with him, demanding money. She looked strung out, like she was on drugs. Blake was in clothes that were filthy and looked two sizes too small, my heart went out to the little guy.
I couldn’t even remember the woman. I’ve been with a few too many women over the years and I’ve never been in a serious relationship. I don’t have time for that shit. I prefer the no strings attached kind of lifestyle. I have random sex, with random women, often. Shit, I’ve even had multiple women at the same time. The majority of the time I don’t even ask their name. If they don’t offer, I don’t ask.
That lifestyle has gone. Blake’s arrival saw to that. It’s all stopped. I want to be a good father to him. I want to set a good example. God only knows what kind of shitty life he’s had growing up with a drug addicted mother. I can’t even imagine the sort of men the slut has allowed around him. He deserves to know what it feels like to be loved and cherished. I never got that from my father, so I know how important it is to be loved and feel wanted.
I have to admit when she first turned up, I wasn’t even sure if Blake was mine. Sure he has some of my features, brown hair and brown eyes. His mother is a blonde. Well a bleached-blonde, I couldn’t say for sure what her natural colour is. Her name is Roxy. Who names their fucking daughter Roxy?
Even though her name wasn’t common, it didn’t ring any bells with me. The fact I didn’t remember her didn’t mean anything. As I said earlier, sometimes I didn’t even know the names of the women I fucked. Her eyes were a pretty shade of green and she had huge, fake tits. She probably would have been very attractive if she wasn’t so strung out on drugs. She’s just the type of woman I would have gone for in the past, so the possibility that I did in fact fuck her, is quite high.
After the paternity test results came back and I found out that Blake was my son, my life changed. I had been given the opportunity to be the kind of father mine hadn’t been. I offered her money to sign over all her rights to him. The stupid bitch didn’t even hesitate, after all, the reason she had come looking for me was to get money. What sort of mother would sell her own son? She didn’t think twice, which disgusted me.
I gave her four hundred thousand dollars, pretty much everything I had. My son is worth every cent and I would pay it all again. I have absolutely no regrets.
It’s no fuckin’ surprise we haven’t seen her since. She didn’t even shed a tear as she walked away from him for the last time. She looked like she was in too much of a hurry to go and score a fix. He’s definitely much better off without her.
Blake found it hard at first. It broke my heart to hear him cry for his sorry excuse for a mother. Even though I could clearly see she’d neglected him, she was all he knew. Time has helped and he is settling in now. He’s a shy little boy, but he seems to be adjusting to living here and appears to be happy with me. His fear around other females makes me angry. What the hell did his fucked up mother put him through to make him so frightened?
After leaving the hospital, Blake begged me to take him back to school. The doctor bandaged his wrist and put his arm in a sling. Like all little boys, he wanted to show it off to his classmates. I didn’t think it was a good idea. I wanted to take him home, but I relented. I find it really hard to say no to him. I just want to make him happy. He deserves to be happy.
Before dropping Blake back off at school, we stopped at McDonald’s. The little guy never stops eating, it’s as though every meal is his last. I suspect his mother spent what little money she had on drugs, rather than food for her son. Stupid bitch!
I had absolutely no desire to return to work, I decided to head to the gym for a workout instead. After that I’ll spend a few hours at Bridge. Bridge is the homeless shelter I run when I’m not working my regular job—the paying one, the one that feeds and clothes us.
I probably should have gone home to do some packing, but I didn’t really feel like doing that shit now. There’s time for that later. There’s so much to do before our big move but I have two more weeks to get it finished. Working full-time, overseeing everything at Bridge, and having my son living with me, doesn’t leave much time for myself. So I am going to do something for me, workout.
****
I’ve just finished when I run into my best friend Connor. He’s arriving at the gym as I’m leaving, we give each other a one arm man hug. I’m so glad we renewed our friendship when he moved back to Sydney. I missed him when he moved away, he’d been like family to me.
“Want to catch up for a few drinks later tonight?” Connor asks.
“I’d love to, but I’ve got a million things to get done. Sorry man, maybe another time?”
Connor understands how hectic my life has become, especially now I have Blake. “Sure no problem. Jaz is living with me now, we arrived back from Melbourne at some ungodly hour this morning. I probably shouldn’t leave her on her first night here anyway.”
I’ve never met Connor’s step-sister but I feel like I already know her. He talks about her all the time and I’m actually looking forward to meeting her. It’s obvious he adores her.
I promised him I’d come over and have a card night and a few beers once I’ve moved into his building. It will be nice living on the floor above him. I have great memories of him and his parents when we were growing up. It will be just like old times. Even though his mum was real sick back then, I envied the loving family he had. I spent more time at his house, than I did at my own.
****
“Fuck,” I curse under my breath when I walk out of the gym. It’s fucking pouring. I hate riding my fucking bike when it is raining heavy. The rain feels like thousands of tiny needles pricking your skin, not to mention making the roads slippery as shit. My heavy bike is even more difficult to control.
My focus was on the sky as I dashed towards the car park. From the corner of my eye, I notice a little red flash running towards me. Her head is down, she’s not watching where she is going and by the time I realize what is about to happen, it’s too late for me to do anything. She crashes right into me. The force of the collision sends her tumbling backwards and I quickly reach out to grab her before she falls.
The phone she must have been carrying, slips from her grasp and we watch as it hits the pavement and breaks apart. We reach down to collect the pieces of the phone, and bump heads with each other.
“Jesus Christ!” she snaps as she massages her head with the open palm of her hand. “Watch where you’re going next time.”
“I wasn’t the one running with my head down. It was an accident for fuck sakes. There’s no need for the attitude.” Her head snaps up and her eyes lock with mine. I’m gobsmacked, she’s fucking beautiful. Her big blue eyes remind me of the sky, and she has these fucking sexy, pouty little lips. She actually takes my breath away. I even feel my dick twitch. No woman has ever had that effect on me.
It’s probably because I haven’t had sex in months. Having Blake living with me has put a stop to that. Fuck, I need to get laid.
I must be fucking desperate if getting abused by some tiny spitfire is turning me on. I can’t take my eyes off her. She must think I’m some sex crazed maniac. Her pretty blue eyes narrow, her brow creases and she growls at me. Actually fucking growled. Growled, for fuck sakes. I chuckle at her fiery attitude.
“Since when is nearly knocking someone over, smashi
ng their phone and head butting them funny?” She is beginning to turn red with anger. Fuck me, I laugh harder. I know I shouldn’t, but I just can’t help it. She’s a tiny little thing but, wow, she’s got some fucking attitude. Still squatting on the pavement, her head thrown back, hands on hips and a glare meant to reduce me to ashes, I find her absolutely fucking adorable.
She grabs the pieces of her phone, refuses my outstretched hand and pushes herself to her feet. She’s even smaller than I envisaged, she barely reaches as high as my chest. When she squares her shoulders and stares challengingly into my eyes, my heart thumps in my chest.
She has balls, I’ll give her that. Well I’m hoping she doesn’t actually have balls, but she’s standing up to me, and I admire that about her. She’s the cutest damn thing I’ve ever had the pleasure of laying eyes on.
If only mum had stood up to dad like that all those years ago. If she had, maybe she would still be here.
She huffs at me and turns to walk away. Without thinking, I grab her elbow. It’s obvious she wants to escape me, but I am not ready to let her leave yet. I have an overwhelming urge to get to know her, which shocks me. Strangely enough, there’s something about her which is drawing me in. It’s like some invisible, magnetic force. Maybe it’s because she wants nothing to do with me. I’m not used to women treating me like this.
“Do you have a name?” I ask, hoping to charm her with my smile.
“None of your damn business,” she replies angrily. She attempts to shake my hand from her arm. That just makes my smile grow wider. I can’t help it. I love the fire in this girl. I also love a challenge.
The red hood of her sweater is over her head which prompts me to say, “I’ll just have to call you Red then.”
“What?” she snaps. Her eyes narrow again so I quickly explain her red hood reminds me of Little Red Riding Hood. She pushes the hood back in anger, revealing long silky blonde hair. It looks naturally blonde too, not that fake peroxide shit. It also looks soft and I find myself wanting to reach out and run my fingers through it. Shit, she’s fucking gorgeous! Take your breath away, I want to push her up against the wall and fuck her stupid, beautiful. I’m gone, my cock is beginning to ache just thinking about it.