Ava had gotten away with it, she thought afflictedly. That damn bitch had gotten away with attacking her sister, maybe murdering her. Her ten-year-old baby sister. There was no way to prove a thing now.
Tori couldn’t stand it. The thought was too devastating. She had to let it out some way. She had to blame somebody. It wasn’t fair that that woman should walk away clean, after what she had done. She needed to be held accountable in some way.
Tori whisked herself up from the bed. She ran to the door and ripped it open. It slammed back hard against the wall. Tori ran out onto the sidewalk just outside her door. She dropped to her knees. She looked up to the stars, and threw both fists up at those stars. Tears streamed down her face.
“Why!” she yelled menacingly. “Why! Why'd you let this happen? Why didn’t you help me! . . . Why didn’t you help me! Why! Why! Why!”
Tori’s voice reverberated through the air. Over and over and over, that was the only word she shouted.
“Why!!”
Chapter Forty-One
Tori’s explosive episode outside had caused some of her fellow tenants to call the police and the manager. She had been confronted outside by both. She had somberly told them she was okay, and that she had gotten carried away by some personal problems. Everything had been considered to be all right, and she had been left alone.
Afterwards, she had returned inside. That had been six hours ago. And she was so distraught, that she hadn’t even bothered to close the door. She had dropped down on the floor beside her bed. There she had just sat, her knees up against her chest, her chin on top of them, and her arms wrapped around her legs. She stared out into the darkness outside. She figured she would sit where she was until it got light. Which would be soon. Maybe even longer.
She was filled with all kinds of different emotions – anger, sorrow, hatred, hopelessness. Where did she go from here was all she could consider . . . Where? Perhaps to prison, for killing Ava.
Tori heard a car pull up nearby outside. She saw the light from the headlights. A door opened and closed. She heard a few words, and then there were footsteps which seemed to be coming in her direction.
She was right. A short man, with a bruised-up face appeared in the doorway. The man looked familiar to her, but she didn’t bother to try and figure out who he was; she didn’t care. She looked at the man indifferently.
The man held a small paper bag in his right hand. He took a few steps into the room. Tori didn’t move, but she did put a quite sinister pair of eyes on him.
“Mister, I don’t know what the hell you want. But you better get out of here. I’m in a very deadly mood.”
“You don’t remember me, lady. I’m Peachy. I’m the guy whose ass you and your buddy saved the other day.”
“Tori stared at him for several seconds. The face did indeed come back to her. Still, it didn’t make a difference.
“You better get out,” she said. “Or somebody’s going to have to save you again – from me.”
“You don’t want me to leave, lady believe me. But I will be brief. I got a taxi waitin’.”
Tori didn’t know what this guy was up to, but she was so indifferent to life right now, that she really didn’t care. She meant her threats, but at the same time, whether she carried them out now, or several hours from now, it really didn’t matter. He could pull out a gun, and it still wouldn’t matter. Her mind was a good deal scrambled.
“You better hear me out,” Peachy went on.
Tori just stared with her dangerous eyes. Peachy didn’t strike her as being trouble; he just seemed like too much of a wimp.
“Me and Robbie was supposed to be close friends. But he cheated on me two years back with my boyfriend. He asked me to forgive him, and I tried. But deep down inside, I never could. I faked it. Truth is, I didn’t much like him. That’s why I didn’t really have problems with the idea of turnin’ him in. I left that note on the car yesterday.”
This time, Tori finally showed some life. She raised up a little at learning that revelation.
“After what that fool Dove did to your buddy yesterday, I figured yall didn’t get to follow up on my note. Plus, I talked with Robbie yesterday, not long before the cops say they think the fire started. He didn’t mention nothin’ ‘bout you two.”
“What exactly do you want?” Tori asked.
“I pay my debts, lady. I especially don’t wanna be owin’ nothin’ to no woman. I’d rather die.”
“You’re thanking me now for saving you? Just keep it. And shove it.”
“I’ll ignore the insult. And don’t you take what I’m ‘bout to do in no good way. I still hate women. But I pays my debts.”
Peachy reached down to his zipper with his left hand. He reached into his pants and pulled out his penis. He then dropped the paper bag on the floor. With ease, Peachy urinated on the bag. The yellow water spilled off the bag and ran onto the carpet.
Tori made no attempt to get up, but she watched with utter contempt – what Peachy was doing.
“Robbie said it was always good to have somethin’ in two places,” remarked Peachy. “He trusted me with the other one. It was in my house the day you and your buddy saved me.”
Peachy finished urinating, shaking out the last couple of drops. The bag was soaked. The carpet had a big stain.
“There’s your damn disk,” he said, stuffing his penis back in his pants. “Enjoy the film. Buy yourself some popcorn.”
Peachy rolled his eyes hatefully from her. He turned and casually strolled on out of the room, never looking back. He departed into the night.
Tori sat there, yet stunned all over again. Only this time, it was in a much happier manner. Or, did she really have a right to be happy? she wondered. Was this real? Or was it just another sick trick perpetrated by a group of sick men? She didn’t know if she could take any more disappointments, but at the same time, she definitely had to know what was in that bag. She found herself quickly moving in the direction of wanting to burst inside, needing to know what that bag contained.
Well, there was only one way to find out. She knew it was disgusting, but she didn’t care. She had to know the contents of that bag, and she had to know it now. Forget the piss.
She wasn’t very far from the bag, so she just crawled to it, almost like a woman gone mad. She tore into the bag, most of it coming apart in her hands. She threw the wet paper aside. There was indeed a DVD there on the floor in a square, clear case. Tori picked it up with both hands. She brought it up in front of her eyes. She stared at it nearly entranced. Maybe this was the real deal after all. Perhaps she held in front of her face, the very evidence that would put Ava Edwards behind bars. Tori sensed that this was indeed it. At that moment she could have kissed that wet packet. However, despite her excitement, her entrancement, she knew she’d never go that far.
Peachy was in the backseat of the cab. He had his lone suitcase in the trunk. He was very solemn, withdrawn. The taxicab moved at a decent speed through the dark streets of New Port. The driver was a young black man who stoically drove for his destination. The cab was headed for the downtown, which was where the Greyhound Bus Station was located.
Peachy was secretly sneaking back home – not to the rented house in which he had lived here in New Port – but his hometown in Florida. He was essentially making a getaway. He was going to miss the shipyard job he had worked nights here, but he knew he’d just have to find another job at home.
He had shown serious disloyalty to the club by giving that woman the disk. Even though Robbie was dead, Benny still would have resented him giving away that disk to a woman. Peachy didn’t know if Robbie had told someone else that he had given a copy of the disk to him.
If he had, and it got back to Benny, then Benny would know who had shown the disloyalty. There would have then been a serious price to pay. Peachy wasn’t taking that chance.
In addition, he knew the police were looking for a passenger who had been in the car yesterday, when Dove had forced
the lady off the road. He feared that he might have to take nearly as much blame as Dove, if he got caught. Peachy wanted no parts of any jail. But even if the road incident, as well as the disk, hadn’t occurred, he would have still been leaving. He had become greatly disenchanted with the violence of the club; he wanted to get away from it. He was leaving New Port, and he would never look back.
Peachy considered himself for the most part an honorable person. He knew that he was a loser in most ways in life, but he did try to have some dignity. He knew there was no telling what those two goons would have done to him, if Tori Edwards and her partner hadn’t come along. He might would even be dead. He could have sold Tori Edwards that tape, but that wouldn’t have been a fair repayment. They had done him a huge favor; he had had to do them one in return. Peachy even felt a little proud of himself. He grinned. He hadn’t done much with his life, but he at least had a little dignity. He had repaid a debt he didn’t have to repay. And he could have made a profit in the process. But instead, he had done the right thing. Imagine that, he thought . . . Even if it was for a woman.
It was daylight. Tori sat on the foot edge of the bed. The disk was finished. There was nothing but blue screen on the television. She had watched the disk for over an hour, switching back and forth between lying on her back on the bed and sitting as she did now. The disk had had a powerful affect on her, as she had figured it would. But she also knew that for the rest of her years on earth, she would be scarred for life.
Tori had thought she would feel great satisfaction from seeing the disk. She had thought she would be jumping for joy. The former was indeed true, but not the latter. She had been too revolted to enjoy any of it. Watching Ava and Joe Riley plotting to murder a ten-year-old child had almost made her want to throw up.
What kinds of animals were these people? she inwardly asked herself. How could they be so cold, so cruel? Their daddies must have been Satan. Tori was especially disgusted by Ava. The woman had demanded that her sister be cut up. She had wanted the little girl to not only die, but to suffer. Even Riley had wanted to make it quick. But Ava hadn’t given in, in the least. And though the child hadn’t suffered greatly, the odds were still that she would die, though Tori desperately hoped otherwise.
Despite her dejection, Tori was suddenly overrun with pride. She had succeeded. She would prove to everyone that Ava was a phony. She had the evidence to show that this lady was a beast. She would take special joy in proving all this to her father. The man must have been insane to not be able to see through Ava, she thought incredulously. However, she did know that Ava was a good actress, and an excellent charmer. But it was all over now. She would fool no one else. She would be stripped bare and shown naked for the evil being she was indeed. In short, Tori thought cockily, the bitch’s reign was over.
Tori stood. She walked between the beds to the telephone table. She sat down on Simone’s bed. She had to make a phone call. She picked up her cell and made a long distance call to Del Toray. She couldn't wait to talk to that man. That sickening man. Her daddy.
The phone rang a number of times before she got an answer.
“Edwards’ house,” the voice on the other end answered.
Tori recognized the voice.
“Jimmy, let me speak to my daddy. This is Tori.”
Briefly, there was no reply.
“Is he there?”
“ . . . Uhh, yeah. He’s here.”
“Well, go get him, please.”
“You still down in Virginia?”
“That’s right. And I have some very important news for my daddy.”
“You do? Well, there’s some news for you too.”
“Go bring my daddy to the phone.” Tori was getting a bit irritated. “Let him tell me the news.”
“He can’t come to the phone right now. You see . . . He’s in shock . . . Your kid sister’s . . . Dead.”
. . . She didn’t respond. There was no way Tori could give any kind of a reaction. In fact, it was all she could do to decipher what she had heard.
“It happened a few hours ago,” Jimmy continued. “We ain’t been long got back from the hospital. She went real peaceful.”
Tori shook her head. She began to feel off-balanced. She had dreaded this day. She had feared it. She felt that maybe she had even expected it. Still, she was in no way prepared to handle it. Her eyes began to water. Her skin began to feel icy. Her spirit began to die.
“I know . . . “ Jimmy said. “ . . . I know we had our problems – me and Susy. And you too. But you gotta believe me, Tori. Honest to God. I really am sorry she’s dead. I wish I hadn’t treated her so bad. I wish I could tell her I’m sorry. I know she’s in Heaven. She was a good girl . . .”
Jimmy went on conversing about Susy’s virtues. But Tori didn’t hear a thing. She let the phone drop from her hand. It dropped to the floor. Slowly, Tori followed suit, sliding down until she too was on the floor. She threw her head back and looked to the ceiling. Her mouth came open, but at first she couldn’t echo a sound. Her mouth was stuck in an open state. Then, the tears came out. The goose bumps crawled up her cold skin. The misery swarmed through her entire body. The only thing that remained was for the converging of it all to meet and explode—all at once. The only thing that remained, was the scream.
“Ahhhhhhhhh . . . No!! . . . No!!! . . . No!!! . . . “
Tori entered into a temporary hell.
Chapter Forty-Two
Henry was in the backyard of his house. He sat under his large oak tree. It was a very warm day. The tree provided lots of shade. It was like a hiding place for him. His back was to the house. He looked into his neighbor’s backyard, at the sleeping rotweiler who had curled up against the fence. That was what Henry wanted to do right now. He wanted to sleep. He wanted to hide from everything. So that was what he had chosen to do. Nobody could make him face the world if he didn’t want to face it. He just wanted to sulk in his torment. He felt that maybe he deserved it.
Maybe he hadn’t treated Susy right, he considered. Maybe he had kidded himself into believing what he had wanted to believe in regards to Susy and Ava. And perhaps that was why things had come to this.
But no, he just couldn’t believe it. He couldn’t believe Ava would do such a thing. She wouldn’t take his daughter from him, and in such a brutal manner. No, Susy had been the victim of some sick man, whom Henry had been overwhelmed to hear had hung himself in his jail cell. May the bastard burn in hell forever, he thought happily. His daughter would spit down on him from Heaven.
Though Henry did take some consolation from Joe Riley’s death, it wasn’t nearly enough to fulfill him. Things were still never going to change. His Susy would never come back to him. That was the reality. Riley could die a million times, and the reality would never change. His baby was gone. And he was to blame as much as Riley.
No. No. No. He clamped his hands against his head. That was not true. He had not been wrong about Ava. She was a good person. She was a preacher, for goodness sake. There were bad preachers in the world, but there were even more good ones. Ava was definitely one of the good ones. She was one of the best. Anything else was simply a lie. Tori was a liar. The few bad letters he had received from people in Del Toray about Ava were lies. He had received many more good letters. No one would trick him into believing the worst. He had to believe the best about Ava. He just had to.
No. No. He clamped his head tighter and rested it back against the tree.
No. He was wrong . . . He did believe it.
Chapter Forty-Three
The plane had been in the air for nearly an hour. Tori sat next to the window; there was no one beside her. The plane was only half full.
Tori looked back out at the clouds. She still had about four hours before the plane would arrive in Del Toray. It was scheduled to arrive at six o’clock P.M. Tori was glad the flight would take a while. The longer, the better. She dreaded returning home and having to face the dead body of Susy. She wasn’t sure she would be a
ble to face it. She felt so lifeless inside. She felt little emotion. She couldn’t even get a headache, though she was sure many would be ahead in the coming days.
She went into thought. She had never talked to her daddy. She had hung up the phone after Jimmy had given her the news. She had been too angry to talk to Henry. She would have no choice but to talk to him when she got home. For her, that would be more than soon enough. She held him a good deal responsible for Susy’s death. She would never forgive him. She also still looked forward to shoving that disk in his face, though now, it would be with a lot less satisfaction.
Tori had visited Simone a couple of hours before her flight had left. Simone had been in tears the entire time they had talked. The two had cried together. Simone had wanted to come with her, but she needed to stay in the hospital another day or two. Tori would fly back to New Port in two days. She would assist Simone, so that she could return to Del Toray in time for the funeral.
It was still so hard for Tori to believe. Susy was actually gone. She had been only ten years old. She hadn’t even lived, and now her life was over. And all because of a selfish, ruthless woman. But at least she would pay. Tori had left nothing to chance. In the short time she’d had in the morning, she had made three copies of the disk. She had left one with Simone. She had mailed one special delivery to the Del Toray police, and she had mailed one to her home address. In addition, she still had the original in her purse, which was in the seat next to her. If the plane crashed, there would still be plenty of copies floating around to nail Ava’s hide.
Of course, nailing Ava wouldn’t bring back her beloved sister. But what else did she have? Revenge was the only thing she could take satisfaction from now. And she would enjoy every delicious second of it. She dreaded Del Toray, but she didn’t dread facing Ava. That, she thoroughly looked forward to carrying out.
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