Beautiful Terror (Burn It All Down Duet #2)

27. None Of This Is Normal

CHAPTER 27

NONE OF THIS IS NORMAL

MARGAUX

LATER THAT DAY

I update Alice on Timmy’s latest antics:

Me:

Alice:

Dude.

Where now?

Me:

Fuck knows.

I thought for a moment he was doing better. But I guess I was wrong.

Alice:

That’s the thing with people like Timmy and my ex. There’s part of them that is amazing and kind and super talented and sweet. But their mental health issues will always be louder than anything else if they allow it to be, and both of them allow it to be the loudest thing in their lives.

Louder than rationale, louder than family, louder than love, louder than self preservation.

You’re going to be on eggshells with him forever because the tripwires always change.

The landscape of his mind will always change, therefore so will the traps.

The next day, Timmy announces he’s leaving. “I’m going to be with my parents. I’m done with you.”

“Good,” I say flatly. “Go use them instead of me.”

“I’m going to tell my mom that you and my cousin are plotting to put her in a nursing home. That you don’t think she’s of sound mind.”

That’s the latest thing he’s jealous about—the friendship I’ve formed online with his cousin, Janet, ever since the Montana visit.

Initially encouraging of it, he now finds my friendship with her to be some giant threat. And apparently, that requires punishment—to me and, inexplicably, his mother.

He grins, as though he’s won something, and then starts skateboarding around the room like an overgrown child. When he finally leaves, the door beeping behind him, I exhale a shaky breath, the weight of his presence lifting slightly but leaving its mark.

Me:

Well, my friend from high school and her wife are visiting.

They’ve been planning this trip for the last 12 years.

I don’t think I can bring him.

Alice:

No, I wouldn’t bring him.

Someone in the middle of a psychotic episode should not be dealing with the world at large.

Me:

And also, her wife will actually kill him, and then she will go to prison.

Bc she is a badass and stronger than him and we don’t need that happening.

You would actually love her.

Alice:

I mean, I love her already.

I glance at my phone and see that he’s used it to text his cousin, pretending to be me.

I send the screenshot to Alice.

Timmy pretending to be me:

Your kind of a cunt… like you think my mother needs to be in a home..

Was second guessing you..

By all means fuck yourself.. take your evening and shove it up your asshole bitch…

Tell my uncle I said so…

Rahhh…

You’re bad and kind of the worst with what you’re trying

Documented… you… I love you but you honestly suck with whatever this is. You try to fast-track and befriend and do…

Alice:

“Rahhh.”

Me:

That was a weird addition.

Alice:

That was SUCH a weird addition.

That’s like talking to an actual child.

Timmy returns from the back room where he’s been ranting about me and his cousin to his parents for the last twenty minutes.

I couldn’t hear what was said, just a lot of ‘she’ this and ‘she’ that, and I’m so exhausted by him I honestly don’t care.

“Well, everyone still loves you somehow,” he fumes, “but they hate that cunt. But I’m still leaving you, but hopefully after my court date.”

I tell Alice.

Me:

Dude, what does that even mean?

Alice:

It means nothing.

Like those are not words.

Just when it feels like things can’t get any crazier, Timmy’s naked form runs past me. He circles the bed and then runs into the back room, closing the door behind him.

Me:

He’s running around naked and shutting himself in the back room.

Alice:

Yeah, bc that’s what sane people do.

I message another friend, Jo—short for Josephine, randomly, because I see she’s up and I know I can trust her, and tell her a fraction of what’s been transpiring since I moved to the Cay.

Her reply is instant:

Jo:

Honey, this guy is like made up of red flags.

Ain’t that the truth.

Jo:

This is bad news.

Are you engaged to him for any kind of legal reason? Paperwork or insurance or anything?

Me:

No, just relationship reasons.

Jo:

Okay, well… How long have you been with this man?

Both relationship wise and in person?

Me:

6 months.

I sigh. What an eventful six months it’s been.

With so much to fill her in on, I call Jo and give her a very abridged version of what’s been going on. But she doesn’t need to know every tiny detail to know I’m in a dangerous situation.

After we hang up, she messages me immediately.

Jo:

Honey, if you ever need me… if you ever need anything… text me 202 and I will find you help. Do you understand me?

I will find you help. Just text me 202.

I will help you.

Me:

Yes. 202. I got it. Thank you xo.

“I’m packing my bags!” Timmy suddenly announces, emerging from the back room with a huge grin on his face. “Dad told me to call him back in a couple of hours, but I would much rather be in Montana with them than here with you.”

Me:

He just announced he packed his bags.

Alice:

Good. You told him to.

Me:

OMG I’m financially supporting this piece of shit with my life savings, which I can’t afford, and he clearly doesn’t give a shit.

He’s giving away the mattress I’m sitting on, apparently (that he got for free from his ex’s friend), and the tv (which his former roommate had to buy bc the roommate broke the gross girl he slept with right before he met me’s tv I guess).

Lying here in bed is miserable so I think I’m going to go for a drive around the island bc I can. I hope my cat is okay when I get back. He says they’re best friends, but he has also threatened to kill him. He’s also threatened to smash the apartment up tho, too. As I type this, I realize it’s all abnormal and I might just take my cat to be safe.

He announced he took the trash out and once again that he packed his bags. I think he wants a reaction.

Alice:

Yeah, he wants a reaction from you for sure.

I would leave with your cat if you can.

He smirks at me, and I want to slap it off his face so bad.

Instead, I speak up.

“Timmy, you’re a user, so go and use your parents and stop using me.”

“Look at you sending stupid messages to your dumb friends who aren’t even your real friends,” he sneers, dancing around.

He picks up his longboard, lays it down flat, and starts skateboarding around the room.

“I don’t know what your problem is,” he says, and then he walks out the door. It beeps behind him.

Alice:

This is all abnormal and unhealthy.

She isn’t wrong.