Chapter 7
7
DAISY
I stay in the bathroom for as long as I think I can get away with it, and I’m thankful when no one else comes in.
I try to avoid seeing myself in the mirror as I wash my hands, but I finally succumb. I look as exhausted as I feel.
I can’t help but burst into tears.
I’m cold and wet and my clothes feel awful against my skin. My toes are squelching in my shoes and my hair is plastered to my itchy head. My throat burns from the tequila and my arms hurt from trying not to die on that horrible river. I’m so thirsty and frazzled and overstimulated?—
I freeze.
They’re doing it on purpose.
As soon as I think it, I know it’s true. But why? Why would they do that?
Because Shade doesn’t want you here. He made that clear.
He wants me gone from the house, maybe from Richmond altogether, and the best way of doing that is to get John to send me back to The Heath. He knows at least some of my old triggers. How many times did I lose it at school loudly and semi-violently when things got to be too much for me?
I let out a long breath. That’s what today has been about. They’re trying to make me act out. Make trouble. Do the things that John warned me I’d be sent back for.
Shade’s idea to take me to the house he knows I hated early this morning when I wasn’t feeling well, the surprise rafting that I had no way of preparing for, ensuring the aftermath is a cold, wet sensory nightmare, and then bringing me here to this crowded bar that’s so loud it’s taking all of my strength not to curl up and cry.
They’re trying to break me.
Publicly.
The irony is that John always said my reactions were just attention-seeking affectations ... until Mike Larson. He made Mom and his sons believe it, too. I thought Shade still did. He’s said things that his dad used to say before they found Mike, that my stunts are for attention, and my being upset is pretend.
And then there’s what he said at the river. I shake my head in anger. As if my half-drowning in dangerous water was deliberate!
Fuck him. Fuck. Them.
They can’t win. It’s not fair.
I stare at myself in the mirror and I find the inner strength to lock it up. I wash my face and I straighten and I put everything I’m feeling and all of my discomfort far, far away. The misery I turn into fury, fueled with their torments. They probably made sure I got wasted last night so that I’d feel even worse today.
Cunts.
I’m not going back to The Heath because my spoiled stepbrother and his dickhead friends don’t want me living with them. I’d rather die .
The last thought has me freezing and staring into my reflection again.
Fuck ... is that true?
Yes, I realize, it is. After a taste of life in the real world, I won’t live like that again. Not ever.
I straighten my clothes and my hand brushes something in my back pocket. With a sinking feeling, I carefully take out the card I put there earlier, my fury spiking again.
I can just make out the letters from my mom’s note, but it’s sodden from my dunk in the river. How could Shade ever have thought that was intentional?
He doesn’t know me as well as he thinks. But he’s going to. They all are.
I stay in the bathroom for a moment longer, getting myself under the tight control I learned during my years at The Heath. It’s no different in some ways, I realize. There are still punishments for me out here if I don’t stick to the rules of others. They’re just a little different, that’s all.
‘Don’t lose it,’ I mouth. ‘That’s what they want.’
I make sure I look as ‘normal’ as I can before I open the door and find Mav still waiting for me in the hall.
He puts his phone away as I come out and regards me with an expression that makes me wary for some reason. He folds his arms. His eyes moving over my face slowly.
‘Are you hungry?’ he finally asks.
I shake my head. My stomach is still very much messed up from last night and the little field trip this afternoon, not to mention the shot of tequila Blake tricked me with. I’m sure he chose that particular liquor on purpose. It was exactly the same color as the juice from last night.
‘Does anything hurt, from falling out of the boat, I mean? You didn’t hit your head, or anything?’
Why is he asking me? What does he care? My thoughts must show on my face because he gives me a tight smile. ‘Just want to make sure you aren’t hurt, okay?’
I nod.
He frowns. ‘So you are hurt?’
I shake my head again, my eyes not leaving him, though they flit around a bit, taking in the muscles and the contorting lines of him.
I like them. I don’t want to, but I can’t seem to help it.
He sighs and pushes himself off the wall. He’s so tall when he stands right in front of me that I have to crane my neck a little to see his face.
‘You can’t ... talk right now, can you, Daisy?’
I open my mouth to refute it, but I find that I can’t. I feel myself paling. I haven’t been as bad as this in a long time. Everything was always the same at The Heath. I always knew what to expect and I could manage myself. Regulate myself. It’s not like that out here, and after the past few days ... For him to know ... I clench my eyes closed. Who else knows?
My righteous fury goes out the window and I feel my lip quivering as I look at him again. What if he tells Shade who tells his dad? Is this enough to have me sent back? Is it already too late?
‘Hey, hey, it’s okay.’ He puts a hand out toward me and I step back before he can touch me. I can’t do it. I can’t deal with anything else right this second.
‘It’s called going non-verbal, right?’
I try to say something, anything to prove him wrong, but the only thing that comes out is a sob that mortifies me. I glance at the door that leads back to the bar and put my hands to the sides of my head, rubbing my temples gently, trying to think of a way out of this.
Mav looks angry, but when he speaks, he doesn’t sound it. ‘I won’t tell the others if that’s what you’re worried about. Our secret, okay? ’
What does he want for his silence? I can’t even ask him.
‘Are you thirsty?’ he asks.
I nod.
‘I’m going take you back to the table. If they try to get you to talk, I’ll tell them that your throat is sore from throwing up and then taking the shot, okay?’
I nod again. Why is he being nice to me?
People aren’t nice without reason. There will be a cost. I learned that at The Heath, too.
Resigned, I follow him back out into the loud bar, finding that it’s cleared out a little. The game must be over.
I sit down at the table and find that the food is there. I frown at mine. Shrimp. I hate shrimp. I don’t remember asking for this. The smell turns my stomach.
I cover it with a napkin and push the plate away, and I hear my stepbrother snigger.
Mav doesn’t seem to notice I’m not eating as he tackles his burger, but he has moved his water over toward me, so I drink that, sating my thirst and feeling a teeny bit better.
At least I seem to have an ally in him for the moment. I just hope his price isn’t too steep when he comes to collect.
But then his phone rings. He answers it, but doesn’t say anything, which strikes me as odd. Then, he puts it away and stands.
‘There’s something weird going on with ...’ He glances at me. ‘That project.’
‘Go,’ Shade says immediately.
Mav gives me a look I can’t decipher. ‘I’ll be back at the house before nine.’
Blake shrugs, barely looking up from his food. ‘Whatever, bro.’
That was for my benefit, I guess.
I drink the rest of the water and wait for the others to finish, hoping that we can leave after that and I can go back to the house and get warm and dry. I’m freezing and every time the door to outside opens, a draft tears through the bar and makes my teeth chatter.
‘Oh my gosh! Shade. What are you doing here?’
The saccharine voice makes me cringe, and I look up to find two girls coming over to our table.
One’s blonde. Her hair is straight and her makeup is perfect. She’s accessorized and matching. And she looks familiar. It’s the girl from Grinder. Jolie, the Blake-sucker who didn’t like her drink. I glance again at the girl next to her with the even blonder hair. The queen bee.
‘Laurie,’ Shade mutters, glancing up at the blonder girl. ‘Just grabbing a bite. You?’
‘Came to watch the game, of course !’ Her eyes drift to me and then away, and then back and she titters. ‘Oh my gosh, what happened to you ? You look like a drowned rat!’
‘She fell out of the boat, didn’t you, Daisy?’
Shade is smiling slightly and I manage a nod, taking another sip of my water.
Jolie giggles at this, but Laurie elbows her and her eyes turn to Shade. She isn’t smiling.
‘You took her on the river?’
There’s a long pause.
‘Yeah,’ Shade finally says.
‘You’ve never invited me .’
‘Nope.’ Shade puts a piece of streak in his mouth.
She looks at me again, her eyes narrowing.
‘Feeling better after last night?’ she asks sweetly.
So she was at the party.
I shake my head and keep sipping at the water, trying to cut through the drunken haze of last night. I saw her at the party but it’s all so ... She was with Shade. I remember a glass breaking and her grating voice .
Lu said these girls hang with the KIPs. Maybe they’re Shade and Blake’s girlfriends.
Her friend is looking at Blake and edging nearer to him. He doesn’t even raise his eyes to look at her, though.
Neither of them seem to treat their girlfriends very nicely, I muse, glad I have something to take my mind off how miserable and upset I’m feeling.
At The Heath, two of the doctors were together and he’d open doors for her, give her innocuous touches when he thought no one was looking. He’d smile at her and listen to her when she talked. Shade and Blaze don’t seem to do any of those things.
Someone should probably tell them.
‘Well, feel better,’ she says to me with a sweet smile and a little understanding pout that makes my skin crawl even more than it already is.
She reminds me of one of the nurses at The Heath. She was all smiles and empathy while the doctors were around, but as soon as it was just her and the blanks, she was about as sympathetic as a lion scenting prey.
No, I don’t like Laurie or Jolie at all.
‘See you later, Shade,’ she says, giving him a little smile and blinking at him rapidly.
Maybe she has something in her eye. The friend continues to watch Blake, but he doesn’t look up and she lets out a small huff as Laurie pulls her away.
‘You’re boyfriending wrong,’ I mutter, relieved that I can speak again now that I’m a little calmer.
‘What?’ Shade asks, his eyes cutting to me.
Surely, you mean, ‘sorry, or I beg your pardon’. Rude.
‘You’re not good boyfriends,’ I say, still sipping my water.
‘What do you know?’ Blake sneers.
‘More than you,’ I scoff .
‘I doubt that, shut-in. You’ve probably never even kissed a guy.’
I take another sip of water through the straw, trying not to think about how Shade’s lips were on mine this morning. It’s not a ‘now’ thought. It wasn’t my first kiss anyway.
That was when he and I were thirteen. I try not to think about that either. It was the same day as what happened with Mike.
‘Maybe I’m not into guys,’ I say, looking up when I hear an odd choking sound coming from Shade.
He grabs his drink and gulps. Blake is looking at him.
‘You okay?’
Shade nods. ‘Yeah,’ he rasps. ‘Are you done?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Let’s get out of here.’
Blake leaves the booth and goes up to the bar, I guess to pay the bill.
Shade just gets up and stalks out, the door banging behind him. I finish my water quickly. They haven’t told me where we’re going next and I’m afraid I won’t get anything else. I wish I could stomach the shrimp just in case, but even without the hangover I wouldn’t be able to do it.
I follow Shade outside and see his car by itself in the lot. The truck is gone.
Of course. Mav must have taken it when he had to rush off.
I’m still damp. What am I going to do if Shade doesn’t let me into his car again? I don’t have money for a taxi. I don’t even have a phone to call one. I guess I can ask inside, but I still don’t have anything to pay with.
Blake walks past me and gets into the passenger seat, leaving me standing on the sidewalk in front of the bar like a lost child .
They’re talking to each other. Gesturing at me. Finally, Blake opens the door.
‘We’re waiting on you, shut-in!’
I hear laughter behind me and see a group of girls coming out, Laurie and Jolie are among them. They burst into laughter as they go past me. One of them pushes me off the sidewalk, with a whispered ‘kid killer’ and I almost faceplant into the ground, but I catch myself and whirl around. I don’t know which one of them it was.
I stop myself from moving, keeping the impulse to retaliate deep inside.
It’s hard, but I reel it in and turn to the car. The guys are both watching me. There’s anticipation in their faces. They think it’ll happen now.
They’ll be disappointed.
I assume I’m sitting in the back seat, but Blake doesn’t move.
‘How am I supposed to get in?’ I ask.
‘You wanna go in the trunk?’
‘Pardon?’
‘This is an F-Type, Daisy,’ comes Shade’s impatient voice from inside the car. ‘No back seats. Just get in the damn car.’
I shake my head blankly. ‘Where?’
But Blake taps his thigh and gives me a grin.
‘No,’ is my automatic response, and I flinch.
My body goes hot and then cold in the space of five seconds and I suddenly feel like I can’t breathe. I hear Crewe’s bored drawl in my head.
Is correction necessary, Marguerite?
No.
I step toward the car, making myself put one foot in front of the other, trying not to think of how I’m going to be sitting on someone’s lap. Blake’s lap.
I turn and gingerly sink down, clenching my eyes shut, my whole body tensing as I feel him under me. His arm goes around me and pulls me to him and my undignified squeak makes him snigger.
‘Ugh! She’s still wet! And not the way I like.’
I don’t get the last part.
My eyes are still shut, and I feel his arms moving around me. He’s getting the seatbelt, I realize when I feel it slide around me tightly, squishing me into his body despite my efforts to stay as far apart as I can.
‘Safety first, shut-in,’ he says.
Tears sting my eyes as I keep my head turned away from them.
Fuck, am I really crying again? Am I really going to let these assholes win?
It’s only today, I tell myself. Tonight they’ll go off to do whatever it is they do, and I’ll be able to stay in my room alone.
It’s only today. I can do it for a few more hours. There were days when The Heath was worse.
I can do this.
Blake
She’s very tense. I notice that first because of the way her body stays rigid and how she tries not to touch me in this small seat. It’s hilarious. I snap the seatbelt into place and get more comfortable, reaching out to close the door once I’ve made sure she’s in. Her hands are resting on the tops of her thighs. She’s staring out the window.
The second thing I notice is the cold seeping through my clothes. She’s still quite damp from the river, and she’s freezing.
Maybe Mav was right.
‘Hey, turn the heater up, would you?’
Shade does it without argument though he mutters something about it being her own damned fault.
She’s still trying to keep her body away from mine when we pull out of the lot, her elbow digging into my side as the car moves. I grunt in pain and move her, not bothering to ask as I pull her closer to me so that she stops shifting around so much.
I hear a small gasp, but she doesn’t say anything.
I take my phone out and text where she can’t see my screen.
Who pushed her?
Shade sighs and glances at his screen.
Shit, I forgot it would come up there.
He pushes a button and the message disappears.
‘Didn’t see,’ he says aloud.
He doesn’t look at Daisy or me on the ride back. He doesn’t speak again either so I just stare out the window, watching the trees go by.
Daisy’s body begins to warm up with my arms around her, and I realize when she stops that she’d been shivering since she got in the car. She hasn’t said anything either, though she’s pretty quiet so I wasn’t expecting chatter. But when her head eases onto my shoulder, I’m pretty surprised. I catch a glimpse of her in the reflection from the window and see that her eyes are closed. She’s asleep.
I should wake her up. The whole point of today is to exhaust her to the point of doing something that will get John Novelle to send her back to Crazy Town.
But as her body unclenches and her arm naturally curls around me, I find that I don’t want to. When was the last time a girl was this relaxed around me? I mean, it’s my own fault. I’m a dick. But the answer is never. I’ve never been in a position like this. Not that I’ve ever wanted to be. I guess she hasn’t either judging from the deer-in-the-headlights look on her face when she realized how we were taking her home.
I have a use for girls and that doesn’t include anything that isn’t conducive to getting into their pants.
I frown. I really want to get into this one’s.
My brow puckers further. What would Shade say if I did and he found out? He’d be pissed, I know that, but would he throw everything away just because I’d fucked his stepsister? No.
My arms tighten around the weird and yet clearly sheltered girl who’s so innocently fallen asleep on me. How fast can I corrupt her? How long before she’s under me?
I start to harden. Who am I kidding? I’ve been painfully hard since she pressed that perfect ass onto my lap when she got in the car.
I hide my smirk as we pull up the driveway to the house. My plan to make her like me seems as if it would be a lot more fun than making her miserable and yelling at her all day.
I’ll give it until Tuesday, I decide. If she’s still here, I’ll pretend to mend my ways and I guarantee she’ll forget I’m a dick and be begging me for everything I can give her by the end of next week.
Shade gets out of the car and walks around to open mine. When he sees she’s asleep, he scowls at me.
‘What the fuck?’
I pretend I haven’t noticed. ‘Oops.’
He rolls his eyes and pulls out his phone.
‘I’m going to the gym to shower. The hot water is off and all the pledges know it won’t be on until Wednesday night. ’
‘Wake her up,’ he says, his eyes hard as he stalks toward the driveway, leaving me with her.
Alone, I take a second to feel her against me. I turn her head to see her face and I tuck a piece of loose damp hair behind her ear.
‘You’re going to be mine by Friday if you don’t leave,’ I warn her, stroking her cheek.
I sit up and jostle her. Her eyes flutter a little, but she doesn’t wake, so I give her a little shake. She murmurs something unintelligible and snuggles closer. Now it’s my turn to tense and I swallow hard.
‘Daisy.’
‘Mm.’
Fuck it.
I get out of the car with her in my arms and take her to the door. I can hear the music from out here. The brothers have been instructed to be as loud as possible tonight and it looks like they’re taking their orders to heart. I ring the bell and one of the pledges gets it.
‘Oh, fuck!’ He exclaims when he sees me holding Daisy. ‘What did you do to the retard?’
‘Get the fuck out of the way, pledge,’ I snarl so vehemently that he takes a couple steps back, looking from me to the girl in my arms.
‘I’m tired as shit and cold as hell,’ I say to cover my outburst as I walk up the stairs with her.
I get to the top floor and, instead of taking her to her room, I bring her into mine. I lay her on my bed and take one last look at her before I turn and press PLAY.
A screeching death metal track fills the room and the singer starts yelling. Her eyes snap open, and her mouth parts as she gasps. She blinks up at the ceiling and scrambles up, throwing herself into the corner and covering her ears. She’s breathing hard as her eyes find me in my chair, pretending I’m not noticing her when in fact I can see her in the mirror in the corner of the room.
Her eyes are confused and shocked and swimming with unshed tears as she tries to figure out what’s going on. She stares accusingly at the back of my head before she glances around, spies the door, and runs out to her own room across the hall.
I bring up the cameras, so I can watch everything. I put in some earplugs and turn up the volume so she can’t escape it even in there. I watch as she goes into her room and shuts the door. She stands in the middle of the floor and sinks down, curling into herself as she covers her ears.
Any minute now she’s going to do something on-camera that we can take to John and get her out of here. Shade mentioned she might throw things or get violent. But a part of me is disappointed and wishes she’d hold on.
I really want to fuck her.
But she surprises me. She stands up and takes something out of her pocket. I squint. It looks like folded paper, or something. She thrusts it into her desk drawer, grabs her towel, and leaves the room.
I let out a breath. If she thinks she’s getting a hot shower, she’s got another thing coming.
I hear her pad down the hall and the bathroom door closes with a bang.
I peer out of my room and listen as the shower starts, but it doesn’t stop after a while. She’s actually showering in the freezing water. I figured she’d wait when it didn’t warm up.
I frown. She was already cold.
I go back to my desk. This isn’t fun anymore. Even if Shade is right and she jumped into the river on purpose, this is fucked up. We’re taking it too far. She’s going to end up in the hospital with hypothermia, or something.
The door opens a little while later and I hear her pad down the hall. I watch the cameras and she goes into her room, her arms wrapped tightly around herself. When the door is closed, she goes to the bed and takes the comforter off, wrapping it around herself like a cocoon and sitting in the chair at her desk. Her hand darts out and picks up a book and she cracks it open.
After a few minutes of staring at the same page, she puts it down and rubs her head.
She gets up and before I realize it, there’s a tentative knock on the door.
I answer it and pretend I’m surprised that it’s her.
‘What is it, shut-in?’ I ask.
She falters and I wince internally. ‘I just wondered if you had any of those pills. The painkillers.’
‘Sorry,’ I force myself to lie. ‘I’m out.’
‘Oh. Okay.’ She’s shivering. ‘There was no hot water.’
Her tone isn’t accusing. She doesn’t know it’s been turned off on purpose.
‘Yeah, I heard. The maintenance guy is coming out tomorrow,’ I lie.
She turns away, going back to her room and I go back to the feed.
I watch her rummage around in her closet for a minute with the comforter still wrapped around her.
My phone rings. It’s Mav.
‘Hey,’ I say, turning away from the screen. ‘Any updates?’
‘The results were skewed. I’ll have to run the tests again.’
I sigh. ‘How long will that set us back?’
‘A week.’
‘Fuck!’
‘Yeah. I’ll try to get it done faster, but if I rush it, I’ll end up having to do it again.’ There’s a pause. ‘How’s Daisy?’
‘Cold.’
I hear a sigh. ‘Keep me updated. ’
I turn back to the camera.
She’s not on it.
Shit!
I bring up the others and find her in the kitchen. She’s asking some of the others if they have any painkillers. They’ve been told not to help her, so all of them tell her they’re out just like I did. She seems not to hear the barely concealed laughter. One of the guys close behind her pretends to start humping her and giggles break out as she whirls around, but she doesn’t see him doing it. Another one does the same and the sniggers get louder.
And then one gets too close and brushes against her.
She recoils instantly and then freezes.
No one’s to touch but us!
I’m out of my room and hurtling down the stairs before I realize it. I force myself to slow at the last minute and when I appear in the kitchen, it looks as if I’m there by chance, not that I’m rushing down to make sure she’s okay.
I walk past her and I hear the juniors muttering to each other as I grab a glass and get myself some water. It’s the usual trio: Marcus, Pete, and Rob plus some of the pledges.
‘Hey, want some more juice, retard? We can play that game you liked so much if you want. How many shots do you think we can trick her into drinking?’
‘At least six before she starts breaking shit and falling over. Fucking lightweight.’
‘I cracked up for hours.’
I don’t react to their taunts even though I want to.
Neither does she, and when I turn back around, she’s still standing there, looking at nothing.
How does she take it without reacting?
‘I think we broke her.’
And then one of them steps close .
‘Hey, retard, wake up!’ He snaps his fingers in her face and she flinches.
She turns away and one of the juniors blocks her escape.
She pauses, and then walks around him, and he laughs with the others as she goes slowly upstairs again.
‘Tell the pledges to wash the truck later,’ I tell Marcus.
He nods and I grab my glass of water. ‘You guys can do Shade’s Jag. Wax too.’
‘What?’ Rob splutters. ‘That shit’s for pledges.’
‘Do it.’
Pete lets out a huff. ‘Fuck, man. Is this ’cause we were mean to the retard?’
I can practically feel my eye twitching. If they call her that again, I think I might lose it.
I need to speak to Shade and Mav about this. We told the pledges to mess with her, yeah, but not the other members. The sophomores and the other juniors are mostly ignoring her, but not these three. They’re having fun being assholes to her. They’re enjoying it a lot and I don’t like it.
I follow Daisy up a minute later and I find her on the next floor leaning against the wall with her eyes closed.
‘Are you okay?’
‘Kinda dizzy.’
‘Look at me,’ I say to her.
She opens her eyes.
‘Does your head hurt?’
She nods, not moving.
‘I’ll see if I can find you something in one of the other guys’ rooms, okay?’
She nods again and I hold out my hand. ‘Do you need help back up the stairs?’
She looks down at my hand as if it’s going to bite her and shakes her head.
‘Okay,’ I sigh, ‘then you go up ahead of me in case you fall. ’
She gives me a weird look and starts going up the stairs. She’s dressed in another pair of jeans and a tank top.
‘Don’t have a sweatshirt?’ I ask.
She glances back at me. ‘It’s wet.’
‘You don’t have another?’
She shakes her head.
At her room, she stops and looks at me expectantly. I quirk a brow.
‘Pills.’
Oh, right.
I go into Mav’s room and pretend to search, but I know he keeps a bottle in his nightstand. I grab two and find her still waiting in the hallway, her arms hugging herself.
‘When’s the rest of your stuff coming?’ I ask.
‘Stuff?’
‘Yeah. From the ... from the UK. Your clothes and ...you know, your stuff.’
She gives me a weird look. ‘Nothing’s coming.’
‘You left it all there?’ I snort.
I heard Daisy’s mom somehow manipulated Novelle senior into marrying her, I guess for money because ... what else is there? I didn’t peg Daisy as a gold-digger but maybe the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
‘What, did you just figure the Novelles were gonna buy you all new clothes and everything? That’s a little presumptuous, isn’t it?’
She frowns at me. ‘Uh ... yeah. I guess,’ she murmurs, going to her door.
Then she stops and looks back. ‘Thanks for these,’ she says like it’s an afterthought, raising the fist with the pain killers in it.
I go back to my room and, despite the Death Metal, put on some noise-cancelling earphones and get some work done for my classes this week. I resist the urge to look at the cameras anymore ... mostly. I check them every few minutes to make sure she’s where I left her. I almost hope she falls asleep. I even turn the music down, but she doesn’t. She just takes the pills and goes back to her desk with the comforter around her again and reads.
I hear my phone receive a message and sigh when I see who it is. I don’t have time to do any jobs right now but saying I can’t do it isn’t an option. I message back for the details, hoping it’ll be something simple.
When Shade gets back from his hot shower at the gym, he turns his own music up as loud as it’ll go and I watch her cover her ears and scrunch up her face. Mav isn’t back yet, but we’re going to need to revisit this plan. I don’t like it.
I get another message and scan it briefly before I grab my duffle bag, so it just looks like I’m going out to take my own hot shower at the gym to anyone who sees me. I am going to the gym, but I have an errand first. Luckily, I know where I’ll find the guy I need and this won’t take long. I’ll still have time to grab a shower and talk to the guys when I get back.
I make sure my nine is loaded and still in the bottom of the bag. I know I probably won’t need it, but it’s always best to be prepared in case my threats and fists don’t cut it.
I sigh as I leave the house. Get rid of Daisy. Get the project back on track. Get John Novelle out of our lives. It’s a short list to finally be able to leave all this shit behind, but it feels like I’m trying to climb Everest.