CHAPTER 45DENISE
CHAPTER 45
DENISE
Four hours later, Hugh was driving his slick and swanky electric sedan across the Bay Bridge. Stress had my palms sweating and I nervously rubbed them against my dress. He didn’t say much as we drove. I figured he was psyching himself up to see his old friend. We pulled up to his Grams house and he took off his seatbelt and turned in his seat.
“I would tell you to wait inside—”
“Absolutely not,” I interjected.
“—but I know you won’t,” he continued over me.
His face was serious, I could see the part of him that he kept leashed behind his eyes ever since I’d told him about the call. His palm found my cheek and I gave him what I hoped was a determined face. I took off my own seatbelt and covered his hand with my own.
“They’ll run up on him and hurt him. His parents will insist he come home. They’ve always thought the city is dangerous,” I said.
He nodded and pulled his phone from his pocket.
“Leave your cell here,” he said opening the console and placing his inside along with his watch.
Leaning up, I pulled the phone from my pocket and placed it inside before he closed the top tight and nodded.
“Come on,” he said, opening his door.
I exited the car and came around and he grabbed my hand and pulled me forward. My stomach was roiling left and right but I breathed against it.
There was a car idling a little further up the street. It was cold, colder than it should’ve been this time of year. The sky looked ready to open up, but I kept my focus on the car’s blacked-out license plate.
He walked up and opened the back door. I slid inside and across the seat so he could sit beside me.
“Huey.” The man in the passenger seat said with a nod.
“Ty. Denise,” Hugh said, motioning to my seatbelt. I belted in and gave Ty a smile.
“Hi,” I said, not sure what to say to him. His hand found mine again and squeezed it for a second as he brought it into his lap.
The car started moving, and we sat in silence for a moment before Ty started talking to fill the silence.
“Your Grams and my Pops are watching that Eddie Murphy special with that red leather suit with you both right now. I’m at home with my wife rubbing her feet and shit while she lies about not wanting another baby,” Ty said, his head moving against the headrest as he glanced toward me.
“You always wanted a big family,” Hugh mumbled, his eyes out the window, scanning.
“Yeah, you did too,” Ty said, laughing.
“Competing flag football teams,” Hugh replied, a chuckle leaving his lips as his thumb moved across my knuckles.
Ty’s phone dinged and he looked down at it.
“Sixty seconds,” he said. “My man has eyes on him. We got the area cleared. It’ll be in and out.”
My heart was beating harder in my chest, and I felt like I was going to throw up, but I focused on the feeling of that thumb against my skin, rubbing back and forth.
Our car skidded to a stop and suddenly everything was happening. A car pulled out into the empty street in front of a red light. Five men surrounded the waiting car, punching through the window and Curtis was being dragged through the driver's window.
My jaw was still hanging open as the men kicked and punched Curtis while he lay on the ground. Blood was covering his face and staining the pavement around him. Hugh’s hand gripped mine, squeezing as he brought it to his lips.
“Stay inside,” was all he said before he got out of the car with Ty.
“Wait—”
The door shut as Hugh and Ty walked over to the scene and acknowledged each man in the group. Hugh leaned inside the car and came out with a phone. I unbuckled my seatbelt and leaned forward. I didn’t want Hugh to be involved, for Curtis to see his face.
Hugh wasn’t following the plan. Ty reached into his pocket and plugged something into Curtis’s phone. Ty flipped through the phone as Hugh stood beside him, watching.
The men busted out all the windows of the car and ransacked it. Computer equipment and TVs were loaded into a waiting van. Next, they started going through all the bags in the back, scattering clothes and shoes across the empty street.
When they were done, they flipped over Curtis and patted him down to take his wallet. All the while Curtis was rolling around on the ground in pain.
Ty nodded before pulling out the device, smashing the phone against the ground, and pocketing it. Instead of coming back to the car, they glared down at Curtis. I could see the controlled fury on Hugh’s face as he shook his head before looking toward the car—toward me. I watched as he leaned down and pulled Curtis up by the throat to speak into his ear. Opening the door, I got out, watching as he talked far too low for me to hear. Curtis shook his head aggressively. Hugh’s free hand reached back, and Ty placed something in it.
I recognized what it was. Before I could react, He pinned Curtis’s wrist down with a foot and brought the switchblade down on his ring finger. The screaming didn’t start right away. There was a second of shocked silence. A moment of calm before a wail echoed around the street.
Thunder rumbled overhead and rain poured from the clouds above us. The sounds of his screams blended with the thundering rain.
Hugh picked up the digit and threw it off to the side and I watched it roll through the gutter and go right into the sewer. He let his foot up and pinned down Curtis’s other struggling arm.
Blood was oozing and the screaming was far louder now. My ears were ringing from it as I stepped forward away from the car. He had to stop. This wasn’t what I wanted from him. His face was blank as he stared down at Curtis who had started begging and pleading with him. He wasn’t Hugh anymore, he was Switch. And he was lost in it. He twirled the knife expertly and I could tell he wasn’t finished.
I said the only thing that could get his attention. “Baby.”
My voice carried through the street, and I watched him freeze. After a moment, he leaned down, and I was worried that he was going to keep going. He handed the knife back to Ty and whispered something to Curtis. His foot went back to the bloody hand and Curtis hollered and screamed, “Yes, I understand. I swear. Please. I’m sorry.”
As hard as it was to know I was the reason he was in pain, I couldn’t—no, I didn’t— feel bad. My stomach tossed, but I managed to swallow down the acid touching the back of my throat.
Curtis should’ve listened.
When Hugh made eye contact with me, I saw something different, something darker boiling beneath the surface. His gaze didn’t leave mine as he stalked toward the car. The pelting rain was starting to soak through his clothes and mine, but I couldn’t feel anything.
“Get in,” he clipped, unfazed by the rain that was suddenly a downpour.
I quaked at his tone and did as he demanded.