Chapter 2
LUCY
The light blue house came into view as I pulled into the driveway, mentally trying to figure out how I was going to bring the conversation up during dinner.
I chuckled softly, the exact conversation playing in my head. I pulled the keys from the ignition and stepped out of the car. The frost bit at my nose, and the fog from my warm breath swirled in the air as I walked toward the house.
We lived modestly. The cottage-style house had four bedrooms and was built on a decent amount of land. The neighbors were close enough, but we still had the privacy needed.
The door had already been unlocked, which was odd. Jack normally wasn’t home for another hour or so.
Around the holidays, retail and sales had it the worst. Most nights, he came in the door, dragging his feet to the dinner table, and was less than enthused when I tried to start a conversation. While I tried my best to understand, part of me had begun to grow suspicious.
Salesmen worked within store hours, and while I understood double shifts, he hadn’t noticed that I had seen the red streaks down his back, raised and fresh, or smelled a small waft of women's perfume when he walked into the bathroom before bed. I hadn’t been touched in months, and everything I did was wrong.
Maybe I was in denial, choosing to believe it was from women whom he had helped throughout the day.
Or maybe I just wanted to see the best in him, but even that was getting harder and harder to do.
He wasn’t always like this, at least I don’t think he was.
Either way, I saw buying the toys as a last-ditch effort to bring us closer together.
My hand shook as I placed the box of toys on the bed, my ears perking up when laughter poured from one of the guest bedrooms.
I paused, walking out of the bedroom and down the hall to investigate.
I fell to my knees in front of the semi-open door with a hand over my mouth to trap the sobs.
My chest clenched with hurt as the knife went straight through my heart.
Realization had finally sunk in. I was nothing, and it was time to go.
With tears pouring down my face, I pushed open the door a bit more to see Jack balls-deep inside his co-worker. His fingers curled in her hair as he pulled her into a kiss, swallowing each moan.
I may have suspected, but never in a million years had I really believed someone I loved would betray me like this. She could have him. They could have each other. One day, she would find out the truth, and by the time she did, I would be long gone.
Quick steps across the plush carpet had me back in the bedroom. I grabbed a singular piece of luggage and swiftly packed what I could carry. Clothes for a few days, along with some art supplies and the toys. I would need them anyway. My brother could help me get the rest of my belongings later.
Right now, I had to focus on finding work and where I would stay until I gathered my bearings. I thought about calling Dante for the help he offered, but after my outburst, he wouldn’t want to hear from me.
It was late, and I felt way too tired to drive, but I couldn’t be a burden to Marco.
He had always been an amazing older brother, protecting me whenever he could.
It felt impossible to ask for help now when I'd been alienating everyone for so long. I never had it in my heart to tell anyone about the abuse, scared they wouldn’t understand.
Normally, I could run just fine on two hours of sleep and coffee, but the added stress had my head clouded and pounding.
Right now, I was thinking with emotion, and my heart told me not to leave here without some sort of revenge. As I went to the floor of the closet, my eyes caught on the bits of paper that were ripped in a fight the night before, and a lone tear rimmed over the edge of my eye.
My artwork.
I didn’t have to gather much more. They would be done soon, and I needed to get out safe and undetected.
In my haste, I almost forgot to grab my car keys from the kitchen island and rushed back, snatching them up. Wrenching the door open, I slid onto the porch and took in the falling flakes. I had a snowy night of driving ahead of me.
I clicked the button on the key fob and popped the trunk of my car, using the sleeve of my jacket to wipe away at the stray tears. Then, rage set in as I seemingly went through all seven stages of grief at once, or that was what it felt like.
I wouldn’t waste any more time on that bastard.
I couldn’t help the way my chest swarmed with numbness at the moment.
He was everything I’d ever known, my only relationship and, as far as Jack was aware, the only person I’d ever slept with.
Little did he know, someone else had taken that innocence, someone I had wanted to give it to back then.
That was also a memory, just like this relationship would be.
You know what? No.
I had a better idea for him, one last act of defiance before I left for good.
Slinging into the driver’s seat of my car, I turned the keys in the ignition.
A devious smirk spread across my face as ‘You’re a Mean One, Mr.Grinch’ by Tyler, the Creator blasted through the speakers.
My thighs vibrated in the seat from the bass. Good, he would hear it.
“I know exactly how to handle this. I am undeniably my mother’s daughter,” I spoke to myself as I slid my finger over the volume dial and raised it to the max level.
My boots crunched through the snow as I made my way to the garage.
In the corner, there was a neglected tool bench where a sleek, specialty hammer and nails sat, discarded and forgotten.
I’d bought it a few years ago, thinking they meant something to him.
The tool was expensive and engraved, but I was always given an excuse as to why he wouldn’t use it to help build his stupid fucking birdhouses.
Well, it would be used tonight.
Right fucking now.
The sleek, always polished, expensive car was about to meet its maker. He babied the shit out of this thing, dropping thousands of dollars on parts and unnecessary upgrades, while I had to make a grocery list for him to approve.
I knelt to the ground, placing the nail expertly into the tread of the tire and smashing the head with the hammer. It slipped in smoothly, and I chuckled to myself as I repeated the same process to the other three tires.
Let’s see you drive her around now.
I tucked the hammer in the waistband of my dress pants and rose, smiling wickedly at my handiwork.
Taking one of my keys between my middle and ring finger, a sharp, metallic sound pierced my ears as I dragged my key along the brand new finish, heading back to my car.
She could deal with him, while he lost his shit trying to figure out where the leak was coming from.
I’m free.
Did it hurt? Yes, but I’d be lying if I said the satisfaction from this small form of revenge didn’t stir something deep within me. It would take time, but I would heal from this.
My foot stepped on the gas, and I took off down the street, my home becoming a speck on the horizon as I made my way toward Marco’s house.
The road was slick with ice as I drove, driving around to avoid the thick patches like the plague. In the heat of things, I fully intended to head to my brother's house, only realizing he was on duty tonight, and the house would probably be locked.
I should probably just call him…Yeah.
I wiped the tears, fishing around my purse while trying to keep my eyes on the road.
I made a mental note to put it in the cupholder next time, and not on the floor of the passenger side for better access.
My hand closed around it just as the long, drawn-out sound of a car horn blared in my ears.
I glanced up to see another car heading straight for me.
I’d veered into the wrong lane. Time stilled, and my heart stopped beating.
The steering wheel was stuck, and my foot pressed the brake all the way to the floor of my car.
Nothing I did helped. The car slid as it lost traction.
A high-pitched scream ripped from my body as the car went off the side of the road. Crunching metal and grinding filled my ears as the car hit the base of the hill, and my head slammed against the steering wheel.
This was it. My karma for a wasted life, for getting revenge instead of leaving and never looking back. Life flashed before my eyes.
It was eerily silent, other than the car creaking as steam rose from the hood, and I took a sharp intake of breath.
Wetness leaked from my forehead and trailed down my face. My ears rang, and it felt like my lungs had been crushed. With a painful exhale, I brought my hand to the side of my head, pulling it back to see the blood coating my fingers.
Shit, it hurts.
Where is my phone?
The engine hissed, and I released a breath when I unhooked the seatbelt with shaking hands. I was a bit dizzy, but other than some superficial damage, I seemed to be fine.
My fingers trembled as I reached for the phone and dialed, hoping Marco could answer. After the day I’d had, I really just needed my big brother.
I silently begged him to pick up. After the three longest rings of my life, he finally picked up, silence on the other end before he spoke.
“Hey, sis. I’m in the middle of doing something. What's up?” He asked. The pen scribbling was prominent as pages of paper turned in the background.
The uncontrollable sob forced its way out of my mouth as the adrenaline wore off, and the weight on my shoulders was too much to bear. The pain was unbearable now, and I needed help.
“Jack’s been cheating. I left tonight. I–I was…I was in an accident. I’m okay, but my car is stuck. Please help.”
“Shit, Lucy. Where are you? What did you hit? Did the airbags go off? Were there any other vehicles?” Concern laced his tone, and I was over here taking short, steady breaths as pain blinded me.
It felt like I’d pulled a muscle in my neck, throbbing and pricking. “Are you hurt? Did you hit your head?”
I was silent, the pain becoming too much to bear.
My mouth tasted like copper, and I wanted to close my eyes and rest. Between work, coming home to Jack’s cheating, and now the adrenaline drop, I was exhausted.
The phone must have slipped from my hand because I couldn’t hear my brother, just a bunch of yelling.
“Lucy, I am sending an ambulance out to you.”
“No. No hospitals. I’m bruised, not broken,” I whimpered, a pathetic attempt to laugh through the shaky breaths.
“I will send someone to pick you up then, and they can decide if you need the hospital. That’s final.”
There would be no winning this battle. The finality in his tone said everything. I wasn’t speaking to Marco, my brother. I was speaking to Officer Coleman.
“Fine,” I repeated before hanging up on him.
My energy was waning, and I just wanted today to be over.
It’s cold, though, so if whoever it was could hurry, that would be great.