Chapter Eight
Cassius
It takes me five minutes to get my shit together, which has to be a new record. Something about sitting in Harmon Stone’s garage sobbing like a baby feels weird. So, I wipe my eyes, clear my throat, and pick up the key to shove into the ignition.
Which is when I realize there is no key and there is no ignition. I bring the clicker closer to my face to inspect. I’d assumed it was one of those that you press the button and the key pops out like a switch blade.
Nope.
But even if it was, if there was some secret code to get into it, where the hell do I stick it?
I lean to the side to get a better look. Maybe it’s in a different spot? Higher than I thought? Lower? I don’t know. I don’t see it though.
What I do see is a button that says Start/Stop.
Could that be it? Guess it’s worth a try. I push it, and a message pops up on the screen telling me to put my foot on the break.
Duh, Cass. Duh.
I step on the brake then push the button, and it starts right up.
“No fucking shit,” I say with a laugh.
I spend a few minutes familiarizing myself with the car, setting the seat in the right position, along with the mirrors.
I play with the screen, which shows a GPS, so I use it since I have no idea how to get home from here.
Then it asks if I want to connect my phone, but I ignore that for now.
Let me set up the phone before I try pairing it with this car.
There’s also a pop-up about activating Veil, but I have no idea what that is, so I press no—I’ll figure that out another time.
Once everything is all set, I ease out of the spot, and drive like a grandma all the way home.
I don’t know if they do it to save space or because they think people living in trailers can’t afford cars. Either way, not having a parking spot is a pain in the ass. Something I never realized was an issue until right this moment.
I’ve never had a car before. Never. Not my own.
Not someone’s to borrow. The only reason I got my driver’s license was because I assumed I could get a job as a delivery boy.
Places used to have cars for you to drive, but now they make you use your own so that went out the damn window.
Still, it was nice having it anyway. Convenient. Just in case.
Our front yard isn’t much of a front yard. It’s been a long time since grass has grown there, so it’ll be as good a parking spot as any. By the time I get out of the car and round the front of it, Cammy is standing in the doorway, eyes wide.
“What the fuck did you do for this?” she asks, stepping onto the porch.
“Suffered years at the hands of the witch.”
Her eyes are still wide as she comes closer to the car.
“Seriously. What did you agree to?” She looks at me over her shoulder before peeking into the car window. “Did you sell your soul? Make a deal to give up your first born?”
“Hmm, neither? But I would have considered both.”
She turns to me, raising a brow and crossing her arms.
“Look, I don’t even know why he gave it to me.”
“Gave it to you?!”
“Well, let me borrow it. It’s not mine. It’s a loaner. Apparently, he’s generous. That’s what his assistant said.”
“His assistant?”
“Yeah, he’s like this big CEO of this big watch company. I had to sign an NDA, so I can’t tell you anything, but I can tell you there is no sex involved.”
Her eyes narrow. “That’s creepy.”
“Huh?”
She throws her arms up. “Sex is easy. It’s normal. What kind of weird shit is he into if it isn’t sex?” She steps closer to me, putting her finger in my face. “I swear, if I find you in a hole in his floor, naked, I will kill him.”
“Thanks for the support, but I don’t think he’s into that.”
“We will see.”
“I thought you were going to work?”
“Got my days mixed up. It’s tomorrow, not today.”
“Ah…”
“Yeah, it was a great waste of money to ride the bus all the way there and then have to come back for nothing.”
“Oh, shit!” I say, scrambling to open the door and pull out the bag. I turn to Cammy with a grin. “We don’t have to worry about that anymore.”
“What does that mean?”
I hook my arm in hers, looking around. “Let’s go inside and talk. I don’t trust these people.”
When we get inside, we go to our room. I get comfortable on my bed while she lies on Chrissy’s. I tell her everything—well, as much as I can. She looks like she doesn’t believe a word I’ve said.
“This can’t be real.”
“That’s what I said!” I shout, sitting up and throwing my legs off the bed. Cammy turns on her side to look at me.
“Are you sure this isn’t a way for some rich guy to get away with kidnapping a poor kid and killing him to eat him? You know, like Jeffrey Dahmer did with those poor African American boys? That was awful.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” I ask.
“Jeffrey Dahmer! What world do you live in? He used the fact that no one cared about people of color to experiment on them. No one cared because they weren’t white, just like no one cares about us because we’re poor. It’s fucked up and disgusting, but it’s how our world is.”
“I don’t think that’s true, Cammy. Some people care.
” I run my hand through my hair. “And Harmon isn’t Jeffrey Dahmer.
Obviously it’s fucked up what he did, and the people who ignored it, but I don’t think that’s what Harmon is doing.
He isn’t using our status as a cover for drugging people and eating them. ”
“I don’t know, Cass. This seems weird.”
“Weird, maybe. But it’s the answer to all of our problems. One month of this and we can get our own place. If we wait three months, we could buy a house!”
She still looks skeptical, but I know something that could change her mind entirely.
“I have an idea.” I get up and offer her my hand. “Come on.”
“Where are we going?”
“Oh, I have a lot of things in mind.”
Cautiously, she takes my hand, and I grab the bag with the other, dragging her all the way outside. I open the passenger door and shove her in and get into the driver’s side.
“I hate how nice this is,” she whines, looking around at the sleek interior. Leather seats, shiny dashboard.
“I love it. Oh, look at this! It’s a freaking button to start the car.”
“A button?” she says, leaning over to look.
“Yep. Took me way too long to figure that out.”
We take off out of the park, and I turn down the road to the check-cashing place on the corner that we use when we get paid. I park out front.
“First, we are going to cash this check. Then we are going to go shopping.”
“Shopping?”
“I need clothes for this gig. Plus, we need to stop at the pharmacy to pay for Chrissy’s meds. Asking around for the witch may not be a bad idea either. Maybe we can convince her to fill out the paperwork.”
“I searched the whole trailer. I couldn’t find it. I was going to do it myself and sign her name.”
“I wonder if we can get one off the internet or something,” I suggest.
We go into the check cashing place. They cash my check and charge way too much to do so, but I don’t have another option. I need to call the bank to finish setting up that account and figure out a debit card.
“In the bag is a card. Can you put that address into the GPS?”
She does as I ask, though it takes her a minute to figure out the screen.
“Thirty-five minutes,” she says.
“Think we have enough time to get there, get some clothes, then pick up Chrissy from school?”
She grins. “I think we have time to stop for an iced coffee too.”
I reach over to take her hand. “This is the best day of our lives, Cammy. I’m telling you. Everything is going to be so much easier for the foreseeable future.”
We make it to the high school ten minutes before it lets out. We park the car in the back of the lot and walk to the door. Chrissy usually gets on the bus, but we’ll catch her before she does.
The back of the car is filled with bags of clothes for me—okay, not filled because they were expensive as hell. I mean, $100 for a shirt? $250 for pants? That’s crazy.
We stopped at the pharmacy first to get Chrissy’s meds, plus I put a little cash aside to hold us over until I get my first real check. But I did get enough clothes to last me until then, and I told Stewart that I would be back in a few weeks to get more things.
He was sweet and helpful with picking out clothes. He told me all the right shades to wear, and I took his advice. If he thinks I look good in blues and greys, I’ll take his word for it. He is the professional, after all, and Harmon sent me there, so he trusts his opinion.
I’d considered buying Cammy and Chrissy a new outfit too, only when we got there, I realized it was men’s clothes only. With a name like Stewart’s, you’d think I’d have known that before getting there. I’ll buy them clothes when I get paid next. I’ll spoil the hell out of them.
“You think she’s going to be excited?” I ask as we walk toward the doors.
“Hopefully not too excited,” Cammy says.
If Chrissy gets too excited, it sometimes sends her into a seizure.
It doesn’t happen as often now as she’s getting older, but it happened a lot when she was little and rambunctious.
I hate that her spirit has dampened because of this condition.
And there’s not much we can do about it.
We’ve tried different meds and different doses, but what she’s on now works the best, but it’s not perfect.
She still has seizures sometimes, maybe a few a year, but they aren’t as bad as they were and she can usually tell before it happens so we can prepare.
It’s scary as hell, but we’ve totally got this.
“She’ll be fine,” I say, putting my arm around Cammy. “She deserves to be happy.” I kiss the side of her head. “And so do you. And so do I.”
“It’s not that I’m not happy, Cass. I’m not trying to be negative; I’m trying to be realistic. This feels weird.”
“Then I guess it’s a good thing I’m doing it and you’re not.”
We don’t say anything else while we wait. The bell rings, letting us know the kids will flood out at any moment. Once the doors open and the kids come out, we both keep our eyes peeled for our sister.
“There she is!” I say, pointing toward Chrissy. “Chrissy!” I call out, waving my arms.
She catches my attention and frowns before smiling curiously. She comes over.
“What are you guys doing here? Did mom die?”
“Jesus, Chrissy,” Cammy says. “No, Mom didn’t die.”
“Shame,” I mutter.
Cammy gives me a scolding look, then turns back to Chrissy. “We have a surprise for you.”
“For me?” she asks.
“Yeah, but don’t get too excited. I mean, get excited, but like—” I look at Cammy for help, but she says nothing.
“Don’t send myself into a seizure,” she says with an eye roll. “Yeah. Got it.”
When we reach the car, I throw my arms out toward it and say, “Ta-da!”
Chrissy looks at me skeptically. “Did you steal this?”
“Oh Jesus Christ,” I mutter. “No, I didn’t steal the car. It’s a perk of my new job.”
“New job?” she asks, still sounding like she doesn’t believe me.
“Yeah, we’re about to be rich,” I say, tugging open the back door for her to get in.
Cammy gets in the front, giving me another dirty look. All I do is grin at her.
We don’t go straight home. I stop off at an ice cream place that I haven’t been to since high school. We go inside and each enjoy a two-scooper, taking our time. Laughing. Enjoying the day like we deserve it—because we do. It’s almost like our life doesn’t suck.
It won’t for much longer, but that’s hard to believe. This still feels so unreal.
And… it is. Because when we get home, the witch is in.