Chapter 13
I’m such a ‘who the fuck touched my, never mind, I found it’ type of person.
—Hollis to Quincy
QUINCY
Rage.
Itwasn’t very often I felt it.
Iled a pretty good life.
Ihad great parents. Great siblings.
Agreat job, albeit a frustrating one, and money in the bank.
Sure, there were times I experienced frustration, sadness, and yes, anger.
Butrage?
Barelyever.
Yet, I was feeling it now, toward the people who were supposed to love Hollis the most.
Iwaited until Hollis was out of the driveway and down the street before I turned to acknowledge the two pieces of shit in front of me.
Whenshe’d said ‘I’m used to it’ I would’ve had no chance at guessing that this utter bullshit was what she was talking about.
Imean, she’d told me all about her brother and sister, and how proud she was of them. She told me about her mom, Dael, and her dad, Broddie. Told me about how they’d come so far in life after the struggle that was her childhood.
Andthey treat her like this?
Ithink the fuck not.
“What are you doing here?” I asked stiffly.
Thedad clenched his hands on the paper towels.
“What are you talking about? You’re at my house,” he pointed out.
“Maybe it’s your house,” I agreed. “But when I said ‘what are you doing here’ I meant more like, ‘why are you here, making a joke out of your daughter’s life?’”
Theman in front of me stiffened, and the woman gasped.
Iwouldn’t even deign to call them Hollis’s parents at this point.
“Your daughter spent quite a bit of money on presents for those two,” I pointed my index finger in the general direction of the house. “Meanwhile, y’all buy her the shittiest gifts in existence, if you can even call a box and used gift cards gifts, and then have the nerve to get mad that she left?”
Themom opened her mouth, but I kept speaking.
“I learned last week that she was allergic to seafood and have planned accordingly around that,” I disclosed. “Meanwhile, you make it for her birthday dinner?”
Themom snapped her mouth shut.
“And don’t tell me you forgot, because that’s not something you forget,” I snapped.
“I made her a separate plate,” she tried.
Irolled my eyes. “If by ‘special plate’ you mean the microwave chicken alfredo I saw the box of in the trash, then sure. You made her a separate plate. Meanwhile, your chosen children get the meal that they like. And they get 2k in presents from you. Meanwhile, Hollis gets an empty box, a used gift set with fuckin’ dust on it, used gift cards, and a pack of paper towels? JesusChrist. You didn’t even splurge on the six-pack. You got four.”
Thedad snapped his mouth shut.
“If my parents did this to me, I’d fuckin’ leave and never come back. Yet you have her returning, year after year, for hope. That maybe one day you’ll treat her like you treat your other children.” I looked the ‘father’ solidly in his eyes before saying, “And don’t think I didn’t notice that each of you have a brand new car in that driveway, and she’s driving around a goddamn Corolla with more miles on it than Jesus could put on a car. Oh, and she had to teach herself how to work on it, because she knew no support was going to be forthcoming from her family. I learned from Kinny that he’s been teaching her how to take care of her car since she was a teen. That means maybe he’s the one who helped her keep that car on the road… and not either one of you. Meanwhile…” I swept my arms out toward their cars. “Your other daughter gets a twelve hundred dollar moped, a purse that cost a whack, a fuckin’ MacBookAir, which cost another eighteen hundred dollars. Then for your son, you get him a thirty-five-hundred-dollar amp.”
Theparents didn’t say a word.
“And meanwhile, you get her a fuckin’ box of the other daughter’s MacBook, used gift cards, and a four-pack of paper towels, which I have a distinct feeling have another meaning that I’m just not privy to yet.” I shook my head. “My parents had nine kids. Seven of us had birthdays around Christmas. And not fuckin’ once did they combine Christmas with our birthdays. And to top it off, we all got equal presents. It can be done.”
Withthat, I headed to my truck, but stopped before I managed to get all the way inside.
“One day, you’re going to need her,” I summarized. “One day, you’re going to hear that we’ve had kids, or find out that I’m a cop and need a parking ticket taken care of, and you’re gonna think to yourself… I really shouldn’t have thrown her away like that for some prank gift you get off on giving her. Because as long as I’m around, you’re going to have absolutely nothing to do with her life.”
Gettingin, I slammed the truck door a little too hard, and backed out of the driveway.
Myphone rang, and I answered it with hands free mode on my truck.
“Yeah?” I grumbled.
“What crawled up your ass?” Quinn asked.
Ipinched the bridge of my nose when I got to the stoplight right outside of Hollis’s parents’ subdivision.
“A long story. What’s up?” I asked.
“You called me, bro,” Quinn pointed out.
Isnorted, remembering now.
“Oh, yeah,” I mumbled. “SoI was picking up Hollis…”
“Who’sHollis?” Quinn asked.
“Hollis is the stalker Quaid had me looking out for to protect that comedian who was in town not long ago,” I said.
“I’m sorry, but can you repeat that?” he laughed. “I don’t think I heard you correctly.”
“You heard me,” I chuckled.
“Okay,” he said. “So you’re dating a stalker?”
“I’m not dating her…” I paused, reconsidering my answer before saying, “Yet.”
“Okay, so this stalker you’re not dating yet, what’s she got to do with why you called me earlier? On my day off, might I add. I was sound asleep, and you woke me up. I wasn’t even able to get back to sleep,” he grumbled.
Iwould’ve felt bad had I not been in such a shit mood.
Ifthere was one of us who slept less than me, it was Quinn.
Beingthe leader of the gang unit was hard.
Especiallywhen there was a gang war going on.
Thenagain, there was always a gang war going on.
“You were sound asleep, I woke you up, and you still call me back over an hour later?” I asked.
“I don’t wake up well, and you know it.” Quinn chuckled, clearly amused with himself. “Now tell me what you called for.”
Irolled my eyes, then got down to business just as the light turned green.
Irolled my eyes at a distracted driver who ran the red light. I had to slam on my brakes to avoid colliding with him, then responded.
“SawCostas riding up and down Hollis’s block. Right in front of her apartment complex,” I explained. “Made the circuit twice while I was there.”
“What?” Quinn asked, sounding a whole lot more serious.
SoI repeated what I saw.
“Where does she live?” he asked, sounding like he was searching for a notepad to jot some notes down on.
Iexplained, telling him about the area where I saw Costas driving, what he was driving, and then explained about the apartment building that she lived in.
“Sounds like a perfect place to run some shit,” Quinn mused. “Empty apartment building. Mostly. No one around to narc on him. I’ll get my guys down there, see what we can find out.” He hesitated. “Are you bringing her to dinner?”
Igrinned then. “Yeah. And my next call is to Mom. Listen to this shit…”
Bythe time I finished the call with my brother, explaining what had happened today, then called my mom and told her who I was bringing to dinner, I’d made it back to Hollis’s place.
WhenI pulled up, surprisingly finding a front row spot right in front of the apartment, I saw her get out of the car way in the back of the apartment’s lot.
Surprisinglypleased that she’d waited for me to get there to get out of her car, I waited for her to arrive at the front door of her apartment complex before saying, “Let’s grab that stuff out of your car.”
Sheshook her head sadly, then fell into step beside me, not saying a word.
Ididn’t like this dejected Hollis. I liked the openly argumentative, going to go down fighting no matter what it takes, Hollis.
Gatheringup all of the stuff but the smallest bag, we threw it all into my truck and locked the doors.
Ifollowed her without a word, unsure what to say. WhatI wanted to say was probably something she wasn’t ready to hear when it came to her toxic parents, and since I wanted more with her than just today, I chose to still my tongue.
Shewalked up to her door, placed the key in the lock, and opened it.
Theiguana’s tail fell into the gap the door made.
Sheturned, ignoring the tail, and stared at me with those cognac eyes of her.
Sofreakin’ beautiful.
“Thank you.”
Ileaned forward, kissed her chastely on the lips, then pulled away before saying, “I was serious about returning that stuff and taking you somewhere. Get the receipts of whatever you need to bring with you.”
Shestared at me for a few long moments before saying, “Okay.”
Ifollowed her into the apartment, which she left open, and turned just as I made it through the door.
“He’s big,” I said to her as she disappeared into her room.
“He’s over nine feet long,” she called out from her bedroom. “His name is Zilla.”
“Godzilla, Zilla for short?” I wondered, studying the large animal that had a tail as long as the door frame he was perched above.
Inever really did like iguanas. They were kind of creepy.
“Does he bite?” I wondered.
Sheanswered as she was coming out of her room, now completely changed out of her earlier outfit—which was hot—but this one?
Shewas in black leggings, a black tank top, and black and white Jordans.
Herhair was now up in a ponytail on top of her head, and her eyes were still that beautiful shimmering reddish brown.
Mydad’s favorite Brandy was some French brand that had to be imported. But it was the same color of her eyes and made me want to melt into them.
“He whips his tail,” she said. “As long as you touch him anywhere but on his tail, he’s good. Face. Eyes. He’s all right, but there’s just something about when you touch his tail that he doesn’t like. I think the only reason he tolerates it when I come in and out is because he knows he’s in the way. But if I try it any other time, no deal.” She shook her head, smiling.
“I can’t say that I’ve ever petted one,” I admitted, not making a move to touch him. “Are you ready?”
Sheheld up her hands with the receipt and said, “I hope they take it back. It’s about a week shy of being three months since I bought the bag.”
Theywould be taking it back. I’d make sure of it.
Everythingwent smoothly but the bag.
Butsince I was there with her, and I could glare the stupid cunt of a man down over her shoulder, he reluctantly took the return. He also said, “I can’t believe you’re returning this. Everyone wants this bag. They’re selling for three times this amount on eBay.”
Shereached for the receipt to sign, making my heart do a funny little flip inside my chest.
Shedidn’t stop or even hesitate at the knowledge that she could’ve sold the bag on eBay, gouging someone for their hard-earned money just to make a buck.
“Thank you for your help,” she replied carefully, smiling so fakely that I wanted to pull her into my arms.
Patience, Carter. Patience.