Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
NOVA
Opening my eyes, I squint, trying to take in my surroundings. “You left him there on the ground. Of course we are going to have the fucking police sniffing around,” I hear Ghost sigh.
“No one saw anything, Pres,” I hear Spider defend.
I blink a few times and sit up, groaning at the pounding in my head. “Can you guys keep it down?” I ask, rubbing my head.
Star is at my side immediately. “How are you feeling?” she asks.
I frown. “It’s like I have the worst hangover,” I complain. I frown, looking around. “Why am I in the bar area? And why is everyone stood around like I’m dying?” I ask.
“You don’t remember?” Spider asks from where he is stood to the side with his hands tucked in his pockets.
Closing my eyes, I nod. “Yeah, but you came just in time. Nothing happened, so why are we all gathered in here?” I ask.
“Um,” Star mutters.
Spider takes his hands out of his pockets and grabs a bottle of whiskey from the bar. “Star killed the guy,” Spider states before taking a large glug of whiskey.
I look at Star. “What?” I ask.
She looks up. “I saw Spider carrying you, and I knew what had happened. I saw red, grabbed a gun, ran around the back where Spider had beaten the shit out of him, and shot him.”
“How many times?” Spider presses.
Star looks sheepish. “I may have unloaded the entire barrel,” she mutters.
“Oh my god,” I gasp.
“I know it was a stupid thing to do, but in my defence, when I went around to shoot the guy, his head was already caved in. So, he was probably already dead from Spider kicking the shit out of him.” Star shrugs.
“I need a drink of water,” I state. I try to get up, but my legs are still wobbly. Star grabs me before I fall flat on my face and hands me a bottle of water. I take a large sip. “So, the guy is dead?” I ask for confirmation. They all nod. “Shit,” I mutter.
“I don’t regret shooting him. Even if he was still alive from Spider beating the shit out of him, I would still do it. Hell, give me an AK47 and I will go back and give the fucker more holes,” Star affirms.
“Star,” Ghost warns.
She stands. “No. Do you think she was the first person he did it to?” she snaps, going toe to toe with Ghost. “I know what men like him are like. I’ve been raped by men like him. They don’t deserve to breathe the same air as us. They don’t deserve to ever fucking get away with it,” she fumes, her fists clenched tightly at her sides.
“Darlin’,” Ghost says in a soft voice. It’s a tone I didn’t think he was capable of.
Star shakes her head. “Spider did the right thing, and I did the right thing. The police would never listen to her. She has a record, a past. Do you really think they would listen to what a woman like her would say? Do you really think they don’t question any of the women this happens to? They always do. They ask things like, were you drinking? Did you ask him for a kiss? Did you give the impression you were interested? Why didn’t you fight harder? You could have screamed,” she chokes out.
Feeling every word Star says, emotion chokes me and my tears fall. I reach up andwipe my tears, and as I look around, I see that I’m not the only one feeling every word she speaks. All of the ol’ ladies have tears in their eyes, because we know that in some way or another, we all know that what Star is saying is the truth.
Ghost grabs Star’s arm and yanks her to him. He wraps his arms around her and holds her tight. I watch her shoulders shake as she silently sobs into his chest. Ghost whispers something to her, stroking her hair back before he bends down and picks her up. She wraps her legs around him, her entire body clinging to him like a lifeline. Ghost walks away, not saying a word to everyone else.
“Fuck.” Maggie sniffs, wiping her cheeks as Cash pulls her into his arms, comforting her.
“I think we should call it a night,” Dixie says, standing. Rage takes her hand in his, and he looks like he’s ready for murder. “It’s okay,” Dixie assures him.
“I should hunt all of them down that hurt her,” Rage seethes. Dixie smiles and reaches up on her toes, giving him a gentle kiss on the cheek before leading him down the hall.
Josie places her arm around my shoulders before leaning down and giving me a tight hug. “We are all sleeping here tonight, so if you need anything, just shout,” she offers.
They all end up leaving one by one. I sigh and rub my face, watching Spider as he walks to the couch opposite me and sits down. I look at him and then look around the now empty room.
“You can go to bed. I am just going to crash here, I think.” I tell him.
He lifts the whiskey bottle and takes a swig, his green eyes pinned on me. “Not going anywhere,” he states.
I groan. “Spider, I ain’t in no mood for any of your bully bullshit, okay? I just want to lie down on this couch and sleep. Then when I wake up in the morning, it will all have been just a horrible fucking dream.”
“I’m not stopping you from sleeping. Go to sleep.” He shrugs.
I shake my head. “Do you know what? I can’t be fucked to even fight with you right now,” I huff before lying down on my side. I close my eyes briefly before peeking through them. “Why are you watching me sleep?” I ask.
“You’re not asleep.” He shrugs.
I huff and roll over so my back is to him. I pull the blanket over my head and fall asleep, escaping the world.
The next morning, I wake up, yawning. I blink a few times and as I look at the couch opposite, I see it’s empty. I sigh with relief and stretch.
“Easy sweetheart, or you’re about to feel something you don’t want to,” a deep voice says from behind me. I freeze when I feel something hard poking me in the back. I jolt, throwing myself forward and land on the floor with a thud. I quickly scramble to my feet, swaying slightly. Looking down, I see a shirtless Spider sprawled out on the couch, smiling. “Morning.”
“What the hell, Spider?” I screech.
He places his index finger to his lips. “Shhh, it’s still early. Come on, come get some more sleep,” he says, patting the space next to him on the couch.
“Are you out of your fucking mind?!” I snap.
He pulls the blanket aside. “Still fully clothed. No funny business, I promise. I had a lot of fucking whiskey, and you made the couch look really fucking comfortable, and fuck me, it is comfy. So, I laid down next to you. No harm done, because I ain’t that type of asshole, honey,” he states, placing his hands behind his head.
I stand there in shock, unsure of what to do. This is Spider, but right now he isn’t the Spider I’m used to.
“Come on, you’ve had a rough night. You need the rest,” he says, opening the blanket for me to lay next to him. My head still feeling fuzzy, I decide to lay back on the couch. Spider smiles and places the blanket over me.
“Don’t get any ideas. I’m not feeling great, and I don’t want to be alone,” I admit.
Spider leans up on his elbow, his smile now gone. “Is that why you stayed on the couch?” he asks.
I nod. “Silly, I know, but I wanted to be in view,” I admit.
He shakes his head. “Not silly, sweetheart. You went through a traumatic thing,” he says before laying back down.
I stare up at the ceiling. “Spider?” I state.
“Yeah?” he answers.
“You’re freaking me out,” I confess.
He chuckles. “Why is that?” he asks.
I sigh. “Because you’re being nice. I thought you hated me.”
He’s silent for a moment. “Never hated you, sweetheart,” he states. “Just...” He pauses. “Just dealing with shit and didn’t know how to deal.”
“And you know how to deal with it now?” I ask.
He exhales. “I’m trying,” he answers.
I want to press further and ask what it is he was dealing with that made him single me out, but I don’t. “Did you really beat that guy to death?” I ask.
“Yeah,” he answers.
“Why?” I ask.
“Why?” he asks, repeating my question back to me. “Because you are my best friend’s sister. He isn’t here, but if he was, he would have done the same,” he states.
“Oh,” I sigh.