Chapter 27
“It’s way too short,” Leah complains, pulling on the hem of her dress. “You were supposed to make it knee length.” She tilts her head sideways, perusing her reflection in the mirror. “It barely covers my ass, and my boobs are practically hanging out. One wrong move and it’s hello world.”
I stifle a chuckle as I reposition myself against the mountain of pillows on Meela’s bed. We’re getting ready for douchebag perv’s birthday party. I, for one, am looking forward to going. Leah, on the other hand, is not. I’m pretty sure she would rather eat a bowl of rocks.
When she picked me up for my first shift at the hospital this morning, she ranted and raved about how much she detests parties during the entire fifteen-minute drive.
I dutifully listened with the occasional nod; after all, she drove ten minutes out of her way to get me.
She didn’t have to, even though we volunteer at the same time.
Afterward, I caught the bus to Meela’s while Leah started her shift at the gift shop.
“I was,” Meela replies as she zips up the back of Leah’s dress. “But I changed my mind. Sorry.”
Leah looks back at her, a scowl on her pretty features. “I doubt if you’ve ever been sorry about anything in your entire life.”
“You would be correct,” Meela quips unapologetically and walks over to her closet. “Hmm, what am I going to wear?” she mutters, clamping a hand on her hip.
“You’re such a witch,” Leah gripes and turns back around, studying her reflection in the mirror again.
“Bitch,” Meela corrects her. “I’m such a bitch. You must give a queen her due respect.”
“Oh God.” Leah rolls her eyes heavenward. “You are the most conceited person I’ve ever met.”
“It’s called self-confidence, honey,” she counters, rummaging through the multitude of colorful clothes in her closet. “Anyway, I’ve decided your grandma days are over.”
Leah sighs. “Isn’t it enough that I agreed to go in the first place?”
“I kept my grades up, per our arrangement,” Meela shrugs out of her silk robe and flings it onto the back of her vanity chair. “That’s the only reason why you’re coming. Otherwise, you’d be at home with your nose in a book.”
“And?” she gripes defensively. “I like reading. What’s wrong with that?”
Meela clucks her tongue disapprovingly. “The fact you even asked that is proof you need an intervention immediately. Teenage years are wasted on you, girl. You should’ve been born an old woman.”
“You look good,” I comment. “Honestly, you do. The guys are going to be slobbering all over you.”
Sure, it’s short as hell and the possibility of a little nip showing is high, but the red bustier-style bodycon dress molds to her lithe figure perfectly.
“See, you’re worrying over nothing,” Meela states, pulling a peach-colored, patent leather belly shirt from a hanger and slipping it over her head. “Thank God one of you has some fashion sense. Two style-deficient individuals would’ve been way too much for me to handle.”
“Too much skin is showing,” Leah says, nervously wringing her hands together. “People will stare.”
“Then let them stare. You’re sexy as hell,” Meela announces with fire in her eyes. “You need to own that shit.”
“What she said,” I chime in. “I would kill to have a body like yours.”
“You’re just saying that,” she mumbles, her voice small and unsure. “You don’t have to lie to spare my feelings.”
“Good grief, girl!” Meela yells in exasperation, donning the matching pants to her shirt. “No one is lying to you.”
Leah sits on the edge of the bed. “What if Snake’s there?”
“I’ve been going to douchebag perv’s parties for two years and haven’t seen him at one yet,” Meela explains to her. “Anyway, fuck the Gods.”
She’s been butthurt ever since the bar, literally and figuratively speaking.
Jigsaw, aka her scary crush, knew she was lying about her age, and that falsehood earned her a spanking.
She couldn’t sit comfortably for several days after, but that’s not what has her panties in a bunch—it’s that her plan didn’t work.
I clear my throat. “He might be there.”
“What makes you say that?” Meela asks.
“I told Sandman we were going, and he may have mentioned it to Snake.” His leash on my life is tighter than ever. Per his demand, I’m now required to report my every move to him.
Leah whirls around and glares at me. “What the hell, Zilphia? Why would you do that?”
“I didn’t have a choice.” I scoot to the edge of the bed. “I’m sorry.”
“Look, I’m not trying to get all up in your business,” Leah comments, “but this thing going on between you and the death master affects us too.”
“Yeah, it’s not fair keeping us in the dark like this,” Meela adds, crossing her arms. “Don’t you think it’s time to let us know what’s going on?”
They’re right. They deserve to know what type of person they befriended. “I did something really, really horrible,” I say, unshed tears brimming in my eyes. “Sandman has every right to hate me.”
“Hey, no judgment here.” Meela sits beside me and gives my hand a reassuring squeeze. “Whatever is said won’t leave this room.”
“Neither of you will want to be my friend anymore,” I whisper as hot rivulets spill down my cheeks. I wouldn’t blame them if they didn’t. No one wants a backstabber for a friend.
“We will.” Leah sits on the other side of me. “I haven’t known you for a long time, but I do know you’re a good person.”
“I was ten when I met Sandman,” I pause and inhale a deep breath.
“Back then he was Sam.” My Sam. An image of him from that rainy night flashes in my mind.
He was so afraid—dirty, bruised, and shoeless.
I wanted to take him in like a stray animal and keep him forever.
It’s been eight years, but I remember that night like it was yesterday.
“I found him hiding in my tree house.” Tears splash onto my clasped hands.
“He was battered and starving.” I remember thinking he was going to die.
My ten-year-old mind couldn’t grasp how someone could be so skinny and be alive.
“We became best friends, but we had to keep our friendship a secret, especially from my mother and brother.” There wasn’t room for him in the world she built for me, so we constructed our own.
We were stupid to think it would last. “Everything changed when I started high school.”
He loved me, and I broke his heart. I’ll never forget the look on his face when I betrayed him. I told a lie, and it ruined his life. If it weren’t for me, he’d still be Sam. I wish I could take it all back and rewrite both of our destinies.
“Zilphia?” Leah calls out to me, a note of worry in her voice. “Are you okay?”
I blink, spilling more tears down my cheeks. “What?”
“You completely spaced out on us,” Meela says.
“I’m sorry.” I cry harder, wiping the wetness from my heated face with shaky hands. “I’ve never spoken the truth about what happened to anyone.” What I told my parents and the detective in the aftermath of the tree house fire was a complete fabrication.
“Let’s forget the heavy stuff for now,” she chirps, offering me an easy out. “I’m ready to get my party on.”
“No.” I shake my head. “You both deserve to know what I did.” If they’re going to end our friendship, I’d rather get it over and done with now.
“It was homecoming night,” I continue, guilt settling like a boulder in the pit of my stomach.
“Sandman punched my date in the face, then dragged me into an empty classroom. We got into an argument, and one thing led to another. The next thing I knew, we were kissing.” I close my eyes, recalling the feel of his warm lips on mine.
“My brother and his friends stormed into the classroom. He said he would tell our mother, so I lied.” Bone-jarring sobs rack my body.
“I lied and said that Sam forced himself on me. They beat him until he was unconscious.” I press a hand to my roiling belly.
“Later that night, he set the tree house on fire. He didn’t even try to run. He stayed and watched it burn.”
“That’s awful!” Leah exclaims. “And that’s why he has it out for you?”
“Yeah.” I sigh, suddenly feeling very tired. “I had no idea what happened to him after his arrest until I moved here.” And met Sandman, the monster I created. “That’s when I found out he’s completely deaf in his left ear because of the beating. My brother hit him in the head with a desk.”
“Sheesh,” Meela responds, her eyebrows raised in surprise. “Didn’t know that about him.”
“Me either,” Leah says and releases a long breath. “This is a lot to take in.”
I hang my head low, nervously picking at the loose tatters of my frayed jeans. “Still wanna be my friend?”
“I’m not gonna lie, what you did was fucked up,” Meela tells me straight up, no sugarcoating. “No wonder he has a bone to pick with you.”
“I know,” I mumble past numb lips. “I regret it every day.”
“He must’ve really liked you,” Leah remarks somberly, peering at me through her prescription lenses. “Did you like him back?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.” I shake my head. “My mother would’ve never allowed us to be together. She already had my life planned out, down to my wedding and groom.”
“Had?” Leah questions.
“Everything changed when my dad was charged with health insurance fraud,” I explain, deciding to lay it all on the line.
No point in hiding my past now. “He did it to keep my mother from bankrupting them. All of our friends abandoned us, and my future husband dumped me. It wasn’t a total loss because I actually hated him. ”
“Girl, your life is a complete mess.” Meela stands and walks over to her wig wall, selecting a peached-colored afro. “Your mother is a bitch, that’s for sure.”
“You don’t know the half of it.” I tell them all about the sordid history between my mother and aunt.
“That’s some wild shit,” Meela remarks, her nose wrinkling in disgust.
“Is your dad in prison?” Leah asks.