Chapter 36
Chapter Thirty-Six
DAMON
D ottie sobs through her entire poem, and it takes everything inside of me to stay still and not rush up to the podium and wrap her in my arms to comfort her. I’m almost at the edge of my damn rope when she finally finishes.
Releasing a heavy breath, my heart rate starts to return to normal, that is until I hear a voice that I’d be glad to never here again. It grates on my damn nerves, and when she starts spilling venom from her ugly lips, I snap upright and move across the church.
“You fucking whore! Your mother would be rolling in her damn grave if she saw the disappointment you’ve become.
You think you’re so high and mighty, like you are better than everyone else, but let me tell you, little fucking Dottie, you are just as fucked up as the rest of us. Actually, you are worse!”
I can feel everyone’s inquisitive, curious and nosey looks, their eyes singeing into my flesh, their questions ringing loudly in the silence beside her fucking shrill fucking voice.
“What the fuck are you doing here, Kerry-Anne? You need to leave. Now. ”
“The hell I do! She was my fucking sister, Damon, and that slut up there is airing her dirty laundry, putting shit on my sister, and talking of things she didn’t even fucking know!”
I open my mouth, but I can feel Dottie coming up behind me. Placing my left arm out, she collides with it, a growl leaving her lips.
“Get the hell out of here. You were not invited.” She seethes.
“First you take my husband and daughter, and now you are trying to take this away from me?!” she screeches, her eyes red and irritated, but it’s not from crying.
She’s high.
Dottie laughs.
“You are delusional! Get the fuck out of here now.”
“You can’t make me. I deserve to be here.”
“The fuck you do! When was the last time you saw her, Kerry-Anne, huh? You haven’t bothered calling her or even stopping by to see if she is ok, so don’t you come around here and try put your guilt onto me.
You did this to yourself, aunty . You made your bed, now you can rot in it! ” She spits, and I couldn’t be prouder.
I see the exact moment my ex-wife snaps, her face turning furious with anger, resent, and whatever the fuck is going on for her, the veins popping out all over her damn neck.
“You stupid whore!” she screams like a banshee, lunging for Dottie.
I pull her out of the way. The entire town’s eyes are on us now, like we are some sort of freak circus act, but when my eyes land on Shane standing next to his sister Morgan…
I see red.
“Elliot! Get your sorry ass over here right now!” I yell across the church with Kerry-Anne’s neck snapping in his direction.
His eyes lock with mine, and I see the apology within them, but that won’t fucking do. He says something to his sister before he moves through the crowd, straightening his uniform. He stands in front of us, chin up but not in an arrogant way.
“Take her lying, cheating, botoxed, ornery ass away from here, arrest her, do whatever the hell you want or have to, but you need to do it right the fuck now. It’s the least you can do.
” He may have slept with my then wife, but I know he’s a good, honest cop, a good bloke, even if it hurts my pride to say as much.
“Shaney, baby! Tell them they can’t make me leave.” Kerry-Anne pleads, reaching for him but he side-steps her advance.
“You need to leave, Kerry-Anne. You are disturbing the peace, and if I have to take you in, I will.”
Her eyes grow wide in disbelief, another screech leaving her lips as she does the most idiotic thing I think she’s done to date. She lunges for a fucking police officer.
Shane moves with practiced skill, quick and easy, and before my damn eyes, her hands are behind her back, and she’s pressed up against the white woodgrain wall. Pulling the cuffs from his belt, he begins reciting her rights through her angry protests and screams.
I should feel smug, but all I feel is sadness and pity.
Once the cuffs are secure around her wrists, and after a few harsh whispered choice words from Shane, she stops fighting him and he turns around to face us.
He’s a man now, not the teenager that only thought about getting his dick wet all those years ago, and I realise as I look into his eyes, that I forgave him a long fucking time ago. Hell, I should thank him.
Shane offers me a solid nod and uncaringly with the rest of the town watching on, he says without conviction.
“I’m sorry for what I did all those years ago, Damon, and Dorothy, I’m sorry for your loss. If you need anything, Morgan and I are just around the corner. The rest of you, get back to your damn seats, the show is over.”
With that, he turns on his heels, and pushes Kerry-Anne through the church. We watch them until we can no longer see them.
I whisper to Dottie and Arrie and move back to my seat, even though it pains me. We need to say goodbye to Mani, so she can be put to rest, and I need to get my girl out of here so I can comfort her, but one look at Lewis as I head to my seat tells me it isn’t going to be that easy.
I was right, it wasn’t going to be that easy.
After the wake at the adjoined dining area of the church, Lewis continued getting absolutely fucking blotto, hence why I am driving him and Dottie back to his place while Arrie sits beside me.
I fucking hate this house.
Putting all of my disagreements to the back of my damn mind, I drive in silence, listening to Dottie as she tries to reason with her dad, with a clenched jaw that I know I will be feeling for days to come.
When we pull up at the front of the house, I release a heavy sigh, I hear Arrie do the same beside me. Opening the truck door, I walk around and open it for Lewis, knowing I will have to help his sorry ass out and into his house because Dottie won’t be able to do it herself.
Lewis tumbles out of the truck when I open the door, and I only marginally manage to grab him before he fucking hits the ground. Groaning with the impact, Lewis slurs something I can’t decipher, and I grumble in return.
“Why couldn’t you keep it together for one fucking day, Lewis? Your wife is dead, and your daughter is mourning her damn mother.”
“Fuck?fuck you, Woods, you?you are the last one toooo bloody talk. If God could see you now.”
“Don’t push your luck, Lewis, I am barely holding on for your daughter and mine, asshole.”
He mumbles something else under his breath, but I pay no notice to it because this prick doesn’t deserve my energy.
Staggering through the door, the scent of marijuana and stale alcohol assaults my senses.
Screwing up my nose, I walk through the house on muscle memory, finding the backroom where he and Mani always sat.
Dumping him on the wicker lounge, I step back and wipe my hands on my pants. The girls file in behind me, and I don’t even have to look at Dottie to know she’s exhausted.
“How in the fuck am I going to afford this place?” Lewis slurs, before continuing on his rant. “Dottie, you?you need to help me. I need some money.”
I clench down on my jaw, my hackles rising at the audacity of this man and the lack of shame he possesses. I open my mouth, but a warm hand snakes around my wrist, calming me.
I don’t need to look at the person holding onto me to know who it is.
“Dad, we can talk about this tomorrow. I have to head back to the hotel, but I’ll be back in the morning.”
Lewis grumbles something incoherent, his eyes fluttering open and closed.
“Be a good girl and get your pops his blood pressure pills and pain meds.”
She sighs beside me, releases my hand and walks off toward the bedroom. Arrie and I lock eyes, and I can tell she is struggling to keep her mouth closed, just as I am.
At least five minutes pass and I start to wonder where Dottie is, but when I hear the bedroom door slam, followed by loud, angry footsteps, I swivel around to see her stalking in with a furious look on her face, and paper scrunched in her left hand.
She’s laser focused on her inebriated father, that I don’t think she even sees me or Arrie in this moment. As soon as she reaches him, she kicks his foot, jolting him and he snorts awake, his eyes trying to focus on his daughter.
“What in the actual fuck is this, dad?”
Something tells me shit is about to get real.