39. Zombie
THIRTY-NINE
ZOMBIE
“What the actual fuck, Zombie!” Buddha roared as he closed in on me. Lennie moved out of the way as Buddha fisted the front of my dress shirt. “You knew where Sarah was this entire time, and didn’t tell us? You fucking bastard! We could have gotten Lily out of that hellhole a lot sooner!”
I put my hands up in surrender. “I tried to find her myself, but I couldn’t. There are things you can’t know or people will get hurt! Trust me Buddha, if I had seen Lil—”
“I don’t trust a fucking word that is coming out of your mouth right now.” He shoved me away and pointed at me. “You deceived us all; for all I know, you had something to do with Arrow’s death!”
That was when I lost it. I charged at Buddha, barreling into him like a football player. How dare he say that? How dare he even think that I had something to do with my best friend’s death? The glass he was holding fell on the patio tiles, shattering like the first one.
“Because you didn’t tell the truth to the people closest to you, bud,” I heard Arrow’s voice say through the mayhem.
Buddha, who was at least six inches taller and fifty pounds heavier than me, got out of my tackle easily and sucker-punched me in the gut. I got up and swung, landing a hit on his nose. Buddha let out a growl, wiped blood from his nose, and punched me in the jaw.
“How could you do this to us?” he roared as he continued to pummel me.
“Stop it!”
Buddha and I reluctantly stepped apart as Lennie begged us to stop and people began to fill the patio, coming out to see what was happening. We glared at each other, both of us panting for breath.
“I didn’t tell you guys to protect the ones I care about!!” I bit back.
“Fucking coward,” Buddha said harshly before spitting out blood onto the pavement.
The patio door swung open and out walked Kade and a stricken Evelyn.
“Get the fuck out of here, both of you!” he screamed, not bothering to ask what had happened.
The demand was clear as he kept a protective arm in front of his wife. I wiped the blood from my lip and brushed the dirt off my suit. Buddha glared at me with so much hatred in his eyes I thought I might turn to ash in front of everyone.
I walked over to a crying Lennie who pushed me away the instant I got close to her.
“I never want to hear from you again,” Lennie spat out. “I have no idea who the fuck you are anymore. I gave you another chance and you ruined it. I thought we were past all the bullshit, past the secrets!”
And just like that, my girlfriend and one of my best friends walked out of my life.