“It hurts,” I whispered, whimpering as he tilted my chin up to get a better look at me.
“I know it does,” he murmured, gently wrapping his hand around the side of my neck. “But you did a damn good job defendin’ yourself.”
I reached up to wipe at the wetness on my face and he caught my hand, bringing it to his lips for a kiss. “Hang in there just a little longer and we’ll see what we’re dealin’ with, yeah?” he said gently.
The next few minutes were a blur as Gran sent Charlie for a wet cloth to clean up my face. All around us the house was eerily quiet and I was too afraid to ask where my parents were. I couldn’t imagine why my dad hadn’t come storming toward us, and every time I heard even the softest noise my heart started to race. Everything hurt so badly that I had a hard time focusing on what was happening around me.
It was impossible to miss the sound of sirens, though, or the loud knocking on our front door.
“Bitch called the cops,” Charlie told my Gran as she helped me up from the stair. “Shit’s about to go sideways.”
“I’m sorry,” Gran said. “She never was very bright.”
“Where is my mom?” I asked. I hadn’t even thought about her since my dad had followed me into the living room.
“Letting the police in, I’d imagine,” Gran said grimly.
She led us toward the front of the house, and sure enough, when we got to the entryway two police officers were speaking to my mother. For a split second, I was proud of my mother for finally standing up and doing something about my dad, but then she spoke and every soft feeling I’d ever had for the woman who’d raised me was gone in an instant.
“That’s him,” she said, pointing at the man standing behind me. “He barged in here and attacked my husband.”
The officers looked at me, their eyes widening in horror.
“Are you okay, miss?” one of them asked.
“We should call you an ambulance,” the other one said at the same time.
Charlie’s hand came out to steady me as I swayed, and the officers both snapped to attention.
“Hands against the wall,” one of them barked. He strode toward us, glancing at me. “He do this to you?”
“No,” I said, barely shaking my head.
“He’s the one who stopped it, you imbecile,” Gran snapped as the officer shoved Charlie against the wall. “What the hell are you doing?”
The officer grimaced. “You beat up that man?” he asked Charlie, jerking his head toward the living room as the other officer went to check on my dad. He looked him over and nudged him, then walked back toward us.
“Yep,” Charlie replied easily.
“Then I’m gonna have to take you in,” the officer said. He didn’t sound particularly happy about it.
“Worth it,” Charlie said as his hands were cuffed behind his back. His eyes met mine and I was thankful that my eyesight was clearing, because a million words went unsaid between us. Then, as his eyes moved toward the living room, he spit blood onto the floor in my parents’ house. “The motherfucker deserved worse.”
Glancing over to where he was looking, I saw my dad slumped over the coffee table. He was breathing, but his face was a mangled mess and he was out cold. I barely stayed on my feet as the police escorted Charlie out of the house, only to pop back in to give my Gran a set of keys.
“He said don’t worry, it’s insured,” the officer told Gran.
I started to tremble when it was just me, Gran and my mom left in the entryway.
“You,” Gran said, pointing at my mother, her hand shaking. “Are a waste of goddamn space.”
My mom gasped.
“Go upstairs and get my granddaughter’s things and bring them to the house. She’s not staying here one more damn minute.”
Gran carefully escorted me to the car and helped me inside, buckling my seatbelt as my hands trembled uselessly in my lap.
“Now,” Gran muttered, sticking the key in the ignition. “I just have to get us home in one piece.”
Chapter 7
Grease
Present Day
“Figures,” I muttered, pulling Callie a little tighter against my chest. “Leave it to the pigs to arrest the wrong guy.”
“It was a different time,” Amy replied. “Back then you could do what you wanted to your kids, so long as you didn’t kill them.”
“That’s so fucked up,” Rose said, her voice choked. She was leaning into us, letting Callie run her fingers through her hair. I reached out and rubbed her back, hating that she was hearing this story at all.
We knew that everything turned out alright. Vera and Slider were together for a hell of a long time before they died. And they went at the same time, which pretty much fell in line with what all of us imagined they would’ve wanted. But I didn’t feel real comfortable with the kids hearing all of their secrets. I hoped Amy and Poet were at least keeping some shit to themselves. Someday, after Callie and I were gone, I didn’t want our friends telling our kids and grandkids all of the worst and private parts of our story. It just didn’t seem right. Plus, I was pretty sure that the grandkids had no interest in knowing that their grandma picked fights with me so I would paddle her ass. Just thinking about Callie’s bare ass made my dick twitch and I smiled as she shifted on my lap.