Hazel was my lifeline. My hope. I was her protector.
I’ll show her that she doesn’t need anyone but me. That I’m the man who will deliver on the promises I broke as a boy.
Pilfering through her apartment, I get the sense she’s still lost, but she need not worry. I’ve found her, and I’m never letting her go. I open her top drawer, fingering through her intimate apparel. The black lace is a step up from her days of the week cotton briefs she always wore.
Next drawer houses some pajama shorts and tanks.
Hidden under a stack of t-shirts is her vibrator. I grin. I could have some fun with this. Watching her suck it. Fucking herself. Teasing her ass while I eat her cunt. Jesus the filthy things I want to do to her.
I shake my head and push away those thoughts for now.
Under her bed though there’s a box. I should have remorse for invading her privacy, but we never kept secrets from one another. Why start now? It’s mostly papers. Her birth certificate. Car title. Lease for the apartment. Looks like she has three months left on it.
With nothing left to do but wait, I go to her fridge happy to find fixings for a sandwich and a cold beer. I make myself at home but clean up after I eat. I settle in on her couch with my beer and light up a cigarette. And I wait. Soon as I get my hands on her, her ass will be glowing with my handprint.
Chapter Nine
Shit.
Hell. Fire.
Fuck.
Fuck me.
I can’t believe what’s happening. Bruno attacked me. I always have known he’s a dick, but never imagined I’d be in this situation. He left me no choice. I had to defend myself, but I shouldn’t have run. Only I heard someone coming through the back door and I freaked even more than I already am. I cracked him in the head with a lamp and he dropped on the floor like a sack of potatoes. I didn’t know what the hell to do. I got the hell out of dodge. Was it Bruno texting me pretending to be Crystal? It had to be. I chew on my thumbnail and continue to drive with no clue where I’m going.
My phone buzzes with a call from an unknown number. What if it’s him? What if he comes after me? Or worse, what if I killed him? Sure, he’s a shitty father and boyfriend. Does that mean he needs to die? Ugh. I pull over in a parking lot to answer the call. The last thing I need is to get a ticket in Jackson’s truck. Then he will really think I owe him one. The jerk. All men fucking suck. Every single last one of them.
“Hello.”
“Is this Hazel?”
“Speaking.”
“This is Crystal’s mom. W
anda.”
“Is Crystal okay?”
“She asked me to call and let you know that your car is at the club. She had a bad fight with that asshole, and I had to pick her up.”
“Oh my god. Can I talk to her?”
“She’s filing a report.”
I bite my bottom lip. That means the cops will go question him, and he’s going to tell them I attacked him if he’s not dead. My prints will be on the lamp and the door. What if one of the neighbors saw me? What if I killed him? Crystal will hate me. She might be mad at him now, but she always takes him back. No matter what she is his ride or die, and I swear one day she will die either at his hands or for him.
“You there?”
“Yes. Sorry. I’m here. Does Crystal have my keys?”
“No. Said she left them in the club with one of the girls. I would have called sooner but it took me all morning to convince her to get looked at.”
“No worries. Tell Crystal to call me when she feels up to it.”
I hang up. This is a mess. I have the text message that was sent to me from her phone though. Saying she was home to come over. It could help my defense. Maybe. Or maybe I should get the hell out of town. Pack up and go while the getting is good. I could use a change of scenery. I’m over Nashville. I’m over men. I’m over it all.