Page 168 of Unhinged

“If you don’t seek your own justice, that shit is up to you. But I will not support my husband helping kids when at the bare minimum, he refused to see a professional to heal himself. It’s hypocritical.”

I look away from the road to see Simone’s determined, pursed lips. I haven’t seen her this stalwart. “You’re serious?”

“You’re not?”

“So if I do this without seeing a therapist, you won’t support me? What? You’d divorce me?” My voice trails off into a gruff whisper. Maybe Amos could slit my throat for me then.

“No! You must be your most authentic self to help kids like that. Just as you don’t trust easily, you need to earn their trust. Share your story to show them they’re not alone. That you’ll fight for them, and there’s light on the other side. You can’t shovel a bunch of bullshit to those poor kids. I didn’t marry a fraud.”

“You don’t understand. I’m… I can’t… I don’t want to face my former classmates. That’s why I haven’t gone to the police.”

“It may be a crappy comparison, but on the way to Baltimore, you told me that Hadley needed to face her demon—my brother—so she could move on. Yours are more terrifying to face, but I believe you can slay those evil motherfuckers so you can live your life. And if you couldn’t do it, I’d shred them for you and roll their heads at your feet.”

I clear my throat. “You’d do that?”

She squeezes my hand and scratches her fingernails into my sweats. “Dumpling, I’d do hard time for you. Even if I have to wear prison orange and eat their food. Yuck. It also wouldn’t bode well for my skin and hair, but I’d do it for you in a heartbeat. I would’ve torn Morgan’s damn head off if you would’ve let me. I’m still pissed about that one.”

She’d kill and die for me. That’s all I’ve wanted.

I hold her hand tighter. “I wouldn’t want you to go to prison. I need you with me. Besides, I don’t know if it’s worth filing a report after all these years. There are no witnesses who would corroborate my story since they were accessories. There isn't any evidence other than their testimony, and no prosecutor would take my case if they’re guaranteed to lose. I don’t know if I want to put myself through another defeat.”

“I still hate how those bastards are getting away with it. But if you get help, you’ll rise above their attempt to destroy you.”

“You make it sound easy.”

“Fuck, no. Talking about your abuse will be hard as hell for you. They’ll cut open your scars and let you bleed out the festering pain, but you’ll be stronger and take charge of your demons instead of letting them rule you.”

“I’m so fucking tired of talking about this shit. It already rules my life. I don’t need it to ruin my career plans or my marriage.”

“You think I use it as fodder for my education? You went to a scary place earlier, Greg. I tried to bring you out of it, but I made it worse. I’d rather you have a player history than this shit. It breaks my heart. No, I’d rather not dwell on it, but I won’t let this go. You need help.”

Pulling into my dad’s driveway, I don’t have time to reply since Simone gets out of the truck. Tabby and Ashley run from the porch, and they jump on me. Tabby looks the closest to Eden, and with her strawberry-blonde, black-and-red-tipped hair and heavy makeup, she looks like Grungy Spice.

They hug me, and I somewhat hug them back since they’re jumping like fleas on a junkyard dog. Ashley’s hair is close-cropped and looks like she hacked it herself. She says, “It’s about time you showed up. I forgot what you looked like.”

Tabby frowns. “Too bad there’s no improvement.”

As Tabby turns, I smack the back of her head, bouncing her colorful hair. “Shut the hell up, kid.”

Ashley says, “Already a bad attitude. Nice, Greg.”

Tabby grabs my left hand. “Son of a llama. What is that?”

“It’s a ticket to a broken nose if you don’t stop pinching my hand.” I’d never punch the stupid ass, but it’s a solid threat since she drops my hand. “And what’s growing out of your nose?”

She rolls her eyes. “A nose ring.”

“So, you pick your nose to change it? You can stop touching me now.”

Ashley hops around me as I walk. “You got married!”

As I pass the front of my truck, I notice Simone standing next to it. Shoving slow-moving Tabby out of the way, I grab Simone’s hand and complain, “You creeps didn’t even introduce yourselves to my wife.”

Ashley’s mouth drops. “That’s her?”

“No. Since getting married, I always bring a random woman to dinner.”

Tabby giggles before remembering she’s supposed to be all emo and shit. She composes herself and says, “Hi. I’m Tabby. You must be my new sister-in-law.” Holy hell, that’s a good weird.

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