Page 42 of Unhinged

“Good, because I’m over it. You’re a pompous prick.”

“Just be on your merry little way out of here.”

“I can’t. I’m doing my internship with your mother. Holy fuck. That lovely woman gave birth to you.” Garrison’s look of disdain pummels me, but I always get back up.

“And I can’t believe you came all the way down here with a homicidal crackhead. You knew I’m from Durham.”

“I only knew North Carolina. You left Richmond without even a fuck you.”

“Oh, wow. Sorry. I thought when I left you that night, crying and begging for more, you’d picked up on the go to hell, shrill and crystal. My bad. Would you like a fuck off instead? There you go.”

“Nice. And it’s not just me you left. You left Birdy.”

“What good was I to her there? I did her a favor.”

“Her mother never left.” That also stings. “What about Hadley?”

“Get out of my face, Garrison.”

As I turn to leave, she says, “I guess you never cared about her, either. I’ll tell her that, and she’ll hate you forever.”

I stop as that hits me. When I turn back to Garrison, I nearly knock her over. We both jump back, glaring. “You’ll tell her nothing.”

“Just like you did when you left? What did Hadley ever do to you?” Hadley knows exactly what she did to me.

“I’ll handle Hadley. Leave it alone.”

I again turn to leave, hearing Garrison’s footsteps behind me. “Look. I’m sorry I told your mother, but don’t blame Amos.”

“He brought you here, but I blame you more than anyone. You attacked me, triggering… Blabbed to my mother. I’ll never forgive you.”

“Attacked you? I didn’t! We were about to…” She looks past me and then to the yard, licking her pink lips. Son of a fuck.

“What a mistake that was.”

“I didn’t mean to…” Garrison shakes her head. “You know what? I’m done defending myself. I didn’t hurt you on purpose. I’ve apologized more than once. I wish things would’ve been different, or I could make it up to you. If I had known about your trauma—”

“The only thing that has traumatized me is you.”

Garrison gasps, and I notice her freckles through her makeup. Her blue eyes stab me, and I regret thinking about them filled with desire for me, like in her bedroom. No woman has ever looked at me with such intensity, including Hadley. Especially Hadley.

“Screw you,” she mumbles before pushing past me. Amos emerges from the building, and Garrison grabs his arm. “We’re leaving.”

As I watch them go, my mother descends upon me. “Greg, I’m sorry.”

I shrug, but I shove my shaking hands into my pockets.

“Did you resolve your disagreement or whatever it was? Did she hurt you? Do I need to fire her?”

Thinking about it, that would be beautiful retribution. I want to believe Garrison didn’t intend to hurt me that night. I really do. I just can’t bring myself to say it, so I’ll keep dumping on her. Still, she made me confess my secret and then blabbed to my mother. I can’t forgive that.

Yet, I’m not the prick she called me. I’m not her brother, for fuck’s sake.

“No. But I don’t want you talking about her around me. Let her finish her internship so she can get the fuck out of here.” Why do I want her still around? I’ve lost my damn mind.

I give her a pointed look before heading to my truck, needing space.

Arriving home, I take the stairs two at a time and go into my room, where I plop down on the bed in the dark. Garrison again pollutes my thoughts, so I try to think of Kleo or Hadley.

---