Page 12 of Deceit

I reach for the headphones on top of the small end table, already connected to a CD player that I stole from Radio Shack last year then I count how lucky I am.

Hardy is staying with a friend tonight.

Every time he and his buddy, Alan, want to sleep over at his house, I let him.

Just for this reason.

“Sharlene! Where’s your ass at?!”

“Your Mariah Carey CD is in here.” I give my sister a playful wink, trying to ignore the fact that a live monster is in our home. “No cheating.”

Scarlett hits me with squinted blue eyes. “Why is he screaming? He doesn’t—” I cover her mouth with my palm and shake my head.

Pushing the headphones over her tiny ears, I place my index finger to my lips, hinting that the game has already started.

“Sharlene!”

Another crashing sound permeates through the air as I watch my little sister crawl the rest of the way under the bed. When she’s safe, I reach for the door and decide that it’s better for me to tell him that Mom isn’t here before he comes into our room.

I don’t like him near Scarlett. Notice how he licks his lips like Sylvester the Cat when he sees Tweety Bird.

As if my sister is something delicious to eat.

Mom also gets angry when he mentions her too, but she doesn’t say it anymore after he slapped her one time, sending her to the floor.

When I get down the hall, Bubba already has a beer in his hand, chugging down the contents like he hasn’t had anything to drink in days. His black leather vest is old and lined with small, faded cracks. It matches his face, the deep wrinkles at the corners of his dark eyes, and the bags that hang under them.

When I step inside the kitchen, his black gaze falls on me, and my heart thuds quickly in my chest.

“Where’s your mama at, boy?” He wipes at his chin with the back of his hand and glowers at me as if I have something to do with her not being here.

I shrug as dismissively as I can. “I dunno. She said she’d be back by dark.”

He jerks his head to the window by our small dining table. “It’s dark now.”

“I know.”

“And she left you with your brother and your sister alone?” He lifts a brow, and it almost hits the black bandana wrapped around his grayish-blonde hair that passes his ears.

“Just me,” I deadpan before his mustache twists, not happy with my answer. It sets a tiny spark of relief in me that I hid Scarlett under their bed.

Bubba grunts, bringing the bottle back to his lips as his other hand begins to undo the belt. I watch him finish off his beer, then suddenly drops it to the floor, letting it break into sharp pieces everywhere.

“Grab me another,” he orders with a snap of his fingers before pulling the brown leather from his pant’s loops.

I don’t move because I don’t trust Bubba. He has a reputation around the trailer park for being what Kyson’s mom calls a loose cannon. I’m not sure what that means, but I know what he’s done. Bubba punched Ky’s ma last week, and my best friend has a black eye and fat lip from attempting to fight back.

“Now, you little piece of shit,” he roars, jerking his body in my direction like he’s going to come after me but doesn’t.

However, it makes me move towards the fridge anyway, quickly opening the door and seizing a cold Bud Light that Mom keeps just for him and his friends.

I really wish she wouldn’t. Maybe they’d stop coming by.

The moment I turn around, I’m backhanded, stumbling to the kitchen sink as the beer is yanked from my hand.

“Slow bitch,” I hear Bubba say, followed by the cap of the bottle popping.

Reaching for my cheek, which is now throbbing along with my jaw, I move it, making sure that it still works before thinking about a way to get Bubba out of the house.

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