Page 21 of Toy

“Well, I’m really sorry I can’t help. As you know now, I fucking hated those guys. I would’ve never helped them or kept in contact with them all these years if I knew they were alive.”

“It’s okay. I’m sure we’ll find them somehow,” Jolie said, smiling bravely.

“Who was it who came looking for you?” Martha asked.

“Tom Anderson. Remember him? Tall blond guy.”

Martha suddenly laughed. I cast a curious glance at her, as did Jolie. Even Travis looked confused. “What’s so funny?” he asked.

She gestured to me. “I don’t know if this will make you feel any better about being shot by him, Mason, but I once bit Tom’s cock. Really hard.”

“What?” I lifted a brow.

“It was during a Joining ritual. I always hated him, even more than the others, so I bit him when he told me to blow him. I pretended it was an accident. He beat the shit out of me afterwards and gave me a black eye, but it was worth it. I still remember the bitchy little way he screamed when I chomped down.”

I chuckled and shook my head. “I know you said you felt like a coward all that time, but you were actually kind of a badass in your own way.”

“That’s what I always try to tell her,” Travis said, face glowing with pride.

“Thanks,” Martha said, her cheeks flushing a deep pink again.

“They’re right,” Jolie said. “That was really brave. I would’ve never dared to do something like that.”

Martha shrugged slightly. “Yeah, I guess I wasn’t a total coward,” she said softly. “You know, I’ve been in therapy for five years now. Maybe one day I’ll finally stop feeling guilty.”

Jolie reached over and patted her hand. “I’ve been seeing someone lately too. It really helps to talk about stuff.”

Martha nodded. “It does, but honestly, talking to you guys has made me feel better than anything else has in a long time.” She hesitated for a few seconds and rubbed her chin. “Hey, um… I understand if you don’t want to see me again after today—bad memories and all—but I’d really love it if we could hang out again now that we’ve cleared everything up.”

Jolie smiled and nodded emphatically. “I’d love that.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really.”

After another half-hour of chatter, Martha had to cut things short to go and get ready. She was performing in a play later in the evening, and she needed to get ready and head down to the theater for all the preparations.

We made plans to hang out with her and Travis next time they came to visit our city, and then we headed off.

“I can still make my doctor’s appointment to get the stitches out,” I said, glancing at the digital clock on the car’s dashboard ten minutes later. “It’s not until five, and we’ll probably get back around half past four.”

“That’s good,” Jolie said. She sounded vaguely absentminded, and she was staring out the window with a wistful expression on her face.

I ruffled her hair while we waited at a busy intersection. “Hey, I know it’s really disappointing that we still don’t have any idea how to find the cult, but we had a good day, right? You and Martha sorted all your shit out, and honestly, I think you guys are gonna be great friends now.”

Jolie nodded. “I know. I just wish we’d stop running into all these dead ends.”

“Yeah. It’s shit.”

A moment later, a rock song from the seventies came on the radio. One of my favorites. I turned it up.

Jolie rubbed her forehead. “Can you believe I once lived in a place where I would’ve had a nail driven through an earlobe for listening to music like this?”

“Yeah, but only because I went and lived there myself,” I said. I furrowed my brows and glanced at her. “Listen, you aren’t there anymore. You can listen to whatever the hell you want for the rest of your life. You know that, right?”

“Yes, but I can’t stop thinking about the past. I guess I can’t help it after seeing Martha and talking about all the stuff we went through.”

“I get it. I think I know how to make you feel better, though.” I turned the volume up even higher and began to bob my head.

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