Page 11 of Tore Up

Acid burned my stomach as hatred pumped through my veins.

I wouldn’t kill them all. The little kids, I couldn’t off them, but they were gonna be motherfucking orphans if the parents were involved. Why the hell the girl was still here, alone, made no sense though. I’d think they would have taken her and left someone else behind to clean up the house before leaving. Perhaps they thought if someone came looking for them, her appeal would be enough to keep her alive.

Sorry, folks. I don’t care about her or her cunt.

I’d had a lot of hot pussy, unlike my brother, who had known nothing but Saylor.

The girl came walking around the side of the house, this time with a bike. What the hell was she doing with a bike? I watched her go out to the road, then get on it and begin to pedal in the opposite direction. She was headed toward town. I waited until she was out of sight before slowly following her. If she was going to work, she was in for a rude awakening. She no longer had a job.

Bitch was about to find out they’d fucked with the wrong family.

Six

Halo

I parked my bike behind the Urban Bistro food truck. I’d arrived two hours early because I needed to talk to Alf and Tember about my living situation and see if I could possibly get someone in to replace me today. I was almost to the door of the truck when Tember stepped out. He looked at me, and the regret that crossed his expression was concerning He was always the chipper, upbeat one. Alf was the moody one. Tember always said they had a grumpy-sunshine romance.

“Hey, Tember,” I began. “I know I’m early, but I needed to talk to y’all.”

Alf’s body filled the doorway behind him. “Halo,” he said with a similar expression.

What was wrong with them? Had something happened? I really hoped they didn’t need me today.

“Uh, yeah, good morning,” I replied.

Tember looked back at him, and they both seemed to be upset.

Then, Alf cleared his throat and turned his eyes back to me. “Halo, I’m sorry, but we have to let you go.”

I stood there, shifting my eyes from one to the other. Was this a joke? They didn’t normally kid like this, but they were known to joke around with the employees. This was bad timing if it was.

“What?” I asked, looking at Tember.

If one was going to crack, it would be Tember. He was softhearted. But his face looked like he was about to burst into tears.

“We are overstaffed, and the budget is tight. We’re cutting back. I’m sorry. If you need a recommendation, please use us. We will give you an excellent one.”

I was so confused. Just last week, they had praised me, telling the evening shift that I was their hardest worker and they were going to cut everyone’s hours to give me more if they didn’t step it up.

“I know this is sudden, but we had to make a decision. Money is tight,” Tember said, tears glistening in his eyes. “It just has to be this way. But go on and apply at a restaurant. You will get a new job in no time. Like Alf said, use us as your recommendation.”

I wanted to askwhy me, but that seemed selfish. They’d obviously struggled with the decision. But I could think of a few other employees who rarely showed up on time or at all and some who took more smoke breaks than allowed. Maybe they had been cut too though. I hated to make this harder on them than it was.

“Okay,” I replied, my voice barely above a whisper.

Tember started to come toward me, and Alf grabbed his arm, pulling him back as his gaze scanned the area nervously.

“Come inside,” he told Tember gruffly.

Tember seemed to understand his reaction and nodded, then went back into the food truck and shut the door without anotherword. I stood there, alone again.

This had really just happened. I’d lost my job. My heart sank even lower as I walked slowly back to my bike. Crosby wouldn’t know where I was if he ever decided to come find me. I had his number, but he’d not responded to my texts. I’d left him alone, hoping he’d come back after some time. He hadn’t, and now, it was too late.

At the rate people were getting rid of me, I was even more convinced there was something about me that turned them away.

When I reached the bike, I climbed on and started back out onto the main road.

Where did I go now? To the house? To find a job? Could I even rent a place to live if I didn’t have a job? What did one need to rent a place? If I could just get in touch with Ares, he could tell me who this guy was who was trying to kill me and what to do. How though?

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