Page 17 of The Devil's Deal

“Why are you botherin’ me?” he asks, his tone so agitated it hurts somewhere deep inside where I crave a father who loves me.

“I…I,” I stammer, my voice as broken as my heart.

“Spit it out already.” He glares at me. “I have things to do.”

I bite down, my teeth aching, stifling the need to cry.

“Where’s Mom?” I’m surprised at how steady my voice is with the amount of fear I have inside me. “It’s been days, and you won’t tell me. I’m worried, and I know you always know where she is. Did she go on a trip?”

He drags a sharp breath through his nose like a dragon, his eyes narrowing.

“Something like that,” he snickers darkly. “Get inside. I’ll tell you exactly where she is.”

He opens the door fully, allowing me to come in.

I move into his large office with a big dark brown desk in the middle. It’s the first time I’ve been in here. He’s never allowed me inside.

I take a seat on the end of the brown couch, furthest from his desk, while he plops down on top of the black office chair.

He pulls himself closer to the desk, his elbows on it. “I didn’t wanna tell you shit, but you insisted, so I’ll tell you the truth.”

I scoot to the edge of the sofa, anticipating his words.

He clears his throat. “Your mother…she’s gone.”

It sounds like he just gave me the weather report, but in reality, he’s destroyed my entire world.

My chest jumps hard with every breath. And inside, it hurts like I’ve been cut open with a knife. The loud noise that sounds like my heart invades my ears and the room spins from sheer panic.

“Wha…?” I can barely form a word. Vomit sits at the pit of my stomach, slowly slithering up.

“She’s not dead,” he continues with a laugh, his shoulders rocking at my torment, the sinister tone sliding up my body like roaches.

My eyes pop out. “What?”

My ears are ringing, so maybe I misheard.

“I meant she’s gone. She left us.”

My face twists with confusion. “What do you mean?”

Nothing is making sense. This is like torture. First, I think she’s dead, and now he says she left me?

“No.” I shake my head. “She’d never do that.”

To me, I want to add.She’d leave you, but never me.

“Well, she did.” His brows twist up. “She don’t want you anymore. She ran off with another man and didn’t take you. What’s that shit say to you, huh? Your mom’s nothing but a whore.”

“Stop it!” I jump to my feet. “Don’t call her that!”

“She is what she is.”

“You’re a liar! I don’t believe you,” I whimper, my lower lip quivering, tears slipping from my eyes with every lie he tells.

“I know you loved her, but she don’t love you as much as you thought she did,” he adds.

“You’re lying!” I accuse, not caring what he’ll do in return. “She’d never go without me.”

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