Page 5 of Big Daddy Mountain Man

He was hardly the man she dreamed of. It had nothing to do with his appearance, either. She wasn’t vain at all. No, her distaste for him was born of his sleazy nature and lack of morals.

But if a simple hug would pacify him and let her get back down to Mr. Reyes, then maybe it was worth it.

“Why are you leaving?” he asked as his dull eyes continued to appraise her.

She hated being rude and thinking unkind thoughts about anyone, but there was something in those eyes that wasn’t right. Something almost… dead. She shuddered, unable to help himself.

He must have noticed because he smiled wider. It wasn’t lost on her that he always seemed to revel in the fact that he intimidated her. It even seemed like he played it up sometimes, trying extra hard to creep her out.

At that moment, she realized she most certainly had no desire to hug the man, even if it was just to placate him and get away quickly.

He kept his arms open, but she made no effort to walk toward him. She wished she had asked Mr. Reyes to accompany her into the apartment.

Remembering his question about why she was moving, she said, “I’ve always wanted to live in Bi—” She stopped herself, not wanting to reveal where exactly she was going exactly. “In Southeastern Oklahoma. I love mountains and the woods and all that. I’ve heard it’s beautiful and with all the tourists, there’s a lot of jobs down there.” She shrugged. “Figured I’d try my luck there.”

Not that I owe you an explanation,she thought. She kept that comment to herself, though. Donnie could be volatile. She’d witnessed his rage before.

She hoped to never see it again.

He stepped closer. “I told you I could give you a job. You’d make plenty of money right here, working for me.”

Amber gulped. She wasn’t exactly sure what line of work Donnie was in, but she had a good idea that the run-down slumof an apartment complex he owned was just a front for his less-than-legal activities. She’d witnessed some shady stuff during her brief stay there.

She would have gotten away a lot sooner, but there weren’t many folks who would rent to her. And it had taken all the money she had just to rent that crappy place. It was a roof over her head at least. It beat being homeless. By a little, anyway. But she was sure thankful to be leaving.

“I’m going to find a job down there,” she said. “I have to go. My bus is waiting.”

She tried to hurry past him, but his lanky arm lashed out like a whip and his hand curled around her left elbow, putting more pressure on her than necessary.

“Ouch!” she cried.

“None of my girls leave me. You fucking understand that?”

“I’m not your girl!” Amber cried.

She tried to wrench her arm free, but he gripped it harder, delivering a jolt of pain. He was stronger than his scrawny arms made him appear.

“Let go of her!” Mr. Reyes called.

Amber and Donnie turned their attention to the door where the man stood, his cell out.

“I will call the police!” he added.

Donnie practically threw Amber’s arm away.

She figured he wasn’t afraid of Mr. Reyes, but more than likely did not want the police coming to that apartment complex. It wouldn’t take much digging to uncover lots of illegal activity.

“Get the fuck out, whore,” Donnie said.

Amber moved as quickly as possible, but in her haste, accidentally dropped Honey. Before she could get the stuffie, Donnie reached down and scooped the bear up. He ripped her head from the rest of her body and threw both pieces down.

“There, whore. Don’t forget your little toy.”

His yellow teeth shone in the bright sun that spilled into the apartment while he howled as if it was the funniest thing he’d ever done.

Crying, Amber yelled, “Honey!” as she collected the pieces of her most prized possession.

“You should be ashamed!” Mr. Reyes snapped at Donnie. “Ashamed!”

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