Page 37 of Small Town Beast

He won’t leave. Oh my God, what do I do? My cellphone’s all the way in the kitchen!

“You, ah, want something to eat?” she asked hopefully.

“So you can call the police?”

Shoot! But I knew he wasn’t dumb; I knew that from the beginning.

“Why were you at the Turnkey?” He asked point blank.

She told him the truth. “I needed money. I felt like it was the only way.”

“Don’t you have a job, Tanya?”

“Yes I do. I’ve worked since I was fifteen. I work my butt off,” she said angrily.

“But no money.”

“No money. You wouldn’t know about that.” She glared at him, thinking of his fancy watch and fancy truck. “Why don’t you just leave me alone? We did our business— I don’t want nothing more from you. Amari is my son. I needed the money to pay an investigator.” A frantic idea took hold in her mind. “Do you know something about Amari? Do you know what happened to my son?”

“No. It was chance we met; I saw your ad in the paper after I met you. You had him young? Your son.”

“I was sixteen,” she said. “F-fifteen when I got pregnant.”

“Where’s the daddy?”

“Don’t know, don’t care,” said Tanya sharply. “Not like it’s your damn business.”

Holding her chin, he turned her face into the dimming light coming in through the window. With his back to that light he was an entire shadow to Tanya, but nothing escaped his view. He seemed to be studying her. “You might be the most beautiful girl on this mountain,” he said in something like awe. “I never liked your kind…”

She shoved at him, which was hard because he still had her wrists in a death grip, pinned together with just one of his hands. “You mean Black people? Then why are you up in my house bothering me? Why are youhere!?”

His other hand tightened on her chin. “Why am I here? I still don’t know.”

A chill went up her back at the complete deadness in his voice.

“Please leave me alone. You got what you wanted from me. And I don’t even have your money any more. Just go away and I won’t tell anybody you were in here,” she begged desperately.

He dragged her to her feet, then gently pushed her down into the bed. She struggled, but all he did was stretch out next to her, an arm over her waist, one of his legs pinning her down. He still wore his boots and everything. He smelled real good.Real good.That was the fucked up part of it. His thick dark hair tickled her nose, their faces were so close. The fading light now revealed the deep handsome lines of his face, a face that had been carved from mountain quartz, except for the scarred bubbly side which was now pressed into her pillow. Even his breath smelled like herbal tea.

“You are out of your mind!”

“I just want to talk. I want to understand why you got such a fuckin’ hold over me.”

“How the hell should I know? You’re crazy!”

“Look,” he said. “I can help you find your son. I’m connected up here, and I want to help you.”

“You want to help me? Then give me a thousand dollars.”

“Done,” he said. “Now tell me what happened to your son.”

He was lying; he was crazy. She shoved his chest; beat against him, but he wouldn’t let her free.

“Get off me! Get off me—please.”

“Just talk to me— Tanya— I won’t hurt you. I won’t, I promise.”

Tanya tried very hard to calm herself down.If I tell him about Amari, he might feel sympathy for me. He might let me go. I know deep down he’s a human being; I should tell him. What do I have to lose?

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