Page 11 of Protecting Tiffani

My phone lights up with an incoming call as soon as the message is sent. I don’t know the number flashing across the screen, but I answer it anyway. That was the first of many mistakes made that night.

“Hello,” I say after bringing it to my ear.

“Is this Levi Hill?” the unknown caller asks.

My back straightens as I sit up, and the cover falls off my chest. I suddenly feel very uneasy, and my pulse starts to race. “Yes, it is. Who is this?”

“Come outside, Levi. We need to talk,” the voice demands, and that uneasy feeling racks up. Anxiety sweeps through me, making the phone shake in my hand. Who the fuck is this?

“Why would I come outside when I don’t know who you are?” I ask, hating how my voice shakes, but I’m terrified for the first time in my life.

“Because you don’t want anything bad to happen to your family or your Cupcake, do you?” The voice drips with ice as the line dies. The ice from his voice bleeds into my veins. What the fuck is this, a mafia movie? Who calls and threatens someone? I don’t know, but I do know that I’ll do anything to protect my family and Tiffani. I slip on a shirt and my shoes, leaving the safety of my room for whatever lies outside waiting for me. Walking through the living room, Adam is the only one awake, but he’s engrossed in the accounting books he’s trying to balance.

I clear my throat, trying to get the lump out of it. “I’m heading outside for some fresh air,” I tell him, hoping he doesn’t sense anything is wrong. He looks up and squints his eyes at me. His brows pull together, and I’m confident he doesn’t buy my excuse.

“You okay?” Concern laces his question.

“Yeah, Bubba, I’m good.” I open and shut the door, hoping he doesn’t follow me. Halfway down the road, I see a black SUV pulled off the side of the road. The individual in the car flashes their lights and every horror movie I’ve watched flashes before my eyes. This is so fucking wrong. I should have run back inside and woken Dad up, but he had a doctor’s appointment and was exhausted. Mistake number two, check. I shake off the fear crowding me, straighten my back, and hold my head high the whole way. I never stumble once or look away from the dark vehicle. I can’t see in, so I still have no idea who the fuck it is, but the need to protect everyone sits at the front of my brain.

When I get a foot away, the passenger door flings open and light spills through the dark cab. Sitting in the driver’s seat is none other than Mr. Summer, Tiffani’s dad and the mayor of our town. My nerves do not edge away at the sight of him because whatever is about to happen isn’t going to be good. I feel it like I feel the storm brewing outside. Once again, I don’t hesitate or stumble. I just hoist myself up into the passenger seat and shut the door. The cab is once again dark as we sit in silence. The tension bouncing around tries to suffocate me, but I refuse to let it. He reaches over and hits a button for the overhead lights.

“Thank you for joining me. I figured you would want to have this conversation in private, away from everyone else.” He is calm and relaxed, like he didn’t threaten his own daughter to get me out here. He pulls out a cigarette and lights it, blowing the smoke directly into my face.

I turn my head, coughing so hard my eyes start to water. “What do you want?” I ask him once the smoke has cleared and I can see him clearly again.

“I wanted to discuss my daughter and, more importantly, how you raped her.” He puffs on the cancer stick once more.

The air gets caught in my throat, and another round of coughing catches me off guard. My whole body starts to tremble, and I feel the bile in my stomach as it tries to escape with each cough. “R…Rape? Sir, you’re wrong. I would never force myself on anyone, especially Tiffani,” I say between coughs.

He sits there, staring at me until I get myself under control. He leans over, opening the glove compartment, and I swear my life flashes before my eyes. This is how I’m going to die. He is going to pull a gun out and shoot me over a misunderstanding. I mean, sure, Tiffani and I have had sex, fucked, and made love, but it was all consensual. A hundred percent. I always ask her twice before we do anything to make sure she’s okay with it. But how do I tell her dad that she practically begs me to sleep with her? I’m fucked either way, but I have to try to get him to see the truth. When he pulls his hand out, I shut my eyes because I don’t want to see what is about to end my life. Something falls in my lap, and I open one eye to see what it is. A book is lying there, so I open the other.

“What is this?” I whisper.

“Proof that you, Levi, an eighteen-year-old boy, has had sex with my seventeen-year-old daughter. Tiffani’s mother found this yesterday, and I have had the displeasure of reading the disgusting things you’ve done to her.”

My head snaps to the left. He can’t be fucking serious. That’s not a crime. “That’s a violation of her privacy.”

“She doesn’t have privacy in my house. Everything in that house, including her journal, is my property. I pay to put the roof over her head. She follows my fucking rules.” His voice booms through the small space.

“Okay, but having sex with her was consensual and not rape, sir,” I add the last word to try to calm this unhinged man down.

“Not when you are of age, and she isn’t. It’s called statutory rape, son. Look it up. She is seventeen, and it’s illegal for you to be with her. I can press charges against you as her parent and legal guardian.” He throws some papers at me. I catch them and glance down. Fuck he’s right, according to the Missouri law printed on these papers.

“Sir, you can’t do this. I love your daughter, and she loves me…” I start, but he cuts me off.

“I can, and I’m going to,” he states calmly.

My heart tries to escape my chest, and my hands inch toward the door to throw it open. I don’t know what I’m going to do, but I’ve got to get help. If he is seriously going to charge me with rape, I’m fucked. Tiffani will tell everyone it wasn’t, but by the sounds of it, it won’t matter. How the hell am I going to get out of this mess. Tears threaten to spill over, but I shut my eyes to keep them in. This man will not see me cry, fuck that.

“However, my mind can be changed. It’s common knowledge that your family is currently struggling for money. I doubt they could afford a good lawyer, at least not one good enough to beat mine. I won’t press charges on you and will even make this small meeting worth your time.” He chuckles as I physically shiver. My blood is nothing but ice running through my body. I can’t understand the words he’s saying. Another package lands on my lap. This time it’s an envelope.

Slowly I move my hands to open it. A gasp leaves me as I take in what is in the envelope. A massive stack of hundred-dollar bills sits inside. “Is this…”

“Ten thousand dollars. Take it to pay off your dad’s medical bills or fix up your shit excuse for a house. I don’t care what you do with the money, but if you take it and promise to stay away from my daughter, I won’t put your ass in jail,” he sneers at me.

I turn my focus to the front windshield, at the almost pitch-black house sitting off to the right. The roof is in dire need of fixing, and the wiring is also going out. Just yesterday, the fan in Emilee’s old room caught on fire. Thankfully Dad was home and smelt the wires burning. He was able to put it out before it spread out of control. The money feels like it weighs a ton sitting in my lap. The money would help us so much. What the fuck am I thinking? I’m not seriously considering taking this bribe money, am I? Shaking my head, I turn to look at the man destroying my life. “No,” I whisper.

“Speak up, son. I could have sworn you just said no.” His eyes darken, and his jaw tenses.

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