Page 12 of Stolen By the Hit Man
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“The bus station.”
“I don’t think so, sweetheart.”
I snap at the term of affection. “I can do what I want!”
“Sure, if you wanna break your neck!” Gently but firmly, he grips my upper arms.
He smells like soap, and it’s maddeningly attractive.
I look to my right and see what he’s talking about. The concrete front steps are crumbling, and there’s a huge gap between the top step and the front door.
“What the heck kind of an office is this? Are you trying to kill people? Are you a drug dealer?”
That half grin mocks me, but I have to know.
“No, I’m not a drug dealer. Now, come inside and let’s talk.”
“I don’t want to talk. I don’t belong here in the company of a…whatever Nelly called you.”
He laughs, but his eyes give a hint that he’s not mocking. “She calls me a lot of things.”
He is in my face, and it’s not fair. It’s not fair that he looks even more handsome when his eyebrows do that.
“Anyway, I’m married and this feels wrong.”
“Not legally. You’re one of those sister-wives. Number five, I believe. You can leave whenever you want. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have gone with me.”
In the wind, the open screen door slaps against the exterior wall as I fall silent.
I am appalled. “You were listening?”
“It’s my house, and the walls are paper-thin.”
“I feel violated.”
“Fine. Let’s argue about it. We can do this inside, or we can do this here in the doorway, where your ex and his buddies can see us when they’re driving around looking for you.
He has a point.
“Fine. But then you need to take me to the bus station.”
“Fine.”
I step inside, and he closes the door.
“So,” he says. “Anything you want to ask me?”
“It’s embarrassing. Give me a minute.”
He doesn’t give me a minute but instead fills in the gaps without my help. “You think Nelly and I are together. Or that we have history. And you’re feeling some kind of way about it,” he says.
“I’m not feeling any kind of way about it,” I insist.
His shoulders shrug, and he lies through his teeth. “She pays me rent.”
I am so tired of everyone thinking I’m stupid. “What’s a fuck boy?”
