Page 181 of Releasing 10
It also didn’t hurt that I was closing in on him in the height department. He was eighteen, while I wasn’t even thirteen yet, and he barely had an inch on me.
“Do you mind?” he finally broke the strained silence we’d been stewing in. “Can you stop fucking staring at me like that?”
“If you don’t like it, you could always leave,” I deadpanned, purposefully keeping my eyes trained on his. “You know where the door is.”
“Oh, you’d like that, wouldn’t ya?” he sneered. “You and your sister can’t wait to see the back of me.”
“Because we have good judgment,” I shot back dryly. “Unlike others.”
“Meaning?”
“Do you need me to spell it out for you?”
“What the fuck is your problem with me, Biggs?” he demanded then, losing his cool. “I’ve never bothered ya, but you’re hell-bent on making trouble for me every chance you get.”
“I don’t like you,” I replied simply. “I can’t stand you, truth be told. The way you look, the way you speak, the way you think, the way you drive, the way you conduct yourself. Everything about you disgusts me.” Leaning back in my chair, I gave him a harsh appraisal. “And that’s not taking into account that you’re a sadistic, not to mention pathetic, bully who gets off on tormenting a child who had to watch his father and sister drown in front of him.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “I was there that day on the boat, asshole, and I was at the funeral, too. I remembereverything. I especially remember thesmirkyou had on your face when my friend was saying goodbye to his father, who, just so happens to bemygodfather.”
“Wasyour godfather,” Mark shot back with a cruel smirk. “Joe Gibson is past tense.”
Instead of losing the head, I smiled in response, and it seemed to throw him off-kilter.
“Is that how you do it?” I asked with a low chuckle. “How you get under people’s skin? You target their deceased loved ones?” I laughed again, thoroughly enjoying how his face reddened. “Jesus, you’re even more pathetic than I realized.”
“Oh yeah?” Sitting forward, he rested his elbows on his thighs and narrowed his green eyes in challenge. “Well, I could tell you a thing or two that would wipe that smug look off your face.”
Grinning, I mirrored his actions by sitting forward and resting my arms on my thighs. “Go for it.”
Mark opened his mouth to respond, only to think better of it at the final second and shake his head instead. “Nah. You’re not worth the effort.”
I laughed harder. “You are such a coward.”
“You do realize I’m in sixth year, and you’re in sixth class, don’t ya?” he growled, glowering at me. “I could snap you in half if I wanted to.”
“Don’t worry about what class I’m in,” I mused, still chuckling. “I’m sure by the time I reach sixth year, you’ll be ready to graduate.”
“You think you’re so fucking smart.” He seethed, balling his hands into fists. “You mark my words, Biggs, one day in the future, when you’re all grown-up, I’m going to hunt you down, and I’m going to put a bullet in your head.”
“Oh yeah?” Still smiling, I locked eyes on him and warned, “Or maybe, one day in the future, when I’m all grown-up, I’ll hunt you down and put a bullet in yours.”
PART 13
Unchartered Turbulence
BACK WITH A VENGEANCE
Lizzie
MARCH 3, 2000
EVERYTHING WAS BACK.
My mother’s cancer.
My sister’s boyfriend.
My father’s bad mood.
The scary lady’s voice in my head.
