Page 100 of Coffee Shop Girl
I turned to face Jim again, my knees shaking. No one walked by outside, which was good. This would be between me and him. All I had to do was buy time until the sheriff arrived. This would all be fodder against Jim in our custody case, which was already going better than expected, thanks to Jada’s reports and a few neighbors contributing their testimonies. But this would seal it.
“Let’s talk this out, Jim,” I said through the window, but remained back. “I’m willing to listen to what you have to say, but you have to promise to stay calm.”
He blinked rapidly, as if he couldn’t focus. He leaned his forehead on the glass door to stare straight into my eyes. Darkness clouded his features. It was like staring into the soul of the devil.
“She’s mine,” he said. “Your whore of a mother cheated on me! Ellie can burn in hell, just like your mama will, but I get Lizbeth.”
His gravelly tone set my teeth on edge. I pulled in a breath. “Mama was wrong. About a lot of things. Including cheating on you.”
“Damn right!”
“I’m sorry that happened, Jim.”
His eyebrows knitted together. “I loved her. I loved Kat.” Like granite, his features hardened again. He slammed his hand into the door with acrackof his palm on glass. “Then she went and cheated on me for years! Right under my own nose. Right ... right there.”
“Fine, Jim. I’ll keep Ellie. Will you give her to me?”
“Damn right you will.”
“If I have Ellie, and you hate our mama, then why do you want Lizbeth?”
“Because she’s mine! Mine. Mine. Mine.”
“Lizbeth is going to graduate high school soon. You know she could have graduated next year if Mama hadn’t died. She won’t be around for long.”
He paused, for a second appearing entirely sober. He tapped a yellowed fingernail on the door near my face, studying me closely. I almost thought I’d gotten through to him. That I saw a facet of something real in his dark, troubled gaze.
“Because I don’t want to be alone, Bethie baby. And if your mama ain’t here, then Lizbeth will have to do.”
Revulsion crawled through me like a nest of spiders. I stepped back, ready to vomit.
“No!”
The shout came from just behind me. Ellie and Devin skidded into the shop from the hallway. Ellie growled, wide eyes tapering the moment she saw him. Jim’s expression darkened immediately, clearing any flash of lucidity.
“The whore-child!” he screamed. His fist banged the door again. “There she is for everyone to see! Your mama was a cheater, and you won’t be any better than her.”
Ellie’s hands tightened into fists at her side.
“Ellie,” Devin said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Let’s get out of here.”
“You hated me!” she cried. “I didn’t do anything wrong, but you hated me.”
“Paying for the sins of your mama.” Jim stumbled to the side, leaning against the door to regain his balance. “You always will.”
Ellie’s nostrils flared. “I know you’re not my father.”
“Damn right I’m not!”
“You tried to kill me. To hurt me. To blame me for Mama’s death, but it was your fault. You killed her! You chased her from the house. You told her you’d make sure she paid for her mistake. I heard you. Then she died, and it’s your fault.”
Jim paled. “I didn’t kill her.”
Ellie hissed through her teeth. “Murderer.”
He slammed a fist into the glass, nearly cracking it. “Bastard child!”
“Hit me again,” she called, “and I’ll kill you. You’ll never walk free again.”
