Page 20 of Nobody Wants Me
“As do I.They’re something else.Beautiful, but deadly.You do not want to go holding one too tightly now.”
In that moment, I wondered how different my life would have been if I had been born beautiful.Okay, now I fucking hated this.I did not like this pity party.I got over this years ago.Right around the time of the second plastic surgery visit.I was lucky the doctors my father took me to, refused to work on someone who wasn’t willing.
Thinking about it, that did surprise me.Most often, people did everything my father told them, no questions asked.Yet, I did not go under the knife.
I noticed The Butcher was nowhere to be seen.Until it started to get dark, I stayed outside, helping Rafael.He talked constantly about his flowers, and I found that a welcome distraction.He knew what he was doing and it calmed me.
Rafael was the one to send me indoors to find dinner was already waiting, and so was The Butcher.She simply sat at the table, looking calm, collected, and I saw she was on her cell phone.
“Evening,” I said.
“Evening.”
I expected her to complain about my lack of company, or say something critical.She typed on her cell phone exceedingly fast, and then slid it into her pocket.
“Did you have a good afternoon?”she asked.
This made me frown.Technically, this was my house, well, no, it was Victor’s house, but I lived here.Shouldn’t I be the one asking her this question?It didn’t seem right that she was the one asking me.
“Uh, yeah, I mean, it was good.I like hanging around with Rafael.He said you were in the garden.”
“Just checking things out.”
Okay, this held my curiosity.“Checking things out?”
“The perimeter.Seeing if there are any weak spots, that kind of thing.”
“And?”
“Victor has his house locked down tight.Kind of makes me respect him a little.”
“You don’t have respect for him?”
“I do,” The Butcher said.But she didn’t elaborate.
“I just know that even in the most tightly locked-up space, there is always room for error, and that means people have to be ready for anything.”
This made me frown.Was she purposefully talking cryptically?
“I’m sorry,” I said, attempting to change the subject.I felt it was going to be easier to apologize for being a terrible host today.Not that I knew anything about being a host.My father never allowed me to have guests, and the truth was, he tended to vet them all.I hated it.
I guess it helped that I didn’t make any friends.Most of them just wanted an excuse to get closer to my father or my brothers.Being homeschooled stopped me from being around a lot of people.I think I’m starting to realize why I am socially awkward.
“What for?”The Butcher asked.
“Today.I should have stayed with you.”
“Why?”
I opened my mouth, closed it, and I wasn’t exactly sure what to say.Instead, I frowned and glanced down at the food on the table.“It’s the right thing to do.It’s what people do who live in a house when they have people over ...they make sure they’re not alone.”
The Butcher chuckled.“Don’t worry about it.We had a good time.I liked it, and I also got to check out the property.”
“You’re not going to steal from Victor, are you?”I asked, wondering if this was one of those stupid tests I’ve seen in the movies.
This is why I stopped watching movies.They made me paranoid, and don’t even get me started on horror movies.If I even catch a glimpse of something scary, I could kiss goodbye to a good-night’s sleep.That stuff messed with my head.I hated it.
This is why I sewed, did makeup, and read books.Romance books, mostly.No horror, no crime, just romance that left a smile on my face.I’ve already come to see that the world was a shitty place, and I didn’t need to add to it by filling my head with all the bullshit out there.
