Page 49 of Hit and Run
“Up you go,chiquita,” he tells me, pulling me to my feet. “Time to take some pictures.”
I attempt to spit at him, only to earn a backhand to my face. I laugh, nothing about it is humorous. It sounds evil. Crazy even. I’ve never heard such a sound come from my mouth.
There’s a copper taste in my mouth. I dart my tongue out, wetting my lips and realize my bottom lip is busted open. Scarface takes a step back and I wobble on my feet. He takes a picture and turns to leave. Once he’s out the door, I fall to the mattress. I’m sure potential buyers will love seeing me in this condition. My hair is a rat’s nest and there’s a layer of dirt and grime covering my skin. Not long after Scarface leaves, the kid comes in with a towel, new lingerie, and a toiletry bag.
“Come on,chica. Time to get you cleaned up,” he tells me in a soft voice. He helps me to my feet and walks me into the bathroom. He puts the lid of the toilet down before having me sit so he can turn the water on. While we wait for the water to warm up, he hangs the towel and lingerie on the towel rack. Leaning against the counter, he starts pulling things out of the bag. A travel-size soap, shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, things that will make me feel like a real human again. He checks the water then turns to face me.
“Are you ready,” he asks me. I want to ask him if that’s a trick question. Instead, I nod my head. He helps me stand again and steadies me while I take my bra and panties off. With his help, I step into the shower. He sets the shampoo, conditioner, and soap on the edge of the bath.
“I’ll be outside the bathroom. If you need anything, just let me know,” he tells me as he closes the shower curtain. My legs begin to tremble, so I lower myself onto the shower floor, letting the water hit me.
After a few minutes of sitting there, I muster up enough strength to stand and wash my hair. I pass on using conditioner, mostly because I’m tired of standing. I wash my body as best I can while sitting. When I’m done, I turn the water off and the bathroom door opens. The kid walks in and his eyes go wide.
“Are you okay? Did you need help,” he asks, kneeling next to the tub.
“I don’t know how you got wrapped into helping your brother do such evil things,” I say to him. “But your heart is too gentle for you to do this shit.”
His face turns red.
“Let’s get you dried and dressed.” He brushes off what I said and grabs the towel. I take it from him, drying off what I can while sitting. Once I’m done, the kid holds me up so I can dry the rest of my body. He helps me climb back out of the tub and keeps me steady as I put the new lingerie on.
“I’m supposed to take new pictures of you,” he admits and I nod.
“Do what you need to do,” I tell him. He helps me brush my teeth and hair before walking me back into the room.
“Do you want to stand by the wall so you have something to hold on to,” he asks me.
“Sure,” I reply. “Thank you.”
He props me up against the wall, then stands back to snap some pictures. As soon as he finishes, he comes to my side and helps me to the mattress.
“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry you’re in this situation,” he says, then leaves the room.
31
Shade
A month has comeand gone and we still haven’t found Sienna. We’ve been working with the Murphys to find her. With each day that passes, I worry more and more that she might not ever come home. And I can’t help but blame myself. I have so many pent up emotions, I feel like I’m going to explode if I don’t find an outlet soon.
I walk out of my room to Bull’s office. He’s not there. I try the main room next, even though there are too many people for me to be around at the moment. I’ve been having a hard time being around everyone all at once.
“Hey, brother. You good,” Rascal asks me.
“No, not really,” I tell him honestly. “Have you seen Bull?”
“He went out. Didn’t say where he was going,” he says. “Can I help?”
“I need some kind of outlet or I’m gonna lose my fuckin’ mind,” I admit to him.
“You wanna shot in the octagon,” he asks. By that, he’s talking about the underground MMA fighting. It’s about as popular as the race wars around here. I’ve never thought about getting in on that, but I’ve trained a hell of a lot with some of the brothers. At the same time, I’ve never had all these strong as fuck emotions that I have now.
Even back in the day when Pops beat me, I would either smoke, race, or work on a car and one of those always helped. Smoking hasn’t helped worth a damn the last few weeks. And for the first time in my life, I have no desire to race or go near a car. This shit is fucking with my head.
“That might be what I need,” I say.
“There’s one goin’ down tonight or is that too soon,” he asks.
“It’s fuckin’ perfect,” I reply.
