Page 53 of Sweet Like a Psycho (Secrets of Suburbi 2)

I knew kids picked on him during recess. I had been to the school a few times about it already this year. But I hadn’t known about the bus. He hadn’t told me. I would have driven him sooner if I had known. And I couldn’t help but wonder if he hadn’t told me because he was worried about how I’d react. He was worried I’d get lost in my own mind. My issues were starting to weigh on my son, and I couldn’t have that. I needed to talk to someone. I glanced at the door. I needed to let someone in.

Chapter 20

Tucker

“Zeke the freak,” Damien said and shook his head. “Man, she should have named him something like Albert that rhymes with nothing.” He set his cup of hot chocolate down. “But then his name would be Albert, so…”

“What the hell was that?” I asked.

“Kids being kids.” He pulled the wrench out of his toolkit.

I was pissed about the other kids bullying Zeke, but that wasn’t what I was referring to. “No I mean you flirting with Violet? And inviting yourself to dinner.”

He lifted his head back up and smiled. “She was the one with her hands all over me. Now I can see why you’re so obsessed. She’s sweet. And she smells even sweeter.”

I slapped him in the back of the head where he had hit it earlier.

“Ow! What the hell?”

“Before she walked out you were just talking about the fact that she was insane.”

“Because I just did what you asked. I looked into her stepfather and mother. They disappeared without a trace and I gave you my honest opinion. No one even knew they were moving to Florida. People don’t just decide to move and then vanish into thin air. The whole thing reeked of foul play.”

“So you think she murdered her parents and now you’re hitting on her?”

“I said she was a dime before she even came out. I was trying to see why you’re so smitten with her and I get it.”

He didn’t get it at all. Yes, Violet was beautiful, but I didn’t just like her because of her looks. There was something about her that I was drawn to.

“And tonight I can look around to see if there really are dead bodies hidden somewhere in her house while you make googly eyes.”

“I already looked around. I told you that.”

“But did you look for itty bitty chunks of bodies? Pieces of bones from decay?”

“There’s nothing to find. Besides, if her parents really died under suspicious circumstances, why didn’t the cops look into it?”

“They did. But technically they died in Florida. There wasn’t much to look into here. And the Florida cops are…you know. Florida cops. They just deal with drugs and old people. Homicide isn’t their forte.”

“Is that why her parents’ house didn’t sell for so long? Because people think they died in it?”

He nodded. “No one wants to live in a haunted house.”

“I was looking around it earlier today. There were these really deep gashes in some of the trim work that were apparently there when the current owners moved in. And in one of the bedrooms there were a few worn floorboards. It looked like furniture kept being put in front of the door, maybe to prevent someone from entering. I think she was scared of something when she lived in that house.” I didn’t tell him about the other floorboard. There was no reason to add to his suspicion by telling him that Violet did indeed like hiding things under the floor. Besides, the countdown etched into the wood was alarming. The quote more so. The only escape is death.

“You think it was already haunted? I know you’re a little squeamish, but I didn’t think you believed in ghosts, Reed.”

“That’s not what I meant.” I looked toward Violet’s house. “What if someone was hurting her?” I hadn’t wanted it to be true. But I’d had all day to think about what I had seen. The signs were pointing toward abuse. What else would she be counting down toward but graduation when she could leave town with Joel? The quote etched into the wood made it seem like she was suffering. Someone could have been hurting her. She could have been waiting to escape. The only escape is death. But that theory didn’t really fit the quote. She didn’t seem suicidal or homicidal to me. I couldn’t figure out why death had anything to do with her leaving town.

“Have you seen her naked yet?”

His question caught me off guard. “No.” What did that have to do with anything?

He laughed. “Your game sucks. But whenever you do get her out of her pants, look for scars. People that were abused usually have proof.”

That was true.

“Or I can get her naked if you’re too much of pussy to do it yourself. I’d be happy to.”

---