My life finally had possibility.
I was grateful for the first time since Nan took me in. “Thank you, Nan,” I whispered, hoping my message would reach her somehow. The very first happy tear I’ve ever cried in my almost eighteen years on this earth slid down my cheek.
“Nan don’t need no thanks from a fucking whore.” A deep, slow, slurred voice growled from somewhere in the dark, startling me.
“Where are you?” I asked. “Who are you?” My heart thumped out an uneven warning like Morse code.
“Aw, baby.” Owen stepped out from the shadows under the overhang of the bait shack and into the moonlight. “What’s the matter? You don’t recognize my voice no more? Tsk tsk tsk. Now, that hurts my feelings.” He took a swig from an almost-empty glass bottle, wiping the dark brown dribble from his chin with the backside of his grease-stained hand.
“What the hell do you want, Owen?” I crossed my arms over my chest and tried to push out the little voice in the back of my head telling me I should freak the fuck out.
He motioned his bottle to my exposed arms. “Looky here. Someone decided to come out of hiding. It’s about time you showed off those fat tits.” I remained silent. I didn’t want to make more trouble with him. I just needed to get the fuck away.
“What do you think your Nan would say if she knew you’d taken up with a junkyard dog like Jake Dunn? You really think she’d be proud of you for fucking that loser?” Owen took another slow menacing step toward me. “You lied to me.” There was an edge to his voice I’d never heard before. His white tank top was stained brown and red with what I could only guess was a mixture of bait and fish guts. Even from a few feet away, I could smell the liquor wafting off him.
“How the fuck did I lie to you, Owen?” I asked, trying not to show my growing unease. I started to walk casually toward the storage unit door next to the bait shop. My plan was to run in and lock it behind me as quickly as possible. I could hear Owen’s footsteps on the gravel quicken as I tried to pass him.
He closed the gap between us.
“Yes—LIED! Look it up!” he yelled, furious. “You told me you weren’t fucking no one, weren’t wanting no one. Truth was, you just didn’t want to fuck me!”
I’d never heard him talk with this much hatred and pain behind his words.
He drained the bottle and slammed it against the seawall rocks lining the road. The glass exploded like fireworks. He let out a laugh like a machine gun. “I thought you were different, but you ain’t no different then all the other sluts in this fucking town, are you?” A cruel smile hung on his lips. His eyelids were puffy; thin, red veins swam in the whites of his eyes.
“Owen, you don’t know what you’re talking about. Get your drunk ass home.” I tried to play it off, walking faster toward the door of the unit. The handle was just steps away from my grasp.
“Now Abby, why would I go home to my empty bed when I’ve got you right here?” He caught up to me and grabbed me by the back of my tank top, spinning me around to look him in the face, my ankle twisting on the unevenness of the road, sending a shock of pain up my leg. I regained my balance and took a step back, but Owen held on. “Especially since you’re game now,” he added. The venom in his voice more potent than any rattler.
“Owen, stop! I have to go. This ain’t funny!” I tried to turn back around, but his hands shot out and caught me by the shoulders. The burning I hadn’t felt in over a week was back in an instant. My entire arm was engulfed in flames. His grip was tight, unclipped fingernails dug into my flesh. The stench of rotten fish and whiskey made my stomach turn.
Owen glared into my eyes, talking between gritted teeth and spraying saliva on me as he spoke. “So let me get this right, you have time to fuck Jake Dunn, who you ain’t known but for a minute, but you ain’t got no time for your dear friend, Owen?” An involuntary gasp shot out of my mouth like the blast from an air gun. He breathed in my ear, his grip tightened, I was sure he was drawing blood. He pulled me closer, running the back of his dirty index finger down the side of my face, leaving an icy chill on my cheek. I recoiled from his touch. “You know, I saw you two tonight.”
“Owen, stop. You’re scaring me.” I struggled to free myself.