My bad.
“Little late for you to be eating lunch, isn’t it?” he asked. “I thought you had appointments all day? That is what you told me about an hour ago when I checked in to see if we were still on schedule.”
Hennessy sighed and threw her cup into a high arc, making it barely into the trash.
“I did have appointments,” she confirmed. “One canceled last minute, though, leaving me with a half hour of free time. I do have to be getting back, unfortunately.”
With that, she left, and didn’t look back.
Her father waited until she was all the way onto the highway before he turned to me.
“You don’t go there.” He pointed his finger.
I wanted to laugh.
The man should know that he couldn’t tell me I couldn’t do something.
He had, after all, told me that I’d never amount to anything. That I would be a loser for the rest of my life living off of my momma’s pussy.
Yes, those were his words, in case you were wondering.
But I had made something of myself. I had gone into the Marines. I had built myself a life I’d been proud of.
And even if I’d been to prison, I wasn’t upset about that.
Going to prison was worth it if I got to see a fifteen-year-old girl smile after what she’d been put through.
“We’ll see,” I said and walked to my truck without looking back. “We’ll see.”
Chapter 12
My ‘give a fuck’ is still broken. However, my ‘go fuck yourself’ is still highly functional.
-Text from Tate to Hennessy
Hennessy
“I know you committed the ultimate sin.”
The snarled voice had me opening my eyes a split second before I was dragged out of my bed by my hair, wrenched upward, and shaken.
“Stop!” I cried out, knowing who it was without opening my eyes.
“Tell me you didn’t.”
I couldn’t tell him. Because I did it.
I knew what he was asking.
Did I have sex.
Yes, I had.
I wasn’t a good liar. All my times being beaten when I was younger attested to that.
I couldn’t lie for shit, and my father had excellent lie detection.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I cried.
My head was on fire where he was holding me up, and I knew better than to struggle, though everything inside of me was demanding that I should.
“You know what I’m talking about, little girl,” he growled.
Then a sharp pain burst over my face, making me cry out involuntarily.
“I have to go to work tomorrow,” I cried out, feeling the pain of his slap on my cheek. “People will see.”
“You’ll cover it like you did all the rest,” he growled. “Now, stand up.”
I found my feet, and knew what was coming next.
The slice of the blade through my hair, the way I could feel his cold fury over my back.
“You’re lucky I don’t take it all like I did when you were younger.”
I was, I supposed.
Still, it hurt to know that all the work that I’d put into growing it out, and nurturing it over the last four years, was all gone.
By the time he was done, my hair was hacked off at my shoulders, leaving me to stare at the floor in defeat.
I should’ve fought back.
I should’ve done something!
But then I remembered the last time I tried to ‘do something.’
It hadn’t worked out then, and wouldn’t have worked out now.
As I heard the door slam, I dropped to my knees and started to cry.
Only later did I stand up, get dressed for work, and go into the office over two hours early.
If I was in that house one more single second, then I’d literally scream.
***
Hours later, as I looked up at the sound of the outer office door opening, I saw Tate opening the door.
He was looking down at his phone, his fingers typing out a message with one hand, while the other pulled on the knob.
I took a deep breath, ran my hands down my hair, and immediately winced.
Yeah, today I didn’t look like the Hennessy I’d been hoping to turn into. Today I looked like that old, scared girl that used to hide in the corners with the shadows every time my father pulled one of his many stunts.
My neck was freakin’ cold.
And my eyes were starting to sting.
Stop it, Hennessy! This isn’t helping matters!
My inner torment went unnoticed to the man as he stepped into the room, still on his phone.
“Morning, darlin’,” he said. “Give me just one more minute. Gotta figure out this map where I’m supposed to pick up a car in an hour, bothering the shit out of me.”
“Okay,” I replied as I leaned forward, grabbing my cup and taking another sip of coffee.
Thank God, I had a coffee maker at the office. Otherwise, I’d be lost right about now.
Coffee was my only addiction. My one vice that I overindulged in, and probably shouldn’t.
I had a heart condition. One that caused my heart to skip beats, and beat irregularly the rest of the time. It was suggested to me to stop drinking anything with caffeine in it entirely. Oh, and give up chocolate.
Neither one of those had happened as of yet, and I am still ticking!
“Done.”
I looked up to find him staring at me oddly.
I knew that he was going to ask the moment he walked in the door.
“Hennessy,” he hesitated. “What’s going on with…”
He gestured toward my head, and I grimaced.
I shrugged. “I haven’t been able to get to the beauty salon yet today.”
That wasn’t a good answer. I knew it.
What I also knew was that he likely wouldn’t stand for it.
I had to come up with a plausible lie. One that slid out of my mouth easily.
I could…
Tate walked up to me and cradled my head. His breath was on my face, and I couldn’t make my mind form cohesive thoughts between one breath and the next.
All because I could smell him. And he was touching me.
“Try again,” he ordered. “This time tell me what happened.”
I tried to think. Tried to make my brain formulate a response that wouldn’t piss him off.
But I couldn’t.
“My…dad.”
He frowned.
“Your dad?”
I nodded.
“What about your dad?” he asked. “Did he spit some gum in it?”
He was joking.
Oh, God.
That smile was about to be wiped straight off his face, and he was going to be one pissed off alpha male.
Then a horrid thought occurred to me, and I had to rethink my strategy. Not even his closeness could stop me now.
“Will you promise me something?”
He pursed his lips.
“Is this promise going to mean that you won’t tell me if I don’t promise?”
I nodded.
I didn’t want him going to jail again because of me.
“Okay, hit me with it.”
I worried my lip for a half a second, then shrugged, deciding to hell with it.
“Promise me that when you hear what I have to tell you, that you’ll not do anything stupid.”
He studied my face with humor filled eyes.
“Define stupid,” he ordered.
I contemplated what ‘stupid’ was for a few moments, then nodded.
“Stupid is beating someone up. Stupid is shooting someone. Stupid is doing anything about this that doesn’t involve using your words.”
His face sobered instantly.