Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 73537 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 368(@200wpm)___ 294(@250wpm)___ 245(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73537 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 368(@200wpm)___ 294(@250wpm)___ 245(@300wpm)
I watched Tex take in another long pull from the cigarette and fought the urge to reach over and snatch it from his hand and inhale. I was ready for church to be over. I had my own list of shit to handle. Starting with one of the dancers claiming she had gotten knocked up by a prospect and demanding the club pay for her abortion.
I knew the first thing I was going to do when I walked out of here was call Dolly. I was finding myself needing to hear her voice, and I wanted to believe it was just because she was important to Pepper and nothing more. If I was honest with myself, I liked the sound of her voice, and listening to her talk soothed me. I was keeping my distance, but I found myself calling her more often than I should.
Last night, I’d talked to her on the phone for far longer than necessary. Just listening to her go on about her job, Mrs. Mildred, and her attempt to get Harold to sleep on her sofa had distracted me from everything else.
She made me laugh. That was all this could be about. I just had to make sure I stayed away.
15
Dolly
After climbing out of Ringer’s truck, I waved goodbye and thanked him before heading toward the apartment building. The past four days, Brick had been outside my apartment when I went to bed and woke up. Ringer arrived to take me to work, then brought me back. There had been no more calls or texts from Canyon, but Micah, on the other hand, was calling me at least once, sometimes twice a day.
After the gun incident, when I had freaked out on him, he’d stayed away, but he checked on me. Asked me about my day and listened when I started rambling on about what all had happened. He even laughed and seemed to be enjoying my need to give him more information than he required.
“I’d better stay here.” I heard Brick’s voice talking to someone at the top of the stairs. “No, I can’t do that. Not without Micah’s approval. You’ll need to call in Tex to help out,” he said.
There was no other voice, and I realized he was talking on the phone. I wasn’t sure if I should interrupt him or not. I had planned to tell him I was going to see Mrs. Mildred. She hadn’t been home the last time I had stopped by to help with her bills, and they were due now. I knew that much.
“Micah claims she’s slow. He’s not messing with her. Shut that shit down. The boy hasn’t even been over here in days,” he said in a low voice that I could still hear clear as a bell, seeing as the building was quiet.
I gripped the handrail hard and stood there, letting his words sink in. Slow? What did he mean, Micah said I was slow? I felt bile rise in my throat as my stomach turned.
“She’s a sweet girl. Too damn sweet for him. Don’t know if she’s slow or not, but if Micah wants to think so, it’ll keep him from fucking her.”
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, then backed away to stand where I couldn’t be seen if he looked down here. Placing a hand on my stomach, I tried to talk myself out of being hurt.
It didn’t matter what Micah Abe thought about me. I shouldn’t care at all. It had been years since anyone had accused me of having some mental deficiencies. I’d proven them all wrong.
When I didn’t hear Brick talking anymore, I waited a few more minutes before walking back to the bottom of the stairs.
If I never laid eyes on Micah Abe again, I would be just fine. The nerve of him to call me slow. What did even know about me? Nothing. He didn’t know me enough to have any opinion on my intelligence. He was the slow one.
I called out from the bottom of the stairs, “I’ll be up in an hour or so, Brick. I need to help Mrs. Mildred with her bills.”
Brick’s large body appeared at the top of the stairs. He had a burger in one hand and was chewing. “I’ll be right here if you need me,” he replied.
I nodded, then headed to the door to the right of the stairs and knocked on Mrs. Mildred’s door. The welcome mat needed sweeping off, or maybe I should just replace it. I made a mental note to look at getting her a new one. This one was worn and frayed.
The word slow kept taunting me, and I clenched my hands at my sides.
Damn you, Micah Abe.
I had been having a perfectly good day, and he had ruined it. I didn’t want to give him that kind of power. Not now or ever.