Chapter Twenty One

 

Lenny

 

 

“You need to get off your ass and get into gear. I’m sick of seeing you like this. Move!” Lisa kicked at the couch where I was laying, her foot nearly taking off my head. I grunted in disapproval, rolling over to face the back of the couch.

“Leave me alone.” Pulling the pillow from under my head I hugged it closely over the top of my head, smothering the sound of her voice.

“Perfect, makes it easier to put you out of your misery.” Lisa snorted applying pressure to the pillow I had stupidly used as a buffer. The pillow didn’t so much as suffocate me as her small fist ground into my head right into my eye socket.

Wiggling from beneath her hold I escaped. “Stop being an ass,” I growled out pulling myself into a sitting position feeling marginally safer now that I was upright.

“All you do is go to the studio, pick up Avery from school, take her to dinner and drop her off then come back here to sleep. My couch has a perfect indention of your ass.” She huffed crossing her arms over her chest.

“Your welcome. That couch is worth a fortune now.”  Mimicking her pose I folded my arms across my chest giving her a smug smile of satisfaction.

“No, the couch is worthless, much like your attitude as of lately” She retorted dropping down on the couch beside me.

I shrugged in indifference not really caring hat she thought about my attitude.

“It’s been a month. It’s time to talk about it.” Lisa sighed in resignation.

I turned angling my body away from her, unwilling to budge on the topic.

Lisa had taken me in a month ago. She took one look at my ragged ass on her doorstep and hauled me in like a stray. She made up her couch and let crash, no questions asked. The look on her face when I first showed up told me she already knew. That she had been expecting it. It killed me that I was the last to find out.

“She told me, ya know. The same day she told you.” Knowing Lisa found out the same day did little to ease my discomfort with the conversation.

“I don’t care.” It was a lie. We both knew it. Lisa was kind enough not to call me on it, offering me a weak smile instead.

“I have good news.” She beamed up at me, her pale green eyes shining with the excitement of a toddler.

“What’s your good news? You finally find a man willing to knock out the cobwebs?” Wagging my brows salaciously I received a blow to my midsection.

“You’re a pig.” She grunted in disgust.

I chuckled shrugging my shoulders in a ‘what can you do’ manner.

“Our flight leaves at ten in the morning on Tuesday. I need you up and ready to do battle.” Her words were sobering.

Huffing out a stream of breath through my nose I nodded in agreement. “I’ll be up.” I wouldn’t like it. But I would be there.

“Makayla will be there as well.” The sound of her name was like a hammer to my heart, busting my insides into pieces.

“Yeah.” Feigning a cough I turned my head to the side refusing to meet Lisa’s gaze.

“You can’t be mad at her about this forever. It’s not her fault Angela targeted her.” My head nodded like a bobble head.

That was the thing. I knew it wasn’t Makayla’s fault she was targeted by Angela. I wasn’t even mad about it. I was angry at Angela, of course. But not at Makayla. My anger with Makayla went beyond her receiving letters, beyond the lies. It cut much deeper. Flaying me alive.

“Look, I have to go to the gym and then the studio. I’ll be back in a bit.” Without looking back I walked to the door and slipped on my shoes. Grabbing my keys and wallet out of the dish at the entry table I stuffed them in my pocket and left.

“You have to talk to her at some point,” Lisa shouted out as the door slammed shut behind me.

She was right. At some point, I would have to talk to Makayla. That day was not today. Tomorrow wasn’t looking likely either.

The crisp fall air had left the streets barren. Everyone was taken advantage of the last days of warmer weather. To me, it felt like an icy tundra. In California, it rarely dropped below seventy degrees. In Michigan, fall mean temperatures in the forties. People were out, spending their weekend soaking up the last warming ray of sunshine on the river or out at the lake. As evening fell they would file back into town. The streets would fill as people gathered, enjoying a nice meal out or hitting the shops for some last minute shopping. It was peaceful.

The gym was empty when I entered. Grabbing my gear out of my locker I changed quickly, needed to release the pent-up emotions that clouded my brain, muddling my thoughts.

I took my anger and aggression out of the bag in front of me. The sound of my fist striking the leather calmed me. I wasn’t a violent person by nature. I could never imagine myself drawing back my fist in anger at another human being. But the feel of the leather as I pounded into it was like any other feeling in the world. The surge of testosterone pulsed through my veins. My adrenalin spiking as my muscles coiled and struck out in rapid succession. There was no room for thought. No room for feelings.

I fired on instinct.

Left.

Right.

Left.

I threw all my weight into it. Freeing myself of my troubles. It was a euphoric experience. A heady concoction of freedom and release. I gave it my all. I punched and jabbed until my arms were heavy. My gloves felt as though they were loaded down with lead. I sagged against the bag allowing it to carry my weight. My fist still worked, my hits falling softer than they were before.

I wasn’t ready to give up.

I couldn’t quit.

I went at the bag until I couldn’t move anymore. Sweat poured down my body, rolling down my face in waves, blinding me. I accepted its comfort. My labored breaths rising and falling against the forgiving leather bag.

I lay there, propped up against the bag, slick with my sweat and tears. I prayed for the comfort. I prayed the freeing sensation to continue, to follow me home, cocooning me in its embrace.

As the high began to fade, like the rising tide, the pain began to settle in. Every muscle in my body screamed at me. Staggering away from the bag I lumbered toward the locker room. Desperate for the scalding spray of the showers to ease my aching limbs.  If only the showers had the same effect on my heart.