Chapter 14
By the time I reach my parking space, my thoughts are still racing. I am trying to wrap my head around everything Tara said, and I cannot get past how upset Mychal was, with me. I know I should not have gone to the coffee shop, but did that really warrant him treating me like a child?
Once parked, Kenzie comes over, looking at me questioningly. “Ummm, Piper, I think Mychal wanted us to go back to his apartment.”
“I am aware of that.” I say as I walk into the building.
“So why are we here?”
“I don’t know. I just don’t want to go there right now.”
She says nothing else until we are inside. She hugs me. “Piper, talk to me.” She pulls me over to the table and we both take a seat.
“Where do I begin?” I sigh. “Kenz, in the last week I feel as if I’ve lost control over every aspect of my life. It’s not a good feeling.”
“I know, I’m sorry. I wish there were some way we could go back.”
“Wait, how did you know we were at the coffee shop?”
“Oh, after I got your text… it freaked me out, and I called Mychal. He was already on his way there. Piper, I’ve never known him to be so panicked. Anyway, when he told me where you were… and who you were with, I was out the door. Dani is crazy. I knew we needed to get you out of there.”
“I’m sorry, I knew going there was a mistake. At least we now know that Tara is Dani… even though I still have no idea who Dani is… she has this vendetta against me, and I don’t know why. She claims my life should be hers; that I somehow replaced her when I moved here.”
Kenzie sits back in her chair, letting out a deep breath. “Dani and I met when we were seven years old; I felt bad for her. She had no friends; she was bullied to the point she would lash out at the other kids. I tried to help her.”
“This story sounds so familiar.”
She laughs. “Yeah, I guess I have a tendency to try and help people. Thankfully, you turned out normal.”
“Anyway,” she continues. “It didn’t take long for mom and dad to become concerned. Of course, I insisted she just needed a friend, but they saw early on how she was. She would do things, strange things. She would threaten anyone she felt was interfering with our friendship. It wasn’t long before she was my only friend, none of my others would talk to me. Hell, they were afraid to.”
She pauses for a moment as if recalling some long-forgotten memories. “Mychal tried talking to me about it, and I would just tell him she was just misunderstood. I was young, naïve, and I just wanted to see the best in people.”
“That’s just who you are, Kenz. That’s one of the things I’ve always loved about you.”
“Yeah, but with Dani… I should have listened. Helping her, was beyond me. There was something going on inside that mind of hers, something I still don’t fully understand… nor would I want to. There were times I would go over to her house only to find her hurting animals. When I would ask her what she was doing, she’d always say she found the animal hurt, and she was only trying to help it. It didn’t stop with animals either. If other kids would talk to me, she would always be friendly to them while I was there… but the moment I was gone she would instantly turn violent. She genuinely felt that I was hers.”
I sit here trying to take this all in; it seems impossible for a little seven-year-old to be so cruel and obsessive.
“When Mychal started hanging out with us more… being the protective big brother he is... well, she took this as a sign he cared for her too. She extended that obsession to him. She even talked about how once they were married, we would finally be sisters. That’s when I started taking things more seriously. How could I not? I could ignore things when it came to me if it meant helping her… but I couldn’t allow Mychal to be in that position.”
She grabs us a couple waters from the fridge and takes a drink of hers before continuing. “I told Mychal and my parents I would tell her we couldn’t be friends anymore, but I wanted to do it nicely. They were just happy I had finally come to my senses.”
When it appears she isn’t going to continue, I push. “What happened?”
She looks over at me and I see her sadness. “I didn’t want to hurt her, so I went over and talked to her parents first one day while she was in after school detention. They seemed far more understanding than I would expect, explaining that this wasn’t the first time something like this had happened. Before leaving, I asked them to have Dani meet me in the tree house we used to play in once she got home. They agreed.” I can see the emotion in her eyes and I’m not sure I want to know where this is going. “Anyway, I went to the tree house to wait for her. However, her parents must have tipped her off because she was furious when she got there. She yelled at me, telling me I couldn’t just stop being friends with her. That I was hers and I was the only friend she had. She had me scared, and she knew it.”
“When I didn’t give in and apologize, telling her we could still be friends. She said, ‘Fine, if you don’t want to be my friend no more... you just won’t be nobody’s friend!’ and then she shoved me, with as much force as she could, out of the tree house. I hit the ground, hard. When I did, my head hit one of the large rocks below the tree.”
I don’t think she realizes when she reaches up to touch her head, in what I assume is the spot. “I’m not sure how long I lay there. I guess Mychal came looking for me. I was still unconscious when he found me. He carried me back to the house as quickly as a ten-year-old could. I woke up in the hospital.”
“Oh my god, Kenzie! That is awful!”
“When they asked what happened, I told them everything. I guess when they questioned Dani, she admitted it. She was sent away to a psychiatric hospital, and I haven’t seen or heard from her since. To say your text was a surprise, would be an understatement.”
“I’m so sorry you had to go through that. I still can’t get my head around it. Wow.”
“Yeah, but it was a long time ago. Honestly, I haven’t even thought about it… or her… in so long.”
“Wait, you said that was the last time you had heard or seen her?”
“Yeah. It’s been more than fifteen years.”
“She said that she tried to get with Mychal… when him and Drake first started ‘playing’, but he turned her down… and then she tried to be part of a threesome with the two of them, but again he wanted nothing to do with it. Do you think he knew it was her? Or that she was already using her alias?”
She looks confused. “What? No, if Mychal knew it was her, he definitely would have said something to me. He would not want her back around town without me knowing.”
“I can’t help but wonder how long this has been going on. How long has she been sitting in the wings, watching, plotting, and waiting? I mean, she said she’s known me for years.”
“Years?”
“Yeah, she said she’s been watching all of us, and fucking Drake, for the past, I think she said five years. He probably knows exactly who she is.”
She looks disgusted. “They are perfect for each other… she probably told him everything, and he more than likely got off on that. They both need help.”
“I am curious though, why did you never tell me about any of this before?”
She shrugs. “It was a few years before we met, we were so young. I didn’t want to burden our friendship, and honestly, I just wanted to forget. I didn’t think I’d ever be confronted with that piece of my past.”
“I get it. I mean, I’ve known she was crazy since my first week at work. I just didn’t know the extent of it, now that I do, I gotta admit, I’m a little worried. I don’t think she is just going to give up.”
“I think you’re right.” She says on a sigh. “Unfortunately, at this point she hasn’t done anything to get the cops involved, and I doubt she has done anything that would cause her to lose her job.”
“No, she seems to be on very good terms with my boss.”
“Look, Piper, I know you love working there… but maybe you should just…”
“Stop right there, just like I told your brother, I can’t just quit; I have to have a job. I need to stay there, at least until I can find something different. Besides, what can she possibly do to me while I’m at work? Other than what I’m already used to?”
“You don’t have to do anything. You know you would have nothing to worry about, and with your skills it wouldn’t take long at all to find something else.”
“No, end of discussion. I’m not quitting my job.”
“Why are you so stubborn about this?”
“Why? Because. If I quit my job, she wins at that. Then what? Do I walk away and let her have Mychal too? Maybe step aside, let her step back into the role of your best friend?”
“That’s not the same, and you know it.”
“You don’t think that’s how she would look at it? She’s psycho. That is exactly how she would think.”
She rubs her temples, “I know you’re right, but I don’t like it. I don’t like you being in the same room with her every day. Being in the presence of others won’t stop her.”
“At this point, it doesn’t matter. We just have to keep our eyes open and be vigilant.”
She stands, reaching for my hand. “Enough about Dani. Let’s watch a movie until we hear from Mychal.”
We get comfortable on the couch with Clueless playing on the tv. The day’s events have exhausted me, and it doesn’t take long before I fall asleep.
I wake up to hear Kenzie and Mychal talking.
“Why the hell did you guys come back here instead of going back to my place?” He still sounds pissed, so I keep my eyes closed and listen.
“I don’t know, maybe because when you left you were being a complete dick.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Oh, come on, Mychal. Are you serious? Piper has been through hell this past week, and you were a complete asshole back there. You talked to her as if she were a disobedient child.” I can tell she is trying to control her temper and keep her voice down, not wanting to wake me.
“She shouldn’t have fucking been there.”
“No, she shouldn’t have. But, put yourself in her shoes. You’d want to know why someone was deliberately trying to make your life hell; why they led you right into the hands of some asshole wanting to attack you. I don’t like the fact that she was there either, but at least we have some answers. Now we can try to be proactive.”
“I just wish she’d have asked me to be there with her… asked you to be there with her… hell, someone to be there, for fuck’s sake. I hate that she was willing to be alone with her. We may not have known who she really was, but she already knew that she has it out for her. Damn it, I wish she would think about her safety for once.”
“Being an ass isn’t going to make her do things differently.”
“You really think I was trying to be an ass?”
“No, I don’t. But, trying or not, you were. She has got a lot of shit on her mind right now and she doesn’t need you making it worse. I understand you are only trying to protect her, but next time, think before you speak.”
“I love her, Kenzie. I don’t know how to sit back while she puts herself in danger.”
“I’m not telling you to do that. Just don’t talk down to her.”
“So, what all does she know?”
“Everything. I told her everything. I need her to realize that if Dani was that crazy at seven, I can only imagine the depth of it now.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.”
“By the way, that reminds me. She said Dani told her she has been watching all of us for years. That she tried hooking up with you back when you and Drake first started screwing around, even tried having a threesome with the two of you… but you turned her down both times.”
“What? What are you talking about?”
“I don’t know. But that’s what she told Piper.”
“I haven’t seen Dani since I was ten years old.”
“That’s what I thought. But apparently, she came back into the picture a long time ago. She’s been with Drake for the last five years. She must have been disguising herself back then. I’m just glad you were smart enough to turn her down, even if you didn’t know it was her.”
“I still have no clue what the hell you are talking about. Look, there have been a lot of girls… I know, it’s not something I’m proud of, but I can’t change it either. I just don’t know how she could have been around and I not know it was her. Drake never said a word.”
“Why would he? He is just as crazy as she is.”
I’ve heard enough; I open my eyes and stretch, grabbing Mychal’s attention.
“Well, look who decided to wake up.” Kenzie says smiling.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep. I didn’t even realize I was tired.”
“It’s okay.”
I see tension on Mychal’s face, and he is hesitant as he approaches me. “Hey, I expected you to be at home when I got there… to my surprise you weren’t. So, want to talk about it?” He says softly.
“That depends, do you actually want to talk to me? Or do you want to talk at me some more?”
“I’m going to give the two of you some privacy. Piper, I will talk to you later.” Kenzie says just before disappearing into her bedroom.
“Baby, that’s not fair.”
“No, Mychal, what’s not fair is the way you treated me before you went back to work. Going there was stupid, but at least I got a few answers out of it. I told you exactly where we were, and I’m still alive.”
He rubs his eyes. “It’s my job to protect you. I can’t do that if you insist on disregarding your safety.”
I say nothing. What’s the point? We will keep going around and around, repeating the same things. He feels how he feels, and I feel the way I feel.
On a heavy sigh he says, “Can we please go home?”
“Sure. I guess I’ll meet you there.” I say standing. Grabbing my purse, I head for the door.
When we arrive, he opens the door for me, then follows me in tossing his keys on the counter. Without saying a word, he goes to the bar and pours himself a drink. Leaving him with his drink, I go take a shower.
Afterward, I debate going straight to bed. Hating this tension between us, I decide to go out and attempt to smooth things over.
He is lounging on the couch, one arm covering his eyes. His now empty glass rests on the bar. He must have opted to drink straight from the Jack Daniels bottle he is now holding.
He doesn’t bother looking at me as I walk into the room and sit in the chair. For a moment, I just take in the sight of him. I have never seen him like this. He seems so stressed. He is still wearing his suit, with his tie loosened; his hair is disheveled, as if he has been running his hands through it.
“Mychal, what are we doing? Do you want me to go?”
This gets his attention, and he looks over at me. “What? What are you talking about? No, I don’t want you to leave. Please, Baby, that’s not what I want at all.”
I feel the tears burning my eyes, at his genuine sadness. “Then what do you want me to do? I hate this tension. I’m obviously not making you happy; you’re sitting there with a bottle of whiskey in your hand for crying out loud.”
“I just don’t know what to do anymore.” His voice is strained, broken.
At the sound, I need to be closer to him. He looks up at me when I take the bottle from his hand, setting it on the table. He doesn’t object as I climb on to his lap, straddling him.
His arms come around me. “Baby, I’m so sorry.” He says holding me close.
“I’m sorry, too. I shouldn’t have gone there alone. If something like this happens again, I will take you or Kenzie with me.” I rub myself against him, while kissing his neck.
“That’s all I’m asking. I need you safe.” He grinds his hips against me, letting me feel his erection.
“Shhh, let me make it up to you.”
He kisses me for a moment, then surprises me when he pulls back, a sly grin playing on his lips. “You really want to make it up to me?”
“Mmm hmm…” I try reclaiming his mouth, but he is not having it. I am baffled. “What?”
His grin is full on when he answers. “If you really want to make it up to me, I want you to do something else for me.”
“It’s been a week, you still don’t want to have sex with me?” I can’t hide the hurt in my voice.
He chuckles. “Oh, I definitely want to have sex with you, Baby… and I plan on it. But there is something else I’d really like you to do for me first, please.”
“You’re not funny, Mychal.” I say rolling my eyes and playfully hitting him. “What exactly do you want me to do?”
He sets me aside, adjusting himself as he stands. “Hang on. Stay right here.”
I can’t help but laugh. It doesn’t take long for him to return, and when he does, he is holding something behind his back… grinning from ear to ear.
“Mychal, what’s going on?”
“I want you to do something for me. Don’t be mad.”
“Are you drunk?”
He smirks. “No, I just… I really want you to take this for me.” Just as he says this, he brings his hand around from behind his back; in it is a pregnancy test.
I roll my eyes. “Seriously, you wasted your money on that? Why?”
All hints of joking gone when he responds. “Because I knew you’d never do it on your own. Because I want to know. Because I need to know.”
“I already told you…”
“Yes, you already told me… it’s the ‘all the extra exercise’ and ‘all the stress’. I understand that, but Baby, it’s been a month. Please, humor me, just take the test… for me.”
“Fine.” I concede. “It’s your money wasted.” I say as I head to the bathroom.
I pee on the damn stick, recap it and leave it sitting on the counter. I go back out to Mychal and he looks up with anxious eyes. I laugh at him. “It’s not instantaneous, now we wait. You could always fuck me in the meantime.” I wink.
“How about I just smack that smart ass of yours, huh?” He chuckles. “No, I want to wait and see what the test says; it will determine if I wear a condom or not.”
He grabs me, pulling me across him, my stomach across his lap. “Mychal what are you doing?” I wiggle.
Whack! His hand connects with my ass. “Exactly what I said I was going to do, smacking your smart ass.”
I am still laughing when I feel his hand come down again. It stings, but makes my pussy tingle. I cannot help but moan.
“You like it when I smack your ass, Baby?” He says just as he brings his hand down again.
“Yes.” I say on a moan.
I’m surprised by just how much I like it. “I bet your pussy is nice and wet for me now, isn’t it?”
“Why don’t you check and find out for yourself?” I lick my lips.
“Such a naughty girl. My naughty girl.” He does just that, sliding my thong to the side and a finger into my pussy. “Oh, yeah… nice and wet for me.”
Just because I want to tease him a bit, I remove myself from his lap and the couch. “Hold that thought. I need to go check the test you wanted me to take so badly.”
“Such a tease.”
“What? I’m just giving you what you wanted.” With a wink I head back to the bathroom.