CHAPTER TEN

 

Carly stood beside me. My cutlery fell to the ground and clanged at my feet, spraying syrup up my pant leg. Carly yelped and grabbed my arm. I tried to wriggle myself out of her grasp so I could work my way around the table. The house had fallen silent around us.

Carly looked over at me and mouthed ‘what the hell?’.

I strained my ears to listen for any movement. Nothing. “McCoy?” When I called his name I could hear the fear and worry in my own voice.

Then someone started laughing. It wasn’t McCoy’s joyful laugh. I knew this laugh. It was mean. It was cold.

Jason emerged in the doorway to the kitchen. His eyes were hooded and his chin was angled downwards, forcing him to look at up us from under his brows. Both arms hung by his sides, and

my eyes followed the length of his right arm down to his fingers, which were wrapped around a baseball bat.

“McCoy isn’t free to talk right now,” Jason slurred. He was drunk. His eyes were heavy, his speech thick. His eyes slid slowly from me to Carly. “Fancy seeing you here, Car. The three of you having a good time?”

My hands were shaking. My mouth was dry and my tongue was practically glued to the roof of my mouth. “Jason…” I managed, “what are you doing here?”

“I just wanted to talk to you,” he snarled, his eyes snapping back to me, “but you wouldn’t give me the time of day. You walked around like you were so much better than me. But you’re not. You’re just a slut.”

“What did you want to talk about?” I asked.

He rolled his eyes. “Of course you want to talk now. Now that you don’t have your criminal to protect you. Sit down.”

Carly and I both sat. I fought away the panic that was rising in my chest and the tears that were stinging my eyes. While I watched Jason saunter up to the table I thought of McCoy. I couldn’t take my stare off the bat in Jason’s grip. What kind of damage had he done with that thing? McCoy wasn’t the kind of man to go down without a fight. I knew that about him for certain. I also knew Jason wasn’t the kind of person who was above fighting dirty. My stomach rolled.

He sat down in the chair McCoy had abandoned. “I wanted to talk about you, Vee. That’s all. I wanted to warn you.”

“Warn me?” I whispered. “Warn me about what?”

He rested the bat across his knees and ran one hand along the side of it. “About him.” He spat.

“McCoy?”

“Yes, of course McCoy.” His voice was a wicked snarl that made me recoil. “Do you know who he really is? What he’s done? You’re not safe with him around. I’m doing you a favour, Vee.” He smirked. “To be more accurate, I already did you a favour.”

“What did you do to him?” I was afraid to ask the question. I couldn’t stop the tears from escaping as Jason cracked a smile at me.

“Just gave him a taste of his own medicine.”

“What does that mean, Jason?” I swallowed the sob that was trying to break free.

He threw his head back and laughed. It was a malicious sound- the opposite of what I had

heard come from McCoy moments before. When Jason finally had himself under control he stood up again. He twirled the bat end over end in one hand while he spoke. “He nearly killed a man with one of these four years ago. Beat him to a senseless pulp. Left him lying on the floor in a puddle of his own blood. The guy was so battered that he only had six teeth left. His cheek was blown apart beneath the skin. He needed reconstructive surgery. Thousands and thousands of dollars.”             

He looked at me expectantly. “I know,” I said.

That was not what he wanted to hear. “You know what he did and you still let him in? What the hell is wrong with you, Vee? He tried to kill someone!”

“I know,” I said again, this time giving in to the sob that I had held at bay.

Jason swung the bat across my kitchen counter, bowling over my coffee maker and a bowl of fruit. It all smashed under the impact and went flying across the kitchen floor. Carly shrieked beside me and covered her ears. He rounded on us, pointing the end of the bat at me. “Did he ever tell you who it was?”

“Who?”

Jason swung again, this time at my kitchen table. Everything shattered to the ground. Glass broke above my knees and rained down on my legs. “McCoy, you dumb bitch! Did he ever tell you who he tried to kill?”

I shook my head. My tears were uncontrollable now.

“It was his own damn father, Vee.”

I shook my head.

“Oh yeah, sweetcheeks, I know. Pretty messed up, right? He tried to bash daddy’s brains in. Right in the middle of the kitchen. Kind of like where we are right now. Good thing I already got the bashing over with.”

“Please leave,” I begged. “Please, Jason. You’ve made your point. I get it. I’m sorry. But you’re scaring me.”

“Am I? Good. Apparently you like being scared.” He crouched down in front of me and rested the bat over his shoulder. “Apparently you like the kind of man who does this kind of thing. Does it get you off?”

“Stop. Please.”

“Or what?”

I didn’t have an answer to that. In his drunken stupor there was nothing I could do. He wouldn’t calm down just because I asked him to. If I tried to force him to leave there wasn’t a doubt in my mind that he would get violent with me. With him holding that bat I didn’t want to take any chances. Especially not with Carly right beside me. He hated her. If he had hurt McCoy… I knew he wouldn’t hold back from hurting Carly.

I lifted my chin and tried to stop my bottom lip from quivering. “I don’t know what you want from me.” I said.

“I don’t want anything from you. You’re a joke. I thought… I thought that I had lost something special with you. But now I see what you really are. You’re a whore. You’ll take anyone.”

His words made me flinch even though I knew they weren’t true. Carly was shaking beside me. When she let out a small whimper Jason’s eyes slid from me to her and his expression morphed into a new kind of creature.

“Car. How have you been?” He asked, tilting his head to the side.

She wouldn’t look at him. She kept her eyes down on her lap and she bit her bottom lip.  She shook her head when he asked her again. Then he shouted at her.

“Stop it!” I yelled. “Enough, Jason!”

He ignored me and rose to his feet, stopping in front of Carly. He rested the end of his bat in her lap. “You slapped me, last time we saw each other. Hard as you could.”

Carly was crying.

Jason started to laugh again. My mind reeled. How could this be happening? I hated him. I had hated him for a long time, now. But I had never seen something like this coming. I wondered how far I had pushed him to bring him to this. How had me seeing McCoy created such a monster?

He was yelling at Carly. I rose unsteadily to my feet. “Jason. Please. You’ve made your point. We get it.”

He turned on me. “Do you? Do you get it?” He took several steps towards me and I retreated backwards until my lower back hit the kitchen counter. “Tell me, Vee, do you trust him? Do you think he will keep you safe? Do you think his own father expected him to attack him? You’re naive. He got what he deserved.” His lips curled up in a sneer.

“What did you do to him, Jason?”

My question only infuriated him further. He let out an angry roar and lunged at me, pinning me against the counter. “Why do you care so much?”

I tried to push him away but it was useless. I could smell alcohol and tobacco on him. “Because he’s important to me!”

“Do you love him, Vee?” Jason’s voice was quieter as he looked at me and waited for my answer. When I didn’t answer he gritted his teeth. “Tell me.”

I closed my eyes. “Yes... yes I do.”

I could see Carly reaching for her purse behind Jason. She widened her eyes at me as she searched for her phone. I had to distract him.

“I’m sorry, Jason, but I do. I was lonely. And all of a sudden he was there.”

Jason searched my eyes. “You were lonely?”

I nodded. “I never saw anyone after we ended. I was alone the whole time. And then I ran into him at the bar. And he was nice to me. And we talked. And then I started to get to know him and he’s not as bad as you think.” Carly was unlocking her phone and beginning to punch in numbers. “I didn’t trust him at first. I thought it was just a fling. But he’s a good person, Jason. I mean it.”

He shook his head. “He’s a dangerous person. He’s tricking you. Do you know why they call him McCoy? He’s playing a long game.”

“There’s no game,” I said, fighting the surge of panic that washed over me as I tried to process what he had just said. “He cares about me. Now please, Jason. Just go. We won’t say anything to anyone about this. Just let me go to him. Let me make sure he’s okay.”

Jason’s lips peeled off his teeth. “No.”

I squirmed beneath him. “Please.” I sobbed.

He fell silent when the sound of the operator at the other end of Carly’s 911 call answered the phone. He looked back at her, his teeth still bared in a vicious animalistic snarl. She was motionless. The operator on the other end of the phone asked if anyone was there. Then Carly started to tell them my address.

Jason went after her with freakish speed. She screamed and dropped the phone as she tried to get away. I ran after them as he caught Carly’s wrist and yanked her towards him. She kicked and writhed, desperate to try to escape him.

I came up behind them and did the only thing I could do. I kicked him between the legs.

He let out a howl and bent over clutching his crotch. Carly wriggled out of his grasp and I grabbed her arm. “Come on!” I shouted, yanking her with me.

We ran through the doorway of the kitchen and out into the hall. My front door was wide open. McCoy was sprawled face down in front of it. My heart leapt into my throat again. I ran to him and fell to my knees at his side. “McCoy!” I called his name over and over. I shook his shoulder. He didn’t move.

Carly grabbed my upper arm and tugged me roughly. “We have to get the hell out here!”

I yanked my arm away and lowered my head over McCoy. He was breathing. Thank God. I tried to find the damage Jason had done. I brushed McCoy’s hair off his forehead looking for a trace of a head wound. Then I pulled the collar of his shirt down. He was bleeding from somewhere on the back of his head. “Oh my God,” I breathed. “Carly, I can’t leave him here.”

“You don’t have a choice, let’s go!”

We heard Jason coming. His footfalls were loud as he rounded the corner in the hall. He stopped when he saw me beside McCoy. He pointed his bat at me. “Stay right where you are.”

I looked up at Carly. “Get out of here.”

She shook her head.

“Car, now, get the hell out of here. Get help.”

Carly looked from me to Jason, then back to me. Her stare hardened and she mustered up the strength to do what she had to. She took off running across the porch and down the steps. Jason yelled after her. She never looked back. I knew she would be able to get help. I didn’t have to wait long. McCoy needed me.

As Jason closed the distance between us I wrapped my fingers in the back of McCoy’s shirt. “Stay away from us!”

My warning didn’t stop him. When he was close enough I kicked out at his shins, desperate to stay at McCoy’s side and protect him. He grabbed one of my ankles and tried to drag me away from McCoy, but I clung desperately to his shirt. I cried and screamed and kicked. Jason climbed on top of me and tried to pry McCoy’s shirt from my grip. I fought with everything I had.

I brought my knee up into Jason’s gut. He grunted but didn’t stop trying to force me to let go. Finally he succeeded. I screamed louder and he dragged me away across the hardwood floor. I shouted for help. There had to be someone out there who would hear me.

Jason pinned me down. I was staring up at his wide eyes and gritted teeth. He yelled at me to stay still. I couldn’t. Panic was swelling in me. Not being able to move lit a flame of anxiety that made it hard to breathe. I gasped for air. Jason slammed my wrists down on the hardwood to try to get my attention. I closed my eyes against the pain in my chest. Panic attack. I tried to tell him I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t get the words out. He started swimming in my vision above me.

Jason called my name. The anger in his voice seemed to be less intense. He let go of my wrists and shook my shoulders. “Veronica!”

Jason grunted above me and suddenly the feeling of being smothered was gone. The weight of him on my stomach disappeared. His hands were no longer on my shoulders and I could move freely again. I tried to suck in a deep breath of air to no avail.

Then someone was lifting me up. The smell of something familiar filled my nose. Familiar and soothing. Cigarettes and a sweet muskiness. McCoy.