Mia

Eight

Mia

When the asshole finally left, I answered Kenny’s text, even though it was the last thing I wanted to do ever in my entire life. 

            Me: I’ll meet you at The Coffee Shop.

            How I was going to get there, who the hell knew? 

            Whatever had happened to make me bawl like a freaking baby and spill my guts to Pierce would not happen again. He was just another guy putting on another act to get what he wanted. And I probably just gave him exactly that. Why the hell else would he pretend to be my friend? I had given him the most intimate, horrible details about my relationship with Kenny, for some goddamn reason. 

            Kenny’s reply distracted me from my self-loathing.

            Kenny: Fine. Be there at 10.

            My brittle heart squeezed. When I had thought Pierce truly wanted to be friends, to help me, I poured myself out.

            Maybe he really does want to help.

            Ha! So he just happened to get called into work, not even five minutes after I gave him juicy details of my drug dealing life? Open up one time and it was bound to bite me in the ass.

            Like hell would I tell him if I was going to meet Kenny. It was inevitable he would show up with a SWAT team and throw my ass in jail, and all the actual bad guys would probably go free. Yeah. He would be no help. I had to do it all on my own and hope I survived the next day. 

            The absolute worst part was that I had almost let the prick kiss me, had wanted him to, which wasn’t something I had wanted from any guy in a long time. But then he said we could be friends, and that seemed so much better, something forbidden, something I never thought I could have. I had no friends. Drug dealers made terrible friends. 

            The sound of the garage opening had me bounding up the stairs. I sobbed facedown on my giant bed, mourning something I had only grasped for a few minutes, but it wasn’t real. All this crying was friggin’ ridiculous. I hated criers. Loathed them. And now I was amongst them, it seemed like I would be this way foreeeevvver. 

            The dam breaking on my emotions may have also turned me into a drama queen. 

            Mom poked her head in my door a while after they got home. “How you feeling, sweetie?” 

            I sniffed under my pile of covers, hoping she couldn’t see my splotchy red face in my dimly lit room. “Not so good. I think it’s just cramps though.” 

            She moved further into the room and sat next to me on the bed. “Do you have everything you need? I can bring up a heating pad,” she said, making me desperate to throw my arms around her and weep some more. 

            Get it together, Mia! 

            “Nah. I’ll just sleep it off.” 

            “Okay. Did the ice cream at least help?” She smirked, and I groaned inwardly. Should have cleaned up my mess. 

            “Ha. Yeah, it did.” 

            “Was someone here?” 

            Her question had me jerking back. “Huh?” came out as a squeak. 

            “There were two spoons,” she pointed out with a raised brow. 

            Dammit! “Oh, ummm, no. I just dropped the first one on the floor.” The lie came easy, but probably wasn’t the most convincing one I had told.

            She hmmmed with a nod. “Okay. I’ll let you get some rest. I’m sorry you missed the show. Ava did amazing.” 

            “I bet.” I really did; dancing came as easy to her as lying came to me. When she got up and went to leave, I stopped her with a “Hey.” She glanced back at me. “I was going to meet some friends at The Coffee Shop around ten. Could you give me a ride?” 

            “Sure thing, sweetie. I’ll see you in the morning.” 

            With that she left, and Dad came in ten minutes later to say goodnight. I so desperately wanted to tell both of them about my s**t mistakes. But the less they knew, the safer they were. At least that was my rationalization.

            Before I fell asleep, I got one more text. 

            Cop: Goodnight, Mia. Text me in the morning. 

            I about chucked my phone at the wall. How dare he text me again. I would do no such thing, even if I had had a glimmer of hope when he said he would be there. Now I just didn’t know what to think of him, and I wasn’t willing to risk such a fragile part of myself getting destroyed. 

*****

The next morning, I was furious at having to get up before the crack of noon on a Saturday. My attire was intricately planned with a baggy T-shirt, some loose-fitting jeans, and tennis shoes. All things I stole from Ava’s room the night before, since I didn’t own such hideous clothing. 

            When I left my room around eight, Ava’s door was open but her room empty. Of course, she would go running the morning after her dance recital. I found Dad in the kitchen sipping tea, dressed in cargo shorts and a plain T-shirt. He glanced at me over his cup through his low-lying glasses. 

            “Good morning, Mia.” He smiled as if he were actually excited to see his daughter. “How are you feeling?” 

            “Morning, Daddy. I’m better.” Another lie. I felt worse than I had all month. Meeting Noah. In person. How the hell was I going to survive that? He poured a cup of tea for me while I got a bowl of cereal, and I gratefully took it. Though I usually preferred coffee, the mint and chamomile aroma soothed my anxious heart. “Ava on her run?” I asked. 

            “Hmm?” He glanced up from his tablet. “Oh, no. She stayed at Kelsey’s last night. I’m pretty sure it was a party of some sort.” 

            Tea shot from my mouth, spraying the entire island while I choked and spluttered. He hurried around the island to pat my back. “Wrong tube.” I waved him off, though that was only partially true. After making sure I was okay, he went back to his tea as I had a flipping heart attack and cleaned up my mess. “Are you sure she said Kelsey’s?” I asked when I had my nerves under control… sort of. 

            “Yeah, why?” His brow creased. What I liked to call the “Lawyer Stare” showed up, indicating that he was paying great attention to detail and could sniff out a lie from a mile away. To my benefit, I had been practicing my lies on him for years. 

            “Oh, no reason. Just thought Ava didn’t like Kelsey much. Or parties for that matter.”

            “Ha. Yeah. That’s kind of why we let it slide.” He shook his head as if trying to clear it. “Plus, she’s been working so hard. She deserved to have some fun.” 

            “Yeah, I get it,” I said, my tone brusque, but he didn’t seem to notice.

            If they had ever found out about any of the parties I went to, I probably would have been grounded for months. But to think Ava had been there, somewhere I was supposed to deal, surrounded by the trashy people I worked with. Thank God I had decided not to go. That would have been a disaster. I just hoped nothing had happened to her. That would have been the perfect place for them to get to her, especially if she decided to take her first drink of alcohol ever. 

            “You all right?” Dad asked, yanking me from my thoughts.

            “Yeah. Just tired.” First truth of the morning.

            “Well, you ready to go?” he asked, and I gave him a questioning look. “Your mom said you needed a ride to The Coffee Shop. She had to run to the gallery, so I said I could take you.” 

            “Oh. Right. Yeah, that would be great.” Or the worst thing ever, but whatever. 

            When we pulled up to The Coffee Shop, he gave me a kiss goodbye, but I flung my arms around his neck, my hipbone digging into the center console. The scent of tea tree from his shampoo, mixed with the vanilla and cinnamon from our home, made me want to go back home and just allow things to end where they would. But I couldn’t. I had to face my demons head-on. “I love you, Daddy,” I whispered, realizing this could go very, very badly and I might never see him again.

            His returned squeeze brought peace with it, making me wonder why I had gone so long without hugging him like this. “I love you too, baby.” The emotion in his voice had all my wonderful childhood memories filling my mind. He was an amazing dad; he didn’t deserve such a crappy daughter. When he pulled back, he searched my face, but I had put my intricately formed mask back in place. “Everything okay?” he asked anyway. 

            “Yeah,” I scoffed like an asshole. “Just love my awesome dad a ton. I’ll see you later.” 

            “You need me to pick you back up?”

            “Nope. I’ll find my way back.”

            He left me there, not knowing what I was about to walk into. Luckily, I was a little early, so I got myself a coffee and sat in the back corner of the shop. My phone buzzed the second I sat. The emotions that bombarded me at the sight of Cop on my screen were both confusing and annoying. 

            Cop: Mia. Don’t go there without telling SOMEONE. 

            Me: Mind your own damn business, cop.

            Cop: You don’t know what you’re walking into. I’m telling you this as a friend.

            Me: Yes. I do. f**k off. 

            And he did. The lack of a response made my chest hurt, but I brushed it off, since there was nothing I was willing to do about it. 

            “Who’s that?” My head snapped up to find Kenny looming over me. Dark circles framed his eyes, and his hair was flat on one side, sticking up on the other. 

            “None of your damn business,” I snapped, shoving my phone in my pocket. “You look like s**t, by the way.”

            Despite the insult, he smirked. “I had an awesome night. Hooked up with Kelsey. It was pretty great.”

            “Blech.” I literally gagged. “You sure lowered your standards.” 

            “Believe me, I didn’t. You look like s**t yourself.” He sneered at my wardrobe. “Oh, and I saw your sister’s boyfriend making out with Sydney. And I made a crap ton of money.”

            Wait… what? “You saw Cade kissing Sydney?” I couldn’t keep the venom and interest from infusing my tone. I would kill the prick for hurting my sister!

            “Yeah. Your b***h sister even saw them, got piss drunk, and left with him anyway. Always knew she was a desperate skank. Why do you think that was spray-painted on her car?” 

            He chuckled. I seethed. 

            Jumping up from my chair and getting in his face, I snarled, “Watch what you say about my sister.” I shoved him, but his stupid smirk remained, his mission to get under my skin accomplished. I had to believe Ava was okay and could figure out the Cade stuff. Even if he did make out with nasty Sydney. At least this information told me they hadn’t messed with her or hurt her while she was drunk. 

            Kenny brushed an invisible fleck from his shoulder. “You ready?” 

            “Yeah. Let’s get this over with.” I left the shop in front of him and got in the front seat of his Honda, which smelt of sweat and weed, with dirty clothes and trash all over the floor. “This car is disgusting,” I told him when he got in. 

            “Trying to cover up your nerves for meeting Noah with snarky remarks isn’t working so great, is it?” he asked, earning a glare from me. For once, his face wasn’t so smug. As if he wasn’t super thrilled about our upcoming meeting. “He’s a million times worse than you could ever imagine.”

            All thoughts regarding this Noah character were interrupted by my phone buzzing again. Somehow, the sight of “Cop” on the screen put me at ease this time, even though I didn’t want it to. I leaned away from Kenny while he drove so there was no chance he would be able to read it. 

            Cop: I didn’t tell my boss or anyone anything you said, if that’s what you’re pissed about. You don’t have to close up. Just… if you’re going where I think you are, please tell me. I don’t want you hurt, Mia. 

            He was right. It was a stupid idea to go anywhere with Kenny and not tell someone. And maybe… just maybe it was a coincidence his captain called right after I spilled my heart out. 

            Me: You’re right. I am. 

            I sent back, and his reply was, “Send me your location,” which was maybe a good idea. But what if he really did come with a SWAT team or something. Though maybe he wouldn’t do that and sharing my location would allow for him to run in and save the day if this went terribly wrong.

            “Mia!” Kenny snapped, and I realized we were stopped at a red light and he was watching me with squinted eyes. “Who the hell is that?” he demanded, reaching to snatch my phone, but I held it out of his range.

            “I said it’s none of your f*****g business,” I told him, while begging the light to turn green. 

            He reached over, grabbing my arm in that spot he loved, his digging fingers making me gasp. This whole time I had tried so hard to play it cool, to not think about where I was going or whom I was going with. But I had not forgotten how dangerous this petty boy was. The shaking couldn’t be helped as I tried tugging my arm from him, but he pulled me closer.

            “If it’s another guy, there will be hell to pay,” he growled in my face. 

            “Let go of me!” I yelled, yanking my arm from him. He had to let go since the light turned green. “You f**k Kelsey, yet I’m not allowed to move on? I told you before, I belong to no one and who I talk to is none. Of your. f*****g. Business.” 

            When he came to the next red light, I got out, not caring what the cars around us thought, and climbed in the back seat, which had him belting out a harsh laugh. Freaking prick. Instead of sending Pierce my location as I had wanted to, I deleted the conversation. I might be able to get my phone from Kenny, but if they chose to check it at the warehouse, I couldn’t risk them finding out I shared anything with a cop.

            Thankfully, Kenny didn’t say anything else until we pulled up to the gate entrance of the warehouse. A twelve-foot-high fence topped with barbed wire surrounded the entire facility. The place was used as a garment factory in order to cover up the true operation. The gray building had to be straight out of one of those cheesy horror movies Ava loved. Just the look of it had me shaking again. The guard who confiscated our phones—shooting all hopes of Pierce being able to magically find me to s**t—before waving us through the gate made it even worse. 

            The one time we had been there before, I tried to ignore the men and women moving through the halls with giant bags and carts of who the hell knew what. They were hard to ignore this time, since they all stared at me as we passed, making me feel as if I were walking to my execution. The last time we came, we only stayed two minutes while one of the guards brought us a load and Kenny handed him a package full of cash.

            This time, they took us all the way to the top floor, where we were shown into a small room that appeared to be an office of some sort with only a metal desk, an office chair on one side, and two crappy metal chairs on the other. The most interesting and terrifying thing in the room was the gaunt man wearing a navy button-up shirt sitting behind the desk. His lanky, hollow appearance went well with his greasy, slicked-back, blond hair and dead blue eyes. A dark blond soul patch adorned his chin. 

            He motioned from the guards to Kenny and me before they ensued patting us down. It was not something I was prepared for. The huge guard with a buzz cut groped every inch of me, lingering a little too long on my chest while Noah watched with a gleam in his eyes. Kenny didn’t say a word while they patted him down. Every snide remark crowding my mind was held at bay by the pure terror consuming me. When they finally told us to sit, I was shaking so bad I was certain they could see it. 

            After Noah waved the guards off, his horrifying gaze fell on Kenny, who didn’t even flinch or smirk. “This is her?” He tilted his head toward me. My teeth began chattering. 

            “Yes, sir.” Kenny nodded, and I wanted to die when Noah’s gaze landed on me. His eyes were lifeless pits of darkness. 

            “Mia, right?” he inquired. My nod was a jerk of the head. “I’d like to tell you a story.” He leaned back in his chair. I very much wanted to hear anything besides his story. “I once had a dog.” While he spoke, his long fingers stroked his soul patch, and it looked like he hadn’t clipped his nails in a very long time. I couldn’t focus on anything else. “She was a great b***h. Did everything I trained her to do. Herded our cows, protected our land. But two times, she got spooked by a storm and ran off. I let her get away with it those two times.” He held up two long fingers, and an awful smile spread across his lips that I couldn’t even describe right, but it had goose bumps covering my entire body. 

            “The third time she ran off, you know what I did?” I jerked my head side to side, hoping to God the answer was that he gave his poor dog away. “I shot her,” was instead his answer. It took everything, all my control, not to projectile vomit all over his desk. All the blood had to have drained from my entire body. 

            “Ha! Great story, sir,” Kenny boomed, making me jump.

            “Shut the f**k up, Kenny,” Noah said, but his gaze remained on me. 

            Kenny didn’t make another peep. Noah got up from his chair, surprisingly taking up so much of the small space I was suddenly claustrophobic. The walls were certainly closing in on me as he rounded the desk and wedged himself between it and my chair. I couldn’t move an inch when his large hand grabbed my chin. It was so hot. I was so hot, every pore on my body leaked, including some tears trailing down my cheeks. His crystal blue, dead eyes pierced me to that spot. I vibrated in fear of the dead man. 

            “My mercy only goes so far, Mia. You understand?” I nodded as vigorously as possible with his long fingers still holding my face. The thought that his beard grease was getting on my chin and would probably make me break out had me distracted. And his long nails, his long nails had to be filthy. Focus, Mia! I shouted at my terrified, shallow self. “If my nephew tells me you’ve so much as stepped one toe out of line, give him one more threat of being ‘done,’ I will cut you and your entire family into unrecognizable pieces before feeding you to my newest bitch.” 

            And that was that. How the f**k could I get out now?

            He let go of my face and sauntered back to his seat, while I forced myself not to scrub at the beard grease he left behind. When he sat, his chair squeaking, his gaze rested back on Kenny, thank the Lord. 

            “I’m pretty sure she has a new boyfriend, sir.” My gaze jerked to Kenny, and I wished with everything in me that I could light him on fire with my eyes.

            Noah chuckled, but the sound made my skin crawl. I looked back at him to find him staring at me. “Your pride wounded, Kenny?” He winked at me. I forced myself not to gag. “I don’t give a s**t who she f***s, so long as she works and doesn’t squeal. Same rules all the girls have. We aren’t in the trafficking business here; we’re in the prescription drug business. Being my nephew’s f**k buddy isn’t in the job description.” His focus returned to Kenny. “Find a new toy, and maybe she’ll be a better employee for me.” 

            If just looking at him didn’t make me want to die, I might have thanked him.

            “Yes, sir,” was Kenny’s reply. I hoped and prayed he would comply. 

            With that, Noah leaned back in his chair and waved us off. Self-restraint was a must. If I had the choice, I would have run out of there as if Satan himself was on our heels. The guards took us all the way back to Kenny’s car where I found my phone sitting on the back seat when I climbed back there. It was turned off, which was probably in order to keep anyone from tracking us there. 

            “Pretty intense, huh?” Kenny laughed as he drove us through the gate. 

            “Don’t talk to me,” I said while staring out my window. “Just take me home.” 

            And for once, he did what I asked, driving in silence all the way to my house. I didn’t care if he was as terrified of Noah as I was. He had taken me there to that man. 

            When he pulled up to my house, he turned to look at me. “See you by the lockers on Monday.” 

            “Yup,” was all I said before escaping his car, his presence, his madness.

            Ava’s car was the only one in the garage, so I snuck inside. Her door was closed when I got up the stairs, so I figured she was taking a much-needed nap, which was a good thing. The breakdown I was about to have did not need an audience. When I went in the bathroom, my face was pale, my eyes full of horror. Throwing up until I was standing there dry heaving didn’t help my appearance much. Then I stripped down and got in the hottest shower I could stand, scrubbing myself, especially my face, until I was beet red. I stood under the water until it ran cold. 

            After putting a towel on, I rushed to my room where I lathered on lotion before lying on my bed in just my underwear, not wanting annoying clothes rubbing my raw skin. I just lay there unable to smell, taste, or think anything. Life seemed truly hopeless. I couldn’t fix this, and I couldn’t save my family if I f****d up. Not even the cops could help. 

            The thought had me fishing my phone from my dirty pants and turning it back on. It kept buzzing and buzzing when I opened my texts, all of them from Pierce. 

            Cop: Mia. Your location.

            Cop: Where are you?

            Cop: What’s happening? 

            Cop: Goddammit answer me!

            Cop: This is taking too long!

            Cop: Where are you? 

            Cop: What happened? 

            Cop: Please. Please answer me!

            Cop: Just anything to let me know you’re okay.

            Cop: Mia. 

            Cop: You have to be okay. 

            The last one came through while I was reading through them, and it made my heart break into a billion pieces. I couldn’t imagine what went through his head while I was there, especially since I would have had nightmares if I tried to. He actually cared, but I couldn’t talk to my only sort of friend anymore. I couldn’t risk anything. 

            Cop: I can’t blow this case, but so help me I will rip apart this city, this entire country if I have to go looking for you!

            Me: I’m home. Please leave me alone.

            He called after that, and I ignored it, bawling my eyes out while curled in a ball on my bed. He sent another text.

            Cop: Nuh-uh. You can’t ignore me. Not after the hours of hell I just went through. 

            He called again. I ignored it again.

            Cop: Mia! What happened?!?!

            Cop: Please. f*****g talk to me!!

            But I couldn’t. I didn’t answer any of the many more texts and calls from him that day… or the entire week after.