Chapter 4: Jailbird
1940 Words
Deidra's P.O.V.
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"Jesus Christ Deid, you really got yourself in it this time," Officer Melvin said as he stopped in front of the cell bars.
I sighed heavily. He's literally the fifth cop to come back here and tell me that. Small towns. Gotta love 'em. Half these police officers grew up with me. The other half knew my parents. My parents might not have had any family, but they made a family here. My dad was a firefighter and Mom was a nurse. They were caretakers. Everyone loved them. And everyone felt it hard when they suddenly died.
Despite my parents being pillars of the community, I was not as sociable as them. I liked plants. I liked to garden or go for nature walks. I was content with being on my own. People made an effort to talk to me when they saw me and my parents raised me to be polite, but that didn't mean I was as loved as they were.
I miss them.
However, Officer Dylan Melvin was someone I was a bit closer to, you could say. He and I were part of the garden club in high school. Dylan was nice, and we had conversations here and there, but I'm not sure that I would call him a friend. His parents knew mine, so I always assumed he just felt bad for me like everyone else. I understood their pity, but it was annoying.
"You gonna tell anyone what happened?" he asked me. "Deb said she gave you that gun for protection when Captain Russo called her. She can't figure out why you'd be shooting off if you weren't attacked though."
I leaned my head back against the nasty wall as I looked around the nasty cell. Christmas music was playing low in the background. The whole station was decked out for the holiday. Even the cells are lined with Christmas lights. It's super adorable and not at all what I pictured for a police station. Again, small towns and all.
There was one other girl in here with me. She looked like a prostitute, and I felt bad thinking it because I recognized her. She's one of the Salvation Knights' club bunnies. One of the nicer ones. I asked her why she was here, and she said one of the cops arrested her because he thought she was trying to sell herself on the street. Apparently, she's waiting for someone from the club to come get her and raise hell for the farce of an arrest.
We actually talked for a while. I found out her name is Honey. I thought it was fitting for her; she's sweet and has pretty brown skin. She asked me what I was doing here. I told her, but I did it quietly. It wasn't like I was embarrassed by what happened. I just... the longer I stay here means the longer I can prolong going home. Once I get there, I have to face reality. I have to burn my damn bed, pack up everything that reminds me of those two, and tell my handful of friends that my wedding is actually being taken over by my ex-best friend.
Honestly, it all wouldn't be that bad if I had my best friend. If I had someone to go through this with me. I have Deb, and she's like a second mother to me, but she's also taken care of me for the last nine years. I've always hated having to dump my problems on her. She uprooted her whole life to move here and take care of me. I don't want to lean on her for every little thing for the rest of my life.
God, why'd it have to be Sophie?
"Deb's worried about you, Deid," Dylan said gently. "Just tell us what happened. Cap's willing to maybe let you go if you just tell us."
I sighed again, wondering if I should just give it up. I'm getting tired. I know Deb is probably freaking out. She's probably tried to call Sophie a million times. Surprised the little wh.ore didn't answer just to tell her how she stole my fiancé.
"For what it's worth," Honey spoke up. "Pretty sure he'd let ya go once you tell him. If you ask me, it was deserved."
I smiled at her.
"Hey, how's Waylen doing, by the way?" I asked.
"Jinx's kid?" She asked with a confused expression.
"Yeah, the little cutie patootie with a dipsh.it for a father and a complete ska.nk for a mother," I replied, making Honey burst out in laughter.
"Oh, you must be the one he talks about all the time," she said.
"That's me," I mumbled.
"Had no idea," she said. "He calls you Thorn, so I didn't realize."
I scrunched my face up at her.
Waylen doesn't call me that stupid name, his dad does. Maybe she's all confused or something. Maybe Jinx goes back to the clubhouse and complains about me. Good. I hope he does. I hope I consume all his thoughts every day that he sees me and goes and cries to his little club brothers about it. Little freaking baby.
Honestly, I have no idea why I'm so mean to Jinx. Something about him just... makes me irritated as hell. Every time I see his stupid, fu.cking smug, se.xy face, I just want to punch him. He's annoying and the hotter he gets, the more annoyed I get. Who even told him he could start getting tatted? God, the man is infuriating, and it's always been like that between us. It's a shame he had such an adorable son. A son who looks exactly like him. At least the kid doesn't look like his mother. Not that she's ugly or anything.
"What's that mean?" Dylan asked, looking from Honey to me and back again.
I sighed for the millionth time.
"I went home and found Theo in my bed with another woman," I told him.
Dylan's eyes widened.
"Theo? Your fiancé?" he asked, shaking his head.
"Yup," I replied, popping the p.
"But... that doesn't make sense," he said. "He loves you. Everyone can see it."
"Well, I guess we're all fu.cking dumb then," I stated, making Honey snort.
"Okay, so who was the woman, and what happened?" he asked.
I swallowed the lump in my throat.
"It was Sophie," I mumbled.
Dylan's eyes went even wider. His lips parted, but no words came out. I stared at him as he stared at me. I wasn't sure if he expected me to tell him it was a joke or something, but that wasn't going to happen. This was real. And it was really happening to me.
"But... that..." Dylan trailed off. "Sophie... I could see her doing this to you."
He can?
"But Theo?" he continued. "I just ran into him at the store last week. He was telling me about the wedding and how excited he was..."
"Oh, I'm sure," I replied. "Because there's still going to be a wedding."
"Oh sh.it," Honey breathed out, knowing exactly where I was headed.
Dylan, bless his heart, was not as quick to catch on.
"You're still going to marry him after he fu.cked your best friend?" he asked incredulously.
I narrowed my eyes at him and crossed my arms.
"Yes Dylan," I said, my voice hard and sarcastic. "I found him in my bed with my best friend, chased the two of them out of the entire apartment complex by shooting at them, and I'm still going to marry him."
"You don't mean..." he trailed off, again, looking at me like he was waiting for me to say it was all a joke.
"She told me they fell in love," I told him. "Then said that I'd get over it because I cared about her too much to let a man come between us." I scoffed as tears filled my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. "She fu.cked me over in the worst possible way, right before my favorite holiday and treated me like I was overreacting, or like she did me some fu.cking favor." Then I looked Dylan in the eyes. "So I chased them out with that shotgun. They're fu.cking lucky I didn't shoot either of them. I could have. I should have shot Theo in the nuts and taken out just one of Sophie's fake boobs."
Honey cackled at that.
"Girl, I like you, you're fun," she said, laughing.
Dylan blew out a breath and shook his head.
"I'll go tell Captain Russo, but he'll probably want to speak to you and have you write a statement," he told me.
"Hey, tell him to take his time," I replied.
"I'll try to make it quick, Deid—"
"No seriously," I cut him off. "The longer this takes, the longer I can put off reality, so please, take your time."
Dylan gave me a nod of understanding before leaving to go speak to his boss. Captain Russo has been on the force since my parents were alive. He and my dad were friends. His wife and my mom were friends. Everyone was their friend though.
"Can't believe that bit.ch had the balls to steal your whole wedding," Honey commented after a moment.
I let out a hollow laugh.
"Sophie's always been... charismatic," I replied, staring at the wall. "She had to be the center of attention all the time. I never minded it since I liked to fade into the background. She stole toys, spotlight, friends, projects, clothes, and all kinds of sh.it from me over the years. I always let it go because I thought she needed it more than me. I never thought she'd betray me like this though. But the more I think about it, the more I should have seen it coming. I already suspected it, but I kept telling myself that she wouldn't do that to me. That no matter how sh.it Sophie's been in the past, she'd never hurt me like that. But she did. And she made it a million times worse by stealing my wedding. But she was right. I don't think I loved Theo. Maybe she really does love him. Maybe it was my fault for being so... unemotional. Maybe it was better it turned out this way."
God, listen to me totally unloading on this poor woman.
"Still, that don't make it hurt less," Honey said gently. "She was supposed to be your friend. This was plain conniving betrayal. You deserve better than both of 'em."
I gave her a small smile.
"You're right, it doesn't make it hurt less, and I do deserve better," I agreed. "A huge part of me still can't understand how she could do this to me. She purposely set out for it. And the worst part, she stole the venue I'd been dreaming about getting married at my whole life. As sh.itty as it sounds, I think that hurts the most. It was the same place my parents got married. I had to reserve it two years in advance. And now she's going to ruin it. Even if I ever met someone else, I'd never be able to get married there and not think about it, ya know?"
"Want to go find her and beat her up when we get out of here?" Honey asked, making me laugh softly.
"I might hold you to that," I replied.
"Just you wait, sweetheart," she said. "Karma will get those two."
"Thanks Honey," I mumbled.
I hope she's right, and I hope I get to see it.
- Writer
