Blood On Her Hands

Chapter 34

I read the message with a swell of pride. 

Any more brilliant ideas and the force will have to start paying you. 

Vincent seemed to give compliments out more freely as of late. I wondered if it meant I had successfully won his respect and admiration or if it meant I was making him look really good in front of his boss. 

I’d be happy to send over my Paypal, I jokingly sent back. 

The weekend had rolled in just in time for the unexpected road trip. I found myself preparing to drive over the next day. We were going to have to take Vincent’s car since using any of my family’s would spark more questions about what I was doing then there would be already. I planned on telling them that I was going into New York City to see a Broadway show with Kimberly. She and I had often made many last minute trips into the city. I could tell them a friend of hers gave us tickets and I hadn’t found out up until recently. 

Fearing that I’d get into a fight with my family every time I left the house was getting exhausting. Luckily, Kimberly and I were already trying to figure out a date of when I could make the move to her place. I had been hoping that things would have cooled down by the time I finally moved but that was beginning to seem unlikely. I wondered if my relationship with my family was repairable, if maybe things had always been this bad and there was no hope in changing them. 

The next afternoon, I walked downstairs with a backpack around my shoulder. There was no one in the living room or the kitchen so I figured they must have been in their rooms or in the backyard. This was the best possible scenario so I took advantage of my family’s absence and sent a text about where I was going to everyone in a group chat. I had pressed send and shut the door behind me, ready to meet Vincent where he said he had parked at the corner of my block, when I startled at the figure seated on my porch. 

I dropped my phone and jumped backwards, nearly tripping over a potted plant that had seen better days. 

“What are you doing out here?” 

“This is my house,” my aunt said, clasping her hands together dramatically. Her nails were painted a bright red. “Can’t I sit on my own porch?” 

I was incredibly grateful that Vincent was waiting for me out of sight. Tìa knew Kimberly’s jeep and would have called me out on my lie faster than I could have escaped. 

As casual as Tìa had tried to sound, I didn’t understand why she would be outside in such chilly weather. It was around fifty degrees and Tìa was an island girl. Every time the temperature dropped lower than seventy, she complained about the cold. She frequently complained that they had made a mistake settling down in Pennsylvania. Florida would have been better because of the nice weather. 

As I picked my phone off the ground, Tìa pulled her phone out of her cardigan pocket. She squinted at it.

“You’re going into the city with Kimberly. How nice.” 

Her tone was anything but nice. I did nothing but shrug and tighten the strap of my bag. 

“See you later tonight,” I said and began to descend the three creaky steps. My shoe had just brushed the grass that was overdo for a good mowing, when my aunt spoke. It was quiet but menacing nonetheless. She used the voice she had used on ten year old Julio when he was making a scene in public, angry but desperate to keep up appearances. 

“Cuidado.” 

Be careful. 

I turned around, strands of hair blowing into my eyes. 

“Why?"

She raised her shoulders slowly and offered me nothing more. 

When I spotted Vincent’s car, I broke out into a full sprint. Beneath my jacket, my arms were covered in goosebumps. I felt safer hidden by the hedges of my neighbors houses. I pulled the door open and slipped in.