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Third person

"What belongs ta ya? I didn't know I was ya property. How did this come about? Did you and I sign some kind of contract about this property you speak of?"

He's crazy if he thinks I belong to'em. He may have disrespected my body and beat my ass but he don't own shit of mine.

"You're a fool Denise. A blind one at that. I've always loved you from the moment I saw you. I could've had you if James hadn't gotten in my way."

She frowned. "Leo when I first met ya I found you far from attractive. You're not ugly by any means but your insides is what makes you an eye sore. Fist time I met ya you were bossin James around and you were tellin him what ta do like he was your mule or somethin while you did nothin but sit on ya ass. I didn't like that, not one bit. Then you were always grabbin on me and you were to rough and you weren't my man. You liked bein all close ta me but you smelled like week old ass all the time."

Leo gripped the steering wheel till his knuckles turned white.

"James is the complete opposite of you. Instead of bossin him around you should've been followin him as an example of how you should act. James is beautiful inside and out. He likes helpin people and workin hard to make them happy. He never grabbed me like some common whore he was and still is sweet ta me. He'd wait two hours after he got off work to walk me home everyday ta make sure I was safe. You only walked me home in hopes you'd get lucky."

Leo punched the dashboard. "You don't know shit! I love you Denise but you were so busy putting your head up James' ass to see it."

"It wasn't up James' ass. If anythin my mind was fixed on goin ta work fit got damn 12 hours a day. That's 90 fuckin hours, I always had feelings for him but at the time my money was way more important. You just assumed me and him had a thing goin on cause he and I hung out a few times. You were just jealous that's all."

"Damn right. You was supposed to be mine."

"I didn't even know ya liked me until now. You never told me ya liked me. Instead of usin your words you raped me and beat my ass because you couldn't just tell me how you feel." She had gotten him. It was true he never actually told her how he felt. Leo stopped the car in the middle of the road and gripped on tighter on the steering wheel if possible.

He turned around in the drivers seat and looked at her. "I did a lot of things to make sure you'd be with me. A lot of terrible things."

Denise looked at him confused. "You've done nothin for me but show me how much of a bitch you are."

Leo let the steering wheel go and grabbed her face in his right hand and brought it to his. "I gave James my draft ticket in hopes he'd die out there. I wanted you to run in my arms and fall for me like you did him. I killed the Phillips and took all their money so I could start over and run away with you Denise. I had James help me hide the bodies and sent him to die so hopefully he'd get blown up before telling anyone. I did this all for you, don't you get it? I love you." He squeezed her jaw even more and she whimpered in pain. "But now I've told you to much now. And I'll have to hurt you so I know you won't tell."

Leo crawled over into the back seat and Denise tried to get him off of her. "Stop fighting me off or I'll kill ya!"

--

"Did you get it all?" Roy asked putting a cold rag on James' forehead. "I think so. He must of fell on one of those glass bottles in the street." Mrs. Terry said looking at his arm for any more glass. "You got a needle and thread Mary?" She asked Mrs. Johnson. "Yes. But the thread is gray, is that okay?"

"Yes that'll do. It'll just close him up until we can get him to a hospital." James laid on the table woozy from the pain.

"I can get up. I'm not about to sit here all night while he gets away." He attempted to sit up but Mrs. Terry pushed him back down gently. "These aren't real stitches. It's just thread sweety. They could tear and you'll be bleeding out. You just had glass sticking out your arm. And there could be more. You don't want to get the fighting and the glass gets deeper." She unfolded the towel to show him the pieces that were previously inside of him.

"I don't care. I'm fine. Thank you for helping me. It was just a few scratches."

She reached down to the floor and held up the two red soaked hand towels. "I know you're weak right now. You'll need to sleep and in the morning I'll personally patch you up so you can go look for your wife. Besides it's not safe to drive in this weather. Our son got into a wreck in a storm like this and caused him to lose a leg. You can't go chasing after your lady on one leg."

James gave her a small smile. "I'll do as you said. But as soon as that rain stops I'm going for my wife. That man is a monster. He's evil and I know he's probably already hurt her. I gotta get her back." James sniffed as his tears came folding back. 

"C'mon. James let's get you upstairs." Roy helped him down from the table and Mr. Johnson held the door open. James looked up to be greated by everyone from the apartment building.

His neighbor Harmon stepped forward. "James we been out here talking and we decided we'll help you son. Denise got on all our nerves with all that yelling she does, but we know it comes from a place of love. You two have helped us out here at Dark Waters for years when the people who own this building wouldn't. So in return we'll help you find her."

James busted into tears. "Thank you! Thank you!" He was swarmed by a sea of embraces and it only fueled him even more to go find Denise.

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