The Landlord

Chapter 29

Chapter 29

It took a lot for me to walk over to August's house. After I got home from the meeting, I had a breakdown (I know, I'm a cry baby). I was lucky I even made it home before I started sobbing. The simple memory of what I did... that was bad enough. Then, to see him at AA and hear he wanted to talk... it shook me to my core. I didn't want to talk to him, I didn't, I really didn't! I was scared, I was guilty, I was angry, and I was sorry. But god, I didn't want all that on the surface. I did not want to face my past.

But after a little more crying, and going through the last of my Pall Malls pack, that is what I was about to do: face my past.

Knocking on his door, clad in my silk purple pajamas, I felt sick to my stomach. Swallowed in pitch darkness and the sound of crickets, my arms were tightly crossed. I tried remaining composed, but it was difficult. I hated knowing rat-face wasn't on watch right now either; that made me nervous. I called out and looked for Sid before coming over here, but he wasn't around. Probably scared of getting beat up again.

After a few moments, August's porch light turned on, illuminating me like a suspect under a spotlight. I was uneasy and out of my comfort zone – and that feeling doubled when the door opened.

He was wearing cotton shorts and a sleep shirt, mostly loose on his tall form except where his stomach had a slight bulge. Glancing around, he arched a brow, as if expecting me not to be alone. Believe me, I really wish I wasn't.

"Mrs. Dunn," he said with a scoff of surprise. "I expected you were smart enough to drop by tp finally talk with me. Didn't expect it to be this late though." Then, he stepped aside in a gesture for me to enter.

Not even the bugs or the heat could compel me to step into the lion's den. "You really think I'm going to head inside? Where you can hide my body without any witnesses?"

"You're serious?"

Yeah I was serious! This guy moved next door to actively trying to scare me, and as of today, he threatened me. Not only that, the man had good reason! I wrecked his life, purposefully, for such a small gain in mine. "Duh, I'm serious. You have every reason to want to destroy me. Hell, if I were you, I would have binged watched Forensic Files to know how to properly get away with killing my ass."

He craned his neck and rubbed it, as if I was making it sore. "Trust me, I enjoy scaring you, but killing you wouldn't get my life back. Only you can do that. But suit yourself," he said, joining me on the porch and facing me.

Trying to keep my breath even, my crossed arms tightened more. I didn't want to face my past anymore than this, so I immediately asked, "What do you want from me? What will make you go away and stop fucking with me?"

"It's very simple: just do the right thing."

"Do the right thing?"

"Yes. Tell the truth about what you did."

How very moral. Hell no and no thank you. The truth would ruin everything for me. "Just... come out and tell everyone that I lied?" Looking away, trying to hold back the ball of emotion in me, I rapidly shook my head. "I can't."

"You took everything from me," he said in a deeper voice, jaw tightening. I would feel more intimidated if the sadness wasn't in his gaze. "All for something small and superficial. So, you will expose what you've done – all of it."

"You know 'all of it' is too much," I said, biting the inside of my cheek.

"I don't care," he said simply. "You will. Or you will be sorry."

What do I do? How can I get out of this? Just pondering over all this hurt. Don't break, don't cry, suck it up. Was there a way we could compromise or something? "What if... what if I just went to your wife and confessed?" He just wanted his life back and she was the biggest part of it.