"It's you and me. Together," he says. "Us against the world."
*****
All my life, I've never trusted men. The image of them planted in my head is the figure of my abusive stepfather who has made my mother and I live in hell.
But then, an encounter w...
Trigger Warning: The following chapter will have contents that might be triggering and disturbing for some people in terms of violence and abuse.
Please excuse the explicit language as well.
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Once I reach the house, I rush to the door. Before opening it, I take a deep breath, fixing my cardigan and hair so that the hickeys are covered.
I'm about to turn the doorknob, but Tuck beats me. Before I can even touch it, the door swings open, revealing Tuck, who looks murderous.
"Where the fuck have you been!?" he lashes out, pulling me into the house before throwing me to the wall. My head smacks it, making me wince in pain.
He corners me, and I can see the fire in his eyes as he looks at me menacingly.
"I got your money," I stutter, abruptly taking out the envelope from my bag, and hand it to him.
He snatches it right away, opens it and counts the cash. I gulp, and he scoffs before looking at me again.
I thought that everything would be settled once he received the money, but now I'm having doubt about that, because the fury in his eyes isn't gone.
"You're late," he hisses, and to my horror, he raises his hand.
The next thing I feel is pain from the hard slap across my face that causes me to collapse onto the floor. It hurts so much that tears immediately blur my vision, and I can taste the blood from my lips.
When he strides toward me, I crawl backward, entering my room.
Oh, God. This is going to be worse and far more painful than usual.
I've seen him furious plenty of times before, but I've never seen him this mad. It seems like he's itching to kill me.
"You fucking useless piece of shit," he barks, his voice cold as he throws those harsh words to me. "They fucking took my car."
He steps into my room, and my heart beats faster the closer he gets to me.
I'm petrified. What did he just say?
The debt collectors took the car? Because I didn't bring him the money in time?
A scream escapes from my throat as he kicks my stomach while I'm still lying on the floor. He grips my collar and slaps my cheek again, making my head snapped toward the ground.
My sobs break, tears rolling down my cheeks. I shouldn't have shed a single tear because of this jerk, but the pain is just unbearable.
I grit my teeth, my jaw tightening as I glare up at him. "It's not even your car," I hiss. "It's Mom's."
