Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 82878 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82878 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
I lose it. I see red. Dan is damned lucky I don’t have a gun on me or he’d be dead right now. In a flash I cover the distance between us and grab Dan by the shoulders, pulling him away from Amelia. His weight and his surprise work against him, as does the fact he’s drunk.
He stumbles and I let him fall and then I do to him what he was about to do to Amelia. I pull my foot back and kick him hard, square in the face. Blood bursts from his nose and his mouth. I give him a few more hard kicks on his ribs and he writhes and screams like a stuck pig. I’m pretty sure I’ve broken a few ribs. At any other time I could have gone to town on him, keep kicking him until there’s no life left in him, but I don’t want Amelia to see that side of me.
I force myself to turn away from him and go to Amelia who has pushed herself up into a sitting position.
“Are you alright?” I ask, reaching down and helping her to her feet.
“I am now,” she says with a broken smile.
I want to pull her into my arms and kiss her, but I can hear Dan getting back to his feet behind me. I turn so I can see him if he tries anything, although he is in so much pain he can barely stand. He looks angry but cowed. I return my focus to Amelia.
“What happened?” I ask her.
“That bitch smacked me in the head with that,” Dan answers for her, pointing at a beer can I hadn’t noticed on the ground. “I’m not proud of what I did next, but it was just an instinctive reaction. I hit her back.”
Amelia laughs and I frown.
“Sorry,” she says. “It really isn’t funny. But I’m just laughing at Dan’s fantasy story. I did hit him with the beer can. But only because he was trying to rape me.”
“You asked for it,” Dan says. “You told me you wanted me.”
“I said that so you’d let go of my wrist and I could get away from you,” Amelia snaps.
“Bullshit,” Dan says. “You just don’t want him to know how you can’t control yourself around a real man.”
He’s still talking when my fist slams into his mouth. He goes reeling, falling onto the drab grey couch that runs around the edge of the living room area of the trailer. His eye is already swelling shut and my fist stops his words. I stalk over to him.
“Get up,” I say.
Dan doesn’t move. I reach out and grab his shirt, pulling him to his feet.
“Get up you fucking coward,” I shout. “How dare you lay a hand on my girlfriend?”
I look at Dan’s dumb face and I want to do something that will remind him of this day every time he looks in the mirror. I release his shirt once he’s on his feet and slam my fist into his mouth. He goes back down and spits out blood and teeth. I start to reach for him again, wanting to pull him back to his feet once more when a shrill voice rings out behind me.
“What the hell is going on here?”
“Dan tried to rape me again. And sorry but this time, you can’t try to blame what I was wearing. It’s just because he’s a worthless piece of shit. Luckily this time, I don’t have to rely on my mom to protect me, the one person who is meant to be there for me through thick and thin. Instead, I have Viktor.”
“Violet, call the police,” Dan says.
“Yes, please do,” I smile. “I’d be very interested to hear their thoughts on who is responsible when someone tries to rape a woman.”
Violet looks from me to Dan to Amelia and back to me again. She shakes her head slowly.
“I’m not calling the police,” she says. “I know Amelia’s a troublemaker, but I don’t want to make trouble like that for her.”
“For me? Are you seriously this dumb, Mom?” Amelia says, shaking her head.
“I’m going to pretend you didn’t just say that. Now if you don’t mind, I have to go to work. I only came back because I forgot my name badge and it seems like it’s a good thing I did. Amelia, I want you out and take your brute of a boyfriend with you.”
She smiles nastily and turns to me.
“And by the way, she doesn’t think that much of you. She chose me over you once before. Always remember that,” Amelia’s mom says.
I throw my head back and laugh, surprising myself, but I just can’t help it. It’s like these two live in some alternate universe where they live believing their own bullshit and refusing to see the real truth.