My Peace (Beautifully Broken 5)

“With methamphetamines.”

She shrugs like it’s no big deal.

My heart seems to stop, as I think about the recent past, about Pax’s mood swings, and his abnormal behavior. I swallow hard.

It all makes sense.

So much sense.

“But why?” I ask.

“Why not?” she shrugs again, and I want to slap her head off her shoulders. “Because it’s fun being the cat. Pax is the mouse,” she adds unnecessarily.

“You were fucking with him,” I say.

“You’re a bright one.”

“Fuck you.”

“Such words coming out of a lady’s mouth,” she chuckles. “I wanted to make him pay. What’s the best way to make someone like him pay? He had a rough childhood. He finally had a life that he enjoys. The only way to pay is take all of that away.”

I feel a twinge in my belly. I’ve got to calm down. The pain is sharp, and I press my hand to it.

“Get out,” I spit. “Get the fuck out.”

“You don’t get to tell me what to do,” she mentions. “But I don’t like you any more than you like me.” She stands up, and tosses her apple core into my trash, then slowly and deliberately, walks out. I have another sharp pain.

I rush to the bathroom and yank down my pants.

There is blood in my underwear.

24

Chapter Twenty-Three

Pax

I wake craving coke.

I crave the sting in my nose and the rush in my blood and the numbness in my mouth.

It’s something that slams me into reality hard, like a truckload full of stones.

I’m addicted to cocaine now. And heroin. And probably PCP. They’ve made sure of that. And for what? What is the point?

How did they manage to get me addicted within two weeks?

I’m an addict.

It happened so fast.

I feel empty inside, something that begins in my belly, flows through my veins, and ends in my heart. It doesn’t matter what they do to me now. They’ve done the worst they can do.

I promised Mila years ago that I’d never hurt her again. This will kill her, and that will kill me.

I sit staunchly on the floor, waiting as they come in. I don’t know what they’re doing, and I don’t care.

“You’ve been a good boy today,” the man says, the one who always talks. “So we’ve brought you a reward.”