Southern Heart (Southern 5)

I want to yell out and tell him not to give him anything. I want to tell him that I love him. I want to tell him not to blame himself. I want to tell him all of these things, but nothing comes out. "You want her?" he sneers at him. "Then you better fucking find her before it’s too late, you son of a bitch."

He throws the phone on the counter and then looks over at me. "My boy likes you." He goes to sit in the only chair in the room. The cabin is as big as my bedroom. A counter against one wall with a sink that looks like it hasn’t been used in years. A stove and fridge next to each other that looks like it’s from the seventies. "He has gotten his panties all in a twist about you."

He runs his hands through his hair. "You would think he learned something from me. A woman is nothing but a warm body and a punching bag." He laughs.

I lick my lips, now tasting the metallic taste, knowing it’s blood. "He’s a better man than you will ever be," I croak out.

He laughs even harder now. "He’s got his head up his ass if he thinks that there is something better in the world. There are no fucking rainbows. There is nothing for him, you want to know why?" I lean my head back on the wooden wall. "Because he is nothing."

I snicker now. "He is everything," I say. "He’s going to find me," I say the words, and I pray it’s the truth.

"I really fucking hope he does," he says. "In fact, I’m betting on it." I close my eyes, trying to talk myself out of the pain. "Thought he could hide from me for all these years." I don’t say anything to him. "Ran away to the Army." He shakes his head. "Like a bitch hiding." I close my eyes now, trying to gather my strength. "Found him hiding in the woods." He laughs, getting up and walking over to a bottle on the counter. "Hiding with his tail between his legs." He swigs from the bottle and then hisses. "Boy did he squeal like a little fucking pig instead of taking it like a man."

I laugh now and open my eyes, shocking him. "How would you know what a man does?” I know that I shouldn’t provoke him. "He is more of a man than you are." He gets up and comes over and backhands me before I even know what is going on. The blood now pours out from my lip, and I hear Mayson’s voice in my head telling me to shut up.

"If he was a man, you would know your place," he says, trailing his finger from my cheek right down my neck and then over my breast. I close my eyes now, hoping he stops. "Make you stay in line."

He gets up now, going back over to the bottle and then sitting down. "I thought he was going to follow in my steps." My stomach goes up and down as if it’s a wave in the ocean. "Made sure he watched as I took care of his mother. Kept her in her place. I kept a roof over his fucking head, and what did he do?" he hisses out. "Leaves me for dead." Takes another drink. "Took me three days to get up," he says. "Broke my fucking leg." He shakes his head now. "Left me for fucking dead," he repeats. "His own father. The one who gave him everything he has. Took in his mother when she showed up pregnant and all. Blaming me like it was my fault. Made sure the doctor took care of her for the next time. There was no way I was going to be stuck with another kid. Not me," he says, my heart breaking for the woman who suffered under his hand. "One bastard was enough."

He comes over to me now. "I’m ready," he says as his hand comes out and pushes my hair to the side. "I don’t know how long I have with you." His fingers trail from my cheek to my neck, and his hand goes to the heart pendant that Mayson gave me. "Should I fuck you with the heart on?" He laughs and picks it up in his hand. "What the fuck is this?" he says and rips the chain off my neck. I watch him as he gets up and plays with the heart in his hand. "What the fuck?" he hisses, looking at me. "You fucking bitch." He snarls at me and comes over, and his hand comes out to strike me. It hits so hard that my head smashes back, and I slowly fade away, the darkness coming to get me.