He went to the bathroom and then left the bedroom. I followed up to the roof where he was immediately beating his punch
ing bag.
“You wanna talk?”
Pow. Pow, pow. His jaw was clenched. He was hitting hard.
“No. Just wanna box. Go to bed, baby.”
A Few Days Later
Tommy
Dare should’ve been home by now. I would not rest easy until I knew he and his mail-order bride had gotten out of Thailand safely.
This situation was absolutely fucked. He had to go there, act like he was ready to pick up his new slave, and convince these dangerous men that he was a chip off the old block.
We had to figure out how to play it. I needed to go the fuck home and help him.
Each day here in Costa Rica it had become clearer. I was needed at home. I needed to see for myself that no one was ready to pounce and I needed to lighten the load for my brother who had been doing a great fucking job so far, but with this plot twist thrown in, he needed me.
Tia had talked me into sitting with her for a movie, and so I’d brought my laptop with me, telling her I was waiting to hear from home but to throw a movie on, thinking it’d be a distraction. It wasn’t. I was on edge.
“You not into this movie, baby?” she asked, eating popcorn. “What’s so exciting on that screen? You get sucked in by one of those candy games, too?”
I told her I was waiting to hear from my brother.
“Is everything okay?”
“No, it’s kind of messed.”
“Wanna talk about it?”
She’d asked me half a dozen times if I’d wanted to talk since my Pop’s funeral.
“Not sure you wanna be burdened with this kinda shit, baby girl.”
“Kay. If you change your mind…”
She looked disappointed. Again. Soon she’d stop asking if I wanted to talk. I’d lose something between me and her bit by bit if I remained closed off. And I didn’t wanna give up anything between her and me.
I needed to open up to her a bit more. It wasn’t fuckin’ easy. I’d never been one to talk about my feelings and now I had a wife and a fuckin’ shrink constantly asking me how I was feeling.
My phone’s text alert went off. Dare. Home. Relief flooded me.
I let out a big, cleansing breath.
“’Kay, he’s home. I can breathe now.”
“That bad?”
“Oh baby, you have no idea.” I shook my head.
“Talk to me,” she ordered.
I told her. I told her that my brother had come home with his new slave and this meant we weren’t just new owners, but deeply tied to a slavery ring. I told her it was going to be very fucking tricky, dangerous to get out of it. I let her know we’d have to go home soon so I could figure out how to help.
***