“Go get my mother,” he ordered.
“Not gonna happen.”
“I don’t know who you think you are—” he blustered, making me laugh.
His expression darkened, and it was interesting to watch the way he held himself in check when I knew he wanted to take a swing at me. Couldn’t do that, though, with half the neighbors probably watching out their windows. He inhaled deeply and smoothed his features into a friendly mask. It made me hate him even more seeing how easily he could hide the truth.
“You need to be on your way,” I said, before he could open his mouth again. “You’re tresspassin’ and I doubt you want us callin’ the cops.”
The irony of my words wasn’t lost on me and I almost chuckled as his mask slipped, just for a second.
As soon as I’d closed the door in his face, I turned to Nadine.
“I’d lock the back door and head on upstairs,” I told her as I slid the deadbolt home. “Have a feelin’ he ain’t givin’ up that easy.”
I was sitting at the kitchen table with an empty mug in my hand a few minutes later when the idiot proved me right, and the back door’s handle jiggled. I made eye contact through the glass and raised my mug in a salute, smiling to hide the fact that I was picturing all the ways I could end him without anyone tracing it back to me. As he finally left, I wondered if the pious prick was swearing a blue streak under his breath.
I sat there at the kitchen table with my empty mug for a long time, listening to the footsteps above me. Now that the adrenalin was wearing off, my skin felt like it was too tight for my body.
Vera was somewhere upstairs getting fixed up, and I was going crazy because I still had no idea how bad the damage really was. When we’d found Vera in that house, I’d worried that we were too late to help her.
I’d never forget how still she’d been, curled up in the fetal position as her old man kicked her with his shiny fucking loafers. People called us animals, crossed the street to avoid us, told their kids to stay away from us—but it was the folks like Vera’s dad that they should be scared of. At least we never pretended to be anything but what we were, it was the men in shiny loafers and collared shirts that they should’ve been scared of.
“How is she?” I asked as Nadine walked slowly back down the stairs sometime later. The old woman had been a trouper, tough as any of the men I knew, but I could tell she was feeling her age as she shuffled toward me.
“Nothing broken,” she said with a sigh. She walked past me and reached up into a cupboard, pulling out a bottle of whiskey and two glasses. “Would you like a drink?”
“Wouldn’t turn one down,” I replied. Nadine chuckled.
“I had a feeling you’d say that.” She sat down across from me and poured the whiskey. “Thank you for what you did today. I know it caused you some problems.”
“Don’t worry about it.” I waved her off. “My pleasure.”
“Well,” she said, smoothing her helmet of gray hair.
“Sorry,” I muttered. “Forgot he was your son for a minute there.”
“No apologies necessary,” she said with a huff. “I don’t even know that man anymore.” The words were steady and strong, but it was impossible to hide the pain in her voice.
“Gran?” Vera called tentatively before I heard her walking slowly down the stairs.
I was grateful for the small warning, because I had a chance to school my features into a calm mask before she walked into the room. She was wearing a nightgown that covered her from neck to ankles, and her hair had been washed and braided back from her face. The whole look was so wholesome and sweet that the bruises lining her jaw and surrounding her eyes were even more startling in comparison. She was also limping, favoring her left side.
“Come sit down, sweetheart,” Nadine said, getting to her feet.
I stayed where I was. I probably should have offered to help her to her seat or at least said hello, but I was a little afraid that my knees would buckle if I put any weight on them. She looked bad. Really bad. I didn’t trust my voice either.
“What are you doing here?” Vera asked me as Nadine helped her sit down. I guess we’d moved past the part where she was happy to see me and things were back to what they were before I’d shown up on her doorstep like an asshole.
“Just keepin’ an eye on things,” I replied hoarsely before clearing my throat.
“The fox is guarding the hen house?” she asked, attempting a smile of thanks as Nadine set a glass of water down in front of her.