The quiet of the night is interrupted when I hear someone whimpering. I glance around wondering where it’s coming from.
“I told you I wanted my money.”
Jay.
I stay hidden in the shadows, out of sight, and listen.
“I’m gonna get it for you. I just need a couple more days,” the kid begs.
“And I told you no.” Then suddenly I hear Jay’s fist connect with the kid’s face. “Tomorrow, that’s all you get. Don’t make me come looking for you.” He follows that up with another punch and the kid cries out.
Freshman year when I first met Jay I knew he was bad news. I knew then not to fuck around with him, never to get in too deep with him. I was walking to my dorm one night after a late class and heard the cries of someone getting hit repeatedly, an eerie sense of déjà vu overtakes me because this is exactly what I just heard again. I walked around the side of the building and stopped in my tracks. Jay was standing over some guy who was curled up in the fetal position. He brought his arm up; in the light it looked like a pipe of some kind. He slammed it back down against the guy’s side and he screamed out.
Not wanting Jay to think I’d heard what happened I slip my headphones on but don’t turn the music on. I pull my phone out of my pocket to look busy when he approaches.
Jay stands before me and I look up in surprise. “Hey, man.” I greet him keeping my tone nice and even not giving away that I know he just beat the shit out of some kid.
He doesn’t answer me, never does. Jay hands me what I asked for in my text and I reach into my pocket to pull out the money I owe him. I never owe him, ever.
Jay tucks the money in his right pocket and pulls out a napkin or some shit from his left and wipes his bloody knuckles off.
“You gotta leave Madison alone,” I blurt out before I even realize what I’ve said.
Jay stops wiping his hand but doesn’t look up. He never does, it’s beneath him to look someone in the eyes. No one is good enough for Jay. He laughs bitterly, “What are you, her fucking boyfriend?”
“Fuck no, I’m not her boyfriend.” I try to laugh it off. Damn this guy makes me so uncomfortable and that’s a hard thing to do.
“If you know what’s best for you, Landon Hayes, you’ll mind your own fucking business.” He throws the napkin on the ground and walks away without another word.
Well, that went fucking great. I just pissed a drug dealer off more than he already was. Awesome start to the night, Landon.
Chapter Four
October 17, 2013
Macy
I haven’t seen Landon, except in passing, in weeks. We exchange an occasional text, nothing too deep. There is a wedge between Landon and me after I told him that he stole my heartbeat that last night with him. He threw my words back in my face telling me that he didn’t steal something I just keep giving him over and over again.
Well, screw him. I don’t think I can try anymore. I’ve given him everything hoping he’d come around and want me as much as I want him but clearly he’s blind. I can’t keep trying. It cracks my heart every time I let him in and this last time hurt the worst. I can’t fix someone who doesn’t want to be fixed.
“Hey, Macy,” Will McDaniel says as he takes a seat next to me in class.
I smile politely when all I want to do is give the world the finger. “Hey, Will.”
Will is a really nice guy. He’s adorable in a nerdy sort of way. Tall and skinny, his dark brown hair sticks up all over the place. His brown eyes shine through his dark-rimmed glasses that rest on his perfectly straight nose. He normally dresses in a button down shirt that he always has tucked into his jeans with a pair of Converse. His assignments are always done on time, never misses a class and most of the time he has his nose in a book.
“Did you finish your assignment?” he says, eyeing my books.
I nod, “Pretty much.”
He goes to take a seat next to me and almost misses the chair. Will’s cheeks flush and I want to laugh, have to stifle it in fact because I know it’s