Unleashing Sin - A. M. Wilson Page 0,10
off at the hospital. And if she goes to a woman’s shelter, they’ll find her again by tomorrow. Guaranteed.”
“Not my problem.”
“No, it sure as shit is not your problem. It is, however, human decency to take care of someone who desperately needs it.”
“We all know I’m not a decent human.”
“Save it,” he replies shortly. “Save the woe is me act. How would you feel if Molly had ended up in some stranger’s care? Would you want them to dispose of her? This is someone’s family member.”
My anger reaches its boiling point. “Well, she didn’t. She’s gone, and this chick isn’t Molly even though she led us to believe that she was.”
“You led yourself to believe that. Fuck, man. I believed it, too. She isn’t Molly, but she needs our help.”
“So you help her.”
“I am, and I will. But she’s asking for you.”
As instantly as it sparked, my anger deflates. That frail, broken girl was asking for me? “Why in God’s name would she ask for me?”
Elias clears his throat, and silence follows. “Up until you figured out she wasn’t Molly, you hadn’t left her side. I think she feels connected to you because of it.”
“She wasn’t even fucking conscious.”
“She says she was. In and out, that is, but enough to feel connected to you.”
“I can’t,” I reply, my voice gruff and broken. “Not unless you want her to die.”
“Sin—”
“No. Keep her away from me. It’s what’s best for both of us. And leave me alone. I have enough pussy to keep me occupied for the rest of the weekend. Don’t call back.”
I hit the red button and toss the phone back onto the coffee table.
“Everything all right, baby?” one girl asks, her eyes hot with lust, but her voice implying false concern.
“We can make it better,” the friend chimes in.
Fuck yeah, they can take my mind off the broken girl. Off the memories that need to stay buried. “You girls want to help? Both of you get on your knees.”
My cell died later that afternoon.
I stayed away for another two days.
By the time I pull myself out of that bender and go back to the bar to get my bike, it’s late Monday night or early Tuesday morning.
Shoulders, arms, legs, neck—everything screams in pain as I load up and head home. I should have stopped yesterday. Instead of being a little bitch and avoiding Elias and that girl, I should have gone home, crawled into my own fucking bed, and recovered. Too late now. I have to get the bar back open and running and deal with my pop’s affairs.
What I do not have time for is nursing a homeless prostitute back to good health.
Elias is the good guy. He has all the resources he needs to take care of her. He’s the kind of guy a broken girl would fall in love with.
Me?
All I’m good for is a weekend fuck and a good time. I don’t do love. Romance is for pussies. I’m not the type of guy to take in an injured bird and help it. I’d rather snap its neck and put it out of its misery. We’re given one life to do with as we please, so I live for me. Simple as that.
I don’t remember much of the dark drive to Elias’s, or why I chose to go there instead of my own apartment, but I’m damn glad when I pull into the driveway and let myself into the two-story townhouse.
Without turning on any lights, I head toward Elias’s room to grab a change of clothes. I’m halfway down the hall when I hear it. A sharp, piercing scream. The terror contained in that one sound sends adrenaline rushing through my veins. As quickly as the scream erupts, it’s cut off by a soft, soothing, “Shh.”
“The bugs are back. Get them off me, get them off,” she cries.
His reply is too quiet. I can’t make out the words, just the low tone of his voice.
Then I hear another sound. This one a rhythmic twang of chords and the strumming of Elias’s guitar.
He’s singing to her.
I recognize the song as one of The Avett Brothers. “The Ballad of Love and Hate.”
With just his guitar and the softness of his voice, it nearly sounds like a different song, but I couldn’t miss those lyrics.
I lean against the wall outside the open door and just listen. I didn’t intend to stop here, but no matter how tired I feel, I can’t get myself to move. A pit opens