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“Okay. Okay. I’m listening.” He nodded, but said nothing. She waited a few seconds before saying. “Scott, I’m listening.”
“Yeah. Uh.”
He rubbed the barrel of the gun against his head, seemingly getting his thoughts together. It would make her life so much easier if the gun would just go off and blow his brains out. Criss shook her head. No killing. She wasn’t a killer. She wasn’t her father.
“Um…” Scott pointed the gun at her again. “I’ve been getting my life together.”
Yeah right.
“I’m off drugs.”
“For how long?”
“Two weeks.”
“Good for you. Why are you here?”
“I know my rights. If I get my shit together, I can take you all to court and get my daughter back.”
Her niece would never live with that monster again. She didn’t give a damn what a judge said. Ashley was staying with her. Even if she had to work ten jobs to take care of her niece and her grandmother.
“Scott, Shy is happy here. And…”
“Her name is Ashley, not Shy. Why do you insist on calling her that?”
“It’s just a nickname we gave her because she’s shy. That’s all.”
“Well, I hate it.” Spittle flew from his mouth as he yelled. “My mother says it sounds ghetto.”
Fuck you and your momma. “Okay, I won’t call her that. But, Scott, Ashely is happy here, with us.”
“Kids belong with their parents. Cindy is dead. I’m all Ashley has.”
“She has me and….”
“You’re not her mother!”
“I know. I’m her aunt. And I love her…”
“I love her,” Scott shouted.
Criss bit her tongue to keep from saying what she really wanted to say. He didn’t love Ashley. If he loved her, why had he whipped her so hard that she had welts all over her back and legs?
If he loved her, why had Criss found her crying in a closet while Scott and his drug addict friends were passed out in the living room? Cristal’s entire body went tense when she heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Ashley. Shit. Criss took a step backward, stepping into the hallway.
“Stay right there,” Scott yelled.
“H-how about we go outside and talk?”
“You must think I’m stupid. Stop moving.”
Criss stopped in the hallway. Her eyes darted left to where Shy was standing at the end of the hall. Shy opened her mouth. Criss shook her head.
“Who are you looking at?” Scott rushed forward.
Damn it.“Run, Shy,” Criss shouted.
Her niece’s eyes widened. But she knew the drill. Shy took off running. Criss had to protect her niece. She couldn’t allow a monster like Scott to storm back into Shy’s life. She’d die before she let that happen.
And she’d take Scott down with her.
