Page 1 of All the Broken Pieces: Vol. 3

Chapter 1

Rushing across the lawn, I slam my palms into the front door and come to a halt. “Hello?”

I don’t know why I call out. I’m half hoping to hear someone answer back, but the only sound that greets me is the hum of the fridge. That’s when I see it. The bookshelves in my living room are neat and orderly, but the books aren’t right. They were moved. It doesn’t make any sense. Something has to be missing, stolen.

I walk into the room and pivot on my heel, taking it in. Everything is almost the way I had it, but not quite. The hairs on the back of my neck rise and I can’t shake off the feeling that someone was here. Someone went through my stuff. Swallowing hard, I walk over toward my desk and see a drawer on the floor, the contents spilled out. Every muscle in my body is corded tight as I lean over and reach for the white wooden drawer.

“Don’t touch it!” K’Teal’s voice makes me jump.

I stagger away from the desk and nearly fall on my ass. My heart slams into my chest as I try to find my breath again. “What are you doing in here?”

He cocks his neck before shoving his hands into his pockets and frowning. “I called the cops, Abbs. Some fool broke into your house and you’re all walking around like it’s okay. Fuck that. What if he’s still here?”

“He’s not!” I round on him. The man is nearly a foot taller than me, so I can’t scream in his face no matter how much I want to. “No one is here, and the cops aren’t going to care about a spilled drawer and some books!”

“What books? They look fine to me.” K’Teal walks over to the shelf and points at a spine. “Hey, I know this one. I figured you’d have all brainy books, not kid stuff. Is that, like, Peter Pan? Why does it say Peter and Wendy?”

I groan, not even trying to hide my annoyance. “It’s a first edition. My best friend gave it to me. Don’t touch it.”

K’Teal jerks his hands away and holds them up, palms facing me. “No need to be violent about it.”

My eye twitches. “Just don’t touch it.” What am I going to do? Twice in one day. The cops are going to kill me.

K’Teal looks at the rest of the spines on the bookcase, strolling along with his hands shoved into his pockets. “Why would someone break in and move your shit around?”

I shrug and walk over to the couch, sitting down hard before burying my face in my hands. “I don’t know. A joke?”

“Someone hates you, babe. This is nasty, all screwing with your head and shit. You sure there’s nothing missing?” He tugs off his ballcap, smooths his corn colored hair, and then slips the hat back in place, backwards.

I don’t look up. I don’t have to. I can see his movement out of the corner of my eye. “I doubt it. It’s going to be the same as last time. A few things out of place, but nothing missing.”

K’Teal’s voice rises an octave, “This happened before? Someone is fucking with you, girl. That’s not cool. Not one bit.” When I glance up, K’Teal isn’t trying to hide his anger. He’s ripped his hat off his head. He’s twisting it in his palms. He abruptly stops, slaps it against his leg, and points it at me when he speaks. “We need to get back at those mo’fos. You can’t be letting people step on you like this. Ain’t cool, dog.”

Sighing, I look up at him. “I don’t know who—” before I can finish my sentence, the cops arrive.