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I shrugged my shoulders. “I’m just jaded about certain things in life is all. The cruelty of people is one of them. I have witnessed so much cruelty in my cases at work that nothing surprises me anymore. It just makes me angry. I don’t know if being this way is a good thing or a bad thing.”
“I think it’s a survival thing, and a good thing in your line of work. That tough outer shell of yours helps you to help others.”
I gazed out the window at the autumn sky, contemplating whether or not to tell my dad about something that occurred while Mr. Ferguson was holding his gun to my head. Then I decided to.
“As you know, I’m not afraid of dying,” I said.
“Yes, Stevie, I do know that about you.”
“Well, I really believed I was gonna die yesterday. I felt myself surrendering to it. While sitting there on the ground in Mr. Ferguson’s clutches, my whole life flashed by in front of me, and what stood out was everything I’ve lost: Malcolm, Mom, and a marriage that was supposed to last forever. Then I pictured you and Zac. I was gonna be losing you and him by not being here on this earth any longer. The last of my happiness was about to be stripped away from me—and I was furious. I was also ready to die because I wanted the pain in my heart to end.”
I stopped talking so I could get control over the tears that I was crying again and also catch my breath.
“Do you want me to pull over somewhere? Get a Dr. Pepper or something for you to drink?” my dad asked, rubbing my shoulder.
I shook my head no, took another minute just to be still, and then began telling my dad the rest of what had occurred yesterday while I was being held hostage by Mr. Ferguson.
“Right after I pictured you and Zac, I saw Mom. She came to me, Dad, but it obviously wasn’t in a dream like before. I saw her standing in front of me in that parking lot and she told me to keep fighting. She said she knew I was tired but that I couldn’t give up sincehetraveled through time to find me again. She was talking about Zac—his name was the next thing she said to me. I really have found the one whom my soul loves and also knows. I just hope life doesn’t tear us apart.”
48
#newsflash
Zac
ON THE WAYto my house from Stevie’s, I called my mom with another update on the love of my life. I let her know that Stevie was doing great and also that Mr. Sinclair and I had talked about my relationship with his daughter. After telling my mom all the kind and supportive things he’d said, I heard her breathe a sigh of relief, and then she asked me if she and my dad could keep Malcolm overnight again.
Because I hadn’t let Avery know where Malcolm nor I had spent the night, my mom was worried about a storm brewing at my house and she especially didn’t want her grandson to witness it blowing up into a hurricane as it’d done before. Although what I personally did and also chose to do with my son was none of Avery’s business, I understood my mom’s concern. It was a valid one given not only Avery’s history but also the way she’d been acting toward me all week. She still very much wanted us to work on our marriage—making my life her business again—and that wasn’t going to happen.
I told my mom yes to keeping Malcolm again and told her that I’d check in with her later to see how he was doing and to also let her and my dad know how things were at my house.Hopefully, Avery would still be as calm and peaceful as she’d been the rest of the week.
As soon as I got home, I went directly to my bathroom. I also took off my bloodstained tie and shirt. When I walked back into my bedroom, Avery was sitting on the edge of my bed.
“What are you doing in here?” I asked her.
“I saw you and your pretty woman-friend, Stevie Sinclair, on the news. I saw what happened to her in the courthouse parking lot. I saw you run past all the police to rescue her after that man was shot. I saw Stevie run into your arms and pass out. I saw you pick her up and carry her to the ambulance. I also saw something else: the streaks on your face from the tears that you’d been crying and the kiss you gave Stevie on the cheek when you turned around to carry her to that ambulance. She’s the reason why you’re not willing to give me another chance, isn’t she?”
“No, Avery—you’re the reason. You and only you.”
“Because of the way that I’ve treated you for so long, I understand you turning to someone else.”
I shook my head in disgust. “You don’t understand a damn thing about me. Now get the hell out of my bedroom.”
“No.”
“Avery, I swear to God, you better leave me alone. Now!”
“No. I’m staying right here and am gonna prove to you how much I love you. I’ve changed, Zac. Please just give me one more chance to get things right. Let me make it up to you.”
Avery stood up and pulled off her t-shirt. She wasn’t wearing a bra and she didn’t have on any panties underneath the shorts that she took off next. I picked up her clothes off my bedroom floor, grabbed Avery’s shoulders, and then pushed her out into the hallway. As she was turning to look at me, I slammed my bedroom door in her face and locked it. I didn’t hear Avery start crying. I only heard her close the guest bedroom door a few seconds later.
I started pacing around inside my room, furious about what Avery had just pulled with me. I didn’t like her even mentioning Stevie’s name and I damn sure didn’t like seeing her naked. In the brief amount of time that she stood in front of me without her clothes on, I’d thought about two things. The first was all the photos and videos that I received in the past and was still receiving from the private investigator I’d hired. Photos and videos that he took of Avery and Justin holding hands, hugging, kissing, and fucking each other in different locations. The most recent batch had come in two weeks ago.
The second thing that I thought of was Malcolm. He came to my mind when I saw the stretch marks on Avery’s body. Stretch marks that she didn’t want and bitched about the whole time she was pregnant, but especially after she gave birth to Malcolm.
The photos and videos of Avery and Justin didn’t anger me. I didn’t care about them being involved with each other. I was angry about Avery trying to play me for a fool when she came into my bedroom and said what she said and then did what she did. Seeing the stretch marks on her body angered me too, but it had nothing to do with Malcolm. It was all about Avery and the fact that she didn’t want him. She refused to see the gift of him and also the gift of what her body was able to do by carrying and then having a child. Avery’s had been nothing more than an incubator for Malcolm.
When it came to Avery bringing up that she saw Stevie and me on the news, plus recognizing Stevie and I were more than friends—I was never going to discuss the matter with her because just like my life was none of Avery’s business, neither was Stevie’s.
