“None of your backtalk,querida.You made this mess, now you’re going to have to fix it. They’re expecting this drop off at the Chupacabra Lounge, basement bar. Ask for Sid.”
Rey’s arm shot out, squeezing the bruises from his earlier death grip as Lily began sobbing again, clutching the bag. She flinched as he rubbed her cheek with his other hand.
“Wear a pretty dress,querida,” he said, as if he hadn’t just beaten the shit out of her. “And don’t disappoint me again.”
He patted her bruised cheek, releasing her, whistling as if they were in a freaking Disney movie. She was still holding the bag as he turned and left, the door slamming behind him and his tuneless whistling.
The sound of the engine starting in his car broke her trance, and she began to move. Before getting some ice or frozen peas to put on her face, there was one thing she had to do.
She thought of the children’s faces, all of those innocents who just finished preschool with her, eager and excited about going to the First Grade in a few short months. She couldn’t —wouldn’t— let any of them fall prey to drugs.
She shuffled stiffly, bag in hand, like one of the zombies fromThe Walking Dead. And just like a mindless creature animated by who-knows-what, she made her way to the bathroom, raising the lid of the toilet before upending the open duffel bag over it.
She had the presence of mind to release small batches at a time into the bowl, depressing the tank lever and watching the whirlpool of drugs disappearing into the abyss. Fitting metaphor for what her life had become. Flush and repeat.
Over and over until the duffel bag hung limply from her hand. She shuffled back into the kitchen, without even enough energy to drop the bag, intent on getting some ice for her face.
There was a knocking on the door. “Girl, let me in!”
Lucie.
She turned the knob and let her friend in, floating on a cloud of fragrance and excited chatter.
“Girl, I was calling to say I got out of work early and—”
Her best friend stood in shock, her jaw falling to her chest.
“What the fuck, Lily? That asshole do this to you?”
She nodded, and finally dropped the emptied duffel back on the floor. Lucie took action immediately, setting her handbag on the kitchen table, and herding Lily into a chair. She grabbed a bag of frozen peas from the freezer, cursing Rey in between barking out her outrage.
“You’ve got to get out of here, Lily. That asshole’s done this for the last time.”
“I—I have nowhere to go.” Lily’s voice was quiet, the dish-towel wrapped bag of frozen peas pressed up against her temple. If she changed the side she parted her hair on, she could hide the bruise. The thought drifted through her dazed mind as she slumped in the chair, stunned.
How was this her life?
“Bull puckey,” Lucie said. She took in the disarray in the kitchen, the phone that was immersed in the sink between the pots and pans. “You have those relatives that flew in for your mom’s funeral — San Diego, I think. Let’s get you to my place tonight, we can call them from there, and get you on the road tomorrow morning.”
Rey would come after Lily for sure, especially once he discovered what she had done with the drugs. Lily couldn’t bring that kind of trouble to Lucie’s family. Lucie lived in a small two story house on the other side of Denver, with her invalid grandmother, mother and younger sister.
And Lucie didn’t even know yet about TheRage.
“Can’t go to your place.” As her best friend opened her mouth to argue, Lily dropped the bomb. “Rey’s dealing. I just flushed the drugs down the toilet.”
“Shit.Shiiiiiit.” Lucie put one hand on the back of her neck, rubbing it as if that would free up the headache that was starting to build. She paced back and forth in the tiny kitchen, until she came to a complete stop in front of Lily.
“You can’t stay here, you’re going to have to get going as fast and far away as you can. ASAP.” Lily looked at the resolute features on her friend’s face, so very much like her own, yet committing them to memory all the same.
She really was leaving. It was starting to sink in. She had no choice. Rey would kill her if he found out what she’d done with the drugs. Tears filled her eyes, and Lucie’s face softened.
“I’m going to help you pack. You do what you need to do to get ready. And you call me when you get there.” Lucie pulled out all the cash from her Coach wallet, wincing at how little there was, and transferring it into the shabby Target canvas purse that had seen better days. She also pulled out her driver’s license.
“I know that Rey’s got some shady friends who’ll try to track you down, so I’m going to give you my driver’s license to use until you can get settled, in case you need it.”
Lily blinked away her tears. “I can’t let you do that. What are you going to do without a driver’s license?”
“I’ll get a replacement,” Lucie shrugged. “And in the meantime I’ll drive really carefully so I don’t get pulled over. The important thing is to get you someplace safe, as fast as possible.”
