Page 52

As soon as I said it, I felt terrible for taking it out on her. I focused on the drink, and blinked back hot tears, until the shaking started to subside.

“I– I’m sorry,” she whispered, and I could tell by her face that she was just as perplexed by all of it as I was. “If he says it is for your safety, though… Believe him. You don’t know Birdman like I do. You just don’t. No one does.”

Her voice never rose above a whisper, and yet, it trailed so low I had to lean forward to hear her last few words.

“He isn’t right, you know? Never has been… But this…” She sighed.

“And yet, you procreated with his sorry ass,” I pointed out, unable to help myself. Every time I opened my mouth, hatred and pain spilled unchecked.

“I was young. In truth, I was just blinded by what was once good looks, and swayed by the excitement of outlaw life. It was short-lived. The excitement and the relationship.”

“I can’t imagine why,” I mumbled into my juice glass, despite my determination to stay quiet

“He soured everything he touched,” she quietly admitted. “My self-esteem, my credit, and my reputation. I swore I’d never watch him poison our son with his bullshit, and yet, here I am. And there Roy is, with those miserable rockers sprawled across his back.”

She exhaled and shook her head.

I could tell she was on the verge of tears herself. It made me forgive her a little.

“Forty was right to tell Kate what was going on with us. If I was his wife, I would have wanted someone to tell me,” Penny began, her tone sounding distant, before she huffed and continued, “We were wrong. Dead wrong. I was young and it was a mistake. I take accountability for that now, but still… I wasn’t the one who owed Kate loyalty. I also wasn’t the one who painted her as a psycho ex. He told me they were divorced. I believed him, until the pregnancy test came back positive and the truth started coming forth. He’s good at that, you know? Painting pictures and selling them. You can’t believe a word he says about anyone. He even turned me against my uncle, so Preach couldn’t figure out that I didn’t know the truth about him and Kate.”

She grew quiet, as if she were deep in thought before she hesitantly furthered, “Kennedy, please listen to Roy. People have convinced me over the years that my vision of Birdman is fogged by fear. They point out that I admit he is a liar, and question me when I say he is dangerous. But… I don’t care what they say. He has no value or use for human life, beyond his own. He’s the ugliest soul I’ve ever met, and I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t be the first person he put in the ground. He told me as much when we were together. I believed him then, and I still do.”

The door sounded again, causing us both to confront the sound.

“Don’t hush on my account.” Roy sighed, giving his weight to the door.

I rolled my eyes, not in the mood for nonsense.

“You could have avoided all of this, and just smiled back the night I came home.” he teased me.

I glared at him until he awkwardly laughed and shrugged, “I’m just saying, all I wanted was your time and a chance. Instead, you gave in to the one who wanted your death certificate signed.”

“Royal!” Penny exclaimed.

“Unless you got a corpse I can toss in that car, I’m going to need blood. A lot of it.” He ignored his mother, not taking his eyes off me.

“What the fuck are you on about?” I sighed, while side-eyeing the door.

“I need to make a mess of your car. I need to make it look like I shot you. I’ll tell them I got your body burning somewhere. They’re not going to take it to a crime lab. They won’t know whose blood it is.”

“What does that mean, Royal?” Penny exploded, “What the hell does that even mean– Whose? You’re not suggesting that you’re going to kill someone just to fake another person’s death. That’s ridiculous. This isn’t you, Royal. This isn’t the son I raised.”

“Funny. I thought you were always on about being good to women, and protecting those you love.”

Penny’s gaze slowly traveled from her son to me. I could feel the questions she didn’t lend air to, even if I had no idea why.

“What?” I glanced between them, only for Roy to clear his throat and rub his face with a hand.

“I just– I need to figure out where to get blood. Meat is good, for tissue imitation, but there isn’t enough blood in packaged or processed foods to–”

“Tomorrow is kill day at the butcher shop.” I tried to be helpful, even if I felt like I’d missed something.

“How do you know that?” He laughed, before shrugging off the information, “Don’t matter. They aren’t going to sell me a bucket of blood.”

“My friend is helping out there. Her boyfriend’s family owns the place, and she’s scheduled to package what he slaughters in the morning.”

He looked like he didn’t believe me, but damned if I was going to pull the phone from my bra and prove it.