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I saw it then, the side Laz had purposefully kept hidden from me. It was a brutal realization and struck harder than his hand ever could have. I took a step back, fearful, but kept his eyes.
“I’m coming, deal with it.”
Furious, he gave me a deathly look I ignored until he pulled out of the motel parking lot.
“You have your piece?” I nodded, unable to miss the agitation in his voice. I’d been carrying my father’s gun with me everywhere for months. I pulled the small gun out of my hoodie and flashed a part of the metal to him.
“When we get there, you don’t say a word. Just let me handle it, okay?”
“Where are we going?”
“To make a deal.”
I sat quietly as he pulled up to an old, abandoned school that desperately needed to be condemned. We made our way through the loosely boarded back door, and I looked around us, terrified. There were kids my age, some younger, and adults alike hitting the glass hard and oblivious to those around them. Laz had taken me to a smoke house.
I glanced up at him in question, and he warned me with a clenched jaw to remain silent.
“Laz,” I heard a voice call and turned to see a blonde a little bit older than me with vacant eyes walk over to him with a smile. “I’ve been saving myself for you,” she purred, completely ignoring me and running her hand up and down his chest. Her clothes were filthy, and she would have been beautiful if it weren’t for the fact that she was grossly thin and had a veil of meth covering her features.
As if I was an afterthought, she looked over at me. “You don’t mind sharing him, do you? We had one hell of a good time last weekend.”
Cringing with the weight of the blow, I looked to Laz, who pushed her away as if she was full of venom.
“Fuck off, Trina. This is not the time.”
“You know where to find me,” she piped happily as she saw the devastation on my face. She’d made her point and accomplished her mission. All the loyalty I had for him died in that moment as I gagged on the realization that everything he’d ever told me was a lie.
I ignored the stabbing pain as I followed him down a long hallway filled with dilapidated and unhinged lockers. It was eerily dark, and I could barely see a few feet in front of me. It irked me that Laz cruised around the halls with ease. Obviously, this place was something else he’d been keeping from me. Laz knocked on a door that read Asst. Principal and I waited with bated breath to see who would answer.
We didn’t wait long as the door was ripped open and a menacing guy with a crew cut and a map of tattoos covering every inch of his skin greeted us with contempt.
“Laz,” he said, looking past him to stare at me. “Who is this?”
“This is my girl, Red.”
The guy raised his brows in question. “Long time knowing you, never mentioned a girl.”
“Didn’t need to. Rudy seeing people? I need a word.”
“He’s in a mood today, make it quick.” Laz nodded and walked into the office, shutting the door behind him and leaving me with Crew Cut. I ignored his open stare as I looked around.
“I’m Jay. You want a hit?” He extended the foil and glass my way, and I shook my head. “No, thanks. I’m good.”
Leaning against the office door, I strained to hear anything I could and got nothing. Jay looked me over as I waited patiently for Laz to make his deal.
“You don’t look like the type of girl Laz would get with,” he mused as I crossed my arms over the tits he’d decided to concentrate on.
“I’m not, and I’m not his girl.” The floor was covered in a mix of trash, gravel, and broken glass, which I assumed were used pipes. I couldn’t imagine choosing to spend my time in a place like this. And suddenly I wanted no part of whatever plans Laz had. I wanted out, and I wanted out now. Whomever he decided to blame the missing eight hundred dollars on was entirely on him. He’d have no proof. His actions would be his own. I was leaving, and I was doing it soon.
And then, when I was feeling the most helpless, the most desperate, I remembered the card taped to my dresser. Suddenly, the door opened behind me, and I stumbled as Laz’s arms caught me. He gripped me tightly, leading me out of the school and to the car.
“Red, about what you heard,” he started to explain as he turned the key. “It’s not true.”
“No, it is true. You fucked her and forgot that you loved me. I wasn’t giving you what you needed, so you got it someplace else. And that isn’t why this is over.”
He hit his steering wheel repeatedly in fury before turning to me. I didn’t give two shits about the reason why he had so much anger. Maybe it was guilt. Maybe it was because he got caught. He took a deep breath and turned to me. “It’s not over. I love you.”
“It is over, and it has been. We can’t be who we were anymore. I can’t save you and you sure as hell are in no shape to save me. We both failed.”
