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“Yeah, I know.”
“Don’t get sassy with me.” He sets his beer on the end table, and I know I need to shut up. I try to walk on eggshells around him, but my tolerance for bullshit has just about reached its limit. I’m tired, stressed, and worried. “I took you and your mom in when you had no one. You’d think that’d earn me some goddamn respect.”
“I pay you half my check every month, buy groceries when I can, and clean the house. What else could you want from me?” There’s more I could add to that list, but those words are never to be spoken. Not ever. Because once they are, I have to admit what’s happened to me since I was just a child, and that’s not going to happen.
Ray stands, the look on his face telling me I’ve gone too far.
“I just meant that I have every intention of paying you.” My words come out shaky, and I hate that I’m so afraid of him.
“You’re a spoiled little bitch. Same as your mother. I should’ve kicked both of you out a long time ago.” He stalks toward me, a lion ready to pounce on a sheep. “You’ve done nothing but bring me headaches since you moved in.”
“I’m sorry, okay? You’ll have your money as soon as I get my first check.” I didn’t even ask Colin when that would be.
“Dinner’s ready, Ray. Why don’t you sit down, and I’ll bring you a plate?” Mom pops her head out of the kitchen, directly between where Ray and I are standing. She means well, but fuck, I wish she wouldn’t do that. Now I don’t have just myself to worry about.
“Stay out of this!” He stops walking long enough to backhand her, sending her crashing into the wall.
I rush over, crouching next to her. “Are you okay?”
“Fine, honey. I’m fine,” she whispers as she tries to right herself.
I stand, blocking her with my body. “That’s enough!”
“I’ll say when it’s enough!” He throws a punch that I attempt to block, but it still connects with my jaw. “Apparently, you haven’t learned your place.”
Pain shoots through my face. I need to find a way to diffuse this. I can’t show up tomorrow black and blue. “I do. I know my place, and I’m so sorry. I spoke out of turn.”
“Damn right you did,” he spits out. “Call this new job and tell them you quit. Then go back to the diner and see if you can get your old job back. You can’t be gone for a month.”
All the air leaves my lungs, and I panic. “I can’t. They’ve already filled my position.”
“Then find another one.”
“It’s just a month, Ray. And I’ll be making more money. That’s good, right?”
He takes a threatening step closer, his tone mocking. “You’re gonna leave your mama here to fend for herself? I’d hate for something bad to happen while you’re away.”
This can’t be happening. It feels like someone is trying to stop me from every direction, first with Colin and now Ray. Maybe it was dumb to think I could get away. There’s no such thing as a better life for girls like me. We’re doomed from the start. God, I was so naïve.
I fold my arms and straighten my spine. “I can pay you three thousand a month instead of two.”
“I don’t need your money. The only reason I make you pay is to teach you responsibility.”
Yeah, right. It’s so you can spend all your money at the casinos and still have a home.
“This is a good job, Ray. Please.”
He grips my upper arms in a punishing hold and shakes me until my teeth rattle. “You deaf, cunt? I said no.” He shoves me backward, making me trip over Mom, huddled in a ball at my feet. I hit the wall, my head slamming into it with a thud before I land on top of her. “I’m going out.”
We stay tangled until we hear the front door slam.
“Oh my God, Vivi. I’m so sorry,” Mom cries, shifting to the side and wrapping me in her arms.
“I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not, and I’m not, either. This isn’t okay. None of it.” It’s the first time I’ve heard some fight in her voice. Normally, after Ray throws one of his fits, she tries to defend him, to make it make sense.
She grips the wall to help her to her feet. She’s skin and bones, the depression stopping her from eating and taking care of herself. If things continue like this, she’ll be dead within a year.
