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Again, he repeated those steps.
I walked over to the phone and when it rang; I saw Dante’s name on the screen. Reluctantly, I picked it up and answered it. “Dante…”
Stunned, he looked over at me as I held the phone. I couldn’t hide the tears as they silently slid down my face. His face conveyed many emotions, one after another.
“That’s my mother’s phone. What are you…?” He looked over at Jeremy, who was lying on the floor a hurt mess.
“And now… I have three days to give them the rest or they’re coming for you. And this shit that you walked into is my way of trying to pay them back.” He struggled to sit up, not making it far.
“You…” And Dante ran toward him.
I intercepted. “Dante, no! We need to go.” I tried.
Dante kept trying to get to Jeremy, and I couldn’t let that happen. If that story was true… Jeremy had no chance. I felt for Dante, but I needed to focus on getting him out of the room without letting him kill Jeremy.
“He doesn’t deserve to live! How dare you?! You knew all this time and lied to me! You let me wonder where she was. They were our parents! They tried to protect you! She… she got you this fucking apartment, and this is what you do? No good, piece of…” And that’s when I got him outside and slammed the door behind us. “No! He doesn’t get off that easy!”
Dante tried to get around me and held my ground. “I need to get you out of here.”
“No!” He shouted again. He turned around and walked toward the open space in front of the woods. I figured it was better for him to go there versus trying to go back into the room.
I followed at a safe distance, not letting him get too far away from me. He stood still eventually, not going anywhere. I was patient, though every part of me wanted to leave that place. It felt cold and unwanted. Though it was warm out, I had chills.
Dante turned to me and walked back. His face was unreadable, and I wasn’t sure that I wanted to know anything he was thinking at this moment. I wanted to get him somewhere safe so that we could figure out what to do next. This wasn’t the place to reflect. He took his mother’s phone from my hand. I’d forgotten I’d had it. It took a lot of effort, but he wiped my prints from it. Anger contorted his features more and more the longer the phone was in his possession. He dropped it to the ground, trembling.
Sirens were approaching. It didn’t surprise me from all the ruckus they’d created in that room. Jeremy was about to get exactly what he deserved.
“Let’s go,” he said.
I nodded, and we walked back to the truck side by side but not touching one another, completely different from how we’d arrived. He looked at the door to Jeremy’s apartment like he wanted to change the plan and go back inside.
“This way, Dante.”
We got inside the truck, and instantly Dante gave me his gun and the wrapped one from Jeremy’s apartment. “Probably not safe that I have those.”
“I agree.” I responded automatically. Hell, I wasn’t sure if it was safe for me to have those, either.
“I know you must have a lot to do, but I don’t exactly want to be alone right now.” He looked at me, gaging my response.
“After we drop off this stuff to Tim, we can do whatever you want.” I put both guns in the glove box and then fastened my seatbelt to settle in.
“Thank you.” Dante said the words, and though I knew he meant them, I knew there was still some regret there, too. He wasn’t finished with Jeremy.
“You’re welcome.”
When we got to Allen’s Hooves, Dante left the truck with Tim after telling him what happened. He was in shock, too.
“Whatever you need, brother,” Tim said to Dante. There was a look of understanding that didn’t go unnoticed. Tim had that same reserved look on his face that Dante had, but their eyes gave away their authentic emotion. Sadness…
“Michelle, you’ll take care of him for me?” Tim asked me.
“I will.”
“Good. I’ve got some things to handle. Go hold your woman, man. We’ll talk soon,” Tim said with finality. He hugged Dante and then hopped into the truck, taking it away.
“Let’s go,” Dante said.
He drove us to his house, where he stripped us both down and made me lie in bed with him, where we held one another. He didn’t speak a word. And we stayed that way for hours. I fell asleep in his arms, more out of exhaustion than being relaxed. When he got up to go to the bathroom, I jumped up, startled.
