AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“It was me.” I shove my hands in the pockets of my hoodie as the bathroom falls silent. Every woman turns her head to look at me. Some with shock, others with revulsion. Pity. Anger.
“What was you?” Ronnie asks, but I know she knows exactly what I’m talking about, so I don’t give her the satisfaction of speaking.
“You fucking dog,” says Lulu, her lip curling into a sneer. “I should have known all along.”
“Yeah,” I say, lifting my chin to lock her gaze. “You should have.”
Lulu turns to look at Ronnie, nostrils trembling angrily. Lace is frozen where Bull is gripping her. Her mouth hangs open as she watches the scene unfold in front of us, and I can tell that she wants to speak up, to stop me. But as her mouth opens wider, I shake my head no, just once, just barely, and from the widening of her eyes, I know she sees. Her mouth snaps shut.
“Who are you covering for, Taylor?” asks Ronnie. “Is it your girlfriend? Or maybe it’s Sabine or Camilla.” She comes toward me. I want to take a step back, but I don’t. Fear will only make things worse. There is no pity here, no empathy. Every woman inside this room wants me to pay for what they think I did.
“I’m not covering for anybody.”
A moment of silence drapes the room. It’s so quiet I can almost hear the fear seeping off some of the women. Lace stands still behind me, her mouth slightly open, breath coming in quick, sharp gasps that burn my ears like acid.
“You heard her,” Ronnie says, breaking the silence of the room. “She’s not covering for anybody. So get on with it.”
Before I can register what’s happening, someone grabs me from behind, locking my arms in a quick, fluid movement. I see Lace dodge Bull to make a move in my direction, as if to try and stop them, but Deadeye latches onto her, pulling her back to keep her from me. Lace yells, struggling, but we all know it’s no use.
It’s Lulu that has a hold of me, wrenching my arms back, but she’s not the one I have to worry about. With a quick punch to the gut with her meaty fist, Bull sends me to my knees, gasping for air, as my ribs scream in a silent, excruciating pain. Lulu has dropped her hold on me, but it doesn’t matter now as Bull’s shoe connects with my ribs. Pain unlike anything I’ve ever felt before washes over me. Before I can pull in a breath of air, she aims again and swings, and I swear I feel a rib crack.
“Stop it!” Lace screams. Deadeye still has a hold of her, and Ronnie is standing next to them, her expression unreadable as this all unfolds in front of her.
“Shut up, cunt,” says Deadeye to Lace, tightening her grip on my friend’s neck. “Take note, this is what happens to rats.”
I close my eyes as another blow lands square in my back, and pain pulsates from my abdomen, radiating down my legs and up my arms. She kicks me again. And then again. Just when I think it’s over, that there’s nothing more she can do to me, Bull grabs me by the neck of my hoodie and hauls me to my feet, then slams me up against the brick wall, her meaty face coming at me with superhuman speed.
One of her knuckles cracks my nose, and a spurt of blood trails down my face and into my mouth. I spit it out and hazily glare at her, barely able to make out the figure in front of me.
“Ronnie!” yells Lace. “Please, stop. Bull will kill her!”
At this point, I feel like death would be the better option as Bull delivers one last nauseating slam into my gut. I double over, gasping, then fall to my knees as Bull’s fist releases the front of my sweatshirt. As I lie on the ground, blood soaking my face and the front of my shirt, Ronnie approaches. I can barely see anything through the swelling in my eyes, but I know it’s her by the way she walks. She stops in front of me on the floor and then kneels down, one hand reaching for my face. I try to turn away but there’s nowhere to go. I can barely breathe, let alone move.
“Consider this a warning,” she says, grabbing my chin between two fingers and squeezing. I barely register the pain, because it can’t possibly hurt more than it already does. “If I hear you’re ratting on us again, Bull won’t be so understanding next time.”
I hear Lace yelp as Deadeye shoves her forward, toward me, and Ronnie departs, the other two trailing behind them. After a moment, the rest of the women follow. Not a single one of them regrets what just happened.
“Fuck.” Lace falls to her hands and knees beside me, fingers reaching out to touch the bruised skin and bloody face. Tears spill from her eyes and she squeezes my hand, whispering something I can’t quite make out. I feel tired, so fucking tired. All I want to do is sleep.
“Mr. Jaxon!” Lace screams over her shoulder, panic rising in her throat. “Help! We need help here!”
The bathroom door swings open and I hear footsteps on the tile. I recognize Jaxon’s work boots immediately.
“Fuck,” he says, joining Lace’s side. “Taylor? Can you hear me? Josephine?”
I hear him, but I’m in too much pain to answer. I try to nod my head, but I can’t. Maybe Bull has paralyzed me.
“Hold on,” Jaxon says. “We’re going to get you to medical. Just stay with us.”
Lace’s tear-stained face is the last thing I see through a blurry, painful haze before everything around me goes dark.
Chapter Fourteen
Blindinglight seeps through my cracked eyelids, shoving a piercing pain through my entire skull. I swallow. My throat and mouth taste raw. Dry. I try to clear the phlegm from my throat, but it hurts too much to try. Instead, I focus on slowly opening my eyes to face the light. Next to me, a machine beeps, rhythmic and obnoxious. There’s a blanket over my body, a scratchy sheet too. I want so badly to kick them off, but I can’t move. I can barely breathe.
“Joe?” Someone next to my bed reaches out and takes my hand. It’s painful, but comforting at the same time, so I don’t pull away. I recognize the soft voice. Lace is here.
“Hi.” My voice comes out in a cracked whisper, and as my eyes adjust to the room, I see Lace’s hovering face smiling down at me.
