AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I don’t hate you,” Felina insisted.“Just tell me what’s wrong.Is it Marty?”
“Yes...no...”She burst into a fresh round of sobs.“He’ll hate me, too.”
“Trish, nothing you could do would make us hate you.”
“Yes, you will.”She stared at their hands, refusing to look Felina in the eyes.
“You’re sweet, kind and loveable.”
Finally, she looked up.“How can you say that when I stole your boyfriend?”
“You didn’t steal him.We didn’t love each other.We would’ve broken up anyway.”
“But I never should’ve started seeing him while you were still together.”
The water came to a boil, and the kettle shut off automatically with a loud click.
Trish released Felina’s hands and pushed to her feet.
“The tea can wait,” Felina said.
“No.It’s okay,” Trish turned and walked into the living room.“I have to keep packing.”
Felina left the tea and the kitchen.“Packing?Why?”
“I’m leaving tomorrow.”
“Are you moving in with Marty?”Felina asked.
Trish shook her head.“No.I can’t marry Marty.I can’t stay here.I have to leave.”She went into the bedroom and came out carrying a box overflowing with stuff jammed into it.“Will you donate this stuff to the women’s shelter or Goodwill?I can’t take it with me.I only have so much room in my car.”
“Sweetie, give it to me.”Felina held out her arms.
Trish handed her the box and returned to her bedroom for another.
Felina set the box beside others on the floor containing books, clothes, figurines, shoes...everything Trish had collected over the years.
“Why do you have to leave?”Felina followed her friend into the bedroom.“What could be so bad that you’d leave your home, friends and family?”
Trish held a box in her arms.“I have to leave.I’m out of money.I’m going to lose my business, and they’ll only want more.”
Felina frowned.“Who wants more?”
Still holding the box, Trish sank onto the bed.“I thought it was over.I never wanted him to die, but when it happened, I thought it was over.”She shook her head.“It’s not.If I don’t pay them, they’ll go to Marty.I can’t sell the house.It isn’t mine.Neither is my beauty shop.I rent it.I’m done.I have nothing left to give.”
Felina sat down beside her friend.“Talk to me, Trish.Who are you paying?”She stared at her friend.“Is someone blackmailing you?”
Trish’s eyes filled with tears.“They said if I told anyone, they’d kill me, my friends and my family.They’d kill Marty.And they will.”She looked into Felina’s eyes.“They killed the first guy who was making me pay—the guy they found in the bayou.I was supposed to meet him that night at the Crawdad Hole.He said he had something for me.When I got there, he was already gone.Then he turned up in the bayou.”
“You were meeting Gaither that night?”Felina’s gut knotted.
“He said he was done.”She stared into the box.“I wouldn’t have to pay anymore if I met him that night.”
“What was he using to blackmail you?”
“I can’t.”She turned away from Felina.“You should go.You don’t want to get mixed up with me.The only way I can be free, and my family, friends and Marty will be safe, is for me to either leave or die.”
“Neither choice is an option.”Felina took the box from her friend.As she moved to set it aside, something bright royal blue caught her attention.She pulled out a white blouse and a pair of denim shorts and gaped at what lay beneath them.
