Page 76 of Vicious

My hand hovers over the doorknob, and I realize that if I do this, there’s no going back. He’ll hunt me down. He’ll sabotage my father’s career, his life. We’ll have to get out of New Bristol, and quickly. If I’m careful, I’ll never see Chase Vicious again.

Why is that such a miserable thought?

I don’t let myself dwell on it, though. Instead, I quietly leave the house, locking the door behind me, and set out on foot in his fancy neighborhood.

Every step is a torment, my entire body aching, but I get to a bus stop. I curse when I see the old, faded schedule. It’s not going to come this late at night, not into this neighborhood.

I keep walking until I hit a main road. I don’t recognize this part of New Bristol at all, but at least it’s a nice area. If this were closer to my home or work, I’d be worried about getting mugged.

Work.

I’ll be going back to that soon enough, desperately holding down a job or three to keep us afloat, and the worst part of it is that I’ll have to do it all under the table. If I use anything associated with my name, Chase will find me, and after the beating he’d given me the night before, there’s no telling what he’d do to me now.

I should turn around and go back before he realizes I even tried to leave.

Hell, I almost do.

I reach a busier street, and I notice a cab nearby. I hail it, and the driver stops for me.

I give him my address, and we start driving back to my father’s house.

My house. Home.

The drive takes a little over half an hour, and the price of the cab makes me cringe internally. I hand the driver one of the hundred-dollar bills and wait for him to give me change. I wish I could tell him to keep it, but I don’t know what the situation is like.

Chase said he’d given my father five grand. How much of that does my father still have? If it’s even a thousand dollars, I can make it stretch until I find a job.

I get out of the cab and walk up to my front door.

I stop, realizing I don’t have a key.

I don’t have anything but the cash in my pocket, though at least I should be able to retrieve my ID out of my wallet when I get inside.

Not that I’ll be able to use it.

I knock on the door, quietly at first but then more insistently.

I hear footsteps on the other side, and I step back so Baba can see me through the peephole. He opens the door in a hurry once he realizes it’s me.

“May-May!” he exclaims, pulling me into his arms. “You’re alive! I was so worried about you, sweetheart.” His voice is cracking, and when he pulls back, I notice his eyes are blurring with tears.

He’s not the only one who’s crying. Seeing him makes my heart ache, especially when I see his condition. He’s lost weight he didn’t really have to lose, and he looks downright miserable. His hair covers the ear, but I can see that it’s mangled in an unnatural way. He’s had a rough time of it—but then, so have I.

“It’s okay, Baba. I’m fine. But we need… We need to go. Right now,” I tell him, even though I’m exhausted and all I want to do is fall into bed.

“Go?” Baba asks, confused. “Go where? What’s going on?”

“Anywhere but here,” I tell him. “I just need… Do you know where my purse is? My wallet? I need to change shoes, and?—”

And I just want to break down. I want to cry.

I want to go back to Chase, and that’s a thought that threatens to shatter me.

I clear my throat. “We just need to go. I’ll explain when we get somewhere else.”

Baba shakes his head. “May May, you aren’t making any sense. Come inside, calm down.” He looks me over. “Take a shower… ah, we might not have hot water right now. Something went wrong with the water heater, and, well.”

I stare at him.