Page 63 of King of Liars
“He left you,”Katherine said, still laughing at me.
I grabbed the cylindrical container of pomade resting on the vanity table and bashed it against the mirror. Again and again, striking and succeeding at breaking through the glass.
“You. Are. Mine!” I called out to a world that couldn’t hear me, that had never heard me when I cried out.
I bashed the mirror recklessly, feeling broken shards cutting into the sides of my hand as they tore free.
When I was done, I tossed the container aside and grabbed what remained of the mirror, yanking it free of the table, tearing the wood that connected them, then hitting it against the table repeatedly to finish off what remained of what I had made a villain, the personification of Boss’s transgression.
No, not transgression. He hadn’t passed the test yet. I hadn’t even given him a chance to fail it, but why? I’d known, somewhere within me, that he wasn’t ready. Maybe I’d acted too soon, too impulsively, out of fear of Two sharing the truth with him.
Only a slim piece of broken wood remained in my hand, and I chucked it to the other side of the room, against the wall, which it drove into for a moment before plummeting to the floor with the rest of the debris.
I assessed the mess once again, then looked to my feet, where a long, curved shard of mirror reflected my face back to me.
“It’s not over,”Katherine seemed to be saying, but I knew it was just some inspiration within me, some determination to keep on fighting.
“No, it’s not over until I fucking say it is.”
I clawed at my arms, arching my spine and gnashing my teeth, as though transforming into some sort of monster.
In the back of my mind, a child named Nick called out for me to stop…but King couldn’t.
Not yet.
* * *
Four days passedfrom Two’s exile and Boss’s slight against me.
Time, yes…taking time was everything. If anyone knew the importance of patience when it came to this delicate game, it was me. Time was my friend, just as it had been when I’d delayed each encounter with Boss, same as I had done for Two, One, Hole, and all those who had come before them.
There’s a special cruelty to leaving a man waiting, wanting, desiring.
Oh, the tricks it plays on the mind, even my own as I bided my time, my thoughts waging war against one another as I convinced myself again and again that it might be over.
Yet, I had to have faith.
Faith in the process.
Faith in my talents.
When I finally messaged Boss, it was a simple exchange:
ME: Meet me at the house.
BOSS: ?
ME: Come on, Boss. I want to talk to you guys.
BOSS: So I can bring Ryan?
Why did he use his real name? Fuck him! Fuck him!
ME: That’s fine. Just come for a chat.:)
My hands trembled through the exchange. Adrenaline coursed through me, excitement about the game being back on.
Patience, I had to remind myself all the way up to our meeting, when I sat, nude, in the sling set up in the basement, Hole kneeling before me.