Page 76 of Feint

I pressed my face into the bandanna, the tears soaking into the soft fabric. “Thank you.” I sniffed hard before lowering it from my face and continued on.

“I tried to get away. I ran and ran through the desert until my chest burned and felt like it was going to collapse. Then, I saw a road, and I thought I would be safe, that the truck coming my way was going to take me home. B-but… it didn’t. It was someone who was working with the guy who had taken me, and he brought me back. And I thought they were going to hurt me more…” I faltered.

I could feel Mack’s hot, angry breath on my face as he yanked me around. I hiccuped, and a sob lodged in my throat, my tears flowing freely down my face now as my memory fast-forwarded to the last day. I could feel the warm, dry air blowing around me as I tried to run away from the fight, then falling down into the sandy ground. I struggled to get to my feet when he shoved me down, his laugh in my ear as his sweaty hands removed my pants.

“Then, the day Kordell came to get me… there… was a fight.”

Billy scooted over on the couch. I felt his warm hand on my upper back as he slowly rubbed it back and forth.

“You don’t gotta continue if you don’t want to. I can see this is hard for you to talk about.”

I shook my head, the weight of it all causing a heavy feeling in my chest. It was hard to talk about, but I hadn’t been able to talk about it to anybody. I swallowed. It felt like there was a lump in my throat, making it hard to breathe. Mom and Dad were already worried enough about me. I could see the fear intheir eyes that evening that the events would be too much for me to handle. And they were also dealing with Jayden, so I had to be strong—for them, at least. I couldn’t expect Jayden to help me when he also needed support. And Kordell… well, he wanted to move past it and leave it behind as much as possible. The one time I had tried to bring it up, he’d dismissed me and told me to quit holding on to the past. That had crushed me a bit. I had no one else to talk to.

“No, it’s just, during the fight, one of the two guys pushed me down, ripped my pants off… and tried to… tried to…” My voice broke, and I sobbed.

I turned in my seat and leaned my forehead against Billy’s chest while I cried and cried into the bandanna. He rubbed my back. I was sure this had to be so awkward for him. Dad would totally lose him as a customer, I bet, after this. But as weird as it was to break down in front of a stranger, it was the most comforted I had felt in days.

Slowly, my tears slowed down as my breathing calmed.

Billy’s voice dropped to a whisper above my head. “But he didn’t, right?”

I knew he was asking if he had assaulted me. And the thought of it made me want to vomit.

I looked up at him. “N-no. He got shot before he could. I was able to get away after that until it was all over.” My voice was hoarse. That hard cry must have taken a lot more out of me than I’d thought.

He patted my back. “Well, that’s good then, girl. You should be celebrating. You went through all that shit, and you came out on top. Maybe upset about it, and you might wanna start packin’ some heat, but other than that, you'll live.”

“You’re right. I’m so sorry. I’m just sitting here, crying all over everything. Totally not what you came in here for today.”

I wiped my eyes one more time before handing his mostly soaked bandanna back to him. He reached out and grabbed my hand softly before squeezing it. His other hand patted my back as he let go.

“It’s fine. Heck, you can come to me for anything—boy troubles, girl troubles. I got a lot of things that can help with all sorts of problems.” His voice was a smooth tone, and it settled my nerves.

He winked at me, and I tilted my head at him, a little confused by what he meant.

Just then, the timer went off on my phone. I reached down and picked it up, and a small smile appeared on my face as I turned back to him.

“Well, that’s the time! Let’s go see your new paint job. It’s all done!” I quickly walked over to the stairs but paused before I walked down them. I glanced back and gave him a sad smile. “Thanks for listening to me, Billy. It helped a lot.”

I continued down the metal steps as he responded behind me. “Don’t trip about it, girl. It’s fine.”

He stood up from the couch and straightened his shirt and chain before following me downstairs.

I stopped him in the showroom space, moving him to where he wouldn’t see his car before I had it parked perfectly under the center of the lights in the room.

“Don’t peek!” I said as I backed away.

I jogged into the paint side of the customs, grabbing his car keys. I opened the drying room doors and gasped.

The purple paint I’d created just for this SUV was stunning. My heart pounded with pride. A couple of years ago, this was the kind of paint color I’d only dreamed of creating. Now, I was standing next to something I’d always aspired to create. I carefully opened the driver’s door and drove it out and over tothe showroom. After getting it in the right spot, I turned it off and stepped out, walking over to him. I handed him his keys.

“All right, you can turn around now,” I said as I smiled happily at him.

He turned around and let out a slow whistle. “Daaamn… it’s fucking perfect. Holy shit, girl, you are good at what you do.”

He walked around it, admiring it from all angles before coming to a stop next to me again. I had my hands clasped behind my back as I watched him. This moment—seeing the joy and excitement on a client’s face as they saw the final product—was what it was all about for people like Dad and me. Our passion was bringing their ideas for their dream cars to life.

“You know I’m going to be scheduling the hand-painting part now, right? I gotta rep my block right. Got any time next week?”