Page 54 of Crash into me
Foster stalks towards Envy. “What’s she talking about?”
The little green bitch rolls her eyes, wrapping a piece of electric gum around her finger. “She’s crazy, Ghost. Don’t listen to her.” She’s caught off guard with me being here, not knowing what happened after I saw her the other night.
I don’t know a better way to do this. I would tell them to go someplace private so he isn’t publicly humiliated, but I worry she would manipulate him again. “Pull her shirt up,” I suggest with a tremble of rage vibrating my lips.
Foster’s midnight eyes dart between us, knowing he can trust me but also not wanting to come to terms with the fact that I could be telling the truth. “Envy.” His voice waivers. “Let me see.”
She backs away, growing nervous. “Are you being serious right now, Ghost? If this is how it will be with her in our lives, I’ll never let you see our baby!”
“There is no ‘our lives’ Envy, show me,” he sneers, growing impatient. She takes a step back. “FUCKING SHOW ME!”
He doesn’t wait for her. His inked fingers curl around the bottom of her baggy shirt as she fights with him to stop. As he lifts it and finds the false belly strapped to her body, we all grow so quiet that you can hear the sound of his heart cracking.
“My little girl,” he breathes, his hands beginning to shake. “How could you?” is all he can manage to say, his head swinging back and forth.
Reality hasn’t sunk in slowly; it slapped him in the face. I could kick myself for not telling him earlier, but I was so wrapped up in jumping back into my life that I didn’t take the blinders off to think of anything else.
She whirls on me, and Ryder releases me. With the fury of a fighter, I lunge to attack but Foster, with sad hands, grabs me and pulls me into his chest. “She’s not worth it,” he whispers in my hair, his fingers skimming the scar on my arm.
A stretch of silence washes over us. Foster releases me, but I don’t dare move, not when his hand is wrapped in mine.
“I warned you, Skyler. You should have listened,” Envy spits before turning to walk away, leaving Foster standing in the street as he falls to his knees.
“What just happened?” he talks to himself, gripping his thick hair with trembling hands.
I kneel down beside him, fanning everyone to leave. They bow their heads and walk away, knowing we need this moment alone.
“Why didn’t you let me fight her?” I shake.
His voice is hollow, devoid of anything and everything. “You’ve had enough violence in your life.” He’s staring straight forward, looking at nothing but the darkness surrounding us. His hand closes over mine, his voice at a cracked whisper. “How did you know?”
“I found out at the benefit,” I admit.
He shakes his head, cutting his eyes to me. “And you just now told me?”
The streetlight illuminates his face, a sheer curtain of broken pieces contorting his sharp features.
I don’t know how to explain. “I’m so sorry,” I tell him, trying to catch the tears that fall from his eyes as I hold his face. “I blanked. So much has happened.”
“No …” He pats my hand. “It’s not fair to talk to you like that.” He frowns. “I’m sorry.”
Now the tears are falling down my cheeks. “Please don’t apologize. I shouldn’t have forgot. I was truly just so lost.”
He sits down, resting his arms over bent knees. “So, I’m assuming you saw her that day?”
I sit on the ground beside him. “I didn’t just see her, Foster. She was at my house.”
He looks at me in a delirious daze. “Why?”
A crack of thunder sounds, letting loose a sprinkling rain, but we don’t run from it.
“She was one of the guests. Apparently she’s a rich bitch faking all of this.” I’m referring to everything, living with them and being a part of the crew. Acting like a homeless orphan who had nowhere else to go.
He grins. “I guess we don’t have to deal with her anymore.” He’s obviously trying to make the best out of the situation, but his body shakes from grief.
He’s experiencing a loss that never was.
“I guess it all worked out.” He nods his head, his black hair growing wet from the trickles of water.