Red Hood (Book One)

Chapter Seventeen

 Beverly and I waited around the corner from Maula's apartment. Maula drove off two minutes later. Beverly drove in the same direction. We were way behind, but the GPS was giving us directions to the house. So, we wouldn't have to worry about getting noticed.

My phone vibrated on my lap. It was a call from Brandon. Wait, shouldn't he be in wolf form? I looked out the window at the half moon. Never mind. I answered the call.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Candy. You need to tell me something," Brandon said.

"Oh really? How'd you know?"

"Don't play dumb with me! You got all snuggled up with that ax dude today!"

"Snuggle? It was a regular hug, damn."

I had to hold the phone away from my ear. He was raising his voice at me...over a hug? Wait a minute. How did he know about that? He wasn't there when it happened.

"Who told you about that?" I demanded.

Brandon growled. "Beverly did. But that's not the point."

"Beverly?! What is the point?!"

I shot Beverly a dirty look. She stopped at a red light, and stared out her own window. I couldn't believe she got him this mad and won't even look at me. I snapped my fingers.

"First of all, you sound jealous as hell. We're not even a couple. Second, you're out here sending some random bitch to spy on me?"

"Excuse you?" Beverly exclaimed.

Brandon growled again. "That 'random bitch' is my sister. And I'm not jealous of Ax Wound."

"Why are you mad at me if you're jealous of Axel?" I snapped, waiting for answer. "That's what I thought."

His silence was enough of a reason for me to hang up. I genuinely didn't know that Beverly was his sister. No wonder she gave me his number.

 The rest of the ride was silent. Beverly avoided looking at me. I did look at her, though. If I had to be uncomfortable, so did she. 

 She parked near the house. "Alright. We're close." 

 "Why did you tell him about Axel hugging me?!" I demanded. 

 "He called me asking what I saw and I told him. I didn't think he'd blow up on you like that." 

 "Thanks to you, he'll probably never talk to me again." 

 That was the last thing I needed. I watched speed painting videos to calm myself down. Six minutes later, I still wanted to scream. You know what? Fuck it. I grabbed a pillow from the backseat and screamed into it. 

 When I was done, the pillow was stained with my red lipstick, but oh well. After Maula drove past us, Beverly pulled up in front of the orange house. We both got out of the black Nissan and approached the front porch. 

 I knocked on the door, taking a deep breath. Beverly pouted and crossed her arms. The door opened, and a middle aged black woman stood in front of us. She closed her pink fluffy robe and looked us up and down. 

 "Who the hell are you?" 

 "Good evening, ma'am. My name is Britney and this is my friend Courtney. We wanted to ask you some questions," Beverly said, with a fake smile on her face.

 "It's about the shop you got that package from." 

 "Come in." 

 The woman stepped aside and let us in. We followed her to the living wolf. She sat down on a brown leather couch. The manila envelope was lying on the white wooden coffee table. I turned on the voice recorder on my phone. Beverly cleared her throat. 

 "How did you find out about the Woodsmen Shop?" 

 "I was chased around the house by a wolf. He was about to bite me when this lumberjack with melanin shot him. He saved me," the woman admitted. "He gave me his business card before he left." 

 "Was he nearby when you were being chased?" 

 "Yes. He was jogging by my house when I was running from the wolf."

"What a coincidence. You were lucky."

Was I the only one who didn't think Tom was jogging? This was the first time I've heard of any man jogging in a flannel shirt, holding a gun. He probably knew when to run this woman's rescue. But that would mean he was either psychic, or he planned the attack somehow.

No. There was no way he could've planned it. Only a heartless, greedy person would do all that, just to get a customer. The woman crying in front of us made me want to believe the former. The latter rubbed me the wrong way.

"His son, Hatchet took the wolf far away from my house. But he told me that I needed to buy wolf blood and something else to break the curse on me," the woman explained, sniffling.

Beverly folded her hands. "It's good that you're safe now, Ms..."

"Cherry. And thank you. My family and friends didn't believe me. They thought I was lying for attention."

Tom told Ms. Cherry she was cursed too? This man told me that my family was cursed because of an attack he probably planned. Those times my friends in Atlanta didn't believe my mama's story crossed my mind. To be honest, I didn't miss those bitches anyway.

I paused the voice recorder. If Tom was jogging that day, where the hell was Hatchet? Beverly and I shared a glance. I didn't want to imagine Hatchet hiding behind the trees that day, but I did. Loud footsteps made us look up at the ceiling. 

"That's my girlfriend," Ms. Cherry said. "Anyway, this was a good talk. But it's getting late, and y'all should should be getting home."

"Okay. We'll get home. Bye, Ms. Cherry."

"Bye, girls."

Beverly also stood up, and walked with me out of the house. We got in the house without saying a word. Beverly drove up the street to my house. When she parked near it, I got out. She gave me the finger before she drove off.

Fuck you too, bitch.

I walked up the steps to the front house, saving the voice recordings. Then, I opened the front door. The only light in here came from the moon. I closed the door behind me and tiptoed to Grandma's room.

The door was wide open. Grandma was sleeping in her white bed, with the tv still on. I turned it off, and tiptoed to my room. I flicked the light on, and wiped my face with makeup wipes. While I took off my red tank top and gray jeans, my phone vibrated on the bed.

Tears filled my eyes. I walked around my room, letting the tears spill down my face. Brandon would have to find out the truth by himself. I checked my phone. A message from Brandon popped up on the screen.

I know you're pissed off at me, but do you wanna have breakfast tomorrow?

I let out a shaky breath. He had a lot of nerve texting me after what he did. I wiped the tears off my face. Then, I sent a response.

  Idk. Are you gonna yell at me again?

  The moonlight shining through the curtains annoyed me. I turned on the tv. That movie about a wolfman came on. I turned the channel to a movie about ghostly children bothering families. My phone vibrated again. It was another message from Brandon.

No. I just wanna talk.

The movie started with a man moving his family into a house where he knew another family was killed. I rolled my eyes. That man was a selfish dick. I sent another message.

Yeah. I'll have breakfast with you.

The man's wife and kids were all happy in the new house, like they weren't set up for death. I scrolled through photos of Maula and Axel holding wads of cash on Instagram. They weren't even hiding their shady money. Another message from Brandon popped up on the screen.

It's a date.

I'd be lying if I said that didn't make me giggle. Damn it. He shouldn't have made me giggle. I was supposed to be mad at him for fuck's sake!