Moments: A BWWM Short Story Collection

XXVII. Loser (Pt. 2 of 5)

I really should've said something to Shawn on the way home. The man saved our lives, and all I could do was sulk about a word choice he'd used while Jam and Mike asked him if he was a superhero in disguise. They'd already grown attached to him by the time they pulled him inside the house to play with their action figures, and yet I couldn't even bring myself to look at him as Mikaela held me up.

"Is this okay? I can take him back to his place if you like." she said.

I slowly shook my head, eyes fixed on the overgrown tree by the corner as Mikaela pulled her dreads out of her face with a sigh.

"You know what will happen if he finds out after you've been avoiding him, right?"

The car dinged as I opened the shotgun door, and Mikaela rolled down the window to shout after me as I trod the pathway to our house.

"It's okay to accept help, Andrea! It's not your fault!"

I didn't listen to her, just like the last hundred times she tried to convince me to go to the police for help. She'd never fallen as low as I had, she didn't understand.

But I understood my position all too clearly, and dread took my heart as I crept down the hallway to my bedroom, towards that dusty nightstand with the locked drawer. I always got a premonition when I'd received a call, and I knew in my heart that tonight of all nights I'd open it up to find my second phone blinking with an unread message.

My blood still ran cold as I opened the drawer to a pulse of green light. I swallowed, willing my hands not to shake as I found a single new message.

call me. NOW

My breath came in shallow gasps as I punched in the number I hated more than anything in the world, and my heart tensed with every ring as I put the phone to my ear. I'd say the anticipation was the worst part, but when that poisonously smooth voice began to whisper in my ear, I knew I would've given anything to forestall it.

"It's 7:13. Where have you been, Andrea?" asked the man on the other end.

"I... I was in a wreck and my kids-!" I started.

"Were you hurt? Was your body damaged in the crash?" the man asked with sudden concern lacing his voice. "We can have you in surgery by tonight."

A trickle of anger pushed past my fear. It didn't matter that I'd been in a wreck or that my children almost died, he was concerned that his precious goods might've been damaged. It was all business to him; and speaking of which...

"I'm fine." I said at last. "Nothing permanent. Why did you call me?"

I didn't need to ask, I already knew the answer, and the man on the other end knew it too. That's why he took his sweet time sipping his drink and swirling the ice next to the phone for me to hear. He loved tormenting me like that.

"I have a few clients coming in from Chicago this weekend. At first, I was reluctant to share your info, seeing as how you told me you were done; but these gentlemen were most persistent. I showed them a photo we took of you two weeks ago and they decided they wanted you even with all the weight you've put on."

My body shook as the man paused for effect. When did they take my picture?!

"Tell me, Andromeda; did you think getting fat would make us drop you?"

I covered my hand with my mouth as the man took another sip, trying and failing to stop tears from rolling down my cheeks as the ice settled again.