TIFFIN 2

91

He ushered me away, going back to open the door.

"Hero... who was that?"

That better not have been fucking Diedre.

"I don't know," he answered gruffly, "but whoever it was didn't have good intentions. There's a box full of-"

I inched forward, testing his patience.

"Full of what?"

He pressed his index finger to his temple.

"I'm not including you in this-"

I glowered.

"I deserve to know. Either way, I'll find out on my own if I have to."

After much thought, he sighed.

"Fine.... someone lit shit on our porch... literal shit in bags. On top of that... the box is filled with documents and pictures with a note that says.... Revenge is sweet."

My mouth fell open.

"Pictures and documents? Of what?"

Hero seemed overwhelmed, looking around for some clear answer.

"They look like the payroll from my parents company. The pictures... well... I can't be too sure who it is but she's very young."

I stared at the cracked door, feeling inspired.

"Can I see it? The picture?"

He blocked my path, unwilling to move.

"You heard what our therapist said; it'll cause your PTSD to flare-"

I rolled my eyes.

"I'll be fine- trust me."

After much thought, Hero stepped aside. My fingers slid across the note, then touched the picture briefly. I then lifted it to my nose, recognizing a few key features with this girl.

First, she was naked, though she was partially covered by a furry blanket. Through her innocent mask, I spotted an uptight expression and unmistakable blonde hair.

Holy crap. This couldn't be-

"This is Dorinda," I shouted without thinking.

Hero narrowed his eyes.

"What?"

I shoved the picture into his hands as he approached.

"Look at the girl. The hair and the severe look... that's your mother at like sixteen. Think about it. It's connected to all these documents."

At he surveyed the photo some more, he nearly threw it to the ground.

"Fuck!"

I took it back realizing that he probably didn't want to be gawking at his naked mother. This was all so strange. Why were we always the people that recieved all the damning evidence?

It was getting old. I was beginning to think there was more to this than met the eye.

"All those interviews Dorinda has been doing," I began, "we discussed that it's no coincidence she's always absent. There's no way that all this is a ransom. I... I think your mother was groomed..."

"No shit." Hero snapped.

I didn't bother getting angry at his reply. He and I were both out of sorts right now. He probably had blue balls, then there was this surprise at our front door.

His mother had been groomed... it ran in the family.

"What should we do?" I urged. This couldn't go on.

Without warning, Hero snatched the picture out of my hands, dropping it into the box once more.

"Nothing. You aren't thinking about this anymore. You're going to focus on your work and that is all. Understand?"

I remained silent as he walked off, but I didn't have any intention of letting this go. I couldn't.

It had disgusted me to find his history with his grandmother.

I felt the need to protect another from this kind of thing. Obviously it was still happening, right?

I eyed the bag of poop, now starting to smell. I waved at the fire, effectively kicking it off the porch. I then reached into the box, pocketing the photo.

Hero would have to deal with me defying him again.

The following day, I'd scheduled an afternoon with Rose to discuss her date for the wedding. She wasn't too enthused by it, but I convinced her nonetheless.

Instead of using another dating app, we hounded the college campus for takers. We did get a few weird looks at our proposal but in the end, had a few single guys, interested in the opportunity.

"So, what do you think?" I finally asked as we paused to take a breath. "They were all cute, huh?"

Rose nodded.

"They were but... I only had eyes for the last boy. He didn't seem too bad, Raybans and all."

I laughed.

"Let's just hope he's not a dick."

As I said this, a large group of frat boys passed, eyeing us both like some new piece of candy. No. I didn't like that. It was very predatorial.

I was shocked to see Rose advancing on them. Oh... was she a fighter?

"You all have a problem?" She demanded.

"Not at all." One boy with a stiff hairdo said, raising his sunglasses. "Just wanted to warn you to stay fifty feet away from your friend- you can smell the skank wafting off her."

I gasped as he pointed in my direction.

Excuse me?

I didn't know what came over me, but I screamed out at them:

"You want me to knock the teeth out your ugly face?"

"Don't worry," the same boy smirked, eyeing me up and down, "I still like to look... I heard you and Hero were getting married?"

I scoffed.

"What of it?"

The boy shrugged.

"I know my man well. He likes plastic, shiny and new. Give it another year. He's going to leave."

I gave them the middle finger as they all stalked off. Rose shook her head in disbelief.

"They are definitely not on my list."