MY CONSTELLATION LOVER

CHAPTER 31

Kyle woke himself up for a mere nanosecond by emitting the world's loudest snore in the world, grabbed his baseball cap, tugged the beat-up rim, then went back to sleep. The fishing channel show came back on, and a different boat and crew were now going after a school of King Grouper. Ricky leered at Gwen from the kitchen chair, then strolled towards her with authority; it was time to have a talk with this bitch.

Gwen was frightened out of her mind, but tried not to show it. She had been in some pretty bad situations before, but, never like this. She carefully watched a rapidly approaching Ricky heading towards her, so she remained in the same position he left her, which was on her back. Her bruises were beginning to show on the side of her face, back of head, and her legs were scraped up. Her eyes went down to her feet, one shoe missing and God only knew where the other one was. Her purse was gone, too. Keeping her temper down, she met Ricky's stare that seemed to turn his blue eyes coal black.

Ricky was going to learn this stupid bitch who was who around here, and this trailer, even though the deed was in the name of one of the twins or both, something he could never remember nor care. This was his home. And it was going to be his rules.

He leaned over her, grabbed her shoulders roughly, and made her sit up. She bounced a little from Ricky's strength and winced when the side of her face hit his arm. "There, ya see?" He glared down at her. "You piss me off at all, and I will ensure that the bruise that's on the side of your face matches the other side, ya'll hear me?" She just shook her head in agreement, not speaking to him. She was afraid if she did, she may just call him a list of names and he would just kill her, so she kept her tongue in her mouth. He sat next to her, and took his shirt off, wiping the sweat from his brow.

Tossing the T-shirt on the dirty rug, he grabbed her face and made her look at him. "Now, me and you, we got us someone in common, and you are gonna help me." Gwen knew without any explanation from this piece of scum that he was talking about Annaliese. She no way in hell was going to help him. He let go of her face, and she whimpered from the pain. "Ok, so here's the deal. "You are gonna stay right the hell here with us until Annaliese goes on a date with me, and realizes, that well, I am the man fer her. It's that simple. If Annalise ever wants to see your sorry ass again, she will agree to the date." What in the fuck is this guy saying?? Is he fucking serious?? Ricky must have read her eyes, which were expressive. "And I am as serious as death is." He leaned away from her, but still stared into her eyes. "Now, tomorrow is Saturday and usually on Saturday nights, me and my brothers are at Journey's." Gwen refrained from rolling her eyes to the ceiling. She knew if she did that, he would hit her. He sneered at her. " I am simply going to go to that damn florist shop, pick her up, and we are gonna spend some quality time together at Journey's, which I believe, in my opinion, is the perfect place for a first date." Gwen knew she was sitting next to a known criminal who was a sociopath and now, a kidnapper. The list of Ricky's sins grew longer by the second and she just didn't know how the hell to get out of this situation. She gulped, her throat so dry, she could barely taste any saliva. "May I ask a question?" She looked at him, wearily. She had no idea if he was going to hit her again, and if he did, she was going to hit him back. She watched his upper lip curl as he scratched the side of his neck. His fingers were large, and his nails, dirty and broken. He had a tattoo of a faded green snake that ran across his chest, its' fangs out, and it was made to look like it was trying to bite his left breast. He folded his arms together, and just looked at her. "Well, go on with ya question, woman." Gwen took that as a "yes," so she gathered up her courage and asked, "how are you going to prove that I am really here with you to Annaliese?" She hated how her voice shook. She hated to be weak, but right now, she was in a trailer filled with drunks and criminals, and had no weapon near her to use.

Ricky jumped up so fast, she yelped out of fear. He walked out of the living room and she could hear him banging around inside another room, knocking things over, and then the sound of a chair slowly being dragged across the trailer's worn-out linoleum. That sound would haunt her for the rest of her life. He then picked up the rusty chair, with its' torn dark green leather backing, and placed it right in front of her. Gwen's eyes watered. Was he going to torture her??

Kyle woke up to see a woman sitting on the couch or Luke's bed, pretty banged up, and Ricky standing over her. Kyle jerked up, reaching for his lucky baseball cap. "What in the hell are ya doing, Ricky?" Ricky ignored Kyle, eyes only on Gwen. "We got here a guest, Kyle. Remember this bitch from the florist shop? Huh?" Ricky waited until Kyle's brain started to function. A light went on inside Kyle's brain, and he remembered. "Yeah, I remember her. She's the one from the store. Think she was making a lot of noise that day, if memory serves me." Kyle them moved over to where Gwen was sitting, and now, shaking. Her watery eyes darted from Ricky to Kyle. What the fuck are they going to do to me?? Ricky finally acknowledged his brother. "Yeah, she's the one that was making all the damn noise. She's also my ticket to Annaliese." Kyle burped then, and shook his head. "I don't know a word you is saying. What in the hell are ya talking about??" He went to put his finger in his ear to clean it out, when Ricky snatched Kyle's hand before he could do the act. "She is the best friend to Annaliese, and she is gonna help me get a date with her, aren't ya, darling?" Ricky gritted the rest out, still clutching the arm of a very confused Kyle who wanted nothing more than to get another beer and go back to sleep on his recliner.

The sound of a car door slamming and taking off made all three look in the direction of the small front window. It had a brown and yellow curtain, with moth holes all over it. The curtain was something their mama had made, and Lyle made sure it stayed up, in her honor. Luke walked in, all smiles and blonde hair. He was wearing a dark blue work shirt that had his name in bold red letters over the right pocket, with the name of FAT CARL'S under it. When he saw what the living room looked like, he stopped short and his pretty good night was now long forgotten. What his eyes took in was a woman, beaten up and sitting on his bed, the rusty chair that Ricky used on some of his dates that "needed to be taught a lesson," and Kyle with his finger in his ear, moving it around. "What the fuck is going on here?" was all Luke could get out of his mouth. He had about a billion other questions, but this, by far, was the strangest thing he had ever seen, and he had seen a lot of strange shit happen in the trailer.

Ricky stood tall then and glanced at Luke. "How was yer night?" Luke couldn't take his eyes off of Gwen, who now had a few tears running down her face. She let them fall, afraid to make a move. "It was a good, fine, night," Luke answered, robotically. He still didn't understand what the hell was happening and why this woman was here. It didn't look like a date and she sure as shit didn't look like she was having fun. "What gives?" he asked Ricky again, who was staring daggers into Gwen, watching more tears running down her reddened cheeks. Ricky reached over and ran a finger over her tears, catching a few. Gwen jumped, expecting him to hit her, but he just continued to catch her tears with his finger. He then straightened and faced Luke head-on. "I will tell ya'll every single detail if you would just go to the shed and get my rope. Ya'll know where it is." Gwen screamed then, and Ricky backhanded her across the face so hard, it knocked her over on the couch. "Shut the fuck up, bitch. Don't you scream again, or it will be the last time you breathe." She just stayed frozen, immobile, with her eyes shut. He had hit her in the same sore spot, so her face exploded in pain. She heard footsteps leaving, and the front door slamming.