Brutal Love

Chapter 30

*Winnie's POV*

"Wake up you little brat." Spat a familiar voice.

I opened my eyes and looked around. Standing in front of me was my aunt. Wait, how did I get here? I was lying on a mattress on the floor in the room I used to sleep in. The last thing I remember was I was alone in Tre's house, looking through my misses messages from Joey.

"Get up. Its the 15th. The social worker will be here in an hour. You have a lot of cleaning to do." And she turned on her heel and left.

Wait, the 15th was Monday. Today is Thursday. Isn't it? Fuck. I can't believe it. It was all a fucking dream. I started to silently cry as I realized my weak was all a lie. All some dream my imagination cooked up. Tre, Mike, Joey, Billie. Me and Billie never kiss. I never moved in with Tre. They're gone and I'm never going to see them. God.

"Winnifred!" Yelled my aunt. "Clean this place up! Now!"

I flinched at the sound of her yelling, knowing very well what would happen next if I didn't start cleaning. I wiped my tears away and left the room to go clean as she said. I started in the kitchen. She was in the bathroom so I took out my phone. Yeah, it's true. It's Monday, August 15th, 2011. It was really late though. It was almost 5 pm. I wonder why she let me sleep so long. I guess it doesn't matter. I put my phone back in my pocket as I heard the bathroom door open.

"Good. You should've been doing this hours ago. You're lucky I let you sleep so long, you ungrateful brat." She spat.

"Thank you aunt Alice." I said, quietly.

"You should be." Then there came a pounding on the door. She spun around. "Who the hell is that?"

"The social worker?" She looked at me in confusion. Then her face eyes flashed with fear, but that fear was soon replaced with anger.

"Put that broom down and go to your room." More pounding on the door, more urgent this time. "Now." I nodded and went to my room. I closed my door and pressed my ear to the door. Thank god it was thin enough so I could hear it almost perfectly.

"Hello, may I help you?" My aunt said in her polite voice.

"Where is she?!" Screamed a man with a familiar voice.

"Who?"

"Winnie!" I heard a struggle as the man who knew my name probably pushed past my aunt and into the apartment. "Winnie! Where are you?!"

I felt like I should go out, but I was too scared. He did sound familiar, but how would I know? My heart starting beating faster as footsteps made their way closer to me, every other step interrupted by sound of a door being slammed open. All the while my aunt was screaming at him and his friends to get out of her house or she'll call the cops. I backed away from the door when the footsteps were almost here. Tears started to spill over my eyes as my aunt's pleas for them to leave grew louder and the light under my door was blocked. And the door was thrown open so hard that it broke off the hinges.

"Winnie!" Called the man and he embraced me in his arms. It happened so fast I didn't see what he looked like, but while he was hugging me I took in his scent. The smell of cigarettes, sweat, and alcohol. It can't be. It was a dream though. "I'm so glad you're ok. I should've never left you alone." He cried into my shoulder.

"Tre?" I asked. He held me out at arms length and stared at me with those beautiful blue eyes. "It is you!" I instantly threw my arms around his neck and hugged him as tight as I could.

"It is me, Winnie the Pooh. Don't worry. Papa Cool is here. You're safe now." He picked me up. "Now let's get out of here." I buried my face in his shoulder, soaking his shirt with tears.

*Billie's POV*

Tre passed by us with Winnie in his arms. My heart nearly melted. She was ok. Her face was buried in his shoulder, and I was sure she was crying. He nodded to us as he passed and left the dump of an apartment.

"Alright, miss. Tell us what it'll take for you to stay away from her." Mike said, calmly. "We'll give you anything."

"Anything?" Her eyes flashed with desire. Not a desire for anything sexual, thank god.

"Yes, anything. And with that anything, you will stay as far away from her as possible. You're never to see her again, you got that?" I spat. Mike put his hand on my chest and pushed me back a couple of steps.

"Beej, calm down." He said. I nodded, but kept my glare on the wretched woman. He turned back to her. "What would you like?"

"A new apartment, a car and say a million dollars?" She grinned with greed. Ah, hell no. Before I could say anything, Mike spoke first.

"You can have the apartment and the car, but how about we settle for a thousand?"

"Any car?"

"Yes.

"Then it's a deal."

"Alright." Mike pulled out his check book and wrote out a check for $1000 in her name. He made a couple of calls too, one to the realtor and one to the dealership. While he did this, her and I stood in silence. "Ok, here's the money. Now, go to the closest realtor's and tell them Dirnt sent you. Do the same at the closest dealership. They'll send all the costs to me. Pleasure doing business with you." He shook her hand and left the apartment, me close behind.

"Thanks Mike." I said as we made our way downstairs to my car.

"Don't mention it. I'd do anything for that kid." He replied. "I know it sounds crazy, since we've only known her for four days, but she's like part of the family. She's special."

"I know exactly what you mean." I really did, but he didn't know the extent of how special she is to me.

We hurried a little and at the car, Tre was sitting in the back seat sitting next to her, stroking her hair. I got in the driver's seat, and Mike in the passenger's.

"Let's get out of here." I said and I drove away from that wretched apartment.

*Tre's POV*

"We're at the car now so I have to put you down." I said softly. I felt her head move on my damp shoulder, like she was nodding, and I put her down to open the door. She clutched my shirt and didn't let go as she climbed into the car. I climbed in next to her and closed the door.

"I thought it was a dream." She said, almost inaudible. "She was so convincing."

"Win, what are you talking about?" She looked up at me, tears staining her face and filming her eyes.

"I woke up in there and she told me it was Monday. I thought it was all a dream and that nothing that happened this past week actually happened. Tre, what happened?"

"Well, I came home and you weren't there." I wrapped her in my arms. "I almost had a heart attack. Mike started to turn into Sherlock Holmes when I realized where you might be. We came here as fast as we could."

"We? Billie and Mike are here too?" She looked up at me. I nodded.

"They're talking with your aunt and making sure that this never happens again." I squeezed her tighter. "By the way, I'm sorry for calling you Winnie the Pooh back there. It was in the moment and I'll never do it again."

"Don't worry about it. I can make an exception for you, Papa Cool."

I smiled and kissed the top of her head. "Thank you. I love you, you know that?"

"I love you too, Papa Cool."

And we sat there, waiting for the guys to come back, talking about everything and anything until she fell asleep in my arms.