Morphine

Chapter Forty Eight

"Are you okay?" Malcolm asked his wife.

"Why wouldn't I be?" She thought that was strange.

"I heard Bruiser tried to get fresh with you."

"Fresh?" She eyed him.

"Marceline Anne..."

She rolled her eyes as they walked to her car. "Fine. He did. I handled it."

"I wish you would have come to get me."

"To do what?"

"It's my job to protect you."

On one hand, she was offended but on the other, she was touched. "We'll see."

He frowned. That sounded ominous.

M-

Marceline Anne unfolded the note stuffed in her locker and read it. She thought it'd be her husband or one of her friends but it was from Bruiser.

She blanched at the crude things he'd written before taking her lighter from her purse and setting the note on fire. She threw it in a trashcan, which wasn't the best idea.

She closed her locker and walked away as the fire raged on.

M-

"You set the trash on fire?!" Malcolm didn't know what else to say.

Marceline Anne didn't care. The principal had just given her a warning and she was not in a good mood.

"You set the trash on fire!" He didn't understand why she was acting out.

"Would you leave me alone?!" She'd had enough.

He stopped. "Baby, what's going on?"

"Stop! Stop. I don't want to talk about it. I'm late for class."

He watched her walk away. His heart hurt for her. They'd been getting along so well, finding their rhythm as a couple and learning so much about each other.

What was going on with her?

M-

Mercedes Catherine hugged her sister. "It's Bruiser, isn't it?"

"He left me a note in my locker." Marceline Anne admitted.

"Did he threaten you?" Mercedes Catherine feared.

"In a manner of speaking. He described in graphic for someone with a pornhub subscription and a third grader's grasp of descriptive detail what he wanted to do to me." Marceline Anne monotoned.

Mercedes Catherine hugged her again. "I'm sorry."

"Me too. Malcolm doesn't understand."

"Did you tell him what was in the note?"

"I didn't even tell him there was a note."

"Why not?"

"I don't want him to think I'm inviting Bruiser's bullshit."

Mercedes Catherine could squeal. Marceline Anne did care for Malcolm! "I think you should tell him. You don't want secrets between you, do you?"

Marceline Anne looked at her.

"I know. Dumb question."

Santana and Karen giggled.

M-

Marceline Anne climbed in bed, knowing Malcolm was giving her space after her blowup. She didn't want him scared of her. "I have to tell you something."