Redemption

Redemption

Alla Kar

2014. Copyright. Alla Kar

All rights reserved. No parts of this books may be reproduced or transmitted in any forms without written permission from the author, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages for review purposes. If you are reading this book and have not purchased it or won it in an author contest this book has been pirated. Please delete and support the author by purchasing the ebook from one of its distributors.

This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to any person, living or dead, any place, events or occurrences, is purely coincidental. The characters and storyline are created from author’s imagination or are used fictionally.

Dedication

To all the people that support my writing. Thank you.

Credits

Cover Artist: Kim Killon

Editor: Alla Kar

Chapter One

Neveah

Oh, hell no.

              Something burned its way up the back of my throat and threatened to strangle the breath from me. Everything darkened but the opened square foil package in my grip. Anger clogged my throat and deafened my ears.

 
This bitch is going down.

The flat-screen TV cast a glow over the dimly lit dining room. Those stupid, hideous pale green walls that he was
certain
would look great in our
salle a manger
gawked back at me.

Lucy, my pit, glared at me from the living room doorway with concern on her face. She looked so out of place next to the expensive dining room furniture. “Lucy, come sit down, Girl,” he called.

Vomit climbed up my throat racing for the finish line. I took three small steps, and suddenly I was standing in front of him. His white button-down was unbuttoned, showing the flat surface beneath. “Baby, what’s wrong?”

God his voice hit bone.
Nothing.
I felt
nothing
. “Fuck you.”

Heath’s blue eyes met mine, and a worry line formed in the center of his perfect forehead. “What? Are you drunk?”

Am I drunk?
He obviously didn’t know shit about me, because if I were drunk I would have already beaten his ass.

He sat the remote to the side and sat upwards trying to grab my hand. I back stepped. “Get up.”

Heath lifted a brow and brought his palms outward. “What the
hell
is going on, Neveah. Tell me.”

Oh, I’ll tell you.
Slowly, he stood up, easily hovering over me a foot. I brought the condom wrapper out in front of me and watched his face as he noticed it. The bastard couldn’t lie for shit. There was a reason not even he’s good looks could land him an acting job. “Nevea—,”

I slugged him
,
the good kind too. The kind Dad spent hours teaching me growing up. I curled my thumb over the outside of my fist, aligned my knuckles with my bones and threw all my force into his jaw. It cracked.

Before he could stagger, I shoved him back down into his precious recline. He clutched the arms of the chair for balance.  

“I’m done,” I shouted. My body shook with anger that I’d never felt, and I could see how people got overwhelmed in passion and murdered their lover. The remote beside him caught my attention, but I really didn’t want to end up on the ID Channel.

Heath’s blue eyes widened but despite his fear, he took a cautious grab at my palm. “Baby, please. It was an accident. I love you.”

Doesn’t even deny it.
“Oh, okay.” I wiped my brow. “I was worried there for a second. I thought you
meant
to fuck her. I wasn’t aware that you
accidently
slipped inside of her.” The diamond jewelry box that his mother gave us as an engagement present flickered in the dim lighting, and before I could think better of it, I grabbed it and tossed it down onto the wooden floor.

I never liked that woman anyway! Crazy old bitch!

“Neveah!” Heath warned, clutching the recliner’s armrests. But after that punch, he didn’t make any movements to get up.
He’s smarter than he looks
. “You need to calm down! I’m sorry! It was an accident.”

Every word that left his perfect full mouth made my skin crawl. “You wouldn’t have said a goddamn thing to me about her if I haven’t found the condom. So shove the
I’m sorry
bit up your ass. You’re not sorry, you’re sorry you got caught.”

Heath’s eyes cast down, and all the sudden everything inside of me calmed. The waves of anger only rippled, and the red in my vision vanished. The perfect furniture that cost more than my childhood home, plus the stupid chandelier hanging in the dining room was all wrong. Everything was wrong. This was not how I would live my life.

“You know what,” I said to no one. “I’m not happy. I wasn’t happy here before this happened, and this my out.” I glared at him. “I hate your mother. I hate the way you
try
to control every aspect of my life. I hate that stupid cat!” I pointed toward the hairless monstrosity that sat on the coffee table. “And I hate my life!”

“Baby, you’re just upset—,”

“Shut up,” I yelled. “I’m out, motherfucker.”

His brows furrowed, and he tried to get up to reach for my face, but I sidestepped him. There was nothing keeping me in that stupid relationship with the biggest douchebag in Arizona. “Where are you going?”

“Home.”

***

“You broke that damn jewelry box his mother paid a fortune for?” Aunt Shelly screamed into the phone.

I rolled my eyes and squeezed the steering wheel tighter. “Did you not hear the part where I said I found an opened condom wrapper in his pants’ pocket?”

“I heard, but you should have taken the jewelry box and sold the bitch!”

Oh, Aunt Shelly.
“Whatever. I don’t want any of his mother’s money. That old hag. I bet she’s already setting up dates for him with her benefit sister’s children.”

Aunt Shelly snickered. “But are you okay? He
was
your fiancée, sweetie. I know you have to be hurting.”

She was right. I hurt something fierce. A throbbing ache had latched onto my skull and was doing its best to beat me down. Though my heart felt like it’d been ripped out, a part of me was happy I was done with him.

“I’ll be fine,” I said. “I need to get off the phone. I’m coming into Huntsville.”

She squealed. Aunt Shelly was only seven years older than me. She did her best to fill the void of my mother who died when I was young. A simple car wreck took her life.

There were things only a mother could teach you. But you better believe I never missed out on a chance to talk about boys, or sex. But mostly sex.

“I’m so excited you’re comin’ home for the summer. We can go shopping. There is a festival coming next month! Ah, can’t wait!”

From the passenger seat, Roxy folded her ears. “You’re scaring Roxy, stop yelling,” I said.

Aunt Shelly snorted. “Whatever, that dog hates me.”

“I think she’s onto something. She senses evil.”

“Funny. Now we need to talk about hooking your dad up with some of the moms that come to the gym.”

I groaned and took my EXIT toward the gas station. “
Puh-lease
. I don’t want to talk about my dad’s love life.”

“What do you mean? He doesn’t have one. We need to get this man some action. He needs it. I can tell.”

“Gross,” I shouted. “I’m at the gas station. I’ve got to go. Bye!”

“Don’t you hang up on me!” she shouted. “Be careful, and call me when you get settled. It’s definitely time to go shopping.”

Pulling into a parking space, I unclicked my seat belt. “Okay, love you. Bye.”

God that woman can talk.

              My phone buzzed in my hand, and I prayed it wasn’t Aunt Shelly calling back. Heath’s name flashed across the screen. I ignored it for the sixteenth time since I left Phoenix nearly sixteen hours before. I guess ‘it’s over, asshole’ meant something else in his world. Sometimes his world did seem like a different planet.

             
Pansy-ass bastard with his perfectly quaffed hair
. I’d warned myself to stay away from, him but his charm was smoother than a serpent’s.

I’d given myself to him, because I was desperate for something real. Moving sixteen hours away for college had been my dream, but I shortly realized after three weeks of getting lost that I had absolutely no one to turn to—hell, to talk to. Then I met him during my fist summer internship freshman year. The fact that his dad owned the company had been my first clue that it was meant for disaster.

But he’d been
so
charming. So arrogantly brilliant, his shiny white teeth had blinded me from the truth. City boys weren’t really
my
thing.
What had I been thinking anyway?
But no matter that he was a city boy—that city boy had broken my heart. This was the first time—that I knew of—that he had cheated, but I wasn’t a fool. Daddy had taught me to be strong and not take any shit, and shit I would not take. It’d taken an opened condom wrapper to realize it, but for two full years I loved the idea of our relationship way better than our actual relationship.

I’d rather be poor and happy than rich and miserable.

The last of my sophomore classes had ended and instead of staying in Phoenix for the summer, Heath had made the decision for me. I was going back to Huntsville. The last time I’d seen Dad was Christmas which was too much time. I should have already been back.

The Texaco sign flashed red above me, and I shoved my cell phone into my pocket. “Lucy,” I cooed.

She popped her head up from the passenger seat. The only mark on her body was the heart shaped spot on her nose. “I’ll be right back. Stay.”

She lowered her head, and I knew she wouldn’t move.

The door dinged when it opened, and the line of people at the counter all looked over. You can imagine the sketchy people you see at twelve in the gas station.

I made a quick beeline to the bathroom and hurried to lock the door. I felt better knowing that a deadbolt stood between me and the people out there. Without touching my ass to the seat, I peed and hurried to wash my hands.

The hunger in my stomach screamed at me and against my better judgment, I went ahead and grabbed some food.

The line was hardly moving, and my patience ran thin. An older man with torn clothes pulled out a pocket full of change, and tossed it onto the counter. “Did ya hear about that damn gang that killed the kid in Dallas?”

The man at the counter tossed a dirty look over his glasses. “No, what happened?”

The old man took off his hat and ran his fingers through his greying hair. “Some thugs beat a kid to death. Supposedly he owed them money. It was brutal. One of his arms was twisted behind his head, and he’d been beaten with a tire iron,” he hissed. “I guess they ain’t gettin’ the money now, huh?”

The cashier made an ugly face as he finished counting the change. “Thanks for the info,” he mumbled as the man walked out of the store.

It wasn’t that people weren’t gang raped or beaten in Dallas. It was the fact he mentioned it that scared me. Dallas wasn’t
that
far from Huntsville. Chills ran up the back of my neck, and suddenly I wasn’t that hungry.

***

After ditching the Cheetos and Slim Jim, I ran to my Honda and hauled ass to Dad’s house. Lucy was on full alert on the way home, her ears folded back, she could sense my anxiety.

We lived down in the boonies. I never understood why we couldn’t have had a house uptown.  It would have made it easier for people to get to our gym. But as I got older, I understood the need to just have your own space, and Dad had plenty of it. There were always boys jogging up and down our road, training for their next match. I always felt protected riding the long bus ride out to our house from school, because I knew Dad was close by.

The woods around us had always been so eerie to me at night, but to feel the humid Texas wind against my face was worth the scare. Dad left the front porch light on of our three bedroom cottage. The swing in the corner swung creepily in the wind, and the distant howl of a wolf put an extra pep in my step to get to the door. The street light in front of the gym flickered, and I couldn’t help but smile at the old building next to us. That was dad’s life.  Slowly, I pushed opened our front door and clicked the lock shut.

The box TV cast a glow over the living room to my left, and that’s where dad slept in his recliner. His Joe’s Boxing Gym T-shirt was wrinkled and bunched up around his stomach. I tugged it down the flat surface and smiled when his eyes fluttered opened.

Dad was a fox, there was no denying it. He was in impeccable shape for someone in his forties, and all the neighboring houses had reasons to watch out their windows when Dad jogged by in the afternoon, shirtless.

“Nevaeh,” he said. “Sweetie you look so beautiful.”

I rolled my eyes. I hadn’t brushed my hair in eighteen hours. “You’re really sleepy aren’t you? I look like shit Dad.”

He barked out a laughed and rubbed his fists against his eyes before bounding up to hug me. “Baby Girl. I’ve missed you so much,” he mumbled into my hair.

The smell of his Axe soap warmed my senses, I hugged him tighter. “I missed you, too. I’m sorry it’s been so long.”

He pulled back and ran his fingers through my soft brown hair that matched his own. “No worries. Where is my other baby girl? Lucy.”

Lucy bounded up from her place by the front door, attacking my dad. “Hey beautiful. You’ve gotten so damn big.”

Lucy kissed his face while I grabbed my suitcase and walked back toward my room. The door still creaked when I pushed it opened, and my four-post bed was made. I could tell Dad washed them by the scent of his dryer sheets in the room. Warmth encircled me. I tossed my bags to the side and sunk down into the downy comforter.
God, I’ve missed home.