“Hey, man, does Devil want me?” he asked.
“Nah, I’ve come to see you both.” In the background he heard Mia crying. “She not taking it well?”
Curse looked behind him, shaking his head. “No, she’s not taking any shit well. She doesn’t want to have a burial until we’ve got the whole body. I’ve told it would never happen. Gonzalez wouldn’t give it to us, but she won’t budge. The girls were closer than sisters. This bond, it’s killing her. I stopped her from seeing the head, but shit, this is killing her.”
Swallowing past the lump in his throat, Pussy stared at the ground. “I should have come to see her the moment I knew.”
“Pussy, don’t do this. I’m sorry I’ve not been there for you. My woman comes first unless I’m needed for club business.”
“I’m here to speak with Mia.”
Curse’s shoulders slumped. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Let him in, Curse. He’s got a right to be here.”
Looking over his friend’s shoulder, he saw Mia. She looked a mess. Her raven hair showed she hadn’t even bothered to brush the long locks. Her pale face looked drawn, and he saw the signs of the weight loss she’d suffered through lack of eating in the last month.
“Come in,” Curse said.
Brushing past his friend Pussy went straight to Mia and tugged her in his arms for a hug. She sobbed. Her body shook as he held her tightly. “I’m so sorry. I miss her so much,” he said.
Tears filled his eyes as he thought about Ashley’s charming smile. Her life had ended way too suddenly.
“I know, Pussy. She wouldn’t want you to be feeling sorry. You didn’t do this.”
“I shouldn’t have let her go.”
“None of us should. We can’t blame each other.” Pussy couldn’t stop the guilt. He knew deep down there was nothing he or the club could have done. Ashley had been determined to go, and in turn, it had gotten her killed.
Pussy knew where the blame was. Staring past her shoulder, he watched Curse walk into the kitchen. Any other time Curse would have kicked his ass for touching his woman. This was not sexual, and both of them were mourning a woman they’d both lost.
Mia released him, walking into the sitting room. “I know I look a mess.”
Running fingers through his hair, Pussy took a seat.
“Please, forgive me,” he said.
“What? Why?”
“I should have fought for her.”
“Ashley wasn’t your old lady. She was always so stubborn and thought she could do whatever she liked without getting hurt.” Tears fell from Mia’s eyes. “Someone finally caught her.”
He wasn’t leaving until he helped out his brother. Curse deserved to have his woman back, and if Pussy could help, he’d be more than happy about it.
****
Sasha let out a sigh as she listened to her mother apologize for embarrassing her stepfather. Kenneth Carmichael was a monster of the worst kind. He made others around him feel small and incompetent. Sasha hated him and would love to see the smile get wiped off his face.
You’ll never see any smile getting wiped off any face.
She started to frown. Reaching out, she felt along the wall counting the steps until she had to turn a corner. Her life was confined to the house and wherever Kenneth wanted to leave her. He controlled every element of her life.
Get out.
Taking three more steps, she leaned down feeling the bed. Running her hand across the bed, she took a seat and let out a sigh. She recalled the trauma she’d suffered at Kenneth hands. Sasha had been arguing with Kenneth over her privacy being invaded. He had just stormed into her room as if he had a right to be there. Their fighting had turned aggressive. She recalled him slapping her, and he slammed her against the wall, then thrown her down the stairs.
She’d banged her head on the way down, breaking her arm and leg in the process. When she woke up in the hospital she’d not been able to see. That was over four years ago. Waking up and not being able to see she had expected something to be done to Kenneth after the attack. By the time he showed up in her room, she knew something had happened.
With her being passed out, unconscious, he’d fed them a story of how she’d been fighting with him before she stumbled and fell downstairs. Not once did he tell the truth, and worse, her mother believed him. She didn’t fight for her or even question Sasha’s side of things. Instead, because of her mother’s love for Kenneth, they were still living with the man who blinded her. Kenneth was a respected member of Piston County, handsome, and a smooth talker. He got away with it. No one would hear anything bad said about him even if it was the truth. She was trapped with no way of getting out. Not only would no one believe her, but she couldn’t walk out of the house. Her life was totally dependent on him. Twenty years old and she was dependent on a man she despised. Her mother begged her for trust, and because she loved her mother, she gave him a chance. Her mother didn’t know the truth of what happened. Now, there was no way of Sasha’s ever getting out.
She thought about Pussy, Shane, whatever his name was. She pressed a hand to her lips. The kiss had awoken something inside her. Her nights were filled with hot sexual dreams. She couldn’t see what he was doing, but she certainly could feel it.
Her mother knocked on the door before entering. Kenneth would have just barged into the room with no consideration for her privacy. She knew her stepfather hated her.
“Hey, honey. I’ve brought you some food.”
Counting the steps, she heard how unsteady her mother was on her feet. She must have hit the gin hard this time. In answer to the verbal abuse Kenneth threw at her, her mother had turned to drink and prescription drugs. Even with the addictions, her mother was a beautiful woman, a stunner. What a fun way for them to live.
The tray of food was placed on the counter that her mother then pushed in front of her.
“Lift your hands up, honey.”
She did as her mother asked. Seconds later her mother touched her with shaking hands as she brought her palms down either side of the tray.
“Here is your fork and knife.”
Closing her eyes, Sasha gritted her teeth at how useless her situation was.
This is your life.
The doctors, in the beginning, were not sure if the blindness was permanent or not. Four years down the line, Sasha had long given up hope of her sight returning, and the doctors had also said that the damage was by now irreversible.