Page 30 of Little Sunshine

“Where’s your money?”

I thought the asshole was still talking to the jumpy guy, but then he pulled me away from the wall just to shove me harder against it. “I asked you a question, bitch.”

“I don’t have any,” I answered, my words muffled against his palm.

“Fucking greedy bitches, always playing games and thinking their toxic snatches will save them. Being lying sluts must be hereditary for you all.” He gripped my cheeks and tilted my head so far, I thought my neck would break. “Tell the truth for the first time in your whore life. In your whore ancestry.”

As soon as he removed his hold on my mouth, I insisted, “I am.”

If I had enough space, I would have pulled my pockets out of my shorts so dust and moths could fly out like in a cartoon.

“Fuck, Ez,” the other guy groaned. “Maybe she’s telling the truth.”

“First, you try to tell me what to do, and now you wanna let some lying bitch manipulate you?” He wrapped a hand around the back of my neck, and my breaths came in rattled gasps. My face was pushed against the brick as I took the physical brunt of his irritation while the other man got the cold, harsh verbal threats. “You say one more fucking word, I’ll keep it all for myself.”

Any sympathy I had for nervous guy evaporated in an instant when he remained silent.

The cowardly prick.

“Where were we?” The handsy jerk dropped his head so his mouth was near my ear. He licked the shell, and a shudder went through me. Not of pleasure.

Never of pleasure.

It was fear and disgust that twisted my insides until I was moments from getting sick. The bile rose in my throat, acrid and burning.

But he wasn’t done.

Still gripping the back of my neck like I was an animal he needed to keep in place, his other hand shoved between me and the building to palm my breast. My fear grew to panic that seeped into my bones. Not just because he was touching me. It was how he did it.

With ease.

Confidence.

He didn’t care that his touch was unwanted. It was the opposite.

The way he ground his disgusting erection against me said he liked the pain and terror he caused.

I tried to make my voice strong. “Back away.”

“Or what?” At my silence, he gave a cruel chuckle. With each word, he squeezed my sensitive flesh harder. “That’s what I thought.” He slid his palm from the back of my neck to grip the front and tilt my chin up. His eyes were on my lips. “Maybe after I fill your mouth with something other than lies, you’ll feel like telling the truth.”

It wasn’t a scare tactic. It wasn’t him using tiny-dick-energy intimidation.

His bland nonchalance filled my veins with ice water.

Even if I knew what money he was talking about.

If I told whatever truth he wanted to hear.

If I gave him all the cash in the world.

I knew, without a doubt, he’d follow through on his vile threats anyway.

Because that was what he really wanted to do.

The mystery money was just an excuse.

My frenzied words spewed without a filter. “I have nothing. Less than nothing. I don’t have a job. I don’t even have a balance on my food stamp card. I’m broker than you, asshole.”

---