Page 117 of Driftwood Daffodil 3

“Does anyone else know?” His father would’ve killed her.

Darry shook his head, “no.”

I could understand that. It wasn’t exactly something anyone would want people to know. The fact that Darry had to go through this all alone… I knew what that was like.

“Why did you tell me?”

“Because you’re like my brother. And if anyone could understand, it’s you.”

“I don’t know. My situation is a lot different than yours.” I was a willing participant. He was not. That much I was positive about.

“How old were you when it started?” Darry asked.

“Fourteen, but it wasn’t like that.”

“Yes it was.” He said. “She just made you think it wasn’t.”

Could he be right? Did Carissa manipulate me? She didn’t lure me into the park, or corner me in the hall. Hell, she didn’t try to entice me at all. I was over at Darry’s and accidentally walked in on her in the shower. Things went from there.

“Don’t underestimate my mother, Gio. She’s more conniving than you think.”

“If you told your dad, she wouldn’t be a problem anymore.” Dom would slit her throat and drag her body through the streets.

“Death is too easy.” A dark look washed over Darry’s face. “I’m going to destroy everything she cares about, and when she thinks she doesn’t have anything left to lose, I’ll put her out of her misery. You want in?”

Fuck yeah I did. “Where do we start?”

“With Atlee.”

“You want to bring Atlee in on this?”

He nodded. “Yup.”

If this was because Carissa had been fucking Atlee for years, I could understand. But she hadn’t. The first time Atlee had anything to do with her, was at the basketball game. Darry had something specific in mind.

“Why Atlee?”

“Because, no one else hates Sutton Barlow as much as him.”

What the fuck did Sutton have to do with this?

NOVALEE

Mae’s Good Eats was a happening place on Saturday afternoon. Daryl and I had three condiment wars, of which I was still the reigning champion—never underestimate my ability to smash a ketchup packet—I made some art out of sugar on the counter, cleaned the windows, and we spent an hour chasing a squirrel out of the diner.

How he got inside in the first place, I had no idea. But despite what Daryl said, I was like ninety percent sure it had nothing to do with the peanuts I left next to the window in the back.If anything the squirrel would’ve gone for the cookies on the window in Victor’s office.

I wasn’t exactly looking my best. I had a couple bruises on my face that I couldn’t be bothered to cover up with make-up, and my knuckles were scratched up. Movement wasn’t my friend either. I was a little sore in some places and a lot sore in others, but all in all it was turning out to be an alright day. And I’d shown up for work in worse condition.

When I told Daryl he should see the other guy, he gave me a high five and said, “that’s my girl.” So we had that bonding moment. And Maw Maw said random violence didn’t bring people together.

“Jesus Christ,” the bell above the door rang as Memphis and Chuck came in.

“What the hell happened to you?” Memphis asked.

“Would you believe I lost a fight with a stuffed animal?”

Both he and Chuck nodded, “yes.”

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