Page 81 of Pen Me

“I’m here,” I soothed, more for Rumi’s benefit than hers.

I’d fuck Menace up, there was no doubt about that, but not now. Right now, my baby needed me and that was the only thing in the world that mattered.

Chapter Forty

For You

Menace

Henny blew in like he was ready to air the place out, but he turned into a teddy bear when he saw Rumi. He was always that way where his little girl was concerned. He went up to the hospital with her, leaving me and Sammy alone with Ziggy.

It always killed me when newer inmates cowered to the loudest man on the cellblock. Anyone who's real knows it’s the ones who don’t waste their air on threats that you had to keep your eye on. A look and a smile were a deadlier threat than anything someone could shout at me.

Especially if it was issued by a real motherfucker.

And Ziggy Nash was that.

He didn’t say shit while Henny hugged my niece or explained his plans.

“Drink?” Sammy asked.

His gaze flicked toward her and anchored until Sammy retreated to the sink, giving him space and her back, much the way Octavia had me that first day. His murderous glare returned to me, and he kept it on me as he made his way to the table, slid out a chair and sat down on it. He stared into the family room like there wassomeone he knew in there, but there wasn’t a soul outside of the kitchen.

Finally, after Henny had been gone for about ten or fifteen minutes he cleared his throat, and those hazel eyes tightened before his gaze shifted to me. He looked me up and down, then met my gaze, “Give me a minute with my daughter.”

Sammy gripped the counter ledge behind him, and I shifted my head.

“You can say it to me, too.”

Zig’s dry laughter slowly climbed his throat until his expression caught up to the sound. “Boy, you’re a new type o’ fuckin’ simple, aren’t you? Huh? Did you think I was bluffing, or… wasting air for your benefit because it made me feel good when I told you what the fuck would happen if you tangled my Babygirl up in your bullshit?”

He pulled the pistol off his waist and the sound of him cocking the hammer sent Sammy scrambling toward us. I shot out of my seat to get between them, unwilling to let her face my battles. She grabbed my arm and jerked me back, just as her father grabbed my shirt, and lodged his pistol under my jaw as he jerked me toward him in one fluid move.

“Oh my God!” Sammy screamed, “Stop it. Stop it. You’re a fucking animal!”

Zig’s jaw set and his eyes weren’t hazel anymore. They were black, demonic wells of hate. I’d seen them before. I usually loved it when he got that look about him. It was a sure promise of a night of chaos. A night of thrill seeking and violence that usually made my every fiber stand up and salute our cause, but it was a little different feeling the cold tip of that gun jutting into the soft flesh beneath my own chin.

“Do you have any idea how many people’s brains I’ve worn, Menace? Huh? What the fuck is one more?” Zig tightened his eyes like he was a little disgusted by what he saw staring back at him, “The way I figure, you ain’t got much in there anyhow, so it shouldn’t make too much mess.”

“Dad, please. I love him!” Sam wailed, covering her face.

“It’s fine,” I tried to tell her, but it came out fucked up since I couldn’t really open my mouth all the way.

“It’s not fucking fine!” Ziggy roared, his face turning red, and that gun jutting upward, until it was shoving at my tongue through the underside of my jaw.

“I’m gonna fix it.” I didn’t even know how, but I intended to try with everything I had left. “I don’t want the mob coming after her, after I’m gone. Let me make it right, for Sammy.”

The color drained from Ziggy’s face, and he shoved me away from him and raised the gun.

“Goddamn it,” Sammy’s arms flailed with uncertainty.

“Don’t move, Samantha,” I ordered, and she closed her eyes and sobbed.

Ziggy lowered the gun, and huffed, shaking his head.

“You fuckin’ better. You got forty-eight hours, Menace… After that, the police are the least of your worries.”

He shot outside, and Sammy collapsed in my arms. I took her downstairs and held her, finally drifting off in the wee hours of the morning. We awoke to the car doors again and Sammy buried her face in my shirt.

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