Page 66 of Take Two

“Well, I would hope not since my brother is a happily married man,” I say to this guy, “but I guess you wouldn’t know anything about a happy marriage.”

Violet chuckles, and Spence’s anger only intensifies. He walks further into the apartment, but I intercept him. He stops just short of colliding with me. I take great pleasure in looking down at him. He’s probably under six feet, which puts me almost a foot taller. I can take him without so much as breaking a sweat, and he knows it.

“Now, you’re going to apologize to Violet for barging in here and being disrespectful. Your mama should have taught you better manners than that.”

Another chuckle from Violet causes him to whip his head around to look at her. When I see the hatred spewing out of his eyes, I speak to get him to turn away from her. “Now,” I command.

“Or what?” he asks, but I can see a hint of hesitation in him. He’s not as dumb as I thought.

“I’ll make you. You don’t want that.” I move closer. I catch Lettie’s eye, and she’s now holding the baseball bat she keeps in the pantry.

“Or I can hit him,” she says. “Let me introduce him to Arnold.” She kisses the baseball bat before she waves it around in the air.

“Put the bat down, darlin’. If you hurt yourself with that, I’m going to make Spence pay.”

“Fuck you both,” he grounds out and turns to leave, but I manage to grab his elbow. He tries to continue walking but I hold on and exert just a little pressure.

“That’s not very nice, Spence. Try again. If there’s one thang I can’t take is a man using foul language around a lady.” He tries yanking his elbow from me, but I manage to keep him in place with little to no effort. “I can do this all night,” I say.

He pulls but can’t break my hold. He must realize he’s not going until I let him go. “Sorry,” he finally grinds out. I drop his elbow, and he takes a couple of involuntary steps back.

“Don’t come back. Next time, I won’t be so understandin’.” He gives me one more hateful glare before he walks out the front door and slams it behind him. Once he’s gone, I lock and put the chain on the door.

I take the bat from Violet and put it down.

“What would have happened if I wasn’t here?” I ask her. I pull her to me and plant kisses on top of her head. “And the looks he gave you. Why does he dislike you so much?” I cup her cheeks and look into her eyes. “How can anyone not love you?”

“He’s always hated me,” she says. “Even before I caught him cheating, he’s hated me, and I don’t get why.” She shrugs. “I don’t care either, but I need to call Terri and tell her.”

“Yeah. I was gonna suggest that. You go and call her. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

Chapter 35

Violet

I slam my bedroom door and let out a string of expletives. “Motherfucker,” I add while I press Terri’s contact number. She answers on the second ring.

“Violet,” she says. I can hear the surprise. “Is everything okay? Are you calling to accept my offer to take you and Charlie to dinner? We can go anynight you want.”

“No, Terri. I’m calling because your very angry husband barged in here looking for you. He made a huge scene. I don’t know what would have happened if Charlie wasn’t here,” I whisper. My heart is still pounding from the scene, and even though I had the bat, I’m still shaking from what just happened.

“What?” she asks. “How would he know I was there?”

“How the fuck do you think? Your father, that’s how,” I practically snap. “Get your head out of your ass.” Wade and Spence have always been thick as thieves. Maybe it’s because they’re both assholes who treat their wives like shit, though Spence is much worse than Wade. “This was Wade’s way of ruining tonight by sending an angry man over here. I bet he’ll be pissed when he finds out the party was already over by the time Spence got here.”

As a kid, I didn’t understand my strong dislike of Wade. Even before my mom and dad broke up, I couldn’t stand him. I didn’t understand what it was then, but I do now. He’s not only a user, but he’s a master manipulator, and he got Spence to do exactly as he wanted tonight.

She stays quiet on the line and part of me feels for her. Her situation has gone from shitty to almost violent tonight, and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone, least of all my sister.

“I’m so sorry,” she says. She sighs, and I know her eyes are brimming with tears just like they did earlier tonight.

“You need to be careful. This is the most dangerous time for a woman, Terri.” Then a thought occurs to me. “Has he ever hit you?”

“What? No,” she says. “Never. I promise.” I sigh in relief. Whatever my issues are with my sister, I would go find Spence right now and beat him within an inch of his life. “But I’ve smacked him a few times. He never hit me back.”

“Maybe you should go get a hotel room tonight because he’s probably on his way there now.”

Another sigh is followed by a tearful sniffle. “I have no fucking money,” she admits. “He drained the accounts, and he put us in so much debt. He couldn’t even qualify for a mortgage on the house. He got me fired from my job, Violet. That’s what I was trying to tell you tonight. No one knows. Not even Mom, so please don’t say anything to her about it. The last thing I want is for her blood pressure to spike because of me.”

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