Page 46 of Tainted Love
Asher: I’m trying. Golden boy is clammed up tighter than your arsehole.
Elias: Get it done.
Movement catches my eyes and I look up to see Benny standing in his doorway watching me. His arms are crossed over his chest and his eyes are narrowed. The gaunt-faced skinny man in front of me is a far cry from the buff, cocky teenager I knew all those years ago.
I climb out of the car and cross the footpath to stand at the metal fence in front of his property.
“Well, if it isn’t the rockstar himself,” Benny rasps out, his voice hoarse from whatever shit he’s been smoking.
“How’s it going, Benny?”
He kisses his teeth, looking me up and down. “It’s been a while.”
Distractedly, I run my hand through my hair, and push it off my face. “I’m not looking for any trouble. I just want to talk.”
“You said as much in your message, didn’t ya.”
Honestly, I was surprised he even had the same numberafter all this time, and then I wasn’t even sure he’d respond to my text.
“I’m going out of my mind here, Benny. I need to know it was real.”
He glances around the street nervously. “Not out here, kid. If you wanna talk, get inside.”
“You’re only a year older than me,” I mutter under my breath.
Hesitating for only a moment, I push open the gate and hurry up the path towards his house. Fuck, it’s been six years, I don’t know him anymore. I could be walking into a trap, but I need to know my memory isn’t faulty. I need to know that night truly happened as I remember.
Benny steps back to let me pass. The inside of his place is only slightly better than the outside. I step over a pile of shoes in the front entryway and follow him into the living room. He picks up a pile of clothes off the couch, deposits them on the dining table, and gestures for me to take a seat.
I glance around the sparse living room, and take in the dollhouse in the corner, along with some other toys.
“You’ve got a kid?” I arch a brow as he sparks up a joint and takes a deep inhale before passing it to me.
“A girl, Tamlin.” He studies me carefully as I take a toke, letting the weed settle my unease over seeing him after such a long time.
“How old?” I ask, letting the smoke out of my lungs slowly.
“Three.”
“Congrats, man. Where is she?”
I pass the joint back to him, and he takes a deep pull, leaning his head back against the couch and closing his eyes. “With her mum.”
I wince. “Sorry, Benny.”
He cracks one eye open to look at me. “Why? It’s not like Iwasn’t destined to become a loser like my old man. At least I never beat the shit out of my wife or kid. I just couldn’t stay clean long enough to give them what they needed.”
I don’t know how to respond to that, especially since I’m currently sitting here getting high in his living room.
“You said you needed to talk,” his gravelly voice finally breaks the silence. “So, talk.”
“It’s about that night.”
“I figured.”
My knee bounces nervously as I try to sort through my jumbled thoughts. I shake my head. “I don’t know where to begin.Whatthe fuck happened that night? I remember there was blood—so much blood. She was pale, and cold. Her body was so cold. It was raining, and she was dead. Jas was dead.”
Benny coughs, a wet, hacking sound. It doesn’t stop him from finishing the joint, and he holds the smoke in his lungs as he leans forward and butts out the blunt. “Why are we rehashing this? We were both there.”
