Page 14 of Paint the Town, Dove
Abe unlocked the door. “I’m sure you can, Mr. Spectre.”
I stayed behind watching Ryden and our team drift through theexpert craftsmanshipof Abe’s doors, relief and grief flooding over me.
How I love that you save me, Ry,I thought.
How I wish it wasn’t at your expense.
Chapter Five
Ryden
“What pieces can you break, when nothing’s left? Which pieces were broken? All I see’s red.”
Arc & Sheild Records:‘Pots and Plants’
Composition By: Ryden Spectre
Ihated this prick.
Hated the way he talked, the way he flexed his fortune as if it wasn’t already fucking noticeable.
I hated his cavalier attitude and smug bullshit smile.
But most of all,fuck–
Ihatedthe way he looked at Scarlett.
She could handle her own, that I had no doubt about. I’ve seen her work her magic firsthand, seen how other peopleseeher. When she insisted on being my manager, I knew she’d kick ass. Dominant, strong, charismatic and bold… No question, she was the one to lead me [and save me].
But yet, a small part of me deep,deepdown couldn’t help the vexation when a pig like Abe Turner eyed her like prey.
When you grow up the way I did, you’ve got two choices in life: become the beast who raised you (in my case, a rotation of fuckheads that didn’t know respect if it was tattooed on their forehead) or protect the people you loved from those beasts.
An eaglealwaysprotects.
After cancer took my dad away from me, Mom thought all human respect died with him. Like, something in her brain justswitched and she thought, “Well hey, I’ve got nothing left to lose anymore. Let’s fuck around and see how bruised my body can get.”
It’s twisted. It’s demented. She didn’t deserve it.
But she tricked herself into thinking she did.
I don’t know when that mental switch happened. My dad, as far as I can remember, was an incredible father and an even better husband.
Maybe she blamed herself for his death – a death that had nothing to do with her. Maybe she thought she could cure cancer, orhiscancer anyway. My mom liked to fix people, to help them through whatever battle they were fighting.
She gave up on hers.
Coward, coward, coward.
Fucking coward.
COWARD!
My thoughts. My fuckingTHOUGHTS.
There were too many of them. All the time –
So many thoughts.
