Page 157 of Wrench
the intrinsic need to defend myself and my brothers. ¡°You weren¡¯t a hostage.¡±
¡°Then what would you call it?¡± The sun was beginning to rise, allowing me to see that
though she was still pale, her cheeks were reddening with every word. ¡°I was dragged out
of my house, convinced by you, someone I thought I could trust. Then, I was threatened
and blackmailed into performing an illegal medical procedure against my will. Whether
you want to call it a hostage situation, or a ¡®typical day in the life of a biker¡¯, it was fucked
up, Isaac.¡±
¡°I had no idea they¡¯d threaten you like that, believe me¡¡±
¡°And you do meth? You told me you don¡¯t do drugs!¡±
¡°No! I don¡¯t! I used to¡ªargh.¡± I grabbed my face with exasperation. ¡°I didn¡¯t want you
to judge me for it¡¡±
¡°So, you lie!¡± she said. ¡°How am I supposed to ever trust you again with anything after
tonight?¡±
¡°No, I just¡ª¡± I planned on fighting my corner more, but then she dropped her head
with her fingers covering her eyes.
Tears that appeared to have been held in poured freely, and she was crying harder than
I¡¯d ever seen a woman cry. It was a sad, broken, near-agonizing cry and I felt her pain
inside me. I wanted to comfort her in any way I could, but I knew I shouldn¡¯t speak or
touch her. So, I stood a yard away, watching her teardrops fall to the gravel in the early
morning silence.
After she took a huge breath and tried to wipe her face with her hands, though it still
glistened in the beams of orange sunlight, she looked at me. The whites of her eyes were
red and her eyelids puffy with dark circles traced around, but still. They were bluer and
more beautiful than any other eyes I¡¯d stared into.
¡°Ever since we¡¯ve been seeing each other, I've been scared, Wrench.¡± That time, she
didn¡¯t seem to intentionally call me that, and for some reason, that hurt more. ¡°Getting
held up at the clinic, followed home, and now tonight¡ Tonight, I was terrified. This has
been the worst night of my life. And they still seem to fucking hate me. I saw the way
they were looking at me, like if I made one slipup they¡¯d have my head, even after I was
complying.¡±
