Page 117 of Till The Sun Dies (Checkmate 2)

It takes only minutes for the server to clip my styrofoam box closed and bag my soda and ice-cream. Moving through the front door with my food easily under the ten minute window I gave myself, I jog back across the highway, but slow at the sight of Skeeter hanging outside our room window.

My blood runs thicker, pumping through my muscles, inflating my chest.

I think he’s harmless. He’s a fuckin’ pervert – he wants something he can never have – but I don’t think he’s in the same league as Graham.

Silently ducking through the darkness, I fish the little plastic utensils from my bag and take the knife in my right hand.

I’m done with this fucker.

Sliding along the wall unnoticed, I stop behind Skeeter when he crouches and peeks through a non-existent gap in the curtains. I place the sharp blade of my plastic knife against his throat and whisper in his ear, “We already spoke to you once, motherfucker.”

The stench of urine permeates the hot air when he freezes up.

“You have one second to come up with a really good fucking reason why you’re here, Skeet, or else you die.”

“Don’t kill me,” he whimpers. “Please don’t kill me.”

“I warned you to stay away. My brother warned you.” Kane and Jess’ sounds still move through the walls, but they have a different effect on me now. “Were you coming to get a look at who was making that noise?”

“I didn’t mean to–” He chokes down his panic. Thankfully for us both, his voice is low enough that Laine can’t possibly hear. “I was just going to the ice machine and I–”

“You were coming out here to see the girl that rejected you earlier. You saw me race across the road, you saw your opportunity. She’s still gonna say no, you sloppy fuck. You won’t ever be with a girl like her.” Let’s not focus on the fact I won’t ever be with her, either. I dig my knife in deeper. “You will never get her to say yes to you. You will never get any girl to say yes, because you’re a fat fuck who gives off rapevibes. She doesn’t want you, and neither does her sister. But I’ll tell you what; the last guy that tried to do something with this girl without her permission now walks around like a squeaker toy. I cut his fuckin’ nuts out. Literally. Painfully. You want some of that?”

His jowls wobble when he shakes his head.

“Answer me. Use your words.”

“No.” I instinctively open my legs when his rumbling stomach threatens a dropped load on my shoes. “No, sir. I don’t want none of that.”

“Are you gonna come back to this room again?”

“No.”

“Are you gonna visitanyof these rooms ever again when a pretty girl comes looking for a bed for the night?”

“N-n-n-no.”

“I tell you what, you go to that honky-tonk, oranyclub at all, and you touch a woman without her permission, I’m gonna come back here and show you my long nose pliers. Does that sound like fun?”

“No.” He inadvertently cuts himself on my plastic knife when he shakes his head. “Please let me go. I won’t come back down here.”

“I’m gonna check in with you, Skeeter. Every weekend between now and the day you throw yourself into the river with cement boots, I’m gonna watch. And when you fuck up, because you will, you won’t be able to help yourself, I’m gonna come back and show you what happens to guys with a fist full of cash but a face like yours. An exchange of money doesn’t equal consent. You understand me?”

“N-n-n–”

“You better listen again, because this is the last time I’m gonna explain it. Unless she’s begging for you, legit begging, and don’t give me any bullshit story about how you weren’t sure, only when she says the fucking words and no weapons are shoved in her face, that’s the only time you got the green light. Till then, I’ll be watching. My buddy in the next room, the one you’re trying to spy on, he knows shit. I know shit. And between us, we’re gonna make it so you never shit again. Capiche?”

“Y-y-y-yes sir. I got it.”

“You gonna come down here again?”

“No. I swear.”

“And what’ll happen if you do?”

“S-s-s-squeaky toy.”

“Attaboy. Get the fuck away from this room and don’t come back.” I push him forward and feel no remorse when he slams his forehead on the brick exterior of the building.

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