“Hey!” I whispered with a hiss. His narrow eyes peeked over his shoulder. “I’m not yours! And don’t joke like that. We’re in a psych ward, remember? They could report us.”
Laces licked his thick lips in that way that bad boys do and chuckled. “What makes you think I was joking?”
My stomach dropped. “Huh? What if this gets around to your um—Nurse Kline! I can’t afford to lose any points.” Or my life… I wasn’t sure how involved they were, but I wasn’t willing to chance it because he wanted to be some badass.
“Don’t worry about it. Let me take care of it.” He turned back to the girls. All of their eyes were wide, their faces ghostly pale. One of the girls had tightly crossed her legs and I couldn’t help but wonder if her bodily functions down below had failed her somehow. “This is your only warning. Understand? Next time I’ll be mailing body parts to your mother.”
Hannibal Sketcher….
Journal Entry #4
If anyone’s body parts go missing I had nothing to do with it, LINCOLN CASTER is the culprit.
Varla and I are becoming fast friends. I’m not really big on make-up, but it’s fun to watch her create different designs. We share a love for country music/Taylor Swift. She gave me some tic-tacs and I’ve been taking them during morning meds. It’s pretty easy to get away with. When a nurse sees something white in your mouth they automatically assume its medication and don’t look into it.
My mother hasn’t tried to get in touch with me. No letters or phone calls.
I did receive a get well card from my attorney, Malcolm, along with an unpaid bill of $58,488 dollars…I don’t know how I’m going to come up with that money. During lunch Laces suggested setting up shop on the corner, but later in the commons room, when we were alone, he said he would see what he could do.
Star count: 6.
4 more stars and I get a weekend pass to go home!
“You’re not to see him again, cunt.” Joe’s words spit into Elizabeth’s face. “And where do you think you’re going dressed like that? Not out of this house.”
I’d hidden in the closet of her bedroom. There was a small crack from where the door hadn’t shut completely which allowed me to see what was going on. Elizabeth was sitting at the edge of her bed, legs crossed, with a black miniskirt barely covering her upper thighs. I’d warned her to leave before Joe got home, but she adamantly refused. She wanted to look her best for Jaguar. “You can’t keep me from seeing him.” she said, sounding unmoved.
Joe bent over in front of her, his beer belly hanging over his belt like a second skin. “You’ll do whatever I tell you! I pay the bills around here!”
“Then I’ll move in with Jaguar.”
This angered Joe even more. He grabbed her cell phone from the bed and proudly held it up for her to see. “Good luck getting ahold of him. You’ll get your phone back when you start treating me with some damn respect.”
Unlike me, Elizabeth knew no boundaries when it came to Joe. Everything he said went into one ear and out the other. Seeing Joe tuck her phone into his back pocket, she shrugged. “He’ll stop by when I don’t answer.” she said, smiling up at him. “And if you don’t let him in he’ll go over your head and claim to be doing a welfare check.”
Joe was still posturing in front of her like an ape. “Your cop better stay in his fuckin’ lane, do you hear me?” he shouted. His face was blood red and sweat had begun to accumulate on his brows. Without warning, he smacked her across the face and she cried out. He rose to his feet, muttering the same words over and over as he headed for the door, “you’re not to see him ever again!”
Elizabeth covered her red cheek with her hand and glared up at him. He was three times her size, but she held her own. Reaching under her bed she pulled out her softball bat and got into position. “You piece of shit.”
Joe stopped at the doorway. His harsh breathing sent fear ricocheting throughout my entire body as he turned to face her. I’d never seen him so upset.
The corner of Elizabeth’s lips tugged up. “I’m not weak like my mother, Joe. And if you think I am, come on over here and let’s see how weak I can be.” She snarled.
He took a step forward and she tightened her grip on the bat. For a minute I thought there was going to be serious bloodshed all over her pastel colored room.
“I’m going to beat your ass.” Joe said, as though it were everyday conversation. He stopped a foot away from her and taunted, “It’s you or Gambrielle. Someone’s going to pay for my troubles…”
Elizabeth didn’t bow. “You touch me or Gam again, and I’ll let Jaguar have you.” She threatened.
“You can’t hide behind that boyfriend forever. One day you’ll be alone and…”
Feeling a warm finger tracing over the branding on my wrist, I cracked my eyes. My scrubs were soaked in sweat and I could hear my heart pounding through my ears. It was late, far past the time for lights out, but I could still make out his lean silhouette as he released my wrist and moved toward the door.
“Laces.” I whispered.
He was halfway to the door and stilled. “Hmm?”
“I didn’t do it to myself if that’s what you’re thinking.” I said, referring to the branding.
He said nothing.
I didn’t bother offering up an explanation, nor did I ask the why’s and how’s of how he was there to begin with. I couldn’t believe it, but his presence that night was somehow comforting.
“Can you stay until I fall back asleep?”
I had expected him to say no and sling a smartass comment my way, but he surprised me that night. Sketchpad and pencil in one hand, he crawled into my bed without saying a word. Oh my God…what about your points! Stupid traitorous thoughts. Laces didn’t lay down beside me; instead he chose to lean his back against the cool wall so he could draw with his sketchpad propped up in his lap.
What kind of punishment would we get for this anyway? I briefly wondered that as I took a calming breath and closed my eyes. The warmth that radiated from his skin underneath the covers was unbelievable. Our bodies were an inch apart, but I could still feel the heat from his leg as if it was tangled in mine.
I was halfway asleep when I heard his voice whisper soft ask, “What kind of books do you read?”
“What makes you think I read?”
I could hear his pencil stop. “Your wrists.”
I yawned. “What about them?”
There was a long pause. “Scars like that make you want to escape the world.”
Too tired to air any dirty laundry, I cuddled up to my pillow and sighed. “I love Wordsworth, Shakespeare, Emily Bronte, Jane Austen…all of the oldies.” I smiled into my pillow. “You’re a fan of Emily Bronte.”
I could hear him grinning as his pencil moved across the paper in smooth strokes. “Am I?”
“Mmm. You’ve mentioned Heathcliff before.”
He barely tapped me with his foot. “Go to sleep.”
“Nuh-uh. Not until you admit it.” I teased. “I want to hear Hawthorne’s bad boy admit that he is a Bronte fan.”