Call Me Crazy (31 page)

“I’ll see you in a week when I come for my next session,” I tell her, as I head for the side of the building to walk around to the parking lot.

“Okay, yeah, see you then,” she tells me with a final wave.

As I round the corner, I look back over my shoulder and see Candy looking off into the distance, the old Bible still in her hands. Her face is peaceful, but she looks so very tired. I watch as she bows her head and closes her eyes. In the stillness of the night, I hear her words clearly.

“I’m ready.”

~

“You have to do something different with your hair Tal,” Nat whines to me
, as she slips into her dress.

The night of the dance has snuck up on me and no amount of me complaining to Natalie that I
didn’t want to go has drawn any sympathy. She had argued that I had to go for Trey’s sake, because he might never have been to a school dance. I countered with, 'he’s from a different state not a third world country.' She argued that it was our senior year and we had to make the best of it. I told her that others might want to make the best of their senior year as well, and that could quite possibly include me not being at their school dances.

“My hair is short Natalie, what exactly do you want it to do?” I growl at her as I tease the strands to give it a fuller look. I’ve sprayed enough hair spray on it that even a hurricane probably won’t damage it.

“Here, spray some of this glitter stuff in it.” She hands me a bottle of liquid glitter.

I raise a brow at her, “Yes, this glitter will make all the difference.”

“Quit being a negative Nancy,” she snaps at me.

I let out an exasperated breath. I know I need to pull it together,
for Natalie if for nothing else. I know she is beyond excited to be going to this dance with Bobby and I don’t want to ruin it for her.

“Okay fine, I’ll play nice, but I will not be held responsible for my actions if one of those jerks throws a comment at me,” I inform her.

“Trey is going to be attached to your hip; they would have to be eighteen bricks shy of a load to even look at you wrong.”

I shrug, “I’m just throwing that out there. I reserve the right to go kung fu on anyone dumb enough to mess with the crazy chick.”

“Duly noted,” she smiles at me and hands me my dress, “Now, go get all beautymified."

I roll my eyes as I snatch the dress from her and stomp to the bathroom.

“Put on your happy face Tally,” she calls after me.

“Bite me Nat.”

“You look amazing,” I feel Trey’s breath against my neck
, as he helps me out of his truck.

“You clean up pretty good yourself,” I tell him. He winks at me and in spite of feeling so gloomy, my stomach still does a little flip.

“Ready for this?” He asks as he slips my hand around his arm.

“Do you really want me to answer that?” I ask
, dryly.

“We don’t have to stay long, just give me a couple of dances so I can discretely grope you. It’s like a rite of passage in high school to grope your girl at a school dance.”

I laugh, mostly because Trey is too much of a gentleman to do something like that, but also because I imagine there will be lots of couples crossing through that particular rite of passage tonight.

“Let’s get this over with Swift,” I grumble
, as I tug him forward.

“Eager for the dancing or the groping?” He murmurs.

I laugh again and it feels good. I’m not better, but with Trey, in this moment I feel a brief reprieve from the inner turmoil that’s been a steady storm inside of me.

I hear Natalie calling my name as we cross the parking lot to the school gym. I see Bobby next to her looking very sharp in a suit with a collarless shirt and vest.

Trey was wearing a suit, but instead of a tie he was wearing a bolo that had a turquoise and silver piece in the middle. He had left his hair unbraided and it shone brilliantly under the moon light.

“Let’s go get our dance on,” Natalie sings
, as we meet them at the door.

Trey pulls me onto the dance floor as a slow song begins to play. Not many people are dancing, but he doesn’t seem to care. I wrap my arms around his neck and he pulls me close. As I look up at him, I can’t help but relax slightly, as the safety I feel in his arms washes over me.

“What are y
ou thinking about?” He asks me.

I feel heat rush to my face just as I always do when he catches me in a moment of utter adoration.

“How safe I feel with you.” I admit.

His lips curl up in a crooked smile
, and he leans down and kisses me on the forehead.

“Good, I want you to feel safe with me.”

We dance like that, just looking at each other, stealing kisses every now, and then for several songs until they finally put on something a little faster. We take that as our cue to step off the dance floor.

We
find Natalie and Bobby sitting at one of the decorated tables. Natalie has her feet propped up in Bobby’s lap while he rubs them.

“Ugh,” she groans, “those freaking shoes are killing my feet.”

“I told you not to put them on so early,” I remind her.

“Didn’t ask you, just let me complain,” she frowns at me.

We hear a commotion coming from the front doors and turn to see Carter Evans, Amber, and their followers come staggering in. It’s extremely obvious that they’ve been hitting the drinks already. When they catch us looking at them, Carter gives me a smirk. It’s one of those looks that you know means something is up, and it’s not going to be good.

I grab Trey’s hand and pull his attention from the group.

“Hey, so have you had enough dancing?”

He glances back over at Carter and then back to me, “Yeah, I’m ready if you are.”

“Where you guys headed?” Bobby asks as he slips Natalie’s shoes back on to her feet, much to her chagrin, based on the frown on her face.

“We were just going to hang out at my house, you guys want to come?” Trey asks.

Bobby looks at Natalie, “You good with that?”

She nods, “I just want to be out of these shoes for like, ever.”

Bobby laughs as he stands up and swings her up into his arms. “I guess I’ll just have to carry you.”

Natalie squeals and I smile at them. She is so happy and I’m glad to see that, to know that she has someone who isn’t a constant mess in her life.

As we’re walking out of the gym, I pull on Trey’s hand, “Hey, I need to step into the ladies room.”

He nods, “I’ll wait for you.”

As I’m walking out of the restroom Natalie and Bobby, come rushing back in from the parking lot.

“They have a death wish,” Natalie growls.

My heart plummets, because I know who
they
are. Trey takes my hand and calmly walks out of the gym. His long strides are difficult for me to keep up with and I find myself nearly skipping. I can hear Natalie cussing a blue streak behind me, and when my eyes land on Trey’s truck, I understand why.

“Oh my,” I can’t even finish
, because I’m speechless. Trey’s truck has been totaled. The windows have been smashed in, the tires slashed, and obscenities spray painted all over it. I feel Trey’s grip tighten around my hand. I remember back, to the glimpse of his anger I saw when I was still at Mercy, and I know that things are about to get ugly.

“Bobby,” Trey say
s through gritted teeth, “Please, take the ladies home.”

“Why don’t I let them take my car and I’ll stay with you?” Bobby suggests.

I clear my throat and pull my hand from Trey’s. “If you think that I’m leaving you here, then you have another thing coming.”

Trey’s eyes flash with anger and his lips tighten, “You are not going to witness what I’m about to do.”

“I know you’re angry about your truck Trey, but it’s not worth getting into trouble.”

Trey lets out a humorless laugh, “You think I’m angry about my truck? No Tally, it’s not the truck that has Carter Evans life in danger. It’s what’s written on the truck.”

I turn my head back towards the truck and look more closely at the words sprayed across it in black paint. My eyes widen as I see the words
damaged goods
on the hood. My breath catches in my throat as I glance down at my glove covered arms. Someone knew. Someone knew what I had on my arms and I don't know how. But then my mind flashes back to the girl who had found me in the bathroom with a blade in my hand―Amber.

Cha
pter 23

“My father once told me that a man who cannot control his anger is one of two things: either he’s flippant and uncaring of the feelings and safety of others, or he has been pushed beyond reason
,
because someone he loves has been hurt. As I stare at the words on my truck, words that the girl I love has carved into her arms because of pain most of us can’t imagine, I am a man who has been pushed beyond reason, I am a man about to lose control.” ~Trey

“Tally,” I attempt to keep my voice as calm as possible
, because she is not who I am angry with, “please take Bobby’s car and go home.” Her body is rigid with frustration and determination.

“I will say it one more time, just so we’re clear,” she takes a step closer to me causing her to have to tilt her head back a little further, “I am not leaving you.”

I’m seriously considering picking her up and putting her in the car. And, just as I’m taking a step forward to do just that, I hear my name.

“Trey!” I turn slowly
, and as I do, I push Tally back behind me.

Carter Evans and his devout followers are making their way towards us. I nearly laugh when he stops a good twenty five feet away. Smart man, but still beyond stupid, if he thinks staying that far away is going to keep him safe.

“So good of you to save me the trouble of having to drag you out of the gym Carter,” I tell him calmly, “I do thank you for that.”

There’s something to be said for the type of rage that brings about calm behavior. It seems to terrify others more than a raging fit. I watch as the blood drains from Carter’s face. I begin to take slow measured steps towards him
, and silently thank the group around him who are holding him hostage. Carter is a coward, but he’s also proud, which means that he won’t run while his friends are all standing here watching him.

“I’ve come to the conclusion that you are unhappy in your life,” I continue as I walk closer, “because you seem to have a death wish.”

“You must have me confused with your girlfriend,” he spews the words at me as if they are acid in his mouth.

“You see, there you go again, opening your mouth
, and proving me right.” I’m standing less than a foot away from him now, and his eyes are beginning to betray the fear that is prancing just beneath the surface. “You want to die.” I say slowly, with punctuation after each word, and then I grab his throat before he even realizes what is happening. I drag him forward so that our faces are less than an inch apart and stare into his eyes. I want him to see death, to know what it looks like to stare into the face of someone who could kill him if it was what needed to be done. I wasn’t really going to kill him, not yet anyway. He had yet to physically harm Tally, though the emotional harm he and his cohorts had done, might actually be worse. But it would be easier to justify murder if it was in defense of a victim. As it is, I cannot justify killing him, so I will settle for humiliating him as well as give him a physical reminder of why it would be unwise to continue to pick on my girlfriend.

“You are going to apologize to Tally,” I look back over his shoulder at the faces that watch in rapt attention and sick delight. Vultures
, all of them, they look on as one of their own is being dealt with and, instead of jumping to his aide, they salivate at the mouth for the blood they hope is going to flow. I meet Amber’s eyes, as I say my next words, “And, since I can’t hit a girl you will take Amber’s punishment for her part in this.”

I release his throat. He takes a quick swing at me
, but I quickly grab his arm and pull him forward and around wrenching his arm behind him. I pull up so that the arm is straining the shoulder and causes Carter to have to walk on his tip toes to relieve the pain. The fight is abruptly gone out of him, aside from cussing under his breath, and informing me that I would be sorry.

“You can’t prove I did anything,” he growls at me.

“I’m not trying to prove anything to anyone. I already know who did it.” I push him to his knees in front of Tally, and when he starts to struggle, I grab his hair in my hand, and pull until he is looking up at her.

“Apologize to her.” My voice is calm
, despite the boiling fury building inside of me.

“You want me to apologize to her for trashing your truck?” He asks me through clenched teeth.

“No, I want you to apologize for what you spray painted across the hood of my truck.”