Norma Jean (14 page)

I finally spot her sitting in the living room with her head in her hands. “Cassie.” I say softly. When she looks up at me, I see it. She fucking knows who has her, and she hasn’t told anyone. It’s quiet in here, since everyone else is in the kitchen.

“Norma. I’m glad you came.” She wipes some tears off her face and I walk into the living room further and sit next to her.

“You have to tell them Cassie. They will find her so much faster if you do.” I say it barely above a whisper.

“It’s too fucking hard. What if he does something to her? He said he wouldn’t hurt her as long as I didn’t tell. He just wants you. I’ve been waiting for you to get here. Please go get my baby back.” She is sobbing now and I feel answering tears fall down from my eyes.

This is all my fucking fault. I knew in my heart I should have turned down Chance last night. I just needed to feel his touch, his kiss, his body. I never stopped wanting him. I never stopped loving him. Why can’t I just be happy for once in my life? Why do things always end
badly for me? I shouldn’t be afraid my ex-boyfriend is going to kidnap someone who I love to get back at me for sleeping with someone else.

I just wish I could have seen how crazy he is before I started seeing him.

Chance

Walking through the sea of people, I feel as if everyone is keeping some big secret from me. Everyone seems to be at my house, and I mean everyone. Even my dad and step mom are sitting at the kitchen table next to my mom. And surprisingly my dad isn’t blaming this on my mom. I don’t know how the hell that happened but it did, and I’m so grateful. Mom doesn’t need that right now.

“Hey, we are going to get out of here. Let me know when the search party is heading out and we’ll be there.” Dean claps me on the shoulder before throwing his arm around Paige’s waist and walking towards the door. I can only nod.

When I spot Norma walking out of the living room, it takes all the energy I have left not to walk over there and apologize. That was seriously a dick move last night, but I can’t do it. She’ll have an in and I so don’t want that. I can’t be crazy like that ever again. No matter how much I want it.

When she spots me all the color drains off of her face. She takes a deep breath and her chestnut colored hair falls over her face. I want to shift my fingers through it, brush it along my lips…no I don’t. What the hell am I doing?

“Chance…I have to
talk to you about something.” she says so low I barely hear her.

Now I feel the color drain from my face. She wants to talk about that here? Yeah I don’t think so. “I’m not talking about it ever. There’s nothing to say. I don’t care.” I lie right through my teeth. When tears start shining in her eyes, I know what I just did. And it’s not a good feeling.

“Chance Duncan, I know you did not just say that. What the hell is wrong with you? And who told you?” Cassie pops into the hall way looking like she’s going to find a sharp weapon and stab me.

“Huh? What are you talking about?” I say to Cassie. Then I look at Norma and feel the anger boil up. “You told her? What the fuck Norma?” I somehow made it down the hallway and ended
up right in front of her. I don’t remember even moving.

“If you’re talking about last night, I didn’t tell her you just did.” Her cheeks are flushed and her breathing is erratic. I have a feeling I might get punched. “We aren’t talking about that, we are talking about something else, which I’m guessing you have no idea about. Yet again you can only think of yourself.” She pushes past me and heads towards the kitchen.

I grab her wrist and pull her around and right into my chest. Her violet eyes are full of anger and pain, and I’m not sure all of it is directed at me. “What is going on? What do I need to know? You two better start explaining.”

“I’m
not telling you anything. Your fucking niece is missing and when I go to tell you something about that, you think I’m talking about fucking you last night.” She steps even closer and stands on her tippy toes and narrow those startling eyes at me. “Last night didn’t mean anything to me. It was honestly the last thing on my mind, until you brought it up. Macy is missing and that’s all you can think about? You’re seriously a piece of work Chance. Get your head out of the gutter and worry about someone other than yourself.”

“You didn’t seem to think it was nothing when I kicked you out of the room last night. In fact you were pretty upset about it. So don’t go giving me that ‘I don’t give a shit attitude’.” I take a step back and look between Norma and Cassie. “Now what is going on?”

They share a look and I have a feeling I’m not going to like what I hear. “We should go sit down.” Cassie says, flipping her thumb over her shoulder pointing at the living room.

I nod and follow them into the room. Sitting down I cross my arms over my chest and brace myself. I feel it deep in my bones this is going to kill me.

“When I left Duke, I lived with my dad in his cabin outside of Arkadelphia. After the summer I started attending OBU. I ran into this guy I already knew, but I was seriously surprised to see him. I had no idea he was going to Henderson. He asked me out almost every day for six months before I said yes.” Norma pauses and looks down at her hands. When a tear lands on her peach skin, I nearly lose it. What happened to her? “It was really good for the first six months. I was almost happy with him. And I tried really hard to be happy with him. I played happy so well, that he started to slip up. Show me things I think he didn’t want me to see.”

When she stops again I try to keep my mouth shut but it’s really hard. It’s like that dream I have of her. When she is sitting there crying and I can’t get through that invisible wall. She is so close yet unreachable. “What happened Norma? And what does this have to do with Macy?”

Cassie glares over at me, “Shut up Chance. This is hard for her. Give it time.” When she grabs Norma’s hand and squeezes I shut my eyes. I know now what she is going to say. And I’m going to want to murder someone. “Go on Norma.” Cassie tells her softly.

“Okay so one day I showed up without calling first. I mean I’d been to his apartment before and I had been with the guy for half a year, I thought it was cool. Well it wasn’t.” She takes a deep breath and looks up at Cassie squeezing her hand. “He was in the middle of a drug deal. Apparently he had been selling them out of the apartment for months. And I’m not talking pot or something small like that. No I’m talking hardcore drugs, like ice and crack. I thought oh my God I’m done. I honestly thought it would be that easy. It never is.” The tears flowing out of her eyes now are way too much. I feel my knuckles turning white. And I think I stopped breathing a long time ago. “I told him I couldn’t be with him, if he was going to do that. I don’t agree with selling drugs or doing drugs. That’s the first time he hit me. Just smacked me across the face. In front of a lot of people. That’s something else he let me believe. That I had all the control. When actually I had none.

“What’s worse is I had no one to help me. My roommate is a chick and I refused to let her call the police. I was fucking scared. These guys had guns and they were scary. I didn’t want one of them to come after me for snitching. You’ve met my dad, what the hell was he going to do? So I stuck it out. He started getting really abusive. He would accuse me of cheating and lying to him, but really it was just an excuse to hit and kick me. He had his right hand man, David following me around everywhere I went, so he knew I wasn’t lying or cheating. I didn’t want to end up dead.

“I honestly think he got off on hurting me. He would get this look in his eyes that chilled me to the bone. They were bright and excited. Then he started forcing me to have sex with him. I would give in because I didn’t want to get hurt. He would throw these parties and make me have sex in front of people. I felt degraded and nasty. I got called a slut and a whore all the time by people who saw. I didn’t know what else to do. It got harder and harder to cover up the bruises. My professor and other staff were starting to ask me why I was limping or walking funny. I lied through my teeth but it’s not like they ever really tried to stop him. He’s a monster.

“Then about a month ago I found him fucking a girl in his car outside my dorm. I was so relieved you can’t even imagine how much so. I knocked on the window and he got out of the car and told me he was done with me. I played it off like I was upset and angry but really I was so happy to be out from under him. That girl though was stupid. She knew what he was, how he was. I feel terrible I didn’t say anything to stop her, but I had to think about myself first at this point. I had started to wonder what my mom would do if they found me dead somewhere, just dropped off like a piece of trash. Because that is what would have happened.”

I’m silent but inside I feel like murder. I am going to kill this mother fucker. No one hurts Norma Jean. No one. I made that mistake once and I will never do it again. I haven’t seen her in over 3 years and I never imagine something like this would have come out of her mouth. Marley must not have any idea or this fucker would already be dead. She shouldn’t have gone off so far away from him. That guy loves her more
then anyone.

I can’t even imagine the fear she must have lived with being with this guy. It goes to show you human nature though. As long as it’s not happening to them, no one will step up. She weighs 115 pounds soaking wet. Maybe. This guy is scum, who beats on a tiny little thing like her. It’s honestly surprising she is still with us. Hell I could pick her up over my head and throw her against the wall.

My eyes are closed and my hands are shaking, hell my whole body is shaking. I still don’t know what this has to do with Macy, but I’m sure they will get to that. All I need is this dudes name and a couple of phone calls and he’ll learn his lesson on hitting a woman. And picking on someone who has no way to defend herself. God I’m an idiot. If I loved her as much as I say I did, then I would have found her. She would have been with me, and this would never have happened to her. Then I start to do something I haven’t done in years. Cry.

“I’m sorry Norma Jean. God I’m so fucking sorry. If I hadn’t let you run off this would never have happened. You shouldn’t have to have gone through that. This shit is
more fucked up then I’m used to. God, I’m a fucking idiot.” I’m sobbing now and it’s embarrassing but I don’t really care. I don’t really even know why I feel as if this is my fault. But I know in my heart it is.

Norma comes to sit in front of me on her knees. Her eyes pop into my line of sight as she lowers her head. “It’s not your fault Chance. It’s mine really. For ever listening to the guy, for trusting him blindingly. It’s my mistake not yours. I promise you that.” Her hands lift up my face and brush the tears off my cheeks. My heart pounds in my chest. Why can’t I stop loving her?

“Who. Is. It.” I want to know…I have to know.

“Creed.”

Chapter 10

Norma

Chance’s face says it all. He wasn’t expecting me to say that. And he doesn’t believe that Creed would do that to someone. Well how well do you really know someone? You don’t hear the thoughts in their head. You don’t know the way they think. The person sitting next to you in a restaurant could be a serial killer thinking about his latest victim. Even though he looks like a regular good looking guy. This fact only shows you can never really know someone. Just because they are nice to your face doesn’t mean they aren’t thinking horrible things about you.

And that’s exactly how Creed is.

He isn’t the person you see when you look at him. The guy dresses like a college guy in a fraternity with his polo’s and jeans. His blond hair is always styled just right, never messy or out of place. Those brown eyes though, they hide dark secrets people would never believe he could hide.

“You,” he clears his throat. “You dated my best friend after me?” he sounds really hurt by this, but what does he want me to say? I thought he cheated on me, so I thought I could trust Creed. He was the one who told me. I saw what Creed wanted me to see. And Chance and I paid the price. Never Creed. I don’t think he has ever been punished for his crimes.

“Yes. I didn’t mean for it to happen. I even turned him down for six months. I thought I was over you, and he said y’all didn’t even talk anymore. So I thought I had cleaned you out of my life. Little did I know what I was getting myself into. No one is a bigger idiot than me.” Tears spill out of my eyes as I think about the life I could have lead had Creed not messed with it. He took something special and good and made it ugly. Took the only person who could ever truly love me, away from me. I hate him more for that than I do for how he treated me in our relationship.

“I believe you. I still don’t see what this has to do with Macy.” He puts his hands over mine which were on his knees and gently pushes them off. I hate to admit that hurts, but I hurt him. And for no reason.

“Someone told Creed about last night.” It’s my only answer. If he can’t figure it out in his head than he’s not the guy I think he is.

“Jesus. We had sex in his bed.” He scrubs his face with his palm and I get up off the floor. He doesn’t want my comfort. “So he kidnaps Macy? What kind of sense does that make?”