“The only crazy person here,” Dex growled as he brought his face right up to Maximus’s, “is you, if you can’t see the bigger picture. Go on sucking the Palomino family dick if it makes you feel better. I’ll feel better knowing Perry is safe.”
While Dex was spurting these things into Maximus’s reddening face, my eyes drifted down to the floor. The room spun around me as I clued in to what I was seeing. Dex was actually holding him up around his neck with one hand. Maximus’s toes were dangling several inches above the ground and considering the height and weight difference between David and Goliath, that feat was nearly impossible.
“Uh, Dex,” I said softly.
He pried his eyes off of Maximus and followed my gaze. A wave of shock rolled over him when he realized what he was doing. He let go and Maximus’s feet landed with a loud thump.
“Oh, sorry,” he said, clearly flustered. He went over to the suitcase, pretending to be busy, but from the tense way he held his back, I could see he was bothered.
Maximus was rubbing at his throat lightly, faint pink fingermarks running across it. He didn’t seem upset but he was watching Dex and thinking hard about something.
“Where’s the rest of your stuff?” Dex asked and I told him to look under the bed, my eyes never leaving Maximus’s pensive face.
“Not used to being beat up on, are you?” I asked him carefully, wanting to talk about it. But maybe I was just overreacting. Dex was on an adrenaline high and your body can do some pretty freaky stuff.
Maximus slowly brought his face toward mine and smiled. “I don’t know, I reckon you did a pretty good job.” He tapped the spot on his face where I’d scratched him mid-sex, back when I was all demonic. He knew exactly what buttons to push with us and he was pushing the same ones again.
If Dex wasn’t tense before, he was now. I was ready for him to flip around and go after Maximus again, but he didn’t bite. He just kept his mouth shut and picked up the first box. He turned around and I could see the temper swirling around in his eyes, the killer grip on the box’s edge. He gave Maximus a forced smile that looked completely menacing.
“Please move,” he said, gesturing to the way he was blocking the door. “I’d like to get out of here before I break your nose.”
“I’d like to see you do it,” Maximus answered, not moving.
“Oh, come on,” I chided them. “You can measure penises after I move out.”
“You don’t think I can do it?” Dex continued, ignoring me.
“I know you can do it. I just want to see it.”
“I’ve done it before.”
“I want to see you do it…now,” Maximus replied. I didn’t like the squirrely way he sounded, like he was attempting to do Dex a favor or something.
“Dex,” I said loudly. He and Maximus were locked in some internal showdown, brown eyes against green, short against tall, caveman against caveman.
“Dex!”
With great reluctance, he broke the staring contest and looked my way.
“Please. Let’s go.”
He nodded and readjusted his hold on the box.
I glared at Maximus. “And you, please get out of the way. I, personally, have no problems with breaking your nose.”
Maximus sighed and moved over, opening the door for us. Dex pushed past him and Maximus whispered in a voice so low, I could barely pick it out. “You watch yourself.”
Dex didn’t even pay attention. I quickly scooped up a box of books and went after him.
The minute I hit the top of the stairs, I could hear my mom on the phone, crying to my dad. I knew if we didn’t act fast, we’d be majorly hooped. For all I knew, he could be calling the cops and making up a whole bunch of shit to get Dex in trouble again.
Our footfalls were quick and silent and when we reached the ground floor, he gave me a steady look, making sure I wasn’t about to run into the kitchen where my mom was and plead insanity. I swallowed hard, as tempted as I was to totally cave in, and together we scampered over to the car and started piling the stuff in the trunk.
“I’m going to go get the rest,” he told me, putting his hand on my arm. “Will you be OK here?”
I nodded, though I knew I was on the verge of crying or panicking or something.
He gave me one last deep look and when he was satisfied that I was going to be OK, he patted me lightly on the shoulder. “I’ll be back.”
I whimpered something and leaned against the car, the trunk door open. It was hard to believe that in a few moments it would contain most of my life.
It didn’t feel right to leave this way. I wanted nothing more than to go back inside and plead with my mother and try to get her to understand. I wasn’t doing any of this to hurt her, I was doing this so that she wouldn’t hurt me. But what did it matter in the end. In the end I would be seen as the villain and nothing else. They were so damn ignorant they’d never ever see the truth, even if it was crying in front of their face.
But then there was my dad, who I knew had a smidge more respect for me than mom had. I knew he’d be absolutely livid and confused as to why his daughter would leave in such a harried, disrespectful manner.
And Ada…she was on the inside but the way things were going, we’d be safe and gone before she returned from school. Sometimes it was hard to believe she was in high school and lately I’d been relying on her more and more. Maybe as sisters we had a backward relationship, but it was one that worked and one that I would miss dearly. I owed it to Ada to stick around. But if there was anyone who would understand, it would be her.
Even though she’d be pissed.
Dex was back in an instant, hauling the luggage behind him with one hand and carrying three heavy boxes with the other.
I raised a brow. “So, have you traded in cigarettes for steroids, or what?”
He threw the suitcase in the back, not caring at all if I had valuables in there and plunked the boxes down. “Oh you know, chicks dig men with muscles.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Another Dex Foray mystery?”
He wiped his hands and gave me a charming smile. “Will you ever run out?”
“I guess not,” I replied absently. I looked at the house like I’d never see it again. It might as well be true. Maximus came to the doorway with his arm around my mother who was sobbing into her sleeve. I’d always imagined the day I’d leave home, but I’ve got to say it never looked like this.