Chapter 117: Krispin
I paid no attention to the whispers as I stalked through the lobby and into the ground floor bar. The drink clinked down in front of me minutes after I placed the order. I removed the cutesy toothpick and downed the liquid. Then I ordered another.
"Do you really think two wrongs make a right?" Damian asked.
I laughed. It wasn't funny.
The next drink slid in front of me but before I could grab it, Damian grabbed and swallowed.
"Christ, what is this shit?" I was surprised he didn't spit it out.
"It's warm Mountain Dew with a hot lemon twist."
"Is my vodka too high class for you?"
"I don't drink alcohol. Or, did you forget?"
"I didn't but that fucking shit needs to be chased with alcohol. Sorry I can't join you in your sobriety but I really need a cold one."
"At least you can't be kicked out of your own club."
"That's what you think. My wife would kick me out of the hotel using her spiky high heels and not look back. I'm only glad our baby needs a father. Lydia is pretty pissed off right now."
"Will Angela be okay?" After what I saw, I might never be.
"She's stronger than you think. This would have been very bad a year ago."
"You don't think that was bad?"
"From what my wife tells me, the episodes have slowed and actually improved."
"Is the person who did this to her someone I can kill?"
"No, or they would already be dead." Damian's voice was flat.
"That's good and bad. I really need to feel bone crunch beneath my hands."
"I know but I would hope by now the shit you just drank would have taken off the edge for violence."
"Will your wife ever let me within a hundred yards of Angela again?"
"After what you saw, do you think you should be?"
"Staying away isn't an option."
"Well, then, I guess you're lucky our daughter likes you and you're capable of singing her to sleep."
"I'll work on my lullabies."
"That'll help. Are you going to tell me what happened?"
"I asked her out on a date, sang Sinatra, and rapped some Eminem."
"I guess we're lucky she didn't blow her brains out."
"Ha ha, you're so funny. Do you mind if I order another drink without you rudely confiscating it?"
"I don't plan on touching anything you're drinking unless hell freezes over. I don't think my taste buds could survive another shock of that magnitude."
I ordered another and we sat in silence, until the whispers and glances began to weigh on me. Damian must have felt them, too, for he suggested we get out of there.
"Do you have a destination in mind?"
"My office. We can order more of your piss and maybe I can enjoy another beer."
"You're on."
Even with the heavy office door, the low thrum of bass thumped into the room. I needed it. Music was my world. Damian pulled a two-liter Mountain Dew from behind the bar and I was now drinking straight from the bottle.
I couldn't delay the discussion any longer. "Are you going to tell me what the hell is going on?"
Damian took a long pull from his beer. "Angela's biological father died when she was young. Afterward, her mother brought a string of boyfriends through her apartment. Some were okay and others were not."
"Define 'were not.'"
"Child Services removed Angela from her mother when she was nine. They took her after she told a teacher the man in her house touched her inappropriately. He'd been there for two years. The touching was more than just simple touching. Angela was no longer a virgin. She went to foster care for a year but finally her grandparents were located and she was turned over to them."
"Fuck." I stood up and began pacing. "Is he dead?"
"Yes, her mother killed him."
"What?"
"She died too, after six years in prison on a twenty-year sentence."
I sat back down and placed my face in my hands on the desk. I looked back up after a few minutes.
"She told me Sinatra and Eminem made her cry." It was a stupid thing to say but my brain wouldn't wrap around what Damian told me.
"You know you would both be better off without the other. Both of you are thoroughly fucked up."
"Yeah, I know. But I can't get her out of my mind. It's not just her looks, it's like she's calling to me on some level I don't understand." I looked straight into Damian's gaze. "And I'm much stronger than you think."
"Of that I have no doubt. She's strong, too, but two good people don't always make a good couple."
"I won't give up."
"And you think a vanilla date will take care of all your problems? Angela doesn't do vanilla."
"What does she do?"
"Resists pain, buries it. She feels too deeply and holds it inside until it explodes like it did tonight. She has a steady therapist and she's been better since Lydia collared her. She needs to belong, she needs to be wanted, and to add gasoline to the fire; she hates her beauty. The child molester told her how beautiful she was every time he raped her."
Lead weights grabbed my feet and I sank under the murky water in my mind. Maybe I wasn't strong enough after all.
"Christ, I don't know if I can give her the pain she needs. I haven't touched a woman in that way since Dixie."
"Nicole didn't complain."
"She only wanted a little slap and tickle. I kept her busy thinking of other things."
"That's what Angela needs most; other things to think about and other things to live for."
"You sound like you might actually be on my side."
"Hell, my wife's going to cut off your balls and serve them for dinner. She's in the same room with me when I sleep so hers is the only side I'm taking."
"I hope you're joking about the balls."
"It's the red hair and my daughter has it too. I'm a man walking the Green Mile most days. If I can get her pregnant again with a boy this time, I might be able to even the score. But right now, I'm completely outnumbered."
"What if the next one's a girl too?"
"I almost have enough money to buy myself a trip into outer space."
"I only see you with a pack of redhead goddesses."
"Stop or I'll throw you to the lions. And, speaking of lions, it's time we entered the den."
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