Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 112736 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 451(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112736 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 451(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
I wait a moment, hoping that if someone is inside they’ll respond, then I punch in the code on the lockbox and grab the key.
Unlocking the door, I push it open and I’m immediately hit by an awful smell.
It smells like garbage and animals.
Fuck.
“Hello?” I call out again into the dark house, feeling a little like the stupid damsel in a horror movie.
When no one responds, I find the switch on the wall and flip on the light.
Then I get a glimpse of the true horror show.
Trash… there’s trash everywhere…
“Oh my god,” I gasp and cover my mouth with the back of my hand.
The place is completely wrecked. The interior looks more like a landfill than someone’s home. And you can tell someone lived here at one point because there’s these clean spots on the floor where furniture used to be.
Shit. Shit.
Shit.
I don’t know what the hell I’m going to do.
Robert warned me he couldn’t get a cleaning crew here yet, but I didn’t expect to find the house like this…
Even animals are cleaner than this.
Levi and I are so screwed.
Forcing myself to walk through the first floor, I pick my way carefully over the trash, inspecting the place.
Even if I wasn’t sore and exhausted after getting beat by my husband and driving all night, it would take me days to clean the place up on my own.
But there’s nowhere else we can go.
This place, as disgusting as it is, is our only hope.
Local hotels are too risky. Too many people going in and out. I’d have to pick a direction, drive a few more hours to find one for the night, and hope there’s no Bratva nearby.
And dammit, I’m too tired to do more driving today.
We have no family I’m willing to put at risk, and none of them live nearby anyway.
Besides Robert, I literally have no one else I can rely on to help.
I can’t even talk to Robert until our designated time which isn’t until later tonight.
Despair threatens to overwhelm me, but I shove it away and make my way up the stairs. The only bright lining in this whole situation is that the upstairs isn’t nearly bad as the downstairs. Yes, there’s dirty clothing on the floors and more garbage, but not as much as the first floor.
Once I’ve seen as much as I can stomach, I rush out of the house and lock the front door. Levi’s hopeful face peers at me through the window as I walk up to the minivan, and the sight nearly crushes my soul.
“Can we go in now?” he asks as I slide back behind the wheel and shut my door.
Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath and hold it.
If it was just me, this would probably be the point where I’d give up and throw in the towel.
“Mommy?”
But it’s not just me, I can’t give up now. We’ve already come this far, and I can’t let Levi down. I swore I’d give him a better life, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.
Even if it kills me.
“I’m sorry, we can’t go in yet. The last people that lived here… they forgot to clean before they left. We have to go buy some cleaning stuff then we can go in,” I explain and brace myself for his reaction.
I know he’s tired and probably going stir crazy from being cooped up in the van all night. It would be completely normal for him to have an emotional meltdown and throw a tantrum.
Hell, I want to throw a tantrum. I want to scream at the heavens. I want to ask why they keep fucking with me. I want to ask what I did to deserve all of this.
“Okay,” Levi says, accepting my explanation so easily I don’t know if I should be grateful he’s being so good or even more worried.
He’s too young to be used to disappointment.
It’s only a fifteen-minute drive to the closest Walmart, but after all the driving I’ve already done, it feels like it takes us twice as long.
I park as close to the doors as I can get, help Levi out of the van, and try my best to ignore the exhaustion settling into my bones.
My energy tank is so empty I’m running on fumes.
And I still have so much to do…
After grabbing a cart, I walk as fast as Levi’s little legs can keep up with, completely ignoring the middle-aged woman smiling at us and trying to greet us as we walk in.
I just want to get in and out of here as quickly as possible.
I feel that woman’s eyes burning into my back though the entire walk to the cleaning supplies aisle. Glancing over my shoulder, I catch her glaring at me like I’m the lowest scum of earth.
Whatever.
Mentally shrugging my shoulders, I head down the aisle, straight for the brooms. I grab one then briefly consider putting it back. Given the amount of trash in the house, I might be better off with a shovel…