Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 101254 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101254 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
I sneak to my truck, grab the tarp quickly as I look around, and walk back into the warehouse.
Only to find the other three crawling on the floor.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“Dildo brain there”—Carlos points to Dirk—“dropped all the teeth when Jerry handed them to him.”
“Come on, Black,” Dirk says. “We’ve got to find all of them.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I say under my breath.
I join the others on the concrete floor, searching for human teeth. Yeah, that’s what I’m fucking doing.
When we’ve grabbed them all, Carlos counts them. “Twenty-seven,” he says.
“A human being has thirty-two teeth,” I say dryly.
“No shit?” Dirk says.
“Uh…yeah. Basic human anatomy. Did you sleep through health class?”
Did I really just ask that question? Of course he did. If he was even there.
“Not if he had his wisdom teeth removed,” Carlos says. “Who doesn’t have their wisdom teeth removed?”
“I haven’t,” I say.
“My brother did when he was eighteen,” Dirk says. “Twenty-seven is probably all of them.”
“Even with his wisdom teeth gone, we’re missing one,” I say.
“We searched every fucking crevice,” Dirk says. “The dude only had twenty-seven teeth. Maybe one got knocked out.”
Dirk has a point. This lowlife could have easily lost a tooth in a fight. Or to a nasty-ass infection.
“All right,” I say. “We’ve got to get the fuck out of here.” I look around. “What the hell do you plan to do with this body anyway?”
“Throw it in the bay.”
I gulp down puke again. “Jesus Christ.”
“We need your truck to do this, Black,” Dirk reminds me.
I’m in too deep to bow out now. “Fine. We’re going to get rid of the body, and then the three of you are going to help me scrub my fucking truck. After that, I don’t want to see any of you ever again.”
“Fine by me,” Dirk says. “Once we divvy up this cash, we’ll all be set for a while.”
I’m not sure I even want my share, but I’ll take it. I’ll take it in case this thing blows up and I end up in prison. At least I’ll have something to leave for Dad and Bray.
I didn’t kill the guy, and I didn’t pull out his teeth.
But I found the pliers and gave them to Jerry, and that tarp wrapped around the poor sod is mine. We have to transport him to the bay in my truck.
This is so fucked up.
What the hell was I thinking?
One thing’s for sure—I will never stray again.
I will do my duty. I’ll go to school, get good grades, do my work after school and on weekends. Contribute to my household.
I’ll be the good son.
The best damned son ever.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Tessa
Ben looks so handsome today. He’s wearing jeans and a white-and-blue striped button-down shirt, the sleeves rolled up.
I ended up going to Mass this morning with Mommy, Eva, and Aunt Lily. I didn’t want to, but I didn’t want to disappoint my mother. Not after everything else. When we got back, I packed up my stuff, and I was ready when Ben’s driver picked me up for lunch.
“So you’re sure you’re ready to go back to your place?” Ben asks.
I nod. “I have to. I didn’t go running home to Mom’s after Garrett.”
Though my mother did stay with me for a week. I don’t need to tell Ben that. He probably knows anyway because Skye knows, which means Braden knows.
“All right. I’ll take you back there, we can dump your stuff, and then what would you like to do for the rest of the day?”
“You don’t have to take care of me for the rest of the day,” I say.
“Who says I’m taking care of you? Maybe I’d like to spend the day with you. We could take a walk. Go to the zoo.”
I smile when he says that. “I love the zoo. I love all animals. Da used to—” I sniffle a bit. “He and I both loved the zoo.”
“You sure you’re up for it?”
I don’t even think before I nod. “I am. It may just be the perfect place to finalize my goodbye to him.”
“Perfect.” He smiles. “It’s a date, then. I happen to love the zoo too.”
I take another bite of my egg casserole. It’s not as good as my mom’s, of course. She spices hers up with chile pequin.
My dad always used to joke that he never ate good food until he met my mom. His mother didn’t like to cook. My mom’s Mexican food is just delicious.
Before we went to Jamaica, I decided I wanted to learn to make all of my mother’s delicious recipes, even though I’ve never been much of a cook, except for guacamole.
Her recipes are my comfort food. I’d like to be able to make them for myself when I need them.
And I also want to cook them for Ben.
Ben, who is now more than just a friend.