Mercy F*uck (26 page)

“I’m not real fond of jacking you in front of your son, but I will if you come at me again.”

“I am filled with the power and glory of Christ!” she shrieks like a banshee wearing an apron. Charging me, and right before she makes her grab, I shift catching her left side, giving her the best upper cut I had.

She-could-go-all-the-way!

With an oomph, she crashed onto the carpet. Unmoving, and wiping the blood from my mouth, I knelt down next to her and say, “Yeah, well I’m filled with the power of Folgers dark roast,
bitch
.”

Since she was out cold, I ran to the kitchen grabbing a knife to cut Shane down. Having no strength to hold himself up, he hit the floor and curled into a ball.

Reaching into my pocket for my phone, I dial Aaron to send a unit and Officer Willis home. Taking a seat next to Shane, I say nothing. I was speechless, pissed, and heartsick for him.

This will fuck the kid up for, I-don’t-know, EVER!

“Drew,” he whispers hoarsely, gripping my hand. “Thanks.”

“You played me, Shane,” I say softly because now was not the time to let my angry out. “I get why you did, but I don’t much like why you did either. You weren’t helping her by lying.”

“She’s sick,” he says pitifully. Like he’d rehearsed it. “She can’t help it.”

“No excuse, Shane.”

“Will she go to jail?”

“I’m not a cop, I don’t know.”

Sirens blared nearby so I sent Axle a text giving a heads up shit had hit the fan, but that I was okay and even included the address in case he wanted to pop by.  He texted back he was on his way and leaning back against the wall, I asked Shane, “Do you plan to tell the cops the truth?” At his silence I stated my own intentions. “Because if you don’t, I will. I can live with you hating me for it, but I will not give her an opening to hurt you again.”

Moving up to rest his head in my lap, I put my hand on the top of his head and whisper, “I take care of those I care about, Shane and I care about you, a lot.”

Wrapping his arms around my waist he rests his head on my stomach and says, “I’ll tell the truth.”

Willis was the first to charge in. First, he took a look at Shane’s body molded to mine, then his wife out cold on the floor before his face went red and his body coiled to strike. He looked murderous, as in wanting to murder
me
. But that didn’t happen. What did happen was he knelt next to his son and asked, “You okay?”

“No, he’s not okay. Betty-fucking-cracked-out strung his fucking body from the ceiling by his wrists, Willis, what do you think?”

“You saved my boy then.”

“Someone had to,” I growl in his face and then cops flooded the place. A medic was looking crazy pants over and when she came to, she wasted no time getting back to insane in the mom brain. Her head all but spun around, and if she started projectile vomiting I was running for it.

“Nancy, stop,” Willis begs the nut bag.

“He needs to repent!” she wails as veins popped out in her neck. “The spirit of the Lord is – ”

“Will someone knock her out, please?” I ask politely and then she zeroed in on me touching her son.

“I will kill you and send you back to Hell!”

“Is she always like this?” I ask Shane, who was now sitting up. Likely in hopes of calming her crazy ass down.

“Yeah.”

“If I have any pull with the design of her straight jacket, I’ll get a nifty cross embroidered on it just because I’m sweet.”

When two uniforms called me into the next room, I left Shane in his dad’s care to give my statement.

Nancy Willis never took her eyes off me or her hands off that bible.

“What’d that guy do to piss you off?” she asked handing me a rag with ice in it.

“He said some shit I didn’t like,” I mumbled flexing my hand.

“What kind of shit?” she asked taking the rag and placing it on my knuckles.

“Just shit, Drew, don’t worry about it, I handled it.”

“Shit about me?”

“I just said – ” I was about to snap but went with, “Yeah, about you,” instead.

“Okay,” she said quietly. “I trust he learned his lesson, Axle.”

This police shit was taking forever.

Now that the adrenaline had worn off, she was safe, and I had time to stew, I was stewing like a
motherfucker
.

Drew ran headlong into danger without telling me.

She put herself at risk.

One phone call, a God damn text, something…But no, I wasn’t there to protect her.

This was Drew’s way, indefuckingpendent as always and it grated.

We’d be discussing this shit in detail later. Right now, my focus was on the scene playing out in the family room.

Being that Willis was a cop, a really shitty cop apparently, he was getting grilled harder than the crazy mother was. No one said it but everyone in this room was wondering how this went on without her getting any help. As they fired questions at him, you could see him retreat. He was lost, embarrassed, and not all forthcoming.

But fuck,
she
had no issues blurting shit out.

So when they asked her where she got the firearm, she told them it was a gift from her grandfather and gladly shared where she hid it. I swear to God when she admitted to watching videos on how to make bombs, I almost shit myself. She wasn’t just a crazy bitch, she was a
resourceful
crazy bitch.

Drew stuck close to Shane who needed the comfort while hearing his mom’s crimes against a woman he cared very much for. The kid looked ready to pass out and I couldn’t blame him. When she wasn’t smiling, she was highlighting all the ways she planned to kill Drew, punish Shane, and torture Willis. I kept waiting for Willis to tell her to shut the fuck up but he never did. He was as afraid of her as Shane was, which I did not understand. Then again, I didn’t understand anything about abuse and never would.

Reaching for my hand, Drew pulls me to her side and rests her head on my chest.

We were silent as they stood her up to take her in.  But it was Shane who spoke up first. Approaching his mom, he says, “Hear, my son, your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. Proverbs 1:8.”

With a smile splitting her face she praises, “You heard! You know the word!”

Dropping his eyes to his feet and turning his back on her he whispers, “I did, you don’t.”

Then he found his way back to Drew who pulled him to her side putting him safely between us.

Willis did not follow his wife outside but he approached his son and I watched Drew tighten her grip.

She did not want to let him go.

“I’m sorry,” he says hoarsely. “I failed her.”
Only worried about your wife? Fucker!

“We failed her,” Shane says and that shit sounded rehearsed.

“We’re going to go,” Drew says softly. “The room is still yours if you want it.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Okay, Shane,” she says, letting him go and wrapping her arms around my waist to hide the loss.

“Willis,” I say getting his attention. “You have until morning to drop all charges against Drew.”

“It will be done,” he says looking at her. “I thought with enough time I could fix her. I couldn’t bring myself to have my wife arrested for domestic violence.”

“Fucking shame too,” Drew says angrily. “Instead, you left her to abuse your
son
.”

“It’s not that simple.”

“I imagine you didn’t want the ridicule, being a cop getting roughed up by his own wife but abuse is abuse, male or female, cop or not. I’m really sorry you lived with that, but I’m pissed off you left your son to live with it too. That female needs more than Jesus, Willis. She needs a white room without a door.”

“I tried warning you,” he says with downcast eyes. “I failed at that too. Thank you, Drew, for protecting my boy.”

“Whatever,” she says turning away and nodding her goodbye to Shane. Following her out to my truck, I demand to know, “Are you good to drive?” before letting her go.

“Yeah.”

“We’re going to the house, no pit stops.”

“Okay.”

“Drew?”

“What?”

“You ran again.”

And when she closed her eyes in pain, I turned away heading toward the Impala.

Back at home, I tried giving myself some time to calm down, but for every phone call she took I found that I was more worked up. Fuck no, I wasn’t calm. I was fuming. Snagging her phone and tossing it, I let her know, “Work can wait.”

“You’re right.”

“Now you’re all about listening to me?”

“I wasn’t
not
listening to you, Axle.”

“You tuned me out, Drew,” I roar in anger. “When you left this house to go to Shane, when you did not call me, you fucking tuned me out.”

“That wasn’t what – ”

“You ran! Straight into fucking trouble and you did not even consider me!”

“It wasn’t that I didn’t consider you,” she pleads for my understanding. “It was that with Willis at the station, I didn’t consider going there alone dangerous.”

“Then why take a gun?”

“Because I can?” she says trying to be cute, then sobers. “Once I saw Shane I forgot I had it. I wanted to kill her with my hands, not a bullet.”

Groaning in frustration, I simply ask her, “Do you want a future with me?”

Like I’d struck her, she rears back and I watch her bottom lip tremble. “How can you ask me that?”

“Answer me.”

“Yes,” she cries out. “Of course I do.”

“You ever run from me again, love of my life or not, I won’t chase you. I will tune you out for good.”

Staring at me with total hurt and a lot of confusion, I take her face in my hands and grate out, “You could have
died
, Drew. That woman planned to kill you. You got lucky, too fucking lucky and I already lost you once so I am not okay with the lone wolf shit. Do you understand me?”

“Yes,” she whispers and I see her lip tremble. “I understand you.”

“Good,” I say leaning in for a kiss when there was a fucking knock on my door. “Whoever it is, I’ll get rid of them. We’re not done yet.”

When her breath hitched and tears filled her eyes, I ignored the door and took her into my arms. “What’s wrong?”

“That’s what you said to me nine years ago.”

“Meant it then, mean it now, Drew.”

Nodding, she gets up on her toes and kisses me hard. “Okay, Axle.”

I had a feeling I wasn’t the only man who loved a woman and wanted to throttle her all at once.

If I knew anything it was that life with Drew wouldn’t be boring.