Page 93 of Existential
Her mouth opens, yet no sound comes out. I get it; the first time you witness a person killed it takes a moment to sink in. The scene flashes on repeat in your mind until you can fully grasp the reality of what you just saw.
“He was abusing her,” she whispers. “Mentally.”
My breaths quicken, and I have to literally focus on keeping my feet solid on the floor until she’s finished when all I really want to do is march back through and tear Digits’ cut off before peeling his Aces ink from him piece by piece.
“He told her she had to stay skinny for him to like her. He forced her to starve herself like that.” Dagne’s face twists into one of confusion. “Told her she’d make a great mother, that he wanted kids and she was the only one for him.”
“He hates her.” I hang my head and correct myself. “Hated.”
“He made her believe they were going to be together forever. He played her for a fool.”
“He’s dead,” I state simply, straightening up. “Fuckin’ dead.”
Dagne tilts her head back, looking up at me with those innocent eyes. This isn’t her life, isn’t her way of dealing with things. As much as I’d love to say I can fix this, I think it’s only going to push us further apart. She’s just witnessed the very thing she doesn’t want—a life of violence—play out right in front of her, to her.
“What are you going to do?” she murmurs.
“Get some goddamn answers.”
***
With Dagne and Beth safely upstairs and being minded by Murphy, the one brother I can still trust, I usher Crackers, and Digits into the chapel.
“So what’s it going to be,” Digits asks casually, rounding his seat yet not taking it.
I push him down by one shoulder, and lean my hip against the table beside him. “We’ll take a vote with a full table, but I’m pretty sure we can all lay safe bets on what the outcome will be.”
“That’s it? You cut me out?”
“What else did you think would happen?” Crackers asks from his position leaning against the closed doors. “You threaten not one, but two women, not to mention kill Heather for what she had to say, and that’s just the tip of it all.”
“What else you got?” he asks cockily, staring down my VP.
“Where did you really go after Lincoln?” Crackers asks.
I glance over at him, wondering what he hasn’t shared. He purposefully ignores my curiosity and focuses on Digits.
“I told you guys, I went the long way around to think things through.”
“What things, exactly?” I ask.
Digits pins me with a less than satisfied look. “You know exactly what.”
“Can’t tell me you managed to grow a conscience over how you treated Dagne that quick if you’ve been fuckin’ with Heather the same way for twice as long.”
“Fuckin’ with Heather, how?” he asks, frowning.
“Dagne told me what Heather said to the girls before any of us showed up. You’ve been bullyin’ her, makin’ her starve herself because she believes it’s the only way to keep your interest.”
“Bullshit.”
“Never told her she was it for you then?”
“What do you think?”
“Or that she’d make a great momma?”
He simply glares up at me, his hands twitching in his lap.