“You coming?” he asks gruffly.
I begin walking towards him, but he takes off again and I have to work to catch up to him, his strides being much bigger than my own.
“What’s your birthday?” I ask him once I catch up to him.
He turns his head just a little as he looks at me through squinted eyes and slows his pace so I can finally slow mine too. “Why?”
“I just like to know birthdays,” I told him, purposely omitting the actual reason why I like to know them.
“May twenty-third.” Gemini.
I store his zodiac information for when I’m in front of a computer and continue down the paved path leading away from all of the different buildings around us. It’s a dark and silent walk, only the night creatures making loud enough sounds to hear, but it does help calm my anxious mind some.
My thoughts are still racing over what information I could possibly find out and how far would be too far to push him. I don’t want to invade into his personal space too much, but something makes me want to dig just enough. I know either way he’s going to be uncomfortable with whatever it is I decide to do with him.
“If I asked you questions, you know, like the birthday one, would you answer them?”
My voice is soft but even still it sounds so shrill in the calm night.
“No.”
“Well, at least you’re honest,” I tell him with a nod. “Why do you stay so closed off?”
“Life is easier if I'm this way,” he tells me as we continue to walk through the darkness.
“Have you ever tried opening up to anyone?” I am pushing my luck and I know it, but I want to see how far I can push.
“No.” Not very far, I guess.
His clipped tone is a different kind of no from his first answer. It almost seems angry, so I let the conversation fall. It leaves me even more determined to figure him out than before, but I relax, not wanting to exhaust my only resource of knowledge so quickly. I want him to talk to me, but I know I can’t make him.
Where we live everyone knows who Hollis is because even though he’s been implicated in over eighty-five murders just in Alabama alone, he’s never been convicted of anything. Word gets around when you have a whole city who knows you’re a killer and you still aren’t behind bars. He’s a legend in the streets.
“If I opened up to anyone they'd run for it the first chance they got,” he finally says just as we get to a sloped part of the pavement leading straight to what I assume is the guest house in front of us.
Without missing a beat I say, “You'll never know if you never try.”
He doesn’t say anything else and I don't interrupt his thinking. I know he’ll want to try to open up to see if he can get me to run for the hills, but he’s pipe dreaming. There isn't a whole lot I find scary anymore, but I’ll certainly enjoy watching him try.
He opens the guest house door with a set of keys from his pocket and pushes it open before glancing at me expectantly. I can’t believe anything happening right now if I’m being completely honest with myself. The stories I’d heard about Hollis since high school were ones of pure malice and filled with things I didn’t know were possible of a human being to do. I should be terrified of him.
But I’m not terrified.
I’m turned on.
Some of what’s been said about him may be lies and I’ve always held onto the notion of people lying to make people seem god-like and more powerful than they actually are, but I am starting to believe none of the stories are even close to what’s truly happened in his life. I want to know more so I can get further into his mind and I don’t care how long it will take. I plan on figuring him out because for some reason I’m just too stubborn to heed his warnings and his closed off nature just makes me want to dig even more.
Chapter Six
MESSIAH—TEN YEARS AGO
Crystina and Ruby make their way through the crowd, but I act like I’m looking elsewhere and I finally pull my eyes to them once they’re right in front of me. My sister is still glaring at me, mad because I won’t stop trying to meet these two dudes who apparently are running shit now, but I pay her no mind. She’s going to have to get over it tonight. Granny won’t be able to take care of us forever. Hell, she can barely afford us now.
These guys could be the answer I’ve been looking for, but I haven’t had any luck finding them tonight anyway. I’m starting to get annoyed. The party is huge, and the atmosphere is live as fuck but I’m not here for the vibe. I’m here with a plan.
“I made you a drink,” Ruby says, holding her right hand out to me. I take it, still not talking and I pull it to my nose and frown at her, but she just laughs. “It’s strong.”
“I don’t want to get drunk,” I tell her, trying to hand it back but she won’t take it.
“Then babysit,” she tells me, pushing it back in my direction. “Are we planning on staying long?”
“I’m just waiting to spot one of the guys,” I tell her, and my sister pops her mouth and when I don’t give her the attention she wants she hits me.
“Messiah, you’re not talking to them. I don’t want you involved in what they do,” she tells me, and I glare at her.
“What do you want me involved with Ce? Honestly, do you think we’re going to have Granny around forever to provide for us?” I snarl at her, pushing off the wall I’d been leaning against. “If you haven’t noticed her fucking disability doesn’t go as far as it used to, and she told me three days ago they were cutting our food stamps in half. She looked to me for help, Crys, and I am not going to let her stress herself to death taking care of us.”
“There are other ways,” she tells me, still frowning but I can tell hearing what I just said is already under her skin. She loves Granny more than anyone else in the world, but she has no idea the stress our grandmother has been under just to take care of us. Crys doesn’t pay attention to stuff like other peoples struggle and in this moment I realize I’m never going to be able to get her to understand.
“Maybe they’re not so bad, Ce,” Ruby tries, but she’s not hearing it.
“No, Ruby. You don’t get to do defend him. You can’t side with him just because he’s fucking you,” she tells Ruby. “I do not want my brother in any kind of gang. There are other ways to make money.”
Ruby doesn’t say anything else, but she looks over to me and I know she understands. I know she understands no matter what, survival comes first.
“I’ll see you two back at the house, I don’t feel like dealing with this shit anymore,” I tell them before leaning down and kissing the side of Ruby’s head as I walk by her.
They don’t come after me because they both know when I walk away it’s best to let me. Crystina knows she can’t change my mind, but I know she’ll never stop trying. It’s a twin thing we have to accept because neither of us will ever give up easily.
I wander around the party and am stopped a few times to talk to some of the people I know from around the way as I make it through the room. I’m distracted so the conversations aren’t lasting long and after a couple of hours of no luck in finding the guys of the hour I decide to give it up and head back to the house.