Page 43 of Crucified By the Dark
“Yes or no. Are you really Stephen Kekewich?”
“Yes.”
“Did you join the army?”
“Yes.”
“Were you taking drugs when you joined? Maybe your parents sent you, hoping to straighten you out?”
He swallowed again, and that was all the answer she needed, but she waited for him to say the words.
“Yes or no, Stephen.”
“Yes.”
“Did you really get injured, or did you wash out and get sent packing?”
His eyes flicked away from hers. “Packing.”
She lifted the knife slightly from his throat.
“Bonus question. How did you find out about this place or me? It’s not exactly like I advertise.”
His eyes met hers again. “Everyone on the base knows about you. They didn’t know where you were but knew the place existed. It took me a couple of months to find you.”
Morry pushed herself up and off his chest, removing the knife, and stepped back until she could lean against the Hummer. The blade spun in her hand and glinted in the bright sunlight.
“Why come find me? If you really wanted to get clean and sober, you should’ve stayed in the Army.”
Stephen slowly sat up and rubbed at the spot on his neck where her knife had been moments ago.
“I had a brother, and he was in the army. He was all my parents ever talked about. They literally have a shrine built. At least, that’s what it felt like. When shit got bad at home, I decided to join too. I don’t know, maybe to make them proud or maybe to feel close to my brother again.” He draped his hands over his knees and looked down at the sand.
Morry wanted to tell him she knew his brother and what Tyler had meant to her, but she kept her mouth shut. There was no telling what Tyler had told his family about her. She’d never been around when he talked to them, and it was best to keep powerful knowledge like that to herself for now. Just because he was Tyler’s brother didn’t make him Tyler or trustworthy. So far, Stephen had proven to be anything but.
“My brother died overseas, and they didn’t even bring his body home. He was just left there like disposable trash. It devastated my parents, but they were so proud of him. Tyler, the hero,” he mocked.
She so badly wanted to say that he hadn’t been left like trash, that he’d been loved and he was mourned over and they said prayers and cover his body as best they could. She still had his dog tags in her jewelry box. But she couldn’t say any of those things.
“I was in the army less than six months when they kicked me out, and I just couldn’t go home. I’d heard about you and thought maybe this place would set me straight.”
Morry laughed, and Stephen gave her a confused look.
“It’s not the place or the people that set you straight, Stephen. It’s you. If you’re looking for some miracle way to stop using without putting in the work….” Pulling her gun, she fired.
Stephen yelled and jumped as the bullet whizzed past him. He turned around and stared at the spot she’d just shot, blinking as he stared at the massive scorpion inches from his hand.
“Then you better think again. Everything out here wants to kill you and rip the flesh from your bones, including the men in the club and me. You want to survive? You want a new lease on life? Then you, Stephen, better be prepared to work harder than you’ve ever worked before, or next time, the bullet will be for you, and I’ll let the scorpions have you.”
“Can I ask where you got that nasty scar on your face?”
Morry’s eyes narrowed on Stephen. She was used to people asking about what had happened and then doing theoh, you poor thingor exclaiming how scary that must have been. She’d also caught people staring, but to have someone ask and be so blatantly rude was new.
Turning her head to the side, she ran her thumb along the long scar. Every time she touched it, she was reminded of the pain, forced to sit still while Wolf sewed her face back together. She could still feel the sharp prick of the metal piercing her skin. No matter what she did or how hard she tried to forget, the scar on her face was a constant reminder of what had happened.
“I got this playing pinochle,” she said and shrugged.
“You got that playing a card game?”
