In the Devil's Company

I had three scheduled classes for today. As you can imagine, teaching a bunch of pre-teens art lessons at the local community college wasn’t exactly what I wanted to be doing right now, but it brought in more money than a simple retail job would, so at times it does seem worth it.

It took almost half of my Bare Essentials concealer supply to attempt to cover the nasty purple bruise that had formed along my face. There was nothing I could do about the scrapped lips. I could only hope that no one would ask.

“Alright guys,” I announced with a contrived smile, “grab your work from the drying trays and pick up where you left off. Remember, these paintings are due a week from today!”

A large clot of students surrounded the trays as they fought for space to select their papers. The project had already been explained several times now, so hopefully no one will have questions today. I know that sounds terrible, but my mind really needed a minute to think things over.

This morning Ronnie had woken up before me. I was going to reach for my alarm clock on the nightstand next to my bed, but my fingers made contact with his chest instead. My eyes fluttered open much quicker than they normally would have due to the interesting unusualness.

Ronnie was standing next to me with a cup of coffee in one hand and a plate of chocolate chip waffles and apple slices. Normally I didn’t eat breakfast because I didn’t care for the selection of breakfast foods, but Ronnie did happen to know the rare range of foods I did enjoy. The amount of thought that he had to have put into all this alone was enough to tear my mind away from the doom and gloom mood it should’ve been in after last night’s events.

I couldn’t help but show him my appreciation. “Aw, Ronnie, what a nice surprise!” I exclaimed, adjusting my positioning so that I was resting my weight on my elbows as I reached for a waffle.

“I woke up with an insane craving for coffee, and well, one thought led to another…,” he began to explain, trailing off suddenly.

He reached for my free hand and grasped it tightly, desperately. “Claire, I’m so sorry about last night,” he whispered, staring at the exposed bruising skin.

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Ronnie never remembered doing those horrible things the next day, which made for an awkward conversation, believe me.

Ronnie would wake up alarmed and demand to know where I was last night. “I stayed at home. You were the one who went out.”

“Then why is there a gash like that on your arm.”

I pointed to the scattered emerald pieces of the vase we used to display in the foyer. Some of the pieces were coated in trails of blood. “Who…who did this to you?”

“You did.”

The expression on his face would always show the internal pain he must’ve felt as his heart sank into his chest. It really made me think that he hated himself at some point.

I watched Ronnie intently, searching for some sort of sign to show that he may be betraying me in some way. False hope was one of my greatest enemies and surely something that I wouldn’t want to feel right now. To me, the illusion of false hope hurt more than anything else because it builds you up so high, only to watch with a sneer as you come tumbling down feeling lower than ever before.

I could’ve sworn that I saw Ronnie’s eyes water for a brief moment, which I guess could qualify as the sign I was searching for. I held his hand with a little more reassurance and hoped I wasn’t making a mistake.

“Apology accepted,” I smiled, finishing off my breakfast.

Did I do the right thing?

*Matt’s POV*

Val had gotten up about an hour or two before I did. Technically, it was my turn to drive the bus, but I was knocked the fuck out. I stretched a little after jumping down from my bunk and joined her up front.

“Where are we heading to today?” I asked.

“Vegas,” she grinned.

Today had come so fast… The minute the guys and I saw that we’d be playing a show in Las Vegas, we knew we’d need to get there extra early so that we could spend some time with Claire.

“Someone looks excited,” she laughed, knowing all too well why I felt that way. I hadn’t seen my baby sister in a year, and I was so ready to change that.

Luckily, the drive we had ahead of us wasn’t too long. We’d probably get there around one, which gave us a few hours to hang out before we had to get ready for our show.

“Dude, aren’t you gonna at least give her a call or something?” Zacky asked slightly absently as we stared at the screen in front of us, trying to defeat this new game Brian brought onto the bus.

I kept my eyes locked on the flashing images as I responded. “Nah, man, that would ruin the whole surprise,” I explained.

“She’s still married to that Ronnie guy, isn’t she?”

“Yeah, I haven’t heard otherwise. I talked to her a couple weeks ago and everything sounded great with her.”

“It’s nice to see her happy,” Zacky noted.

I couldn’t agree more. Claire had been through so much in her 24 years of life…it’s about time she got something good. She was such a nice person…she really deserves it.

I grinned as the timer ran out, showing that I had won the match. Zacky threw his controller down in defeat and left the room. Damn, I couldn’t wait to see the look on her face when she sees all of us!

*Ronnie’s POV*

The sound of wheels screeching and doors slamming awoke me from my mid-day nap. It almost became a necessity by now…it was the only thing other than painkillers that could help with these damn hangovers. Normally I can sleep right through the sound of a car pulling in the driveway…but whatever is outside now was just so painfully loud.

I instantly fell into a very grouchy mood as I forced myself up from my comfortable spot on the couch to look out through the window in the dinning room. Why the fuck was there a large tour bus parked outside my house? Claire and her brother hadn’t been in contact much lately, so him and his band would be the last group of people I’d expect to see on a Thursday afternoon.

I wore a fake smile as I answered the door and acted so happy and surprised to see Matt standing on my porch. “Hey, man, what are you doing here?”

“We’re playing a show in town tonight and I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to see my sister,” he laughed.

The rest of the band and Matt’s wife, Val, were lining up behind him on my grass. This was the absolute last thing I want to deal with right now. Claire was so gonna get it for pulling this one on me.

She’ll be sorry tonight.

*Normal POV*

I stared anxiously at the clock waiting for it to reach noon. I needed to get out of this classroom, but at the same time home didn’t sound too appealing right now either. I waited until all the students had finished securing the drawings and packing their things before cleaning up and locking the classroom.

My stomach growled stubbornly as I drove along a strip of fast food restaurants. I couldn’t resist the temptation any longer and shamelessly pulled into a White Castle’s drive thru. “That’ll be $3.25,” the drive thru boy said at the window. I dug around in my purse searching for a quarter and luckily produced one just in time.

“Here ya go,” I narrated dropping the currency in his palm.

I watched his eyes stare at my face with a strange, knowing look of sympathy. Could he see through my ruse? Was the makeup wearing away? “Enjoy your lunch, miss,” he said kindly, hiding his misplaced concern for a stranger.

It was more than I would get from anyone else, I guess.

I devoured the mini burgers and some fries as I drove down the freeway to my neighborhood. I hope Ronnie isn’t there. I just really want to be alone right now.

Normally I park on the left side of our three door garage, but I figured I’d try my luck and open the larger two-door portion on the right first to see if Ronnie was there. Unfortunately, his Mustang was sitting perfectly still hogging all the space on the larger half of the garage.

Bastard.

Grudgingly, I pulled my Avenger into its usual spot. I walked back around and entered through the front door.

The typically silent house was filled with atypical life. My heart fluttered as my eyes watered upon seeing my brother and his pals scattered across the living room. It’s been so long…what a perfect surprise!

But as my eyes greeted each of them, they eventually landed on Ronnie. There was murder in his eyes I swear it. My happiness quickly sank deep into my stomach as I stared back at him, traumatized with fear of what will come.