Page 100 of Soul So Dark

It’s like a squirrel trying to fight a pit bull, and the more she yells, the more rabid he gets.

“I swear to God, Alex, if you fucked my sister,you’re dead!”

He jerks to the side as Dallas reels back and smacks him upside the head once, and then twice. At that, he lets go of me with one arm and reaches back, grabbing the front of her t-shirt and throwing her off of him.

Dallas lets out a yelp as she falls back onto the floor with a thud. And as soon as I hear it, I see nothing but red. While he’s distracted, I grab his shoulder and flip him over, rolling onto my back. In less than three seconds, I have him in a rear naked choke, holding onto him like I’m wrestling a goddamn alligator.

“Calm the fuck down, Col!” I say through clenched teeth. “You know I didn’t.”

To my utter shock, his muscles start to relax and, gradually, he goes still. I hold tight to him, not entirely convinced that he won’t take the opportunity to catch me off guard. But he doesn’t, he stays still, his chest heaving along with mine.

“Fine,” Colson mumbles.

“Now apologize to Dallas.”

He jerks his head like he’s trying to look at me, but I hold him firm, “You have got to be kidding me,” he mutters with disdain.

“Do it.” I squeeze his throat in my bicep. “Now.”

He hesitates, and then finally lets out an exasperated breath. “I’m sorry, Dallas,” he rasps.

Slowly, I loosen my grip. Dallas watches us carefully, moving to stand as Colson rolls over onto his knees. A heavy silence hangs over the three of us as we glance back and forth between each other. Except for Dallas, who keeps her focus down at our legs as she tries to avoid eye contact with Colson.

Colson glances at the front door. “Where the hell’s your car?”

He’s trying to work it out, figure out how he didn’t even know I was here—this time as well as every other.

I step between him and Dallas. “My house.”

He looks at the door again and then lets out a huff, squaring his jaw.

“Come on,” he mumbles and starts for the door.

I glance at Dallas, giving her a wink before following Colson outside. I feel better that he’s out of the house and there’s a chance he’ll get over this by the time he returns. We make our way across the driveway to his Civic.

“Get in,” he commands, not even looking at me.

I do what he says and settle back into the seat, watching him out of the corner of my eye. I’m prepared for him to come at me again, but he starts the car and guns the engine down the driveway and onto the road. He stares straight ahead, blowing through stop signs, drifting around windy curves, and pushing the Civic to the max on the straightaways through the farm fields. It’s nothing new, waiting for him to blow off steam to engage again.

After a while, he doesn’t look angry anymore. He relaxes, slowing down and coasting into the entrance of an access road that leads to the creek. He whips into the clearing, slams on the brakes, and kills the engine. We sit in silence, except for the sounds of the birds and insects on the back of the crisp morning air.

“Does Dallas talk to you?” Colson finally asks.

“About what?”

“Anything,” he sighs, gazing out the window. “It’s not like before. She used to talk to me all the time, she wouldn’t shut up. Especially when Evie—” he stops short, chewing his lip, “but she doesn’t anymore, it’s like she’s scared of me.”

She should be. I want to tell him why Dallas is scared of him and why she locks her bedroom door at night. Maybe I should. But then she would know that I told him when she specifically asked me not to. She’d never trust me again.

“She misses Evie like you do. And—” I hesitate to make sure I’m not saying too much, “and the day you found Evie, Dallas was home, by herself…all day.”

“Why?” he knits his brow. “Why wasn’t she at school?”

“Because you and Mase went out there before school, and then your parents rushed off to find you, and she stayed there,alone, all day with the news and social media and her friends texting her about fuck knows what. That’s how she found out what happened to Evie, Col.”

He leans back against the headrest. “Shit…”

I let him sit with it, let it sink in that while everyone rushed out to his side—though, rightfully so—Dallas got left behind to find out about her sister’s mutilated body on her own. But now that he knows, there’s no point in dwelling on it.