Handcuffed

Chapter 29

Chapter 29

I stood there, staring up at him as he stared down at me. I felt so small standing there with him in front of me. He looked so much less... threatening. It was surprising alone to see him so cleaned up. But I wasn't fooled; he couldn't have changed.

"I'll scream," I threatened proudly in a scowl, daring him to go on and hurt me. I'll just scream and someone will hear me.

He hadn't said anything yet but after I spoke, his expression changed. He looked sorry and started to shake his head. His eyes seemed to have begged mine for understanding. He sighed. "Albany, don't. I need to talk to you."

He was going to hurt me. I was waiting for it and stayed guarded. I deserved it. But as I stood there, ready and waiting for him to move first, he continued to watch me. There was no sign of anger on his face. It was just blank and observing, waiting for me to respond.

"You... want to talk?"

He nodded. "Yes. There is no need to be afraid of me."

"Bullshit," I scoffed. "You may have changed your looks and can wave your innocent little daughter around but I know how cruel you really are." I didn't want to mention his daughter but really, it was something that was hard to get by. He obviously loved his daughter. I remember he use to talk about her all time before but even then he was cruel.

He shook his head. "Please just listen. I'm not going to hurt you or beat you like the others did. In fact, I haven't spoken with them in months. I left after they... changed."

"What?" I asked, crossing my arms. His eyes told me that he was being truthful yet I should know better. His words slightly made sense. I recalled what they said when they beat me that day. I said that I knew how they operated and they kind of gave me the hint they had changed. It didn't mean shit to me then and really doesn't mean shit to me now. But it supported that Francis was telling me the truth right now.

"It's hard to explain but I want you to know that I left, not just because they... evolved more as a group in the drug dealing business. I changed as well. I never told you much about me before even when we were good friends. You already knew that I had a daughter early on but now, my girlfriend and Brook's mother took off. I never had such a responsibility as I do now as a parent. I also knew that if I didn't straighten myself out, my little girl wouldn't have a good future with her.  Since I was bound to get arrested at some point - especially with a brother as a cop."

I believed him. Through his glasses, his eyes shinned to me and he tilted his lips up in a gentle smile. That was something Luke and he had in common. Beautiful eyes and a nice smile. I was really close to him before. When younger, I even had a crush on Francis but with time and seeing we were just good friends, I got past it. The main issue was that he was as immature as I was at the time. Yet now, he seemed so grown up and a proper adult. It was strange to see him this way and it made me skeptical on the whole thing. He couldn't still be my friend. I believed him but that didn't make things better. I stole money from him and that broke our friendship. Hell, I knew he had a lot of money so I stole the most from him. He wouldn't forgive me or so much as seek to be my friend again no doubt; I wouldn't blame him.

"But it doesn't make sense. I stole money from you! A lot of it. Aren't you apart of the threat? They want me to pay them thousands of dollars to make up for what I stole and they said it was for everyone I stole from."

He shook his head and sighed. He leaned up against the bathroom wall, running a hand through his brown and curly locks. "Well, I wasn't a part of that. I don't care about money because, well, I'm not exactly desperate for it. Sure, I was pissed off but I'm not dumb trailer trash like they are. I actually understand why you would run, even if you are insane."