Chapter 9
“Otherwise,” Vernon threatened coldly, “I’ll dig Wiggle up, grind his bones, and scatter his ashes!”
The day Wiggle was skinned alive, Joanie came to find me.
“Keyshia, don’t you love your dog the most?” she asked.
I had been watering flowers then, unwilling to bother with Vernon’s nonsense and too weary to entertain Joanie. Yet she pressed on.\
“Your dog…” She smirked when I ignored her, and then she tapped her phone screen and opened a video. “Is dead. Take a look at this.“\
The sharp cries in the video pierced my ears. My hand trembled, and the watering can slipped from my grip.”
Water splashed over my foot, but I felt nothing. My body went numb as I turned toward her.”
From her bag, Joanie slowly pulled out a bloody pelt. It was Wiggle’s skin!
“Vernon said he’d keep this for me, have it made into a wallet,” she said lightly, as though commenting on fabric. “I’ve heard of leather bags and scarves, but dog skin? That’s a first.“}
The blood had long dried. The crimson had turned blackish–purple, grotesque in the daylight.
My vision blurred red as rage surged; I lunged forward. But Vernon’s bodyguards pinned me down, slamming me into the dirt.
Face pressed into the mud, I could only
Watch Joanie’s smile widen with triumph.
“Angry, aren’t you?” she cooed. “So very angry.“”
She crouched closer, voice dripping with cruelty. “Let me tell you was your dog. Tomorrow, it
omething, Keyshia. Today, I could be you.“}
“You don’t know, do you?” She tilted her head. “I told Vernon that Wiggle scared me, that I didn’t like him. So he tortured him the entire night. While you were sound asleep, your dog was being slaughtered right outside your door.”
Her laugh cut deep. “Don’t you think the milk you drank tasted… odd?”
That night, before bed, Vernon had forced me to drink a glass of milk under his watchful gaze. He had promised that if I did, I could see Wiggle again.”
I hadn’t known that milk would rob me of my last chance to say goodbye to my dog…
Rage devoured me. My voice trembled as I spat at her, “You S
And I meant it–I nearly killed her that day.”
But Vernon arrived before I could.
won’t die a good death, Joanie!” MATER
Sitting across from him now, I could barely stand the air we shared. Even breathing in the same space as him made my stomach churn.”
He studied me with a near–hungry intensity, his gaze clinging to my face.”
I asked him straightforwardly. “Where did you bury my Wiggle?“”
My voice snapped him out of his stare. He let out a bitter laugh. “You really care about that dog.”
“Keyshia,” he murmured, eyes fixed on me. “The truth is… I never truly hated you.”
His words were strange, so unlike him that I couldn’t decipher his intent.\
“When you first came to the family, I was happy,” he began explaining slowly, almost reminiscent. “A soft, sweet little sister- of course, I was delighted. But later…your light grew too bright.“”
He pursed his lips. “Your shadow fell over me, and the better you became, the more useless I seemed. Grandpa’s punishments only grew harsher, and resentment festered in me. I couldn’t defy that old man, so I took it out on you–the younger one.”
His voice dropped. “He even spoke to me once. He said, ‘Vernon, you like Keyshia, don’t you? If you do, stop fighting her. Don’t wait until you lose her to regret it.‘ But I swore I’d never like you. Not in this lifetime. Even if every other woman on earth disappeared, it wouldn’t be you.”!
A flicker of irony twisted his mouth. “Yet when Grandpa arranged our engagement, I was overjoyed.“N
“I longed for our marriage. I imagined us inseparable. But the way you looked at me held only hate, never love. You showed kindness to strangers, yet with me, even the smallest gentleness was an impossible dream!” he complained. “So I brought Joanie in, hoping to provoke you, make you jealous, make you fight for me.“}
His eyes dimmed. “But you never did. Not once. Instead, you seemed relieved. Like you’d been freed. And I- His voice broke into a whisper, “I couldn’t stand it!“”
He drew in a breath, his expression pained. “The day Grandpa let you leave, I fought him. We clashed. And at that moment… I
lost control. He fell… from the stairs.“}
Years Deverve the
1/1 10000
10:25 AM P
C
“Keyshia… Only you are my cure, Keyshia!“\
