1
Copyright © 2020-2021 by Mrs_Madarame (Kasie)
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
This is a work of fiction. Unless otherwise indicated, all the names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents in this book are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Present
It’s hard not to harbor hate in one’s heart. Whether its hate for unavoidable situations, people, or places, hate overtakes every other emotion. Hate swallows us whole until there is nothing else. In the end, hate consumes us all.
Ryleigh harbored hate deep within her. She had no way of ridding the emotions, no matter how hard she tried. She tried to rewrite the memories that kept her up at odd hours. Ryleigh huffed as she continued her daily workout session. She looked towards the large clock on the wall, focusing on her reps of diamond push-ups. Rock music served as background noise as her mind wondered. She forced her body to begin the final set of squats.
Glancing at the clock once more, she sighed. No matter how much Ryleigh’s life changed, she still had trouble sleeping. She figured she was abnormal. Any sane person would want to think of anything else besides a traumatic past.
4:15 am, Ryleigh guzzled down her eighteen-ounce water bottle. She stood in the middle of her homemade gym and listened to the sound of the crickets. The one positive thing about being unable to break her repetitive schedule was having the ability to do nothing.
Staring at nothing, in particular, sweat dropped from Ryleigh’s oval-shaped face to the concrete floor basement. With a huff, she turned off the radio before quietly sending the steps. Upon entering her private bathroom, she disregarded the sweat-soaked clothing. Turning to the mirror, she stared at the ink that covered her rib and stomach section. Her body was a canvas that had a flying vulture flying over a set of skulls as if it were seeking out its next victim. Ryleigh traced the outline of the ink. She jerked her hand away like the ink burned her dark brown skin.
After an hour-long shower, Ryleigh was in the kitchen cooking her famous fluffy pancakes with maple sausage. Kennedy walked into the kitchen in a daze. The five-year-old clutched her stuffed Elmo to her small body and rubbed her eyes.
“Mommy, Good morning.”
“Good morning, angel. How about we start our day with a little dance?”
Kennedy happily nodded her head in agreement. She rushed to Ryleigh’s cheap prepaid phone and opened the YouTube app. Seconds later, baby shark was blasting through the small speakers. Ryleigh joined her daughter, wildly dancing throughout the kitchen. Nothing mattered. Not last week, yesterday, or what will happen. The only thing that matter was that she had her precious daughter.
A rapid knock at the front door caught Ryleigh’s attention. Muting the phone, she ushered for Kennedy to hide in the back of the closet. After making sure the little girl was well hidden, Ryleigh quickly searched several places for her nine-millimeter gun.
Ryleigh quickly assembled the gun as she walked to the front door. She pulled the slide, loading the cartridge into the chamber. The noise the gun made was foreign to her ears. She almost missed it. Almost.
Another rapid knock was heard at the door.
Ryleigh looked out her peephole and sucked her teeth. Tucking the gun in the back of her leggings, she opened the door. She stared at the woman with a blank expression, waiting for her to state the reason for being bothersome.
“Hey, girl.” The woman clicked her teeth. Her eyes traveled past Ryleigh’s shoulder.
Ryleigh stepped in the woman’s line of sight. She quirked her perfectly arched eyebrow when she noticed two other females staring at her from the sidewalk. Still, she stood in the same position, slightly annoyed. Ryleigh made it her mission to never make any type of conversation with her neighbors.
It would be pointless.
“You’ve been living in this house for years, and I still don’t know your name. I never see you with anybody, so you must be lonely. My name is Monica, by the way.” The cold breeze made Monica shiver. Her eyes darted to the inside of Ryleigh’s place in hopes of an invitation to enter.
In return, Ryleigh continued to stare at the woman with an unexplained expression. Monica unintentionally admitted to keeping tabs on her. Ryleigh loathed that.
“Um. Okay. Well, can you carpool for the neighborhood kids? Maybe we can get together and hang out tonight. Cards, music, and drinks?”
“I’ll have to pass.” Ryleigh’s monotonous voice ranged out. She could tell that Monica was the type to create trouble. She was noisy with an attitude problem.
“You can’t help these mother’s out? It’s too cold for these kids to be standing at the bus stop. Not only that, but I’m trying to get to know you. Wait, were you saying no to carpooling or tonight?”
“Both. Excuse me.” Ryleigh gently closed the door in Monica’s face. She placed the gun in a secure place before finding Kennedy to finish their morning routine.
People were not to be trusted. Especially the people who constantly smiled in people’s faces. Why the fuck are you so happy? Ryleigh wasn’t looking for friends or people to gossip with. So, she gave no attention to the mothers that stared her down when she pulled off from her parking spot.
Upon arriving at the school, the mother and daughter bid their “see ya later’s.” Ryleigh waited until her daughter was safely in her classroom. She had a habit of constantly checking her surroundings for suspicious people. When the coast was clear, she got in her car and drove off. She was an unemployed twenty-three year old with no social life besides her daughter.
She found herself on the freeway. Freedom is what she felt as she sped in and out of traffic. When a cop spotted her madness, she smiled wickedly.
“Come play with me, piggy.” Ryleigh had put more pressure on the accelerator, weaving in and out of traffic.
It was either run or be killed for Ryleigh. She couldn’t risk the cops running her name through the system. She couldn’t let them find her. Quickly looking in her rearview mirror, she saw that the cop was probably calling for back up on his headset. Ryleigh purposely missed the exit she needed to take. The next exit would be another ten minutes or so. She continued to speed along a semi-tractor tailor. Her tires screeched as she forced her small car between the semi-tractor tailor and a minivan. When she succeeded, she hit the accelerator to cut off the semi-tractor trailer. She dodged out of the view of the cop. Waiting until the last minute, she forced her way to the next exit.
Ryleigh hit the brakes as she approached the corner. She lifted off the brakes and pulled the handbrake in one sweet smooth motion as she turned in. A smile grazed her face when she heard sirens pass the exit. When Ryleigh was in the clear,k she kept a steady speed until she reached a packed self-storage unit. She made sure to clumsily flirt with the security guard that was on duty. After telling him a lie about an abusive ex, the security guard would always cut the feed to the cameras whenever she arrived. The only problem was that Ryleigh only had a limited time to handle her business before backup arrived.
Once she was out of sight of the chubby security guard, Ryleigh’s friendly facade was replaced with a cold demeanor. Her self storage was isolated from the other units. It was due to the perk of being a friendly damsel in distress. She unlocked the many locks before pulling the gate up to park her car. Getting out, she pulled the gate down and turned on the light.
Grabbing the power drill, Ryleigh disregarded the fake license plates and replaced them. Stuffing them in a backpack, she grabbed several boxes of bullets. Walking to the desk, she pressed a button that opened a well-hidden section of weapons. She picked up her favorite gun: a crimson red CZ P-10C. The only thing she loved about Virginia was that it was an open-carry state. After loading the weapon, she strapped it to her thigh and eyed the black motorcycle that was collecting dust.
“For old time sake.” After carelessly wiping the dust off, Ryleigh grabbed her helmet and proceeded to leave. She merely waved to the security guard while leaving.
As she drove to the gun range, she noticed that a busted down Camaro was tailing her. Whenever she would merge right, the car would follow suit. Her actions were mirrored, no matter what she did. Ryleigh only assumed she was caught from her previous events. To make sure, she circled the block two times. When the car passed her, the unidentified man didn’t spare her second glance. She chuckled to herself for overreacting. She started the bike again and proceeded to her destination.
Ryleigh almost missed the adrenaline feeling she received while firing a round of bullets. The smell of gun powder filled Ryleigh’s nostrils as she paid for her time at the range. The middle-aged man who took her money gave Ryleigh a look of skepticism.
“Someone will be back there to assist you with the safety of shooting for the first time.”
Ryleigh glared. “Did I ask for help?”
“No need to be shy. It’s better to obtain the correct knowledge instead of being reckless. Once you lose your life, there’s no coming back.” The middle-aged man smirked.
The man’s smirk nearly had Ryleigh snarling. She snathed the protective glasses out of his hand and walked away. The hardest thing for her was controlling her mouth and anger. When she entered the back room, she walked to a secluded area. An instructor followed her to her station, prepared to teach the thick woman about the correct method of using a gun.
Ryleigh softly sighed and positioned the target paper. When she pulled the lever for the paper to go the far back, the instructor suggested otherwise.
“For beginners, it is recommended to start at a close range. Here, let me help you.”
Ryleigh removed the safety from her gun and fired several shots. The shells of the bullets popped in the air, landing on her skin.
“Isn’t it hot?!” The instructor stared at the woman who was clearly a masochist. His baby blue eyes widened.
Ryleigh continued to ignore the man and reloaded her “Lucy.” She then unloaded her gun once more, pretending that the target was him. Her body was at the gun range but her mind was on the battlefield. In her mind, she was on the battlefield, fighting for her life. The sound of an empty clip was what brought her back to reality. She eyed her handy work. All of her targets were aimed at the head, heart, and where the organs would be.
“I-I wouldn’t want to be on t-the other end of that gun.” The instructor appeared uncomfortable in the woman’s presence. “I’m just going to go now.”
“Have a nice day, instructor.” Said Ryleigh. Even her voice sounded dead.
Ryleigh spent several hours at the range before shipping vehicles. The next stop would be the grocery and retail store. She actually felt relaxed. If anything she was happy that the club and its activities were behind her. Something she wouldn’t have to do again. Despite her current emotions, nobody could tell that she was in a positive mood. Her expression appeared as if she hated everything and everyone. The expression gave some people the impression that she was glaring at them while others assumed she was unapproachable.
Walking down the Barbie aisle, she stared at the bright color plastic. She never had the luxury of owning such material. The only thing she ever owned was a stuffed animal or two. The second stuffed animal was from Kenton, who stole it for it. She mostly spent her childhood helping out around the house, cleaning up needles after her parents, and playing the dirt with Kenton. With a huff, she placed her arm on the shelf and pushed the row of toys into the cart.
“Someone is a lucky girl.” A male voice ranged from behind Ryleigh. “She must be an angel to receive so many toys.”
