on Benny’s face, but it was the slight twinkle in
Mason’s eye that held her for a moment. Yeah, that’s right ,
she thought, I am a real person, with feelings and hobbies and
all that good stuff. Now if only Mason could see that about
her. If only…
And then her bladder woke her out of her
reveries. She wasn’t sure what to do, she never asked Mason for
permission to use the restroom before. She didn’t know if he would
get mad since he had company over. She decided that she would just
tell him and not ask.
“Bathroom,” she simply called out and no one
responded. Having to question whether to ask to go to the
bathroom. If Mason’s whole revenge scheme was to humiliate her,
well, she felt he was doing a damn fine job of it.
When she walked out of the restroom, she
walked right into a hard wall. The guy, she figured out was Benny,
was waiting for her. She jumped back. Oh, hell no! She
didn’t live for over a week with Mason, the kidnapper who hadn’t
violated her, to be taken advantage of by one of his asshole
friends.
“Hey, Kitty Kat, don’t worry, I’m not going
to do anything to you. Well, unless you want me to.” He smiled. And
although she was a little weary, part of her believed him. It could
have also been because he held his hands up with his palms facing
outward toward her in surrender and backed up a step. She studied
him. He had dark brown hair and even darker eyes. He was tan, like
being a little darker was natural for him, with a boatload of
tattoos. She also noticed he had a dimple and his smile reached his
eyes. He wasn’t hot by any means, but he was attractive and the
confidence rolling off of him was enough to make her think he got
quite a bit of women to drop their panties for him. Although she
knew she should be wary of the good-looking guys, she believed he
wouldn’t hurt her.
“You’re Benny, right?”
“Yep, did Mason tell you or did you
overhear?”
“I figured it out. What can I do for you?
Were you waiting for the restroom?”
“Nope, Kitty Kat, I was waiting for
you.”
“Kitty Kat?” She finally noticed the name he
had called her, twice now.
“Suits you.” She had been called that
before, and always hated it, but it didn’t sound all that bad
coming from Benny. Besides, she highly doubted it would do her any
good to say anything. He seemed like the kind of guy that wasn’t
good at following directions.
“What do you need from me?” she asked
hesitantly, taking another step back.
He lowered his voice a bit even though he
didn’t need to since the television was on full blast. “My man
Mason, he’s a good guy. Didn’t deserve the dish he was served. But
sometimes, shit happens to good people.”
“Yeah, I know how that feels,” she
responded. And she really did. Not that her life had been that
great, it hadn’t, so she had always been in a perpetual state of
disappointment. But shit, she was being held hostage for something
she didn’t do.
“What you know about that?” Benny asked.
“Well.” She tried to choose her words
carefully. “I know Mason spent five years in prison for something
he didn’t do. I mean, technically, he could have done it, but I
really believe he was wrongfully accused. I know he believes I’m
behind that, but I don’t even know why he was in jail in the first
place. I’ve asked him and asked him and he won’t answer. Will you
tell me?”
“Not my story to tell.” She figured he
wouldn’t answer her questions, but it was worth a try.
So she continued. “Look, his life getting
turned upside down is a tragedy, and whoever did this to him
deserves to be punished, but that person isn’t me. And whoever they
are should be brought to justice legally. But here I am, serving my
own time for a crime I didn’t commit. But he won’t believe me. And
I have a feeling you won’t either. But it doesn’t matter. I’ll
figure out a way to either get out of here or make you guys realize
I had nothing to do with anything