Free At Peace (The War Trilogy #3) by Andria Large Page A

noise?
    Bam…bam…bam…
    It kind of sounds like someone banging on the front door, but who the hell would be doing that at four in the morning? Dennis makes an irritated noise and lifts his head off of his pillow.
    “What the fuck is that?” he mumbles.
    “I don’t know? Someone pounding on our door?”
    “Go check it out. I’ll be there in a minute, gotta put my leg on,” he grunts and rubs his face.
    “Okay.”
    I slip out of bed and pull a pair of sweatpants over my naked ass before opening the bedroom door. The sound is louder now and is definitely someone pounding on our door. I turn a lamp on then pad over to the door in my bare feet and peak out the peephole. There is a grungy looking woman standing there banging her fists on the door. What the fuck?
    I unlock and yank open the door. “What the fuck is wrong with you, lady?! Do you have any idea what time it is?!” I squawk.
    She eyes me in confusion. “Who the hell are you?” she asks.
    “Who am I? You’re the one banging on my door! Who the hell are you?!” I reply incredulously.
    “Your door?” she asks accusingly, her eyes narrowing at me. “Where’s Dennis?”
    Dennis? How the hell does this disgusting looking woman know Dennis?
    “Jesus Christ.” Dennis sighs behind me. “Mom, what are you doing here?”
    “Mom?” I gape and turn to look at Dennis, who has come up to stand next to me.
    “Why do you have a half-naked man here?” Dennis’ mom demands.
    “That is none of your business,” Dennis snaps. “What I want to know is why you are banging on my door at four am?”
    “Every other time I’ve been here, you were never home!”
    “Every other time? How many times have you been here?” Dennis asks, his annoyance clear.
    “At least five or six times in the past week,” she huffs, throwing her arms up in the air.
    Good Lord, I blink back tears from the horrendous stench I just caught a whiff of. It’s like fucking body odor, urine, cigarettes, and shit, all mixed together. Doesn’t she know how to take a goddamn shower before banging on someone’s door in the middle of the fucking night? Shit.
    Dennis swipes a hand down his face and shifts on his feet next to me. “Well, what the hell is it that you want?” he snaps, crossing his arms over his bare chest.
    “You need to pay the bill for the funeral home! They keep calling me, telling me that I need to pay it. Well, I ain’t got the money, Dennis, so you have to pay it.”
    “You’re kidding me, right?” Dennis grits out. “I didn’t even know dad was dead until I got the bill! You didn’t even bother to call me to tell me he was gone! I’m not paying a damn thing!”
    Dennis’ mother waves a dismissive hand. “I didn’t do shit for the bastard anyway. Got him cremated. He’s sitting in an urn on the kitchen table,” she mutters.
    Un-fucking-believable. This woman is unreal. How did Dennis and Lizette turn out so great with parents like this? I glance over at Dennis; he looks livid, not that I can blame him.
    “The bill is not my responsibility,” Dennis says.
    “I’m on the verge of losing my apartment! I ain’t got no money to pay the goddamn bill! You need to pay it so these fucking people will get off my back!”
    “I don’t have to do shit. Just like you never did shit for me. I’m done talking about this, you can go,” Dennis replies, moving to shut the door in her face.
    She gasps in outrage and the next thing I know, I hear a thwack! as she smacks Dennis hard across the face before going batshit crazy. She starts screaming about how he’s a horrible son and how he was never good for nothin’. Her words, not mine.
    Now, some of our neighbors have started to crack their doors to see what in God’s name is going on. She cranks her arm back to take another swing at Dennis, but he’s faster. He grabs her by the throat and shoves her against the doorframe. Her eyes bug out in shock and sudden terror, while her fingers claw at his wrist.
    Dennis