“You couldn’t even find your dick under that tub of lard you call a stomach. Insulating for the not-so-cold winters we get? Planning to hibernate like a fucking bear?”
Lex chuckles but stops the moment she sees the needles, empty alcohol bottles and cans, and garbage covering almost every inch of floor. The only areas not completely overrun with trash are the pathways he uses to move around.
Cockroaches and maggots crawl everywhere, including the walls. It makes her want to cry knowing this is where Lucas would be living right now. How long did they live here before running away? And was it as bad as this?
“Where is she?” Lex asks.
“She’s on the corner of Go Fuck Yourself Drive and Blow Me Avenue.”
Venom’s fist hits him so hard he flies back into the wall and breaks through what looks like a closet behind it. Shaking his hand out, he stares with disgust. “This asshole’s covered in the same shit as the door.”
Looking around, she doesn’t see anyone else, and she carefully walks up the stairs. If Iris isn’t in the living room, there’s only one other level she could feasibly be on. Assuming Harold hasn’t buried her in the backyard.
God help me if she’s in the basement. There’s more mold in this house than a science lab. I bet they’d find new kinds in here that have yet to be identified.
“Iris?” Lex calls out.
“Who’s there?”
She follows the voice and walks into a room in even worse shape than the first floor. “Iris Lawrence?”
“It’s Bernard now. Who are you?”
“I’m Lex Nichols. I adopted Lucas.”
A wail fills the air, and Lex just rolls her eyes. “You took my baby away from me!”
“No, you and your husband sent him running for the fucking hills. You’re just lucky my husband didn’t explain the full extent of this shithole to me when he first brought them home. This wouldn’t be our first meeting otherwise.”
“What do you want?”
“I want Hailey’s jewelry. Her mother’s jewelry she inherited after you pushed her to kill herself.”
Sniffling, Iris studies Lex for a moment, but she leans over and reaches under the bed. She almost falls and knocks her head on the bedside table. Lex sees how much hair Iris has lost, and she’s practically bald.
“I lied.”
“Excuse me?”
Sliding a jewelry box from under the bed, she sits up and holds it out. The track marks on her arms are impossible to ignore. “I told Hailey I threw out what I couldn’t sell. I didn’t.”
“Why’d you lie?”
“Because I hated her mother. She was going to take Vick from me, but I never expected her to down a bottle of pills because of me. And I sure as hell didn’t expect Vick to find out and hate me for it. He told me he hated me the day he died, you know.”
Lex takes the box, using a clean-ish section of the comforter to wipe it off, and she knows there will need to be some heavy sanitation done. “Thanks.”
“Wait,” Iris calls as she turns to leave.
“This is a health hazard to stay in too long, so make it quick.”
“Do you think Lucas will ever forgive me?”
This woman has to be high as a fucking kite to think she deserves any type of redemption.“Probably not. Not when you choose to stay like this.”
“I miss my son.”
This, she believes. “He’s a good kid despite everything you and your shitty husband have done to him. Too good, honestly.”
