Faster We Burn

my precious daughter” box. It was both scary and disconcerting that she hadn’t put Zack in that box.
    I’d put my violin away, and Katie and Kayla were catching up while Adam listened, when I saw my chance. Mrs. Hallman was cleaning the kitchen, again, and Mr. Hallman had manufactured some excuse to leave the house. Smart man.
    “Mrs. Hallman?” I wasn’t going to buy her telling me I could call her Regina. “Could I talk to you for a moment?” She paused as she wiped the counter with a sponge, her back to me. I probably shouldn’t have snuck up on her. Bad idea.
    She stiffened, as if what I was asking was a huge inconvenience. I wasn’t going to beg, so I waited.
    “Fine.” She put the sponge in the sink and faced me, crossing her arms.
    “You don’t like me, and I get that, but I just wanted to thank you for opening up your home to me and letting me stay. You could have shut the door in my face. I know you wanted to.”
    She tried to hide her shock, but it still took over her face for a few seconds.
    “I know you judge me by the way I look, and the funny thing is that you’re wrong. You let that monster, Zack, near your daughter and the first time I saw him, I knew what he was. That night that she went to see him, I told her not to go. She probably didn’t tell you that, but I knew. I knew he would do this to her.” Her face went white and then red with the speed of a traffic signal.
    “How dare you? How dare you accuse me of putting my daughter in danger? I’m only letting you be here to keep the peace with Katie, but I’m not so sure I want you spending the night in my home. I would appreciate if you would just leave.” She crossed her arms, standing her ground.
    This had been a mistake. A huge mistake.
    “How dare you ?” I hadn’t heard Katie come up behind me. “Mom, seriously? Just give it a rest.”
    I jumped in before they could lunge at each other’s throats. I’d done enough damage already. “No, it’s fine. Thank you for the lovely meal, Mrs. Hallman.” I went to the living room and grabbed my violin and then to the guest room to pick up my coat where Katie had left it earlier.
    “You’re not leaving, are you?” Katie followed me.
    “I shouldn’t be here. I’m just causing problems for you, and I don’t want that. You shouldn’t have asked me to come. I don’t want to be the guy who makes you fight with your mom, so I’m going to go.”
    “You’re just going to leave because my mom doesn’t like you? I don’t care what she thinks.”
    She sat down on the bed, and tried to take my coat from me.
    “Yeah, I think you do. She’s your mom, Katie. Even if you have a fight, you know she’ll always love you and always be on your side. My mom tried to sell me for drugs once.”
    “Stryker.” Her wide brown eyes begged me and I wanted so much to give in and stay. Oh, I wanted to, but I couldn’t. I didn’t belong here.
    “Just let me go, Katie,” I said, yanking the coat away from her and put it on. She wasn’t going to make this easy on me. I was going to have to go into dick mode. “Leave me the fuck alone. Don’t call me for sex anymore, because I can’t do it. I’m not your slave, and I’m not a guy to bring home just to piss your parents off. Just leave me the fuck alone.” I slammed the door open and stomped through the house and out the front door. Katie tried to catch me, but I was peeling away from the house before she even got down the porch. I’d done a quick getaway more times than she could imagine.
    As I accelerated down the street, I turned on my radio and found the loudest, most obnoxious music I could, which turned out to be some weird punk version of a popular song. I hit the gas even though the speed limit was 25. I was probably going to get a speeding ticket, but I didn’t give a shit. I realized too late that I’d driven the wrong way from Katie’s house, but I wasn’t going to turn around so I just kept driving.
    My GPS was yelling at me, but I ripped it off the dashboard and threw it in the back. I’d find my way back. My phone started blowing up, so I grabbed that, turned it off and tossed it in the back as well.
    I hadn’t been this pissed in a long time. I hadn’t fucking cared this much in a long time, if I was being honest.
    Realizing how much I cared caused me to blow a stop sign and get an angry honk from another driver. I saw a sign for the highway and turned. I had no fucking clue where I was.
    I followed the