Released (Caged #3)(7)

It would all have been a lot easier if I could shoot up once more, though. Baynor had decided to confiscate my cash though he said I could have any of it I needed—just let him know. I agreed to it. I would have agreed to almost anything if it would bring her back.

If I couldn’t find her at Hoffman, I had no idea where to look next.

I grabbed a pack of cigarettes and went through the bedroom and out the window. Krazy Katie was out there, of course, but I didn’t say anything to her. I leaned back against the bricks and lit up, finally allowing myself to glance over at Krazy Katie. She was actually looking at me for once, and I could only figure her look was her version of the death glare.

“What’s your problem?” I asked, but she didn’t respond. She did keep looking at me, which was giving me the creeps.

I smoked half my cigarette with her giving me the stink-eye before I turned on her again.

“Would you cut that shit out? What the f*ck did I ever do to you?”

With that, Krazy Katie turned her head away from me, reached back behind her legs to push herself up to a standing position, and then turned her whole body in my direction. She took a few steps forward until she was right in front of me, then reached up and slapped me across the face.

I just stood there, stunned.

Krazy Katie turned around slowly, sat back down, and then glared back at me with a look that shot a very clear message. She knew. She knew Tria had left me. Hell, she probably even knew why. I dropped down next to her on the fire escape floor and lit another cigarette.

“I don’t know what to do,” I said to her, wondering how crazy it was for me to be confiding in a crazy person. “At this point, she can have whatever the f*ck she wants—even a baby. I’d do anything right now just to get her to come back, but I have no idea where she is.”

“Needs training,” Krazy Katie said.

I scowled over at her.

“Is that supposed to make sense?”

Nothing.

I tried to coax more out of her—both with soft words and harsh ones—but she would have none of it. Apparently slapping my face, glaring at me, and uttering two words were the only actions she was capable of for the night. Eventually I gave up and went back inside. My whole body still felt sore and tired, so I ended up just dropping on the bed and trying not to think about ways of getting more dope.

I lay back on the pillow and then immediately turned my head to inhale Tria’s scent from the blankets she was always stealing from me in the middle of the night. It just made my chest hurt, so I sat back up and leaned forward over my knees.

Needs training.

What would I need training on?

Hell, what don’t I need training on?

Or maybe it wasn’t me. Maybe she meant Tria needed some training, but on what? How to be a mother? How to deal with me? Not sure where she’d get that except from…

…a trainer.

My trainer.

I was never one for jigsaw puzzles, but the pieces suddenly fell into place.





Chapter 3—Reveal the Past


A moment later I was out of the bed, grabbed my jacket, and ran out the door to find the bus to Yolanda’s neighborhood. She lived out on the west side of town where it was a little nicer. Normally, I would have needed a couple bus transfers, but Baynor had all my money, so I hoofed it. An hour later I was banging on Yolanda’s door, and when it opened, my trainer stared at my face.

Eye contact with Yolanda lasted nine seconds.

On the tenth second, she punched me hard enough to send me backwards. The next thing I knew, I was on the ground and she was sitting on my stomach, beating the shit out of me. She went for my gut and kidneys first and then moved up to my chest and head.

I covered my face, but otherwise let her do her worst.

It was a little cathartic, really. I closed my eyes and just felt the punches until she realized that was exactly what I was doing and stopped. I glanced up at her only to have her smack me a couple more times before she stood back up.

“Can I see her?” I asked as I hauled myself back onto my feet.

“Get the f*ck out of here,” Yolanda growled. “You are a lost cause.”

“I need to talk to her.”

“What, to tell her to kill the baby because you can’t manage to be a man? You’re shit!”

She punched my gut again. I cringed and rubbed at the spot before running my left hand up and over my head.

Mistake.

Yolanda’s eyes widened as she grabbed my arm and twisted it. Her gaze ran down the inside of my arm.

“You’re high.” She snarled as she practically threw my own hand back at me. “I f*cking knew it! I could tell at your last fight!”

“Not now,” I said. “I…I went a little crazy. I’m straight now—really.”

“Lost cause,” she repeated. “I’m done with you, Liam Teague. We’re done. I’m not training you or helping you out with your shit anymore. Fuck, Liam! I thought you had some real potential! But you can’t get your head out of your ass long enough to make anything of it!”

“Please, Yolanda,” I said, “I know she’s here. I just want to talk to Tria.”

“No.”

“Tria!” I yelled over Yolanda’s shoulder, and she shoved me back into the hallway.

“Get the f*ck out of here,” she said as she moved herself to further block the doorway.