“You must be fucking her. That’s why you’re so protective.”
“Alex!” Cassie yelled, gripping my shoulder.
“No, it’s all good. I don’t care. Sloppy fucking seconds, thirds, whatever you want to call it. I don’t give a shit. Just take her back wherever you came from. And see your asses out, you’re no longer welcome in my fucking house.”
I turned and walked away. Cassie came storming behind me, pulling my arm and turning me around.
“What, Cassie?” I yelled, fueled by rage and mass amounts of alcohol. “I’m done with this shit.”
“Alex, that fucking Vernon guy is here.”
Those words were my undoing.
I charged like a raging bull stuffed with steroids.
I made contact with Vernon as he stood at the front door, and sent both of us hurdling to the floor before he’d had the chance to see me coming. My fist connected with his face over and over again, and he held his hand up, trying desperately to fend off the menacing blows. Every piece of irritation was boiling over, and I could no longer contain it. It needed a release, and he was the target. He was behind so much of my antagonism, and there was no way that I was going to try and stifle what so badly needed to come out.
The alcohol swirled around inside of me, causing me to lose my balance temporarily. It gave Vernon just enough of an edge to push me off of him, sending me barreling to the floor as he stood and adjusted his clothes in front of me.
“Alex, man, what the fuck is going on with you?” Newsome asked, helping me to my feet.
I yanked my arm from his grasp, glaring at Castillo. “Did you fucking bring him here? You dirty whore. How many guys are you fucking?”
“I didn’t bring him here!” she yelled, looking fed up with my antics. “I didn’t even tell him I’d be here tonight.”
“That’s right, I had to ask around because all of a sudden Leti wants to act like she doesn’t want anything to do with me.”
“Alex, you’re fucked up. Leti didn’t bring Vernon here. Fuck Vernon,” Jensen defended.
“Yeah, fuck me,” Vernon condescendingly added, stepping into the middle of us all. “That’s exactly what’s been going on. I’m tired of being a scapegoat here. Fuck everyone involved in this shitty situation.”
This guy was one of the worst people that I’d ever had the displeasure of knowing, but there was something about the tone of his words that struck me… made me want to hear more.
“What the hell are you rambling about, Vernon?” Riley asked, looking pissed off and overly annoyed.
“You all fucking hate me, and I embrace that, but I’ll tell you what, I couldn’t have possibly gone to First Sergeant without the help of Leti.”
“He’s a damn liar,” Castillo defended. If I didn’t know her sly, conniving ways, I would have softened towards her charade for a bit. The conviction in her voice was almost Oscar worthy.
“Oh,I’m a liar? How the fuck would I have known to go fishing for information at that tattoo shop? How would I have known who the fuck Pfc. Bennett was? How would I have known about any of this?”
Castillo stood stunned. Looking around the crew, I could tell that the allies she had were slowly leaving her corner. Eyes bulged as heads shook with the realization that she was the mastermind behind my downfall. She had been backed into a corner, and there was no way out.
“What the fuck would you have to gain from this, Vernon?” Jensen asked, stepping away from Castillo.
“She’s a pretty girl with a sweet pussy and a convincing mouth. She gave it up because I did her dirty work, but now she’s ditched me. I couldn’t fucking figure out why until I realized that Alex had somehow won his case, and him and Cassie were on the ropes. I saw that I had been fucking played again, and I wasn’t letting that shit go easily. I’m tired of her shit.”
“You’re such a bitch!” Cassie lashed out.
I quickly threw my arm out and caught her before she could physically assault Castillo. She was still a Marine, and a subordinate at that. There was no way I was about to let her throw everything we had managed to gain down the drain.
“Alex, she was angry. I think we’ve all done dumb shit out of anger,” Jensen said, fueling my rage once again.
Suddenly, Nat lashed out and bitch slapped Castillo. The smack of her hand meeting Leti’s face stunned the room. Sharp gasps and even a bit of awkward laughter filled the room. “I don’t even fucking know you, but you dragged me into this. Fuck you!” she yelled, small but full of rage.
Leti held her face, then turned to go after Nat, but Jensen stepped in front her, effectively cutting her off.
“Fuck you, little girl! You’re a fucking dead girl!” Leti screamed, unable to break free from Jensen’s grasp.
The sight only further pissed me off. “Are you out of your goddamned mind?” I yelled. The party was focused on the spectacle that we had all become, and sadly, I couldn’t care less. “You refuse to see the damage done here. You refuse to see that a friend was willing to destroy me because of her anger. And you still find a fucking way to defend that?”
“I’m not defending her!” Jensen roared back.
“Fuck you! Fuck you, and damn sure fuck you!” I yelled, knife handing Vernon, Jensen, and Castillo. “You all better see your way out before I go fucking ape shit in here and make you wish you had left on your own accord.”
“I don’t know, I’m kind of enjoying—”
I punched Vernon before he could finish his sentence. His smug smile couldn’t be tolerated any longer. Regardless of the fact that he had spilled the beans and confirmed that Castillo had set all of this in motion, he had been all too willing to play the part, and I hated him for it. Probably as much as he already hated me.
My hand throbbed as I connected with his face.
He charged me, throwing me down on the ground and punching me twice in the face. Screams and yells filled the space as I overpowered him and rolled us over, me on top of him as I connected with body blows and a solid punch to the nose. Cassie yelled behind me, trying to get me off of Vernon, but this had built up for far too long. He had an ass whoopin’ coming, and I wasn’t about to relinquish the opportunity.
“Stop, Alex… please stop!” Cassie yelled hysterically.
I looked down to find blood on my hands. Riley and Smith pulled me off Vernon as Newsome helped him up.
“Get these bitches out of my house, right the fuck now. Right now!” I yelled, still raging on pure adrenaline.
“We’ll get them out. Cassie, take him to the room. Now!” Riley barked, trying to diffuse the situation.
“Thanks for the awesome going away present, Vernon. Your face—”
“Shut up, Alex,” Cassie scolded, pushing me back. I passed a very concerned looking Dalton on the way to the room. Cassie slammed the door behind me, then stormed into the bathroom and reemerged with a wet face towel and proceeded to wipe off my hands and face. She didn’t say anything, just wiped furiously, breathing excruciatingly hard.
“What’s the matter with you?” I asked, studying her angry disposition.
“You aren’t really asking me that are you?”
“I just fucking asked, Cassie, so yeah, I am.”
She pushed me, stepping back then throwing her hands into her hair. “You’re out of fucking control, Alex. Why are you so angry? Who cares about Vernon?”
“I care about Vernon!” I roared in response. “I care because that limp dick has done too much shit. Fuck him. And fuck her too!”
Cassie blinked quickly, a puzzling look crossing her face. “Are you still into her?”
I scoffed at the insinuation. It was utterly ridiculous, even in this fit of rage.