Then being the crazy person that I am, I completely peeled the label off. I had a thing for doing that. It didn’t matter what it was that I was drin...ing or sometimes eating. Once the bottle was cleared of its label, I headed back into the living room and sat down on the couch, crossing my feet and placing them up on the coffee table. I grabbed the remote that was laying in the middle of the couch and turned the television on. I must have spent a good half hour flipping through channels to find. He owned this laundromat, two ready-to-eat pizza restaurants, a strip mall, and a mini storage. He was seven years older than me with a wife and three k**s. “Wow! You’re quite accomplished,” I said with genuine admiration.“You don’t think a Black man can be accomplished,” his brow furled.“I didn’t mean to…”He busted out in hearty soulful laughter. “I’m just fucking with ya!”“Oh. Thank god!”“Hey! Don’t take the Lord’s name in vain!”“Derrick. I…”“Still fucking with ya,” he roared.“You’re enjoying. That surprised her in a way because nothing had really changed. Her first thoughts were about her clothes though. She knew that she was going to have to find something else to wear. It was practically impossible to walk the valley wearing that type of attire.'First things first though. I need to wash myself and have a drink.' She stepped out of the shaft and walked down to the lake that she had discovered the previous night.Amelia sat on the bank and undid her shoes. They certainly weren't. In fact, I resent the hell out of you most of the time and you telling me what a great fucking life you had at my expense certainly doesn’t help.”Susan was almost in tears but she held her composure.“That’s what I mean, Brock,” she replied evenly. “I didn’t do any of this on purpose. I know what I could have done. I know what I should have done. I think about it every day. But I just wanted to forget about everything. I wanted to forget the look on their faces as they held me down and tore my.