"What's that on your face," Mae asked as she touched Tommy's new mask. Hoyt laughed when he saw Tommy and pulled Mike's head up by his hair so he could see Tommy as well.
"That's a nice mask you got there Tommy. Ain't that right boy, don't you think so too," he said to Mike while shaking his head. Mike didn't reply and when Hoyt let go of him his head fell back down on the table like a puppet. "Why don't you go show your new girlfriend," Hoyt teased.
"Hoyt," Mae said angrily.
"Oh calm down mama I'm just messing with him." Tommy didn't say a word, instead he just stared at Hoyt. "Oh so now you don't want to talkā¦no not like before. Well shit whatever, I don't give a damn," he said untying Mike from the chair.
"Go on and check on Carrie Tommy," Mae told her son.
Tommy headed upstairs to find Carrie, once more ignoring Hoyt who kept shouting his name telling him to help him with Mike. The first room Tommy checked was Tex's, luckily it was empty. He was about to check Alfredo's room when the door to the bathroom opened and Tex walked out alone. He looked at Tommy and pointed to his room then walked past him and went downstairs. When Tommy took a peek inside he saw Carrie peacefully resting under the covers of his bed. He went inside but made sure to be quiet so he wouldn't wake her. He took slow steps as he came closer to her side and stood looking down at her for a long while until he finally got the courage to reach down and touch her face Carrie's eyes flew open and Tommy threw his hand back thinking he had frightened her. She sat up and the two simply stared at one another not sure what to do. It was then that Carrie noticed Tommy was wearing a different mask then before.
"You changed your mask," she spoke. He nodded. It wasn't the best way to start a conversation but it was a start and since Tommy had made no move to grab her viciously Carrie didn't feel so scared anymore. "Tex said you wouldn't hurt me." He nodded again. "That's a relief. Am I going to stay here now," she asked. His answer was another nod. "That's kind of your family to take me in. What about the others, you're going to kill them right?"
At first Tommy was reluctant to answer thinking she would be disappointed but then he saw the desperate look in her eyes and he realized, Carrie wanted him to kill them. Then again, how could she not. After all they weren't friends to her, especially Mike. So Tommy answered her by nodding again and Carrie responded by doing the same. "Good," she said lowering her head.
Tommy stared at the young girl sitting curled up on his bed and walked closer to her not feeling as nervous as before. Her eyes flew to him but she didn't move away. He sat beside her and once again reached out to touch her cheek, and this time she let him. Carrie closed her eyes savoring the feeling of his big hands caressing her cheek. Though his hands were large and his skin dry his touch was soft in contrast to Mike's. 'Mike,' she thought. The thought of him and all that he had done to her suddenly brought tears to Carrie's eyes. When Tommy saw her tears he drew his hand back worried that he might have hurt her. Carrie then took his hand in hers and wiped her tears away with her other hand.
"I'm sorry, you did nothing wrong, I was just thinking of Mike," she told him. Tommy's face hardened when she mentioned his name and seeing Carrie cry only made him want to torture Mike even more than he was planning to. He got up and walked off to do just that but stopped when Carrie told him to wait. 'Wait,' he repeated in his mind. "Don't leave yet, I don't want to be alone," she said. Tommy looked from the door back to her then sighed and went back over to Carrie. She smiled happily and moved to get up but Tommy gently pushed her back down and tucked her in bed. He laid down next to her but on top of the covers and wrapped his arm around her. Surprisingly Carrie didn't mind and moved in closer so her back was against his chest. She let out a soft 'good night' then closed her eyes feeling safe in Tommy's arms.
