Vic Vaughn is Vicious

“Who?”

“I’ll show you. Let me grab some mouthwash. I can’t go in smelling like beer at this place. It’s frowned upon.”

Princess nods and I head to the break room, clean up all the empties from last night, then make my mouth minty fresh.

When I come back out, she’s put her sketchpad away and is looking at the jewelry in the front case. I walk over to her. “What are ya looking at?”

She points to a bracelet with a skull and a heart. “It’s pretty.” She sighs.

“Want it?” I walk around the case, open it up, pluck the bracelet out, and slide it across the glass at my niece.

She looks up at me with wide eyes. “Really?”

“Fuck it, right? That bracelet has been in the case for like ten months. It’s way overpriced. My ex made it. Gretchen. You remember her? Tall woman, nice tits, red hair, big mouth?”

Princess smiles. “No.”

“No? She had that fucking tattoo with… what do you call her?” I snap my fingers. “That fucking cartoon girl with the nerd glasses?”

“MiaJeena.”

“MiaJeena.” I laugh. “Yeah. That stupid cartoon. And it was huge. Oh, my God. Who puts a seven-inch MiaJeena on her tits?”

Princess makes a face.

“Right? She’s a crazy bitch. Here’s a tip for you, K? Listening?”

She nods.

“Never ask a man what his number is. It never turns out well. And if a guy ever asks you for your number, you come tell me, princess. I’ll clock him. You never let them be rude to you like that. Got it?”

She crinkles up her face. “I don’t understand. My phone number?”

“No. No, your… never mind. Forget I said that. And don’t tell your mom. In fact, let’s make a pinky swear, cool?”

She nods enthusiastically.

“You don’t tell anyone what we do today. Just our secret.”

“OK.” She smiles at me.

We do a pinky dance, then I hook the bracelet onto her wrist, close the case, and we leave through the back door.

CHAPTER TWO - VIC

The princess is practically trotting to keep up with me as we walk down the alley. “I thought you said we weren’t going to church.”

“We’re not.” I take her hand so we can cross the street in front of Saint Joseph’s. “Mass doesn’t start for another two hours. But you know what they have here in the gym on Sunday mornings?”

Princess shakes her head.

“Shitty coffee from that cart on the CSU campus. But they get the donuts from Anna Ameci’s. So we can deal with the shitty coffee, right?”

“Mmm. I really want a donut.”

“They are so good. And the best part is that we don’t have to wait in line.” The Ameci’s bakery is packed on Sundays. You can’t get near that place until everyone is in church, and by then, all the good shit is gone. Princess and I finish crossing the street and enter the playground near the back entrance. “OK. So here’s the deal. In order to get the free Anna Ameci’s donuts without having to wait in line, we gotta attend a meeting.”

“What kind of meeting?” She’s subtly dragging me over to the swings and I let her. Because fuck it, if I gotta spend the day with her, I’m gonna make it one to remember.

She sits on a swing and I start pushing her. “It’s…” I sigh. “It’s just people talking. You don’t have to talk. And I’m not fucking talking either. We just grab our coffee and donuts, have a seat and listen to these people talk while we eat, then at the break, we grab another donut and hit the road. Sound good?”

“Sounds good.”

I stop the swing. “OK, let’s hit it. I’m hungry.”

She doesn’t complain and that’s nice. Usually my nieces are loud and bossy. I like the new quiet model.

Inside the gym, the AA meeting is just getting started. “Here.” I point to the donut spread. “It’s a good one today. They even have cannolis. Which one do you like?”

“Excuse me?”

I turn to find a middle-aged lady staring up at me, tapping her heel. “Yeah?”

“You can’t bring children to your meeting.”

“It’s not my meeting, lady. She’s the one who needs it.”

Princess giggles, getting my sarcasm. I kinda love that too. When was the last time I watched one of my nieces? It’s been a while. She seems so mature. Even though she can’t be more than five or six.

“You’re disgusting, Vic Vaughn.”

“Nice to see you again too, whoever the fuck you are.” Everyone knows who I am. The Vaughn family has been the bane of the downtown Fort Collins business district since the Sixties. They hate us. And we own a huge mansion right on Mountain Avenue where all the rich fucks live, so we’re just everywhere. My gramps won the house in a poker game back in the day. It’s massive. One of the biggest mansions in the area. But it’s a lot of house to keep up with so for most of my childhood, it’s been a falling-down mess. I’ve been trying my best to fix it up over the past few years—hence the side job up in the mountains—but it is still very much a work in progress.