Period.
Chapter Sixteen
Syn tossed and turned on the couch that converted into a pull-out bed.
Normally, she was restless because the “bed” sucked. That wasn’t the case tonight. Or this morning. Or whatever time it was.
The guys’ snores filled the skoolie. Rex was asleep in his bunk above the driver’s seat. Eddie and Nico were sharing the room and queen-sized bed in the rear. Sometimes they forced Rex to switch out with them because they got sick of sleeping together.
Syn offered to take a turn sharing but none of the guys would let her. There weren’t too many people she trusted, but those three were at the top. Actually, the list was so short it had only included them.
Until recently.
Her gut instinct indicated she could trust Dodge.
And if she ever found her brother, she hoped she could trust Sig. Unfortunately, she had no idea what he was like. The last time she talked to him was right before…
Right before things changed.
She took a deep inhale and squeezed her eyes shut. Not to forget, but to remember why she was working so hard, why she kept trudging on even when it felt like she was getting nowhere.
Why she kept walking on a treadmill that never stopped moving.
She’d keep at it until she couldn’t keep at it anymore.
She’d fight until she was dead and buried.
She’d never give up.
She hoped if she ever found Sig, he’d be able to help her in some way.
She only hoped he wasn’t a disappointment. She’d had too many of those already.
She never got rid of the phone he gave her. It was still buried somewhere at the bottom of her duffle bag. It hadn’t been charged in years and was outdated. Even so, she couldn’t get rid of it.
It might be useless, but to her, it was the only thread left that connected her and her brother. If she threw it away, she’d have nothing left of that connection. All hope would be gone. So, she clung onto it like she clung to her hope.
She wasn’t too proud to ask him for help. Not when it came to the help she needed and the reason she needed it. If he couldn’t, she had no idea what her next step would be.
She had exhausted everything else to the point where she felt powerless and helpless.
She didn’t want to think about it. She couldn’t think about it. Otherwise, she’d be sucked into a dark hole and she’d have a hard time climbing back out.
Her thumb rubbed mindlessly back and forth over the screen of her current cell phone. She had brought it to bed with her since she’d thought of Dodge one too many times tonight. Each time she’d been tempted to text him.
It was a bad idea.
He offered them a regular gig. That might not be a big deal to any other band, but for them it could mean a regular influx of money. Well, at least once a month or however many times he wanted to put The Synners on the schedule.
It might not be enough to live on or even enough to put away for what she needed, but it would be better than nothing.
Tonight, they’d been desperate enough to find a park, set up their equipment and play an “open-air” concert without any amplifiers or even any power. That meant they relied on the strength of her voice, Eddie’s drum playing, and their acoustic guitars to draw a crowd.
The size of the crowd ended up being disappointing but they did manage to get enough money in their tip jar to grab a hot meal and top off the fuel tank.
Of course, that was before the cops showed up and threatened to arrest them if they didn’t shut down their concert because of a lack of permission and a permit. Apparently, they had considered what The Synners were doing the same as panhandling.
What-fucking-ever.
If she knew that giving up her dreams and getting a regular job would help achieve what she needed to, then she’d do it. However, it hadn’t worked in the past since she didn’t have any marketable skills other than her musical talent. So, she had to hope one day those talents would pay off.
She only wished it was one day soon. Before it was too late.
She stopped sliding her thumb over the smooth screen and pulled her phone from under the blanket. Holding it in front of her face, she hit the side button to light it up and squinted as the bright light hit her eyes.
As soon as Rex had driven the skoolie away from Crazy Pete’s last Saturday morning, she had plugged both the direct number for the bar and also Dodge’s cell phone number into her phone. Then she tucked the card away in her backpack, just in case something happened to her phone.