The door to the kitchen swung open, and I placed my palm on it. He wasn’t wrong, the dishes had piled high since I was in here not fifteen minutes ago. My hands would never be soft at this rate.
* * *
LOLA
The lull of the cars on the train had me in that state of almost asleep with my eyes open. My body was pressed against the window, my head leaning on the cool glass. I’d never been so comfortable in my life, but I couldn’t allow myself to fall asleep, not when my stop was coming up next.
I’d contacted Moira to let her know I could start the sessions a week from Thursday, and they’d be at 3:30 p.m. every week. Sal had managed to work my hours around it and said he’d do it each week so that I could keep the sessions at the same time.
All you needed sometimes was a little luck, and I seemed to have been getting it in spades the last few days. I hadn’t seen Hut and his crew since Saturday morning, and if luck were really on my side, they wouldn’t be there when I got home either.
The train shuddered to a stop, and the doors whooshed open. I darted from my seat, grabbed my bag, and ran for the doors, making it out just in time. The sun was starting to set, and I stared up at the sky, fascinated with the colors that mixed together. It held the promise of a sunny day to come, and I couldn’t help but smile. Tomorrow was my day off. No college. No work. Just me, myself, and my bed.
I made the walk home in record time, and as I got closer to the house, nothing could be heard—none of the usual music blasting through the walls, and no one shouting and fighting. Luck really was on my side today, huh?
I smiled wide as I skipped over the broken step and pushed the front door open. But it soon fell off my face with what I was greeted with. My stepmom—Hut’s mom—was sprawled on the sofa, a needle hanging loosely from her hand. To anyone else, they may have thought she was asleep with her eyes open, but I could tell that she was in the midst of a high.
I slammed the door closed, causing her to jump, but when she met my gaze, she relaxed back. “Ugh. It’s you,” she sneered, her movements slow and heavy.
“Yep.” I stepped closer to her, wrinkling my nose at the stench emanating from her. I was guessing she hadn’t showered for weeks. The dirt and grime under her fingernails was just a patch on the dirt caked into her skin. “What are you doing here?”
“This is my house, ain’t it?” Her light-brown eyes narrowed on me, eyes the same color as Hut’s. “Where’s that shithead of a dad of yours?”
I raised a brow and shook my head. “I’d like to know the same thing. I’m sure you saw him at one of your spots in the last couple of months.” I grabbed a bottle of water from the kitchen and walked back into the living room to head up the stairs, needing to get far away from her.
“If he ain’t gonna be here for me, then you can fuck off.” She tried to sit up, but the effort must have been too much because she let her body sag against the arm of the sofa. “I ain’t gonna have you leaching off of me, you little whore.”
I laughed so loud that it startled her. “Me, leaching off you?” I rolled my eyes. “Wake the hell up, you stupid woman. I haven’t taken a goddamn thing off you since I was thirteen. I pay my way, unlike you and Dad.”
My words must have woken the beast and given her strength because she pushed up off the sofa and stumbled toward me. I’d have normally kept my mouth shut and gone right up to my room, but something had changed recently. Maybe it was because I was out there on my own, trying to make an honest living and better myself, or maybe it was because I’d taken enough bullshit over the last seven years and it was time I said what was on my mind.
“You little bitch!” She made a grab for me, but I sidestepped her with little effort. Her hands slapped on the spindles on the side of the stairs, and she growled. “You’re nothing! You’re trash just like that mom of yours was.”
I inhaled a deep breath, trying to keep my calm. Crystal had always known exactly which buttons to press to get me riled up, and she’d used them often. When I was younger, Hut would protect me and pull me away. He’d take me for frozen yogurt, and we’d stay out of the house long enough for her to get high, and for Dad to either join her or disappear for a day or two.
So many things had changed since then.
“You wanna talk about trash?” I fumed, stepping toward her. She was only a couple of inches taller than me, and yet, I felt like I was towering over her. “Because the only trash I see right now is you.” I gritted my teeth, the plastic of the water bottle crinkling in my hands as I gripped it harder. “What are you here for this time, Crystal?” I raised a brow and waited for her to answer, but her high was taking her under, her burst of energy waning. “You want more money again?”
“I’m gettin' what’s owed to me,” she sneered, pushing off the spindles and stumbling back to the sofa, her anger forgotten about.
“What’s owed to you?” I couldn’t believe the gall of this woman. She’d never provided for us, never been there to see us on the bus or have dinner cooking when we got home. She never asked how our day was, never even knew the names of our friends. And yet, she thought she’d done an awesome job. The woman was certifiable, living in a fantasy land where she was the perfect woman and everyone else was out to get her.
I waited with bated breath for her answer, but she was gone, flying high in her own head. What I should have done was call Hut and told him she was here, but the prospect of seeing him again after Saturday morning wasn’t one I wanted to face up to. Besides, she was out for the count, which meant he’d probably be home by the time she woke up.
I took one last look at her almost-black hair hanging limply around her, and the grime caked to her face, and then turned to head upstairs.
I was too tired for this shit.
Chapter Five
BRODY
I pulled to a stop at the meeting place, the same building that we’d been running this operation from for over a year. On the outside, it looked like a run-down house that had seen better days, but inside it was anything but. We’d been given special attention to make sure Hut was off the streets, which meant a better off-site office and more equipment. Not that I gave ten shades of fuck what we were given. None of it mattered if I couldn’t get the intel and evidence to bring him down.
I pushed out of the car and glanced around, making sure no one was watching me. The last thing we needed was for some low-level guy to find this place and tip Hut off.
Once I knew I was clear, I ambled over to the door, typed in the twelve-digit code into the makeshift mailbox, and let myself inside. Voices immediately greeted me, one louder than all the rest.