Loyalty Card
“Why does your uncle stay here?” I ask. I know he is a single man who is obviously into doing bad things.
“Either to piss me off or because he’s trying to blend in. It’s not like the cops are rolling around here.” The car comes to a stop. “I want you to stay put.” I start to open my mouth but he cuts me off. “I’m going to go have a look around and I’ll be right back. I want to make sure no one’s here.”
I can tell from the worried look on his face that I’m not going to be able to change his mind. “Come back.” He leans over and kisses me. It’s soft and sweet. I feel his promise in it.
“I’ll always come for you.” He gives me another kiss before he’s hopping from the car. Minutes tick by, each making me more anxious. I want to text him but I fear maybe he forgot to put his phone on silent. Unable to help myself, I slip from the car. I’ll just take a small look. I head the same way that I saw Nick go. I barely make it a few feet and someone is yelling out at me.
“Ma’am! This way.” I turn to see a man in a suit waving me over. Against my better judgment I walk toward him. I try and play it casual, wondering if I can get away with saying I snuck out of my parents’ house and I live a few doors down. “Girls go in the back door.” He points toward the back of the house. “You know the rules.” He snaps the last part at me.
“Sorry. Got turned around,” I lie. I pass him, and his eyes roam over me as I go. He licks his lips, making my skin crawl, and I walk a little faster toward the way he pointed, down the long driveway under an archway and to the back of the house. I see a door. I look back to see if I spot Nick anywhere, but I don’t. Maybe I can slip in and out without being noticed. I can act as if I’m one of these girls that randomly comes and goes from the house. I take a deep breath, turning the knob and pushing inside.
I pull out my phone as I gently close the door behind me and text Nick that I’m inside the house so he doesn’t worry. I know the layout of the house somewhat. Nick had broken it down for me when we’d lain in bed together. I head straight for the office, praying that I can find what Nick needs. He’s given me something I had no idea was missing in my life, this want for a family, and I want to give him his back. I might not be able to bring his parents back but I hope I can help him get some closure. If I’m what he wants, then I hope one day I can give him his own family to love.
Chapter Fourteen
Nick
“Shit.” The old fart is home. Not only that, he appears to be having a party. A few men around my uncle’s age are sitting on my mom’s leather chairs drinking my dad’s eighty-year-old Scotch leering at a dozen girls in various stages of nudity. A flash of red, hot rage spirals through me and for a moment, a haze of fury blinds me. If I had a weapon, I’d–oh shit! Is that Birdie in there?
I shake my head thinking that I had an anger-induced hallucination but, no, the sexy black leather clad ninja is being ushered into the entertainment room. I glare at her. How does staying put end up with her in my uncle’s clutches? As if she can sense me, her eyes pivot to the window. She grimaces slightly and mouths something.
It takes me all of two seconds to figure out my plan of action. I straighten from the shadows and march around to the front door. Like Birdie said, I own this place. I might as well act like it. I wrench open the door and let it fly backwards with a bang. A burly guy in a black suit with an earpiece steps away from the wall. I swing and hit him on the jaw. He crumples to the floor like a deck of paper cards.
Hitting a human feels different than punching a bag. It’s way more satisfying, I realize, to hear the crunch of bone against bone than the thwunk of a boxing glove against a bag filled with sand. Shaking the sting of pain off my hand, I search the man’s pockets and find a gun. Since I have no idea how to use it and am more likely to shoot myself and Birdie than my uncle, I shove it under the floral slipper chairs my mom would get recovered every spring.