by T M Kelly
I needed that little bit of news from Charlie. She had dealt with so much over the last several years and eventually started avoiding men all together. Her explanation when I would ask why she was not dating: Who would want to date a girl with my crazy fucked up family. She was right; her family was the very definition of dysfunctional.
When we moved to Las Vegas, I knew it was a relief for Charlie. She needed the distance from her family. Since I decided to start ignoring her (not literally) and was enjoying more time with Julian, it was good she had someone to talk to at the end of the day.
“What are you making, Bro.” Brooks sat down at the kitchen island.
“He’s making me pasta with Bolognese sauce.” I shoved at Brooks to move down a seat. “We didn’t plan to feed more than two mouths.”
“Oh, come on,” Charlie begged. “You know you missed our faces.” Almost on cue, Charlie and Brooks did the puppy dog eyes expression.
“You taught him your look?”
“Well, I think he just watched and learned.”
I shook my head. “Have mercy on me.” My head dropped to my hands.
We continued to tease each other for the next several minutes. Then the doorbell rang again. Julian sighed. “What is this, Grand Central Station?”
He was gone for a little too long, and it felt too quiet. I jumped down from the chair. “Julian.” Just as I was about to say his name again, I heard whispers coming from the foyer. Leaning my body against the wall, I listened to see who was talking.
“You need to leave.” It was Julian’s voice, and he sounded pissed.
“Let me just see her one last time.” That was my mom. She seriously made an appearance here at Julian’s place. Obviously she was not very bright.
Pushing off the wall, I ran back into the kitchen.
“Li—”
I threw my hand over Brooks’s mouth and whispered, “Don’t say anything. Not right now. I’ll explain later.” Removing my hand, I ran around to the other side of the kitchen island to find Julian’s phone. It was sitting by the stove, and there were several messages from Otto.
I clicked on one of the messages to open the app and typed: My mom is here at Julian’s place. What should we do?
Otto: Sending backup now. Are you okay?
Me: Julian is trying to keep her out of the house. Not sure how long that will last.
Otto: If you can leave, go now.
The sounds of fighting were getting louder.
Me: Not possible.
Otto: They just replied. Someone will be there in five minutes.
Me: We need more than one person, Otto.
Otto: On it now. Hang tight, Lily.
Brooks and Charlie looked over at the doorway where the arguing was taking place. I yelled in a loud whisper. “Charlie, sneak out.”
I noticed Brooks scowl. “We’re not leaving you both alone.”
“Who’s leaving?” my mom said as she entered the room. Her eyes went wide. “Is that Charlie? It can’t be.”
“Hi, Ms. Adams.” Charlie stood up to go hug my mom. We had been best friends since grade school, so my mom knew her very well. “It’s good to see you.”
“Oh, sweetie, it has been way too long.”
Julian walked over to stand next to me. His phone was in my hand, but I found a way to slide it into his back pants pocket. He looked over at me. “Your mom insisted on saying hi to you before her flight leaves.”
“Oh, where are you heading?” I noticed Julian reach into his back pocket for the phone, so I walked toward the kitchen island and leaned my hands on the counter. “I’m surprised to see you here.”
“Are you?” she said, pulling out a chair next to Brooks. “Where’s your manners, Lily?”
“Brooks, this is my mom, Renee.”
“Nice to meet you,” he said, holding out his hand.
“So, Mexico your new destination?” I teased.
“Funny, Lily.” She rolled her eyes. “If you must know, I plan to stay in the U.S. I have some unfinished business to tend to.” We had cut up some cheese, and she reached forward and helped herself. “Julian’s house was on the way.”
“Lucky me.” I glanced at Brooks who was staying completely calm. Charlie on the other hand looked shaken up. “Hey, Brooks, show Charlie the new weight machine in the gym. The one you and Julian bought last week.” I just wanted her out of the room. He didn’t say a word, stood up, and grabbed her hand to leave.
“Want me to yourself, sweetie?”
“Actually, what I really want is you back in jail.”
There were sirens off in the distance and getting louder. “Did you call the cops?” she said sounding pissed.
“Well, what did you expect, Mom? We invite you in with open arms?”
“That was a mistake, Lily,” she said before running toward the back-sliding glass door and left in a flash.
I made an attempt to follow her, but Julian stopped me. “It’s not worth it. This house will be surrounded by cops any second.” Julian sent a text to Otto with an update. A minute later, he replied, telling us to stay put. He would update the cops.
I rested my head on his chest. “Why would she think it was okay to come here?”
“I was just asking myself the very same question.”
“Charlie.” I ran over to the stairwell leading down to the basement. Just as I was about to run down, I noticed Brooks rocking Charlie back and forth in his arms. “C, you okay?” Running down to sit beside Brooks, I started to slip and had to catch my footing. “Well, nothing like a grand entrance, right?”
Charlie leaned over and wrapped her arms about my neck. “What made her so crazy? Or should I say, who?”
“Her family.”
She pulled away. “You’re kidding, right?”
“I wish,” I said, leaning back. “Apparently good ol’ gramps worked for a mob boss.”
“Fuck me,” Charlie said, standing up. “Okay, you managed to top me on the shittiest parents list.”
“What am I missing?” Brooks asked.
Charlie touched her palm to his cheek. “What part is confusing?”
“Your parents don’t work for a mob, right?”
“Oh goodness, no. Well, I don’t think so.”
The thought shouldn’t have made me laugh, but for some reason it did. I was struggling to hold it together. “Sorry.” I giggled. “It’s just easier to laugh rather than cry.”
Charlie shoved at my shoulder. “Hence, why I like being happy all the time.”
“You’re not happy all the time.” Brooks said.
I finally composed myself. “Listen, there is probably a lot you still need to learn about Charlie. Just know this, she is happy, and she is damn amazing.” Standing up, I turned to find Julian waiting on the top step. “Hey.”
“Hey,” he said, holding out his arms.
“Mom?”
“Heading to a strict facility where no one from the inside or outside can intervene.”
“Good.”
“Thanks for calling me, Lily,” Candace said.
“We had a deal. I usually stay true to my word,” I said, pulling the covers up higher.
Julian had encouraged Brooks and Charlie to stay the night with us. Charlie was still freaked out, and I wanted to make sure she was okay. I was happy to have her only four rooms down from me.
“That was Candace?” Julian asked, closing the bedroom door.
“Yeah, I gave her the update on what happened. I promised to be her source, so it was only fair to call.” I leaned up and crossed my legs in front of me. “How’s C?”
“She’ll be fine. Brooks plans to sleep in the chair by her bed.”
“What a gentleman.”
There were still cops outside the house for the night and probably for the remainder of the week. It was unclear why Mom came to the house. The fact that she even showed her face at Julian’s home still confounded me. She had to know she would be arrested. Julian had this place covered
in security cameras and motion sensors.
“Did you talk to Otto?”
He sat down on the bed and pushed his body up against the headboard. “I did. He shared some interesting stuff.”
“Good interesting or bad interesting?”
“You tell me.” He reached for my hand and pulled me close to his body. I settled in between his legs and rested my head on his chest. “There was a safety deposit box in San Francisco. Otto has been following her since you and I both arrived back here in Las Vegas. She went to the storage unit again, which was interesting. When she exited the building, she was holding photos. Then she went to the bank where the safety deposit box was located.”
“Those are some serious details.”
“Yeah, so when they grabbed her tonight. The photos were in her purse with a cryptic message on the back of each one.”
“Shut up,” I said and sat up. “But why Vegas?”
“Well, Otto looked at the video of her going through the box. There was a lot of money and some passports.” He rubbed his hands over his head. “And this.” He showed me several images of a little black book on his phone.
I scrolled through and noticed several phone numbers listed. Julian’s name popped out at me. “You?”
“Me.”
“Why?”
“That was your dad’s money in the box.” He brought up another set of images. “There were two passports that belonged to your dad.
“That’s why she couldn’t leave the country.”
“Nope. She must have thought her passport was still in the safety deposit box.”
It was all clicking into place now. “When she realized she was stuck, she came here.”
“Otto has a feeling she did it all on purpose so she could go back to jail.”
“Wait.” I knew I sounded confused. “Why would anyone want to go back to jail?”
“Well, think about it, she was running from her past and the cops.”
“With no passport.”
“Exactly.”
“Who helped her out in the first place?”
“That’s the disconnect they can’t find. There’s potentially a mole or someone willing to risk it all to help prisoners.” Julian brushed his hand down the side of my face. “The person may not even be tied to your mom’s past. She just managed to sweet talk the right person.”
“Please tell me she will be locked away for good this time?”
“Oh, she will be very lonely for a very long time.”
I moved back in between his legs and wrapped my arms around his waist. “So this is over?”
“Is anything ever over?”
“Good point.”
29
One year later…
“Oh my shit, look at this,” Charlie yelled, holding the MMA Journal in both hands. “Lily, you’re on the front page.”
I glanced down at the headline. Bantamweight Fighter, Lily Waters- Will she take control of her future and get her first main event with AFC. “Holy shit!”
We both started jumping in circles together. The moment we stopped, we tumbled to the mat. “So the headline is good,” Julian asked from above me. I held it up with both my hands. “Oh, that is good.”
I leaped up. “Right?”
“Have you read it yet?” he said, snatching it away.
“Well, no, but it has to be good. Candace loves me.”
He sat down on the bench not far from the practice ring and read a part of the article. “After a year of speculation, we can confirm that Lily does have a famous father. No, I don’t plan to tell any of you. This career is her own, and she deserves all the credit.”
I gasped. “Did she really write that?” He held it out for me to see. “Wow, I need to call her immediately.” Running over to my towel, I grabbed my phone sitting on top of the blue terry cloth. “Candace, please.”
The woman on the other line asked me to hold. A few minutes later, Candace was on the line. “Hello, this is Candace.”
“You’re amazing. You know that, right?”
“So you’re reading the paper, eh?”
“It’s being passed around the gym as we speak.”
“I’m glad you all approve,” she said, laughing. She paused and then continued. “Do you have a moment?”
“Yeah, what’s up?”
She cleared her throat. “We plan to write another story about your mom.”
That news seemed odd. “Did something happen?”
“Well, there is something. Since it was released that your mom is tied to organized crime. Some new photos surfaced of your grandfather.”
“He’s not my grandfather,” I said in a rather evil tone. “Sorry, that’s not my family.”
“It’s okay, Lily. I apologize for even saying that.”
“No, it’s just annoying we’re talking about this a year after putting her back in jail.”
“There were a few murders in Detroit, Michigan.”
“And they link to my mom?” Now I was confused.
“There is a possibility that the new mob boss that took over for Giano Nesta is living in and around Detroit.”
“Wow, that’s crazy.”
“Since your mom has ties with that mob ring, we planned to write an exposé.”
“If we can still keep the deal of leaving me out, you do what you must.”
“Your name will never be mentioned.”
“Thank you, Candace,” I said, hanging up the phone. “That was interesting.”
Julian reached for my hand. “From the look on your face, you’re being sarcastic.”
I proceeded to share what she had just told me. “So yeah, my family lineage just keeps getting better and better.”
“Well, let’s give you some fun news.”
“Tell me,” I said, sitting down beside him.
“Five o’clock Wednesday Chuck Anders wants to talk about a contract.”
I squealed and jumped up. “I can’t believe this is really happening.”
“Your dad would be so proud of you.”
I wrapped my arms around his neck. It felt good to think about my dad in a positive light. After all that had transpired a little over a year ago, it was confirmed my dad played no part in the hit list we found. My mom set him up. She had made a few attempts to talk to me, but I denied all communication from her. The new lawyer we hired was checking in on her weekly. Shocking, doing something we paid him to do.
The latest report from the lawyer showed Mom was going through depression and was not eating enough. I don’t know, maybe that should have touched me, but it never even made a dent on my heart. My focus was the family I knew cared about me—my dad, Charlie, and Julian. They were all I needed in my life. I struggled most days not having Dad here to talk to him or tell him how my training was going.
Julian was slowly taking over where Dad left off.
“What should I wear?” I threw another top down on the growing pile in my closet.
Charlie held her hands above her head to avoid getting hit by falling clothes. “There are four more options still on the rack. Hopefully one of those will work.”
I plopped down beside her. “Should we go shopping?”
“Do pigs squeal?”
“I think the saying really is, ‘do pigs fly?’”
“Yeah, but they don’t and I want to go shopping.”
My sweet Charlie Bear. She should be a blonde. I patted her leg. “You’re overthinking, sweets.”
She jumped up. “Well let’s stop thinking and spend some moolah.”
I hopped up and looped my arm in hers. “Lead the way, gorgeous.”
We decided to stay on the strip and head over to Fashion Show, which was basically a shopping mall on crack. The place was enormous and had everything under the sun. There had to be an outfit there that would speak to me.
The moment we stepped through the entrance, my eyes roamed the place. It was packed for an afternoon during the week, but that was Vegas for you.
/> Charlie grabbed my hand and tugged me toward the directory. “We need to find you something that screams style, winner…no, champion.”
“My outfit will say all that?” I said, trying to keep up. Seemed like a challenge and one I knew she would win. My friend had a secret talent for fashion. There was music blaring the farther we made our way into the building. “Don’t they have runway shows sometimes?”
“Oh, my God, let’s go see.”
When we rounded a corner, there were people seated beside a very long runway. Upbeat music was playing while women strutted their stuff one at a time. It looked like they were showing off accessories because they would move their purse or bag in different directions as they walked.
I glanced over and noticed Charlie’s eyes locked on the show. “Hey, sit and watch it. I’ll be right back.” I turned and caught sight of a jade green A-line skirt on a mannequin in a window. The same color as Julian’s eyes.
Cheesy, I know.
As I approached the store, a young woman stepped in front of me. “Are you the Lily Waters?”
Her words took me by surprise. “Um, yes.” She held out her phone and on the screen was a picture of me. I scowled and felt completely confused. Then my brain registered, the MMA Journal article.
“Josie, it’s her,” the young woman yelled. “Will you sign my book?” After a few minutes of riffling through her bag, she held out a notebook and pen. “Sorry, I wasn’t expecting to see anyone here today.”
“Oh, wow, well I’m sorry I sound surprised. This has never happened before.”
She flashed this beautiful smile. “Are you kidding? I loved watching you fight with Spartacus. When is AFC going to finally add you to their lineup?”
“Hopefully soon.” I held in a laugh. She didn’t need to know that’s why I was at the mall shopping. “What’s your name?”
“Renee,” she said, hopping back and forth between each foot.
The pen touched the paper right as she said her name. “Oh. Renee. Tell me how you spell it exactly?” I was working hard to keep my emotions in line. Hell, I knew I would meet a million Renee’s in my lifetime. I better get used to that fact and soon.
I wrote one sentence and signed my name. “Thank you, Renee, for your support.”