Skid Row Kings Complete Series

by Winter Travers

  “I thought maybe you two could stay for dinner.” I was actually hoping to take Levi and Scarlett to the Mexican place in town.

  “No, I’m pretty tired from work and I’m sure you exhausted Levi helping with the car and running around today.”

  “Mama, please,” Levi begged.

  “Not tonight. Grab your bag and we’ll head home.”

  “Mama…”

  “One more mama and there won’t be a Transformers party,” Scarlett threatened.

  “Aw, shoot.” Levi stomped his foot but headed into the office to grab his bag.

  “You really don’t need to go, Scarlett.”

  “Yes, we do. I have some things I needed to take care of tonight, it’s Levi’s bath night, and I really am just tired. Thank you for watching him today.” She brushed her hair out of her face and held her hand out to me.

  “Um, you’re welcome,” I mumbled as I shook her hand. “Do you need me to watch Levi tomorrow?”

  “No,” she said shaking her head, “I have the day off.”

  “Oh, well just let me know when you want me to watch him again. We’re pretty laid back around here, so he’s always welcome to come hang out with me while you work.”

  “OK, sounds good.” She dropped my hand and hightailed it out the door. Levi yelled his goodbyes to everyone and then they were gone.

  Luke, Violet, and Frankie just stood in the doorway looking at me. “What?” I asked as I leaned against the ‘Vette and crossed my arms over my chest.

  “Nothing, other than the fact that you babysat that woman’s kid today, and you're acting like you do it every day,” Frankie replied.

  “She needed help, and I helped her.”

  “Sounds like you’re not done helping her although she doesn’t seem too eager to take you up on your offer.” Leelee slammed the hood down on Luke’s car and wiped her hands on her overalls. “I have to pick up Jay from school. OK if I cut out early?”

  Luke nodded his head, “You’re good. Vi and I are heading out for the night. See you later, Mitch?”

  “Yeah. See you in the morning.” I had no idea where Luke and Violet were going, but I knew that Luke wouldn’t be back until the morning.

  “Make sure you do your homework,” he shouted before the office door slammed shut.

  “See you guys tomorrow,” Leelee called as she slipped out the back door of the shop to where she parked her car.

  “I’m gonna start dinner. You gonna be down here for a little bit?” Frankie asked as she took her backpack off.

  “Yeah, at least for an hour. Kurt and I had a car we need to finish up before tomorrow.” It was fine having Levi in the shop, but we did manage to get a bit behind today. Nothing that Kurt and I couldn’t finish up, though.

  “Hey, Mitch,” Frankie called.

  “Yeah.”

  “I like her,” she whispered then disappeared up the stairs.

  Yeah, I liked her too. Now, I just had to figure out how to get her to actually want to spend time with me.

  _____________

  Chapter 9

  Scarlett

  “Can I have hot dogs tomorrow, Mama?” Levi was tucked into bed, his eyes heavy with sleep and he was going through his usual ritual of talking about what he was going to eat tomorrow. Strange, I know, but it seemed to calm him and help him to fall asleep.

  “I plan on running to the grocery store tomorrow, so yeah, we can pick up some hot dogs.”

  “Buns too?” His eyes fluttered shut, and I knew he was close to sleeping.

  “Buns too, big man,” I chuckled. Normally we had hot dogs on bread and Levi always begged for buns. I figured it had been a good week, and we deserved our hot dogs on buns.

  I brushed his too-long hair out of his face, thinking I should try and get him a haircut tomorrow, too. I had gotten my first paycheck today, and it seemed like I had a never-ending list of things I wanted to buy, but I knew my check wasn’t going to be able to cover all of them.

  I slowly slid off of the air mattress, careful not to wake Levi and tiptoed out of his room. After the first night of sleeping in the living room, Levi and I both decided that we needed to move the mattress into a bedroom. Seeing as Levi spent the most time in his room, we decided to stick it in there.

  It was nice to have him tucked away in his room instead of the living room, so I could stay up and putter around the apartment while he slept. I headed straight for the fridge where I had stashed my cheapo bottle of wine earlier. Levi had asked me what it was, and I had told him it was mommy juice. Thankfully he bought it and didn’t ask any more questions. I usually didn’t drink, but tonight seemed like a good night to start.

  Dealing with Mitch had completely drained me and right now, all I wanted to do was drink my cheap wine, turn on some music, and just sit on my butt. I grabbed my phone, pulling up my music app and set my playlists to random. I grabbed my tiny Bluetooth speaker off the top of the fridge and paired it to my phone. After a quick beep from the speaker, the raspy voice of Alessia Cara poured out.

  I grabbed the only glass I could find, a glass juice tumbler, and filled it to the top with wine. Just as I was about to take my first sip, there was a light knock on my door. I glanced at the clock seeing it was after nine and wondered who the hell would be at my door. I stayed where I was, not moving, hoping who was on the other side of the door would move on.

  “Scarlett?” My eyes bugged out at the sound of my name, and I was shocked to recognize that voice as Mitch’s. “Scarlett, are you awake?” He knocked harder, and I gave out a squeak and hightailed it to the door and threw it open.

  “Are you crazy?” I asked. My wine had sloshed over the side of my cup onto the floor, “Shit.” I bent over, using the sleeve of my worn out sweatshirt to mop up the wine and looked up at Mitch. His eyes were on me, and his mouth was hanging open. “Did you need something or just felt like knocking on my door in the middle of the night.” I was a bit harsh, but I was surprised as hell to see Mitch on my doorstep for the second time today.

  “I came over to make sure you were OK. And, it’s only nine, not the middle of the night.”

  “Well, it might as well be the middle of the night. Levi wakes up at the butt crack of dawn.”

  “Can I come in?”

  What? Why the hell did Mitch want to come in? All I wanted was to get a bit tipsy and fall into bed. Mitch being here was messing with my plans. I stood up, pushing my sleeve back and took a sip from my cup. I winced, realizing cheap wine really wasn’t that good. At least the five dollar bottle I had bought wasn’t. I stepped back, opening the door wide and waited for Mitch to walk in. He walked past me, and I caught a whiff of his cologne and secretly wanted to know what he wore because he smelled manly yet clean.

  “Levi sleeping?” Mitch standing in the middle of my apartment made it feel even tinier than I knew it was. He stood there with his hands in the pockets of his ripped jeans, zip-up sweatshirt halfway zipped with a red shirt underneath. He had tan boots on, like the Timberlands I had always wanted growing up but could never afford.

  “Yeah. He finally fell asleep after talking about hot dog buns.” And now I sounded crazy.

  Mitch smothered his laugh with the back of his hand and grabbed the bottle of wine I had sitting on the counter. “And it looks like mommy got into the Boones Farm.”

  Yes, I was guilty of drinking Boone's Farm. I’m sure it didn’t even qualify as wine, but it was hopefully doing the job of getting me tipsy. I took a huge gulp, downing half of the glass and leaned against the front door. “Did you just come here to make fun of my wine choice? I could be trying to relive my high school years right now.”

  “Didn’t those years include a raging house party, four bottles of Boone's Farm and a raging headache the next morning.”

  He was exactly right. Except I really didn’t want to relive those years. That was when I had met Manny, and my hell had begun. “Sounds like you’ve had your fair share of Boones Nights.”

  “Eh, my h
igh school years was more ragers and PBR.”

  “Ah, a beer man.”

  “Guilty as charged,” he mumbled setting the bottle back down.

  “Did you want a glass?” I offered.

  “No,” he shook his head and looked around. “Um, do you have anywhere to sit?”

  Hmm, now I remember why I didn’t want Mitch coming in. He could see how pathetic my life was. I downed the last of my glass and set it on the counter. “Furniture is on the top of my list. Right after groceries and fifty million other things.” I grabbed the bottle, filling my glass full and screwed the cap back on. I could already feel the effects of my first glass kicking in. “So, back to why you’re here.”

  “Changed my mind, I’ll take a glass,” he said nodding at the bottle.

  Hmm, pouring Mitch a drink would mean that he intended to stay for a bit. “You sure Boone’s Farm isn’t below you?”

  “Sparky, you have no idea what I’ve been through. I’m not better than anything. Pour me a glass and I’m going to pull up a piece of carpet to sit on.” He wandered into the living room and sat down under the window.

  I had two choices here. Pour him a glass or tell him to get the hell out. As much as I would love to tell him the latter, I knew I couldn’t do that to him after all he had done for me. Only one thing left to do. I grabbed another tumbler that Levi used for juice down from the cabinet and filled it halfway. The less he had to drink, the sooner he would leave.

  I grabbed Mitch’s glass and headed over to him and held out his glass. “Thanks, Sparky,” he mumbled.

  “Why do you call me that?” I asked as I sat down in the middle of the room. The only thing I had ever been called was Scarlett. Mitch calling me Sparky was strange, to say the least.

  “It fits you. Dark, fiery hair and an attitude that sparks out of nowhere.”

  Well, I guess that was fitting. Although, I didn’t really think I had an attitude. Maybe. “It seems only fitting that since you have a nickname for me that I should have one for you.”

  Mitch took a long drink, draining his glass and set it on the floor next to him. “You’re welcome to call me whatever you want, Sparky.”

  I tapped my finger on my chin trying to think of a name, but I came up blank. “I’ll have to get back to you on that one.”

  “I’ll be waiting.”

  “So, are you actually going to tell me the real reason you came here tonight?”

  “I guess I just wanted to see you, and I did want to make sure you were OK.”

  “You’re just a regular good guy, aren’t you, Mitch?” I had only known Mitch for a short time, but I knew he was one of the good ones. I just couldn’t figure out what he was doing here with me.

  He shrugged his shoulders but didn’t say anything more about it. “You like living here?”

  “No, but it’s a roof over our heads. I can’t really ask for much more right now.”

  “You should never settle, Scarlett. Always ask for more.”

  I looked down in my glass and swirled the wine around. “I know what I deserve, Mitch.”

  “And this is what you think you deserve?” He held his hand out, motioning around the apartment.

  “I’m doing the best I can do for Levi and me.” I stood up and walked over to the bottle of wine and filled up my glass again.

  “I didn’t come over here to judge you, Scarlett.”

  “Well, you could have fooled me,” I ranted.

  “I just meant to say you’re better than where you come from.”

  “And how would you know that, Mitch?” One second he was telling me I was settling and then next he was talking like he knew me.

  “Because I’ve fucking been here, Scarlett, and I made it out.”

  “Been where?”

  “Here, in this damn apartment not knowing where my next meal was coming from.” He stood up and paced the length of the living room as he ran his hands over his head.

  “You’re not making any sense. I’ve seen where you work and live, Mitch. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “You’ve seen where I live now, Scarlett. But you didn’t see me living in the apartment below this one ten years ago.”

  “I highly doubt that.”

  “In winter time, if you live in the apartment below this one, the pipes freeze and when they thaw out the apartment floods, and you’re left with soggy carpets for a week. The air doesn’t work in the summer, and the heat barely blows in the winter. As soon as Luke was old enough, he left and started up Skid Row. Now, we’re known as the Skid Row Kings because we made it out of this hell hole.” Mitch stopped pacing and walked over to me. “I know exactly what you’re going through, Scarlett and I wish when we were living here that someone would have come along and offered to make our lives a little easier.”

  “So that’s what you’re doing? Just trying to be a knight in shining armor?”

  “No. I told myself after I had given you the car that that was it. I couldn’t try to come in and save you and Levi.”

  “So then what made you come here tonight?”

  “I can’t stay away from you, Scarlett. God help me, I can’t.”

  My glass slipped from my fingers and hit the floor, spraying sweet wine all over. “Shit.” I grabbed the paper towel off the counter and tried mopping up the mess as best as I could. “I don’t know what to say to that, Mitch.”

  He crouched down next to me and picked up the large pieces of broken glass. “You don’t need to say anything, Scarlett. Just… I don’t know… let me be here. Talk to me. I don’t want anything from you other than to help.”

  “I think you’ve helped more than any sane human being would. I mean you gave me a car for crying out loud.” I stood up, dumped the wet paper towel in the garbage and grabbed the last pieces of broken glass off of the floor. Thankfully there was tiled floor in the kitchen, and the mess cleaned up quickly.

  “Then just let me be your friend. Nothing else.”

  “Friends? You really want me to believe that you just want to be friends?”

  “Well, if I’m being honest, no, that’s not all I want, but I think that it’s a good place to start. I don’t know what you’re running from, but I have to believe that it isn’t good.”

  “You have no idea what it is, Mitch.”

  “You wanna talk about it? That’s what friends do.”

  “No. This is all too weird right now. You show up on my doorstep this morning offering cars and babysitting, and now you’re telling me you want to be my friend? This is too much. I think I’m going crazy.” I grabbed the half empty bottle of wine and put it back in the fridge. The buzz that I had been working on was now gone, and all I had was the makings of a headache coming on. “I don’t know what to say. My head tells me that you’re trying to help, and I need to take whatever help I can right now, but I know how life is. I know that good things don’t happen to people like me. I’m treating you like shit, and I know I shouldn’t be. I should be groveling and thanking you up and down, but I can’t. It might be best if you leave before I sound like an even bigger bitch.”

  “Not until you agree that we’re friends and Frankie and I can watch Levi while you work.”

  “No, I can’t.”

  “You don’t have to pay us.”

  “It’s not the issue of having to pay.” I ran my fingers through my hair and closed my eyes. “Well, it partly has to do with the money, but it mostly has to do with the fact that you’re doing so much, and I’m doing nothing. It’s not fair.”

  “I’m not into fair, Sparky. I’m into making your life easier.”

  “And you watching Levi for me is going to do that?”

  “To start with, yes.”

  I threw my hands up in the air and gave up. “Fine, we’ll be friends, and I’ll call you when I need help. Deal?”

  Mitch held his hand out with a smirk on his lips. “Deal, for now.”

  “Fine, now I’m ready for bed. I’m beyond exhausted.”
/>   Mitch laughed and set his glass in the sink. “You have off tomorrow, right?” I nodded my head yes and headed to the door. “Text me tomorrow and let me know what your work schedule is for the next week and we’ll see what we can work out.”

  “OK.” I opened the door and waited for Mitch to walk through.

  He stood in front of me, toe to toe, with a half grin on his face. “You’re going to be OK, Scarlett.”

  “Sure,” I whispered. That was something I told myself every day. I would be OK; it just wouldn’t be right now.

  He grabbed my hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it and then he was gone. I stood in the hallway until I heard the outside door slam and then I finally went back in the apartment.

  I closed the door, slid the three locks into place and leaned against the door. My legs gave out, and I slowly slid down till my ass hit the floor.

  I had no idea what just happened, but it felt like I had made a deal with the devil. Although I had never seen a more handsome devil in my life before, it still felt like I had agreed to way more than I thought.

  What the hell did I just do?

  ______________

  Chapter 10

  Mitch

  “You ready to race tonight?”

  “About ready as I’m going to be.” It was Friday afternoon, and Kurt and I were putting the final touches on our cars. The ‘Vette had been ready for the past week, but there were always final adjustments to be made. Mostly done out of nerves.

  “I thought you said you would be watching Levi?”

  “Yeah, I thought so, too.” I had called Scarlett the next day wanting to ask what her work schedule was, and she had told me she had things figured out for the rest of the week. We had only talked for a couple more seconds before she said she had to go. She was running from me, and I had no idea what the hell to do. I slammed the hood shut and leaned against the car. “I don’t know what the fuck to do.” I must really be desperate if I was asking Kurt for advice.

  “Find another chick. Make her jealous.”