by Tess Oliver
She blinked back some tears as she glared up at me. “You’re either in my life one hundred percent, or you’re out of it . . . completely. I can’t stand this anymore.”
“His money comes from running cocaine over the water.”
Again she tried to free herself.
“I know this because we’re the boat running his cargo. Colt, Slade and I are his crew.”
She blinked up at me, looking surprised and hurt. I swallowed the dry ache in my throat.
“Fuck,” she said with sad surrender. “I just can’t win.” A tear fell down her cheek. The sight of it made my chest sink as if a pallet of bricks had dropped on it. I released her wrist and went to wipe the tear with my thumb.
She slapped my hand away. “No, you don’t get to do that. You don’t get to do shit that just makes my heart ache more.” Another tear fell. It was killing me to watch. “You don’t get to be nice at a time when I’m trying my hardest to hate you.” She punched my chest, and a sob bubbled from her lips. “You don’t get to do that.” She fell against my chest. I wrapped my arms around her.
Her shoulders shook a few times. Then she sucked in a shaky, deep breath. “The worst part of everything always going to shit,” she muttered without pulling her face from my chest, “is that I can’t even go to my best friend about it. Because he’s a big part of everything going to shit.” She looked up at me. “There needs to be two of you. Then I can stay mad at one of you and talk to the other about how I’m mad at you.”
I smiled. “Trust me, the last thing this town needs is two Hunter Stones.”
There was a sharp knock on the door. “Amy,” Rincon called.
She stepped out of my arms. “I’m going to go out with him, Hunter. I need this. For the first time ever I feel like I’m part of the real world, not just the little sheltered world I built between my house and yours. And oddly enough, since you work for him, it seems I’ve finally found someone who you can’t intimidate.”
Rincon opened the door. He shot me an angry scowl. “What’s going on, Stone?”
I shook my head. “Nothing, just a little neighborly chat.” I stepped aside. It felt as if I was digging my heart out of my chest and handing it to the asshole.
He held his hand out for Amy. She hesitated before taking it.
I kept my arms straight down at my sides. My fists were tight as steel as they walked out.
Chapter 13
Amy
My mom had gone in to take another nap. I knew now what it was like to be a young mom with a toddler relieved when the baby finally laid down for a nap. Mom’s meds were too heavy. With the exception of the violent shovel attack on the front porch, she’d been a walking zombie, barely able to speak or think. There was obviously a fine line between manic episodes and a comatose state, a line that would allow her to function, but we hadn’t found it yet. We were going to cut back on the dose, and as always, it was just wait and see. It was hard to wait and see when you had no idea what you were waiting for.
The weather was cooperating completely with my plan to clean up the front yard. A thin spray of crisp, salty air flowed over the yard, and the sun above was just warm enough to let me work without a cumbersome jacket. I had gone to the hardware store to get gloves, weeding tools, a rake and a box of trash bags.
Hunter’s bike wasn’t in the driveway. It was too early for him to be up and off. Chances were, he was sleeping in some girl’s bed and he hadn’t dragged his ass home yet. There was movement inside the house though, which meant that Slade was up. He cranked on the radio, and I decided music might make the work go a little faster. I ran up their steps and walked inside.
Slade heard me and came around the corner of the kitchen. “Street”—he looked past me—“Are you alone?”
“Uh, yeah. Who should I be with?”
“No one. I just thought maybe Hunter was with you. I haven’t seen him since he stomped out of Lazy Daze last night.” He leaned against the doorjamb. “So, how was your date? Still can’t fucking believe you’re hanging out with Rincon.”
“Yep, I seem to be a magnet for trouble. And about the date— don’t ask. Having your brother drag me into the office for one of his nosy ass reprimands and lectures was the highlight of the evening. Everything went downhill from there. I won’t be seeing that guy again. He’s not who I thought he was.”
“No? That’s good cuz he’s pretty fucking sketch.”
“Said the guy who works for him.”
“Good point. But we’re just middlemen. So that makes us only semi-sketch. What are you up to?” He looked pointedly at the work gloves sticking out from the pocket of my jeans.
“I’m doing some yard work, and I figured I could filch off of your music supply. My mom took the batteries out of my radio. She was sure they were radioactive.” I walked over and opened the front window. “This place needs airing out anyhow. Smells like you guys are using dirty shoes as air freshener.”
“Yeah, that would be the kitchen.” He lifted a hand before I could make the obvious suggestion. “I was just about to tackle cleaning it. That’s why I cranked the music. Thought it would make the job easier.”
“Yep, me too. Just to let you know, I’m going to make my yard all shiny and spectacular. So your house is really going to look like shit. You might want to come out and pull some weeds too. You know how neighbors talk.”
He laughed. “That they do. And they’d run out of topics fast if they didn’t have us to talk about.”
Jade pulled up just as I stepped back outside. She carried out two big cups and handed me one. “Strawberry mango smoothie. My treat. As long as you fill me in on all the details of your date.”
“O.K.” I quickly took a long sip. “There, it’s mine now. The date details are so uninspiring, I figured you might want to take the smoothie back after you hear them.” I walked over to the porch and pulled out the gloves I’d bought her. “This is really nice of you to come help.”
She put down the drink on the porch step and pulled on the unwieldy canvas gloves. “I needed to get out. Colt is working on the siding, and there’s no way to sit in the house when he’s hammering on the outside.”
“Wow, we’re just all a bunch of do-it-yourself home fixer upper people. Like a damn cable show.” I pulled out a trash bag and gave it a shake like a sheet coming out of the dryer. “I figured we’d start over there pulling weeds and work our way to this side.”
“Quite an elaborate plan of action.” Jade took several sips of her smoothie and sighed. “There, I’m ready to go.” We walked to the far corner near our mailbox and where my mom used to plant daisies in spring. It had been so long since there’d been flowers there, I almost wondered if I’d just imagined the tradition.
Jade glanced over at the Stone house. “Maybe if we have some energy we can tackle that jungle too. It’s pretty darn ugly on that side. I don’t see Hunter or Slade coming out anytime today to join in on the weed pulling party. Even if they are providing us with some tunes.”
“Hunter is MIA and Slade is inside tackling the kitchen disaster.”
She laughed. “Slade washing dishes. I’ll have to sneak in there and snap a picture of that.”
“Well, he doesn’t always wash them. I’ve caught him just throwing away the ones that would take too much scrubbing. Pretty soon they’ll be down to just a couple of plates and a glass or two.”
We dropped to our knees and began the task of yanking weeds. Some had been growing for a long time, and they had roots that were as long and sturdy as a tree’s.
“You said Hunter was MIA? He marched out of Lazy Daze last night like he was going to start walking and not stop until he’d circled the entire world.” Jade pulled a weed and plucked off a ladybug before shoving the weed into the trash bag. She stopped and looked at me. “Colt told me how they knew the guy. Did you know what they were up to when they went off on their boat?”
“No. I knew they weren’t out fishing, but I tried not to think about what th
ey might be up to. Wasn’t it just typical of me to latch onto another upstanding citizen like David Rincon.”
“Colt and I got into a little fight about it last night, but he insists they’re trying to save up enough so they can start doing something else, something that doesn’t have the threat of jail time hanging over it.”
“That would be good.” I yanked out a particularly stubborn weed and realized the entire root ball was left behind in the dry ground. “Do you think it’ll grow right back if I leave behind the roots?”
“I think that if there is a nuclear end to the world, the only things that will survive are weeds, cockroaches and Skittles. So, yes, I think that same weed will be back tomorrow.” She reached behind us for a forklike tool. “I think this will help you dig down to the roots.”
I stabbed it into the ground. “This is more therapeutic than I expected. You know, the brothers were pretty young when their dad died. While it was better that he was gone, it also left them to fend for themselves at a pretty young age. None of them did too well in school. They were all smart, but they were much more street wise than book wise. It’s not too surprising that they ended up working for someone like David. I just hope they can find their way in this world before any of them ends up hurt or in jail . . . or worse. I know Colt is on a much better path now that you’re in his life.”
She smiled. Jade was one of the prettiest girls I’d ever met, and when she smiled, she looked almost unreal. Colt had been a hard nut to crack when it came to girls. He’d always been such a town heartthrob, he hadn’t ever needed to bother with any serious relationship. None of the Stone brothers had to try too hard when it came to women. Their rough childhood had made relationship a dirty word. Jade had been the one to finally break Colt’s shell, and you only had to spend a short time with her to know why. She’d had her stretch of an ugly past too and had turned out pretty spectacularly in spite of it.
“What happened last night on the date? He’s certainly a nice looking guy, even if he is a drug dealer.”
“God, when you say it like that, I just want to kick myself. I thought he was too good to be true. He took me to this ritzy, members only nightclub. Took us about an hour to get there. First there was an awkward grilling session about my relationship with the Stone brothers and in particular, Hunter. I guess the scene of Hunter dragging me through the bar and into the office didn’t escape David’s notice.”
Jade laughed. “Nope. The entire bar saw that little show.”
“Great. Then he spent the rest of the ride talking on the phone. I was pretty pissed by the time we reached the club. Turns out he had a bunch of his friends meeting him there. Lots of pretty, fake eyelash and boob type girls. You know, just the type I love to hang with.”
She laughed. “I see where this is going.”
“Yep. The polite but cool and rich surfer dude suddenly became the smarmy, polished coke dealer. Didn’t like his friends at all and they seemed even less impressed by me. We couldn’t really find anything to talk about. By the end of the evening, we both knew that it was over. Not that it had ever really started.”
We scooted to the next section of yard.
“So my first venture out into the world of life after Hunter was a disaster.” I yanked another weed and an ugly beetle-like bug came crawling up from the dirt. We both screamed and jumped to our feet. We stared at the little beast as it hurried to burrow itself back into the dirt.
I glanced around at the crop of spindly weeds still surrounding us. “I think I need some more smoothie. It’s going to be a long day.”
Chapter 14
Hunter
It felt as if I’d been up for three straight days. Not counting the few pass out sessions on Fletch’s flea ridden couch, it had probably been close to that. The cards were starting to look like a red and black blur. Lack of sleep and lots of party treats in the form of alcohol, weed and blow were making my head feel as if it was filled with helium. But the pile of money in front of me was enough to keep me semi-alert. Or at least alert enough to win round after round of poker.
Two nights ago, I’d walked out of Lazy Daze determined to wallow in a pool of pity. Fletch had called to let me know that the poker game was back on. I headed straight to the game, figuring my luck couldn’t get any worse. And it didn’t. I’d managed to win a cool pile of dough and managed to push the idea of Amy dating Rincon out of my head. I knew the relief was temporary, but the booze and coke had cooled the rage. The adrenaline rush I’d gotten from seeing Rincon walk out with Amy had, apparently, given me an edge in poker. I had no idea why, but I was playing like a fucking poker gladiator. Fletch had folded hours ago, and Sully had stomped off in his usual spoiled princess fit after losing his ass.
This would be my last round. I hadn’t been home in three days, and my phone had died long ago. The last two players stared at me over the tops of their cards. Their eyes were bloodshot and angry. I’d only just met them when we’d all sat down to play two nights ago. They’d lost plenty, and they were now eyeing me with a lot of hatred and plenty of suspicion. The one guy, Mack, was butt ugly with tiny scars all over his face as if he’d either gone through a major bout of chicken pox as a kid or had someone spray his face with a pellet gun. His friend, Deke, had a black beard that he pulled and twisted every time he had a good hand. Didn’t matter how good his poker face was, that beard gave away his hand every fucking time.
My poker fairy godmother hadn’t left my shoulder yet. I had an Ace high flush, so my money pile wasn’t going anywhere. The guy with the pitted face folded with a pair of twos. His friend grinned. He’d been twirling his beard into a little black icicle, so I figured he was holding something decent. He laid down three of a kind. I fanned out my flush and reached forward to sweep the pot toward me.
“Fucking cheater,” Deke snarled.
“Didn’t cheat. Just played a lot better than you two clowns.”
The lack of sleep, loss of money and final comment was all they needed. Deke scrambled like a rabid dog over the table. Empty beer bottles clattered together like bowling pins as he tipped the table over. I backed my chair out of the way, and Deke fell face first into the floor. The cards and my money cascaded down behind him. Mack took the easier route. He circled around the upturned table. He lunged for me, but I threw my fist into his face, surprising the hell out of myself at how sharp my reflexes still were. He flew back with a bloody nose.
Fletch came out of the bedroom rubbing his fat belly and squinting into the light. “Christ, Stone, what have you done now?”
“Wasn’t me. Got some sore losers here.”
Fletch’s eyes rounded. “Watch it!”
I turned around as Deke hit me with a beer bottle. I ducked but caught it on my cheekbone.
I reached up. Warm blood seeped from the gash it’d left behind. “You fuckface, I won that money fairly and now I’m done.” His face blanched white as I reached for him. I grabbed the front of his shirt and pounded my fist into his face. The guy was limp in my grasp when Fletch finally stopped me from delivering another blow.
“Stone, stop. You’re going to kill him.” It took me a few seconds to comprehend his words. The haze in my head was growing thicker by the second. I dropped my hold on Deke, and he crumpled to the ground.
The knuckles on my right hand were swollen and covered with blood. His and mine. I stumbled over to the kitchen sink and splashed my face over and over again with cold water. Mack recovered first. He grabbed his half conscious friend off the floor and pulled his arm over his shoulder. He snarled something angrily at Fletch.
Fletch held up his hands. “Hey, don’t blame me. You two were stupid enough to call him a cheater and then fly over the table at him. Way I see it, you’re lucky to be walking out of here.” They stumbled out the door, and Fletch locked it behind them.
He looked at me. “You can’t seriously be thinking of riding home tonight.”
I walked out of the kitchen. The light in the room pulsed overhead mak
ing my head hurt. I leaned down and swept up my money. My right hand was nearly numb from pounding the guy. “Yep. I’m just going to step into your shower for a few minutes to wake myself up and then I’m out of here. My brothers are probably wondering what the hell happened to me.” I righted the table and helped him pick up the beer bottles. I shoved the wad of money into my pocket. “Thanks for inviting me to the game.”
“Anytime, buddy. Hey, there are some bandages in the medicine cabinet. You might want to try and close that cut up. Looks deep.”
I walked into the bathroom and undressed. Blood was still oozing from the gash on my cheek. It was going to leave a scar for sure. I had to turn at an angle to fit in the small shower stall, but once I’d found the right position, the water felt fucking nice as it poured down over me. I’d taken my mind off everything for a few days, and it had helped. But now I’d be heading back home, and home meant I’d see Amy and that meant feeling like someone had stomped on my chest all over again.
Chapter 15
Amy
I passed my mom’s room on tiptoes, but the floorboards creaked anyway. “Amy, is that you?” she called. A loud sniffle followed. She’d been crying off and on since she’d come at me with a shovel. I’d told her over and over again it was the meds that’d caused her to do it, but that provided little comfort.
I popped my head into her room. She sat hunched under my old, faded flamingo patterned beach towel. I wasn’t completely sure when and how beach towels became her suit of armor, her protection against all the aliens trying to get her, but if it worked to make her a little less paranoid, then I wasn’t going to question it. She hadn’t touched the bowl of soup I’d brought in to her for dinner. Her shoulders looked ridiculously thin, like a metal hanger holding up her sweater and her beach towel cape.
“Mom, I told you, you need to eat with this medication.”
She blew her nose on her tissue. “Can’t eat because the medication is making me nauseous. Guess those brilliant doctors didn’t think about that.”