I almost choke on my coffee while she continues talking.
“I haven’t ever seen you go out of your way to help anyone. So I know this one is different.”
I put my hand up to stop her before she goes home tonight and knits baby booties. “It’s not like that with her. Trust me. You’ll see once you meet her.”
She looks around us to make sure no one is listening before she speaks, “That bitch filled your head and your heart with garbage, and it’s high time you flush it out of your system once and for all.”
I don’t have time to say anything before the door opens and the sound of bells fills the silence that has grown between us.
I turn and take her in, the sight of her knocking me for a loop. She is dressed much the same as last night, tight jeans hugging her small body, a black, V-necked T-shirt that molds perfectly to her breasts, and black flip-flops on her tiny feet.
There is not a trace of makeup on her face, and up close like this, I can see tiny freckles sprinkled over her nose. Her hair sits on top of her head in one of those bun things women wear. It occurs to me that she looks just like her daughter from the pictures I’ve seen.
She slides onto the stool next to me, giving Phyllis a smile. “Hi there,” she says then turns to me, giving me a nod before turning back to Phyllis. “Did he order?” she asks as she reaches over and grabs the menu from the middle of the counter.
“He’s just having pie,” Phyllis says.
“I’ll take a bacon cheeseburger, all the way, with fries, please.” She flips the menu over, looking at the drinks. “And a chocolate shake. He’s buying.” Once she is done placing her order, she looks up and smiles.
It takes two seconds to realize this probably wasn’t my smartest idea. These two are going to ruin me. Phyllis just smiles at her and walks back to the kitchen to put in the order.
“So, Mick, what did you want?”
“I’m going to introduce you to Phyllis, whom you’ve just met, by the way, and she is going to speak with you about a job.”
Her spine stiffens, and she glares at me, the green in her hazel eyes deepening with her rising anger.
“Now before you go apeshit on me, it’s my fault you lost your job last night, so just go with it.”
She lets out a laugh. “Just go with it. I’ve heard that before.” She shakes her head. “I could get my own job. You know that, right?” She crosses her hands in front of her.
Phyllis walks out with the chocolate shake in her hand. She places it right in front of Marissa, who leans forward and takes a big sip, groaning out in ecstasy.
The sounds of her pleasure over the shake have my cock springing to life.
“I haven’t had one of these in three years. I haven’t had a cheeseburger in over six months!” she says and then goes back to her shake.
Before I can ask her why, Phyllis does it for me.
Marissa shrugs her shoulders. “I was a stripper, so I had to keep my weight below a certain number. Now, though, that’s not an issue.” She finishes about half the milkshake before we hear the order pick-up bell coming from the kitchen.
“That sounds like your burger is ready. Now stop drinking that so you’ll have room for real food,” Phyllis says to her while walking away.
“You don’t need to watch your weight, you look fine,” I say before I can stop myself.
Before she can respond, two plates are plunked down in front of us. Phyllis looks pointedly at me. “You need some grease in your system to absorb all the whiskey that is seeping out of your pores.”
Marissa doesn’t wait for me before she bites into her burger, ketchup gathering in the corner of her mouth. Her tongue slides out to lick it away, and that innocent gesture has my cock knocking on my zipper.
She dips a fry in ketchup. “Is that what that smell is? You should have showered.”
I glare at her, taking my own bite of my burger.
Right before I answer, Phyllis cuts in, “So, Mick mentioned he got you fired from your job last night.”
Marissa just nods her head since she has so much food in her mouth, she looks like a chipmunk.
“Lucky Jolene gave her notice last night after I found her on her knees in the supply closet with Becky’s husband. The same Becky who was sitting in a booth, waiting for him to finish in the bathroom.”
Marissa’s eyes practically bulge out of their sockets.
“So if you want the job, it’s yours. I don’t tolerate tardiness, it’s rude. I also don’t tolerate my waitresses giving head to the customers, especially the married ones, in my supply closet.”
Marissa swallows her mouthful, wiping her hands in her napkin. “I would love to work for you. I haven’t been late for a single shift, not one, ever. I’m kind of focused on getting my daughter home right now, so I have bigger things going on in my life. There’ll be no blowjobs given out by me. And just so you know, I don’t tolerate being talked down to or disrespected. Some people will come in here, and all they’ll see is the stripper, not the woman. I won’t allow anyone to treat me like a whore, because I’m not one.”
The thought that people actually judge her because she’s a stripper makes my blood boil. My fist clenches open and shut while I try to get myself to calm down. Then I realize I was that fucking asshole once or twice also.
“I like you,” is all Phyllis says before looking at me then back at Marissa. “Can you start tonight? I know it’s last minute, but I’m really stuck.”
“Yup, I can start right after I finish this and that piece of pie”—she cocks her head in my direction—“he’s going to buy me.”
Phyllis lets out a laugh. “Oh, this one is going to work out just fine,” she says before going back in the kitchen.
“I like her,” Marissa takes another bite. “She’ll be cool to work for.”
This might have been a mistake, but just seeing Marissa smile I know that I would do it again. Smiling to myself, I pick up the coffee cup and drain what’s left. “I believe you now owe me one.”
My comment makes her stop mid chew, and with one of her famous glares, she says, “It’s your fault I’m here to begin with.” She doesn’t even care that she is talking with her mouth full.
I know I shouldn’t be doing this, shouldn’t even be thinking about this, that this is going to end fucking badly for everyone. But I just don’t care right now, not one fucking bit. My heart beats just a tiny bit faster because of her, and I don’t think it’s done that for anyone but Sandie, ever. That is reason enough to not walk away from her. This thing between us has a mind of its own. This pull is real, it’s strong, and I’m already tired of trying to fight it.
“I’ll make you dinner,” she whispers softly, hunched over her plate, pushing her fork around what’s left of the pie. “But just so you know”—she takes a huge breath before continuing—“I’m not going to sleep with you, not now, not ever. No matter what people may think, I’m really not that kind of girl.”
The words that come out of her mouth shock me. Yes, I judged her at the beginning, and yes, I thought the same thing. But five minutes with her and I knew that wasn’t what she was about.
“Good to know. You can come over on Friday after you finish your shift here.” I don’t say anything more, but I take in my hands. One is clenched in a fist, and the other is gripping the coffee mug so tight I think I might shatter it.
I get up, tossing some money on the counter before Phyllis comes back because she wouldn’t let me pay for anything. “I’ll text you my address.”
Once I’m in my car, I realize that the tightness in my chest has loosened up, just a touch.
Chapter Eight
Mick
“Eat all your food. Momma has someone coming over and you can’t be walking all over the house,” she told me while piling more mac and cheese into my bowl, a cigarette hanging from her lips.
I didn’t say anything, just shoveled the food down. It was a good thing that Jimmie lent me the new comic book that he go
t. “Okay, Momma.” I didn’t have time to say anything else before there was a knock on the door.
She quickly threw the pot into the sink that was already overflowing with dirty dishes, throwing her cigarette in another one while she turned the water on to soak the pot.
She really fixed herself up today. She was wearing her ‘good’ clothes, so I thought whoever was coming was someone important.
Walking over to the door, she fluffed her hair before she opened it. “Baby,” she cooed softly. The man whom I couldn’t see stepped in.
When he did, I saw that he was wearing a suit like my principal wore at school for picture day, clean-cut, clean shoes, his hair short with a beard.
He closed the door behind him before grabbing my mother around her waist. “Marla,” he said before kissing her on her cheek.
“Is that any way to treat the mother of your kid?” she asked him, and my head snapped up. What was she talking about?
“Marla, we have been over this many times before. You can’t keep saying things like that.” He didn’t even notice that I was now standing right behind my mother.
“Who is this?” I asked them both, wondering who would answer me.
The man looked at my mother and then at me. “I’m an old friend of your mom’s. We went to school together. You can call me Billy.”
My mother didn’t say anything, just rolled her eyes at him. “Yeah, we went to school together.” She placed her hands on her hips. “Now, Mick, go to your room and close the door. Bedtime is at eight.”
I didn’t say anything to her or to him. I just nodded and walked back to my room, closing the door behind me.
It didn’t take long before the moans started. You would think I would be used to this, but I wasn’t. Grabbing my headphones off the side table, I put them over my head, hoping that this time went quicker than it did when other guys came around.
I mean, my mom tried her best, but she missed love. At least that was what she told me. I didn’t have a grandma or a grandpa. They told her to leave when she was pregnant with me. So it was me and her against the world, she said. That is until one of her boyfriends came over, and then it was just me against the world.
I didn’t know how much time had passed, but when I took off the headphones there was no more noise, so it was my chance to sneak out and go to the bathroom.
Opening my door softly so as to not make any noise, I peeked my head out but didn’t see anyone in the living room.
Billy’s jacket was still on the couch, so I knew they were somewhere there, probably in Mom’s room.
When I tiptoed to the bathroom, I saw Mom’s door was slightly open. That Billy dude was sitting at the edge of the bed while my mother was standing in front of him, naked.
“What do you mean you aren’t leaving her?”
“It’s more complicated than you think it is. I can’t just go in there and tell her I’m leaving her. I work for her father at her father’s company. I’m going to have no job. How the hell do you expect me to keep giving you money if I have no job?”
“You said you were leaving her when we found out I was pregnant. You promised if I kept quiet, you would leave her when I gave birth.”
“I know what I said, honey, but now isn’t a good time,” he said while trying to grab her hand to pull her closer. She didn’t make him work hard, and she was standing in between his legs while he grabbed her ass in his hands.
“She’s been depressed ever since she had the baby. She isn’t strong like you. She’s weak. I’m telling you, she’s going to snap soon, and then I can put her away and have you and Mick finally move in with us.” He kissed her right between her breasts. “I love you, always you.”
She sighed deeply. “Yeah, right, you love me. You love to sink your cock into me, always have. I’m tired of the promises, William, tired of being your dirty little secret, tired of being the mother to your bastard son.”
“I promise you, this will be over soon, and then I can claim Mick as my own, give him my last name, and we can be a family.”
“I really hope so, because I think I’m pregnant again,” she told him, and he pushed her away from him.
“What the fuck are you talking about? You said you were on something, and now you tell me you’re fucking knocked up again?” He pushed past her to get his pants off the floor. “I can’t fucking believe this shit. I have one knocked up at home, and I have you knocked up here. What the fuck?”
My mom’s face turned white. “She’s pregnant? I thought you said you were leaving her. This is why you didn’t leave her yet? Because you fucked her and got her pregnant?”
Billy’s hand flew out so fast, my mom didn’t see it coming. Her head snapped back, and she fell to the floor. I rushed in to try and save her right before he kicked her while she was down. “Fucking bitch trying to trap me again.”
“Leave my mom alone.” I put myself in front of her.
“You can have her. Cheap bitch spreads for everyone.” He put his shirt back on. “Don’t try to say this one is mine, too. You know I’ll fucking bury you before the results come back.” And with that, he stormed out of the room.
I looked over at my mom, who was curled up in a ball crying. “It’s okay, Mom, I’m going to get you water.” I ran back into the kitchen, grabbed a glass and water, and then walked super slow so I didn’t spill any.
What greeted me when I returned to the room was my mom in a puddle of blood pooling around her bottom. “Mom? Are you sick, Mom?”
Her eyes were closed, and the blood just didn’t stop. My hands were all covered in it now.
“Mom?”
My eyes flash open, the sheets tangled at my feet, my chest heaving, the bile slowly rising. I barely make it to the bathroom before everything ejects from my body.
Bending over the toilet is not the way I wanted to wake up this morning. After rinsing my mouth and brushing my teeth, I head downstairs to start my day at four-oh-four in the morning.
“Fucking great,” I say to myself as I wait for my Keurig to finish brewing my coffee.
I sit and peer out into the dark night, so quiet and peaceful. I bought this house because it had a backyard that led to a lake.
Looking out over the calm lake, my mind wanders back to the blackest days of my life.
I called 911, not really understanding what was happening but knowing I had to get my mother help. Mom suffered a miscarriage right there in her bedroom. She was never the same after it. As soon as we got back from the hospital, she packed up all our stuff, and we left that little apartment, the only place I ever had good memories of my mom.
That’s when everything spiraled out of control. The drugs, the stripping, the men. It was a fucking revolving door. Once when I was sixteen, she was high and drunk, and I picked her up off the couch and brought her into her room. Her whispered confession that night were words I never forgot, words that still haunted me. “I try, Mick, but it’s just so hard. It’s so hard loving you when all you do is remind me of him.”
I didn’t have to ask her who ‘him’ was—I knew. In that moment, I realized that love wasn’t unconditional, and my mother definitely loved me with conditions.
Pouring milk into my coffee mug, I go sit outside near the water. The sounds of crickets and frogs fill the silence. I make up a list in my head of things to do, but my mind inevitably drifts to Marissa. Her expressive green eyes that hold so much sadness and so much heart.
I watch the dark night sky slowly turn to orange as the sun makes its way over the horizon. Leaning my head back, I close my eyes, hoping to just rest. The sounds of the water rolling over the rocks at the edge of the lake and the cry of the crickets lull me back to sleep. I wake a couple hours later to the sound of a school bus honking.
Grabbing my coffee mug, I head back inside for my gym bag and head there, where I’ll knock the shit out of the heavy bag, beating the old memories of my mother, that night, and the guy whose blood runs through my veins out of my head.
&n
bsp; Chapter Nine
Mick
I make it inside my door right as the sun is setting. My body still aches from the beating I gave it this morning at the gym. My feet hurt from walking the streets trying to chase down leads on a guy who everyone seems to have seen but no one really knows.
I barely make it into the kitchen before there is a knock on the door. Throwing my head back, I run my hands over my face and groan. I’m sure it’s fucking Sandie. She has been blowing up my phone for the past two days. Ever since she showed up at the station and pretended she got a new phone and all her contacts got erased. I could kill fucking Chris for giving her my new number!
When the soft knock comes again, I hope it’s not her. I throw the door open and stare, mouth hanging open, at the person on the other side.
“I wasn’t going to come, but Phyllis said I at least owed you a meal, so here I am.” She shrugs her shoulders. “She also gave me your address, so I don’t want you to think I’m stalking you, because I’m not.”
I take her in. She’s wearing a pair of flip-flops, faded jeans, a tight top, and a pale blue, zip-front hoodie.
I don’t say anything. I’m stuck on the fact that she’s here to do something nice for me. No one has ever done something like this for me.
“This is stupid. I’m stupid.” She thrusts the bag in her hands at me. My hands reach out to grab it, still not saying a word. She turns around to walk down the steps, and I snap out of it.
“Marissa, get your ass in the house so we can eat dinner.”
She turns around, letting her head fall to the side. “Is that any way to talk to someone who slaved over a hot stove to make you dinner?”
I peek at the containers in the bag, knowing damn well Phyllis gave them to her. “I don’t know.” I raise the bag in my hands. “Did you actually cook this?” My lips are fighting to hold back the smile that wants to emerge.
She throws her hands up. “Okay, fine, I didn’t actually cook it. But I did box it up, and I sure as hell paid for it, so it’s almost like I cooked it.” A slow smile starts to creep across her face. “Now, are you going to be a bit nicer and let me share it with you?” she asks as her hands fall to her hips.
Pieces Of Heaven: Pieces Of Heaven (Heaven & Hell Book 2) Page 4