by C. A. Rene
“I went for a drive and saw your gates opened. Thought I’d come let you know.”
“Cool, thanks. You can go.” He flicks his butt down onto the pile of clothing and heads back inside. I watch as the ember from the cigarette begins to burn quickly through the silk of a robe. Again, I look back to the Hummer and then curse under my breath. I know I’m not fucking leaving.
The front foyer of this place is intimidating and I quickly trudge through it. I don’t bother removing my shoes as I climb the grand staircase to the second level. Once I get to the top, I try to figure out which room the balcony belongs to, when I hear a sobbing coming from the door to my left. I stop and listen as a woman keeps repeating Robert between sobs.
“They couldn’t stand each other when he was alive but she can’t seem to fucking live without him.” I turn to my right and see Travis leaning against his door frame. “Why are you here?”
“Fuck man,” I scrub my hand down my face. “I don’t fucking know. I was driving and just ended up here.” I take in his appearance; he has on a wrinkled black t-shirt with stained sweat pants and no socks on. His hair is disheveled on top of his head and he has dark circled bags under his very exhausted looking eyes. “You look like shit.”
He chuckles drily and pushes himself off the door frame, “why the fuck do you care?”
That’s what I keep asking myself and I just don’t fucking know. I look up at him and shrug, “I don’t know, but I do. Change your clothes and let’s go for a drive.”
“I can’t leave her…” He starts but I cut him off.
“She’s an adult Travis, yes you can. I’ll be waiting outside.” I turn around abruptly and practically run back down the stairs before I change my mind. I get outside and see that the pile of clothes are now really smoking and a small flame has erupted from the now burnt silk robe. I shrug, not my fucking problem, and get into the Hummer.
Travis comes out the front door and sees the little burning pit of fire he’s created. Then he fucking undoes his belt and jeans, whips out his dick and proceeds to piss on the pile, effectively dousing the flame.
“Jesus Christ.” I mutter and advert my gaze. I don’t need to see my brother’s fucking dick. “Was that necessary?” I ask him as he gets into the passenger seat.
“Yeah?” He lifts a brow, “it could’ve set my fucking house on fire.”
“You couldn’t get water?”
“Dude, you see water anywhere? My piss was the next best thing.” He puts on his seatbelt and stretches his legs out wide, “and fucking satisfying.”
I snort and chuckle in response and soon enough he looks at me with a grin and joins in. I have no idea where I am taking us but Travis doesn’t seem to mind.
“That maid was pretty nice.” I don’t have a fucking clue what to talk about.
“Sonja?” He asks, “she was my nanny. My mother forces her to wear that uniform in the house.” He grounds out. Okay, bad choice in topic.
“I don’t know where the fuck I’m going,” I admit. “Do you want to hit up Small’s and grab a twelve pack?” Small’s is the one liquor/beer store in our town that will sell to us because Johnny Small likes money more than laws.
“I don’t know if I should…” He says sounding torn. He pushes his hand inside the beanie he’s wearing-in the middle of fucking summer-and then scrubs it down over his face. I start towards the store anyways because his indecision means a part of him wants to and I know he needs the distraction.
I pull into the parking lot at Small’s and run inside to grab the beer. Johnny is standing at the register, his porky belly touching the counter in his sweaty ass wife beater.
“Vincent Greene!” He bellows, thankfully no one else is in here. “What shit are you up to today? Where’s that hot piece of tail that’s usually following you?”
“Watch your mouth about Ember, Small, or I will have to teach you a lesson in respect.” I slap a twenty on the counter and head out. Small is a dirtbag through and through but until I’m nineteen and legal, I have no other choice.
I hop back into the Hummer and look to Travis. He has his phone in his hand and scrolling through IG. He finally feels my gaze on him and looks up.
“What did Small say about E’s ass?” He grins.
“Fuck off,” I shake my head. Small usually talks about every girl’s ass under the age of eighteen. “At least we got beer.”
“True that.” He nods.
I take us to the local park-the same one I took Em to when I showed her the box of photos-and we both sit on the grass off to the side. There are no kids here because the sun has already set. I don’t know how I got here with him or what has possessed me to chill with the enemy but I’m just going to go with it. He’s looking lost without a single friend. I know he has Em or Adri but they’re fucking girls and it’s not the same. I know he has his jock baseball fucks but it’s been a while since I have seen him out with them. Maybe the death of his father fucked him up and he has no one that gives a fuck enough to try and help him.
“Since the fuck…” I clear my throat, “your father passed, how are things going?” I sound like a stuttering idiot.
“Our father’s death doesn’t bother me as much as having to be the only one dealing with my mother’s downfall.”
“I hated him.” I nod as I chug back half a bottle of beer, “but I shouldn’t have hated you.” What the fuck am I saying?
“Yeah.” He mutters, tipping his head back to swallow the beer.
“Look, all I’m saying is that I’m here. I’m an option if you need someone.” I sound like a Disney Princess, fuck my life.
He nods and stares down at his beer bottle. The silence is starting to wear on me and I really am afraid to open my pussy mouth right now in case I start spewing motivational quotes or something.
“He was a shit Dad…” He breaks the silence, thankfully. “He was a shit husband. I know you probably hated me because of how we were living but I always envied you for having a parent that cared.”
“I did resent the shit you had while Mom and I struggled. I just had to grow up and see it for what it actually was.” I tip my head back on a swallow and finish my first beer. “We’re brothers, even if I do have tainted blood.” I grab the next beer and open it up.
“The only tainted blood you have is the one we share.” He finishes his first and I hand him a second, “and thanks… for the brother shit. I needed to hear that.”
Shame fills me as I try to see things from his point of view. Travis has never come up against me and as soon as he could get through to me, he always tried to make it a point to say we were brothers.
“You need to get out of that fucking house.” I tell him, “this weekend Ember has shit with her family. But the next weekend you should come chill with us.”
“I wouldn’t mind hitting up New York and checking out some bitches.” He says to me with a grin.
“Fucking hell yeah.” I nod, “I mean, I’ll be a wingman as long as it doesn’t cause me to have my balls speared.”
Travis snorts on a mouth full of beer and we both end up laughing. “Yeah, E is fucking ruthless huh? On the real though… how much does she fucking scare you?” He starts laughing again.
“On the real? A lot.” We laugh again, “but she’s so fucking hot.”
“She is,” he nods and I look at him with my brow raised. “Chill. She’s not my type. I couldn’t handle a girl like E.” He shakes his head.
“What’s happening with Adri?”
“Who the fuck knows?” He drops his second empty bottle, “that girl has been confusing me since the ninth grade. She runs so hot and then shuts down and becomes the fucking ice queen. I can’t keep up.”
“Drama.” I shake my head handing him another beer. Two is my limit while I’m driving. He takes it and slings back half the bottle in one gulp.
“I’m done with it. I can’t handle anything extra right now.” He says while peelin
g the label off the beer bottle. “Adri is fucking extra. Plus, I think she’s feeling Ember’s twin.”
“Emmett? No way.” I grin, “even if she is, Em would fucking lose it on her. No one can mess with him.”
“I don’t even care.” He shrugs.
“Alright, I’ll talk to Em but let’s do a trip to New York next weekend. No Adri, just the three of us. But bear in mind, you will most likely see Emmett.”
“For real?” His eyes light up, “I don’t have a problem with him. I’m just happy to have something to look forward to again.”
There’s that guilty feeling again. I should’ve done this a long time ago. “Yeah, Bro.” I nod, “we’ll make a weekend out of it.”
I drop a pretty drunken Travis off at home a couple hours later after he polished off ten beers himself. I’m slightly impressed but also have the feeling he’s used to it. I check my phone and see a few messages from Em. I didn’t want to check my phone while out with Travis because I find that shit rude.
Em: Your mother is home safe and I didn’t get stabby once.
Em: I’ll make her love me yet
Em: Everything okay?
Em: Call me when you get home
Fuck calling her, I’m going to head over to her house now and sink my cock deep into that warm, tight pussy.
31
Carm: Jennifer Talia has a side hustle. Selling babies under the pretense of adoption.
What the actual fuck did he just send me? What the fuck am I supposed to do with that?
Me: Okay…
Me: Who did she sell babies to? Do we have proof? Where is this bitch right now? Can I snipe her?
Carm: Working on proof. I have a guy with an in.
Are you kidding me? Why does it feel like I’m being fed just enough to be acceptable but not enough to do fuck all with?
I don’t say anything back and let him think I am still relying on him to help me with taking this bitch down. I can’t afford to be on Carm’s suspicious side, not while my brother is still there and trying to get out of that compound. I have my own plan to take this bitch down but if I didn’t, I know this tidbit would’ve been the most irritating shit to hear, not even considering this ‘intel’ was supposed to be given to me two days ago.
It’s Tuesday and I have exactly three days to put my plan into motion. Starting with texting this Carlos guy with my burner phone. I can see he’s playing the cool dude and doesn’t want to look desperate by texting me too soon, but I saw his reaction to me and I know he’s extremely interested. I pull out the phone and fire off a text.
Me: Hey! How’s UR week going so far?
This bubbly shit just isn’t me and it’s almost painful trying to imagine myself as a cheery Valley Girl. He lets the text sit for fifteen minutes before he texts back. Fuckboy.
Carlos: Hey urself! Week is almost done. We still good for Saturday?
Me: U do kno it’s Tuesday right? :D Saturday is good.
Carlos: Great! Sorry just in the middle of tutoring. I’ll text u later :*
I know he’s not tutoring right now because I know this asshole’s schedule as if it were my own. He is done his classes for the day and should be in his dorm right now. He’s probably jacking off his little dick to law terminology.
Vin has decided to spend the day with his mother and try to placate her on the whole ‘Don’t let Ember steal my son’ agenda. It probably has something to do with her being a single mother and the fear of being completely alone. Once my life finally fucks off and becomes normal-ish, I am going to try and find her a dick-I mean a man. He told me about spending Sunday evening with Travis and I couldn’t contain how happy that made me. He did it, on his own and without me yelling at him to. He said Travis has issues and he’s under a lot of stress. I instantly felt like shit for not checking in on him but I have a lot going on right now, too.
I was happy to hear that Vin invited him to come to New York next weekend. Thank God not this weekend because we have this shit going down and I’m not ready for Travis to learn that I’m a homicidal maniac. I let that run through my brain, homicidal maniac… I like it. Has a certain ring to it, like Serial killer or assassin… actually I am all of these things and not one of them I can put on a resume, regardless of the awesome skills it comes with.
-Punctuality on each kill.
-Team leader in planning hits.
-Over-achiever in exacting death.
-Passionate about learning new skills for spilling blood.
-A specialist in weapons.
Fuck, that’s a near perfect resume if I ever saw one.
Vin asked me not to invite Adri on the weekend we take Travis to New York and I’m already seeing the fallout from it. If Adri ever learns that I kept her out of this, she will see it as I’ve joined team Travis. Honestly, I’m fucking Switzerland when it comes to them and their fucked up relationship. I can’t choose between them and it’s not my place to Dr. Phil them. As long as she keeps her claws out of my brother, I really don’t care who’s fucking whom.
“Em!” Jesus, does he not know any other way to announce himself in this house?
“In here.”
Vin steps into the kitchen in a pair of basketball shorts, no fucking shirt on, and a black bandana on his head. His body is dripping sweat and I’m trying really hard not to salivate onto my laptop.
“I went for a jog.” He states as he opens my fridge and pilfers a Gatorade.
“Naked?” I ask him, slightly irritated to learn he’s running the streets looking like this.
He chuckles and bends down to kiss my pouted mouth, “you’re so cute. I’m not naked.”
“Whatever.” I turn back to my laptop while kissing my teeth.
He leans on the back of my chair to see what I’m typing and nearing chokes on his mouthful of Gatorade. “Are you writing your resume?”
“Obviously.” I roll my eyes.
“‘Looking for a position as a Homicidal Maniac’?! ‘An over-achiever in exacting death’?!” He reads as he gasps a bit from breathing liquid.
“I have a pretty impressive skillset and I feel underappreciated.” I shrug.
“Underappreciated?” He turns my head to look into his really pretty eyes.
“Mmhmm.”
“That’s it.” He bends down and throws me over his shoulder and starts stalking to the stairs.
“Vin!” I squeal, “no! I’m not done my resume!”
We are both interrupted by the ring of the doorbell. “You are so lucky right now.” He grunts as he smacks my ass and lowers me back to my feet.
“No, you are!” I snap back and point my finger towards the kitchen, “did you not see my skills on that resume?” I roll my eyes and head to the front door.
“You watch who’s homicidal later when I slay that pussy.”
“Har, har, har.” I mock him as I open the door.
“Am I interrupting something?” Adri asks smiling as she waves on my door step. I stuff down the slight irritation at her showing up unannounced and open the door wider to let her in.
“Did your phone blow up?” I ask, letting a bit of the irritation seep out. Vin starts chuckling behind me.
“No, can I not pop in on my best friend?”
“Sure, but don’t get mad next time if you see me in all my naked glory.”
“I came by to see what we’re doing this weekend.” She hangs her jacket up. Well, I guess she staying a while so I close the front door.
“I have to be in New York this weekend.” I state as I lead her to the family room. Every time I come in here I can see my dad and Ma laying on the couch watching some stupid reality show. I swallow down the lump and repeat my mantra. Work now, grieve later.
“Cool, I can come with! We’ll make it a girls weekend!”
“Can’t this weekend. I have to help Emmett pack up.”
“Pack up?” She asks with her brows crinkled.
“Yeah, he
’s moving here.”
“Oh!” She tries but fails to cover her excitement, “that’s nice. Will he be attending Precious Blood?”
“Mmhmm.”
“Sweet!” She claps as her smile grows wide. I roll my eyes and shake my head at her.
“Anyways,” she wisely changes the subject, “what about next weekend?”
“Can’t then either. I have to help get Emmett situated and all that boring shit, but the following weekend will be all yours.” I snap my fingers and give her the double gun salute.
“I feel like I barely see you anymore.” She whines as her mouth turns down, “I just want to party.”
“Sorry girl, my life is beyond regular teenage parties right now,” I shrug. “Aren’t you still chill with Shay?”
“Yeah, we talk sometimes.”
“Be careful with her,” Vin chimes in, “I saw her smoking a joint with Marlana at Danny’s the other day.”
“I know they talk again.” Adri shrugs, “it’s because Shay feels she has no one else.”
“Can’t say I feel sorry for her.” I roll my eyes. “How about Travis? Why don’t you try to see how he’s doing?”
“He doesn’t want to see me.” She’s pouting again.
“Says who?” Vin asks.
“I tried to call a few times and he ignores my texts.”
“Go over there,” Vin nods at her, “he will see you.”
“Okay, I will do that this weekend.” She looks up at me with puppy dog eyes, “I really miss my best friend.”
“That’s my cue to leave.” Vin starts walking to the front door, “I’ll call you later.”
“Bye!” I call out. I turn to Adri and a grin forms on my face. “Let’s have wine and talk boys.”
Fuck Adri and her fucking peer pressure. After two bottles of wine and half a bottle of tequila, we attempted to do Tik Tok videos and then passed out in the family room. Now I wake up to the sun blaring in at me while I am on the brink of death, fermenting the alcohol further in my belly and making me want to hurl. I hear a moan beside me and turn my spinning head to see Adri trying to sit up.