Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 69993 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69993 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
“Grow up? You mean like how I skipped my chance at a college degree to wait tables and answer phones so you could keep the house?” I hate that she’s making me throw that in her face, but it’s the truth. “I’ve been grown up for a long time, Mom.”
“Grownups get up and go to work every day Gia. They don’t party all night and sleep all day.”
“You didn’t have a problem with my partying all night and sleeping all day when I was working two jobs to make sure we didn’t end up homeless. Only now that the market is shit, you have a problem. Or is it that you want me gone so you and Frank can have the house to yourselves?”
She gasps, and guilt flashes in her eyes, but it’s gone quickly. “Enough, Gia! Just get off the fucking drugs or get the fuck out! That’s it. Those are your two choices.”
“Got it, Mom. Loud and fucking clear. You want me out. Fine!”
I’m so furious that I’m shaking, and anger takes the better of me. I dig the small baggie under my thigh and dump it on the mirror. I keep my eyes on her and use the straw as only I know how, taking the biggest fucking bump of my life right there in front of my own fucking mother.
Her mouth drops open at my insolence. “That’s it, get out. Get the fuck out now!” She storms toward me, grabs the mirror, and throws it across my room.
Rage cuts a path up the back of my neck. “What the fuck?” I yell.
“Go! Now! You don’t get to stay in my house, drinking and drugging and talking to me like that. You think you’re grown? Go!” Mom says with fire in her eyes. I don’t think I’ve ever pissed her off this bad.
My shoulders fall, but I don’t feel disappointment. I don’t feel anything. Just high.
This is a long time coming. Mom’s been trying to get rid of me since Frank started sniffing around.
“You know what, Mom? You’re about to get exactly what you want, to be alone. I’m out of here, and newsflash, Frank is probably at home with his fucking wife!”
I smirk, but it doesn’t feel good. Thankfully, I’m too high to give a fuck.
“You’re high, and you’re lying,” she says, but I see the hurt look in her eyes. She didn’t know, and I’ve probably just broken my mother’s heart.
Oh well. “Then you should probably ask yourself what it is about you that attracts married men.”
The words echo in the room, and the guilt that pools in my belly makes me long for another hit, or a drink. Anything to stop feeling like this.
Mom slams the door behind her, and since I’ve had a shit day, I slip out of the house for a late-night walk to clear my head.
Between Mom’s desire to get rid of me, and the Iron Kings on my ass, I need to do something. Meaning I need to make a lot of money in a short period of time.
Those plans are usually dangerous, but hell, what do I have to lose at this point? I can always do something nefarious on the dark web. No one would know it’s me.
I text Ro to see if she’s still awake. She is and meets me at the end of the block the same way we did in high school when the parents became too much to handle.
“Gia, I’m glad you’re all right.” Ro wraps her arms around me and squeezes me tight. “I didn’t call the cops, but only because I saw you come home with the big burly biker.”
I smile. “I’m fine. There were no threats or torture, just a genuine desire for information.”
“Really?”
I nod. “Really. I did beat an old lady’s ass.” I giggle. “Then, they gave me a drink and asked a bunch of questions. When it was over, Preacher dropped me off.”
“With a kiss on the cheek,” she says in a sing-song voice.
“He’s a nice guy, but his motives are suspect.” I nod, and we start walking around the neighborhood. It’s a shitty neighborhood but only in terms of economics. For the most part, its safe, so we walk and talk.
“What do you mean?”
I shrug. “They need something from me like everyone else, which means I can’t trust anything he says. Maybe he’s being nice and sweet to make sure I keep giving them information. Maybe I’ll give them everything they want, and they’ll turn me over to the Iron Kings themselves. Who knows?”
“You can’t think like that, girl.”
“Why not? Other than you, who can I trust in this world?” I shake my head. “Even Frank is a fucking liar.”
“Men cheat,” she says.
“Yeah, but that doesn’t make it right, and it doesn’t make him not a fucking asshole.” It’s better for her to think my anger is over Frank turning my mom into a mistress than anything else.