Nothing ever came easy for my family. We were cursed. At least, that’s what I used to tell everyone. It sure as hell felt that way.

When we both came to the Big Apple, I thought things were going to be different. And, for a while, it was different. “Uncle” Theo gave my brother co-ownership of the bar, and I got to swing into management. In a lot of ways, it was a beautiful dream come true.

But as I sat in bed, lazily allowing the sunlight to drape across my upper body, I felt numb to all of my emotions. My body wanted someone near me, but my heart didn’t know how to handle that.

The only guys that seemed to come my way were men who expected too much from me. All of these rules, deals, and promises were a dime a dozen around here. If I agreed to Hunter’s terms, would he stay around forever? I couldn’t submit to someone without knowing they loved me, one hundred percent.

I wasn’t only worried about Hunter. At the bar, we had more to take care of, and the problems were starting to catch up to us.

The neighborhood was protesting, and it was driving away any and all of our business. If we couldn’t double our customers by the end of the month, we would have to find another way to put the food on the table. However, if we didn’t stand outside and scream our asses off, they’d tear the bar down anyway.

Of course, there was another way out: Hunter. Fifty-thousand dollars was no chump change.

“Matthew, wake up!” My brother’s kid’s sweet voice rang out, and I quickly heard his light footsteps running toward my room.

Austin walked into the room to check on me, softly stepping tip-toeing on the carpet. I quickly pretended like I was fast asleep.

As he inched closer toward the bed, I couldn’t help but smile a little. “Matthew? Are you—”

I pounced out of bed and pulled him in for a big bear hug. “Come here, you!”

Austin tried to claw himself out of my grip, laughing endlessly. I loved how much joy he brought to us, and every chance that I got to see him smile felt like a gift from above. He was only six, but he was already so much wiser than me.

“I knew you were awake,” he said, grinning slyly.

I grabbed a shirt and put it on, lazily taming my bedhead. “Oh, you did, did you?” I asked.

He nodded, looking proud of himself. “I did. And I want you to know, you’re not foolin’ anyone.”

I laughed and stooped down to his level, picking him up after kissing the top of his head and breathing in his bubbly shampoo scent. “Okay, dude. I’ll stop trying to fool you. You’re getting way too smart for me.”

“Good, ‘cause in a few years, I’ll be your age,” he said. “That gives me time to prepare my own little tricks.” He giggled in a low, vampiric fashion.

I looked at Austin and rolled my eyes. “You’ve been watching too many scary movies. You’re turning into Dracula.”

Walking into the small living room, I waved at my brother and Marcus, who were both staring at me with grim faces. “Thanks for knocking,” I said.

“You didn’t answer your phone,” Sawyer said.

“Don’t. I don’t need any more negativity right now,” I said.

To my surprise, Sawyer agreed with me. “I’m pretty burnt-out myself,” he said. “Too much picketing and not enough real action. We need to come up with a plan.”

Austin was getting a little uncomfortable in my arms, plus he weighed like a million pounds. I set him down and walked over to the closet, pulling out a Lego set for him to play with.

“I’m making the rounds today. I’ll talk to Jackie’s workers. Maybe they have some ideas,” I said.

Marcus looked worried, which was a bit unusual for him. Typically, he stayed out of the business stuff, but everything was starting to change around our family.

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s time we accept defeat,” he said.

I knew he was worried about the future of Austin, his beautiful baby boy, but I needed everyone to know that I was going to do my best for this family. I didn’t have a child to tend to, so I had the time and energy.

“There’s nothing we can do except talk to the others,” I said. “Look, I’m headed out, but I promise I’ll figure out a plan. Okay?”

My two brothers nodded, but Austin was a bit more optimistic. “You’ll figure it out, Matthew.”

My heart melted from the cuteness. I kissed Austin and hugged the brothers before I left to make the rounds.

* * *

Don’t it make you feel bad when you’re tryin’ to find your way home?

I screamed the lyrics, sliding my fist into the cold air outside the car window, smooth like an airplane. My stereo was blasting the screeching guitars and heavy snares, and within seconds, I felt at peace.

I couldn’t play a single instrument, but music was always a comforter for me. Once I turned on an album, I was transported into a different world. It was just me and Robert Plant’s voice bathed in a rich chorus effect and thick reverb. Perfection.

As the song came to a stop, I got out of my car and greeted the supplier’s son, Jackie. “We need to talk,” I said.

He pounded my fist and chuckled. “Yeah, no shit. Come in the back with me. There’s a lot to discuss.”

Nothing to worry about. They’ve already got it under control.

I walked into the back of the large warehouse and found myself face to face with about twenty different people. They were workers from the block, and when they noticed me, they all stopped talking. I felt my cheeks flush with embarrassment.

“You’re meeting without my family?” I asked.

Jackie sighed and looked at his father, an older man in the corner with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. His father stayed silent, which meant that Jackie had to explain to me why our family had been left out of the decision making process.

“Look, it’s nothing personal, Matthew. You know we’ve always thought of you as a great guy,” he said.

Somehow, that didn’t ease my anger. “Then, why are you meeting without us?” I asked.

Jackie wiped his forehead with an off-white towel. I could feel the eyes of everyone staring at me, but I didn’t care. “You’re behind on payments, Matthew. We have some concerns.”

I lowered my voice and felt my chest tighten. “Concerns,” I said. “Right.”

Jackie’s father made a noise and stood up, promptly flicking his cigarette on the ground. He stepped on the burning embers and swiveled his boot to make sure the heat was out.

“Little Matthew, we’re not your enemy. We’re worried too. They’re coming at us with everything they’ve got,” he said.

There was an empty stool, so I sat down. “What do we do?” I asked. “I made an oath to my family that we could find a way to keep our businesses open.”

Jackie’s father looked down. “We’re the flesh and blood of this area,” he said, voice lost against the cold. “But that’s not enough these days.”

“We need to stick together,” I said.

I understood their reluctance. Still, I couldn’t stop fighting for the one thing I had going for me.

Hunter had money and power. I wasn’t sure if it was possible to end the project altogether, but I knew he’d listen under the right setting.

Jackie stood up again and patted me on the back. “We got done discussing matters about ten minutes ago. We decided on backing your bar. Since you have the prime real estate, they’ll come at you first. We’ll stand by you and make sure that doesn’t happen,” he said.

“And our debts?”

“You’ll pay them when you can,” he said. “Now, come on. Let’s wheel those kegs out to your car.”

I was stunned. Thinking that Jackie’s reply was some sort of cruel joke, I ran after him. “Jackie, you’re serious? You’ll help us out?”

He kept walked until we were near the front of the warehouse again. Nodding, he rolled the keg onto the dolly. “We’ll help you, but I’m not sure it will do you any good,” he said.

“Any help is good enough,” I said. “So, what do we do?”

Jackie shrugged and started to roll the dolly toward my car. “We picket. What else is there to do?”

“Picket?” I ran after him, yet again. “We can’t just picket. We should… oh, I don’t know! Let’s take this to city hall!”

“You watch too many old movies,” he said. My mind instantly went back to Austin. I thought I was smart, but the more I dealt with this situation, the more I felt like an incapable child.

There was no time to argue about the details. I had to go to the bar and load everything in before sundown.

Helping Jackie with the keg, I shut the back door of the car and took a deep breath in.

“We’re lucky to have you helping us out, Jackie,” I said. “Seriously, I appreciate it. Let’s talk later in the week. I need to think about the situation some more.”

Jackie nodded and slapped the edge of my bicep. “See you around, Matthew.”

I drove to the bar and unloaded the kegs into the back room. Typically, I went home after load out, but I figured I needed to take a quick look at the inventory, in case we were overspending on an otherwise unneeded item.

As I went over the numbers, I heard the front door open. Theo and Sawyer walked into the empty bar, already arguing, but completely unaware that I was still in the building. Theo was trying to keep his cool about something, but my brother was frantic. I put down the sheet and carefully listened in on the conversation.

“You’re telling me we don’t have enough money to sustain the next two weeks?” Sawyer asked.

As always, Theo prepared his softest voice. “So what? We’ll cut back on the product. You and I both know that nobody’s coming here right now. Not with the mess that’s going on outside,” he said.

“Fucking protestors,” Sawyer muttered.

I sighed and shook my head. My brother was right about a lot of things, but this was something he needed to think more about. The protestors were calling for their dignity to be honored. Whoever was trying to bulldoze over our block might be able to see the hurt they were causing if we stayed loud enough.

“I need you to relax and take the day off. It’s not doing you any good having these thoughts ruminating in your head,” Theo said.

Theo rummaged inside of the large fridge near the bar. The sound of a bottle cap popping off echoed across the room, followed by Sawyer’s thirsty gulping and cold sigh.

“Thanks, Theo. I needed a drink,” he said.

“You know I’m here for you, kid,” Theo said.

“I just don’t want to end up where I was before, you know? I want to know that I’m making the right choices for my family, but I feel like I’m always one step away. It just never ends,” my brother said.

“I’m an old man who’s been through a whole lot. Life changes faster than you think. Sometimes, it’s sweet like nectar. But that sweetness wouldn’t be so delightful without the tough lessons in between. Whatever happens after all of this, realize one thing: you will come out stronger,” Theo said.

I peeked my head through the opening of the back room and saw my brother slumped against the barstool. Theo tenderly massaged his shoulders and patted him on the back.

I hated seeing my brother like this. He worked so hard for this bar, and now they were going to take it all away. It tore right through me.

I snuck out of the back of the bar as quickly as I could. Yes, they were coming after us, but there was no time to think about what might happen. We had a goal to keep our bar, and I knew of a way I could help.

I ran across the corner and pulled out my phone. There was one person on my mind. Hunter. He was the only one who could really help my family out.

I didn’t care about Hunter’s rules of engagement anymore. He could have given me a whole sheet of commands, and I would have obeyed him.

Admittedly, I couldn’t stop thinking about him, I had been too nervous to act. In a lot of ways, this was the perfect cherry-on-top excuse to finally meet up with him.

So, I dialed his number, hands shaking, and I held my breath as I heard the ringing against my ear. After a few sharp pulses of sound, I listened to his voice, low and rough around the edges.

“Hey, pumpkin.”

“It’s not Halloween yet,” I said.

Hunter ignored the joke. “I’ve missed you. When are you coming over?”

My nagging heart was pounding up my throat. “Tonight,” I said.

A pleased laugh spilled into the receiver of his cell phone, flowing into my ear canal. The sound sent goosebumps crawling over my skin.

“You’ve thought this through?” he asked.

I didn’t need any more time to think about this. It was going to happen. Daddy and I—we were going to explore each other in ways we didn’t know were possible. Suddenly, I was feeling pretty giddy about participating in his little game.

“This is what I want, daddy,” I moaned with a smile. “Can you give me what I want?”

“Let me hear you repeat it,” he whispered.

“I want you to buy me, daddy.”

All sorts of images ran through my mind. I couldn’t believe the sudden change, but I actually felt ready.

“I’ll send you my address. Tonight at 7:00. Don’t be late.”