West
I walked behind the bar at the club and poured myself a double shot of Hennessy before pointing at my brother. “Don’t say it. If you say I told you so, I’ll kick you in the balls.”
“Uh oh.” He watched me drain the glass before slamming it down to pour another. “What happened with Shani?”
“I hate her.” No, I love her, but the fact she doesn’t feel the same way makes me want to hate her.
“No, you don’t.”
“You don’t know shit.” I tapped back another one, barely feeling the burn. Toby Keith’s “Whiskey Girl” started drifting through the speakers. “Turn that shit off before I bust it up.”
My brother whistled as he crossed the club to turn the music off, and I wanted to make good on my threat.
“Now, you gonna tell me what happened?” he asked, walking behind the bar to grab a glass for himself. He poured in two fingers and knocked it back, sucking air in through his teeth as he savored the burn.
“Pussy,” I muttered, reaching for the bottle again.
He stopped me. “This won’t help, but talking will. And I know that’s why you came here. You have plenty of this shit at home if wanna get drunk.”
He had me there.
I rounded the bar and sank into one of the leather club chairs. “She’s done with me.” I swore as I slammed my phone on the table. “Got what she wanted and she’s done.”
Neither one of us would know for at least a month whether she’d really gotten what she wanted. And if she hadn’t, would she come back for another round? And would I be stupid enough to flip her on her back and say “let’s go again”? Probably. Because whether she knew it or not, the woman owned me.
Ty sat across from me, uncharacteristically silent.
“Well? Aren’t you gonna tell me it’s my own fault for agreeing to this shit in the first place?”
He shook his head, looking somber. “You want a family. I get that, man. May not be for me, but I understand why you want it.”
Family. Family. The word rattled around in my head, and I had to admit that was exactly what I wanted. Not just a baby, but a family with the woman I’d never stopped loving.
“I don’t know what the hell to do.” I propped my elbows on the table, gripping my head. “I can’t make her want me if she doesn’t, but how do I just forget her? I don’t know how to do that.”
“You won’t be able to if you got her pregnant.” He paused a beat before he asked, “You still want that? For her to be pregnant?”
“Yeah, I do. And how fucked up does that make me? She doesn’t want me, but I still want her to have my baby.”
“I don’t think she would’ve come to you if she doesn’t want you. Could be she’s just having a hard time dealing. You know that girl. She’s skittish. Look how long it took you to lock her down the first time.”
“What’re you saying? Be patient?” I could do that if I thought the reward would be a lifetime with Shani.
“Maybe back off a little. Let her come to you.”
“Guess I don’t have much choice, do I?”
The door opened and I looked over to see a ghost from my past looking like a literal ghost. Shani’s sister.
I jumped up when it looked like the strong wind gushing through the door might blow her over. “Hey, Katie. What are you doing here?”
She looked at me with a wary but hopeful expression. Her stringy dyed-blond hair hung limply around her shoulders. Her sunken brown eyes were rimmed with dark circles, and she was so pale, her skin looked translucent. I’d only seen death once before—when my mother passed—but I knew I was looking at it again. In the eyes of a woman close to checking out but scared of what it would mean.
“I, uh, was hoping you could give me a job.”
She was painfully thin, her collar bones protruding and her shoulders angled. She was wearing long sleeves though the temperatures warranted short. She was probably trying to cover bruises and track marks.
My brother shot me a look before he stood. “I’ve got something to take care of in the office.”
“Come and sit down.” I guided her to the nearest table, aware she wouldn’t be able walk much farther. I couldn’t even imagine how she’d gotten here. No way she’d walked.
She ran her hands over her baggy, dirty jeans, her eyes flitting over the stages wrapping around the main seating area. “You probably wouldn’t have much use for me up there, but maybe I could wait tables or something.” Her eyes drifted to the spotless floor under her tattered tennis shoes. “Or I could clean up. I really need the money.”
I could imagine what she needed it for. “I don’t own this place anymore. I sold my half to my brother.”
“Oh shit.” Her eyes filled with tears. “You were my last hope. You think he’d hire me?”
I hadn’t seen this girl in over four years, yet she was coming to me for help. That was some indication of how desperate she was.
“Have you talked to your sister lately?” I asked, purposely avoiding her question. No way would I ask my brother to hire her, not in her condition.
“I can’t keep running to her every time I’m in trouble.” Tears spilled down her cheeks and she brushed them away. Her nails were broken and dirty, further evidence of how little she cared for herself. “She’s finally got her life on track. She’s doin’ good. Real good.”
I smiled at the light of pride I saw in her eyes when she spoke of her sister. In spite of her illness, Katie still loved Shani. “I know.”
“You do?” she asked, looking surprised. “You’ve talked to her?”
“Earlier today, in fact.”
“Are you two back together?”
I shook my head, unable to hide the sharp bite of pain as I clenched my jaw.
“But you want to be, huh?”
“Your sister’s a hard woman to forget.” I sat back, crossing my ankle over my knee. “I thought I had, but she came to me asking for a favor. I couldn’t say no. Probably because I wanted it too.”
Her jaw dropped, revealing stained, chipped teeth. “Did she tell you she wants a baby?”
“You knew about that?”
She nodded, her eyes glazed. “She told me last time I saw her, almost a year ago now. But I never thought she’d be desperate enough to go to you.” She grimaced. “That’s not what I meant, West. I just knew she had a hard time getting over you.”
“She did?”
I wanted to hear more, but pumping this frail woman for information only her sister should provide wasn’t fair. In that moment, their differences struck me. Shani was so strong and tough, while Katie was weak and frail. Two women who’d grown up in the same household, lived through the same challenges that had drained one and infused the other with determination.
She closed her eyes, seemingly overwhelmed with fatigue.
“Katie, you don’t need a job. You need help.”
Her eyes drifted open as she flattened her palm on the table. “I know, but there’s no help for people like me. I can’t afford it. I have no friends left, no family—”
“You have Shani. You know she’ll always be there for you, especially if you’re serious about getting well.” My heart ached when she shook her head as if she couldn’t believe that anymore. “Have you ever been in rehab?”
She shook her head, swallowing. “No. Shani wanted to take me, but I wasn’t ready to go.”
“But you are now?” I asked, trying not to infuse too much hope into my voice. I wanted to do this for her and for Shani. If there was any way I could bring these sisters back together, healthy and whole, I wanted to.
“I woke up in a rat-infested motel room this morning,” she said, her voice flat. “Next to my boyfriend’s body.” Her eyes were lifeless as I tried to suppress a gasp of shock. “He overdosed.”
“I’m sorry.”
“That’s when I realized I’m gonna be next. If I don’t stop this, my sister will be getting a call that I overdosed. I can’t do that to her,” she said, letting the tears fall unchecked. “Not after the way we lost Mama.”
“You want me to take you somewhere?” I asked, my voice low. “I know of a place I’ve taken a few friends to.”
They were dancers who’d gotten in over their heads with street and prescription drugs. My brother and I had foot the bills for their rehab, hoping they wouldn’t come back to us looking for a job. They weren’t the type who belonged in a place like this.
“I can’t afford it,” she whispered, her thin shoulders shaking with sobs. “I want to, but—”
“That’s all you need, Katie.” I pulled my chair closer, putting my arm around her. “Just the desire. Let me take care of the money.”
She rested her head on my shoulder. “But why would you do this?”
There was no room for half-truths in the face of her brutal honesty. “Because I love your sister. And she loves you. We both want to see you get well.”