Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 81009 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81009 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
“That foul mood at Lick’s lack of clothing makes a little more sense now,” Goldie piped up.
I heard the door swing open, but didn’t look up to see who it was. I preferred not to make eye contact with anyone. Not when it felt as if everyone was waiting on me to say something.
“Church,” a deep voice called out. “Liam’s in there, waiting.”
“Can I have a biscuit with bacon to go?” Rome asked.
“Sure,” Nina replied.
“Hurry,” the deep voice said at the same time.
“I’m fucking coming, but I’m getting a goddamn biscuit,” Rome snapped.
“He’s pissy because Lick lost his shirt, Butch. Don’t push him,” Goldie said in an amused tone.
“What?” the man asked, sounding confused.
“Just give me the biscuit. Jesus,” Rome grumbled.
I could see Nina hold it out to him, but kept my eyes downward.
“Thanks,” he told her.
“Uh-huh.” Her voice sounded as if she wanted to laugh.
No one said anything else as his booted footsteps faded away. When the door closed behind him, I glanced over at Pepper, who was watching me. She raised both her eyebrows.
Nina plopped her elbows down on the counter across from me and rested her chin on both her hands, grinning. “All right, tell me all of it. Start at the beginning because the friends thing is bullshit. The tension was so thick between the two of you that I could almost reach out and grab a chunk of it.”
“Nina,” Pepper said, “her day was bad enough yesterday. Don’t ask her personal stuff.”
Nina barely flickered a glance at Pepper. “And this will get her mind off the bad shit from yesterday.”
“We were friends,” I told her.
She gave me a look that said she knew that was a lie.
I added, “At first.”
A grin spread across her face. “I knew it.”
Goldie hurried over to stand beside her. “I wasn’t gonna push, but if you’re telling it, I am here for it.” The giddiness in her tone was met with a groan from Pepper.
I liked these women. I didn’t know how long I would be stuck in this place, and I wanted them to like me. But there was a lot I would never share.
“I was fifteen when his mother took me in. My dad was an alcoholic and abusive. His temper was volatile, and he exploded one night at a bar, then bashed a man’s head into the wall, killing him. He was sentenced to fifteen years, but was killed five years in by another inmate in a fight.” I didn’t like to talk about my father, but I’d rather share that part of my past than the part that had come after.
Nina winced. “That abusive-dad thing I can sympathize with. Mine was meaner ’n hell. Just about killed my momma, and if he wasn’t slapping me around, he was doing things he shouldn’t to his daughter—or any little girl for that matter. Jars just about went to prison for killing him once I told him about it.”
Goldie sighed. “Yeah, but the bastard deserved it.”
Nina nodded in agreement. “Okay, so how did Tex’s mom find you?”
“Vanna was my art teacher in high school. She’d noticed the bruising and marks I’d tried to cover up my freshman year and asked me about them. I didn’t know her at first and didn’t trust her with the truth. My dad was bad, but if I was taken away from him and thrown into the foster system, it could be worse. Then there was his brother, who hadn’t…” I paused. I didn’t like talking about this, and I knew I wouldn’t have the courage to if Nina hadn’t been so open and honest about her father’s abuse. “He hadn’t broken my hymen, but he’d touched me. My dad had known and let him. I’d rather be hit than be sent to live with him.”
Nina reached over and squeezed my hands that I had clasped together. “They’re both bad.”
I nodded. “Yeah.” I cleared my throat, then took a drink of water before continuing, “My sophomore year, when he was arrested, Vanna found out about it from my counselor at school. She was friends with the judge and was able to get custody of me within days. I don’t…” I took a deep breath. When I thought about her, my nose burned, and my throat constricted. “I don’t know what I did to deserve her, but fate gave me a gift that I will always cherish. I miss her every day.”
“I didn’t know Tex’s momma was dead,” Nina said softly.
Goldie nodded. “Yeah. Brick said he was real close to his momma, and when she passed, it did a number on him. He was young too, wasn’t he? It was before Brick and I met.”
I stared at Goldie for a minute as a memory came back to me. Brick…I’d heard that name before.
“Is Brick…did he own a bike repair shop in Ocala twenty years ago?”