PROLOGUE
“What the fuck is this?” I yelled and shoved the paper into Sean’s face.
He snatched it from my hand and scanned over it, confirming my fear with the narrowing of his eyebrows. “It looks like an eviction notice,” he sighed. “We knew it was coming.”
“Yeah, but not this soon! What are we going to do?”
Sean shrugged. “Not much of shit we can do.”
“You know, you could try to help me here,” I huffed. “Why do I have to do everything?”
“Because I don’t fucking want to.”
I turned to him and smiled. “Okay, have it your way.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means once I get this figured out, and I will, you’ll be out on your ass.”
“This is my place.”
“You and I both know that’s bullshit.”
“My name’s on the lease,” he countered.
“Well then, that would make you responsible for everything in here,” I said and paused to cross my arms over my chest. “It’d be a shame if someone got wind of what you’ve got going on in here.”
“Wait, I think you misunderstood,” he backpedaled.
“I don’t take care of other people. They take care of me. Remember that.”
“You’re taking care of my dad,” he said, sounding like a petulant brat.
“So he can take care of me!” I yelled in frustration.
“Look,” he said and held his palms up. “I don’t know what to do, but if you think of something, I’ll help. As long as our other arrangement doesn’t change.”
“It won’t if we stay here, but you aren’t fucking this high-maintenance pussy on your friend’s mom’s couch.” Instead of waiting for his response, I winked and closed the bedroom door behind me.
Flopping onto the bed, I covered my eyes with my arm. Once again, I had all sorts of problems to deal with because of someone else’s fuck up, and I was running out of time to come up with a plan. But I’d worked too hard to get where I was to let it all be taken away without a fight.
We needed cash, and we needed it fast. But I didn’t have anything to work with. When the cops showed up and raided our home, anything of value that wasn’t confiscated for the investigation was destroyed during their search. We didn’t even have a working television to watch.
The quiet was driving me crazy. Anything would’ve been better than the deafening silence. A bouncing basketball. A barking dog. A crying baby.
I was on the verge of ripping my hair out when Sean pushed his way into my bedroom. “I forgot to tell you. My dad called earlier to remind you to put new flowers on Grandfather’s grave.”
“Fuck,” I groaned. I’d completely forgotten about the mundane task. It was a waste of time and money, but it was the only thing Carter asked me to do for him while he was away, and I needed to keep up appearances. So, I begrudgingly got to my feet to go out and find some festive fake flowers for the dead.
“You’re coming with me. You can drive.”
“I’ll pass.”
“I wasn’t asking. Get in the fucking car.”
“You’re such a bitch.”
I gasped in mock offense. “Me? A bitch? Never.”