“No.”
“Why not? What is she afraid of?”
“Everything. Mostly my brother finding out what she did.”
“What did she do?”
The girl opened her mouth, then reality seemed to catch up with her and she snapped it shut, more panic clouding her gaze. “Nothing. It doesn’t matter. I shouldn’t have said anything.”
She stepped back and whipped around, ten feet away before Mickey could blink.
Fuck.He could’ve reached her in two strides, but he knew better than to chase a young girl down and force her to speak to him. “Hey!” he called. “Wait up.”
The girl stopped but didn’t turn round.
Mickey pushed off his car and caught up with her, rounding her slender frame to stand in front of her, though he kept well back, leaving her space to flee if she wanted to. “Listen,” he said. “Ineedto speak to your mum. I can’t do anything for you unless that happens. I’m going to write her a letter and put it through your door, okay? It’s going to say everything she needs to do to put the brakes on the arrears and how to do it, but shehasto contact me, even if it’s a just a text message. She can do that, right? I have her number, so I’ll know it’s her.”
“She might not have yours. She deletes your calls so my brother doesn’t see them.”
“He goes through her phone?”
“No. Never. But she’s convinced herself he does, even though he doesn’t come in the flat anymore.”
“Why doesn’t he come inside?”
The girl shrugged. “I don’t know. They kind of hate each other. It’s complicated.”
“Families usually are.” Mickey pointed behind the girl. “I’m going to get my card from the car. Take it home and give it to your mum, and tell her I’m dropping off a letter in the morning. But she hasn’t got much time to respond; I need you to understand that. Between us, we need to figure something out by the end of the week, or we’re all in trouble.”
He spoke lightly but held the girl’s gaze. He didn’t want to scare her, but bullshitting wasn’t going to help.
She nodded.
Mickey fetched his card from the car and took it back to her. She shoved it in her pocket. Then she stepped around him and disappeared into the night.
Anxiety scraped Mickey’s conscience as she vanished into the shadows. He couldn’t remember how old Rosetta De Luca’s daughter was, and it wasn’t as if he could put her in his car and give her a lift, but letting her walk home alone felt wrong enough to leave a bad taste in his mouth.
He returned to his car and slid into the seat, starting the engine and glowering at his empty cigarette packet. His chest already hurt from the two he’d sucked down in quick succession, but the need to dampen his nervous energy trumped his health. Always did, and he had the scars on his soul to prove it. Still, there were better ways of tying his feet to the ground than giving himself lung cancer.There are worse ways too. Like—
Shaking his head, Mickey dug his phone from his pocket and opened WhatsApp again. Benito had gone offline a while ago, perhaps reading into the fact Mickey had read his last message and not replied.Fuck that.Mickey’s fingers flew over the screen, typing and deleting until he was almost sure what he’d written made sense.
Mickey:can do tonight but not till late and not at the club. too far. can accom. it’s safe
He hit Send, then dropped his phone on the passenger seat. Every selfish instinct he possessed screamed at him to wait on Benito’s reply, but he’d worked hard not to be a selfish motherfucker anymore.
Before he got his dick wet again, he had a letter to write.
* * *
The knock on Mickey’s door came at ten at night. By then, he’d dictated a letter into his laptop, run it through a dyslexia app, and sent it to the office for a final check before he would print and deliver it the next morning.
He’d showered too but missed dinner, and the only clean clothes he had were the black drawstring pyjama bottoms he answered the door in.
No shirt.
Benito lounged on Mickey’s porch, shoulder propped against the brick, dressed in designer sweatpants and a long-sleeve tee that clung to his muscles. Casual and cool. Only his eyes gave him away as something more, glinting in the darkness and sweeping over Mickey with such intensity, Mickey shivered. “Hey.”
“Hey.” Benito didn’t move.