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“This is dumb.” Mallory stood with her hands on her hips as she watched me struggle to shove the last of my original wardrobe into the duffel bag I’d had since high school. “You’re not hurting them. You’re hurting yourself. And Avery. And not to sound self-centered, but you’re really hurting me!”
I heard a honk outside and looked out of the window over the stairs to see a beat up old muscle car parked in the driveway. Dog Guy, whose name was actually Greg Dean, got out and looked around. He looked about as right in the neighborhood as his car did. Dice jumped out behind him and looked around just like his owner.
“Also, I can’t believe you befriended Dog Guy. He’s in a gang, Fifi.”
I shrugged. “He’s a good guy and he offered to help. Plus, Avery loves Dice so I’m hoping that will distract him from what all he’s leaving behind.”
“How do you think you’re going to pay for rent, Fi? Huh? You don’t have a job but you’re somehow comfortable enough leaving a fully paid for house? That makes no sense.”
“I’m getting a roommate.” When her face fell, I grinned. “Relax. I mean you; you’re coming with us.”
“What? I don’t want to move to that building with you. If I’m going back to paying rent, I’d like to live somewhere safe. And nice.” She sighed dramatically and stared at me for a few seconds straight. “Fine. The first time I see a bug, I’m out of there, though.”
“Hey! I never had bugs.” If you didn’t count the ants that kept getting in somehow that I’d never been able to conquer. “I have to get out of here, Mal. Everything makes me think of them. I keep waiting on my anger to win out over the pain but it isn’t. I’m just…destroyed. Living here, knowing how close Sebastian is, remembering them being here, it’s all too much.”
She pulled me into a hug and sighed. “I’m going to murder them.”
I sniffed and fought back tears. I was so over crying. “Don’t. I’d probably lose it over them not being around anymore, even though them being around is crushing me.”
“Is this what I have to look forward to if I ever get my heart broken? Forget it. I’m just going to keep fuc-”
“Mom!” Avery shouted up the stairs. “Dice is here!”
I licked my lips and straightened my shoulders. “I’m fine. I can do this.”
She nodded. “Of course, you can.”
Avery had already pulled the door open and was on the floor, rolling around with Dice. He laughed when Dice rolled onto his back and wiggled his legs around. “This is the best day ever! I missed you, Dice!”
Greg whistled as he looked around the house. “What the hell are you doing, Ma? This place is nice. You can’t afford the rent anymore, or what?”
Mallory grunted from behind me. “It’s completely paid off and in her name. Same with the car out front. If you want to try to talk some sense into her, go for it.”
“What?” His voice was so loud and angry out of nowhere that Dice stood at attention. “You’re trying to move yourself and your kid back to the apartments? When you have all of this?”
“She’s trying to move me there, too. I guess I’m going to be doing hot yoga in that tiny patch of grass out front.” Mallory looked down at Dice. “And I guess I’ll have to battle Dice for it.”
“No.”
I frowned at Greg. “What do you mean, no?”
He shook his head and then pulled me out onto the driveway with him. “I mean just what I said. No. I don’t know why you think you can’t stay here but I’m not helping you go back to a place where you’re never one hundred percent safe. There was a shooting last week. I thought you had nowhere else to go, Ma. You need to think about where you’re taking your kid.”
I wrapped my arms around myself and shivered. “Greg… The house is in my name and it’s paid off but it’s not mine. I didn’t pay for it. I don’t want-”
“You’re starting to piss me off.” He pulled a cigarette out of his pack and lit it. “You’re trying to bring your kid back to a place like the apartments because of your feelings about how you got this place? This safe place with a security system? I bet the cops come here when you call, Ma. That’s selfish. You know the landlord’s cousin is a funny uncle. He just moved in.”
My stomach soured. “What?”
“Yeah. So you’d be bringing that little boy into an even worse situation. I’m not helping. Stay here. Live your life without worrying about whether or not I’ll be around to protect your ass when you’re walking home from the bus stop.”
I covered my face with my hands and groaned. “You’re right. I know you’re right. I still don’t want to stay here, though.”
“You said you’re pregnant. Where are you going to raise those babies? Here? In this rich ass neighborhood? Or in that apartment with one bedroom and a permanent stink of sewer?”
Looking up at the house, I knew the answer. I was acting irrationally. I couldn’t take Avery back to that apartment, especially not if there was someone there who’d want to hurt him. Sighing, I looked back at Greg and nodded. “Thank you.”
He gripped my shoulder and squeezed. “Don’t thank me, yet. This place is so much nicer than the place I usually drop Dice off at when I have to handle business out of town. And they charge me like their shit looks like it belongs in this neighborhood. Dice would love to be rich for a few days a month.”
