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She let her mind wander back to when she’d bitch-slapped Honey and just how good it felt. But then her backup had let go, and the woman had used moves they hadn’t been prepared for. It had taken a broken piece of fencing to finally put her down for good.
Thinking back had her hand rising to her blotchy forehead. Maybe her skin would calm down if she continued to use a wet cloth. Already suffering from terrible acne, the pepper spray had left her face even more irritated and sore.
Her phone buzzed, and she slid it open. “Yeah.”
Val, her latest recruit answered, the whine obvious in her pissy attitude. “I need to see you.”
“Fuck, girl, I gave you your quota for today already. I told you to make it last. I’m not meeting up with my cuz until tomorrow when she gets another shipment.” Her voice came across as hardass and uncaring because it oozed with her exact feelings.
“I’m sorry, Tansy. I-I partied with a buddy last night, and we overdid it. Now I’m hurting. You gotta help me.”
“Ask Leslie for help. Maybe she can share some of her stuff. I’m trying to make mine last and giving more to you ain’t gonna happen.” She clicked the end button and threw the phone on her bed.
Son of a bitch. Those two girls she hung with had become more of a burden then they were worth. They expected her to provide them with their coke and last time, Val could barely come up with her share of the money. She’d covered her once but no fucking way she’d do it again.
Tansy heard a ping telling her a text had come through. When she read it, her raw skin felt like a ragged fingernail had scratched the surface.
If you don’t help me, I’ll go to the police.
Chapter Twenty-one
Honey fought with the doctor to get released the next morning, and her mom surprised her by battling even harder. “You need to stay here.”
“No. I need to go home. Mel said she’d check in on me.”
Her mom flinched as if Honey had slapped her. Her hands went up in warning and made Honey stop talking. “No way, Honey Bolder. No way you’re going back to that disgusting apartment in that horrible unsafe district. You’re either coming home with me or staying with Mel.”
When Anita got up on her high horse there was no way short of duct taping her mouth to get her to back down. Sighing in surrender, Honey took the stiff hands and held them. “Fine. I’ll move. It was only a temporary place in the city so I could work at the Country Music Hall Museum.”
“By the way, when were you supposed to start there?”
Fibbing didn’t come easy and so Honey turned away as if to start gathering her clothes. “I have an appointment with one of the directors soon.”
“Let me know, and I’ll come into the city and visit while you’re on shift. I seldom get downtown anymore, but I do enjoy the occasional visit.”
To get her mind off the subject, Honey teased her. “Why don’t you ask Bernie Horwitz to bring you in?”
Blushing, Anita waved her words away. “Oh, that man. Always trying to strike up a conversation.”
Honey detected a small chuckle woven into the complaint, and this time it held a tiny bit of affection. “Mom, you like him.”
“Like him? He’s a pest. But, he has a good heart… and a green thumb.”
“And from the sound of things, he makes you laugh, and you’re not afraid of his attention anymore. I’m glad.”
“With you never home now, I get lonely. Guess he saw me out in the yard trying to keep busy in the gardens. He’s taken to helping me with the heavier chores.”
Honey let her mom ramble on about the planting they’d done trying to keep the few flowers they could grow from getting too much sun and soon she had herself all ready.
Mel arrived to take her home just in time, and they both shuffled her mom along to lunch and then dropped her off with strict instructions for her to lock her doors and keep her alarms on even during the day. Honey added, “Mom, let Bernie know about those threatening text messages so he can keep an eye open in the neighborhood as well.”
“Yeah, yeah. You just take care of yourself, Honey. Then I’ll be happy.” Her mom caressed her face where some of the swelling had disappeared and kissed her forehead. “Go. But call.”
Finally, the girls were alone and could talk openly. “Did the police find any videos of the attack?” Mel jumped right in.
“The last officer said the only camera nearby had been sprayed over. They had no witnesses, nothing. The dark and their masks made it impossible for me to identify them… well other than Tansy’s voice. Mel, I could have been wrong.”
“No way you were wrong.”
