Page 13 of Bane's Beginning

I just met my one night stand’s mother.

Could this day get any more awkward?

Chapter Seven: Thea

After church, my brother came over to me and told me that he had a room for me. He took me up the stairs and down the hall to the room and gave me a key.

“When you’re inside, keep it locked. Don’t want nobody bothering you.”

“Okay,” I said timidly.

He looked at me and sighed like he wanted to say more but didn’t know what to say.

“Dinner will be in an hour or so. I’ll come get you.”

I nodded and made my way inside, being sure to lock the door behind me. The room was surprisingly nice. It had a modern feel and a clean smell. There were a few dressers, a bed with nightstands and a door that led to a private bathroom.

I dropped my bags by the dresser and started digging around for a towel.

Before I could get in the shower, my phone rang and I saw Chase’s name flash across my screen.

“Hey, Chase,” I said into the phone.

“Hey, kid. How are you doing?”

I let out a sigh. “Well, seeing my brother didn’t go as expected. Not sure if he’s going to send me back to California or let me stick around.”

“I’m sorry that things aren’t going well. I’m sure he’ll change his mind if you just talk to him.”

“And say what?” I scoffed. “I have nowhere to go, no money, and the mafia is looking for me? Yeah, that’ll go nicely. I’m sure he’d love to have me around his fiancée and baby.”

“I’m sorry, did you just say his fiancée and baby?”

His voice sounded surprised and I didn’t blame him. I spent the next few minutes clueing Chase in on all of the recent events, including the guy at the bar, who I know now is called Bane. He took everything in and didn’t say much, which made me nervous. One thing about Chase, he’s always got something to say.

“Holy shit, kid. Your brother is going to flip the fuck out.”

“I know,” I said sheepishly. “It’s not like either of us knew, though.”

“Take it from someone whose best friend was boning their sister behind his back, it’s not something that you think rationally about when you first hear it. It doesn’t get more disrespectful than that.”

I sighed. I didn’t need the reminder of Marcus and Bridgette’s betrayal. I was still getting over what happened and her smug face when I questioned her about it.

I met Bridgette when we went to study abroad in Italy our second semester of freshman year. I realized that she liked to party and so did I, so that’s exactly what we did. We always snuck out and away from our group any chance we could. To avoid getting in trouble, we had gotten local fake IDs from some shady guy we met out one night and used them to getinto places. People asked fewer questions when you weren’t American.

To everyone who met us in Italy, she was Bianca Moretti and I was Francesca Moretti.

Thank god for that, because when we got caught up with the wrong people and finally got out, we were able to escape and do our best to pretend like nothing happened.

Once I returned to the States two months after she did, she hugged me and cried and it all became water under the bridge because I cared about her. She then introduced me to her brother Chase and his friend Marcus, and two years had passed since then.

“Are you still there?” Chase asked, breaking my train of thought.

“Yeah. Sorry. I’m about to jump in the shower. Call you tomorrow?”

“Sure, kid. Take care of yourself.”

“You too.” I smiled and ended the call. He always called me kid even though we were about the same age. Chase and Marcus are just one year older than Bridgette and I, but you’d think Chase was an old man with the way he lets his demons portray himself.