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“I can’t do this without her,” I whispered solemnly as Scribe leaned forward in his chair while my sister moved to kneel next to me.
“What do you mean, Eugene?” Lidi carefully asked.
Looking up, I stared into my sister’s eyes as tears rolled down my face. “She’s everything to me, Sis. All my hopes and dreams. The reason I’m still breathing. Everything I’ve done, everything I do, I do because of her.”
“Gonna need you to explain, brother,” Scribe asked.
“It was her idea that I join the club. I was a loner before. Stayed mostly to myself. She thought I needed more friends and told me that King and the others would be a good fit for me. I bought the bowling alley with you because she didn’t want to see it torn down. We spent so many hours there, laughing and just being us. It was our favorite hangout. I volunteer at the Irish Rose Tavern because she told me she didn’t have a place to hang out with her friends. She only comes in when I’m working. The house she lives in… it’s mine. I bought it because Rosewood Bank wouldn’t give her a loan. The same goes for her shop in town. I found out that the bank was going to foreclose on it after her grandmother died, but I paid off the loan and told them to tell her that her grandmother had already paid off the balance.”
“Oh God.” Lidi gasped. “It’s you. Sugar has always wondered who made sure that her boys had everything they needed. School supplies, clothes, everything. My God, you even make sure that they always have money in their lunch account at school. You pay for their medical bills. I always wondered who had mysteriously paid the boys’ bills. It’s been you all this time.”
I nodded. “I’ll do anything for her. Everything I am, everything I dream about, everything I desire is asleep upstairs right now in my bed. Help me, Sis. I can’t lose her. I just can’t.”
“You won’t,” a firm voice vowed from behind me from the doorway. “I’ll take care of this myself.”
Before I could respond, King walked out of the kitchen.
Scribe sighed, leaning back, shocked at what he just learned. I didn’t intend for anyone to find out. It was my business. So what if I wanted to spend my money on Sugar and her boys? They deserved everything, more than I could give. I didn’t mind. I did it because I wanted to. I wasn’t expecting anything in return. I just wanted to help my best friend out. She’d always been there for me. I wanted to be there for her.
“I’m gonna head back upstairs,” I muttered, getting to my feet.
“Eugene?” my sister questioned.
“It’s alright, Lidi. Whatever happens, right?”
“I love you, Eugene. Always.”
“Love you too, Sis.”
Heading back upstairs, everything my sister and Scribe said swirled around in my head, cautioning me to tread carefully. I knew convincing Shug to give me a chance would not be easy. But then again, most things in life weren’t. It all boiled down to how much I wanted her. And God help me, I really wanted her. I didn’t lie when I told Lidi and Scribe how I felt. Shug was it for me, and I was almost positive she felt the same. I just needed her to realize that.
If I could get her to believe in us, then I had a chance.
Knowing there was only one way to do that, I steeled myself for the fight of my life, because if I had my way… this was one fight I refused to lose. And the only way to win a fight this big was to bring friends.
Thank God I had plenty of those.
Chapter Twelve
Sugar
The sun was shining when I woke up to the sound of the shower shutting off. Stretching, I looked about the room, feeling all kinds of wonderful. My body ached in all the right places. Rolling over on my side to look out the window, I smiled. For the first time in a long time, I felt happy.
Free.
Almost as if nothing could hurt me. I couldn’t remember the last time I felt this way. The sound of the bathroom door opening, momentarily pulled me out of my reverie, and out walked Eugene, dripping wet with a towel tied around his waist, then a memory I’d totally forgotten about, filtered to the forefront.
The sun was sweltering as I laid on the blanket next to Eugene out at the lake. It was the beginning of summer vacation from school, and Eugene and I had the entire summer planned. Well, we thought we did. Mainly we did what came up that day, but I didn’t care. I was with my best friend and that’s all that mattered.
I didn’t have the best freshman school year. I guess most didn’t in their first year of high school, but I survived it, and now, I am a seasoned high schooler. Eugene didn’t do too bad. He made the junior varsity football team and the basketball team.
I got the grades, and Eugene got the friends.
“Shug?”
“Yeah?”
“You gonna miss me?”
