“Didn’t Mick’s girlfriend run the place while you were away?”
“Suzie?” Carla snorted. “That one. She spends more time shooting up or shooting the breeze than she does stocking shelves. Nothing like you. When you were working for me, I could leave here for days and know nothing would be missing and the place would be spotless when I got back.” She raised her glass in a toast. “But now? I found discarded needles in the bathroom downstairs, courtesy of Suzie. That’s what happens to the kids on Keene Street. Some grow up to sell drugs, and others grow up to use them. A lot turn tricks to afford an expensive addiction. But that never happened to you, did it?”
“Ha! Annette would have killed me.”
“Hey, plenty of these kids have tough parents, but the kids lose their way despite whatever threats or guidance they’re given.”
“I guess the problem with growing up on Keene Street is no one tells you there’s always another choice. And even if they do, you have to follow through on it yourself. The deck is stacked against these kids.”
“I was worried about you for a while.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I was hoping you’d pull Ice up and that he wouldn’t pull you down.”
Dawn nodded.
“Ah well, sometimes that’s the hardest choice of all, isn’t it?” Carla topped up her glass with more vodka and skipped the orange juice. “So you never answered my question. Why are you really here?”
Dawn gulped more of her juice and set the glass down on the counter. Shit. Think fast. “I just wanted to say hi and buy Annette some lottery tickets.”
“I don’t remember Annette ever playing the lottery.”
“Well, I got a hunch, so here I am.”
“A hunch, huh? Maybe I should play too. Okay, take your pick.” Carla pulled up the tray of scratch tickets for Dawn to peruse.
Dawn picked a bingo ticket, a crossword puzzle ticket, and two tickets with a joker on them. She paid for the tickets and then reached for her glass to finish her juice. Please, someone come in. Please, someone come in.
“Well, good luck. I hope Annette wins—or better yet, me!”
Dawn laughed. “I hope so too.”
The bell over the door rang, and Dawn almost sighed with relief. A young teenage couple with a crying baby came in to buy junk food, diapers, and cigarettes. Carla had to serve them, so Dawn said, “I just have to use the bathroom. Be right back.” Dawn didn’t think Carla even heard her, the baby was crying so loud and the couple was bickering.
Dawn scooted down the stairs at the back of the store to the basement. The storage room was the second to last door down the narrow hallway.
Almost there. Dawn’s heart was pounding in her chest. She would grab Mandy and then hightail it up the back stairs that led to the alley. She’d deliver her to her father before Carla even knew she was gone. Just as Dawn reached out to grasp the doorknob, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Gasping, she swung around, and standing before her was the last person she wanted to see.
“Hello, beautiful. What brings you back to this hellhole?”
“Hello, Ice.” Dawn slipped her hand into her pocket and gripped her keys. “I was just stopping by to say hi to Carla and came down here to use the bathroom.”
“You passed it. How long did you work here?” Ice slipped his hands in his pockets. His leather jacket fell open as he did so, and Dawn glimpsed the handle of a gun poking up from his waistband.
“Well, I was preoccupied and walked right by. Look, I really have to pee.” She turned around and hoped he couldn’t hear her heart pounding. It felt like it was going to burst out of her chest.
“If you have something on your mind, tell it to someone who cares.” He gestured with his head back in the direction of the stairs.
“Uh, yeah, I get it.” She shrugged, giving him a little smile. Hopefully, he wouldn’t misinterpret it.
There was no way she would be able to rescue Mandy at the moment. She had to get out of there.
“Your hair looks good like that.” Ice reached out and ran his hand along her bangs and down the side of her face. Ugh. He could always be counted on to think with his dick.
Maybe she could distract him and get him to wait for her upstairs if she played along. “Do you think it makes me look hot?” I think I’m going to gag.
“Short hair or long, you are always one hot piece of ass.”
