She looks down at the floor, before bringing her watery eyes to mine. “I got a C. The teacher said my information was good but I didn’t execute my speech.”
Me and that teacher are going to have a chat.Since he’s a recurring client down here at my poker tables, I think he can be persuaded.
Gently gripping their chins, I tell them, “Go sit on the couch. I need to go talk to your brother.”
They nod before running off. When I turn, Damon is squirming. He stood quietly in the corner while I talked to his sisters because he knows I’m about to light his ass up one side and down the other for bringing them here.
“Out in the hall … now!” I point at the door.
With one more look at the girls, I stomp from my office out after him. When the door is firmly closed behind us, I’m wagging my finger in his face.
“Boy, what the hell were you thinking bringing them down here? What kind of stupid do you have to be?”
At eighteen, my nephew isn’t completely bad, but with parents like his, there wasn’t much hope for him. I’m trying my damndest with the girls so they don’t end up like the wastes of space that created them.
Damon grips the back of his neck. “I’m sorry, Aunt Bill. But I’ve got a problem and the parents of the year are passed out on the couch. High as kites.”
Rolling my eyes, I ask, “What is it this time? Arrested for underage drinking? Get stopped with some weed on ya?”
Anything’s possible with this one.
He bends over, hands on his knees.Oh shit, this is serious.
“Damon, what did you do, boy?”
He slowly stands. “I had some drugs in my room. I swear to God they were hidden because I didn’t want the girls to find it. And they’re missing.”
I could pummel him.
Tilting my head, I take my nephew in. This idiot isn’t telling me the full truth, I just know it. You work with degenerates long enough, you can spot a liar a mile away. “What aren’t you telling me, Damon?”
His cheeks redden. “I … I know you told me to steer clear of Dixon, but it seemed like easy money. They were his drugs, my test, and now I don’t have themorthe money to pay for them.”
With one hand on my hip, the other rubs my forehead. Yep, he stepped in it this time.
Blowing out a breath, I admonish him. “You stupid fucking idiot. How many times have I told you, Dixon Winchester is bad news. You don’t get into bed with Dixon!”
He narrows his eyes at me, throwing his arms out in a show of the space we’re in. He has me there. I am technically also in bed with Dixon, but I tell myself I’m only in bed with Stevie. We ignore Dixon as much as possible.
It helps me sleep better at night.
“Who knew about the drugs?” I switch from punishment to problem solving mode.
“Just Diesel and Dixon. I think …” he trails off.
“You think what?”
I don’t have time for this. The girls next set starts on stage in twenty minutes and a poker match starts in an hour. I need these kids out of here by then.
“I think maybe Mom and Dad took the drugs. They’ve totally fucked me!” His eyes shine with unshed tears, and I know the fear is gripping at his heart.
And this is what’s wrong with the youth. He got into something he shouldn’t have, thinking he was an adult, and now that it didn’t work out, he needs an adult to bail him out.
“Okay … how much are you out? How much do you owe to the slimiest mother fucker you could have chosen to work for?”
Damon’s face loses color. “Seven thousand.”
My mouth drops open. That was some stash Dixon gave my nephew. So large that it seems that maybe Dixon was setting the boys up.
