AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The smell of cigarette smoke, alcohol, perfume, and sweat assailed my senses when I followed Millie to where Brianna was. Older men with beer-stained shirts tucked in and their distended stomachs hanging over their jeans had women on their laps. Emilio gave me a grateful look from behind the counter.
“Try to speak real low,” Millie said, and sh
e took me to a table that had a “reserved” sign on it. Brianna’s eyeliner was speared and from the puffiness underneath her eyes, she’d been crying.
“I will,” I whispered to Millie.
Millie started for the counter.
“Hey, Brianna,” I said softly. “Let’s get outta here.” I reached for her arms and she linked hers with mine.
“But we just got here,” she muffled loudly through one hand covering her mouth.
“We’ll come back another night. It’s getting late.”
I felt her unsteady movements as I held her up. Chase came between us and hoisted her up. She looked like a baby with his wide frame and large arms supporting her. “Did you win her back?” she slurred, her green eyes losing focus.
Ignoring her, Chase gave her a smile when we passed the door. “Take care of my sister,” Gavin said.
I briefly touched his arm. “We’ve got her. It’s getting more…active in there. I doubt Brianna would want to keep you from work. I promise that we’ll take care of her.”
He titled his head at me but he had a hard time not watching us as we headed towards the parking lot.
***
“My phone’s on now,” Chase said as he transferred Brianna to me and I opened the bathroom door of Brianna and Gavin’s home. “I’ll make some broth for her. You need anything?”
“Uhhh,” Brianna groaned, and brought her hand to her ear. “Keep it down!”
“I’ll text you,” I murmured and he took a steady breath, closing the door behind us.
Taking my scrunchie off, I gathered Brianna’s hair in my hand and hiked it up at the crown and put it into a bun.
“I…think I am gonna…”
I put the toilet seat up and she fell to the floor, hurling into the toilet violently. Then I went to the cabinet, took a disposable mouthwash cup, and filled it with cold water. On my knees at the sound of her empty stomach, I ran my hand up and down her back.
“Drink it,” I ordered when she pulled up. Veins bulged in her forehead. Her eyes brimmed with tears and her nose ran a little. She complied and I got some toilet paper for her and patted it on her face.
“Fuck! I’ve got my dang snot on you. How nasty,” she said with self-recrimination.
“Oh, hush. Think you’re done throwing up?”
Brianna pulled away from me and hurled again. I went to fill the cup with more water because I knew she was really dehydrated.
When she was done and on her feet again, she hung her head low and gasped for air. I handed her another cup of water and she eagerly drank it. Scrunching up her nose, she said, “I reek.”
“But you’ve got most of the alcohol out of your system.”
“Gavin’s gonna be so disappointed in me,” she said in a low tone. “And I can’t sleep without washing this stink off me, but…I…”
I nodded and set up the bath for her while she undressed and then she wrapped a towel around herself.
Once I helped her into the tub and she was settled, I hung up her towel for her and gave her a washcloth.
“What matters is that you sober up more, get something in your stomach, and sleep this night off. Shit happens.”
I heard her scrubbing herself vigorously. “I hope my lady bits didn’t scare you.”
