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Chrysanthemum Claudette Rose was exactly ten months younger than me. She was one of two of my full-blooded siblings. I didn’t know how many half-siblings I had. God, I didn’t even want to know.
“You did. You wantin’ money?”
No sense in beating around the bush. Chrys might call and act like she cared, but in the end, money was the real reason she got in touch.
“Saw your name in the news.” She chuckled. “You’re still gettin’ in fights, huh? What’d the guy do to piss you off this time? Bump into you and spill your beer?”
I didn’t bother answering. She saw the article, so she knew why I’d gotten in an altercation—and it had nothing to do with a beer.
She sighed. “It’s been a long time, honey. I miss you. The only way I see you is if I read the music news. I was thinkin’ about comin’ to the city with Rasc. Maybe you’ll have time for a visit?”
Rascal Theodore Rose was my other full-blooded sibling, and he was exactly ten months older than me. Once upon a time, the three of us had been thick as thieves—and I did mean that literally. But shit happened. I needed out of that lifestyle, to go my own way, and Rasc and Chrys got stuck. They didn’t see a way out, but they’d never looked.
“How much money you want, Chrys?”
Her sigh came heavier. “Do you not want to see us? I know we’re not close anymore, but we love you, Cal. We’re family, honey.”
My jaw clenched so tight, I heard my teeth squeaking. “Were we family when you blackmailed me?”
She made a choking sound, then cleared her throat. “That was a mistake. I would never hurt you. I don’t know how to make you believe I’m sorry. We were desperate.”
“I’m tired. I don’t wanna play games with you. Just tell me how much you want this time.”
“I saw your woman in the video. I’m glad you have someone in your life. That makes me so happy for you. Raised like we were, it isn’t easy to have someone. But you…you were always the best of us. If anyone was going to rise above it, it was you, Cal.”
Barbed wire wrapped around my chest. There was no threat in Chrys’s words. She probably didn’t even intend to imply one, knowing her. She was a good girl. A sweet girl. But desperation made people ugly, and her and Rasc knowing about Wren wasn’t safe.
My hands opened and clenched, opened and clenched.
“Don’t you even think about her. She doesn’t exist to you. You tell Rasc the same.”
“Okay,” she whispered. “I’m sorry.”
“Now,how muchyou want, Chrys?”
She didn’t speak for a while, but I could hear light chaos in the background. I had no idea if she was still with The Traveling Roses or if she’d broken off to start some other brand of grifting. Either way wouldn’t surprise me.
“I hate askin’, Cal. Hate it so much, especially when you don’t think of me as your sister anymore. But the RV Rasc and I are travelin’ in needs some repairs. The thing is, we can’t earn money unless we’re travelin’, but we’re stuck and—”
“How. Much?” This was the last time I’d ask. The less I knew about my brother and sister, the better.
“A thousand, if you can spare it.” Her voice quivered, and if I didn’t know better, I’d say she sounded ashamed. But I knew better. “Maybe two. That would be even better.”
“Tell me where you want me to send it. It’ll be there by morning.”
She rattled off the place, still sounding shaken as she spoke. I kept my walls up, heart hard, not falling for her tricks. Never again.
“Cal—”
“No. I’m sending you this money so I can get off the fuckin’ phone and go to sleep. Not because I want anything to do with you. The opposite is true. You dropped a nuclear bomb on the only bridge between us when you blackmailed me. I’m hangin’ up now, Chrys. I’m done.”
Ending the call, I tossed my phone onto my nightstand with a clatter.
Fuck this.
After a perfect day with a perfect family, of fucking course the antichrist had to remind me of the hellhole I came from and would always come from.
My family. The very fuckin’ reason why I’d never been able to have nice things.
Fuck this.
