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Chapter Fourteen
“No work tonight?” my mother asked.
It was like déjà vu all over again. I shook my head. “No,” I said. “I needed the night off.”
My mother’s lips thinned as she looked at me. I knew that she was pissed that I wasn’t working because we needed the money for Mikey’s treatment, but I had no plans of going back to the club. Yes, the money was good, but every time I went to Red’s, I ended up in more and more trouble.
“Leave it alone, Ma,” Mikey muttered. “Ivy works every day. She’s tired.”
I smiled at my brother. After the men left, I’d told him a version of the truth that I thought a thirteen year old would be able to handle. I also made him promise me that he wouldn’t say anything to our mother. It had taken the promise of a new video game to get that to happen.
“We are all tired,” my mother muttered.
Sighing, I dropped my fork on the plate in frustration. “I know, Ma,” I told her. “I’ll be back at work tomorrow. It’s Sunday anyway.” I didn’t want to talk about how tips weren’t plentiful on Sunday in front of Mikey. He thought that I worked as a waitress in a nightclub. I would be mortified if he knew the truth.
My mother said nothing, and we all returned back to our modest meal. Tonight was two cans of chicken soup that I’d added a ton of water to in order to feed all three of us. We also had a few pieces of stale bread, most of which I gave to Mikey. Toast was sometimes the only thing he could keep down, so I always tried to keep some bread on hand.
When I noticed Mikey’s bowl was empty, I pushed mine away. “Whew,” I said. “I’m full. Do you want the rest?”
Mikey eyes my bowl. “Are you sure? You aren’t still hungry?”
I shook my head and pushed the bowl towards him. “You have it.” It was rare these days that Mikey had an appetite, so when he did, I was glad to go without eating for him.
We shared a smile and for a brief instant I was able to pretend that things were normal.
My phone buzzed, breaking up the happy moment. I grabbed the phone and glanced at it.
Come to the front door,the message said. It was an unknown number, and I felt my heart beat quickly against my ribs. There were too many people after me right now, and I didn’t know who the hell was texting me from an unknown number.
I ignored the text and turned my attention back to my family. “How was school today?” my mother asked. “Did you learn anything interesting?”
My phone buzzed again.
“We are learning about ancient Greece,” he said. “It’s pretty cool. I had to read a story about some of the Greek gods.”
My mother smiled. It changed her whole face, and for a minute, I remembered what she had been like years ago when things in our life were much different and my father had still been around.
“Your sister never liked history,” she teased.
My phone buzzed and buzzed and buzzed.
“I was more of a math and science person,” I told Mikey. “For a while, I wanted to be a biologist.”
“Really?” Mikey asked. His eyes lit up as he spoke. “A biologist? Really?”
I nodded. “Is that so hard to believe?”
A loud pounding on the door caused Mikey to jump before he could answer my question. His eyes went wide, and I knew he was thinking the same thing I was: the men from earlier came back.
“Who could that be?” My mother asked. She dropped her napkin on the table and got up to get the door.
“It’s for me,” I said. I put out a hand to stop her.
She raised a brow. “For you? Is it Nikki again?”
I shook my head. The pounding continued. I didn’t know who it was, but I had a nagging feeling in my gut that I wasn’t going to be happy to see the person who was on the other side of the door.
“Just a friend.” I reached out and undid the locks. We rarely kept the door fully bolted because I worked nights but after what occurred this morning, I’d put every chain on and made sure every lock was secure.
