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Chapter22
Colt
Iwatch Sassy knock back another shot. She doesn’t seem to have caught on that I’ve skipped the last couple of rounds. We’re both big drinkers, but something is different tonight. There’s a dangerous edge to her. I’m not even trying to keep up with her aggressive shots or I’ll end up under the table. And if I’m passed out, I can’t look after her.
Ever since her mum visited the shop this afternoon, I feel like she’s the old Sassy again. The angry one with the chip on her shoulder. Before that, she was lowering her walls with me ever so slightly. Her harsh edges had softened and I could see a glimpse of what’s beneath her tough exterior.
But tonight … tonight is old Sassy. The one who lives up to her name. So far, she’s told three girls to take a hike and practically growled at someone for dancing too close.
After Sassy’s shot, we grab our drinks and take them back to the table.
“I’m gonna go out on a limb and guess you don’t get along with your mum too well?” I finally broach the subject. Sassy takes a sip of her drink, glaring down at the glass in her hand like it has offended her.
“What gave you that impression? Her warm, motherly demeanour or the fact she doesn’t want to spend time with her only child while she’s in town?”
“All the above.” I answer, sipping my drink. “Did you get along when you were younger?”
“Nope. Mums a classic narcissist. Everything is about her all the time. I’m just an accessory. As well as a scapegoat. Anytime something goes wrong in her life, it’s Sassy’s fault.”
“That’s tough.” I think of my mum and how her life revolved around Becky and me. I can’t imagine having a mum who only cared about themselves.
“Whatever, I’m used to it.” Sassy says the words, but I don’t believe she means them. “I’m sorry she basically fucked you with her eyes, though.”
Drink sprays from my mouth. “Excuse me?” I say, coughing.
“Don’t pretend you didn’t notice. She’s a predator, always hitting on my friends.”
“Wait. Are you serious? She hits on your friends?”
“Yep. In high school, I had a lot of male friends and any time I bought them home, she’d basically try to hump them over afternoon tea. It was so embarrassing.”
“I can imagine.” I drink again. “Although, I would’ve been stoked to have known a mum like that back in my high school days.”
Sassy swats my arm. “Yes, they loved it. Boys are disgusting.”
“Hey! We are not. But we can’t say no to women flirting with us.”
“Hmmm, yeah well, I had problems with that too.”
I quirk an eyebrow in question and she sighs, twirling the straw in her glass.
“When I was eighteen, I had my first serious boyfriend. Actually,” she cocks her head to the side as a thought occurs to her. “He was also my last serious boyfriend. Anyway, I bought him home and mum did her usual flirting trick. I was embarrassed, of course, but not worried because he really liked me and treated me so well. So it was a real shock when I found out he fucked her one day.”
“What?! Your mum slept with your boyfriend?” I almost fall off my stool in shock.
“Yup. Then she tried to tell me she didn’t mean to. It just happened. You know, organically or something. As though they were drawn to each other. Which is bullshit. He knocked on our door one day looking for me, and she answered wearing a see-through negligee. Proper cougar type shit. Poor boy couldn’t resist.”
“Sassy,” I say solemnly. “That’s really fucked up. Like, proper family-wrecking kind of shit.”
“Yeah, well, it sure wrecked my family. Which only comprises me and mum anyway. I moved out the same weekend. She’s still convinced she never did anything wrong and I’ve given up trying to explain to her how majorly she fucked up. So, now I tolerate her when she bothers to contact me, which isn’t often.”
We fall silent for a moment. Sassy is staring into her drink, and I’m trying to absorb that information. What kind of mum would do that? And what does a betrayal like that do to a young girl? I stare at Sassy’s face, pinched in a frown. The chip she carries on her shoulder, the icy edge, her refusal to get close to anyone and her need to always be in control. It all makes sense now.
“I’m so sorry Sass,” I take her hand in mine. “No one should have a mum like that.”
“Stop it,” she scowls at me and withdraws her hand from my grasp.
“Stop what?”
