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“Because we lost,” Troy says, referring to the football game we just watched. “I had money on that game.”
“You better clean up the mess you made with that bottle,” Sean says to Troy.
“Tara can do it. She’s better at that shit than I am.”
“It can’t wait until then,” Sean says. “There’s glass all over the fucking floor.”
“Then Sanders can do it.” Troy glances at me. “He drank all our liquor. He owes us.”
“We all drank it, and the liquor was mine,” Sean says. “You brought the beer and drank it all yourself.”
“Is there any more pizza?” Leo asks, stumbling to the kitchen.
“No, it’s gone,” Sean says. “We finished that hours ago.”
“I’ll call Tara,” Troy says. “Tell her to bring us more.”
“She’s at work,” I remind him. “She said she’ll be there until seven.”
“Yeah? So?” He checks the clock on the wall. “It’s seven now. She just got off. Perfect timing.”
“She can’t be coming here this late. It’s dangerous.”
Troy gives me an annoyed look. “What are you—her dad?”
I hear the anger in his tone and decide to keep quiet, not wanting to fight with him.
He calls Tara. “Hey, babe, you still at work? We need you to bring us some food.” He pauses. “Yeah, tonight. When the fuck did you think I meant?” He gets up from his chair. “We finished the pizza hours ago. We need more.”
“Troy, just forget it,” I say to him. “I’ll order us one.”
He turns to me. “Why the hell would we buy one when we could get it for free?”
“Because she has to take three buses to get here. It’ll be forever before we eat.”
That’s not why I offered to buy the pizza. The real reason is because I don’t want Tara on the bus this late. It’s dangerous, and then she’d have to walk from the bus stop to the house, which could be deadly this time of night. EvenI’mworried about being here after dark. I’d leave now, but I drank too much. I have to sober up before I drive.
“Don’t bother,” Troy says to Tara. “Sanders is ordering us one. Must be nice to have all that money,” he says, glancing at me. “Yeah, see ya.” He ends the call.
“You guys want the usual?” I ask, getting my phone out.
“You’re buying,” Troy says in an angry tone. “Guess that means you get to decide.”
I ignore him and place the order for an extra large pepperoni, which is what we used to get when I lived here. It didn’t happen very often. We’d have to save up and wait for a coupon to come in the mail. Pizza was a luxury item back then. It sounds like it still is to Sean and the guys.
My phone rings and I see Dean’s name on the screen. I ignore the call and put my phone away. If Dean knew I spent the entire day here, he’d be furious. I’d get a lecture on how I should be at school studying, not hanging out in the old neighborhood. And he’d really be mad if he found out I was drunk.
“Is that your ex?” Sean asks as my phone continues to ring.
“No, it’s Dean. Haley isn’t going to call me. She’s probably out with some guy right now.” I say it like I don’t care, but the truth is, I feel sick when I think of her with someone else. How could she move on that fast? Did she even love me, or did she just tell me she did because it’s what I wanted to hear?
“Why is Dean calling?” Troy asks, pouring himself more whiskey.
“He’s just checking in on me.”
“What for?” Troy says. “You’re not a kid. You don’t need your brother keeping watch on you.”
“You know how he is. Dean’s always been that way. He thinks he needs to replace our dad.”
