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“Leave it, Avery Nicole.”
“The fuck she will,” Jaxson cuts in. “Talk. Now.” Mama inhales a shaky breath before she speaks and when she does, her voice is a whisper.
“That’s my ex, Hank. I owe him a lot of money.” My stomach clenches.
“How much is a lot of money, mama?”
She hesitates, looking to Jaxson and then to me, her eyes full of tears. “Twelve grand.”
“What the fuck?” Jaxson growls. “How could you owe someone that much money, Dana?”
“H-he’s not just my boyfriend. He was also my…” She trails off, looking back and forth between me and Jax and he motions for her to go on. “My pimp,” she says in a whisper and I gasp, my hands going to my mouth and Jaxson’s face turns to thunder.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“I got mixed into the wrong crowd. One minute, I was getting high on some guy's couch and then the next, I was turning tricks and reporting back to Hank. The whole thing spiraled. The money I owe him is for a month's worth of jobs.”
“You mean to tell me you stole twelve g’s from your pimp but have been crashin’ on your daughters couch, rent free, eatin’ her food, and not pitchin’ in a fucking dime?” Jaxson’s voice gets harsher with each word, his southern twang that he tries so hard to hide at work more prominent with each syllable. Mama shakes her head.
“The money’s gone. Someone knew that I had it and they jumped me in an alley behind a bar one night. Beat the shit out of me, stole my purse, and took off. I spent a few nights hiding out in some seedy motel before coming here.”
“Gone?” I ask, my heart racing. “I can’t believe you would come here, mama,” I hiss, “that you’d come here and put all three of your kids at risk, knowing damn well you were hiding from a dangerous man.” Tears are streaming down mama’s face.
“I didn’t think he’d find me, Avery. I never told him about you or the kids. Never mentioned that I was from Monroeville.”
“A man like that hasconnections, Dana. He has ways to find shit out about you that you’d never even think of.” Jaxson points out, pulling his cell from his pocket.
“What are you doing?” Mama says, her voice full of panic.
“I’m calling the police.” She runs over to him and tries to take the phone out of his hand, but he holds it out of her reach.
“You can’t call the police,” she pleads, desperation lacing her voice. “I could go to jail for prostitution, Jaxson. I’ve already been charged with it twice.”
“Oh my god,” I whisper, completely dumbfounded at what she’s saying. How could mama be doing something like that? “Mama, why didn’t you come to me? I would have helped you.”
“You’re not the adult in this situation, Avery,” Jaxson growls and I narrow my eyes at him.
“No, but I am an adult, Jaxson, in case you weren’t aware,” I snap, crossing my arms over my chest and his eyes drop there and slowly drag back up to my face.
“Oh, I am very much fucking aware, Ace. But you shouldn’t have to save her from situations like this.”
“Jaxs-” I begin, but mama cuts me off.
“He’s right, Avery. This is on me. You aren’t responsible for cleaning up my messes. I shouldn’t have come here, but I didn’t have anywhere else to go.” She shrugs her shoulders and I stand up, pulling her into a hug.
“Avery?” I hear called from the hallway and Genevieve and Blake are both standing there. I sigh and motion for them to come into the living room. Blake darts to Jaxson who swoops him up and into his arms before striding out to the kitchen, already dialing the phone to the police station, and asking Blake if he wants a snack.
“I’m so sorry for calling him, I just... I heard shouting and I was scared,” Vie says, a tear sliding down her cheek and I tug her to me for a hug.
“I’m not mad, baby.” I reassure her and she pulls away, swiping her tears off her face and looking at mama.
“How could you?” She asks, pointing her question at mom.
“Genevieve, you wouldn’t understand.”
“Oh, I understand. I understand that you wereselfishenough to leave us with Avery so you could go out and sleep your way across Alabama and then bring your drama to our front step.”
“Genevieve Diamond, you don’t get to speak to me that way.” Mama demands as I stand there quietly.
