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“Pancakes and sausage, it is, then.” She turns around to grab a few pots and pans. I watch her, her blonde hair in a messy pony at the back of her head. Her sleep shirt and sleep shorts worn and winkled. But she’s happy. And suddenly I wonder if shereallyis happy after all these years without finding anyone.
“Why haven’t you found someone, Haley?” I ask suddenly.
She flips a pancake and looks at me with a raised eyebrow. “Found someone?”
“You know what I mean. Why are you still single? Don’t you want to find someone to be with?”
She laughs at me. “Z, I’ve got two handfuls of men in this place that keep me busy. I found love with all of you guys, you think I’ve got time for anyone else?”
I shake my head at her as she dishes up a plate for Lilah. She even takes time to put syrup on the plate and cut up her food for her. The moment the plate slides in front of Lilah, she digs in like she’s famished. For all I know, she might be.
Shit, was she literally starving?
I grind my teeth at the thought of someone depraving this kid from anything. She’s a sweet kid. You’ve got to be a sick fuck to do anything bad to this little one.
Haley turns towards me and places her hands on her hips. “So, Z, where’d she come from and why is she here?” She asks low enough that Lilah doesn’t hear her. Not that she would, anyway. Lilah is nose deep in her plate as she inhales it.
“Slow down, kid.” I say to her. Turning back towards Haley, I ask, “Found her in Tijuana with another girl who I guess is her mom.”
“Where is the mom?” She furrows her eyebrows as she grabs a dishrag and starts wiping down the counter.
“Sleeping. Upstairs.”
“Why are they here and not in New Mexico with the rest of them?” She interrogates me with a tone that I’ve been continuously using to question myself.
Whyarethey here?
“She might be able to get us the information we need to take Santiago down for good.”
“For fuck sake, Z, she’s a kid!” She whisper-shouts and whips the towel at my arm.
“Not her,her mom.” I growl through clenched teeth. “I was also wondering if you can have Violet pick up some clothes for the kid and her mom? They’ve got nothing.”
With narrowed eyes, she drops the towel on the counter and walks away from me. “Yeah, I’ll tell her. You’re making a mistake, you know, and I’m thinkin’ it’s going to come back and bite you in the ass. You need to think about what you’re doing, and you need to figure it out.Fast.” She picks up her cup of coffee and walks out of the kitchen area.
She’s right. I don’t know what I’m doing. And I don’t think I have a lot of time to figure it out.
“Haley!”
“What?” She asks as she stops, turning around to look at me.
“Where’s my pancakes?” Seriously. This woman makes good pancakes and didn’t even make me any?
She laughs at me, turning around and continuing to walk away. “You are out of your damn mind, Aziel. I heard what happened with Cassius last night. I’ll deal with you later, when there aren’t any kids around.”
And with that, she turns around, leaving me alone with my dark thoughts.
“Done!”
I look at Lilah and see her hair stuck to her cheeks from the syrup. Wincing, I walk over and grab a new towel. Turning on the faucet, I get it damp and pass it to her. “You might want to clean up your face. It’s a little sticky.”
She grabs the towel and wipes everywhere except the sticky parts. I watch as she misses, wipes her forehead, wipes her nose, wipes her eyes, but leaves her sticky cheeks and mouth untouched.
“Shit, let me.” I grab the towel from her face and wipe her cheeks off, then toss the towel into the sink. “There you go.”
“I want to play outside.”
What the fuck have I gotten myself into?
