CJ cocked his head to the side, wondering what the fuck was going on. Harley wasn’t behaving like the girl he’d known and loved nor was she acting like the shrew she’d turned into.
Uncle Val finished his beer, pushed the pizzas aside, and sat on the coffee table directly in front of Harley.
“I think you being here is making Puff wish we’d tried for a girl,” Uncle Val said.
“Mommie wants another girl,” Harley admitted.
Uncle Val nodded. “We know all about that.”
It helped drive Harley insane.
“Don’t know how Mort, Johnnie, and Outlaw sleep at night, knowing the world their baby girls face,” Uncle Val continued.
“Uncle Cash is a girl dad, too, Uncle Val,” Harley reminded him.
“Cash don’t count,” Uncle Val scoffed, then he smiled. “Another story for another day. Know what today’s story is?”
Shaking her head, she squirmed.
“A little bird told me that Nardo might have to be fucking killed.”
Harley slid to the edge of the sofa and grabbed Uncle Val’s hands. “Don’t, please,” she said frantically. “He never hit me. I swear! He doesn’t have to die.”
A buzzing started in CJ’s head. No matter how pissed he was with Harley, he’d warned that motherfucker.
“Hityou?” Grant asked, a silent witness to the scene until now. He’d gone out of his way to not only not look at her but not speak to her either.
“It’ll start a war, Uncle Val,” Harley went on, ignoring Grant or not hearing him, lost in panic. “Especially since hedidn’thit me. I don’t know who said that. Besides you know how I get. I’m nothing but a spiteful cunt.”
“Is that what he called you?” Uncle Val asked mildly.
“Yes.”
CJ dropped into his seat, so fucking happy he hadn’t moved away from the chair. Otherwise, he would’ve fallen on the fucking floor,
Her eyes widened. “I m-mean no. He never hit me,” she said again. “I didn’t deserve to be hit, so he didn’t hit me.”
“You keep saying he hit you,” Ryan fumed.
“Exactly! Did anyone of us say that motherfucker hit you, Harley?” CJ demanded.
“No. It was just…it was just a l-lover’s spat, CJ.” The shame hunching her shoulders was worse than anything CJ had ever seen on her. He would’ve preferred any of the previous versions of Harley to this one. Sad. Angry. Bitter. Mean. Spiteful.
But never fucking ashamed. “He…he…he just pushed me a little.”
“I’m curious, Harley,” Grant said.“What war do you think will be started?”
Good question.
“Mr. Grevenberg is a…is a…he went to jail for stuff and he has affiliations,” Harley mumbled.
Releasing her hands, Uncle Val got to his feet and walked across the room to light a cigarette. “Mr.Grevenberg don’t know who he’s fucking with and neither doesLittleGrevenberg.”
“Nardo’s under eighteen,” Harley argued miserably.
“His daddy not,” Uncle Val responded.
“Please let me handle it, Uncle Val.” She sounded so very tired. “He’s the least of my worries anyway.”
