“I owe you Cree.”
“It’s family. Nothing owed.”
Hanging up, Player handed Teller back his phone. Running a hand through his hair, he needed a damn drink. “Thanks for the assist.”
“Let’s all get a drink, and you can fill me in on what’s happening with your sister.” Teller headed for the bar.
“Sounds good.” Player looked at Joker and nodded for him to follow Teller through the clubhouse to the bar. Sitting on a stool, Player’s mind wandered back in time, back to when he was a smart-mouthed kid who only wanted his mother to love him.
“Your mother and I are tired of your attitude and your defiance. Leave and do not come back. You aren’t welcome here anymore.”
Player stepped to the side, where he could see his baby sister standing on the steps, crying. Holding his hands out, he waited for her to come to him. As Kennedy ran for him, their stepfather grabbed her by the arm, refusing to let her go to Player. “Let go of my sister, asshole.”
“That attitude is why you’re now on the streets.”
“I said, let go of my sister.”
“What are you going to do?”
Player launched himself at his stepfather. The jackass was a half-witted wannabe badass who in reality didn’t have anything to brag about except his bowling status. Taking the man to the ground was easy for a kid like Player. The only thing that stopped him from beating the hell out of his stepfather was the sound of his mother screaming.
When Player looked up, all he saw was Kennedy lying on the ground with her head bleeding. Scrambling across the lawn, he shoved his mother aside so he could look at Kennedy. Her big eyes seemed impossibly larger as tears flooded them.
“Let me look at you.” Gently brushing her hair aside, he saw the small gash above her temple. Before he could say anything else, his mother began hitting him in the head and back.
“It’s your fault, Stephen,” she screamed at him.
Looking back at the woman he called ‘Mother’, Player wanted to punch her in the face for even breathing. Everything that was happening was her fault. If she wouldn’t have been cheating on their father, he’d still be there. If she could keep her ass out the barrooms, they wouldn’t have had a string of wannabe stepfathers over the past four years. “It’s his fucking fault,” he screamed back as he pointed at the latest man in his mother’s life.
Once again, Player brushed the hair back from Kennedy’s face. The blood mixing with her tears had made the wound appear worse than it was. Leaning in, he placed a kiss on the cut. He heard the sound of sirens in the distance and knew his stepfather had called the cops. “Run, Stephen,” Kennedy whispered to him. Shaking his head at her, he wouldn’t leave her. “Run so you can come back and get me.”
“I love you, sissy.”
“Love you, bubby. Now, run. Run fast,” she said firmly. Shoving off the ground, Player ran from the only home he’d ever known.
“I never went back for her.”
“What was that, Player?” Teller asked as he slid a glass of whisky toward him.
“Nothing.”
“It must be something for you to say it without thought.”
Player picked up the glass and tossed back the whisky. The warm, strong amber liquid burned all the way to his gut. “When I was sixteen, my mother’s husband and I got into an altercation. My sister was five. She was hurt, which they blamed on me. The cops were called, and my sister knew if I stayed there, something bad would happen, so she told me to run.”
“Smart kid.”
“Yeah, she was. She told me to run so I could go back and get her.”
“I take it you didn’t go back for her.”
“No. I could barely feed myself on the streets. There was no way I was going to do that to a five-year-old.” Player pointed to his empty glass. “I did go back once a week and check on her. As long as she was good, I left her be.” Watching Teller refill the glass, Player had no idea what had happened to her since she graduated high school.
“What do you need me to do?” Teller asked him.
“Fuck if I know. I’m sure when Cree gets to Kennedy, I’ll have more info.”
“Remember, we’re your family, and whatever you need, you’ll have.”
