“Good. Then listen.” I got about four inches from his face. “You need to leave my sister the fuck alone.”
“The fuck I do. She can make up her own mind.”
I felt rage coil in my belly. This piece of shit kid was about to get seriously injured. “No, she cannot. She is a sixteen-year-old girl. You want to go to prison?”
At that, his body wilted and he looked at me. “Ryder. Give me a break man. I love her.”
That surprised me. “You love her? What the fuck does that even mean?”
“I do. I love her. She’s beautiful, and smart, and funny…”
“And better than you in every goddamn way.” I couldn’t believe my ears. This guy actually thought he loved my sister?
He looked down at his feet. “I know.”
I sighed. “Look. If you love her—which I doubt you actually do—then leave her the hell alone. This is no life for her. You know that.”
He laughed sardonically, revealing yellow crooked teeth. “You’resaying that?”
I grabbed him by the collar of his t-shirt. “My life and choices are none of your goddamn business. Let me put it another way. This is not a request, and I am not asking nicely. Leave my sister the hell alone or you will regret it every day for the rest of what’s left of your short life. Got it?”
I could hear the rest of Las Balas coming, so I let him go and ran to my bike. Hopefully he got the message.
As I roared back to North La Playa, my mind started to wander to the place it seemed to go most these days: Paige. I needed to do something about it, but I wasn’t sure what.
Fourteen
Paige
“Paige. What are you doing?” Martha was standing in the kitchen like a drill sergeant, barking orders at everyone. “Take this order to table four.”
Table four wasn’t my table, it was Rocky’s, but I wasn’t about to say that to Martha, so I grabbed the plates and headed over to deliver the food. Where was she? Rocky had just disappeared about an hour after I got to work.
I was exhausted. My neighbors had another booming party last night and the smell of weed came through the air conditioning vent so strongly that I actually felt high. I smoked a little pot in college, but would prefer to be the one to choose it, not have it come through the vents. I just hoped this place didn’t drug test.
“Excuse me, miss. This isn’t syrup. It’s soy sauce.”
I looked at the glass container I’d put down next to the pancakes and sure enough, I’d grabbed the wrong thing. “Oh, I’m sorry. I’ll be right back with your syrup.”
Where was my head? Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the activity at the Blue Dog across the street. I found myself thinking about Ryder and wondering what he was up to. He hadn’t come into Tiny’s in a while and I was saving my money to move out, so I hadn’t gone into the bar.
“Hello! Paige!” Martha was standing next to me, looking up and frowning. She was holding a bottle of syrup and I was still holding the soy sauce. “What is with you today?”
“Sorry, Martha, I’m just tired. I didn’t sleep well, and with Rocky disappearing I’ve been covering her tables too. I’ll do a better job of focusing.”
“Who disappeared?” As if on cue, Rocky walked up behind me holding a couple of plates and setting them down at one of my tables. “If you need to go home, Paige, I can cover your tables.”
I frowned. Part of what I was distracted from was covering for her for the last hour. “No, I’m good.”
Martha stood looking back and forth between us. “Actually Paige, Rocky is right. Why don’t you take off? Tomorrow is your day off. Come back rested and ready to work.”
Before I had a chance to argue, Martha walked off to the kitchen. Rocky leaned over and whispered, “Next time you call me out like that, I’ll get you fired. Martha listens to me.”
She sashayed back into the kitchen, leaving me to wonder what the hell just happened.
* * *
I waskind of in a daze as I left work. I wasn’t happy about being sent home, but on the other hand, I did need some time off. Maybe I’d call and see if I could reschedule that job interview. Working at Tiny’s wasn’t exactly my ultimate career ambition.
