“Yep,” she snaps a little too quickly, letting me know that her answer is a lie.
“Do I know your dad?” I ask, hoping to get more information, because something about this doesn’t sit right with me.
Maddox shrugs. “We’re new around here.”
That is obvious. I know almost every single person in the neighborhood, and I’ve never seen the two girls before now.
That’s how it is around here. We live in a big city, but the neighborhood is tight. Most of the residents have been here for decades, but there are more new faces now that some of the older folks have started to die off.
“We used to live downtown, but now we live down the street,” Hazel says, sounding much older than she is. “Dad couldn’t afford to keep the loft for long after Mom left.”
“Mom left us four years ago, Hazel. That’s not why. This is closer to his work, and he wanted us to grow up in a house with a yard.” Maddox gags. “I hate it.”
“I like the yard,” Hazel tells Maddox, pulling at the tip of her long braid that’s draped over her shoulder. “I want a swing.”
I start to make the Shirley Temples, going as slowly as I can, hoping to buy some time for either their father to show up or someone to come looking for them. “Do you babysit your sister often when your dad is at work?”
“Sometimes,” Maddox replies.
Hazel shakes her head as she twists her body on the stool, unable to sit still with all her youthful energy. “Granny’s watching us.”
“She is?” I ask, peering around the bar and not seeing a grandma anywhere. Besides me, Maddox, Hazel, and Alyssa, there are only a few other females in the bar, and I know them all.
“She fell asleep,” Hazel informs me, earning herself a jab in the ribs from Maddox’s elbow.
I set their drinks in front of them and decide to push for more information. “Does she know you’re here?”
“Yeah.”
“She does?” Hazel asks Maddox.
“Fine.” Maddox’s shoulders sag forward. “We’ll be home before she wakes up.”
“Oh boy,” I mutter, shaking my head.
If I’d snuck out of my grandma’s place while she was napping at their age, I would’ve got my ass chewed out by her first and my dad later.
“They’re Cheryl’s grandkids,” Marvin, a lifelong regular, says from the other end of the bar. The only time he moves from his stool is to use the bathroom. I swear the cushion is permanently crushed in the form of his bony ass. “I remember her talking about the girls last time I saw her.”
Cheryl isn’t a drinker. When she does come into the Hook and Hustle, it is for a bite to eat and some company. She’s always been sweet to me, and I’ve never seen her be mean to a soul. There isn’t a doubt in my mind that the moment she opens her eyes and realizes the two girls are gone, she’ll panic.
“They’re Wylder’s kids,” Marvin explains like I have a single clue who Wylder is.
“Wylder?” Alyssa asks as she passes by Marvin. “Who is he?”
“He’s Wylder,” Marvin says behind the rim of his beer glass.
“Well, okay,” Alyssa replies, shrugging at me when our eyes meet. “Thanks for the explanation, Marv.”
“Drink up, ladies, and then I’m taking you back to Cheryl’s house.”
“We know how to get back,” Maddox says as she plucks the cherry from her glass with her clear-coated fingernails.
“Baby girl, I don’t care if you know the way or not, I’m walking you back to know you’re safe, and in case Cheryl is losing her shit.”
Hazel gasps as her eyes become as big as saucers. “Granny said that’s a bad word.”
“Fuck,” I grumble under my breath.
