“You know what, don’t worry about taking me home.I have some stuff to pick up at José’s.”The temperature dropped twenty degrees in the cab.
“I’m not going to let you get the bus home, Drea, I was there last night.You want me to call Harper in Tahiti and interrupt whatever kinky sex game she’s playing with Trent right now to find out where you live?”
The phone rang again.Heidi.Motherfucker.Could a guy not catch a goddamn break?
“She seems pretty desperate.You should call her back.”
Judgment.Or was it jealousy?It was tough to tell which her voice was laced with.One bothered him a whole lot more than the other.“When I’ve dropped you off, I will.Where am I taking you?”
There was a long pause until she finally told him.
Cujo drove along the street to Drea’s home.Kids were hanging out on street corners, and that fake handshake he just saw was definitely a drug sale.Christ, she lived in this.Families were parked out on their porches, sitting on old sofas and beat-up armchairs.
They pulled up outside a tired split level.Faded mustard paint adorned the exterior.The guttering was hanging loose from the roofline.Panels were missing from the fence.An older gaunt woman sat on the porch in a wheelchair, connected to an oxygen tank.He had no idea her mom was so sick.
Drea was quiet.The disparity between this house and the home they had just visited shocked him.He didn’t want to leave Drea here when every part of him screamed to take her home with him instead.Her sigh was filled with sadness.
“Goodnight, Cujo.”
“Wait.”He jumped out of the car, took a look around.
“I’ve lived here my entire life, Cujo.I’m safer than you,” she said.
“Dónde estabas?”The harsh, raspy voice came from the porch.
Even with the worn lines of age and illness, she looked just like Drea.“I’m sorry I kept her out, ma’am.I’m Brody.”
“Sounds weird when you say that,” Drea whispered to him.
“Sounds weird to say it,” he replied.
“Porque llegaste… tan tarde?”The question came out on a wheeze.Cujo watched Drea’s shoulders slump in immediate defeat.
“Brody is Trent’s best friend, Harper’s fiancé.We were planning their engagement party.”
“So you can afford to go out, but all I get for entertainment is basic cable?”
“Mamá.” Drea winced.She studied the ground, like she wished it would open up and swallow her.
“This is my mom, Rosa,” she mumbled.
Rosa turned to him.“Or did you pay?Be careful.I know she’s trying to find some wealthy idiot she can marry.Get me out of her hair for good.”
“Mamá, por favor entrar,”Drea said, andhewished Rosa’d go inside, too.
Christ, what a fucking awful thing to accuse her own daughter of.
“I want an answer, Drea, why weren’t you working?You were late coming home last night, too.Was he the reason?”Rosa demanded.
“I had inventory, I told you that.And today I went in early to finish it off before my shift.Just let it go, Mom.”
So Drea hadn’t told her mom about Snake.Part of him wanted to blurt out the truth.Everything about this was wrong.The person he’d sparred with virtually every time he’d met her was not the woman currently staring down at her pretty orange toenails.
“Yes, well, you don’t have time for this.”Rosa stared imperiously down at the two of them.
Cujo draped his arm around Drea.Who spoke to their grown daughter like that?He’d seen his fair share of gold diggers, Trent’s ex, Yasmin, for one.No way was Drea one.Hell, the reason they caught Snake at the café was because she wouldn’t let him pay her six-bucks share of the Mexican bill.
“It was my fault, Rosa.I was late for our appointment.”He felt Drea tense against him.
