“She just recently decided Squirrel belonged to her,” Ronnie said.
“Bitch, please, that man locked onto her the second he saw her. She didn’t have a chance,” Jules countered.
Carmen rolled her eyes. “I’m still deciding if I’m going to keep him. He’s on very thin glass.”
“Ice, honey,” Ronnie corrected.
“Ice glass?”
“Thin ice.”
“Oh,” she breathed. “Si. That makes more sense. We don’t have much ice in Cuba...or Florida.”
Ronnie handed me a glass of sweet tea. “I understand you had to get rid of a rat problem.”
“I did?”
“Bonnie?”
I wrinkled my nose. “Oh, right. She was a huge problem.”
“Well, she’s switched sides. In fact, she’s gotten caught in a spider’s web.”
“No shit?” I said. “Which Spider?”
“Snapper.”
“Oh my god,” I breathed out.
“He’s mean as hell,” Jasmine said. “And ugly.”
“Yeah, I thought Sugar Bear was as evil as they came, until I saw some of the shit Snapper pulled last year,” Ronnie said. “I’m not sure Tammy knew what she was getting into when she became property of Sugar, and Bonnie’s as dumb as they come, so she sure as hell has no idea about Snapper.”
I felt a pang of guilt but stuffed it deep down inside. I refused to feel bad for her. She was a cuntwaffle who came after my man. She deserved what she got.
“You and Tammy are friends, right?” I asked, sitting in one of the chairs by the window.
“We were,” Ronnie said, sitting across from me. “Before she decided to lose her ever-blessed mind and open her legs for that monster. I warned her. But you can’t fix stupid and after picking her bleeding, broken ass up off the floor for the third time last year, I couldn’t do it no more. Jesus.”
“It’s so hard to break the cycle of brainwashing,” I said. “Not that you did the wrong thing, by any stretch of the imagination. You have to protect your own family, stop your own trauma from happening, but she’s also in a cycle of trauma that probably can’t be broken without drastic measures.”
“Like him killin’ her.”
“Possibly,” I said.
“Well, it’s sad, and I spent a lotta years cryin’ for her, but I can’t no more. My man and my babies have to come first.”
“I hear you,” I said. “I think that’s the smart call.”
“Oh my lawd, it’s a baby!” Jules cried, and I knew Lyric and Quin must have arrived with Sterling.
“I hope it’s okay that I brought him,” Lyric said. “I’m still kind of attached.”
“Aw, honey, babies are always welcome,” Ronnie said, hugging her. “It’s nice to meet you. Never thought Doom’d find his happy. About time.”
Lyric smiled. “Thanks. He’s pretty much the best human I’ve ever known.”
“I hear that.”
