Oh God…
“You sleeping with him?” she asks, turning back to me. “He’s the guy you came with to pick me up.”
I want the ground to swallow me whole.
“Mama, he’s my boss. Please show some respect.”
I reach for her again, but she steps back.
“I said I want a drink.”
She starts digging through her pockets, empty pill packets spilling onto the floor in front of everyone.
“I can pay for it if my own daughter is too cheap to pay for her own mother.”
The words hit harder than anything physical.
“Mama, let’s go outside. Tell me what you need, and I’ll see if I can help.”
Her head snaps up, interest lighting her eyes, sharp and real this time, but then her gaze drifts to the bottles behind the bar.
“How about you serve me some whiskey neat, and then we’ll talk?”
“Bar’s closed.” Dex steps up beside me.
My mother looks him over again. “Did she tell you she abandoned me?”
Oh God…
“Mama, please don’t…”
“She left me all alone and never even called to see if I was okay. Then one day someone tells me she saw my daughter sing on a stage in some bar…” She looks at me. “Imagine my shock when she showed me the video and right behind my daughter I read the sign. ‘Midnight Rodeo Bar.’” She brings her face close to mine, her stale breath making me stop breathing. “Singing all happy and well while her own mother doesn’t have money for food.”
I snap.
“I called you every day for two months, but you never picked up!”
I step closer, my voice shaking.
“Let’s cut the crap. How much do you need?”
I don’t want her doing this here, not in front of them, not in front of him.
She studies me. “How much do you make?” she asks.
Heart. Break.
Even now. Even after everything.
She’s not here forme.
I dig into my apron. “I can give you my tips.”
The slap comes out of nowhere, and my cheek burns instantly.
“I don’t want your tips, you brat. I want ten thousand dollars, or I’ll tell your father where you’re hiding.”
Everything inside me goes still.
