“She’s the First Lady. Well,was. I…” Daisy stumbled through her words then finally gave up and sipped from her flute.
Niko looked around, so I took the opportunity to look around as well. The man I ran into earlier wasn’t to be seen. How many bikes had been out front?
I was working out the math in my head when two women walked in. One looked strikingly like the man from earlier, only with more delicate features and longer hair. The other was older, but like Jackal, not old, with very short dusty blonde hair, not quite a pixie cut but not far from it, with the same blue eyes as the man and the younger woman next to her.
“Ah, speak of the devil. Ladies, please excuse us,” Niko said as he took my arm and pulled me toward the women.
The younger one seemed as disinterested as I often felt at these events but the older woman forced a smile as she sized me up.
“Niko, good to see you again,” the older woman said.
“Cindy, such a pleasure to be in your presence again so soon. Penny, you as well. Ladies, allow me to introduce mysister, Katarina.”
The older woman’s smile grew and she stepped closer, taking my hand. “Well hello, my dear. You can call me Mama Hen, but Cindy works as well.”
Her touch was warm, and her face inviting. She had a soft fragrance of rose musk. Standing so close was odd. Her presence was like a magnet. If I hadn’t been so well practiced, I may have fallen right into her arms for an embrace. As it were, I found myself smiling, not forced, and my shoulders relaxed.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” I said with sincerity. “Do you have a preference?”
Penny finally warmed up. “Call her Mama Hen. Everyone does. Well, almost everyone,” she said with a smirk as she looked at Niko. I’d have to corner him later about that.
“Can I get you ladies a drink?” Niko asked.
“That would be great, but I’ll walk with you to see what ya got. Penny?” Mama Hen said.
Penny said, “I’ll have whatever she’s having.”
Niko nodded and held his arm out for Mama Hen. She threaded hers through his and he escorted her to the bar.
“So,” Penny said, stepping closer. “I guess we’ll be sisters.”
I gasped. “Oh my. That was his mother?” Rethinking the conversation, I should have put that together but Niko didn’t exactly explain. “I ammortified.”
She waved me off. “Don’t be. She’s easy to please and cantake a lot of shit. Have you met my brother yet?”
“I’m not sure. I had an encounter with a man earlier briefly that I don’t see here.”
She looked around. “No. He’s not here.”
“Is he the only one missing?” I knew the answer but confirmation would be nice, plus small talk felt awkward at this point.
She nodded. “Yeah, everyone that came up is here except him. But don’t worry. It’s not like him to bail on his commitments.” She leaned closer. “But don’t tell him I said anything nice about him.”
Giggling, I said, “Your secret is safe with me. I love my brother, but he’s still my older, very demanding, brother.”
“Yeah, having someone in their position as an older brother can be difficult to say the least. He’s sort of new at this.” She paused. “Being president.”
“Niko will be in charge one day. Hopefully not too soon. Because–”
“Yeah. Exactly,” Penny said. “I know he means well, but he only became more overbearing with me when our dad died.”
She was around my age. I didn’t understand their lifestyle yet, but so much had to mirror ours. Looking at Niko, my breath hitched. Having to step into Papa’s shoes seemed like an impossible task, and he was so young with respect to Papa and his men. Then something occurred to me. “Your brother took over. How old is he?”
“Twenty-nine, but sometimes he acts like an eighteenyear old, sometimes he acts like he’s eighty.”
Having seen him, at least Ithoughtit was him, he didn’t look very much older than me… but knowing he wasn’t my father’s age made me feel much better. Some of the women in this life were perfectly fine with an older gentleman, but it wasn’t for me. However, the rest of her statement was something that left me unsettled.
“It must be a lot of pressure on someone his age,” I said, sipping my drink.
