Chapter Fifteen
Brick
I tried holding a pillow over my ears, and I tried willing myself to fall back asleep, but it wasn’t happening. Whoever was pounding on my front door was not going away, no matter how many times I cursed them out.
I pulled myself out of bed, yanking on a pair of boxer shorts and a crumpled white tank top from the floor. My apartment had scratched old hardwood floors, and I had to kick aside some empty beer cans as I stumbled my way to the front door. Outside on the street, buses belched exhaust, and I heard the beeping noise of a large truck backing up to make a delivery in the alley.
“What?” I grumbled as I yanked the door open.
Lilith stood there, one hand on her hip and her green hair pulled back in a ponytail. In a pair of running tights and a tank, she looked more awake than I did at three in the afternoon.
“Oh, right,” I sighed. “Come in.”
“And a lovely morning to you, too, Brick,” she joked, stepping into the apartment.
“Coffee?”
“Sure. A splash of milk and one sugar, please.”
I turned to give her a blank stare, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.
“Black is fine, too, I guess.”
I stumbled into the kitchen, flipping on the coffee pot and pouring some cheap grounds into the filter. Lilith wandered in behind me, glancing around my bare apartment and taking it all in. When the machine started bubbling and dripping, I turned back to face her.
Lilith crossed her arms over her chest, her face scrunched up with concern. “You weren’t kidding when you said you didn’t bring much to Seattle with you.”
“I don’t need much. It’s easier to keep things simple.”
“A true minimalist.”
“Something like that.”
“A filthy minimalist?”
I ran my finger across the counter, pushing aside some takeout boxes. “It’s messy,” I objected, “but not filthy. I clean it once a week.”
“Just like the Steel Rose.”
“We both know the Steel Rose does not get cleaned once a week.”
She and I both chuckled as I handed her a cup of coffee. I shoved aside some old bills and junk mail from the small table in my kitchen and plopped down to sip my drink and let the caffeine take effect. “When you said early, I just didn’t think you actually meant early.”
Lilith took a sip of her coffee, wincing at the bitter taste. “I’ve got to be in the bar by early afternoon. No use in wasting the day.”
“I can’t teach you how to fight in one day.”
“You keep saying that. You can teach me some of the basics, though, right?”
I rubbed at my temples, regretting the last glass of whiskey I had the night before. “Just promise me any repeat lessons will come after noon.”
Lilith pretended to jab me a couple of times across the table. “It’s a deal.”
I had been reluctant to teach Lilith how to fight when she first asked me. I never had any proper training, and I didn’t know the fancy terms for what I did. I just knew what I had learned from experience and what worked for me. The more she talked about it, however, the more I warmed to the idea. Lilith wanted to be able to defend herself, and I knew how empowering that could feel. Considering our place of employment, it also made sense for her to have a few more skills in dodging a punch or taking down a rowdy, drunk asshole.
I was still resisting a week before, making up excuses for why I couldn’t help her out. But then that prick with the spray paint had opened his big mouth, and everything changed.
I was two weeks out from a solid paycheck from the Steel Rose, and with a few bands playing over the next weekends, I would be able to pull some good tips helping Lilith behind the bar. As soon as I had that money in my pocket, I would have to jump into action. It wouldn’t take long to throw all my crap in the back of my truck and hit the road. Seattle was fun for a minute, but if there was any chance at all that kid could recognize me or identify me to his father from my tattoos, I wasn’t taking it.
