Page 6 of Driftwood Daffodil

This was not good.

“I’m his sister.” I quickly explained, hoping that would calm things down.

It didn’t work. If anything Kato got more worked up.

Especially when Gio responded with, “I know who you are.”

“Leave her alone!” Kato barked.

“I wouldn’t worry about your baby sister. I’m sure she can take care of herself.” Gio’s eyes stayed fixed on mine. “Isn’t that right,Novalee?”

Why did he know my name? A better question was, why wasn’t anyone doing anything? The only person they seemed worried about was my brother.

Figures.

No, don’t pay attention to the full grown man intimidating a teenage girl. What the hell was Kato going to do? He had shackles on his feet for Christ sake. That didn’t stop the guards from moving in preparation to tackle my brother.

“If you don’t stop disrupting my court Mr. Mancini, then you’ll find yourself in contempt.”

Now the judge said something. Not that it mattered to Gio. He continued to glare at me as if nothing was wrong with this situation.

There were so many things wrong that I couldn’t even begin to count them, but I could focus on one. I could sit here and channel all of my hatred right back at Gio. There was only one problem… He was better at it.

I never thought I’d be thankful for Cesare Mancini. But when he gave his son a small wave and said, “Sit down Gio,” I breathed a sigh of relief.

For a second I thought Gio wasn’t going to listen.

His jaw ticked as he glared down at me like he wanted to beat me to death. None of this was for me. The only reason Gio kept pushing to get my brother worked up. Every time the guards moved in, the corner of his mouth curled a little. He wanted to see Kato get hurt.

Thankfully Gio gave into his father’s demand, and shot Kato a dirty look before walking away. Allowing me to let out the breath I’d been holding in.

NOVALEE

Ahangover is defined as a severe headache or other effects from drinking an excess of alcohol. The other effects may include nausea, memory loss, and blurred vision. Of course this all depended on how much alcohol one consumed. If they had a couple drinks, then maybe a headache.

However, if they were like me and stupidly decided to suck back a healthy sample of everything in the bar, then a full blown ‘I want to kill myself’hangover was definitely in the cards. The only thing worse than living through that feeling, was being woken up in the middle of it.

There I was, lost in oblivion while drooling on my pillow, when a shrieking pierce cut through my brain with the force of a lightning bolt. Okay that might’ve been a slight exaggeration,but like I said, symptoms may vary depending on the amount of consumption.

Considering I had no idea how I got home or where my pants were, it was pretty safe to say, healthy sample was probably not the right term for the amount of alcohol I drank.

At one point I remember walking around with a bottle in each hand with what I think was a pot on my head. There may have beena gator and some kind of mud fight?

My recently exified boyfriend Simon was to blame for last night, but the award for most annoying person on the planet went to my best friend, Memphis. He was no doubt the culprit behind my new unwanted ringtone.

The high pitched voice of Christina Aguilera assaulted my brain on a good day let alone when my head felt like it was being split open. I would murder him for that later. Like when I had more control of my limbs, or when I had the ability to roll out of the bed.

In the meantime I was stuck where I was, listening to Genie in a Bottle with my cheek pressed into a pool that smelled like bourbon and swamp water.

By the way, that was not a good scent to wake up to when my stomach and I were on friendly terms – which we weren’t – but it wasn’t the worst scent either. Nothing topped the day Memphis and I decided to go digging in the bog for buried treasure.

My mother spent a week trying to get the stench out of my clothes. Then ended up throwing them out. Memphis did try to cheer me up when she cut my hair though. He was always doing stuff like that. He had this frustrating need to see me smile. Hence my new ringtone.

On a side note, Genie In a Bottle was not my first choice for feel good song of the year. It wasn’t even a feel good song theyear it came out. I appreciated good music, and I’d even admit that Christina had an amazing voice.

If I could sing one one thousandth as good as her then I might not have been kicked off the church choir. My rendition of highway to hell was not well received, but I was seven and hadn’t found my voice yet. I still hadn’t found it ten years later.

Christina on the other hand, was singing along and belting in my ear about guys rubbing her the right way.

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