Page 48 of Genesis

“Wipe the seat with your jacket and come on.” I start the ignition, and as soon as Carson shuts the door, I speed off toward Moretti’s. I gotta hide this car.

“I’m getting my ass cut to pieces back here,” Carson complains.

___________

“Where’s your car?” Bexley asks as we walk out to the truck I borrowed from Mickey.

“In the shop.”

“Oh,” she says. I open the truck door for her to climb in. I can’t help it, I smack her ass when she does. She looks back at me and smiles. “I hope my uncle didn’t see that.”

I turn to look at the house. “I hope he didn’t either.” We head down the road, and I put my arm across the bench seat.

“Where are we going?” she asks.

“I dunno? Want to see a movie?”

“We’ve seen every movie there is right now.”

“True,” I say. “You hungry?”

“No.”

“There’s a concert going on downtown. Wanna see that?”

“No.”

I look over at her. “What do you wanna do?”

She shrugs. “Let’s go back to your house.”

I lift a brow at her. “All right,” I say with a nod.

We haven’t been back to my place since I accused her of sleeping with my brother. I wonder how things are going with her and him at school, but I don’t ask either of them. She hasn’t mentioned it, and I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to bring it up.

The drive is quiet. Me in my own thoughts about Warren and his fucking bitch ass men who shot up my car. If he would stay off of Moretti’s turf, we wouldn’t be having an issue, period. Why can’t people just do what they’re told?

Retaliation will have to be asserted. Those fuckers ain’t getting away with that shit. I remove my arm from around Bexley and grab my smokes from the dash, rolling the do-it-yourself window down a tad so I don’t smoke her out. I pull one out with my teeth and toss the pack back. Lighting it, I exhale stress and rest my hand at the bottom of the wheel.

Mickey makes good money; I have no idea why he drives this old thing. He’s Moretti’s right-hand man, for fuck’s sake. But then again, I think he might be like me. I like nice clothes and shit, but I’m not flashy. I don’t have to have the best of the best. I just need to get by.

I hit my smoke, leaving it between my lips as I adjust the heat so she’s not cold. It’s still early. The sun has just started to set, painting the sky in tangerine orange. The cold wind wisps by the window, and headlights fly by us. I hit my blinker and turn down the long drive that’s parallel to the lake.

Bexley looks out at it. She’s also quiet. I wonder what she’s thinking. Definitely not the same shit I am.

Hell, she’s still in school. We have totally different lives. Johnny’s words flow through my mind.

“She doesn’t fit into this world.”

She may not fit into the world we’re a part of, but she fits in withmejust fine.

I pull up to the house and kill the engine, letting up the window. I open the door and step out, waiting for her to do the same. She puts her hands in her coat’s pockets and I hit my smoke one more time before tossing it into the yard, blowing away from her. I grab the key from under the dead plant on the porch and open the door.

We walk inside, and I lift my hoodie off, throwing it on the sofa. She removes her coat and pulls her sleeves over her palms. “You all right?” I ask.

“Fine,” she says, giving me a small smile.

I walk over and adjust the heat because it’s fucking cold tonight. Out the living room windows a flock of birds fly across the lake, and the setting sun paints the water red-orange. I bought a small radio, so after I turn the heat up, I flip it on, hearing Coldplay sing about nobody saying it was easy.

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