Page 61 of One Last Chance

Chapter 23

The Roadkill Crew had a short,miserable day on Friday. Only two out of the dozen of us had found new jobs, and the “Good Luck” dessert the office bought for us was carrot cake. Who does that?

Leroy was likewise short and miserable, having burned through his week’s supply before the weekend.

“So call your guy,” I told him. “What’s the problem?”

He shook his head. “It don’t work like that, Kash. He don’t got a number, nobody knows where he lives. He shows up once a week, that’s it. Then you gotta stock up ‘cause he don’t change his delivery schedule for nobody.”

I narrowed my eyes at Leroy. “Seems like a crap way to do business. He delivers here on Tuesdays?”

Leroy shifted his eyes from side to side. “Shit. Where’d you hear that? People be talkin’?”

“I figured it out myself,” I said dryly. “How does it work? He just walks in here with a sack full of candy, or what?”

Leroy shook his head. “You figured that out, you can figure this out. I’m not saying another word, you’re gonna get yourself killed messing with this guy.”

“You’re gonna get yourself killed messing with his products. This whole office stinks like someone lit a dishwasher on fire.”

“Eh, beggars and choosers,” Leroy said with a shrug. “Only person I know never cut like that was Hunter. Man, I miss that shit, I tell you. But don’t do that. Ain’t worth your life, you hear? But if you decide to, you best let me know first.”

“Go drink your Snake Venom or whatever you got in the fridge and take a nap, Leroy. You’re contradicting yourself.”

Leroy didn’t argue, which I knew wouldn’t last. As soon as the shakes set in, he’d be the walking embodiment of a headache. I didn’t want to dwell on it, though. In two hours, I would be crawling in Daisy’s window, ready to make up for an entire week of deprivation. I would sooner fight her dad myself than go through that again.

I called Lizzie before I left, but she hadn’t turned up much. Rumors were thick, but facts were few. Dayle had a car, but it was registered to the post office’s address. He hadn’t held down a real job in five years, but he had no accounts in collections. He was a ghost. Good trick in a town this size.

“Thanks,” I told her. “I really appreciate it.”

“Oh, it’s my pleasure,” she purred. “I love to watch stories unfold. Speaking of which—what’s going on with you and Daisy? You going public yet?”

“What? No, of course not. You told me yourself it was too dangerous.”

“Did I?” She sounded disconcertingly innocent. “Hm, maybe I did. But that was before Daisy and I cooked up the plan to take the wind out of dear old daddy’s sails. She didn’t tell you? Damn, there I go again. But yeah, I was expecting her to call me yesterday to give me the all clear to tell the whole world about you two, but she didn’t.”

“Huh, weird. You’d think she’d jump at the chance to be the center of a lurid rumor,” I said, dripping sarcasm.

“Laugh all you want, big boy. But check on her for me, okay? I have a bad feeling, and I wouldn’t be a good reporter if I didn’t listen to my gut.”

I promised I would. It was a promise I’d forgotten by the time I made it to Daisy’s house. The closer I got to her window, the more my head was full of the various things I wanted to do with her. A bed offered up so many more opportunities than a truck did.

I felt like a damn kid sneaking up to her window like that, heart racing, sweat dripping. Cock already hard as steel. Her window was wide open and she lay on her bed, reading. I couldn’t believe she was so calm.

I hung back a minute to wipe my sweaty palms on my pants, and I was glad of it. Just as I was raising my hands to form my bird call, her Dad walked in. He said something I couldn’t hear. Feeling like a stalker, I crept closer.

“Come on, Daisy, don’t be like that,” he was whining. “You know I’d never hurt you or your mom.”

“Really? Never? So I hallucinated, is what you’re telling me.”

I had never heard a colder tone in her voice. It chilled me to my core, and I thanked my lucky stars I had never done anything to evoke that rage in her.

“No, that’s not—look. I love your mom, I do, but—you know as well as I do that her nagging hits a nerve. You’ve lost your temper at her, don’t lie to yourself.”

“I’ve never gone that far. I wouldnevergo that far.”

He sighed heavily and started speaking to her in a tone generally reserved for small children. “I know it’s tough to stomach, sweetie, but your mom isn’t innocent here. You don’t know how it is for me, being stuck at home. All I want to do is provide for my family, you understand? When I can’t do that, it wrecks me. Your mom knows that. She pushed me to it, Daisy. Besides, I already apologized to her.”

“Oh, well obviously that makes it all better. Takes away everything you did, too. I guess some people really do believe in forgiveandforget.”

---