Page 28 of Sweet
If her declaration ofnon-independence had rendered the room silent, her declaration of love made it explode.
Chapter 9
“So, little brother—”
“I’m not your little brother.” Spider looked at the card table, no longer covered by the pretty red cloth that Daisy had brought over. He’d tucked it away when Chino brought out his cigarettes and asked to smoke.
Chino chuckled. “You’re not very little anymore, are you? Skinny kid gotripped, eh?”
Spider tapped his thumb on the card table. “Exercise keeps me focused.”
“You still doing ink?”
Spider shrugged. “That’s all I do, man. That’s all I know.”
“How’d you find your way up here?” Chino took a long drag and reached for the glass Daisy had been drinking out of earlier. “Here.” He tapped the edge of the ash into the glass. “Don’t want to mess up your place, huh?”
“Appreciate it.” Spider sat with his legs spread and his chair angled away from the table, his left hand on the table and his right loose and ready on his thigh. He couldn’t take his eyes off the black ash swirling in the bottom of Daisy’s glass.
Dirty.
Chino took another draw on his cigarette. “You left in a hurry, man.”
“My mom got killed because they were trying to get me. It seemed like a good idea to leave fast.”
Chino nodded, his curly hair falling over his forehead and softening the hard expression in his eyes. “I get that,ese, but we waited for you to come back when shit died down. It never happened.”
Spider looked directly at Chino. “I got my mom killed.”
“So that’s it?” He looked offended. “It wasn’t us that killed her, man. We shut that shit down after you—”
“I’m not blaming you.” Spider lifted a finger on his right hand. “I never blamed you for that, Chino. I blamed myself. I’m the one that brought that on her, not you.”
Chino let out a slow stream of smoke and nodded thoughtfully. “I appreciate that. You know our crew ain’t never gone after moms like that. That’s bullshit the Marav—”
“I’m not in the middle of anyone’s feud anymore, Chino. I’m clean. I don’t touch anything that might come back on you; I do not fucking talk to cops. I keep my shit close, you know what I mean?”
Chino narrowed his eyes. “No one ever called you a snitch, Spider.”
“So why did you come looking for me?”
“Why’d you stay up in fuckin’ nowhere without calling us once?”
Spider nodded. “That’s fair.” He lit a cigarette to keep his hands from shaking. “At first I stayed up here ’cause this is where I ran out of money.” He was couching it for Chino because that wasn’t the real reason. “And then, when I had some cash, I was working for an old couple who needed the help out on their farm. They’d been good to me, you know? Didn’t want to just take off.”
Chino nodded. “I can appreciate that.”
“After a while, I met the guy who owns the local studio. He liked my stuff and I started working for him.” He took another drag on his cigarette. “I’m not… in that life anymore. I’m out.”
Chino smiled. “But Spider, you’re still part of my crew. You know that, man.”
Spider’s heart sank, and a chill ran through him.
“When my boys join my family, they’refamily.” Chino’s hand landed on his. “Family, Spider.” The man looked at the Christmas tree. “You got a good thing here, but this is crazy, bro. People still talk about your work all over the city. No one’s as good as you were.”
Fuck no, they aren’t.He didn’t say it. Bravado didn’t work on Chino; he only wanted submission.
“That’s very flattering. Thank you.”
