Page 94 of Roses Are Dead
“He’s in a mood,” Kate observed.
“He and Dad both,” Zoe echoed.
I felt the urge to defend Bear, then the overwhelming urge to squash that sentiment into a bleeding pulp.
“Hammer? I need a whiskey. Please?” I spread my finger and thumb apart indicating a full tumbler.
“You sure about that? Last time…”
“Please? It’s been a day.”
“What about you two? Zoe, Cola. Kate, what do you want?”
“Why can’t I drink?”
Kate ignored Zoe’s question. “Beer, please.”
Zoe grumbled about being the designated driver, again. “Bad enough I couldn’t stay home by myself, but I can’t even have fun.”
Kate studied me. “How bad of a day?”
I wanted to pour out my pain at someone’s feet, but also remembered everything I’d promised, including not dragging Kate and Zoe into fighting my battles. “My best friend isn’t going to be able to come home from the hospital.”
As far as conversation killers, I’d found a doozy.
Zoe finally worked up the nerve to ask, “Why is she in the hospital?”
“Cancer.”
Hammer set the drinks down and straddled a chair so he could look out at the room while we sipped in silence.
“What kind of cancer, if I may ask?” Kate’s question was quiet.
“Lymphoma.”
“Any family?”
I nodded. “Four kids.”
Even Zoe blanched. “That sucks.”
It did. I drank more than a sip, hoping to numb the pain. I stared at the walls. Photos of bikers and half-naked women littered them. I recognized a few faces. Sprout, Wolf, Bear. There were more I didn’t know. The age of them went back decades by the fashion choices and hairstyles. “How long has there been a chapter in Skilletsville?” I remember finding out about them when I was a teenager but knew very little about the story.
“It was going strong even before Jackson and I got together, so at least forty years? I don’t know.”
“Any of them die?” It was an odd question, but one I needed to know.
“A few. Sprout’s dad was killed by the police. They ran him off the road. I’m a little fuzzy on the details of the others.”
“Pinner is in prison.”
I sent a silent question to Kate to explain Zoe’s comment.
“Pinner is Lily’s father. Lily and Zoe are closest in age of the children here.”
It drove home that this was a family. Maybe it was a big, dysfunctional family. Yet it was light years stronger than mine. From the horrible example I had as birth parents, to the issues I brought to Carl and his family. Beth filled the void I had for an unconditional bond.
And that bond was unraveling.
