Page 118 of Grease Monkey
Chapter Forty-Seven
Teddy
“Hey, thanks for picking me up, man.”
Skip tosses his bag in the back of my Mustang, and we do one of thosebro hugs. “No problem. Ana is going to be so happy to see you.”
“Yeah, I can’t wait to see her and tell her what a fucking moron she was.”
I punch his arm as he laughs, dropping into the passenger side while I round the car to get behind the wheel. “Hey, don’t be too hard on her. Your mom was a bitch, and she was young and scared. You’d have done the same thing.”
“Ididn’tdo the same thing.”
I roll my eyes and make the short drive from the airport to the garage to drop off the car before we walk to Ana’s to meet the girls.
“If I can forgive her, you should too.”
He hums, his eyes roaming over the big Grease Monkey sign outside the auto shop. I’m about to open the trunk to get Skip’s bag when he places his hand on my arm. “Leave it. I’ll get it later. Let’s go see my sister.”
We catch up on the walk over to Ana’s, Skip telling me about his new job in a Michelin-star restaurant and me filling him in on the whole Richard/Ana shit. We round the corner before the apartment building as Shay bursts out of the front door like her ass is on fire. Her eyes widen as she spots us, doing a double take at Skip with a slight frown and then completely disregarding him.
“Oh, thank fuck you’re here,” she says, anxiously looking back to where she came from.
“What’s wrong?”
“Her mom’s here.”
I glance at Skip and take off running for the door, pausing briefly to yell out for Shay. “Are you coming?”
She shakes her head, looking visibly scared. “Fuck no. That woman is terrifying. I’ll catch you at the bar with a fuck-ton of drinks waiting.”
The doors thankfully not locked as I let myself inside. I hear Ana’s voice rise and jut my chin in that direction for Skip to follow.
“I’m not going with you, Mom,” she says, stuffing clothes back into a drawer as Juliette removes more clothes from hangers, folding them neatly before adding them to cases scattered across Ana’s bed.
I hold Skip back as we watch from the doorway, the two women unaware of our presence.
“Stop packing my things and listen to me!” Ana yells, and her mom startles at the disrespect I know for a fact Ana has never shown her mom before.
“Who do you—”
“I’m not some little puppet! You can’t tug on my strings and make me dance to your tune. I’m my own person, Mom, and I am not going back with you. I’m happy here, finally free of the unrealistic expectations you set.”
Juliette scoffs. “Unrealistic? I’m walking proof that they are manageable.”
“And you’re a sad old woman, desperate to take me down with you.” Ana gasps as her hands fly to her mouth. “Mom…”
“And you’re an ungrateful little girl who will never amount to anything. Why did you think I chose Richard for you? He was everything. Great bloodline, intelligent, excellent career prospects, and you’ve thrown that all away for what? Some scrap-yard junkie who is not welcome in our family?”
“What the fuck is going on?” I boom, and Juliette tenses as Ana flies into my arms, but she doesn’t press her head into my chest to hide like I half expect. She grips my neck and tugs me down hard to kiss me in front of her mom.
“Of course, all this would be because ofyou,” Juliette sneers, jabbing her finger in my direction. “Morgana, get away from him. Need I remind you of our conversation about consequences?”
Ana twists in my hold, pressing her back against my chest, and I possessively splay my hand across her stomach. “Oh, I know all about yourconsequences,Juliette.”
“What do yo—” Her nostrils flare as Skip walks into Ana’s room. “Brody?”
“Hi, Mom.”
