Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 75585 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75585 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
When a second week without Val at the club came to an end, the same overpayment showed on my statement. Sunday was my day off from Pound. I tried to get scheduled at Benny’s, but no one would swap their shift with me. That meant I got to sleep in.
It was near noon when I woke covered in sweat. The generator had probably given out a while ago, but my exhausted body still hadn’t stirred. I hadn’t realized quite how tired I was.
I was going to have to head somewhere to get out of the heat. One of Ava’s friends worked at a coffee shop not far away. I had a feeling she’d give me an iced coffee without charging me and if I sat in an out of the way corner, I might get away with using one of their plugs to charge my generator. I put the generator in my backpack and headed there. After I was seated and deep into a game on my phone, Ava called. Reluctantly, I took the call. I couldn’t avoid her forever.
“You better be glad you answered” was the first thing she said to me.
“I’m handling things.”
“Do you realize I was about to come looking for you? How dare you tell me you borrowed money from some fucking loan sharks and had to take a second job to pay it back then stop talking to me. I know you were barely getting by before. You live in a shit hole.” If only she could see where I lived now. “I don’t want you supporting me when it means you’re suffering.”
“Ava, you’re going to finish your degree. It’s the one thing I can do for you.”
“No, it’s not. You can be my friend. You can answer my calls. You can come visit.”
Fuck. Was I doing this all wrong? “I want you to be able to follow your dreams.”
“Someday you’re going to have to stop punishing yourself. Nothing that happened was your fault.”
I shifted in my seat, turning to face the wall as if that would keep the other customers from listening to my call. “I was driving.”
“Yes, but the accident wasn’t your fault. Everyone investigating agreed on that.”
“If I had just been paying attention—”
“No. You couldn’t possibly have anticipated what the other driver did. They headed right for you like they were trying to hit you.”
That’s what the cops had said, but it didn’t make any sense unless they were just out of their head. They did run after all. Ava and I had been around and around about the accident so many times. I knew she was right. The investigators concluded that the other car was one hundred percent at fault. I couldn’t have avoided the accident. I couldn’t have chosen where the car was hit or who got injured, but my heart wouldn’t believe that.
“I don’t like you around these dangerous men,” Ava said. I doubted she’d like much of anything about the life I’d been leading. “How the hell are you ever going to pay the money back?”
“I’m working for them until the debt is paid.”
“Working where? What about your job at Benny’s?”
“I’m still working there too.” I took the last sip of my iced coffee and wished I could get another or better yet, a muffin.
“When do you sleep?” Ava asked.
“When I can. Ava, I’m going to be fine.”
She huffed. “Where do they have you working?”
“A gay strip club.”
“Fuck, Liam.”
She’d hated when I’d worked as a stripper before. “I’m just dancing. It’s fine.”
“You’re taking your clothes off in a mafia strip club.”
“It’s no different from any other strip club.” Except Val was usually there. I had no intention of mentioning him to Ava.
“And that’s all they expect from you, just dancing?”
“I thought you approved of sex workers.” This was a fight we’d had before. She said she was fine with the idea of me dancing, but then made clear that she wasn’t.
“I do when they aren’t working under coercion. You owe these people, and I have no doubt they’ll do anything to get their money.”
“It’s not like the movies.” It very much was.
“I guess not, or you wouldn’t have any kneecaps.”
I was sure with most people Val wouldn’t hesitate to shoot off whatever body part would be most effective. “Just let me handle this. You don’t need to worry.”
“Liam, have you ever considered that maybe I’m as concerned about your future as you are about mine? Maybe the thought of losing you gives me nightmares. That I wake up wishing you were close by. I miss you, you know?”
I felt like I’d had the wind knocked out of me. “Of course you do. I didn’t mean to make it seem any other way, but I’m trying to give you the life you deserve, I don’t want you worrying about me.”