However, the one that spoke the most about him was the red heart resting right over his own. It had stitch marks like the kind you would see on Frankenstein. The script arching over the top read, “Until We Meet Again.” Baby knew it was in honor of the child that he had lost.
She placed her hand on top of the heart. Lucky’s hand landed on hers. The wounded look in his eyes confirmed she was right. It was a constant reminder of the love that he lost, a love he never had the chance to know in the first place.
“What do we do now?” Baby twisted her body to meet his gaze.
Lucky’s hand still embracing hers. “Now we get down to the dirty stuff.”
Her eyebrows shot up, “Already?”
“Well, I wouldn’t say no. But that wasn’t exactly what I meant.” He ran the pad of his thumb across her swollen lips. “Don’t you think we have a few things to talk about?”
Sinking further into the pillow, Baby rolled her eyes. “Seriously? You wanna go ruin a perfectly good orgasm with talking?” Her stomach pitched at the thought of talking about Slade.
“Don’t give me that. Something serious happened tonight, and no. I’m not talking about this,” he said, fanning his hand across the bed. “That was some crazy shit tonight at the club.”
“Yeah.”
“Yeah? You’ve gotta say more than that. What the hell happened? You froze as soon as that big ape touched you. What was that shit?”
Baby nipped at her bottom lip. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Maybe not, but you need to talk about it. What’s that guy got on you?”
“He doesn’t have anything on me. We all have a past,” she said, her hands fidgeting with the bed sheet. “Mine likes to rear its ugly head from time to time.”
“Hey,” Lucky said, “I opened up a closet with a shitload of skeletons. Now it’s your turn to unload on me. No one should carry around that much fucking shit. I’m not trying to upset you or bring up old demons. I’m trying to wrap my head around it. You’re one of the strongest chicks I think I’ve ever met, but tonight it’s like you turned to putty in his hands.”
Baby Jade tossed the sheet aside and threw her legs to the floor. The Rolling Stones shirt barely covered her backside as she marched out of the room. She choked back the sob that had been welling up in her throat. The last thing she wanted was for Lucky to see her crying like a girly girl. She didn’t want him to confuse her crazy childhood bullshit for a lovesick relationship with Slade.
At first, she was mentally kicking herself for not buying more wine, but then thought it was a blessing in disguise. Alcohol would only heighten her emotions. Checking the clock blinking on the microwave, Baby was surprised to see it was only one forty-two a.m. She grabbed a glass and filled it with lukewarm tap water. She had become accustomed to no ice since the freezer was more temperamental than the hot water heater. She guzzled down the first glass and filled a second, giving herself a little time to breathe before heading back in, knowing the whole time she was going to answer his question.
As she made her way back down the hall, attempting to piece together some sort of sanity for an answer when it hit her that Lucky hadn’t made a peep since she had walked out.
“Hey, did you want something to …” she began to ask before the sight of him on the bed stopped her cold. Between his fingers, he held a small baggie of white powder. Cocaine. “Are you going through my shit?”
“No. I found it in the middle of the bed. Does that mean you have more stashed around this place?”
She stalked over to the bed, plucking the tiny bag out of his hand and threw it into the top drawer of her dresser.
Folding her arms across her chest, she lowered her head. “Maybe you should go.”
“No.”
Her face shot up. “No? It’s my damn house. If I say leave, then that’s what you’re gonna do.” She stepped closer to the bed, her blood pulsing through her body, creating a new thumping in her head.
“That’s not what you said. Come on, you don’t want me to go.” Lucky offered his hand. Baby looked at him, trying to size up the situation. Is this guy for real? She placed her hand in his and he guided her back to the bed. He sat in the middle of the bed, resting his back against the wall. Still in nothing but a pair of jeans, he spread his legs and patted the space in between. Baby nestled herself into the spot, molding her body to his.
“Let’s start over. It looks like you have some shit you need to work out. I’d like to help you do that.” Lucky ran his rough hands up and down her arms. “I’m not here to judge you. Lord knows I have my own shit to deal with. I’m here to listen or help you if I can.”
Baby pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around them. Her head rested on Lucky. The rise and fall of his chest made her own breathing steady. The light thud of his heartbeat soothed her.
“You’re right. I froze. I wish I had a better answer. I thought I had the bullshit under control.” Baby paused, trying to figure out how to proceed. She was thankful she couldn’t see Lucky’s face. “I’ve known Slade for years now, and to put it mildly, I’m not proud of those years. I told you about my mother and about my fucked up childhood. If Ma’Linn hadn’t stepped in, I don’t know where I would have ended up. She was a part of my life from as far back as I can remember. She fed me, bathed me, and took care of me when I was sick. I moved out when I was fifteen, but we’ve maintained that mother-daughter relationship.”
“If you guys were that close, why did you move out at such a young age?”
“Because Ma’Linn dealt with a lot of shit. Still does. Her son Phillipe and I used to play together as kids. We spent all of our time together. We made forts in the fields and fished every day when my mom would disappear. He was my best friend when we were kids, but as we got older, it didn’t take long for Phillipe to fall in with the wrong crowd. He was a few years older than I was and the gang life sucked him right in. He started out with petty theft and breaking into abandoned buildings. Once he got in with the 110ers, there was no turning back. He started doing dope, and I don’t mean recreational drugs. He was on the heavy shit. He was in and out of jail and Ma’Linn did all she could to get him help, but he only spiraled further out of control. It became too much. I didn’t feel right taking all of her attention when her son needed her.”
Lucky’s hands stopped moving and rested on her shoulders. “Did he ever hurt you?”
“Hell no! I mean, Phillipe had his issues, but he was always kind to me. I think he saw enough of my mom’s bullshit over the years and felt sorry for me. How’s that for irony? The local gang banger drug addict, pitying me?” Baby’s hand flew to her mouth to stifle a sob.
“Are you ok? You don’t have to go on if you don’t want to.” He gathered her hair and piled it to one side, kissing her neck.
“No, I’m good. I think I’ve spent too long keeping myself from talking to anyone that it’s hard to open up. Ma’Linn and I talk, probably more than we should actually. But other than that, it’s the daily bullshit with losers at the club.”
“Yeah, well. I’m guessing some of those losers are part of the story.”
“You got that right. Anyway, things were bad after moving out. The city’s hard on a kid living on the streets. Momma was gone, locked away for the umpteenth time. She didn’t want to see me. She still doesn’t and I don’t know why. Sometimes I sneak in and see her when she’s sedated. She doesn’t know I’m there. To be honest, it would probably scare the hell out of me if she up and decided she wanted to see me. Like I said before, no dad. I did the couch surfing thing for a while. I slept on benches, in abandoned cars. I’m ashamed to say I had a few boyfriends who took care of me every now and then. I knew what I was doing, but did what I had to. ”