sleeping for half an hour, I figure I got at least another hour before she wakes up. Grabbing the baby monitor, I make a quick run downstairs to see Donny.
Donny's is swarming with lunch-goers and liquid-lunchers when I open the barroom door.
"Hey, Mick," Donny greets me when I sit down at the bar. "Drinking?"
"No. No. Got Kenna napping upstairs."
Donny nods while taking orders from his new day-time waitress.
"Oh, Tina, this is Mick. Mick, this is Tina, who I was telling you about."
"Hey."
"Nice to meet you, Mick."
"Tina's gonna work days with me, but she'll be working some nights with you."
"Not Holly?" I wonder.
"Holly doesn't want to work every night. Tina wants the hours."
"Oh." I'm not quite sure what I think about that, but I'll have to worry later, right now, I'm here for one reason only. "Don? Got a sec?"
"Yeah, guy, what's up?"
"Is there any way you can do a double shift tonight? Lara's gotta work?"
"All night?" he asks.
"Well, it's probably more of a fuck session, but... yeah, all night. I'm sorry."
Donny's groan makes me cringe.
"Don, I don't know what to do. She's just a baby. Except for me and Charity, she has no one. And...she's not safe with T. Not until she gets serious help."
"And your parents?"
"My parents are useless. You know that."
"They still in Florida?"
"Yup. Listen, Don, I gotta get up..."
"'Scuse me, Mr. Ross."
Chills crawl up my spine when I hear my name. This is not the voice of a friendly or accommodating woman, but it is a familiar one. My name escapes her lips a second time before I turn around.
"I've caught up with you," she says, her words penetrating like icicles through my ears.
I've only spoken with this woman once, the day after I took Kenna from Charity. The day I filed for a five-day emergency temporary custody request, five days ago.
"I've come here to interview and inspect your living arrangements, Mr. Ross. You were sneaky running away from me yesterday. Thought I wouldn't catch up?"
Clutching the baby monitor as if it's my lifeline, I nod, but I don't answer. Instead, I walk out the side entrance of the barroom and sprint up my side steps to my apartment. I burst in to check on Kenna but forget to close the door behind me.
Kenna is still fast asleep on the couch, so I crouch down and run my hand alongside her head.
But then I hear footsteps on my hardwood floor.
"You left your door open, Mr. Ross, so I took that as invitation to come in."
"Fuck." I let the word slip from my mouth unintentionally. With my hand still sliding over the side of Kenna's head, I begin my pleading. "Ma'am. I'm sorry. I don't remember your name. But what do I need to do here?"
"Well I need to prove you're responsible enough to take care of a three-year-old little girl, Mr. Ross. But from what I have witnessed yesterday and today, you are not."
I clutch my chest, as I continue my contact with Kenna. "Please. Please. I am. I'm fully capable of taking care of Kenna. I..."
"Mr. Ross," she sneers, "you bring your niece to work with you... in a bar. You live in a studio apartment. I mean, I see your whole apartment from where I'm standing. And the best—you leave your niece alone, sleeping, while you socialize at said bar."
I feel the sigh escape from my stomach. Lifting myself from my crouched position, I gently pick up Kenna and hold her in my arms, feeling her stir against my chest. I pull my cell phone out and call Luke, all the while watching my worst nightmare scanning my small apartment and writing notes on her clipboard.
"Get here. Now." I tell Luke when he answers. "She's here." I hang up, confident that Luke is on his way. Hopefully...with reinforcements.
"Mr. Ross." She brings her attention back to me. "I'm going to have to take your niece."
"No." I clutch Kenna tighter, wrapping her sleeping body inside my arms, and run down my back steps, escaping the lady whose name I don't even recall, and run to God knows where.
When I get to the parking lot, I pace. I have no
Donny's is swarming with lunch-goers and liquid-lunchers when I open the barroom door.
"Hey, Mick," Donny greets me when I sit down at the bar. "Drinking?"
"No. No. Got Kenna napping upstairs."
Donny nods while taking orders from his new day-time waitress.
"Oh, Tina, this is Mick. Mick, this is Tina, who I was telling you about."
"Hey."
"Nice to meet you, Mick."
"Tina's gonna work days with me, but she'll be working some nights with you."
"Not Holly?" I wonder.
"Holly doesn't want to work every night. Tina wants the hours."
"Oh." I'm not quite sure what I think about that, but I'll have to worry later, right now, I'm here for one reason only. "Don? Got a sec?"
"Yeah, guy, what's up?"
"Is there any way you can do a double shift tonight? Lara's gotta work?"
"All night?" he asks.
"Well, it's probably more of a fuck session, but... yeah, all night. I'm sorry."
Donny's groan makes me cringe.
"Don, I don't know what to do. She's just a baby. Except for me and Charity, she has no one. And...she's not safe with T. Not until she gets serious help."
"And your parents?"
"My parents are useless. You know that."
"They still in Florida?"
"Yup. Listen, Don, I gotta get up..."
"'Scuse me, Mr. Ross."
Chills crawl up my spine when I hear my name. This is not the voice of a friendly or accommodating woman, but it is a familiar one. My name escapes her lips a second time before I turn around.
"I've caught up with you," she says, her words penetrating like icicles through my ears.
I've only spoken with this woman once, the day after I took Kenna from Charity. The day I filed for a five-day emergency temporary custody request, five days ago.
"I've come here to interview and inspect your living arrangements, Mr. Ross. You were sneaky running away from me yesterday. Thought I wouldn't catch up?"
Clutching the baby monitor as if it's my lifeline, I nod, but I don't answer. Instead, I walk out the side entrance of the barroom and sprint up my side steps to my apartment. I burst in to check on Kenna but forget to close the door behind me.
Kenna is still fast asleep on the couch, so I crouch down and run my hand alongside her head.
But then I hear footsteps on my hardwood floor.
"You left your door open, Mr. Ross, so I took that as invitation to come in."
"Fuck." I let the word slip from my mouth unintentionally. With my hand still sliding over the side of Kenna's head, I begin my pleading. "Ma'am. I'm sorry. I don't remember your name. But what do I need to do here?"
"Well I need to prove you're responsible enough to take care of a three-year-old little girl, Mr. Ross. But from what I have witnessed yesterday and today, you are not."
I clutch my chest, as I continue my contact with Kenna. "Please. Please. I am. I'm fully capable of taking care of Kenna. I..."
"Mr. Ross," she sneers, "you bring your niece to work with you... in a bar. You live in a studio apartment. I mean, I see your whole apartment from where I'm standing. And the best—you leave your niece alone, sleeping, while you socialize at said bar."
I feel the sigh escape from my stomach. Lifting myself from my crouched position, I gently pick up Kenna and hold her in my arms, feeling her stir against my chest. I pull my cell phone out and call Luke, all the while watching my worst nightmare scanning my small apartment and writing notes on her clipboard.
"Get here. Now." I tell Luke when he answers. "She's here." I hang up, confident that Luke is on his way. Hopefully...with reinforcements.
"Mr. Ross." She brings her attention back to me. "I'm going to have to take your niece."
"No." I clutch Kenna tighter, wrapping her sleeping body inside my arms, and run down my back steps, escaping the lady whose name I don't even recall, and run to God knows where.
When I get to the parking lot, I pace. I have no
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