I was fully clothed, and teeth brushed by the time the tirade ended.
“You feel better now?” I asked, laughing at her. She verbally flipped me off.
“So, what happened? How did your meeting go?” I heard the incredulousness in her tone.
She already knew I lied, and I was too tired to keep it up. I told her everything. From Randy asking for the 5,000, to me leaving BoBo on the street.
“While I am shocked that you agreed to such a deal, I applaud your exit. That was awesome!”
I laughed with her. “I was a little surprised too, to be honest. Dillan had this weird effect on me. I was almost grateful that he gave me a reason to stay. Besides the fact that we both know I needed to get laid, a lot apparently. I just didn’t want to move away from him. When I was with him, I kept forgetting about the rest of the world.”
“I really wish you two could explore that more together.”
I sighed. “Yeah, me too. But we both know what the odds are of him being involved with illegal activity, besides the whole poker and fighting ring thing. I can’t get involved with stuff like that. Not only would it get me fired, but it would make the cops suspicious of me. It’s not worth it. I just need to find someone else who is willing to worship this body like he did.”
“I’m sure you will too. There are plenty of other fish in the sea. Now, why don’t you come over and hang out? We can talk some more, and you can see your nieces.”
“Ya huh. I will play with them, while you sneak off to play with Andy in your room together.”
Katia laughed but didn’t deny it.
I loved my best friend, so I grabbed another Uber and rode out to the Valley where they lived. I was going to have to cut back on my Uber trips soon. I wished LA had a better metro system.
Or that I had the money to buy a car.
After spending the rest of the day with Katia and her family, I let them twist my arm into staying the night. We all knew it would happen because it always did. My Dad lived in the Valley still and I was scheduled to visit him every Sunday. It was cheaper to just stay there. Plus, Andy offered to give me a ride to the nursing home.
I spent most of the day with my Dad and his friends. Randy arrived around 5 pm for dinner. Which was my cue to start cooking. Dad liked to offer ordering from the cafeteria, but I wanted these dinners to be family. And I wanted to take care of him whenever I had the chance. Thankfully, he relented.
Randy followed me to the kitchen, under the cover of offering to help.
“Did you do it?” He whispered, pulling out a baking pan.
I took the pan back to the cabinet and traded it for the right one. “Yes. It’s done. And you better be done. I can’t keep doing this, Randy.”
He sighed and wrapped me in a hug from the side. “You’re the best sister, you know that?”
I snorted. “Please, Randy. Please. For all of our sake, stop gambling.”
He shuffled his feet back and kicked at the floor. “I’m trying. Really, I am.”
I moved to put the noodles on to boil, I wasn’t up for anything fancy, so they were getting spaghetti. “It would be easier to follow through if you avoided those places altogether. They will do everything they can to keep you under, just so they can make more off you.”
“Nah, Dillan’s not like that. Maybe some of the others, but Dillan is a straight shooter. He doesn’t take advantage of people like that.”
I couldn’t help the half laugh/half snort that came out of me.
“No, really, Fi. You don’t know him like I do.”
I gave Randy the same smile I gave to my nieces when I was just appeasing them. “I’m sure you know him better than I do. I only met the man once. But sometimes that's all you need to know what kind of person someone is.” I turned the burner on under the pan of ground beef to start frying before turning back to my brother.
