I was assembling and blinked at Layla. “What in the actual fuck did you just say?”
Layla’s cheeks turned an adorable shade of pink. “You know,” she mumbled and cleared her throat. “Have safe sex.”
I laughed so hard I choked on my own spit. “You just referred to a condom as a rubber pool. No wait. It was ‘the’ rubber pool.”
My raucous laughter caused Blue to stir, a little whimper filling the air. Layla gently placed the baby carrier on the floor beside me. “She either has a bad case of gas, or she pooped on the drive over. Either way, have fun with that,” she said and strolled away.
I looked down at my daughter who was stretching and yawning. I could already tell by the way she wrinkled her face and squirmed that she was sitting in squashed shit.
Glancing around, I was happy to find the diaper bag within arm’s reach. I pulled it to me and set about changing Blue before she could get going with her little fit. After I fed and burped her, I placed her in the swing I’d already assembled and continued working while she alternated between playing and napping. It took longer than I thought, but when I was finished, I had several safe places for Blue to play and sleep, all of which could easily be moved to different locations. If the gym was anything like my house, I’d be moving the swing from room to room. It was her favorite; therefore, it was my favorite.
For the next two months, Blue spent almost every day at the gym with me. I, however, did spend every single day at the gym training. Because I had a fight to prepare for. And it wasn’t just any fight. It was the fight that would get me on the card. From there, the matches would build in difficulty until I bested one of the top-level fighters. Then, I would be given the chance to leave with my winnings or join the best of the best and continue to earn the same exorbitant amount for each fight I won. But the first one could be some punk off the street who didn’t know what the fuck he was doing, or it could be an experienced fighter trying to join the league, like me.
14
It’d been three months since I drove away from Devil Springs like my ass was on fire, and I was finally about to have my hands on the answers to so many of my questions about my sister. Bouncing on the balls of my feet, it was all I could do to stay put and not get in my car to meet him halfway. Because that would have made me look like a crazy lady. Okay, a crazier lady.
My heart rate accelerated when I heard him turn the corner. Ready to burst with glee, I ran to the gate the moment his wheels stopped in front of my house. “Judging from the size of that smile, I must have something you want,” he drawled.
“You do, and you know it,” I teased and then clapped my hands together. “Please don’t make me wait any longer.”
He laughed, extending his hand in a grand gesture. “I hope it’s everything you wished for,” he joked.
“I know it will be,” I replied, taking my prize from his hand. “Yes! Yes! Yes!” I cheered and, in a moment of overexcitement, I pulled him in for a hug. “This is it! Thank you!”
He patted my shoulder. “You’re welcome, Ms. O’Shea. You have a good day now, you hear?”
“You too! See you tomorrow!” I called out and waved goodbye to my mailman. Then, I turned and sprinted back inside, not caring one bit how ridiculous I may have looked.
Skidding to a halt in the kitchen, I leaned on the counter and tore into the envelope. After weeks of back and forth with the various county offices involved, I finally had my hands on everything related to my sister’s case.
First, to get any of the reports, I had to prove I was the next of kin of the deceased. In order to do that, I needed to know which girl was my biological sister. So, I stopped there and turned my attention to the tooth.
Frankie had a friend who worked in a lab and agreed to help us out in exchange for a set of signed books. I sent the tooth, some of my father’s things she said would have testable DNA on them, and