you tattooing to the goddamn bone?”
Preacher stared at him until Brad dropped his gaze. Daniel scowled at his friend. “Keep your mouth shut about Addie or I’ll kick your fucking head in. I mean it.”
“Yeah, yeah. You’re the one who was complaining about her.”
“I can complain about her, she’s my sister.”
“Why’s she texting you for this shit, anyway?” Brad said.
“Because my parents are gone, and her friends are working, and as you keep pointing the fuck out, she’s not with Harrison anymore.”
“Jesus,” Brad snorted. “That lawyer was pussy-whipped if your sister got him to pick up that type of shit for her. If I had a girlfriend who even texted the fucking word tampon to me, I’d kick her out the door. Keep your goddamn monthly blood bath problems to yourself, you know?”
Preacher stopped tattooing and wiped the smears of ink away before placing plastic wrap over Brad’s arm and taping it into place. If he had to hear Addison’s name come out of this shit stain’s mouth one more time, he’d stab the tattoo gun into his own goddamn eye.
“What are you doing?” Brad said
“Lunch break,” Preacher said. “Come back in an hour.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Brad glared at him as Daniel’s cell dinged again.
“No, I’m fucking not,” Preacher said. “You got a problem with that?”
Brad cleared his throat. “Nah, man, that’s fine.”
“Good. Get out.”
Brad slid off the tattoo bed and turned to Daniel. “Let’s head over to Nan’s and get a bite. Unless you need me to drive you to your car so you can do a fucking tampon run for your sister?”
Daniel shook his head. “She’s doing it herself. Let’s go. See you in an hour, Preacher.”
Preacher just nodded. The two men left the shop and Preacher joined Nix who was still with the tourists. Nix glanced at him. “Hey, what’s up?”
“You okay for a while on your own?” Preacher said.
“Not a problem,” Nix said.
“Just text me if it gets busier,” Preacher said. Leaving Nix to deal with the tourists, he went upstairs to his apartment. He was feeling anxious and unsettled and he studied the leftover pizza in his fridge before closing the door and moving to the window.
He stared at the people scurrying down the sidewalk. He wasn’t worried about Addison, he told himself grimly. He didn’t fucking care if she was sick. He didn’t miss her either. Besides, if she was sick, he didn’t want to be around her anyway.
Still, the fact that she was reduced to asking her brother to bring her tampons, had to mean she was really sick, right? Not that the useless twit could help her. He supposed he should have been relieved that Daniel had enough common sense not to drive when he was drunk, but Preacher was mostly just pissed that he was leaving Addison to fend for herself.
He sat down on the couch and scrolled through Facebook for twenty minutes. He needed to eat but he had no appetite. He stood and paced his small apartment for another few minutes before returning to the window.
He stared blankly across the street. There was an old woman sitting on the bus stop bench outside of Walgreens. She climbed painfully to her feet and adjusted her hat as the bus pulled up and blocked her from his view. After a moment, the bus drew away and he studied the woman who had stepped off the bus and was standing next to the bench. She wore a baggy sweatshirt, yoga pants, and flip flops and her hair was in a messy ponytail on top of her head.
Her ass reminded him of Addison’s ass, he thought before snorting. Addison wouldn’t be caught dead outside of the house in a sweatshirt and yoga pants. His little Sunshine liked to wear -
His eyes widened as the woman turned to grab the back of the bench and he saw her face. She coughed harshly, her body bending with the force of it. Even from his apartment he could see the flush of fever in her cheeks. She straightened and walked slowly into the Walgreens.
He paced back and forth in front of the window with his hands clenched into fists. After a few minutes, he cursed and stomped down the stairs.
“Be right back,” he said to Nix and left the shop.
* * *
Addie sneezed and then groaned in pain. She didn’t know whether to grab her stomach or her head. She settled for rubbing at her forehead with one hand and pressing on her abdomen