Then Lavonne’s hand came out and she flicked Bear again.
“I said yo!” Bear shouted.
She had one hand on her hip, the other one holding the cigarette aloft and the glare she directed toward Bear was evil.
“What’s this al about, Bear? And I’m warnin’ you, you spil or this time I ain’t leavin’. This time, I’m packin’ your bags.”
This was clearly not an idle threat because, without any delay, Bear started talking.
“Gambling.” Bear looked up at me, “Your Dad’s been gambling. Got himself in a financial situation, so he went to Slick, who’s a loan shark.”
I sank down on the arm of one of the armchairs, next to Al y, hopping to get my heart started again.
“He had a windfal a couple days ago, bought himself into another game to make back the money he owes Slick.
Instead, he lost and now he owes Marcus.” Tex, Al y and Indy looked at each other.
I didn’t know what their look meant but I’d worry about that later. I already had too much to worry about.
The windfal Dad had was my hard-earned five hundred bucks.
I felt like crying.
“How much does he owe this Marcus?” I asked.
“Fifteen grand.”
Al y’s hand came out and grabbed mine.
Fifteen grand? How did five hundred pocket money become a debt of fifteen grand? That was forty-five thousand dol ars in total. Even if I started stripping, sold everything I owned and sold my plasma every month for a year, I couldn’t come up with forty-five thousand dol ars.
Lavonne flicked Bear again.
“Why didn’t you tel her this yesterday? And where’s Ray now?” she snapped.
“Ray asked me to keep it quiet and he’s out tryin’ to fix it.” Bear’s eyes swung to me, “I swear, Jet, he’s tryin’ to fix it.”
I stood up and shouted.
“How? Gambling? Stealing? He’s sure as hel not going to get a job waiting tables at Bennigan’s and make that kind of cabbage!”
Bear stood up too.
“He’s tryin’ to do right!”
Lavonne reached high and flicked him.
“Don’t yel at Jet,” she snapped.
Everyone looked at Bear and Bear’s face got red, then he exploded.
“Why is everyone mad at me? I didn’t get forty-five K in the hole playin’ poker. It ain’t my fault.” Then he decided the smart way forward was to deflect attention from himself,
“Anyway, Jet’s workin’ at a titty bar.”
Damn.
Everyone held their breath as Lavonne’s wide, angry eyes turned to me.