The Reckless Oath We Made - Bryn Greenwood Page 0,26
because I couldn’t afford to pay rent on two places. All of a sudden, now that the police had been there, management cared about me sleeping on LaReigne’s couch.
“So my sister got kidnapped and you’re making me and my nephew homeless?”
“That’s not my problem,” the manager said. “You can’t be here.”
I didn’t know anything about how the law worked with me not being on the lease, so I got a trash bag and gathered up some of our stuff: mostly clothes and a few toys for Marcus. The manager followed me around the apartment while I did it.
“You can take your stuff,” he said, like he was doing me a favor. “But you have to give me the key.”
I dragged the bag of stuff I’d gathered down the stairs and loaded it into my car. The manager followed me, waiting for me to give him the apartment key, mumbling about how he didn’t want to call security. I took the key off my ring, and I was about to hand it to him, when I decided I was done playing meek and mild.
“Go fetch, asshole,” I said. I threw the key as far as I could, over the wrought-iron fence and into traffic on Rock Road.
CHAPTER 12
Zee
After I left the apartment, I went to work, because that was all I knew how to do. If somebody dropped a nuclear bomb on Wichita, I’d probably still show up at work. The twinge in my hip had turned into a stabbing pain, and I was in the locker room sticking a CBD patch on my lower back when Julia walked in and gasped.
“Oh my god, Zee! You don’t need to be here,” she said. I was standing there with my pants unzipped and my shirt untucked, but she hugged me. It wasn’t like we were close friends, but I didn’t want to be rude, so I hugged her back. That’s when the owner, Lance, walked in. He wasn’t supposed to be in there, because it was part of the ladies’ room, but that never stopped him.
“Zhorzha, my dear,” he said. “I agree with Julia. There’s no need for you to be here. This must be a trying time for you and your family.”
Just like we couldn’t keep him out of the locker room, we couldn’t stop him from hugging and patting and squeezing us. He was the owner. I scrambled to zip my jeans before he swooped in for a hug that was way too close.
“I’m scheduled to work, right?” I said.
“But we never imagined you’d come. I already asked Kristi to cover for you.”
“Do they know anything?” Julia said. “I mean, do the police have any news for you? I heard they found her car. Is there—do you—”
“They don’t tell us anything except what’s on the news. And I’d rather work today,” I said. I got away from Lance, but he and Julia stared at me while I pulled my hair up and put my apron on. They could hug me all they wanted, but they hadn’t offered to pay me for not working.
“I went to Colorado earlier this week.” I usually waited for people to ask, but I wasn’t in the mood for subtle hints. “I kind of need to get rid of it. I could let you have an ounce for two hundred.”
Normally I got seventy for a quarter ounce, but I didn’t want to carry it around any longer than I had to. It was a good call, because by the time we opened for lunch, Lance had bought half an ounce, Julia’s boyfriend came by with enough cash for an ounce, and I sold half an ounce each to the other two servers. It wasn’t anything close to what I usually made, but at least it covered what I paid out, and it meant I wasn’t toting around felony-level quantities of weed.
The lunch rush was the lunch rush. Too many split checks and shitty tips, but I could get through it. I always got through it, even when I was in worse pain than I was in. I’d just picked up drinks for the double four-top in back when I saw the TV behind the bar out of the corner of my eye. Nebraska Body May Be Hostage the graphic on the screen said. The volume was off, and all I meant to do was ask Lance to turn up the sound, but I moved too fast.