Page 102 of Drifting

Her head snaps up, and she sees Mav with his hand still curled into a fist. She gasps and runs to Jack, her voice high-pitched as she demands, “Oh, my dear boy, what did that monster do to you? Did they break in?”

I forgot how her voice reminded me of nails running down a chalkboard.

“No, she forced her way in,” Jack mumbles, pointing to me. “They followed behind her.”

Brenda’s beady eyes move to me. “You! What the hell are you doing in my house? And how dare you bring your pimps in here and have them attack Jack?” She glances around. “Where’s Lara? What have you done to my poor, sweet girl?”

“I’m right here, Mom.” Lara comes out of the dining room and runs over to stand beside her mom. “They were staring at me like they wanted to rip my clothes off. I ran to the other room.”

I throw my head back and laugh. “What bullshit! You’re a slut, Lara, always have been and always will be.”

With lightning speed, Brenda stands and slaps me across the face. Her nostrils flare, reminding me of a fire breathing dragon. “How dare you speak that way to my daughter!”

“Lady, I’m standing here letting you call my friends and me monster, pimp, and low life, and I haven’t said a damn thing,” Mav growls out through his teeth. “You have no idea who I am, but if you ever touch Shelby again, I will show you just how much of a monster I can be.”

A fiery, angry look twists his features that’s unfamiliar to me. But, holy shit, a pissed off Mav is hot.

As he takes his eyes off Brenda and puts them on me, his gaze softens. “You okay, babe?”

He caresses my cheek, and I lean into his hand. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“What the hell is going on?” demands a deep, booming voice.

Brenda turns to my uncle as he walks out of the back hall. “These hoodlums came into our house and beat Jack.” She points at me. “And she brought them here.”

“Hi, Uncle Brett.” I wave my fingers.

His head jerks back, eyes widening. “Shelby? What are you doing here? And where’s Cindy?” He looks around like she should be with me.

I cock my eyebrow and clench my hand into a fist. “I don’t know where Cin is.”

Brenda pales.

“Brenda told me Cindy went to stay with you.” He peers over at his wife. “Didn’t you?”

She opens and closes her mouth, but nothing comes out.

“Uncle Brett, Cin didn’t come to see me. That’s why I’m here. I called over a week ago and spoke to her until Brenda took the phone away. Before she hung up, I heard her slapping Cindy, then an enormous crash.”

“Brenda, what’s going on?” he questions, stepping closer to her.

“Mr. Winters, my name’s Nick Tate.” Nick steps forward. “Your sister married my father. I think we need to sit down and discuss a few things.”

“Yeah, um...” Uncle Brett looks around in confusion. “Okay, let’s sit in the living room.”

Brenda stands there, wringing her hands, knowing she’s busted.

Mav ushers me toward the loveseat and sits with me. Dom takes up a position leaning against the wall on my right. Uncle Brett sits in his Lay-Z-Boy, and Brenda reluctantly sits on the side of the couch closest to Uncle Brett. Lara sits beside to her, and Nick takes the far end. Jack stands behind the sofa.

“Shelby, it’s good to see you,” Uncle Brett says. “Cindy mentioned you were in a crash. I’m sorry to hear that the car is gone. I know how much you and Cindy worked on it.”

“I’m sorry it happened, too,” I say, my chest still tight over its loss. “I should have listened to your daughter that night. She told me not to race, that she had a bad feeling.”

At the mention of the race, the twins’ eyes jump to me. Oops. I never did get around to telling them that I race. I just told them I was in a car accident.

Uncle Brett leans forward. “Where’s Cindy?”

I shake my head. “I don’t know, honestly. This is what I do know. Patty called here about a month ago and talked to you. You told her that Cindy was fine but grounded for running away and taking the car. That you shut off her phone, and she wasn’t allowed to speak to anyone, not even to Patty. Then, about a week ago, I called the landline, and Cindy answered. We were talking when Brenda took the phone and hit her while hanging up. That’s it.”

---