Page 38 of Spider

I take a sip of my soda before commenting. “Maybe we both just know how to be respectful around ladies.” I shrug before taking a bite of my burger.

She smiles with a little blush hitting her cheeks. “That might just be it,” she agrees. “You need anything, just holler,” she adds before walking back to the bar.

After I’ve eaten my food, I order another drink. Getting up, I grab a left over newspaper and sit back down in the same seat, scanning through it.

“Evening darlin’, the usual please,” I hear a familiar voice say from across the bar.

Standing, I make my way over and stop behind him. “I will have the same,” I say.

His back tenses and he spins around, his smile spread wide across his face. “Fuck, brother!” Acid greets, pulling me into a firm hug, slapping my back in greeting.

“Damn, it’s good to see you.” I smile.

Acid rests his hand on my shoulder. “What the fuck are you doing here? Everything alright at the club?” he asks, his smile fading with concern.

I look to the woman behind the bar, watching us. “Yeah, let’s talk at the table,” I say, pointing to where I had been sitting.

Acid nods and we quickly carry our beers over. “So, why haven’t you checked in?” I ask as we sit down.

He drinks some of his beer and sighs. “I ran into some trouble.”

I frown. “I fucking knew it.”

Holding up his hand, he shakes his head. “It’s nothing bad. Just a threat and a fight. I was just helping out a friend is all.”

I look past him to the woman at the bar. “That friend have dark brown hair, olive skin, and an ass that even a blind man would appreciate?” I ask, raising my brow.

Acid smiles, looking behind him. “Yeah, it ain’t anything like that. She’s got a kid. Ex was beating her. I made it so that he would leave her alone.”

“Brother, that don’t answer the question as to why you haven’t been in contact,” I point out.

“My cell got smashed. I don’t have any numbers, apart from what was stored on my cell. I was going to come back, but then I was worried about leaving her alone so soon. So, I thought I would stick around for a few extra weeks. Just to make sure that dickhead wasn’t planning on returning,” he explains.

I nod, deciding to just cut to the chase and tell him. “Your sister turned up at the club,” I announce.

Acid’s blue eyes snap to mine before he shakes his head. “Nah, ain’t my fucking sister and you know it. You were there,” he hisses.

“It’s her,” I say. I take my phone out and load up a picture that I had taken of her laughing with Star and slide it across the table. She had been unaware I was watching her. “Cash did a background check on her. She wasn’t at the house when we set the fire.”

Acid takes my phone, his hands shaking. “What… Fuck. Where was she?” he asks, his voice thick with emotion.

“She was working at a pizza place. She ended up in a girl’s home, and got picked up by a guy called Dean, her ex. Her pimp,” I state. Even saying that word makes my blood boil.

Acid leans forward. “What the fuck do you mean pimp?” he seethes.

I exhale and run my fingers through my hair. “I’m sorry, brother. He manipulated her and some other girls. Got them on drugs, controlled them, and then pimped them out,” I explain.

His leg starts bouncing up and down. “My fucking baby sister,” he seethes. “We left her. We left her to that fucking life,” he grits through his teeth. “We should have gone back there. We should have checked. We could have taken her with us.”

I nod, feeling the guilt rising up in me again. “I know,” I rasp. I cough, clearing my throat. “She got away a few years ago,” I add.

Acid nods. “Good. She good now?” he asks.

I smile, thinking of her now. “Yeah, she’s good. But she didn’t just come to us to find you. He’s hunting her down. When she left, she took money. A lot of his money,” I tell him.

Acid nods. “Fucking good,” he spits.

“Yeah, she got clean, and started her own business; a bakery. It was successful. She was doing great,” I explain.

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