Page 2 of Southpaw Slots

Kline’s squirrelly face pops in the open door, his wire-rimmed glasses steaming with the heat of the shower. “Yes?”

“Hey, tell my barber to get up here in ten. Need a fresh cut for tonight.”

“Um, sir. You fired the last one after you told him he needed to return to barber college.” Kline readies a pen and has the audacity to give me his best parental stare.

“Alright, then what about the one before? What happened to him?”

“You had sex with his wife.”

Oh, did I? Well, that’s probably true.

“Ha! I remember that! Bitch was so bad, too. Dude, you were so fucked up that night. She was, like, fifty and nasty as fuck. I think even Dave had her suck him off, and she had to take out some teeth first.”

Ew. Well, probably for the best I forgot.

“Okay, get someone else, then, Kline. What the fuck do I pay you for? To watch this perfect hair cut itself? No. Get out there and get me a barber. Someone good.” Kline disappears from the doorway to fulfill his task while Cass continues to chuckle. Hmm, wait…have I run through all of Southside’s barbers? “Hey, yo!” Kline reappears for a brief moment, the grimace on his lips letting me know he’s about had it with me. “NotCal’s barber. And definitely not Maxi’s.”

Cass twists his head between the two of us as I pickup my cleansing facial mask. “Does the bear evenusea barber? Guy’s hairy as fuck.”

Kline leaves us without a response.

Using circular slow motions, I apply the cream and let it steam in the water before moving to my junk. Had a wax two days ago, so I’m good there. Maybe time for a manicure, though. Pedicure for sure.

“Hey! And get Sheila up here to do my toes!” I meet Cass’s sparkling deep brown eyes and lower my voice so Kline doesn’t give me shit. “She’s literally good atdoingmy toes, you know?”

His rich espresso-colored skin crinkles as he lifts his thick lips into a broad smile. “Oh, I’mveryaware. She does mine, too. On Sundays.”

Before I can fully peel off the mask, a loud crash like glass shattering interrupts me. Cass and I glance at each other, and he shakes his head slightly. “Probably Jinx.”

“Sorry, Ace!” Hijinx yells from the next room.

The water hits my exposed neck when I tilt my head back, and all I can wonder ishow much is this gonna cost me? Cass must sense my irritation and skips out on the rest of my shower, but the door is open. The guys’ boisterous chats bounce off the tile walls as I finish up. Drying off with my Turkish cotton towel, I wrap it around my waist before checking out my nose hairs, any possible wrinkles needing more Botox, then my hairline in the mirror. Definitely time for a trim.

Dave’s lanky body waltzes into my walk-in closet while I’m trying to figure out what to wear.

“Here.” His deep bass resonates through the quiet space, padded with my custom suits. He hands me a lit blunt and I take it from him, sticking it between my teeth as I grab my white sequined dress pants while taking a deep puff. “They wanna start at Mickey’s bar, then I think Trixie’s got a show on for us tonight at the club. All your favorite girls will be there. I told them to load you up with at least four at once, since you’ll basically be celibate after this shit goes down.”

Nodding, I pull on a white dress shirt, then the matching white sequined suit jacket. Monogamy is simply not going to happen. I’m not built for that. If I had a heart or soul left to give to someone, they’d just leave or end up dead. Not worth it. My childish dream of having a marriage like my parents, a happy home like I grew up in, was buried when they died. Maybe it was even before then, when Ashley was murdered, when my mother lost her will to live and Dad couldn’t make her happy anymore.

An image of Cal’s face as he told me he killed her flashes in my mind and my anger rises to the surface again. My friend took everything away from me. The burden of betrayal weighs heavily on my shoulders. It’s only quelled by a deep inhale of the smoke.

I study my fit in the mirror, finishing things off with my father’s watch and a black pocket square embroidered with a wolf. As I slip on some white loafers, Iinstruct Dave, “Tell Jinx to get out of that stupid pink outfit he’s got on. He’s worn that shit since high school. We’re all going in dress whites tonight.”

We roll out of the closet as I finish the blunt, back toward the main open room of my city loft. When I enter the bedroom, I peer over the rail where Jinx must have smashed the glass coffee table in the living room below. No one’s made a move to clear it as they all lounge around the sofas playing their stupid sports game, but a deep purple stain on the white couch assaults my eyes.

Pulse pounding in my throat, I sprint downstairs, snatching the glass out of Jinx’s hand. “What the fuck, man? Didn’t even clean this up? Did you do that?” I point to the wine smeared into a cushion at the back of the loveseat. Oh, and on my white shag rug…

Jinx’s gray eyes narrow as he shrugs with not a care in the world. “Sorry. Thought the maid would take care of it.” When he snags the stem of the crystal back from me, more maroon liquid splashes out of the top and spills onto the floor. My fists curl to punch the little shit, but Hoss taps me on the shoulder and shoves a cold beer in my palm instead.

“Here, man. Calm down. It’s not that big of a deal.”

Gripping it while still maintaining my death stare at Jinx, I twist off the top and down some, the cool taste helping my irritation abate. Jinx takes up his regular stance, flopping back on the seat and expertly ignoring me. Sneering at them all, I say, “Alwaysruining everything I have. I like things neat and orderly. You know that. And you guys are here all the fucking time, never once pitching in to help. I let you empty my drinks, smoke my dope, snort my coke, eat my food… Hell, even fuckmygirls.” I open my hand toward the glass shards laying all over the middle of the room. “And you break shit. Every day, you break shit.”

The four of them pause their conversations and stare up at me in my outburst. It’s time for my monthly temper tantrum about their freeloading, but despite it, I know I can’t get rid of them. Let’s face it, these are the only people who can stand me. They have to; they’re my family now. Or have been ever since I was a teenager. They knew me before my parents’ death. But they didn’t when Ashley was alive before my world turned to the hell it is now.

There’s this feeling I have. I don’t even know if there’s a word for it. But it’s there all the time, like I’mmissingsomething. Or I forgot to get something. Constantly, I go through a checklist to figure out whatit is.

Am I hungry?

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