Page 27 of Ordinary Girl

“Does she need to know?”

“I think she deserves to.”

“Telling her is only going to make her hate me more. So maybe she needs a distraction. Something to take her mind off all the bad shit.”

“While you avenge her mama’s death?”

“And the death of her brother or sister.” Skip’s eyes darken, his face a mask of pure hatred. “Never once have I ever even thought about having a family. I never wanted one, never needed one, until the chance to have one was fucking ripped away from me, so Ana – Ana is my family now, Joel. She’s all I have left of Sofia, so I want her kept safe. I want her protected. Nothing is going to happen to her, do you understand?”

“And that responsibility falls on me, huh?”

“It falls on all of us, Joel. But you – I’d trust you with my life. Now I’m trusting you with hers.”

I shake my head, this whole conversation just feels wrong. I’m a bad man, there’s no denying that, I’ve done some shit I’m not proud of, and some I’m never going to regret, it needed to be done. But, deep down, I’ve got a good heart. I care about those who deserve to be cared about, and yes, Ana deserves to be cared about. But this – this is something else.

“I get that she has to stay here, Skip, but does she really need a bodyguard?”

“Just keep her safe, Joel.” He downs a long draft of beer, and even though he’s always carried a kind of darkness around with him, there’s something very different about this man now. A man I’ve known for over two decades. And I get that he’s grieving, but Ana’s grieving too. Or she would be, if she came off the medication we’ve been feeding her long enough to feel anything. And I think Skip needs to talk to her. Ask her what she wants to do: help her deal with the loss of her mama. If he thinks of Ana as family now, he needs to start treating her as such.

I leave Skip at the bar and head out front. I need some air, even though we’ve been outside for the best part of the day. It’s starting to get dark now, and I sit down at one of the wooden trestle tables outside the clubhouse entrance and light up a joint.

“Can I try some of that?”

My head shoots around at the sound of her voice. Ana. She looks tired, but that isn’t surprising. Dressed in torn jeans, sneakers and a red and black plaid shirt that’s a couple of sizes too big for her, she seems pretty lucid, considering the amount of shit she’s taken today.

“Yeah. Sure.”

She sits down beside me and takes the joint, dragging deep, I’m guessing this isn’t the first time she’s done this.

“You okay?” I ask her as she hands the joint back to me.

She doesn’t answer at first, she looks away, over her shoulder, before facing me again. “Yeah, I’m okay. As okay as Icanbe.”

I take another drag on the joint and stare out ahead of me. “You know that everything we’re doing, it’s to protect you.”

She doesn’t respond to that, and I turn my head to look at her.

“We’re not total assholes, Ana.”

“I thought that’s exactly what you were.”

Her expression remains impassive for a second or two, before she smiles slightly. And I laugh, bowing my head for a couple of beats. “Maybe we are. When we need to be.” I raise my gaze to meet hers, taking a deep breath before I speak again. “Did you know your mama was pregnant? When she died?”

She keeps her eyes on mine, and it takes a moment or two before she slowly shakes her head, it’s like she’s working on some kind of satellite delay. And fuck Skip, this kid deserves to know the truth.

“Which is why Skip is even more hell bent on making sure those who killed your mama, and her baby: the men who hurt you, he won’t settle until they’re brought to justice.”

“What kind of justice?” she asks, her eyes still locked on mine. “You gonna kill them, too?”

“I’d say there was a pretty good chance that’s going to happen, yes.”

She breaks the stare. “Good.”

“They deserve it, right?”

She turns to face me again, her eyes narrowing. “You patronizing me?”

“Just making sure you understand what you’re saying. That you understand the kind of world you’re living in now.”

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