Page 11 of Justice
“We have a future and we will live this futuretogether,” he stated firmly.
Ma stood from her chair. “You look fit to be tied, Mr. Lawyerman. I will get you a cup of tea.” She went over to the kettle as she told him, “Have a seat.”
Justice didn’t hesitate as he came over and sat next to me.
Ma returned to the table and set his cup down. “Sugar lumps are in that little blue dish.” She gestured to it, then looked over at me. “Let him help you. Haven’t you ever heard that girl’s song? The Swift girl?”
We both gazed up at her.
“When all is said and done...Two is better than one.”She beamed at us and left the kitchen.
We both shook our heads. Ma was the best and everyone here was blessed to have her in their lives.
A moment of silence went by as we sipped our tea.
I decided to try to explain, “When I was growing up, I knew something wasn't right in our house. My dad would disappear for days at a time. He couldn’t keep a job and my mother worked two jobs. She was hardly ever home. At the time, Belle and I felt like we didn’t have any parents. When dad was home, he wasalmost incoherent or passed out. Early on, I took care of Belle as she was two years younger than me. Then the fighting got worse. My mom was so angry with my dad all the time. I was about fifteen when she’d had enough and kicked him out. She filed for divorce. Things were better after that for a while. Then he would come around, claiming to want to see his girls. He would visit with me and my sister. My mom had to work sometimes during those visits. And then later, she would discover things were missing. Our TV in the den for one and some of her jewellery. Nothing expensive though, as we were poor honestly.”
Reaching over, Justice took my hand.
I went on as I needed to get it all out there, “Yes, he was pawning the stuff. He also stole her tip jar in the cabinet, like there were several hundred in there. It was our grocery money.” I shook my head. “He also had a brother that was no better than he was. He broke in one night and…” I took a deep breath and continued, “...tried to rape me.”
Justice sucked a breath in, then he let out a low growl.
“I was eighteen at the time but my uncle? Really?” I shivered in disgust. “Mom hit him with a lamp and called the cops.” I stared at Justice. “The rest of his family are just as bad. All of them either steal or they work for bad people. Seems this time, my dad racked up a real high bill with some drug dealer. Then when he couldn’t pay, they took my sister, so my mom would pay it.” I scoffed. “She doesn’t have any extra money. She managed to pay off the house by herself just by all the years she had worked but she only makes enough to get by.” I lowered my head. “I don’t come from money. I’m from the other side of the tracks. A druggie dad and a family of miscreants. I was forced into foster care because of him. Now, my dad’s habit has come back to haunt us, yet again.” I raised my head to look at him. “Belle and my mother are all that I have in this world. Belle hada nice secretary job going for her. Then one day, she didn’t come to work and she had always been on time. Her employer called my mom and then she got a call from this man. Nasty, she called him, telling her she had a week to get 15k together and hand it over if she wanted Belle back in one piece.” I stared at Justice. “One piece?” Tears filled my eyes. “He actually said that.”
Wrapping his arm around my shoulder, Justice whispered, “We will get her back, Scarlet.”
Chapter Five:ACrap Shoot
Justice
“But how?” Scarlet asked me. “I mean we have to leave here tomorrow morning.”
“And we will.” I squeezed her shoulder. “Liberty is setting it all up right now with Redemption and Talon. We are going to take you to town to your apartment and run some errands.”
She nodded, as she looked relieved. “Thank you.”
“No thanks needed, Scarlet. Look, I am done with stepping around this.”
She blinked her eyes at me. “What do you mean?”
“I want you to be... my woman.”
She stared at me. “B-but after everything I told you? I mean why?”
“Why?” I chuckled. “I am falling or I have already fallen in love with you actually. I don’t care what side you came from. I don’t care about any of it.”
Her mouth popped open in surprise.
I chuckled and placed my finger under her chin to close it. “All I need is to hear a yes from you.”
She bit at her lip and said, “I haven’t had the best luck with men, Justice. I mean I have had only two relationships and they both ended so badly that I don’t even want to tell you about them.”
“Well, maybe the third time's the charm.” I winked at her.
She gave me a half smile. “Dang, you are so cute, Justice.”
“Well, that has to count for something?” I smiled at her. “We can see what happens after we get your sister back. Right now is not the right time, I know that.”
