Page 24 of Heart of Stone
“I think that if there is a nuclear end to the world, the only things that will survive are weeds, cockroaches and Skittles. So, yes, I think that same weed will be back tomorrow.” She reached behind us for a forklike tool. “I think this will help you dig down to the roots.”
I stabbed it into the ground. “This is more therapeutic than I expected. You know, the brothers were pretty young when their dad died. While it was better that he was gone, it also left them to fend for themselves at a pretty young age. None of them did too well in school. They were all smart, but they were much more street wise than book wise. It’s not too surprising that they ended up working for someone like David. I just hope they can find their way in this world before any of them ends up hurt or in jail . . . or worse. I know Colt is on a much better path now that you’re in his life.”
She smiled. Jade was one of the prettiest girls I’d ever met, and when she smiled, she looked almost unreal. Colt had been a hard nut to crack when it came to girls. He’d always been such a town heartthrob, he hadn’t ever needed to bother with any serious relationship. None of the Stone brothers had to try too hard when it came to women. Their rough childhood had maderelationshipa dirty word. Jadewas the one to finally break Colt’s shell, and you only had to spend a short time with her to know why. She’d had her own stretch of an ugly past and had turned out pretty spectacularly in spite of it.
“What happened last night on the date? He’s certainly a nice looking guy, even if he is a drug dealer.”
“God, when you say it like that, I just want to kick myself. I thought he was too good to be true. He took me to this ritzy, members only nightclub. Took us about an hour to get there. First there was an awkward grilling session about my relationship with the Stone brothers and in particular, Hunter. I guess the scene of Hunter dragging me through the bar and into the office didn’t escape David’s notice.”
Jade laughed. “Nope. The entire bar saw that little show.”
“Great. Then he spent the rest of the ride talking on the phone. I was pretty pissed by the time we reached the club. Turns out he had a bunch of his friends meeting him there. Lots of pretty, fake eyelash and boob type girls. You know, just the type I love to hang with.”
She laughed. “I see where this is going.”
“Yep. The polite but cool and rich surfer dude suddenly became the smarmy, polished coke dealer. Didn’t like his friends at all and they seemed even less impressed by me. We couldn’t really find anything to talk about. By the end of the evening, we both knew that it was over. Not that it had ever really started.”
We scooted to the next section of yard.
“So my first venture out into the world of life after Hunter was a disaster.” I yanked another weed and an uglybeetle-like bug came crawling up from the dirt. We both screamed and jumped to our feet. We stared at the little beast as it hurried to burrow itself back into the dirt.
I glanced around at the crop of spindly weeds still surrounding us. “I think I need some more smoothie. It’s going to be a long day.”
FOURTEEN
HUNTER
It felt as if I’d been up for three straight days. Not counting the few pass out sessions on Fletch’s flea ridden couch, it had probably been close to that. The cards were starting to look like a red and black blur. Lack of sleep and lots of party treats in the form of alcohol, weed and blow were making my head feel as if it was filled with helium. But the pile of money in front of me was enough to keep me semi-alert. Or at least alert enough to win round after round of poker.
Two nights ago, I’d walked out of Lazy Daze determined to wallow in a pool of pity. Fletch had called to let me know that the poker game was back on. I headed straight to the game, figuring my luck couldn’t get any worse. And it didn’t. I’d managed to win a cool pile of dough and pushed the idea of Amy dating Rincon out of my head. I knew the relief was temporary, but the booze and coke had cooled the rage. The adrenaline rush I’d gotten from seeing Rincon walk out with Amy had, apparently, given me an edge in poker. I had no idea why, but I was playing like a fucking poker gladiator. Fletch had folded hours ago,and Sully had stomped off in his usual spoiled princess fit after losing his ass.
This would be my last round. I hadn’t been home in three days, and my phone had died long ago. The last two players stared at me over the tops of their cards. Their eyes were bloodshot and angry. I’d only just met them when we all sat down to play two nights ago. They’d lost plenty, and they were now eyeing me with a lot of hatred and plenty of suspicion. The one guy, Mack, was butt ugly with tiny scars all over his face as if he’d either gone through a major bout of chicken pox as a kid or had someone spray his face with a pellet gun. His friend, Deke, had a black beard that he pulled and twisted every time he had a good hand. Didn’t matter how good his poker face was, that beard gave away his hand every fucking time.
My poker fairy godmother hadn’t left my shoulder yet. I had an Ace high flush, so my money pile wasn’t going anywhere. The guy with the pitted face folded with a pair of twos. His friend grinned. He’d been twirling his beard into a black icicle, so I figured he was holding something decent. He laid down three of a kind. I fanned out my flush and reached forward to sweep the pot toward me.
“Fucking cheater,” Deke snarled.
“Didn’t cheat. Just played a lot better than you two clowns.”
The lack of sleep, loss of money and final comment was all they needed. Deke scrambled like a rabid dog over the table. Empty beer bottles clattered together like bowling pins as he tipped the table over. I backed my chair out of the way, and Deke fell face first onto the floor. The cards and my money cascaded down behind him. Mack took theeasier route. He circled around the upturned table. He lunged for me, but I threw my fist into his face, surprising the hell out of myself with how sharp my reflexes still were. He flew back with a bloody nose.
Fletch came out of the bedroom rubbing his fat belly and squinting into the light. “Christ, Stone, what have you done now?”
“Wasn’t me. Got some sore losers here.”
Fletch’s eyes rounded. “Watch it!”
I turned around as Deke hit me with a beer bottle. I ducked but caught it on my cheekbone.
I reached up. Warm blood seeped from the gash it’d left behind. “You fuckface, I won that money fairly and now I’m done.” His face blanched white as I reached for him. I grabbed the front of his shirt and pounded my fist into his face. The guy was limp in my grasp when Fletch finally stopped me from delivering another blow.
“Stone, stop. You’re going to kill him.” It took me a few seconds to comprehend his words. The haze in my head was growing thicker by the second. I dropped my hold on Deke, and he crumpled to the ground.
The knuckles on my right hand were swollen and covered with blood. His and mine. I stumbled over to the kitchen sink and splashed my face over and over again with cold water. Mack recovered first. He grabbed his half conscious friend off the floor and pulled his arm over his shoulder. He snarled something angrily at Fletch.
Fletch held up his hands. “Hey, don’t blame me. You two were stupid enough to call him a cheater and then fly over the table at him. Way I see it, you’re lucky to be walkingout of here.” They stumbled out the door, and Fletch locked it behind them.
He looked at me. “You can’t seriously be thinking of riding home tonight.”
