Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 34081 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 170(@200wpm)___ 136(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34081 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 170(@200wpm)___ 136(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)
With her coffee in hand, she sat down at the table opposite Damion and didn’t have a clue what to say.
“It has been hot, hasn’t it? Crazy weather we’re having.” If she didn’t have any clue what to say, it was always best to go straight to the weather.
Damion looked at her. “Do I make you nervous?”
“Yes and no. I have no idea why you would want my company,” Vicki said.
“Do you like dancing?”
“Uh, I have never gone dancing.”
“Friday night, I’ll pick you up at seven and take you dancing.”
“I can’t, not Friday. I mean, I would love to go, but I don’t have a babysitter and no one wants to help me, so I’m taking care of my brothers and sisters.”
“I’ll take care of that. Be ready on Friday. Do you have dancing clothes?”
“I don’t know what dancing clothes are,” Vicki said, feeling a little out of sorts with this whole line of questioning.
“I’ll send you clothes.” He took a sip of his coffee. “You get this right every single time. Why is it so hard for anyone else?”
“I have no idea,” Vicki said. “So, are you having a good day?”
“It is improving now. Business had to be dealt with to keep the peace.”
Vicki nodded. She had a feeling business meant hurting someone.
“Tell me, Vicki, did you always imagine yourself in Old County?” Damion asked.
“I was born here. I have never been anywhere else, and we both know once you’re in, and you’ve seen stuff, there is no getting out.”
“Would you if you could?”
Vicki shrugged. “I think about it from time to time, but I don’t know what is out there for me. At least I have a good job here.”
“But you still live at home with your mom, and I have a feeling if it weren’t for the kids, you would have moved on, right?” he asked.
She nodded.
“Why don’t you leave? The kids are not your responsibility. They’re your mom’s. If you left, she would have to deal with them.”
“They’re my family, and you don’t walk out on family.”
Damion looked at her strangely, and Vicki didn’t know if she had said the right thing or not.
Chapter Two
Damion sat at the table in the center of the restaurant and waited for Vicki to arrive. She was the only woman in town who had yet to throw herself at him. Sure, they talked, and there were smiles and small talk, but that was it.
In the past, and even a few weeks ago, he had women turning up at his home, work, or even on the streets, throwing themselves at him. To put it simply, he wasn’t interested in anything they had to offer.
Now, as he waited for his date, he pulled out his cell phone and saw the Wrights and Guns had accepted and finished with their little duel. Whatever happened to the baby was between them. The girl would either keep it or get rid of it.
He glanced through, seeing the people he had put in different places to feed him information, their latest updates, and with that done, he pocketed his cell phone. He also had an update from Delphine, who was taking full responsibility for Vicki’s siblings tonight, so he could take her on this date.
On his last check, her mother, Annette, was being passed around the Thames’s, on the edge of town. They were feeding her drugs as payment. He had contacted the leader, who told him that Annette had wandered into their territory and said they could all do anything to her for a price. That price had been as much heroin and cocaine as they would give her. There was not a single mention of her family. Nothing for her kids—no food, no money, nothing.
He knew Annette. Hadn’t liked her from the moment he laid eyes on her. He’d been living in Old County all his life, and Annette had been turning tricks for just as long. She started in high school, from what he remembered. She began with teachers, trying to improve her grades. She didn’t believe in hard work, but instead in sucking her way to success.
At first, it was an advantage, working her way through the faculty, and they were more than happy to use her. The only problem was, by the time she finished, men had gotten bored with her. She was easy. Also, she was known for causing scenes.
He did believe that was how Vicki was born, and that she was in fact one of the teacher’s daughters, but there had never been a paternity test done. No one really knew who any of the kids’ fathers were. At last count, there were six kids total, including Vicki.
It fucking shocked him how many kids Annette had been able to have. She wasn’t as pretty as she was back then. Life hadn’t been kind to Annette, and her drug addiction had also started to play a factor.