Page 27 of Preacher Man

Red Light laughed without humor. His face twisted holding Preacher’s stare. “That is your specialty, hm. You’d like to think you can.”

“It’s a promise. We’re done here.”

He made his feet move before he lost his self-control and did as he promised to a brother who wore the same patch he did on his vest. Rider was vocal on never turning against a brother, the moment one member went up against another it brought about diversion in a club. He’d kick Preacher out.

“And you stay the hell away from me,” Red growled.

Preacher threw him a middle finger over his shoulder. Kept on walking.

Welcome to Nebraska.

It was going to be a long trip.

CHAPTER NINE

“What kind of sister are you if you won’t help me?” – Rita Maddox

Ruby woke thinking of Sebastian.

Missing him.

Over the first coffee of the day she let her mind allow Preacher in for five minutes. Any longer than that and she wouldn’t get anything done today and she already had a long list going. Hunched over the kitchen counter, chewing on the end of a pen she underlined ‘find a fucking job asap’ three times. Surely that would help. If not she could revisit a second chat with God, as yet, no miracles had happened, she figured he was busy with world domination from whatshisname.

And If all that didn’t have a significant and fast impact, then she knew a good street corner to stand on. Really, it was perfect, it got the sun in the morning and shade in the afternoon, any decent hooker worth her fake Louboutin’s would appreciate that prime real estate.

Just kidding. Maybe. It was an option. She had great blowjob skills, so her last boyfriend would tell her, but then he was a cheating asshole, so his opinion couldn’t really be taken seriously.

Ruby wasn’t ten minutes into her cleaning routine, keeping her shithole of an apartment spotless, elbow deep in a mountain of old Vogue magazines, her attachment was real, but they were taking up space and needed recycling when the phone rang.

The thing about being broke as a fucking nun was that her belly dropped at first, it could be the bank to say she was overdrawn, maybe the power company letting her know she was late again with the payment, it was only thanks to her mom’s debts she’d never succumbed to a credit card, because they’d be on her back twenty-four seven wanting payment. If things continued to go as they were she was seriously thinking of applying for one.

Last resort. Right after hooking on a street corner.

“Sis. I need some extra this month, the damn pig of an ugly landlord has hiked up the fucking rent like he thinks I’m made of money.”

And that was how Rita started all her conversations. I want. I need. No, how are you, sis. What's going on with you, sis? Nope, always with need and want first and foremost. Ruby sighed, plonked herself down on the coffee table. This phone call wouldn’t last long, they never did, but it would wear her out.

“Hey, Rita. I’m great, thanks for asking, how are you, found a job yet?” Short answer; no. Of course, she hadn’t. Rita believed in welfare and sitting on her lazy ass all day long puffing and snorting anything and everything. Why would she want to work and contribute to life when the state and the bank of Ruby would always bail her out. Rita had it damn good.

Phone calls with her sister continuously left Ruby with a slick greasy unease in her belly, she tensed and the beginning of a headache began to brew in her skull. She knew what she wanted to say to her sister;get the fuck off your own ass and take care of your own damn self.But she knew she wouldn’t.

Sibling guilt gnawed at her. Rita was the baby of the family at twenty-five, had never held a job for longer than two months, even then she bitched the entire time. Both sisters had been dealt the shitty hand with parents, they were the type of people who should never have been allowed to breed, ever. But there came a time you had to stop blaming everything on a dysfunctional upbringing and make the most for yourself. Ruby had. No matter what she persisted.

Even her brother Jamie had, to a certain extent. He wasn’t bitching in a corner and expecting handouts that was for sure, what her brother did was more than likely extremely illegal, but still, he didn’t blame their perpetual jailbird dad for every little thing that went wrong.

Rita, however … the women shared a mother, god knows who Rita’s father was, Ruby had never been able to get it from her mother, and when she’d died of an overdose going through her personal effects, which were sadly meager, she hadn’t unearthed any clue as to who he was. From the number of men that came and went through their house it could have been anyone.

Rita had been the small brunette kid, much lighter skin in complexion to Ruby, with blue eyes. Ruby the dark skinned frizzy haired tall kid. And then if you added in Jamie who was tall, black hair and a natural tan, the three of them together looked like they were the Addams family with Ruby always in the middle of the two since Jamie couldn’t stand Rita and vice versa. Lucky for her she supposed they had nothing to do with each other, what with not sharing any parents, they only had Ruby in common. To Ruby, they were her only family, fucked up, dysfunctional, criminally minded family.

But god, they wore her down.

Her fingers rubbed over her forehead.

“Jesus, didn’t you hear me? He wants extra fucking rent this week. What am I meant to do? You know I’m good for it, Rube.”

Ruby snorted and rolled her eyes. She’d never seen one penny of the money she’d given her sister over the years. That was the state of their sibling relationship. Ruby gave most and Rita expected all.

“Is it for rent?” She felt herself relent on her stance to not dish her any more money this month, not that she even could, but if it truly was for rent, then maybe she could sell something. “You said that last month and when I called the dickhead said you were out buying weed.”