Playing for Keeps (48 page)
Authors: Jamie Hill
She headed back out into the other room—the only "other room" in the apartment except the small bathroom. The living room/kitchen combination was suitable for now, but someday…Crystal continued to dream…someday she’d have better.
She opened the refrigerator and pulled out a can of pop. Two left, and a half- gallon of milk, and then the cupboard would be bare. In the cabinet she found a partial bag of Oreos, the substance of the boys’ evening snack. She estimated there were enough cookies to last a couple more days.
Thankfully, Moe let them eat at the diner every day. Four o’clock was a little early for dinner, but he fed them substantially and gave them dessert after they ate their vegetables. With the breakfast and lunch their school provided, and the snack she gave them, Crystal thought the boys had enough to eat. It was a piss-poor way to live, though. If they were her kids…
Well, things would be different, that’s all
. It was another of Crystal’s dreams. If she ever had children, she’d make sure there was plenty of food in the house, and they’d have a yard to play in, not a body to step over when they got home at the end of the day.
“Okay, time’s up.” She grabbed the remote after half an hour, and both boys attempted to guilt her with sorrowful looks. “Forget it.” She closed her eyes and held up one hand. “It’s your daddy’s rule, not mine. He pays me to enforce it. Let’s go, homework first, then a snack. If there’s time you can watch some more TV or maybe we can play a game before bed.”
They grudgingly picked up their backpacks and spread their homework out on the coffee table. Crystal smiled at them as they got to work. They were great kids. She’d never have agreed to watch them every day if they weren’t.
Lord knows their father is a ruffian.
She met Dave when she moved into the building six months ago. He and the boys were getting by, trying to form a routine after the death of his wife, Laura. Dave was hesitant when Crystal inquired how Laura died, until he finally admitted drugs were involved. An overdose of some kind, apparently, but he never wanted to talk about it.
Dave was a handsome devil with curly blonde hair and just a spot of a beard. Crystal had heard of people being described with “bedroom eyes” before, but Dave’s smoky blues were the first she ever truly thought fit the description. She was attracted to him right away, and they hit the sheets before she realized that every other woman Dave met was also attracted to him. His problem was that he didn’t have the heart or the brains to tell any of them ‘no’. When she caught him in bed with an off-duty hooker, Crystal had herself tested for HIV and every other disease she could think of. She decided right then that if Dave wasn’t going to be choosy about whom he slept with, she damn sure had better be.
He hadn’t appreciated her decision to cut him off, and they argued about it for days. He tried to hit her once during their negotiations, but he was drunk and Crystal came out on the top of that skirmish. She knew Dave fully believed what she threatened to do to him if he ever tried to hit her again. Once he realized she was serious, he decided he needed her more for childcare than for sex. He could get
that
anywhere. He paid her to watch the kids, and Crystal felt she was providing some structure for them. Dave was usually loaded when he arrived home, and she was a gentle buffer between him and the boys. She’d help him get them to bed, and then sneak out while he either fell in the sack with someone else or tried to make Crystal change her mind for the umpteenth time.
A piss-poor way to live
.
She looked at the clock as the boys finished their snack.
Almost nine
. Dave was usually home by then.
“Daddy’s late.” Mark saw her watching the clock.
“A little.” Crystal shrugged. “He knew I didn’t have plans tonight. I guess he decided to go out for awhile.”
Devon yawned and Crystal helped him wash his hands and clean up the table. She debated what to do, and by nine-thirty decided to take the boys home and put them to bed. She got their apartment key out of her cabinet and led them to the tiny unit next door. She felt strange going in without Dave, but it angered her that he wasn’t home and hadn’t called, so she went right on in.
After helping the boys brush their teeth and change into pajamas, she tucked them in and kissed them goodnight. “Have happy dreams.” She pulled their door mostly shut, and went to watch TV on Dave’s sofa until he came home.
* * * *
Crystal woke to the sun creeping in through the window. Her back ached from sleeping on the sofa. She sat up and stretched, then looked at the clock and saw it was almost seven. “Damn,” she muttered, knowing full well that Dave had not come home last night. She went to his bedroom door and looked in just in case, but his bed was empty. She would have heard him come in. Swearing to herself, Crystal went to wake the boys up.
“Where’s daddy?” Mark asked immediately, sitting up and rubbing his face.
“I’d like to know that myself.” Crystal opened drawers and pulled out jeans and shirts for both boys. “I guess he stayed somewhere and slept it off. I imagine he’ll come around the diner today, telling me how sorry he is and asking how late I can work tonight.” She sent both boys off to the bathroom and then helped them dress. She found a box of Pop-tarts in their cabinet and gave them each one. Then she took them back to her place and sat them in front of her TV so she could shower and dress.
It was a short walk to school, where she gave the boys hugs before sending them into the cafeteria for a more substantial breakfast. She’d see them at the diner that afternoon. Fortunately, it was close enough they could walk. They had a pretty good arrangement when Dave kept up his end of it. She was ticked that he hadn’t called.
Moe’s was a busy little neighborhood diner with a large crowd of regulars. Dinah, a middle-aged divorcee, served as the opening shift waitress and left when the lunch rush was over. Crystal worked from eight to four. Tina, a bubbly high school student, came in after school and stayed through the less-busy dinner shift until Moe closed the doors at seven.
“I can’t believe Dave hasn’t called.” Crystal looked around the diner as the lunch crowd began to thin out. She was getting more and more irritated as the day progressed and she hadn’t heard from him.
“Men are scum.” Dinah wiped off the counter and tossed the rag in a tub on a shelf. “He’s using you, like they all do.”
“I know.” Crystal nodded, letting the harsh words roll in one ear and out the other. Dinah had a jaded view of life. Crystal hadn’t sunk to that level yet. She let Dinah talk, not putting much stock in her words. “But he does pay me to watch the boys.”
“Such as it is.” Dinah rolled her eyes.
Crystal chuckled. Dave paid her pretty well when he had the money. It generally evened out. She looked up as their boss came out of the back room. “It’s tapering off now,” she told Moe. “I can handle it if Dinah wants to go home.”
He nodded, and rolled down the sleeves on his plaid shirt. Crystal had never seen Moe wear anything but plaid shirts. She wasn’t sure she’d recognize him if he ever changed his look. She guessed he was pushing sixty, with a shock of white hair that always made her think of a peculiar mad scientist. His demeanor was anything but peculiar, though. Crystal thought he was the kindest person she could have ever wanted to work for.
“Sure, go ahead, Dinah-belle.” He called her the nickname only
he
could get away with. “See you tomorrow.”
Dinah gave another little eye-roll behind Moe’s back and Crystal had to smile. “Bye Dinah.”
“Tomorrow, folks.” Dinah waved, gathered her purse and jacket, and headed out.
“Check with Caesar and make sure he’s got plenty of chocolate chip cookies, will you Crystal-ina?” Moe asked her. “Those boys are going to be hungry when they get here.”
She smiled at him, not even bothering to roll her eyes at his nickname for her. “You’re going to ruin their supper, you know. You spoil them, Moe.”
He smiled and shrugged like a proud grandfather might. “They have me wrapped around their little fingers. What can I say? A few cookies won’t hurt them. They’ll still eat their vegetables, you watch and see.”
“I know they will,” she agreed. “You’ve got them trained, that’s for sure.” She went in the kitchen to talk to the cook but didn’t spot him offhand. The back door to the alley stood open, unusual on such a chilly day. “Hey Caesar?” she called uncertainly. “Moe wants to make sure you have enough chocolate chip cookies.” She walked to the back door, and peered outside cautiously. Everything was quiet. “Caesar?” she asked again, and took a step into the alley. It was eerily quiet, and she quickly turned around to step back inside.
Before she could move, she sensed someone next to her. She was grabbed roughly from behind. Crystal screamed as a hand cupped her breast, and then was silenced as another other hand clamped over her mouth.
“Looking for something?” a voice whispered in her ear.
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Also by Jamie Hill from Books We Love
Romantic Suspense (with a touch of heat!):
A Cop in the Family Series
Jamie Hill’s Triple Threat (The complete A Cop in the Family Series)
On the Edge, a romantic suspense novella
Romance, Woman’s Fiction:
The Blame Game Series
Blame it on the Stars, Book One
Impulsive
, a short story collection which includes
Three Wishes
NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER:
Thank you for purchasing and reading this Books We Love eBook. We hope you have enjoyed your reading experience. Best Regards and Happy Reading, Jamie and Jude
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