NINE: Boyle Heights

by Elizabeth Reyes

  Curious. You said you got hurt Friday at work. Was it bad? I didn’t notice any bandages.

  He tapped away his response, already smiling just because of who he was texting. He finished putting his text together then went over it to make sure autocorrect didn’t make him look stupid the way it did so often.

  Almost superficial but a bleeder. It’s more of a bruise now but nothing big.

  She didn’t respond immediately, and Nine thought it’d been enough to relieve her curiosity about it. He finished getting dressed and started down to the shop. Almost an hour into his work, he got another text from her. Just seeing Dee on the screen of his phone made him smile every time. He pulled off his gloves and tapped the screen to read her text.

  Where?

  For moment, he wondered if the text wasn’t meant for someone else. He tapped the question mark three times and sent his response just as O walked over to him. “We’re ordering from El Tepeyac, want anything?”

  Nine pulled out his wallet, hearing the text indicator go off again. He glanced at his screen on the work bench since it was still open, and he could see it was his injury Dee was inquiring about again—where he was injured.

  “Get me an asada burrito with everything and an horchata.” He handed O thirty bucks. “Tell Fern Dog to order whatever he wants, on me. That dude never orders anything ’cause he’s on a budget then sits there and eats his sad little sandwich while everyone else grubs on the good stuff. I hate that shit.”

  O laughed, nodding as he took the money. “Got it.”

  Picking up the phone, Nine was already smiling as he thought of what smart-ass response he could give Dee. He laughed as he put the text together then re-read it again before hitting send.

  Almost sliced DEE’S nuts but don’t worry. As close as it came it didn’t cut anything vital. Everything’s functioning just fine! ;)

  He set the phone back down after sending it, still smiling, but it rang as soon as he set it down. To his surprise, it was her, but it only rang once, and he figured she must’ve hit the call button on accident. He gave it a few moments before slipping his gloves back on, in case she really did mean to call and might call back, but she didn’t.

  When the food got there, he settled into one of the chairs near where he’d been working and readied himself to call and chat with Dee while he ate. The call went straight to voicemail, so he texted her instead, letting her know he’d be at lunch for the next twenty minutes or so, in case she wanted to call him back.

  To his disappointment, she never did. Adding further to his disappointment, about an hour after he’d gone back to working, she texted him to say she had to cancel seeing him later that evening. She was on her way to urgent care because Chelsea had a fever again that wouldn’t break and had no idea how long she’d be gone.

  “No fucking way,” he muttered, hitting the call button, but again it went to voicemail.

  He texted her to ask if maybe he could see her once she was finally home. He didn’t care how late it was, but she never responded. By the time they were closing up, Nine still hadn’t heard back from her, and he was thoroughly exasperated. He tried calling her several times, all of which went straight to voicemail.

  Checking back to see what time her last text was, he saw that it’d been over five hours. He knew the wait at urgent care could be ridiculous, but he hoped she might’ve gotten lucky and was out already. He texted her again, trying not to sound as exasperated as he felt. She had no control over this, and for all he knew, things could be a lot worse than he thought.

  Hey keep me updated on your daughter. Hope she’s doing okay. I’ll be up late so it doesn’t matter how late it is drop me a text or something.

  By the time he was getting ready to go to bed and still hadn’t heard anything from her, he’d gone from exasperated to really worried. Could something be really wrong with her daughter? Was it so bad Dee was too upset to even check her phone or be up to talking or even texting? He hated to think Dee could be hurting and he wasn’t there to comfort her. He knew that little girl was everything to her.

  It was the only thing that came to him as to why she’d neglected to get back to him at all. He was so worried he knew he was going to have a hell of time getting any sleep until he heard back from her. So, after brushing his teeth and doing everything else he could to keep himself busy, he finally sent her one last text letting her know she could call or text him no matter what time it was, that he was worried sick, and was praying her daughter and everything was okay.

  It was only after he sent the text that something even more alarming came to him. What if something else had happened? It made even more sense, and the knot in his stomach that’d been building all night got even heavier. If she were sitting in a waiting room or even by her daughter’s hospital bed, she could’ve easily sent a quick text to update him. This wasn’t like her.

  “Fuck!”

  He lay back in his bed, knowing full well he wouldn’t be getting any sleep until he heard from her now. Then, just as he lay there wondering if maybe he should start calling hospitals or Ali to see if maybe she knew something, he got her text, and he practically heard heavenly music as he read the first few lines. Then he got to the last part that shot him to a sitting position, and that knot that’d been building in his stomach all night just about exploded for an entirely different reason.

  Home now. She’s resting soundly in Mommy’s bed so I can’t talk. But thanks for your concern. Quick question and it’s no biggie so be honest. I’m just curious. Have you talked to Becca lately?

  Chapter 23

  Drew

  After an entire week of waiting to see Drew and having to wait an extra day, Nine hadn’t attacked her the way she expected when he’d gotten to her place. Instead, he’d been able to calm himself and suggest they go out, and nothing happened until they got back that evening. And now she knew why.

  Remembering Becca saying her body was spent made her cringe now. It made perfect sense, despite all the reasoning she’d tried to do about why Becca would know Nine was up late and dealing with a case of blue balls.

  Drew should’ve been having another blissful evening with Nine, but instead she was crying in the shower again. She had no idea how the fuck was she supposed to just cut him off when she couldn’t even bring herself to demand an explanation.

  Even his concerned and worried texts, which should’ve warmed her, only made her cry more. She was sitting there in bed, changing channels mindlessly, when her phone binged. Another text from Nine. Drew read it and was instantly choked up.

  I’m worried sick because I haven’t heard back from you. Call or text me NO MATTER what time it is. I’ll be praying that Chelsea and everything else is okay.

  She’d managed to hold it together long enough have a conversation with Charlee earlier about this without sounding like she was falling apart. Charlee had played devil’s advocate, insisting that it was very possible that Becca might just have made the comment to be conniving. That as flirtatious as Nine could be, maybe he’d just told her about the injury via text and therefore hadn’t lied about not seeing her in a while.

  It’d calmed Drew for a while, but after thinking it over more, she was back to being sure there was more to it. The more she thought about it, even if he’d just told her about, it showed the kind of relationship he still had with the girl. If he was capable of still sharing something so intimate with her, maybe he was capable of still doing more. There had to be a reason to why he’d been so tense yesterday when she’d brought Becca up.

  Now seeing his otherwise heartfelt text had her blubbering all over again. Bringing her hand to her mouth as she reread the text, she sobbed a little into it. How the hell was it possible that this guy could be such a selfish asshole? Taking a deep breath because she knew it was bad juju to use her daughter’s health but she needed to buy herself time on how to deal with this, she decided to respond.

  No way could she talk to him right now without having him hear wha
t a mess she was. Her head insisted she should demand answers no matter what, while her heart begged her not to. Demanding anything if he still wasn’t ready for a real commitment could have him running for the hills and ending it all. Technically, he’d never promised her anything.

  So she lied again as she had about being in urgent care. She said she was home but Chelsea was in her bed again and she couldn’t talk in hopes he wouldn’t call her when she added the final question to her text. She deleted and reworded her final question about Becca several times. No biggie. Was that a dead giveaway that if, in fact, he responded that he had talked to her recently and about something so private, or worse that he did see Becca Friday, this was a very big deal? That this was tearing her heart out but she was trying to play it off? One more deep breath and she did it. She sent the text and held her breath then waited.

  And waited . . .

  Chapter 24

  Nine

  “Motherfucker!” Nine practically bounced out of his bed after reading that last part of Dee’s text. “That bitch! I knew it. I fucking knew it!”

  He scrolled furiously through his texts because he’d never even added Becca to his contact list. He’d just had her send him a text that first day when he met her way back so her number would be saved that way on his phone. But he’d only ever texted her a few times and called her maybe once, and he hadn’t done either in a while.

  The sound at the door had him glancing at O, who stood by Nine’s open bedroom door. “You okay?”

  Nine nodded but frowned. “That chick that was here Friday is stirring up trouble for me.”

  He found their last text thread and hit the call button. Nine wasn’t about to wait around for her to respond to his texts at her leisure. He needed answers now.

  “You mean one of the two chicks you did in the parking lot Friday night?” Glancing up at O’s disapproving expression, Nine rolled his eyes. “She’s the one stirring up trouble?”

  “Yeah, that one, but—” He stopped when Becca answered. “What’d you tell her?” he demanded, walking out of his room past O and down the stairs. He felt so hot now he needed air. “The hell did you say to her?”

  “Who?’

  “Don’t act stupid. You know who I’m talking about. You saw the girl I was in the wedding with yesterday morning at the hospital. What’d you tell her?”

  Becca was quiet for an uncomfortable moment then finally spoke up. “I didn’t say anything to her. I don’t even know her. But I might’ve mentioned about my late night Friday to the girls and maybe she overheard? Only I never give any names.” He heard what sounded like a muffled giggle. “You know to protect the not so innocent.”

  She was so full of shit, and Nine almost said it, but he needed to play nice—at least as nice as he could manage because he needed to know exactly how much Dee knew.

  “What did you mention, Becca?”

  “I kept yawning. Oh my God, I was so tired, so Lila asked me why that was, and all I said was that I’d had a late night but it was totally worth it.”

  Pacing out in the parking lot now, trying not to growl, Nine shook his head. “Why would she connect that to me? You had to have said more.”

  “I didn’t,” she said adamantly but then added, “Let me see . . .” She was went quiet for a moment as Nine braced himself for the rest of her bullshit. “I never used your name. All I said was I had a late night with my boy toy.” She stopped to giggle, pushing Nine’s patience to the limit. “Did she say I said I was with you? Because I never said you specifically. I was very vague about who I was with. Always am, but I did say my late-night guy—again didn’t give a name—that his girl wasn’t available that night. So out of the kindness of my heart, I stepped up. I was being facetious. Lila tends to scold me when I act like I’m being especially bad.”

  Standing in place now, Nine thought about that. Was it possible Dee was really just checking if by chance Becca’s late night with a guy whose girl wasn’t available Friday night had anything to do with him? She did say it was no biggie. If she was thinking anything else, it would be a biggie, right? Nine knew if this were turned around and he was the one thinking maybe she’d been with Brad and the guy had made comments the way Becca had, it would absolutely be a real fucking biggie for him.

  Maybe he could just fess up that she’d stopped by one time Friday to tell him about the photo shoot. But he’d already screwed up and said he hadn’t seen her in a long time when she’d asked him yesterday. He’d panicked, damn it.

  “So that’s it? That’s all you said?”

  “That’s it. Why? What did she say I said?”

  “Nothing, she just asked if I’d talked to you lately. I just thought it was too coincidental.”

  He left out that he’d had a hell of day, wondering why Dee had ignored all his texts and calls and then finally texted and added that cryptic question.

  “Why does it matter?” Becca asked, sounding a little smug. “You said you didn’t have a girlfriend—”

  “I don’t and it doesn’t.” He started back into the shop and locked the door when he was in. “I just wanted to know if you’d said anything to her before I respond.”

  Becca assured him again that she hadn’t said more then changed the subject to the photo shoot. Nine cut the call short, saying he didn’t have time for that and had to go. Before she could say or ask anything else, he hung up and reread Dee’s text one more time.

  Wanting to be honest this time but he couldn’t be completely without risking too much, he decided he’d send two texts. He addressed her daughter’s stuff first because he wanted to make it clear what part of her text was more important to him. He said he was glad she was okay, reiterated how nervous he’d begun to feel about not hearing back from her, and suggested maybe they could get together somehow during the week because going the whole week without seeing her was getting too torturous now. Though he didn’t mention that last part. Just said he was anxious to see her again.

  Then came the scary text—addressing her Becca question. He tapped away at his screen, re-wording and editing the text before he had something down that didn’t completely unnerve him. He read it one final time.

  I did hear from Becca Friday. Forgot all about that when you asked yesterday. But I didn’t actually talk to her. She texted me something about a photo shoot she thought I might be interested in doing then dropped off a flyer about it. But not while I was around because I didn’t even see the flyer until today.

  Too much? Too little? That last part was true. Nine thought about asking why she was asking, but chickened out. His hope was she’d be happy with his response and they’d be done with this. So with one last deep breath, he sent it.

  One thing he’d be making certain of was, if Becca ever dropped by again, called, or even texted him, he was just going to admit he was seeing Dee now. Only reason he hadn’t today was he hadn’t wanted to give her the pleasure of thinking either he, but especially Dee, might be losing any sleep over this shit. She sounded too damn smug, but it was stupid. He should’ve just admitted it did matter and then add something blunt about her coming around or even calling not being cool anymore.

  Last thing he needed was for her to think dropping by the way she had so late Friday night or any time for that matter was something he was okay with. Dealing with even this alone, he was sure was already messing with his blood pressure. Becca’s calls had finally tapered off, so he didn’t have to be so nervous when his phone dinged or rang around Dee. He didn’t want that shit to start up again.

  He was back in his room when Dee finally responded to one of his texts. Nine read it, holding his breath, but it was just her response to the first text he sent. She didn’t address anything about why she hadn’t responded to all his earlier text or calls or even mention Chelsea again. It was short and felt dismissive.

  I have Chelsea all week. But I’ll let you know.

  Nine waited for her to respond back about Becca, but she never did. He’d never been one of
those pushy guys, and he didn’t want to come across as clingy, but it didn’t feel right to just end their conversation like this. Not when it still felt like this conversation—this unease about Friday night—was hanging over his head, threatening to explode at any moment. So he sent a follow-up text

  This time he was completely honest, and he didn’t even care if he sounded sprung as fuck. There was no way she couldn’t know he was already. She had to know. So he just went for it.

  I hope you can get away this week if only for a couple of hours. Not seeing you again today sucked ASS. It’s gonna be a LONG week if I have to wait until the weekend to see you. I’ll take anything. Even if it’s only a few minutes.

  Her response was a short one again, but at least she added a smiley face, which Nine could only hope meant they were past the whole Becca thing. He stared at the text for a minute, unable to shake the feeling that there was still something wrong.

  I’ll see what I can do. It’s been a really long day/night. I’m about to pass out. Goodnight! =)

  Trying not to think too much on it because his day had been a rough one too, Nine got back in bed. He wasn’t sure if it was the sudden adrenaline rush he’d gotten from her asking about Becca or the earlier hours he spent worrying about why she wasn’t responding, but he too felt emotionally spent and ready to pass out. It was a good thing too because, if she couldn’t get a away even for a few hours, he was in for one long week.

  Drew

  By Thursday, Drew had come to the conclusion that this was just who Nine was. He’d been upfront about it from the very beginning. Even if he wasn’t lying about not seeing Becca on Friday, bottom line was it was too big a coincidence. No way could Becca’s boy toy have gotten hurt in the same private area both she and Nine had described on the same exact day. So if anything, he’d told her about it. And why would he be sharing something so intimate if he didn’t still carry on with her in that manner? Drew wouldn’t put it past him to have sent Becca photos of how close the injury had come to his junk.