“Yeah, it’s over by Mama.” He pointed over my shoulder and started jumping up and down again.
“Alright.” I stood up and reached up into the truck, turning it off and stuck the keys back in my pocket.
“Aw, you stopped the growling,” he pouted.
I shook my head laughing and boosted him up into the truck. “I promise to make it growl when I take you and your mama for a ride.”
“Woo hoo.” His eyes grew big as I set him in the driver seat and he climbed up onto his knees and looked out the windshield. “I can see everything from up here.”
“Yup. Alright, I’m gonna help your mom. You stay here and try not to push too many buttons, OK?” Levi nodded his head and climbed into the backseat.
I left the door open and sauntered over to Scarlett, who had the trunk popped and was tossing bags onto the ground.
“You need all of this?” I asked bending down to grab two duffel bags.
“Yeah. I thought I could leave some stuff in the car, but we’re going to need everything. I grabbed only the bare essentials when we left, so I can’t really skim down anymore.” She put her hands on her hips and gazed into the trunk.
I stood beside her and saw that she had another five bags and one bin full left in the trunk. “We can fit it in the truck. Don’t worry about it.” She was worried she had too much, and here I thought it was insane that all she had for her and Levi were seven bags and a bin. I had more than that, and I was only one person.
“I’ll just leave this tote here until I get the car back.”
I walked over to the truck, tossing the bags into the back and walked back over to the car. “Stop,” I said, grabbing the tote out. “It will all fit, and I don’t mind.” I managed to snag two bags with one hand and stuck the tote under my other arm. “Get in the truck. I’ll get the rest.”
“I don’t know why you are doing this. You don’t even know my son or me.”
“I’m doing what any decent human being would do.”
“No, you’re not. Everyone I know wouldn’t do half of what you’re doing.”
“Then you’ve known the wrong people, Scarlett. Not only is this something I would do, I know for a fact my brothers and sister would do the same thing. Get in the truck.” I was ten seconds away from dropping the bags, slinging her over my shoulder and putting her in the truck myself.
She reached around me, grabbing a bag. “Thank you,” she whispered before she walked over to the truck and threw her bag into the truck bed.
“Mama, come get in the monster truck with me,” Levi hollered from the back seat.
“One sec, baby. I need to help Mr. Mitch.”
She took two steps toward me, but I shook my head and motioned for her to get in the truck. “I’ve got it.”
“I need to get the car seat for Levi.”
Shit, I forgot about that. I totally would have just strapped him in the backseat and took off. I guess it was a good thing I didn’t have kids. I wouldn’t know what the hell to do with them. “You grab the seat, and I’ll get everything else.”
By the time Scarlett had struggled with the getting the seat out of the car and into the truck, I had managed to empty the car and pulled it into an open bay.
“What the fuck is this?” Kurt stood next to the car, his jaw dropped as the engine ticked after I turned it off. “We’re a body shop, not a fucking junkyard.”
I slid out of the car and slammed the door shut. “Yeah, it’s definitely a pile, but we’re going to have to try and fix it. There're about fifty things wrong with it, but the big one is as soon as you shift into drive the throttle opens up and wants to take off like a rocket.”
“That’s why you slammed on the brakes when you pulled in here. Didn’t want to go through the wall,” Kurt chuckled.
“I’m gonna run the owner somewhere and then I’ll be back. See if you can work on it until the first customer shows up.”
“This thing needs a miracle.” Kurt reached in, pulled the hood release and popped it open. A cloud of smoke puffed from the engine as he raised the rusted hood.
“Just look it over and see where we need to start. I need to give Scarlett and Levi a ride.”
“Who the hell are Scarlett and Levi?” Kurt twisted off the cap to the oil and wrinkled his nose in disgust. “When the hell was the last time she had an oil change? Jesus Christ.” Kurt wiped the dipstick on one of the shop towels smearing a milky mess all over it.
“I’m going to have to say never.” I ran my fingers over my head realizing that this was going to be a bigger mess than I first thought. “I gotta go, I’ll be back.” I’d have to worry about her car when I got back.
“Hey, you never told me who Scarlett and Levi were,” Kurt hollered as I walked out the door.
“I’ll tell you later,” I managed to yell back before the door closed. I swung by the office grabbing my sunglasses off the counter and shoved them onto my face.
I didn’t know what or who it was that beat Scarlett and what she was running from, but there was something deep inside of me that wanted to know what it was and make sure it never happened to her again.
Levi was a special little boy and Scarlett, well, Scarlett I wasn’t too sure about, but I wanted to know more about her. I just hoped she would be willing to let me in.
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Chapter 3
Scarlett
“Make it growl again,” Levi giggled from the back seat. “It tickles my tummy.” Mitch goosed the gas, revving the engine and throwing Levi into another fit of giggles.
“He’s a riot.”
“He definitely likes to laugh.” I glanced in the backseat, Levi’s giggles fading off as he grabbed his bag and pulled out a Transformer.
“It’s good he can still laugh.” Mitch glanced over at me, and I knew what he was thinking, and I didn’t want to go there. There was pity in his eyes, something I hated.
“He doesn’t know much. I never let what happened to me touch him,” I mumbled quietly and turned back around in my seat. “How much longer until we get there?” After we had pulled out of the shop, I had given Mitch the address to the apartment. He asked twice for it, almost not believing me the first time.
“Should be just at the end of the street.” Mitch made one last turn and drove to the last apartment building on the left. The right side of the road was all single home families that were run down and some actually falling down.
I knew when I had seen the ad online for this place that it wasn’t in the best of neighborhoods, but I didn’t have any other options. It was this or sleep in the car. Mitch parked at the curb in front of the apartment and turned in his seat to look at me. “I could find you a better-”
I put my hand up, cutting him off and shook my head. “No. This is fine.”
“I don’t think that-”
“I didn’t ask what you think, Mitch. Hell, I didn’t even know you half an hour ago. You’ve done your good deed for the day. Levi and I will just grab our stuff and head up.” I reached for the door handle, but he grabbed my arm, stopping me.
“OK. But why don’t you run in and get the key and I’ll sit out here with Levi.”
I wanted to argue. I wanted to say no and tell Mitch that I didn’t need his help or pity, but I didn’t. He was right once again. It would be so much faster just to run in by myself to get the key then to take Levi in who would ask fifty question and delay us. “Fine. I should only be five minutes, and then you can get back to your regularly scheduled life that doesn’t include helping damsels and their kid in distress.”
Mitch smirked and let go of my arm. “Levi and I will just hang out here and talk about how Bumblebee is waaay better than ol’ Optimus.”
“No, he’s not,” Levi shouted from the backseat. Mitch had just opened a can of worms by saying anything was better than Optimus, especially Bumblebee.
I slipped from the truck as Mitch and Levi bickered back and forth ov
er who was the better Transformer. After glancing around the neighborhood, I knew that Levi and I would only be staying here as short as possible. This was not where I wanted to raise my son.
The front door of the complex opened, and two teenagers stumbled out of the door, and I could tell they were either high or drunk. They held onto each other laughing uncontrollably and walked behind the back of the apartment.
One month then Levi and I would be out of here. I just had to get a couple of paychecks under my belt, and we would be able to move on from here.
I had talked to the landlord on the phone, and he had told me he lived in apartment 101, and I could grab the key from him. I hoped and prayed as I opened the front door that the inside would be nicer than the outside. I had to be optimistic, or I would break down crying right then and there.
The smell of mothballs and sweaty socks hit me as the door shut behind me and I put my hand over my nose. “Sweet Jesus,” I mumbled under my breath.
Apartment 101 was thankfully to the right of the door, and I raised my hand to knock, but the door was wrenched open before my fist made contact with the door.
“You the new girl? You’re late. I hope you’re not going to be late with the rent. First of the month. Don’t care if you’re sick, your kids sick or the damn pope is in town. Rent the first of the month.” She thrust her dirty hand at me, a key dangling from her fingertips. “You got a problem with anyone here, I don’t recommend calling the police. One, because it’ll take them an hour to get here, and two, by the time they do get here, you’re going to have a whole other problem on your hands when they do. Don’t snitch, mind your business and you’ll do fine.” She dropped the key on the floor, stepped back into her apartment and slammed the door in my face. “Rent. First of the month!” She hollered through the door.
I looked up and down the hallway wondering what the hell just happened. I hadn’t even gotten a word out before she slammed the door in my face. I crouched down snagging, the key off the floor and wiped it on my pants. Thankfully, she had told me which apartment was mine on the phone otherwise I wouldn’t have a clue where to go.
The apartment two doors down opened the door, and an old man stuck his head out and stared me down. “Uh, hi.”
He scowled at me and stepped back in his apartment slamming the door shut. It appeared that slamming doors were a common occurrence around here.
“One month,” I swore to myself under my breath as I slipped back outside. Mitch and Levi were still idling at the curb, and I sprinted over to the truck thankful to be out of the smelly hallway.
“Mama,” Levi exclaimed as I swung open his door.
“You ready to see our new place, big man?” This place was going to suck, but I didn’t want Levi to see it that way. It was going to be an adventure, and we were going to do it together.
“Yeah! Can Mitch come in and see it? I told him I might be able to get my own room. Can he see, please?” Levi bounced in his seat as I unbuckled him and he shot up as soon as the last buckle was loosened.
“Mitch has to get back to work, Levi.”
“I can help carry your stuff in. Kurt is covering for me right now.”
Dammit. I glared at Mitch over Levi’s head letting him know I didn’t appreciate his willingness to help. Levi was getting attached to Mitch fast, and I didn’t want to have to deal with Levi asking where Mitch was for the next month. Mitch didn’t fit into the kind of life Levi and I were destined to have. “Five minutes and then we have to eat breakfast.”
“Yes!” Levi grabbed my hands, and I helped him jump down from the truck as Mitch got out of the truck and started grabbing the bags. I unbuckled the seat thinking I couldn’t wait till Levi was big enough that I wouldn’t have to use this damn thing. “What number are we, mama?”
“207. We have to go up the stairs. Can you carry your bag?” I grabbed his open bag and shoved all the toys that he had managed to toss all over Mitch’s truck back into the bag and zipped it up. “Turn around, big man.” Levi turned his back, slipped the bag over his arms and onto his back.
“You coming, Mitch?” Levi called. Mitch had managed to grab two bags in each hand and had one slung over each shoulder. He looked like an overloaded pack mule.
“Did you leave anything for me to grab?”
“There're two bags and the tote left, but I can come back down and grab that.”
I rolled my eyes, hitching my purse onto my shoulder and grabbed the bags and tote. “You don’t really need to do this,” I mumbled to him as I walked past.
“You know my answer to that,” he growled.
I sighed knowing I wasn’t going to be able to make him budge. He was going to help. So, I might as well be his charity case for the day and let him help. The sooner he helped me get all of the bags into the apartment, the sooner he would leave.
We headed into the building, me leading the way with Mitch and Levi following behind. The horrible smell in the hallway hit me and then a wave of shame hit me knowing that Mitch was going to realize that this was all I could afford to live in. I shook the feeling off, knowing that I was making the best decision for Levi and I. Anything was better than living with Manny never knowing what or who he was going to hit next. He had never laid a hand on Levi, but I knew that wouldn’t always stay that way. We had to leave, and this was the best we could do right now.
“How many stairs are there, mama?” Levi called as he started up the steps.
“Just enough, bud,” Mitch laughed.
“Too many,” I mumbled. I was struggling carrying what I had up the stairs and could only imagine what Mitch felt like. By the time I made it to the top of the stairs, I was wheezing and just a bit light headed. I reminded myself the next apartment we got it needed to be on the first floor or at least have an elevator.
The hallway up here seemed to smell a bit better, but it was sticky and hot. I guess I would rather be hot than smell like sweaty mothball socks. Levi streaked past me excited to see our new place. I was less than excited to see where we were going to call home for the next month.
“I think someone is ready to see their new room,” Mitch chuckled behind me. I didn’t know how he was still standing there acting like where we were wasn’t horrible and could laugh. Right now all I wanted to do was sink down on my ass and cry.
“Mama! I don’t know these numbers!”
“Look for a seven, big man.” I made my feet move knowing I didn’t have a choice. I just had to keep reminding myself that this was better than being Manny’s punching bag.
“Got it!” Levi jumped up and down in front of a door that I hoped was ours. He mixed up his numbers sometimes, and I hoped he wasn’t yelling in front of someone else’s door.
“Good job,” I sighed seeing the number 207 on the door. I set the tote down on the floor and dug the key out of my pocket. I stuck it into the door and twisted the handle praying that there wouldn’t be the stench of mothballs.
“I’m gonna go find my room!” Levi busted through the door pushing it open and took off like a shot into the apartment. There wasn’t a putrid smell coming from the apartment, and I silently thanked God for that as I cautiously stepped through.
“You want me to put these anywhere special?” Mitch asked.
I turned around and saw him standing in the doorway looking in. I didn’t really look at him before, and it was like I was seeing him for the first time. He had a shaved head and chisel jaw that made him look hard and tough, but his eyes told a different story. They were bright and friendly and the lightest shade of blue I had ever seen on a man. They were strikingly stunning. The fact that he had just walked up a flight of stairs carrying six bags told me that underneath the ripped jeans and shirt he was in shape and more than likely worked out. I was standing here thinking sitting down sounded pretty damn good right now.
“Um, just put them in the corner there.”
“If you don’t mind me asking, where are you going to sleep?”
He dropped the bags in the corner and turned back around to look at me.
He was judging me, and he had every right to, but it still made me uncomfortable. I was doing something I should have done before Levi was born, but I was still doing it. We didn’t have any furniture and from the looks of the apartment, barely a pot to pee in, but we were going to be OK. I dropped the tote at my feet and set the duffle bag next to it. “Air mattress,” I muttered. That was what was inside the tote. I had picked it up at a Wal-Mart two states ago. It was the best we could do.
Mitch stared at the tote, a vein in his neck throbbing but he again didn’t say anything. “I need your phone number,” he growled, his fists clenched at his side.
“Um, why?”
“So I can let you know how your car is doing.”
“Oh, duh.” I rattled off the number, and Mitch punched it into his phone. My phone started buzzing in my pocket, and I pulled it out seeing a number I had never seen before.
“Now you have mine. Call me if you need anything. I’ll try to call you tonight or the morning by latest.” He moved back to the door, ready to leave.
“Mitch,” I called before he twisted the handle open. “Um, thank you. For everything.”
He just shook his head, a frown on his face. “You don’t need to thank me for being a decent human being. I’ll talk to you soon, Scarlett.” Mitch pulled open the door, slipping out into the hallway and quietly shut the door behind him.
I was left with the quiet humming of the fridge in the corner and the muffled sounds of Levi somewhere in the apartment. Even with Levi here, I had never felt more alone in my life.
I was alone, and there was no one coming to save me.
I was on my own, finally.
______________
Chapter 4
Mitch
I sat in my truck, the keys in the ignition with the truck running but I couldn’t drive. Not yet. My hands were shaking so badly there was no way I would be able to drive without crashing.
PowerShift: Skid Row Kings Series, #2 Page 2
