Her eyes lit up.
Yeah, I’d learn then and forever that women loved my name. I always got asked if I was named after the city or some dumb shit. That left the door open for me to make some flirty ass comment about me being me and before I knew it, they were on their knees with their mouths full. No more talking then.
“Hey, I’m right next door,” I said. “If you ever need anything. I live upstairs.”
In fact, our windows face each other.
Give it a year and, shit, I’d catch Ana standing in her bedroom in nothing but a towel. She’d look at me and look around to make sure the coast was clear. Then she’d open the towel for a few seconds, showing me why she wore a hoodie that day - and for most days. Because she had the greatest tits ever.
But back then on that first day…
Ana tucked her shoulder and touched her cheek to my hand.
We were in silence, which was never good. Silence was either bad, meaning I had to split or silence was good, meaning it was time to get dirty.
I inched toward her lips, my mind and heart racing together.
Her bedroom door opened and I quickly stood up, the fucking moment ruined.
Her mother stood there, nostrils flared. She was hot though. For a woman older than me, damn. She just needed to get rid of those dead eyes. I could have helped with that but it would have never ended well between us.
In her hand she had some crumpled up cash.
“I wanted to give you this as you were leaving,” she said to me.
“Money? Why?”
“Because you helped us,” she said.
I walked to the doorway and laughed. “No. I’m not taking that. I never do this kind of thing anyway. You caught me on a good day. Keep it. Get some pizza or something.”
I looked back at Ana and winked.
I felt fucking great when I left.
And meeting Ana wasn’t the only memorable thing about that night. My old man came home wearing a new leather cut. He had gotten himself patched in to the motorcycle club. They were called Reaper’s Bastards MC. I asked him if I could wear the thing and he gave it to me. I hurried to my room and put it on.
I looked damn cool in it.
I had the muscle, the balls, and the will to make it work.
“You fucking like it, huh?” the old man asked, standing in the doorway, arms folded.
I saw he had some fresh ink on his forearm too.
“I like it,” I said. “I could make this work, Pop.”
“Why don’t you get back to school and finish first.”
“Fuck that. I’ll get booted in a week. I don’t tolerate bullshit.”
“Yeah, well, I’m getting tired of tolerating you living here for free. Give me that cut back.”
I gave it to him and he grabbed my shirt. He pulled me close and stuffed the leather cut in my face. “Listen here, son. Everything in life we earn. You fucking quit, at anything, and you’re dead to me. I earned this cut through shit I’ll never talk about. But this is mine now. You want to be part of this? Earn it.”
The old man tossed me backwards and put his leather cut on. In that moment, he looked twice my size.
So you know what I did that night?
I did pushups until I couldn’t move. I did crunches until I couldn’t breathe. I lifted until I dropped the weights. Then I topped it off with a long ass run. I was going to become something greater than my life and family.
By the time I got back home, Ma was back from work. She and the old man were fighting over his new career choice. Typical.
I stole two more smokes from my grandmother and was out back enjoying them when I heard the clink of the gate. I turned my head and saw Abby crossing the lawn. I was hoping for Ana.
She had a plate in her hand.
“Knox?” she asked.
“That’s me,” I said.
I was taller than her and she looked afraid to be near me.
“I brought you some leftovers,” she said. “A couple slices of pizza.”
“Oh. Nice. Thanks.”
I took the plate.
“Mind if I have a drag?” she asked.
“Yeah, sure.”
How about that fuckery? A middle aged adult woman asking me for a smoke. Usually I got the fifth degree that smoking would stunt my growth and kill me or some shit. The rate I was growing, I’d be over seven feet tall when I finished up. So a few smokes here and there didn’t threaten me.
Abby took a drag and smiled. “I quit two years ago. Jack insisted.”
“Well, it’s a hard habit to kick,” I said.
Abby laughed. “Yeah. I better be careful here.”
She took another drag. Goddamn, she looked sexy doing it. I pictured her naked, us in her bed, she having a smoke after I got done fucking her.
Then I thought about Ana and I chased that shit out of my mind right away.
“Sorry about everything,” I said. “Your husband and all.”
Abby shrugged her shoulders. “I’m not going to have that conversation with a teenager. Sorry, Knox.”
“Then where is tonight going?” I asked.
Yeah, a little douchey and flirty, but fuck it. If Abby wanted to fool around, I was game.
Abby laughed again. “I’m going to take the cigarette and enjoy it at home.”