5.
Z ANE
“What’s wrong? Are you okay? Who the fuck hit you?”
“Zozo, everyone’s fine, but I’ve got some information you need to hear,” I explained.
“What happened to your lip?” Zoey looked at Courtney, who happened to be rubbing her swollen knuckles, and took a step toward her before she asked, “Did you hit my brother?”
“Yes, but I didn’t mean to. I was in the middle of a fight, and he picked me up to drag me away. I think I may have . . . Yeah, I’m pretty sure I hit him. Maybe more than once.”
Zoey narrowed her eyes and studied Courtney for a second before she gave me the same look and asked, “Don’t you know better than to get in the middle of two women who are trying to work things out?”
“I do, but sometimes I forget myself,” I said sarcastically.
“If we’re having a fucking party, at least do it inside so all the cold air doesn’t escape,” Garvey called out from somewhere in the house.
“He’s right,” Zoey said as she stepped aside and motioned for us to come in. Once the door was closed behind her, she went toward the kitchen and said, “Let me get you some ice.”
“I don’t need any right now. I’ll take care of it when I get home,” Courtney argued as I nudged her toward the kitchen. “Thank you for offering, though.”
Zoey ignored her and ordered, “Sit down at the bar.”
Once she’d filled three plastic baggies with ice, she wrapped them in dishtowels and brought them over. She handed one to me and then nodded at Courtney’s hands and said, “Flatten ‘em out, and let me set these on them.”
Courtney did as she was told, and Zoey gently placed the ice on her hands.
“Thank you.”
Zoey studied her face before she said, “Not a scratch on you. Good girl!”
Garvey scowled before he said, “Violence is never the answer, Zoey.”
“Violence is always the answer. How much you use depends on the question.” Courtney giggled and then hiccupped before she giggled again. My sister smiled at her before she said, “I think that’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.”
“Just when I think living in a neighborhood surrounded by her family is going to be okay, something like this happens,” Garvey complained.
“Quit bitchin’, Gravy.”
“Who popped you in the mouth?” Garvey asked. “Can I give them an award?”
“She did,” I said around the ice pack I was holding against my lip.
Garvey bowed before he looked up at Courtney with a big grin and said, “You have my eternal gratitude, ma’am.”
Zoey slapped him in the stomach and said, “Shut it, Gravy!”
“I’m Courtney,” she announced uncomfortably.
“Shit, I’m sorry! Courtney, this is my sister Zoey and . . .” I shuddered before I said, “God, it still hurts to say this out loud . . . her boyfriend, Garvey.”
“Now that we all know each other, you can tell me what’s going on.”
“I found one of your problem children tonight when I went to snag a repo,” I explained.
“Which one? Where was she?” Zoey asked.
“It was Jill, and she was lying on the grass getting her ass whipped by Slugger over here.”
Zoey giggled before she said, “I know so many women who have wanted to do the same thing that they’ll probably throw a party in your honor.”
“Jill’s her mom.”
Zoey’s face fell before she quietly said, “I’m so sorry.”
“So am I,” Courtney said quickly. In a forced, cheerful tone, she added, “I’m not sure why Zane insisted we come to tell you about my family drama, but here we are, and . . . well . . . here we are!”
“My sister runs The Flower Patch,” I said as I motioned toward her property. “She’s built houses where women in the program can live while they work and get acclimated to life outside of prison.”
“My mother bought a house from you? How?”
Zoey shook her head. “They don’t own their houses. They have to follow the program, stay on top of their parole requirements, and work hard to keep their spot at The Flower Patch.”
“She’s part of a program?” Courtney asked in shock. She burst out laughing and said, “Well, it’s obviously working out great!”
“Jill was living in a halfway house that’s funded by the state and had just moved into a house at The Flower Patch when she lost her way. We haven’t seen her in weeks, and we’re not the only ones looking for her,” Garvey explained.
“Garvey is a drug counselor. I assume he’s been working with your mom.”
“I found my younger brother in a drug house with my mother tonight. Excuse me if I’m not a big believer in redemption or recovery.”
Before my sister could jump across the table and scratch Courtney’s eyes out at the insult she’d just unknowingly thrown at Zoey’s boyfriend, I interjected, “She doesn’t know any of us or our history, and she’s had a very emotional last few hours.
” I looked over at Courtney and explained, “Garvey was addicted to drugs and went to prison for years. While he was inside, he became a counselor. He now works with my sister to help the women who come to live at her place while they put their lives back together. I’m not sure how your mom managed to get into the program, but . . .”
“I do. Lying is her love language, and she’s very good at expressing it.
If you spend enough time with her, she’ll have you believing that up is down and down is up.
She’ll convince you that the world is out to get her, she’s never done anything wrong, and you are the monster because you don’t believe in her.
And she’ll rob you blind while doing all of that. ”
“That sounds like something that a person in active addiction would do,” Garvey said in understanding. “And you sound like someone who has experienced the ups and downs a few times.”
“All of my life.”
“I guess Jill convinced the boy that she bought a house out here and she’s getting it ready so he can move in with her.”
“Oh, no,” Zoey whispered sadly.
“I’ve done everything I can to keep the kids away from her, but the state has blocked me at every turn.
The last time she went in, her charges included elder abuse, child abuse, and neglect.
The prosecutor promised me that she wouldn’t have a chance to hurt anyone in my family ever again, but then they let her out early, and she was free to run around and fuck up another one of my siblings,” Courtney said angrily. “I won’t have it. I won’t.”
“I have strict rules about what charges will keep someone from getting into the program at The Flower Patch. I know for a fact that I never saw those convictions, or she wouldn’t have been given the opportunity to step foot on the property as a resident or even a volunteer.
” Zoey shook her head sadly before she added, “I went over her file myself and didn’t see anything like that. ”
“We can look into it on Monday. There’s really nothing we can do about it right now.”
“Garvey’s right, but since we were at the shop, I wanted to drop by and let you know what happened tonight and give you a heads up that she’s still in town, fucking up right and left.”
“Thanks, Zane.”
“Jonas has her younger brother with him, and he’s meeting us at her house. She’s gotta make a report about her vehicle that Jill convinced her brother to steal before she ‘loaned’ it to her friend.”
“Well, fuck,” Zoey muttered.
“Would it help at all if I came and talked to your brother?” Garvey asked.
“You’d do that?”
“Sure! I’ll grab some shoes and follow you over.”
“He’s got a therapist, but there’s no way to get in touch with her before Monday, and Dayton and I can’t seem to do anything but butt heads. It would probably be beneficial to have someone else talk to him.”
“Do you think Em would be willing to help out?” I asked Zoey.
“He’s her patient?” Zoey asked. When I nodded, she said, “I’m sure she would. You know how protective she is of her kids.”
“Em?” Courtney asked.
“The doctor I referred you to is one of the elders.”
“The elders? Of your church or . . .”
When Courtney’s voice trailed off, Zoey laughed before she said, “We’ve got a big family, and a bunch of the kids were born in clusters. Emerald is part of the oldest group. We call them the elders mostly because it pisses them off, but they’re actually the oldest kids of our generation.”
“I’ve gotta get Courtney to her house so she can deal with the cops. Will you call Em for me?” I asked.
“Write down your address,” Zoey said as she slid a small notepad and a pen across the bar. “I’ll give it to Em, and we’ll be over as soon as we get dressed.”
“Thanks, sis,” I said as I got up and walked around the bar to hug her. I snarled at Garvey before I said, “Thanks, asshole.”
Garvey grinned before he said, “Anytime, Zane. It’s always a pleasure dealing with you.”
Courtney wrote her address down and then stacked the ice packs on top of each other before she said, “Thank you for your help and for welcoming us into your house in the middle of the night. This whole situation has been surreal. I met a guy in a coffee shop that asked me out on a date, and the next time I saw him, he pulled me out of a felony conviction and whisked me away in the back of his tow truck. It just doesn’t get any wilder than this. ”
“Sure it does,” Zoey said with a shrug. “This is a typical Tuesday in our family.”
“It’s not Tuesday,” I reminded her.
“I know that, numbnuts. It’s Friday. Imagine the shit that’s going down around town right now that we just haven’t heard about yet.”
“True.” I hugged Zoey again before I said, “Love you.”
“Love you too. Hold on a second! A date, huh?” Zoey asked. I grabbed our ice packs and nudged Courtney toward the front door without answering. “I’m not gonna forget that part, Zane!”
“You can if you really try!”
“Not gonna happen!”
Once we were outside, I sighed before I said, “Ignore my sister. She’s nosy as hell.”
“I would imagine it’s not that hard to be in your business when your actual business is right next door,” Courtney said as she waved toward the building where we’d left our most recent repo.
“I live right there.”
Courtney looked across the street where I was pointing and asked, “Really?”