9. Spun #3
Moose kicked the stand down on his bike and shut the engine off.
Removing his helmet, he shook his locs out and set it on one of the handlebars before placing his feet on the ground.
Inari took in his well-manicured lawn and the surrounding trees.
It was quiet and serene. There was a storage closet in the right corner and tools neatly lined his walls along with an organized shelf full of nuts, bolts, paint, and other items you would see in a garage.
She could tell he was meticulous by how everything was arranged.
Once she was safely inside, he let the garage door down.
“So, this is home?” she asked.
“It is.” He nodded. “You want a drink? I’ll roll up.” He nodded to a nearby door beside a large storage space.
The two walked into a separate work room with a bench and more cabinets and drawers for storage and a staircase.
Moose strolled right inside with Inari behind him.
Starting up the steps, he removed his coat, and she did the same.
When they reached the top level, she took in his open space as he kicked his boots off near a rug that read “Wipe Your Paws”.
Inari listened to the little tapping against his hardwood floors, and a large, chocolate brown Cane Corso stampeded down the staircase beside the one she’d come up.
“Oh, shit!” Inari squealed when the large dog paused at her feet and sniffed her.
“Chill, Elan.” Moose voiced with a slight French accent when he called the dog by name.
“Elan?” Inari repeated.
“It means Moose in French.” He padded over to his kitchen and stopped at the rectangle island where his stove and oven were positioned.
Three bar chairs lined the counter as she approached and dropped her purse on top.
“So, his name is Moose, too?” Inari simpered. “How cute.”
Elan strutted over to the living room and stretched out across Moose’s rug with his head resting on his paws as he watched them.
She inhaled the clean, masculine aromas lingering in the air and took in his open space.
The dining room, living room and kitchen were all basically one room, and there was a hallway beyond her left.
Instead of a table with chairs, Moose had a pool table arranged with a counter lining an entire wall and four more bar chairs aligned in front of it.
His eggshell walls were bare except for a few gold framed mirrors and above the couch a large oil painting of him and his brothers when they were teens with Audiemar and Jane seated in front of them.
“This place is nice.” Inari raised her head to examine his high ceilings as she swept her hand across his counter.
“Kong designed it,” Moose replied.
“He’s got some serious skills. It’s very you.” Inari smiled.
“Cut the bullshit, Nari. What’s going on?”
“Moose.” His name rolling off her lips made his dick hard as she closed her eyes.
The situation was frustrating as hell.
“I really don’t want to drag you into this. It’s so much and—”
“And what?” He inched closer, staring down into her face and searching her weary eyes. “Hmm, you don’t trust me?”
“It’s not that. I just… this goes back so far, and it’s not just about me.” She turned away from him and tried to walk away, but he grabbed her upper arm and pulled her back in.
“Don’t do that.”
Inari gently pulled away from him.
“I’m not doing anything. I barely know you. We’ve spent a few good times together, and what does that make this?”
“So, you gon’ downplay it to a good time? That’s what this is to you?” Moose sneered.
“I don’t know what it is!” Inari screeched, throwing her hands up.
“I’ve sat and asked myself that for six fucking months.
Because I can’t stop thinking about you or wanting to pick up the phone and call or text you to see how you are.
Wondering if you’re okay because when we were together, I noticed times when you would get quiet and wonder where you were in your head.
” She took a breath, eyes connecting to his.
“I’ve never had as much fun as I’ve had when I’m with you.
You’re hilarious. Now I can’t even see my sister like that because I don’t want to run into you at the house. ”
“How can I be all that, and you don’t want to be with me?”
“Because I can’t have it all,” Inari mumbled. “And I’m not who you think I am, Moose.”
“You blowing me with this shit, baby. The fuck you even talking about?”
Inari pulled away from him and padded toward his living room.
Hot tears sprang to her eyes as she thought about her past and all the dirt she’d had to do in the name of survival.
Lately, all she’d been doing was moving weight and looking over her shoulder, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
She couldn’t shake the sinking feeling that if anybody got caught this time, it would be her.
In the corner, Moose had a cart lined with bottles of liquor decanters and empty glasses.
Inari grabbed what she assumed was tequila and poured herself a double.
“I told you my parents died when I was fifteen.” She faced him with her glass in hand.
Moose remained across the room, waiting. He wasn’t going to push or pry. This was obviously something she had to divulge at her own pace.
“I didn’t know what to do.” Inari’s voice cracked when she shrugged.
A single tear slipped down her cheek, and she quickly reached up to wipe her face.
“Chantel, my mama’s younger sister, ended up moving in.
I didn’t tell her I was pregnant. We weren’t close, and I didn’t all the way trust her, neither did my parents.
She was in and out of rehab all my life and known for being a fuck up and a thief.
She’d stolen so much from my mama that she stopped claiming her and banned her from our house.
She blew into town for the funeral, and since we didn’t have a legal guardian, she offered to step in.
I’m pretty sure it was just so she could have somewhere to lay her head.
“My parents weren’t broke. I mean, we got by, and they were getting into the business of flipping property so there was money put up, but it was for bills. Chantel, being the adult… she didn’t care. She blew through that shit, barely spending a dime on me or Ayla.”
Inari polished off the rest of her drink and reached for the decanter to pour another.
“Then, she moved her boyfriend in. Leron. I didn’t like him.
Chantel was in her forties, and Leron was twenty-eight.
He partied, popped pills, and sipped lean.
If you offered it to him, he’d try anything.
” Inari moved past Elan and sat on Moose’s soft velvet sofa.
“Back then, I would run the streets with Danilo. I watched how he sold his dope and worked at the trap, which left Ayla at home sometimes. I was doing it for the money. I told myself that.” Face flushed, wounded cries threatened to spill out of her as she thought about it.
She’d been holding onto this guilt for so long it smothered her. Her tears blinded her as she tossed back another shot. Moose moved closer, taking a seat on his marble top coffee table.
“I always told my parents I would look out for her if anything ever happened to them. They made me promise. So, I thought at least if I could provide and get us enough money, we could figure it out.” Tears spilled down her cheeks, and she doubled over and wept.
Leaning forward, Moose reached out and stroked her back, letting her get it all out. Eventually, no sound came from her as she rocked and kept her eyes shut tight.
“When I got home that night…” She sat up, eyes swollen and red as she looked off into nothing.
“I knew something was wrong. I felt it. The house was a mess. Most of Chantel’s shit was gone.
When I got to Ayla’s room and she… he…” Inari’s face crumpled in pain, and she expelled a wounded sob.
“Her pants were down. She had a busted lip, a black eye, and a knot on her head. I knew. I knew what happened.” Inari’s gaze slowly drifted to Moose.
“Ayla was there. On the ground, her back against the wall like she’d been fighting for her life.
She was only ten years old.” She swiped a hand down her face and wiped under her nose.
“But Leron was on the ground. There was blood under his head, and my mama’s favorite lamp was shattered on the ground next to him.
She fought back.” That made Inari smile before she sniffled and swallowed the rest of her drink.
Empathy crowded Moose’s face. All he wanted to do was remove any pain, but she had to walk through it. Again. He could tell she hadn’t spoken on this since it happened. Instead, it’d been locked away somewhere inside her until this very moment.
“When she woke up, she didn’t remember anything.
I told her I did it. Danilo and Mira helped me with the body.
When Leron came up missing, it brought Tulla and some other cops to our door.
She swore up and down to anyone who would listen that we did something to him, but she couldn’t prove it.
Leron was a junkie, and everyone knew he would do anything for a dollar.
Eventually, they found him, or what was left, but nothing tied him back to us. Case went cold.”
“Damn.” Moose had heard a lot of shit, but listening to Inari describe what happened only made him admire her and Ayla that much more.
“For years after Danilo went to prison, I was under Mira’s thumb.
I moved weight, and I’m not talking about ounces.
I flew birds and made a lot of money until I told her I was done.
That was years ago. When Danilo came home, he asked me to partner up with him again.
I told him no. Mira doesn’t like to hear no.
She sent me pictures of Leron and threatened to send them to Tulla as a reminder.
So, that’s why I ended things with us. I had to. ”