Rainy Day | Rhea Ripley

Chapter 8

If I showed you my soul would you cover your eyes?

If I told you the truth would you dare me to lie?

- Voices by Motionless in White

For a while I just sat there, staring at the wall. "What happened at the show that got you so rattled?" Demi asked."He was there" I had trouble even getting the words out and even so they made no sense to her."Who was there Alex?" She was starting to get impatient."Xav" my voice was little more than a whisper."Your Ex?" I rolled my eyes."I've told you before that he is not my Ex"Her leg began to bounce up and down as she tried to remain calm."Then who is he?"

I swallowed hard, trying to get the words out even though I didn't want to at all."Xav is a bookie, Demi. We have a very long history and I owe him money. But recently he decided that there would be other things he would prefer to money and I'm not willing to give them to him so he's even angrier than he was before"She needed a moment to compute what I had just told her."A bookie? Like sports bets?" I shook my head.

"Not usually. I'm more of a gambler" I explained with a dry laugh, tears walling up in my eyes."What do you mean by very long history, how long have you known this guy?" she wanted to know."I've known him for 23 years. He used to be a friend of my mother's. She was a pretty fucked up person and I was basically raised in illegal gambling bars. I can't even fully blame her, she was an addict, really really sick and she couldn't let it go. I still remember how ecstatic she used to be whenever she won. She used to tell me about the things she would buy for us, houses and toys and she always promised me a pony" I laughed bitterly."Where is she now?" Rhea asked.

"Dead" I closed my eyes for a moment."She had a little run-in with drugs and because she didn't know what she was even consuming she ended up overdosing when I had just turned eighteen. I didn't know where to go. So Xav took me in""Took you in as in...?"

"At first I thought he was just letting me live with him until I had found something else. But then he started mentioning how my mother had outstanding debt and since I was her only living relative it was now my responsibility to pay it off. I had no way of doing that. But it turns out that I was quite a valuable asset to him. I grew up around gamblers. I know all of the tricks, all of the secrets, and apart from that I was an eighteen-year-old girl. It doesn't get any less threatening. So we started working together. He would organize gambling sessions and make sure I had the best odds to win and I would basically scam others out of money. If they found out there really wasn't much they could do, after all, they were committing a crime too. But it didn't stop once I had paid off my mother's debt. I thought I would be able to leave but I was too far in it. I loved... still love the high I get from winning and it is never overshadowed by the losses even though they've been getting a lot more common lately. So I stayed. Until I found out that he had been the person who sold my mother the drugs that had killed her. I told him I was out, I found an apartment and a new job, but he's been on my back ever since, he insists that I still owe him money because there was an interest on the debt I paid off and he won't leave me alone until I come back to him"

 I had said all of that in pretty much one breath and now that it was out I couldn't contain myself anymore.

To my humiliation, I broke down crying, gasping for air while trying not to hyperventilate.For a short moment, Demi just sat there and stared at me.Then she did something I hadn't ever expected her to do.She wrapped her arms around me and held me as tight as she could without constricting my breathing."Where did you go earlier?" it sounded like she had to force herself to ask this question like she didn't really want to know the answer."I went to a bar" I sobbed. "I didn't want to do it, I promised myself I would stop gambling but it's my default thing to do whenever I feel bad for any reason."

Suddenly I realized that Demi had started to cry as well."When you left and didn't come back I kept picturing everything that could have happened to you. I don't think I have ever been this scared in my life. You have to promise to never do that to me again. Whatever it is, you can tell me anything and I will be here for you and I will try to help you fix it but promise me that you never ever leave me like that again"I looked up at her, a little puzzled.

"You're not kicking me out? You didn't call your manager or my boss about this?""Of course, I didn't" she sounded genuinely shocked."Whether you like it or not you are a part of the judgment day now and we protect each other. Always."

Her face looked angelic in the dim light from the bedside lamp. Even like this with her smudged makeup and red-rimmed eyes she was the most beautiful person I had ever seen. That's when I realized that she was still holding me close and suddenly I got nervous.

"Is it okay if I take a shower now? I kind of smell like shit" I asked carefully."You are absolutely right you do" she laughed through her tears "Off you go, and then we are going to bed. We have a flight to catch tomorrow"

It was true. I had completely forgotten that we would already be flying back tomorrow and suddenly the sinking feeling in my stomach was back. Would I make it back home? Back in my apartment, alone?

When I got out of the shower, Demi had settled into my bed with a naturalness that made me smile. I got in and cuddled up next to her. All the doubts I had could wait until tomorrow.