Cracks

Chapter 7 No place like home

"This is it." He pushed the door open with his shoulder while carefully making sure the child didn't slide from his back.

"There's lazana here?" the child asked.

He chuckled. "I have to warm it up first. C'mon." He entered the living room only to be met with a pair of cold eyed and a set of crossed arms.

"You bring a kid to my place, Scott?"

"C'mon, Vince," he said pleadingly, it's my kid sister."

"I don't care whose kid it is," Vincent said, "once the parents find out, there will be cops all over it. I don't need them snooping around. And neither do you." He pointed a finger at the little girl. "Take her back. I mean it, Ray."

Ray sighed and put the girl down. "Stay here, kay?" He turned back to Vincent. "She can't go back to that place. There's a reason I left. She was just a baby then so I couldn't bring her then."

"I don't care about all that shit," Vincent said, "you running away from home was your choice. And who took you in when you had nowhere else to go? I did. You owe me."

Ray narrowed his eyes. "And I've been workin' for you the entire time. I think I've paid off my debt."

Vincent gave him a threatening glare. "I'm still providing you with a roof over your head and food in your mouth. Without me, you would be out on the streets."

Ray gritted his teeth. As much as he wanted to go against Vincent, he knew better. No one stood up to Vincent. He was unpredictable, involved in shady business with questionable characters. You didn't want to get on his bad side. "At least lemme give her somethin' to eat."

Vincent grabbed his jacket and pointed at Ray. "I want her gone by the time I get back."

Ray flinched at the sound of the door slamming and turned to his sister. He kneeled down to her level and forced out a smile. "I'll warm up that lasagna for you, kay?"

The girl looked at him with a serious expression on her young face. "He's not nice."

He couldn't argue with that. "He's just tired. Some, sit here." He planted her on the couch and walked to the kitchen to heat up the leftover lasagna. Meanwhile, he was thinking about what to do next. He couldn't bring her back home. It was only a matter of time before something would happen to her .

He had been older than her when his parents had started taking a liking to drugs and alcohol. He could take care of himself. He had learned to steal and lie his way through life, taking in the occasional beating, until he could take it no more. By then he had already caught Vincent's eye.

Ray looked up when a girl entered the kitchen. Only dressed in a long T-shirt over her panties, she ran a hand through her long dark curls. As she yawned and stretched her arms, her eyes fell on Ray, standing at the microwave. "Where's Vince?"

Ray glanced at her. "Denise," he greeted her. He sighed. "Vincent went out." He was a little wary of Denise. She had Vincent had an on-off relationship, though even in the 'off'-period she was here most of the time. She could be nice if she chose to, but mostly she reminded Ray of a cat ready to claw your eyes out.

Denise pouted. "When's he coming back?"

Ray shrugged. "I don't know." It really depended on where he had gone. Deliveries might not take long, but he might as well be at the car shop. Or perhaps Vince was recruiting. He had learned not to ask questions. The less he knew, the better.