“Okay.  Thanks, Scott,” she said and then hung up.

I shoved my phone back in my pocket and entered the clubhouse, searching for Madison.  I’d see what she wanted and then head over to pick up the cat and take him to the vet.

Nash ran into me as I rounded the corner to go into the kitchen.  “Did you sort Darrell’s shit out?” he asked.

“Nope.  The fucker quit instead,” I answered him.

“He’s an asshole so we’re better off without him.”

He was right but it’d left me screwed because now on top of everything else I had to do for Storm, I also had to run Indigo.  “The girls are pleased that he’s gone, especially Velvet.”  She was Indigo’s favourite stripper so keeping her happy was on my agenda.  Darrell was too fucking handsy with the girls and had put the hard word on most of them.  Just because they took their clothes off for a living didn’t give him the right to expect a quick fuck out of them whenever he needed his dick wet.

“Good,” Nash said.

Something in his tone grabbed my attention.  “Why are you so interested in this?  Indigo’s not your gig.”  Unless of course you counted him visiting the joint for personal pleasure which he did often.

He shrugged.  “Velvet’s told me some of the shit that he said and did to her.  I didn’t like the way he treated them.”

I continued to study him.  There was something there, something he was keeping close to his chest.  “Yeah, we’re better off without him but we need a new manager soon, and fucked if I know of one.  If you have any ideas let me know.”

“Will do,” he agreed.

“Okay, I’ll catch you later, man.  I’ve got to get a cat to the vet before they close.”

“What the fuck?  You don’t have a cat do you?” he asked.

I shook my head, “Neighbour’s cat.”

“Michelle’s?”

“Yeah.  Lisa sounded stressed about it.”

“I don’t know why you rented your house to that crazy bitch, and sure as hell don’t know why you look out for her so much.  Not after what she did at Indigo.”

“It’s not Michelle I care about, brother.  She’s still a junkie so someone needs to be there for her kid.  And she hasn’t worked much since we fired her so Lisa goes without a lot.”

“And people think you’re an asshole,” he muttered, and then checked his watch, “Shit, I’ve gotta go.  I’ll catch you later.”

He headed out of the clubhouse and I went looking for Madison.  It didn’t take me long to find her; I followed her laughter to the kitchen.  It was bloody good to hear her laughing again.

She was chatting with Stoney and grinned at me like an idiot when she saw me.  “Stoney was just telling me how you got drunk last night and - ”

I cut her off and glared at Stoney.  “Thanks, asshole.  You wait your fuckin’ turn.  Payback’s a bitch.”

Madison was pissing herself laughing now.  “Seriously good shit, Scott.  I can’t believe you did that!”

“You’d better believe he did that.  Our Scotty doesn’t discriminate,” Stoney threw out there.

“What doesn’t he discriminate against?” J asked, entering the room.

I threw up my arms.  “Fuck me!  I almost went to town on some dick last night.  How the fuck was I supposed to know she was a he?”

J, the asshole, started laughing too.  “Fuck, man, I feel your pain.  I often crave a little cock too, brother.  If you feel you need that shit, we won’t judge.”

I punched him hard in the arm.  “Good one, dickhead,” I retorted, and then directed at Madison, “What did you want to talk to me about?”

“I just wanted to invite you to a get together at our house on Sunday afternoon,” she answered.

J had made his way to Madison and put his arm around her.  “Although, there’ll be no boys there for you to hook up with so maybe -”

“I’ll be there,” I muttered and turned to leave.  “Everyone’s a fuckin’ comedian,” I threw over my shoulder as I left.  I could hear them all laughing as I walked towards the front door.  I’d never fucking live it down.

***

I pulled up outside my house and saw Lisa looking out for me behind the front curtain next door.  It was my house that I rented to her mother and it needed some work.  Yesterday I’d noticed that the yard needed mowing, and fuck if I’d ever seen Michelle behind a mower.  That was something I always either did or got one of the boys to do.  Today I noticed that the windows were caked in a layer of dirt.  Another job for the boys.

She let the curtain go and I presumed was on her way outside with Monty.  A minute later, I met her at her front gate.  She passed me her cat and I noted how bad his face looked.  Shit, I wished she’d come to me sooner because he didn’t look well.  And looking at Lisa, I decided that she didn’t look too flash either.  Christ, what the fuck was her mother feeding her because, damn, that kid was all skin and bones.

“Thanks, Scott.  Mum wouldn’t take him to the vet,” she admitted reluctantly.

“Yeah, I bet,” I said, stopping myself from saying anymore.  This kid knew deep in her soul what a crappy fucking hand she’d been dealt, with her mother; she didn’t need me pointing it out.  “Okay, let’s go and get him fixed.”