Page 7 of Joey's Trick

Figuring it would be better to just do it, Joey grunted and walked with one foot in front of the other, alternating between his hands to touch his nose. When he reached a good two tothree feet from his car, he turned and made his way back, repeating the motions. He dropped his arms to his side. “Am I good, Officer?”

The cop scowled. “Get back in your car, Mr. Waters. I won’t issue you a citation tonight, but I am giving you a warning. I’ll be watching for you so you better decide to not drink and drive.”

“Of course, sir. You have a good night,” Joey replied as he opened his door and got into the front seat. He watched in his mirror as the police officer stomped back to his unmarked and got back in. As soon as the officer’s car was clear, Joey continued backing out of the spot and left the parking lot, heaving a sigh of relief.

While the whiskey hadn’t been enough to get him drunk, it had left him a bit buzzed. Drinking with prospective clients over the last couple of years, Joey had learned how to mask the effect of alcohol on his system and built a high tolerance to liquor. If the cop had given him a breathalyzer test, he probably wouldn’t have passed. He didn’t want to have to explain to his parents why he’d been arrested and he’d only been back in town for a few hours.

3

Keeping to the speed limit on the drive home, Joey hoped Trick had left. He couldn’t deal with him right now. When he pulled onto his street, he saw several cars had already left and only a handful remained. Maybe he’d get lucky again tonight. He parked behind his parents’ SUV and got out. The front porch was empty this time around. Entering the house, Joey glanced around casually, but didn’t see Trick. He entered the dining room to find his father sitting at the table with Anthony, Veronica, his mother, and two of his uncles playing some kind of card game.

His mother gave him a hard look. “Where did you run off to? Here for less than an hour and already disappearing. Do you hate your home that much?”

“Mom,” Joey groaned. “It’s not that. I just needed some fresh air.”

“And out back wasn’t enough fresh air?” she demanded.

Joey didn’t respond as he walked past them to the kitchen to grab a beer from the fridge. When he turned around, Trick stood in the doorway. Joey immediately scowled, but said nothing. He popped the top off the bottle and tossed it into the trash can before stalking toward Trick. “Please move,” he growled.

Trick looked uncertain, as if he wanted to argue, but with a sigh, stepped back to let Joey out of the room. “For what it’s worth, Joey, I’m sorry,” he murmured as Joey swept past him.

It took all of Joey’s willpower to ignore Trick. He yanked one chair out from the dining table and dropped into it. He was aware of Trick hovering in the doorway, watching him.

“Where’d you go?” his mother asked.

“Just drove,” Joey lied.

He thought he heard Anthony snort, but let it go. “Babe, would you grab me another beer?” Anthony asked his girlfriend.

“Sure, baby. No looking at my cards, ya cheater.”

“I don’t cheat!”

Veronica rolled her eyes. “Uh huh.”

“I resent being called a cheater.” Anthony sniffed at her.

Joey grinned. “He used to do that all the time when we were kids. Always came up with some excuse to get me to leave the room when he was losing so he could peek at my cards.”

“I did not!” Anthony shouted.

“Inside voices, please,” their mother admonished as Veronica went to get Anthony’s drink.

Anthony huffed and slumped in his chair, clearly pouting. Joey chuckled. “She’s got your number, Ant.”

Veronica came back with his beer and set it on the table near his elbow. She’d grabbed another for herself. “She knows it, too,” she said with a wink at Joey.

A delighted laugh escaped Joey. “I like her, bro. She’s definitely going to keep you on your toes.”

Anthony smiled and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, hugging her close and kissing her temple. “Never met anyone like her.”

Envy fluttered in Joey’s chest for a split second, but he brushed it away. His brother deserved to be happy. Being jealousof Anthony’s relationship was dumb. “So what do you do for a living, Veronica?” Joey asked.

“I’m a nurse at Holy Cross Hospital on Federal.”

“Nice. Do you like it?”

“I love it. I work in Pediatrics. It’s hard sometimes, but there are a lot of happy and rewarding times to outweigh the bad ones.”