Flow by Chelle Bliss

Author:Chelle Bliss
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bliss Ink LLC

“Did Vinnie make it okay?” Angelo asks from behind the bar before I even have two feet inside Hook & Hustle.

“Depends on what your idea of okay is.”

He looks up for a moment and quirks an eyebrow. “Is he alive, at least?”

“Yeah, yeah. He’s alive and napping.” I shove my purse under the counter, wishing like hell I was napping too.

Angelo goes back to studying a stack of papers, running his pen down the sheet before flipping to the next page. “Is that what it’s like to be in college?”

“What? Laziness? I don’t fucking think so.”

“Must be a jock thing,” Lucio says as he walks into the front of the bar, overhearing our conversation.

“I’m sure he gets an easy ride because he’s the star football player,” I tell them, remembering the shit he got out of doing in high school. “It’s bullshit, but it’s always been that way with him.”

“It’s just a good thing he can actually read and write with all the homework he didn’t have to do,” Lucio says and starts to laugh. “That little prick.”

“Speaking of little pricks.” Angelo smirks and turns his attention to Lucio. “How’s the wife?” he asks.

I walk away as they start to talk about the honeymoon phase, something I know nothing about. At the rate I’m going, I’m not sure I’ll ever experience being that blissfully happy either.

“Tino!” a few old-timers yell as my father walks through the front door, making a spectacle and a grand entrance.

He strolls through the crowd, shaking hands with his friends like he’s a celebrity, before making his way to me. “Hey, doll, how’s business tonight?”

He’s been back a month now, but the man hasn’t put in an hour’s work at the bar, even though he’s required to as part of his early release program.

I grab a glass, trying not to get an attitude. “Busy as always, Dad. Want to help?”

He takes a step back and clears his throat. “I can’t tonight, Daphne. I’m pretty busy.”

“Yeah,” I mumble. “Sure looks like it.”

He runs his hand through his salt-and-pepper hair and motions over his shoulder. “Well, I better go check on your mother.”

I nod because it doesn’t matter what I say, he’s not going to pitch in. There’s no use wasting my breath. “She’s out back.”

“Don’t worry. He’s still adjusting,” Michelle tells me as she shoves a tip into her front pocket.

“Did your dad act like this when he got out?”

“He wasn’t himself for a while, but he slowly got back into the groove,” she says while she checks her makeup in the mirror behind the bar.

My dad didn’t have a groove.

He had a way of life.

Even though he was released early for time served and good behavior, I have a nagging feeling he’s fallen back into the lifestyle—the very one that landed him in the joint in the first place.

I settle into my usual routine, checking on the customers, chitchatting with the regulars about life, sports, and all the juicy neighborhood gossip. Hours pass and Vinnie’s still MIA, but the bar is slammed and selling out of liquor at twice the rate as usual.

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