Sia

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Chapter One

Sia

Swift chirps came honking down the street, and I lifted my head.
Oh God.
The white Jeep bumped down the street, arms flailing in a wave inside. My friend Lettie never said what she’d be driving, but I wasn’t surprised that it was literally the car from Clueless.
Lettie…
I tried not to cringe when she parked it in front of a legit halfway house: my halfway house. The majority of the girls were inside, but they weren’t the ones I was concerned about.
The guys who lived in the house across the street leered in Lettie’s direction, and when the leggy blonde in high-waisted shorts and a bra for a top got out of the car, those leers became feral.
“Eh!” I stood up from the stoop I’d been waiting on. “Don’t look at her.”
They smirked in my direction, making kissing faces, and I flipped them off. Meanwhile, Odette “Lettie” Petrov was none the wiser. She was too busy hugging me.
“Ah! Look at you. You look good,” she chirped, appraising me, and I smirked. I was in a pair of ripped shorts and a long-sleeved flannel, all of which I’d gotten out of the donation bin.
Someone stole my stuff.
Shit like that happened. I was lucky I came out with the rest of my stuff: a few pairs of jeans, a couple tops, and some underwear. All of which I planned to replace once I got my first check at my new job.
“Thanks.” I took the compliment. Mostly because I wanted both her and myself out of here. I’d spent ninety days at this crap shoot and I was tired of feeling like a drug addict.
You are a drug addict.
That reality was not lost on me as I shooed my friend back into her Jeep. I tried to hold my things in my lap, but Lettie insisted on putting it all in the back.
It was hard for me to get used to that shit. People wanting to help me instead of taking things from me. I tried to tell myself it was because I’d spent the last three months in a halfway house.
“Holy shit, I can’t believe you’re here, girl.” Once inside, Lettie kissed my cheek. Another weird thing. She was the touchy-feely type and I wasn’t. She held my face. “How are you? They treat you well?”
“Fine.” And I’d be better if she got this car off this block before we caused any more attention.
I urged her to do so, completely aware the guys across the street were standing now. Before they got any ideas, I got Lettie moving this flashy ride and finally relaxed when she got us off this street and onto the freeway.
“Seriously, though. You all right? Well, besides the obvious,” she said, my friend literally putting a joint in her mouth in front of me. Lettie knew the details of my last few months, but the girl could definitely be a bit flighty. She pulled it out of her mouth. “Oh, shit. Can I do this in front of you?”
I laughed, waving her off. Weed obviously wasn’t allowed in rehab, but I wasn’t going to tell her no. I mean, she was about to do me a huge favor. “It’s fine.”
“You sure, dude?”
I was, but she probably shouldn’t. I smirked at her. “Are dancers supposed to be smoking?”
“Hell, no.” She chuckled. “Why do you think I’m doing it? I’m trying to get what I can in before I head off to school.”
I’d only heard about Lettie’s dancing and schooling. Lettie was technically a new friend, but I knew she was going to some ritzy dance school in New York City soon. That left a room open in her house and since I needed a place to stay…
I actually hadn’t asked her for help. She offered once she found out my situation. If I didn’t get my act together, stay clean and get a real job and a place to stay, I was going to prison.
And that was it.
The judge had been pretty harsh that day considering I hadn’t gotten in trouble for a while.
I shoved up my sleeves. “You sure your dad’s okay with me coming?” I swallowed. “And the job?”
Lettie was helping me out with both. Apparently, her dad was like a workaholic or something. He wasn’t around much, but he probably should care more about having a drug addict living in his house.
I was surprised when Lettie said he didn’t. She also said he didn’t care about the random job she was giving me on his behalf. Apparently with her going away to school she thought getting her dad a dog was a good idea. He was a single dad, and I guess Lettie had been taking care of him her whole life. Well, in the social sense.
Clearly, Lettie was the one being taken care of financially. I could probably buy this car with the purse she had on the center console between us.
Anyway, the dog was for her dad, and I was for the dog I guess. She knew I had some experience with handling animals.
I shifted in my seat. “Because if he changed his mind…”
“Why would he change his mind?”
“I don’t know. Because I hit a cop on top of having a drug related charge.” It wasn’t one of my finest moments and definitely wasn’t something I planned to do again.
But who planned things like that?
In my silence, Lettie flicked her blue eyes in my direction. She put out her smoke. “Yeah, and that was like a one-time thing.”
“How do you know?”
“Because you told me, and I trust you.”
She probably shouldn’t. I mean, we were friends, but we kind of barely knew each other. There was also the circumstances in which we met and became friends, and that definitely should put her dad off.
I really wasn’t trying to literally bite off the hand that fed me, but I had made some mistakes, and it was kind of unusual I was getting a chance at all from someone I hadn’t even met.
“I vouched for you,” Lettie continued. She flicked her joint out the window. “You told me it was a one-time thing, and you also literally just spent time in rehab for the drug stuff.” She peered over. “Which was also a one-time thing according to you.”
I mean, I hoped so. But again, best laid plans.
“You told me something, and I believe you.” She nodded. “Also, my dad trusts me wholeheartedly. So if you’re good with me, you’re good with him.”
It was nice she had that: someone who cared and someone she obviously could trust if he trusted her. “I guess if you’re sure.”
“I am sure, and my dad is cool. He actually thought it was kind of funny you hit a cop.”
I shot back in my seat. “Funny?”
“Well, not funny per se, but I told him you were like my size so, yeah, he had a laugh.”
She was being a bit generous there. We may be the same height, but Lettie had the svelte form and toned definition of a ballet dancer, which was exactly the dance style I heard she did. Even if she hadn’t told me I would have known it. The girl was skinny as a rod, but also looked like she could crush wood with her thighs. Or her calves for that matter.
She chuckled another laugh. “If anything, I say that put you more in his good graces. Dad’s not a fan of cops, and he certainly doesn’t have room to judge anyone’s legal history. He’s a businessman but doesn’t always work inside the law.”
“What do you mean?”
“I wish I could say, but a lot of what he does is need to know. Meaning, he doesn’t even tell me a lot of it.”
“You make it sound like he’s in the mafia.”
Her eyes hit the road then and, before I could question her more, we were pulling off the freeway and merging into traffic.
The culture definitely changed, re: the vehicles. There were Mercedes and Audis everywhere. Bentleys. I suddenly felt like I was in a car commercial. The nice rides continued as we veered into a neighborhood with some of the biggest houses I’d ever seen.
I honestly didn’t know houses like this existed in the crap town I’d called home my entire life. I definitely didn’t live on this side. The parts I lived in were either run down or boarded up.
Whoa.
Gates open for Lettie’s Jeep, literal gates. I turned to see an attendant waving outside of a little security booth at us. He told Lettie to have a good day.
And he called her Ms. Petrov.
I turned back around and a sea of woods were in front of me. It was like we were in some storybook land. It was all green and lush. We traveled within it until suddenly the world opened up to a large brick home.
Double whoa.
The place looked like a castle: old school, with ivy and rich greenery running down the side. There were also people everywhere. They cut grass and trimmed hedges. The area was huge and definitely needed people to upkeep it all.
“Home sweet home,” Lettie chirped, and though I assumed this was where she lived, my jaw dropped. She faced me. “What do you think?”
I think I felt like a scrub in my tattered clothes and military duffle in the backseat. I’d gotten that out of the donation bin too.
“Lettie, this is insane.” I did a full 180° pivot in my seat. They even had a friggin’ fountain! “You didn’t tell me you were like princess-level loaded.”
I mean, I could assume by the way she always carried herself and this expensive ride, but this was Duke of Cambridge rich.
Lettie chuckled. “It’s my dad’s money. Not mine.”
Also something rich people said. My eyes lifted, and Lettie pulled us around to an airport hangar, not a garage. The space legitimately was a car factory, mostly sports cars of a rich and handsome black. Lettie’s white Jeep certainly stood out, and when we got inside, someone actually took the car from us and helped park it the rest of the way.
“Come on. I’ll show you around,” Lettie said jovially. She immediately linked arms with me—the girl definitely the touchy-feely type. I didn’t think I’d ever get used to it, but I did smile when she tucked me close and pointed out all the points of the property on our way inside. She had a guy following behind us with my duffle and her purse.
Again, princess-level rich.
Before we went inside, she pointed out the general area of where the pool, tennis courts, and basketball courts were. They even had a mini winery farther up the property.
“Dad likes to make his in-house,” she said, fusing me into her at this point. I honestly liked how open she was with her personality and general optimism. She obviously hadn’t been jaded by anything in this life, and I tried not to resent her for that. It’d be nice to be trusting, open.
I lost track of all the rooms she pointed out on the way to her bedroom. She showed me the kitchen and some bathrooms, but I’d never remember all of it by the time I needed it.
“And my room.” She opened the princess palace—literally white everywhere, from the chiffon curtains to the four-poster bed. The curtains on the bed were tied back, and the girl had so many pillows on her mattress that one could easily drown in the sea of them.
“Sophia will turn the bed down for you every night,” Lettie said, noticing me eyeing all the pillows. She laughed. “There’s a chest for all that. The pillows?”
I saw that too, and I’d already met Sophia. She actually took the bags from the guy who followed us on the house tour. She was the head of the house, and I was to go to her if I needed anything.
Stepping in behind us in a black dress, Sophia took my stuff and Lettie’s and disappeared into what I assumed was the room’s closet. I faced Lettie. “I’m staying in here?”
“Uh-huh. You can keep my stuff warm for me.” Lettie sat on the bed, but frowned when she saw my face. “What’s wrong?”
“Uh, nothing. It’s just a lot.” I pointed back toward the door. “Wouldn’t you like me to stay in one of the guest rooms?”
There were like a million in this house, surely.
Her eyes lifting, Lettie got up. She took my hand. “My space is your space and, like I said, you can keep my stuff warm until I get back.”
But she’d need it for school breaks and stuff, and when I told her that, she waved me off.
“We’ll work it out,” she said, grinning. “So you like it?”
She asked me like it was possible not to like it. “It’s kind of like a dream.”
There was no kind of. This place was a dream, and I eased a look outside when Lettie turned to speak to Sophia about something. There were lots of people out there tending to the property, and the vineyard Lettie spoke about stretched in a length of rows well beyond where I could see.
It was truly amazing, really. I folded my arms. I’d never seen a vineyard before, but my attention escaped it when I noticed a guy a level down on the phone. He faced the vineyard, but I saw him when he pivoted.
He had his sleeves rolled up, thick arms tatted down to his knuckles. Literally, the guy had tattoos down the length of his fingers, and his hair was an inky black. He worked his tatted fingers through it. He was dressed in well-fitted trousers and a stark white shirt. The dress shirt hugged his brawny build and was a sharp juxtaposition to all those tats.
And the messy hair.
Tousled, it fell in interesting ways over his jet black sunglasses, and I blinked when Lettie bumped my shoulder.
“Who’s that guy out there?” I asked casually. For some reason, Lettie laughed.
“Oh God, not you too,” she said, borderline cringing, and when I didn’t understand, her eyes lifted. She faced outside. “That’s my dad.”
Her dad…
I blinked again. “That’s your dad?”
My jaw was basically on the floor at this point, and Lettie’s eyes rolled again. “Yes, that’s my dad. And please spare me any thoughts you have of him being a zaddy, or a daddy,” she paused, pretty much shuddering in front of me. “Or a DILF. I’ve literally heard it all since I was thirteen from any friend I’ve brought to the house.”
She left my side, but I didn’t follow. “But he’s, like, young.”
Like really young. At least, young-looking. He didn’t look as young as me or her, but he couldn’t be like more than thirty.
“He’s thirty-six.” Lettie was on the bed and obviously wanted to be done with this conversation. Her head cocked. “He had me when he was eighteen, which literally blows my mind because I couldn’t imagine having a kid at my age.”
I mean, same. I was a couple years older than her at twenty, but still I couldn’t imagine.
I glanced outside. Her dad was off the phone now and yelling at someone. I mean, he wasn’t yelling but was strongly commanding someone with a bunch of grapes in their hands. Her dad had his hands posted on his hips while he spoke, and though the guy speaking with him didn’t look intimidated, I would be. Her dad was huge.
And all those tats…
Lettie kicked her feet. “You can wipe the drool off your face because I’m legit about to be sick.”
My eyes rolled. “I’m not drooling. It’s just you don’t look like him, and he is young.” I pushed my sleeves up, hugging my arms. She may have been uncomfortable with the conversation, but I was too. I mean, that was her dad.
I pushed off the window, distancing myself, and Lettie smiled.
“I’ve heard I look more like my mom. Not that I know since she’s a deadbeat.” Lettie shrugged. “According to my dad, she left me on his doorstep. Some stripper he hooked up with.”
I blanched that she said that so casually. “Well, that sucks.”
“Not really. I don’t need her, and my dad definitely doesn’t need her.” She lay back. “It’s always been just the two of us, and we’re cool like that.”
It sounded like it, but what I wouldn’t give to have some kind of family. I had no one.
“In the car, you mentioned your dad not exactly working inside the law,” I said, remembering the conversation, and she sat up. I chewed my lip. “It’s just I don’t have, like, any strikes, and I can’t mess up.”
My next stop was prison if someone in a uniform even got a whisper about me getting into trouble.
And judging by the look of her dad…
I was seriously questioning the mafia thing at this point, and looking around at the life these two had going was definitely giving me some…vibes. I couldn’t judge of course and wouldn’t if that was the case, but I just couldn’t have any part of anything that might have the cops sniffing around.
Lettie got up. “I’m being honest when I say I don’t know everything he does. He keeps me pretty sheltered from all that.”
She did give off those vibes, and when I mentioned that, she shouldered me.
“Seriously, though. I don’t know a lot. But what I do, I’m not exactly allowed to talk about.”
Yeah, definitely giving off sketchy here. “I can’t get into trouble, Lettie. That’s the whole point of all this.”
A permanent place to live, a job, and no criminal activity. The judge was pretty clear on her rules, and I told Lettie that.
She smiled. “Believe me when I say this is the last place you’ll find trouble. Actually, I’ve brought in more over the years.”
I laughed when I did think about how we met. She’d been doing a stint of community service for hitting a cop…with her car. She didn’t physically hit the guy, but his squad car. I’d been doing my own stint of community service but for other reasons.
Again, I had no more strikes.
I fingered some of my curls and she grabbed my hand.
“You’re good here, Sia,” she said. “You won’t find any trouble, and you’d be doing me a huge favor by staying here and working for my dad. He acts like it’s not a big deal, me leaving tomorrow. But it’s only just been the two of us for so long. I worry about him.”
Hence his need for the dog. I sighed. “You’d be doing me a favor too.”
“So you’ll do it? You’ll stay?” Her eyes lit up. “Pretty please with sugar on top?”
I laughed. “Where’s the pupper?”
“Ahh! You’re the best.” She grabbed me, squeezing. This girl really had no boundaries at all, but something about her had me not minding so much. At least, I wouldn’t have to worry about that when it came to her dad. The guy seemed intense.
I actually hugged Lettie back. I would miss her too.
She was my only friend.