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. Parents who arepresent for their kids are what make a family. Yeah, I know.But still& I want one of those. Can you tell me about your family? he asked. I want to know more about you, JamieLynn. Chapter 9JL let out a breath, pulled her knees up to her chest, and rested her chin on them as shelooked out onto the ocean.She knew she came with a lot of baggage, but she had alwaystried to keep that baggage hidden, not letting it drag her down.She lived by the motto Fake it till you make it. She hoped Enzo wouldn t hold her ugly past against her. I ll tellyou because I don t like secrets and I don t want you to think I m keeping a big one.Secrets and lies. She shook her head. I don t like either. I get that.I don t particularly like being lied to either.Marianna was a liar. Glad we re on the same page, Pretty Boy, she said with a smile that didn t quite reachher eyes. I never knew my father.My mother raised us she got a two-for-one deal withTravis and me.Twins.Double the pleasure, right? She gave a self-deprecating laugh. Mymother was not cut out for motherhood, but she got knocked up and decided to have usanyway.I guess I should thank her for that, right? Well, she was expecting to have a littleboy, then delivery day happened and I came out a minute after Travis.It was a completesurprise, and from the beginning she wasn t happy. I don t remember a time in my life when she wasn t drinking or bringing home men,but the drugs weren t always a thing.I m not sure when she started the drugs.Anyway,life was miserable.We lived in a small trailer in Dallas a few blocks from mygrandparents, who were great.Thank God I had them growing up.Money was always anissue.Travis and I have been working since we were old enough to walk, be it babysitting,handing out flyers, cleaning houses, or whatever.Then during our freshman year of highschool she met Harry, who was visiting some friends in town. Harry? The hot dog vendor? Enzo interrupted. Yep.And not a week into their relationship she uprooted us to Amarillo to followHarry.Honestly, it wasn t too bad.For one thing she was busy with her new relationshipto be too hard on us.Well, me, really.She wasn t too bad with Travis, but everything Iever did was wrong.Nothing was good enough.She put me down constantly. Enzo s mother and father might have been absentee parents, but they had never beencruel to him.Hearing how horrible her life had been made him angry and sad for her.Hepalmed her neck and caressed her cheekbone, knowing that she loved it when he did that.He didn t interrupt her, since she seemed so introspective. Harry was a great buffer, plus, he was a really nice guy, she continued. Great guy,actually.He quickly became like the father we never had at least for the few years itlasted.And when I moved to Amarillo, I met Violet, which was a godsend.I d never reallyhad a friend like her before.She didn t judge me or look down at me for where I lived orwho my mom was; she just accepted me.So things weren t so bad for most of high school,except that when Harry would show me loving fatherly affection, it would make Mamafurious. She was jealous? Of her own daughter? Don t know, I guess.She hated it when Harry was nice to me.Anyway, their relationship lasted until a few months after I graduated from high school and Harrymoved away to be closer to his parents here in Tarpon Springs.I came to visit him oneday, loved it, and moved down.Travis followed, and about two years ago, so did Mama. And she s been harassing you since. Well, that s not really true.When she moved down here she was completely sober.Ihadn t seen her like that in years.Travis is right, she can be very toxic, so at first I waswary.But what Travis refuses to see is that when she s not doped up, she s different.He shard on her.Won t give her any second chances.He won t speak with her and hasn t doneso in a long time.I, on the other hand, started to bond with her when she came downbecause the change was so noticeable.She was great.I should ve seen it coming, thoughthe impending relapse.She kept asking me for money here and there and couldn tmanage to keep a job.When I was finally ready to say she was, for a lack of a better word,cured and let all my defenses down, she relapsed.It was bad, Enzo.She almost died.Thecops found her in an abandoned building, unconscious, with a needle still in her arm.Sheemptied out my small bank account and used my money to buy drugs.Anyway, I had beenkeeping the relationship mostly secret because Travis was so against it.When he foundout about her relapse and the money he was furious.That happened about a year ago, andhe even got a job at EE s Diner for a few weeks to help me get my rent paid.She is a liarand a manipulator, and I m an idiot for allowing her to hurt me and to steal from me. Enzo lifted her into his lap. No, you re not.You re a good person with a big heart whowanted to see the best in her mother. He put an arm around her and kissed the top of herhead.She opened her mouth to continue her story, but was interrupted by a shadowabove them. Who do we have here? Shielding their eyes from the sun with their hands, both Enzo and Jamie Lynn lookedup at the gruff voice.A muscular man who d been jogging by had stopped and stood swiping his brow withthe back of his arm. Heard you were too big a pussy to fight me, the man said with achuckle, and JL noticed Enzo immediately tense up.Enzo shifted JL aside and stood,dusting the sand off his hands. Raymundo, Enzo said as he crossed his arms over his chest.Why does that name sound so familiar? Then JL saw the tattoo on his shaved headthat said CRAZY , and she remembered Enzo telling her about him.He was the guy Enzowas supposed to fight soon, and damn, he was one big scary-looking ape.The man wasshorter and stockier than Enzo, but his neck and arms looked like tree trunks
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