"Just one," Lyca said, sliding a glass across the table.
The amber liquid caught the neon light. Patty kept her fingers curled around it like she’d hold it there until I caved.
Bass vibrated through the floor of Vince Bar. It smelled like beer and sweet perfume. Lyca’s friends brought us here. Lyca brought me. I didn’t argue. I wanted to know what it felt like to walk into a place like this once.
My father was three days in the ground, and I was sitting in a bar with a drink in front of me. The guilt sat next to the hunger I hadn’t eaten through.
I came because Lyca asked. I barely knew Patty or Maxine. Lyca was the bridge. I needed noise to drown out the silence waiting at home. Tomorrow, my life changed.
"No," I said. My voice stayed steady.
They’d pushed all night. Every time the
