We reached the apartment, and I was surprised to hear the TV blaring from inside-I'd figured Mimi would still be asleep. But after opening the door, I knew in one whiff it wasn't Mimi in the living room.

The smell of cigarette smoke and wet dog a.s.saulted me, almost knocking me back a step. Even Seb put a hand to his face in discomfort.

Muddy paw prints led from the front door to the couch, where a sleeping pit-bull lay next to a man probably in his thirties. He had a cigarette in one hand and a can of beer in the other. Baggy jeans left his boxers exposed, and his wife-beater was stained with underarm filth. A ton of cigarette b.u.t.ts lay on the floor in front of him-he must've been chain smoking to get through that many so quickly.

"Angel!" Star ran around my legs and jumped into his lap. "Hi, Angel!"

"Hi, baby girl," he said, pulling her against his chest in a hug. "How's my princess today?'

My vision flashed red for a moment. Don't call her that. Don't call her that.

"Good." Star wiggled around, kicking her legs up and down as she patted the dog on the head. "I have a tio."

"That's right." Angel looked up at me slowly, like he'd just realized Seb and I were standing inside the apartment. "You're the brother."

"Hey, man." I gave him a very slight nod as I walked past and put Star's clothes down on the table.

"Might have some work for you," he went on.

"Cool."

"And this is the white kid." Now he turned his gaze on Seb, and I had to dig my nails into my palm to keep from grabbing him and tucking him behind me protectively. "The white kid that don't talk."

"Yeah," I said for Seb.

"Huh." Angel inhaled from his cigarette. "Yeah. Could be useful. I'll think about it."

While I think about stabbing that cigarette into your eye.

"Did you bring me a present, Angel?" Star's legs were kicking even harder, causing her to bounce. "You said last time you were gonna bring me a present."

"Of course I did, baby girl. Right there." He pointed to a bag by the side of the couch. Star immediately hopped down to grab it, then climbed into his lap again. "What is it?"

Angel reached into the bag and pulled out a little tank top with purple sequins all over it.

"Ooh!" Star squealed, clapping her hands. "It's so pretty and it's shiny!"

"What else would I get a princess? Let's try it on and see if it fits." He put his hand under her shirt, sliding it against her skin as he removed the pink long-sleeve she'd been wearing.

I wanted to puke. Or scream for Mimi. Or commit murder. He hadn't actually done anything wrong, but seeing this man...this man who let my sister do what she did...seeing him touch her daughter in her daughter in any any way... way...

Fists clenched, I took a step forward. But then Seb jerked and dropped the bag he'd been carrying, knocking over a salt shaker, and I got distracted. By the time I turned around, Star had already slipped on the other shirt.

And she'd moved back enough for me to see the handle of a gun sticking out the top of Angel's baggy pants.

f.u.c.k.

He picked Star up and set her on the ground, where she began twirling and admiring the glint off her sequins. Laughing, he finished a beer and lit up another cigarette.

"All right, baby girl," he said after a few puffs. "Go tell your mommy to get up and get dressed." He gave Star a pat on the b.u.t.t as he sent her on her way.

Anger rising again, I s.n.a.t.c.hed the bags of clothing. My sudden movement caused the dog to perk up, and he bared his teeth in a snarl.

"Don't mind Glock," Angel said when I froze. "He don't bite people."

"Right." I gave him a cold smile. "C'mon, Seb. Let's go put Star's stuff away."

Safely inside the tiny room, I backed myself up against the wall and inhaled deeply. The air was a little less smoky in there, but really, it was being away from Angel that allowed me to breathe again.

"That guy is a f.u.c.king a.s.shole," I told Seb, who was staring at the spot where the infested mattress had been. Maybe he felt like he needed a place to hole up right now, too. But there wasn't a bed for us to hide in anymore, and we didn't really have the time.

"We'd better not leave Star out there alone for long."

After setting up the blankets on the floor, I brought Seb back out to the living room with me. Mimi appeared a second later, wearing a cheap skin-tight dress that stopped somewhere just south of her hips and a huge oversized sweat-jacket that hung down to her knees. She zipped it up when she saw me.

"Hey, s.e.xy," Angel greeted her. She walked past and he pulled her into his lap for a hug, the same way he'd done with Star. Only with her, he added a sloppy, open-mouthed kiss.

I didn't know how much more of this I could stand.

"Yo, brother." Angel waved his cigarette to get my attention. "Go grab me that spoon on the counter." With his other hand, he pulled a tiny plastic bag and a straight pipe out of his pocket.

Before I could react, Mimi tucked her hand into the top of his shirt. "No, Angel. Not in front of the baby. Please."

He stared at her for a moment, then glanced over at Star. She was sitting cross-legged on the other end of the couch and petting the dog. "Fine. We'll take it with. C'mon."

I couldn't explain why my brain was about to short-circuit with fury. It wasn't like I'd never been around people smoking crack. h.e.l.l, plenty of Hector's friends had, and he'd joined in on occasion. But this was different. It was different because Mimi was my sister and I knew knew she didn't want this. she didn't want this.

And Star was only five years old. Five f.u.c.king years old.

Angel stood, an empty beer can sliding to the floor as he went. Mimi was forced to stand at the same time, since she'd been on his lap.

"Now? Where're we going?" she asked.

"Need you to do me a favor. A quick one. You got the kid to watch Star, anyways."

I couldn't stop myself this time. I grabbed Mimi by her wrist and began pulling her down the hallway with me.

"Alex! What're you-"

"What the f.u.c.k, Mimi." I yanked her close so I could speak directly in her ear. "What the f.u.c.k f.u.c.k. This guy is s.h.i.t!"

She pushed me off, drawing a finger up to my face. "You keep your mouth shut." Her teeth were clenched as she spoke in a low growl. "You hear me? Keep your d.a.m.n mouth shut."

Angel approached and Mimi whirled around. "Alex fixed up Star's bedroom. She had bedbugs."

"Nasty f.u.c.kers," Angel responded. "But let's go."

"Bye Mommy!" Star crowded in around our legs.

Mimi stooped down to hug her. "Bye, baby. Be good for Tio."

When she straightened up, she surprised me by giving me a quick hug, too. "I usually have the neighbor Betty look in on Star at night...I'll tell her you're gonna be around though, okay? You can make some sandwiches for dinner. Or look in the freezer-there might be a pizza."

"Right." I nodded numbly. "Okay."

Angel, Mimi, and the dog filed out, leaving me standing in the hallway and staring after them stupidly. My guts were twisted and I was sweating and the stench of animal and smoke and body odor was really close to making me have to vomit. and the stench of animal and smoke and body odor was really close to making me have to vomit.

And in that moment I understood-this was why Mimi had never wanted me around her after she'd left.

"Tio?" Star looked up at me expectantly. "Can we have marshmallows for our camping now?"

I didn't move, but Seb put his arm on Star's back and started to guide her toward the kitchen. I'd almost forgotten he was even there. A few moments later, plastic food wrappers began crinkling, and I followed wearily to find Seb making cheese sandwiches.

Some of the darkness lifted from my mind. Sandwiches might've been a simple task simple task, but right then they meant all the world to me.

I walked up behind him and rested my head on his shoulder. "Thanks."

We were standing too close, I knew, but Star was only five years old and not really someone to worry about. And I needed to feel his warm body next to mine-to remind myself that someone was there for me, even if it was only with the occasional smile or hug.

Seb leaned back against me, and I rocked us gently, for just an instant.

Then I pulled away.

"Guess what," I said to Star. "We're gonna have a picnic. People have picnics when they go camping."

"Oh yeah!" She ran up and hugged my legs. "I saw that on a movie, too! I love you, Tio!"

One picnic and two hours of television later, Star's head dropped down against my arm. I felt like doing the same on Seb's, but decided to just be happy he was sitting close enough that our shoulders touched.

"We should get Star to bed," I murmured, turning so that my lips almost brushed his ear. "And I bet you're tired, too. We had a long day...and you usually sleep a whole lot more in a day, don't you."

His lips twitched.

Maybe we weren't quite alone, but with Star asleep, it was about as close as we were going to get. Eager not to waste the opportunity, I gently lifted the still-dozing Star and carried her to her room.

"Are we going camping now?" she mumbled sleepily.

"Yeah." I set her down on the comforter, then pulled the sheets over her. "So go to sleep."

Seb stood in the doorway as I tucked her in, but his eyes were unfocused, like he was looking really far away.

"I'm not sure where we can sleep," I whispered to him. "Yesterday I slept here with Star...I think there's like one more sheet that we washed, but no more pillows. I guess we can just use a wad of clothes or something."

Seb went to the closet and pulled out the fitted sheet from Star's bed.

"You do wanna go to sleep, huh." I tried not to let the disappointment show in my voice. "Well, all right. Let's set it up."

Our makeshift bed consisted of nothing more than the sheet and a throw blanket. I decided I'd let Seb have it and crawl in with Star, since there really wasn't enough s.p.a.ce for two.

Unless those two were pretty d.a.m.n close.

When I lay down, I faced him, and he faced me, like we'd done that last night at Ms. Loretta's. Only this time, I could tell he was really tired, because his eyelids dropped steadily until they were closed, his lashes twitching slightly before his lips parted and soft, sleeping breaths emerged.

I fell asleep focused on those lips, wondering what it would be like to feel them on my skin. But a little while later, the wailing call of police sirens woke me up. I looked over to see Seb's eyes wide with alarm, and immediately rushed to his side.

"Hey, it's okay. Don't worry about it. It happens here all the time-s.h.i.t goes down in the ghetto, you know. But don't worry. They're not coming here. It's probably not even anything bad."

The first whisper of regret wormed its way into my thoughts. Why had I brought Seb to this h.e.l.lhole? I'd told myself it was for his sake-so he could be happy-but was I really just being a selfish a.s.shole again?

He rolled over, staying close to me so that we were nearly spooning. I slid my arm around his chest and held him tight. "You're okay. And look, Star's still fast asleep. She knows it's no big deal."

His muscles relaxed gradually under my touch, and he let out a sigh.

He was so warm, and his heartbeat so strong against the palm of my hand. I couldn't pull myself away. I didn't want to, either.

Besides, he needed my comfort. And I needed his. There was nothing wrong with comfort.

"Goodnight, Seb," I whispered. Resting my head against my other arm, I gently nuzzled his neck and settled in to sleep.

Chapter 17: Busted.

"But I don't want Pop-Tarts!" Star pushed the silver packet away from her with a sudden burst of outrage. It slid all the way across the table and stopped in front of Seb, who stared down at it with his typical blank face.

"C'mon, Star." I yawned, stretching to the side and trying to work some of the kinks out of my back. Sleeping on the bare floor hadn't been very comfortable, even with Seb by my side. "They're really good. And they're the s'mores kind. That means they have marshmallows. Marshmallows for camping, remember?"

"Camping is for nighttime," Star responded, scorn written on every detail of her tiny face, from her wrinkled little nose to her pursed lips to her scowling eyes. "I said said I wanted cereal, and you I wanted cereal, and you said said we could buy milk the other day." we could buy milk the other day."

Seb dropped his head. If I didn't know any better, I would've thought he was trying to hide his laughter.

"But we don't want to waste your mommy's money. Besides, we should wait to see what other stuff we need to get at the store, instead of just going to buy milk."

Unconvinced, Star crossed her arms against her chest. She was still wearing the purple sequin tank top and the Barbie underwear. Some of the sequin color had already started to wear away, leaving them a dull silver. "I want cereal."

It appeared we were deadlocked. By some small miracle, a key scratched at the door, and Mimi entered the apartment a second later.

And she entered it alone, thank G.o.d.

"Mommy!" All the sourness vanished from Star's face as she ran to her mother.

Mimi picked her up and cradled her in her arms, but Star's presence didn't have the same effect on her worn features. Her eyes were sunken into dark voids of smeared mascara, and she wore no lipstick.

"Hi, baby," she said quietly.