“Don’t or I’ll never be able to tell you everything,” he said shaking his head.
Clarissa nodded and sat back on her heels, settling her hand in his.
“When I was six and Aaron was twelve our father went down for a long time for heroin,” Skull began, “Our mom did her best, but Aaron was already determined that he had to be the one to take care of everything. Mom worked her fingers to the bones, but nothing was ever good enough for Aaron. He always wanted more, not that I ever blamed him. I wanted more too, but not badly enough to go the route he did. He was getting in with the wrong crowd by the time he was fifteen. Then when I was ten, our...”
Skull paused for a second and swallowed hard. Clarissa gave his hand a reassuring squeeze and reached out to touch his face, but Skull shook his head and looked away for a second. Clarissa took a deep breath and bit her lip. She felt guilty for making him talk about it.
“You don’t have to say anymore, I’m sorry,” she said, “You’re right, it’s none of my business.”
“Yes, it is,” Skull said, looking back at her, “If we’re going to be together, it is, because I won’t stop until I find out what happened to Aaron, if he’s alive or not. When I was ten and my brother was sixteen my father was killed in a prison fight. From what we heard he died lying on his dirty cell floor. When they went through his belongings they found that someone had been smuggling him drugs from the outside. They suspected Aaron was doing it, but they could never prove it.
“Things were going fine, but as soon as he turned eighteen he took off. He spent time in jail for a minor charge of assault, he called it minor, Mom was more pissed than I ever seen her. He was getting cleaned up, but then four years ago he just took off in the middle of the night. Mom and I tried to find him. Hugo and the guys helped us look for awhile, but eventually they all gave up.”
“But you didn’t,” Clarissa smiled at him.
“He’s my brother,” he said.
“I think it’s sweet. More than that it’s the right thing to do, but what if you can’t find him? Are you going to look forever? Are you going throw your life away, because he threw his away?” Clarissa asked.
She tried to keep her voice steady, but she feared that Skull would take everything she was saying the wrong away.
“What am I supposed to do just forget about him?” Skull asked.
“No,” Clarissa shook her head, before resting it against Skull’s shoulder, “I’ll take you to St. Louis tomorrow.”
“I’m going alone,” Skull said.
“I’m going with you,” Clarissa said.
“It isn’t safe, Clarissa,” he said.
“Exactly,” she said.
“You’re not going,” Skulls said, looking down at her.
“Yes, I am, Skull. I’m going to St. Louis with you even if I have to drive alone and follow you. There’s no law against going to St. Louis,” Clarissa said pulling away from him and crossing her arms.
“Fine,” Skull said.
They both quietly studied the other. Clarissa wondered what Skull was thinking about and if he was wondering what she was thinking about? Did things like that ever cross a guy’s mind?
“Thank you,” Skull finally said.
Clarissa smiled and nodded, as she climbed into his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. She kissed him gently at first, merely brushing her lips against him, feeling their supple warmth and reaching out once again to touch upon the raw part of him. Her lips moved hesitantly against his, fearing that he would pull away from her. Justin had often done that if he thought he told her too much about what he was feeling.
Skull wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him, so that her breasts were pushed against his chest. His tongue slid between her warm parted lips and danced with hers. Clarissa’s fingers ran through Skull’s hair and tickled at the nape of his neck.
When the kiss broke Clarissa rested her head against Skull’s shoulder and attempted to find the words that wanted to bubble over her lips. She wanted to help him, because she didn’t want to be without him.
“I’m tired,” Clarissa said with a yawn.
“We can go to sleep,” Skull grinned.
“But will you be here when I wake up?” she asked.
“Yes, remember the police still have my bike,” Skull chuckled.
“How did Lobster get you out anyway?” Clarissa asked.