Stay Cruel and Represent

The morning finally came and the bright sun shined through the blinds of my window. Dominik was already awake and was arguing in the kitchen with Gabriel. The mention of Matthew’s name over and over made it obvious what they were arguing about.

I crawled out of bed and threw my hair up in a ponytail. While blowing my bangs out of my face, I tore off my clothes from last night and slipped into a pair of sweatpants and a white t-shirt. A gleam from the corner in my eye caught my attention and I noticed the handgun on my dresser. I went over to it and slipped in into the top drawer, shuffling it underneath my million pairs of underwear.

“Grace, are you awake?” I heard a voice from outside my door. It was my cousin, Daisy.

“Yeah, just a minute.” I slid my feet into the big fluffy leopard patterned slippers that were near my door before opening it.

“Sexy.” Daisy commented, looking down at my feet.

Daisy was not only my cousin, but she is was best friend. She was a year older than me, an inch taller than me, and slightly paler then me. She had very long, dark, brown hair and bangs that were cut straight against her forehead. Usually that haircut doesn’t look good on people, but she wore it incredibly well. She had her tongue pierced, wore a tight black sweatshirt that enhanced her cleavage, expensive True Religion jeans with intricate stitching on the back, and a pair of black Ugg boots.

Daisy followed me as I rolled by eyes and made my way down the hall towards the kitchen. My brothers' voices got louder and louder and almost made me shutter by the time I got to the doorframe.

“We gotta do something with this kid, Gabriel.”

“He fucked up big time. This can’t happen again.”

“What are we gonna do now?” asked my cousin Marcus, who I just then realized was sitting at the island counter with his head resting on his fist. “We’re bound to get caught up with DeLucia again now. They’re not going to let this go.”

I heard the front door open and close. I looked over my shoulder as my other cousin Jacob came in. He walked by me and hugged me with one arm before kissing my forehead.

“Do I need to kick someone’s ass?” Jacob asked the others. “Where’s Matty?”

“Matty’s still in bed. They beat him up real good.” Gabriel said.

“Well, we’re the youngest so we pretty much have no say in what you're going to do. So we’re going to go down to the bar and open up.” Daisy announced. Dominik shot me an angry glare.

“I don’t know if today’s a good day to be open. I don’t want DeLucia comin’ down to look for Matty and wreckin the place.” Dominik retorted.

I shrugged. “We can’t just be closed. We need to stay looking legit. Plus if DeLucia comes around during the day, it’ll be just to talk since there will be too many pedestrians to make a scene. Plus we get a lot of business. No one is just gonna come in shooting.”

Dominik and Gabriel looked at each other before Dominik looked at me and twitched his head. It meant ‘go on’. Daisy and I turned around to leave before I stopped and looked over my shoulder and asked, “Where is Scarlett?”

“She is still in bed.” Gabriel said with a sigh. “I don’t think she feels very good.”

“One of us will be down to help you in a little bit. Just be careful and call us if you need anything.” said Marcus.

I nodded and went back to my room to change again.

The name of our family-owned bar was “Gerisanders”. Geri- for my father, Gerik, and Sanders- for my uncle, Aleksander. It wasn’t amazing, just a couple neon signs praising beer with a couple pool tables in the back. The bar area was old, junkie, and covered in stickers of beer advertisements, famous bars around the world, old Coke-a-Cola pictures, and logos for sports. There was a big black chalkboard in the center of the bar on the back wall that had different drafts and brews and their prices. We never got around to making menus. Across from the bar, adjacent to the beer list, was a small list of food that we serve. The simple stuff - like hamburgers, fries, and pizza. Most people never actually ordered food, but we had it in the back if someone wanted something. If anyone did order anything, Matthew would make it. He was our chef when he wasn’t watching sports on TV or flirting with women. Daisy usually works as a bar-back or just hangs around when she gets the chance. Scarlett, Jacob, and I take turns bartending and doing odd jobs around the bar. Marcus, Gabriel, and Dominik deal with the finances and mainly use the bar as a meeting place for business matters.

As Daisy and I got downstairs to the street, it only took about thirty seconds until we were at the bar, which was right next door to our small apartment complex. Our complex was squeezed between Gerisander’s and Reilly’s Laundromat. It was very convenient.

Daisy waited beside me as I pulled a black lanyard from my pocket with a key attached. I opened the door and let her in before flipping the sign in the door from ‘closed’ to ‘open’.