Another Lifetime

Chapter 13

DeAnna Kastell

"So heavy," Jessie complained as we carried the Walmart shopping and her clothes shopping into her house.

We made it to the family room then just collapsed on the air mattress. "I left my car unlocked," I muttered then got up to go put my car on the drive and lock my car.

"DeAnna!" Barry yelled and went for a flying tackle but I intercepted and picked him up.

"What's up, Hulk Buster?" I asked him.

"Why are you here?" He asked me and started tapping on my Roman numeral tattoo again.

"Because Jessie and I are going to eat apple sauce together," I told him and his little face lit up like Central Park at Christmas. "You can only join in, if you wear superhero pyjamas and go to bed when Jessie tells you to," I bargained with him.

"Deal," he agreed and I shook his tiny hand before setting him down. He ran off to go annoy one of his sisters about me staying over. He knows that apple sauce or any sort of baby food binge means I'm staying over.

I went back out to my car and moved it onto the driveway. I climbed out just as Reggie and Ronnie appeared out the front door. "Are you sure you want to feed them?" Reggie checked with me.

"It'll be fine and I won't feed them after midnight or get them wet," I assured them then remembered something else was in the first hide that Frank probably hadn't found and wasn't any way related to my drug use or paraphernalia.

"Only one who might be a gremlin is Will," Ronnie said and I smiled a little.

"Jessie and I have got this, it'll be fine," I assured them, "plus I could just threaten Frank arresting them if they misbehave," I added with a slight smirk.

"See you tomorrow morning then," Reggie said and dragged his sister away before she could change her mind about going out for the night with their friends for once.

I shut the door and opened up the first hide. I pressed down on the bottom of the hide and a hatch opened. I'd put a butterfly knife in there for emergencies but I was carrying so I didn't need the hide knife anymore. I probably didn't need to carry a knife at all but after that night in New York; I felt safer if I could defend myself with more than just the pepper spray.

I flipped out the blade and read the engraving on it.

'DeAnna Martina Castillo de Rosa-Iglesias - fino alla morte puntato il suo credito nei confronti la tua anima'

It meant until death staked her claim on my soul. It had been a gift from a mobster I'd helped out with a malware issue after I'd gotten clean. It has been a white hat kind of thing so there was no chance of me going to prison for it. Anthony was a nice guy when you got past the whole mobster thing.

I flipped the handles back away again and tucked the knife into my waistband next to the other one and my phone. I climbed out and went into the trunk to pick out some clothes for tomorrow morning as well as some PJs I'd bought today.

I locked up and headed back inside with my school bag too. "So you're in charge?" Barry asked me as I stepped inside.

"With Jessie," I told him and he pulled me to the family room, where Jessie was setting up for the night.

"You pick an appropriate PJ combo from your haul?" Jessie asked me and I set down my bag next to the couch.

"Yeah, some leggings and a tank top," I told her and my phone started ringing with Mom's ringtone. "It's my mom, I should probably take it," I said and she took Roly off me so I could go take the call.