Gamble, Book One

Chapter 5

Nicole and Toni spent the better part of the night and early morning cleaning up the war zone that was their apartment. They had to call up their landlord to fix their door, citing that it was a burglary that caused it and not a pair of supernatural hunters that believed them witches.

And as she predicted, their lovely landlord took the price of their door out of the deposit. Toni groaned when she realized that the thousand dollars she was gonna put to a future car for herself was partially for the door.

"I've told you a million times that I don't mind being your taxi as long as you contribute to the gas fund," Nicole said from the table, chewing the last of her dumplings that Toni prepared.

Her sister, who was buttoning up her uniform, stepped into the living room. "And I appreciate that, but I would like to own something of my own eventfully,"

"You own a degree," she replied with a sassy tone. Toni glared at her sister who ignored the look. Nicole dropped out of high school when she was sixteen. She eventually got a GED before she went on her journey, but she never missed an opportunity to rip into Nicole about her finishing.

"Bite me..." Toni whined, slipping on a pair of flats.

"Not into incest sis," she replied without missing a beat. Sighing loudly, Toni shouldered her bag as she headed to the front door. She was in her 'I wish I was an only child' mood.

"I'll meet you in the car," Toni said over her shoulder. Swinging open the door, she stopped in her tracks. Her jaw fell open as a squeal escaped her lips. Dropping her bag, she stepped forward to hug the person on the other side of the door.

Hearing the commotion, Nicole stood up, and walked forward. She glanced over just as Toni pulled away revealing someone she hadn't seen since she ran away five years ago.

"Hi dad," she said softly.

Peter Grant McClaine looked like he aged twenty years rather than five. But despite the fuller cheeks and dark circles under his eyes, she could still see the father she knew underneath. The dark red hair she inherited now had streaks of gray and the blue eyes that Toni received looked dull to her. The job must've been hard on him...it was hard on all of them.

Nicole Lee McClaine stood in the living room with her arms crossed as her dad berated her. Again. Her father was now aware that instead of using her savings bond (left behind by her mother thirteen years prior, after her death) towards school like originally planned, Nicole went out, and bought herself a vintage cherry red Camaro.

"When you first got kicked out of school, I decided to take your side! When you left your sister alone for weekend, did I ask where you went? No! For Christ's sake Nicole, I allowed you to drop out of school when you said it wasn't 'for you' as long as you agreed to get your GED! But now, oh this takes the cake!"

They've been having this argument more and more frequently. He would yell, polish off a liquor bottle, and then shut himself away whether at home or at work. It seemed as if the closer she reached her birthday, her eighteenth to be specific, the more they disagreed. If this wasn't a sign for her to go through with her plan, she didn't know what was.

The only person that honestly kept her here was at the top of the stairs: her thirteen year old sister, Toni Jean McClaine. She loved her sister, she truly did, but her hate for her father outweighed that love at times. Nicole was all her sister had and she knew that if she went through with her plan, it would shatter their relationship.

"...ever since your mother died, I struggled to keep us a float! I know it was a lot to put on you and I blame myself for that, but you've been one mistake after another! Is that the type of influence you want to make on your sister?!" He yelled.