You're Always You

Chapter Thirty-Three

David Minett

Thank god he managed to convince Lydia not to go back to Dick.

And thank god he caught her leaving, otherwise Dave was quite sure that's exactly where she would've gone after the bank.

The two of them discussed the plan with Monica when they went back, at which point Lydia also got to formally meet his mother...again.

....

Doing everything over was weird.

"I'm really sorry," Lydia said to Mom, so very guilty. "If I knew Monica lived with you, I—"

"Oh nonsense, sweetheart," Mom had said, pulling the woman into a hug. "You're welcome here as long as you need." Stepping back she made a face and added, "Not like Brett's using the room."

"Mom," David said, not exactly thrilled at being reminded of his failure to emancipate his brother thus far.

Soon, Brett, I swear.

"What?" Mom replied, giving her son a look. "It's true."

That had been the end of that conversation, because David was not interested in talking about how Brett ended up in the hole.

Later that night, Lydia wasn't very happy that David was going to work and she wasn't, but she seemed not to vocalize that too much. "Old" Lydie would've complained about something unfair like this, but this Lydie had been trained to keep her mouth shut.

I'm sorry, Lydia.

"I'll text Monica when I see him," David promised to Lydia, a hand on either girl's shoulder, briefing them both. "You girls go and make it snappy. I'll text you if it looks like he's going anywhere, and you get out. I don't care what ends up being left behind. Okay?"

"....Okay," Lydia murmured, nodding. Monica did as well.

"Alright," he said, leaning forward to kiss Monica's forehead, and forcing himself not to do the same with Lydia. "I love you. Be safe."

It was directed at both of them, but Lydia likely wouldn't see it that way.

"You too," she told him sternly.

"We will," Monica added with a reassuring smile.

And with that, Dave left, heading out onto the sidewalk as usual. He'd debated all day about whether or not he should have his car, in case of emergency, but ultimately decided it would honestly probably be faster to run to their rescue, instead of sit helplessly in New York traffic.

So he was taking the subway to work again.

Upon arriving at the club, David made a round, acting like he was looking for trouble to break up, but really just looking for any sign of Dickie. He would ask, if he wanted Dick to know, but he didn't, so he kept his mouth shut.

Besides, the guy wasn't hard to spot.

Seemingly, Dickie was looking around for somebody as well, though most likely in his case it was Lydia. David made sure to avoid the boss, but texted the girls that he was here and to go. After all, they didn't know how much time there was until he figured it out that Lydia just wasn't here and wasn't showing.

Before Dick got to the point of asking around, Dave found Sasha and tried to make their conversation look friendly and not serious, smiling despite his words. "Hey~. Lydia's not coming back."

"What do you mean?" the woman questioned, her expression growing concerned.

"Smile, act natural," David said, as softly as the music would allow.

She picked up her mouth again, but her brows remained furrowed.

"Dickie smacked her one," the security guard explained. "She's hiding. Don't ask where, knowing is dangerous. Point is, you need to keep him here, so she can sneak home and get her stuff. Think you can do that?"

Sasha nodded, smiling still despite the worry in her eyes, and even hamming it up with a fake wiggle. "....I'll get Sam on it," she said. "Sam is best at that."

Though he didn't really want to, he had to make it look like at least a somewhat flirtatious encounter, and pinched her chin briefly as he thanked her, before moving off again.

As he did so, turning around, he couldn't help but noticed one of the girls dancing on somebody...familiar. Specifically, a familiar moustache that, last time David had seen it, was sitting over a smoking cigar.

....

Was that...?

Oh this.

This might just be Dave's big break.

The man decided to approach and tapped the stripper's shoulder softly. She looked up with slight confusion, growing anxious seeing as she couldn't exactly be distracted right now.

David took out a ten and said, "Gimme a minute with the warden, eh Sunshine?"

Sunshine took the bill with a shrug and wandered away. Cash was cash.

"Hey what the fuck," the warden cried, spreading his hands. Then he squinted up at David. "....Ain't you the guy—"

"Yeah," David admitted, nodding his head. "I'm the guy that wants my little brother out of prison already. But you, sir?" He pointed at the warden. "You're the guy that definitely doesn't want his wife and daughter knowing you're here. Do you, warden?"

....

"You mothafucka," the warden laughed, seemingly somewhat tipsy. David sincerely hoped his inebriation, even if slight, didn't affect his memory enough that he would forget this when he went into work again. "You're gonna blackmail me to get your brother's thug ass outta prison? Y'know who I am, right sonny Jim?"

David leaned over the chair threateningly. "I do. And I know your daughter would never speak to you again if someone happened to tell her you've got women younger than she is rubbin' up on your dick on the weekends."

The older man huffed. "This what they teach ya in the Army, bucko? Fuck." He pushed David away and retorted, "Fine, asswipe. I'll patch it through."

Yes!

"If I don't hear it from Brett...." Dave started, giving the warden a look.

"Yeah yeah, fuckin' cunt," the warden spat. "Now get the fuck outta here, I got tits to look at prettier 'n you."

David was more than happy to accept that request, and moved away from the warden with a smirk.

Gotcha, Brett. You're coming home.

He didn't...know how long that would take, but that didn't matter just yet. Dave had the warden, almost literally, by the balls. He could keep squeezing if Brett wasn't out when he wanted.

This was good.

However, his smirk fell when he caught sight of Dickie again, across the room talking to Sasha. He took out his phone and readied a text, just in case.

This was not good.