“Do you still see them?”
He shook his head. “When I was seventeen, Mitch died of cancer.”
“I’m so sorry.” I couldn’t believe how terrible his early years were. What I went through was nothing compared to what he had to endure.
“It was hard. When he was gone, Cindy basically dropped out. She stopped giving a shit, stopped working, more or less fell apart. One day, I woke up for school, and she was gone. I have no idea where she went, no note or nothing.”
“She just disappeared?” I couldn’t even imagine the kind of person that would do that to a child.
“As far as I know. After that, I found ways to take care of myself. I fell into some pretty bad shit pretty fast, and now here I am. I did what I had to do to survive, but I’m not proud of a lot of it.”
I could hardly believe his story, but I knew it happened all the time in big cities. Still, his life was way harder than anything I experienced. No wonder he fell in with the people he did. I couldn’t even come close to judging him for his decisions, especially when he had to deal with what he did, and at such a young age.
I reached up to his face and felt the stubble along his cheek before kissing him softly on his full lips. He pulled me closer and kissed me back, and I fell into our embrace with hunger. We broke apart and I felt my breath catch, the desire for him intense.
“So what’s with your name, if you don’t mind me asking?”
He laughed. “It means ‘king’ in Latin.”
“Is it a family name?”
“I’m not really sure, honestly. The orphanage said that’s what my mom put on the birth certificate, but I never got a chance to ask her.”
“I’m sorry. It’s a good name.”
He shrugged. “Anyway, that’s my sob story,” he said quietly. “What about you, spoiled girl?”
“Not all that much to say.”
He cocked his brow at me. “Your turn to share now.”
I laughed. “Fine, alright. I guess we should start with the big stuff. Remember, maybe ten years ago, those commercials for The Amazing Lucille?”
Rex looked confused, but then recognition bloomed across his face. I knew he’d remember; most people our age remembered The Amazing Lucille. Her huge blond hair, her kitschy scarves and crystal balls, and the incredibly catchy jingle were tough to forget. They were deeply burned into my mind from a young age, at any rate. Those commercials were a part of our generation’s childhood, as much as Power Rangers and Pokémon. They ran all day and all night, and people used to hum the tune at me all the time, especially when they found out who I was. The Amazing Lucille was incredibly popular for a few years, and regularly did the talk show circuit. She was basically everywhere.
“Yeah, I remember that. She was a psychic or something, right?”
“Yep, Lucille was supposedly psychic. She was my mom.”
Rex laughed. “Are you kidding me? That was your mom?”
I let out a long sigh and nodded. I was used to that reaction. People only knew what they saw on TV, and for the most part, they saw good things. Everyone assumed I must be rich, because my mom did talk shows and commercials. The truth was, we were very comfortable, for a while at least. Then things went to shit.
“She sure was. My dad was her business manager, and together they ran their little scam for years.”
“What do you mean, their scam?” he asked.
“Have you seen their commercial on TV for a while? Heard her name anywhere?”
He shook his head, eyes concerned. “I figured they just weren’t popular anymore.”
“Well, remember how I told you we lost all our money? My dad was arrested for fraud, and that destroyed my mom’s career. Apparently, my dad was trying to pass her off as the real deal, and was giving out stock advice to businessmen based on her predictions. Eventually, people lost money, and the Feds got involved. I haven’t seen my dad since the trial. He’s been in jail ever since I started high school. He’ll be in there for a few more years at least. The longer the better.”
“That’s pretty fucked up,” Rex said quietly.
I nodded. “Very fucked up. It basically destroyed my mom. She lives in a trailer down in Florida now, cleans motels during the day, and gives readings at night still.”
“Is she for real? I mean, a real psychic?”
I shrugged. I had been asking myself that question my entire life, and still had no good answer. The truth was, Lucille could do some freaky things, and her advice was sometimes dead on. Sometimes though, she was completely full of it. The fraud trial destroyed any reputation she had, and tarnished her image forever in my mind. Still, I remembered the creepy predictions that came true, and never knew for sure. Part of me wanted to believe, but most of me wanted to forget she even existed.