Hustle Me (30 page)

"Good morning, Charlene, thanks for coming in today. This shouldn't take too long." He sat down next to the other man and started pulling out stacks of paper and separating them. The other man kept staring at me in this weird way that made me feel uncomfortable. "Okay, this is basically a formality. We just need you both to sign these documents stating that the past due balance was paid in full so we can release the lien on the property. Since John has come in and signed over his ownership, selling the property won't be delayed any longer.
 

My head snapped in his direction. "John Thomas came in and signed over his ownership? When did he do it?"
 

He checked a form he had in his hand. "Looks like he did it about three weeks ago."
 

How much more could he hurt me? Wasn't leaving enough? Did he have to add fuel to the fire and sign over his quarter ownership too? "I see."
 

The gentleman with the weird stare cleared his throat. "My son didn't want anything to do with that place. He's washed his
hands of it. If you don't mind, I'd like to get this settled so I can go about my day."
 

It wasn't his rude attitude that bothered me. I didn't have to ask who the man was. Just the couple sentences that he'd spoke gave that away. Jammer's father was sitting across from me, looking me over as he destroyed me even more than ever before. I grabbed the stack of papers and a pen. "Who paid the balance?"
 

Jammer's father leaned over the table and looked from me to my lawyer. "Just sign the papers."
 

I sat the pen down and looked at the man who Jammer hated. "I'm not signing anything until you answer my question. Who paid? I know you didn't do it out of the kindness of your heart."
 

He sat back and smiled like his words were going to crush me. Don't know how I knew it, but I could feel it coming. "Let's just say that I gave my son a choice. He'd rather be rich than play house with someone like you."
 

It hurt. I wasn't going to lie. It was like he was taking a knife and stabbing me directly in the heart. "You're an asshole."
 

He laughed out loud. "For someone without a pot to piss in, you have a lot of nerve. I suggest that you sign the papers, before I retract this offer and take everything you have away from you."
 

I looked over at my lawyer. "Can he even do that?"
 

He looked from me to Jammer's dad. "I'm afraid that he can. We also represent Mr. Thomas in this matter. It would be in your best interest to sign the papers."
 

Oh, so being screwed over was the plan all along. I wasn't sure if I was more mad at myself than anyone else. This sucked and the only way out of it was to sign the damn papers and walk away with some kind of dignity. I shook my head and concentrated on not letting myself cry in front of these two dickheads. I pushed the signed papers toward them and waited for whatever else they were going to throw at me.
 

"Looks like we have everything here. You will receive the deed free and clear in just a couple of weeks. As far as selling the place, I can get in touch with a realtor tomorrow and set something up, or if you already have someone in mind you can contact them yourself."
 

I put up my hand to stop him from talking. While grabbing my purse off the floor, I stood up. "It's no longer going to be for sale. If you think you can buy it back for next to nothing, you can kiss my ass. I would never sell my father's bar. He kept that for me and my brother. It's no wonder your son can't commit to a responsible life. Meeting you for ten seconds showed me why. I've had a pretty fucked up childhood, but your mother must have been psychotic, because there is no way someone can be as heartless as you otherwise." I walked out of the conference room door and didn't look back. I didn't give a shit what they thought about my attitude.
 

Once I got to my car I was literally bawling my eyes out. Even windshield wipers wouldn't have been able to control my tears. Jammer had chosen money over being with me. Could it get any worse?
 

I don't even remember the drive, but when I pulled up at the college campus, I knew exactly where I was and why I was there. I raced to Zach's dorm room and burst into the door. As I closed the door behind me, while still crying, two bodies sat up in the bed. "Charlie, what are you doing here?" Elle's voice
confirmed that the messy haired girl in Zach's bed was in fact my best friend.
 

"Seriously, you two?" It wasn't like I wanted Zach as a boyfriend. He was just my best friend. I guess they both were.
 

"Charlie, we were going to tell you." Zach climbed out of bed and pulled on a pair of shorts. I guess he didn't care about me seeing his bare ass since I'd seen it before. Elle pulled the covers up around her chin. I could tell she was embarrassed and afraid of my reaction.
 

I pointed at Elle. "You have a boyfriend."
 

"We broke up. It was around the time you got together with Jam..." She realized that saying his name was going to hurt me and stopped for a second. "Zach and I have been friends for a while and it just happened. We've been exclusive for a few weeks now. Please don't be mad."
 

I sat on the bed across from the one they were in. "I'm not mad. I mean, I wish you would have just told me, but I get why you didn't. Listen, I’m not here to rain on your parade, but my life is a fucking mess and I needed my best friends."
 

For the next hour I explained everything that had happened in the attorney’s office. Aside from Zach claiming that they had legally wronged me, I think they both felt sorry for my predicament. Neither of them seemed surprised when I told them that Jammer had picked money over being with me.
 

After they finally got up and got dressed, Elle offered to come home and stay with me for a couple of days. They had finished finals and she was planning on shacking up with Zach during the break. I think after the initial shock of them being together wore off, it was not a big deal. They were both my friends no matter what.
 

On the way home Elle tried to talk to me about Jammer. I think she was trying to make me feel better, but the more I heard his name, the worse I felt. I think I needed some kind of closure and never had gotten it. He owed me some kind of explanation for why he left the way he did after sleeping with me just hours before. Aside from feeling used, I was so bitterly angry with him.
 

I did what every woman would have done in my situation. I waited for Elle and Ry to go to sleep and dialed Jammer's number.
Instead of hanging up when I got his voicemail, I hung on and left a message.
 

“Hi, it's me, Charlie. Listen, I know you don't want to talk to me, but I just can't go another day not knowing what the hell happened. Did you just use me? Was this all some ploy to save up enough money to skip town? Did you even give a damn about me when you were telling me that you loved me? Do you have any idea how bad you hurt me. I fucking loved you.  I let myself feel things that I never felt before and all along you were lying to me. I forgave you when I found out about who you really were. Why did you let me forgive you? I don't understand any of this. Then, today I met your father. He told me you chose money over being with me. I'm glad I know where your heart is. Maybe you were more like that asshole I met today then you lead on. Only a total bastard could use someone like me and throw her away like she is garbage. I hate myself for loving you. If I never saw you again it would be too soon. Have a nice life, asshole!”
 

When I hung up the phone my heart was beating out of my chest. I said things that were harsh, but my feelings were chewed up and spit out by him. He needed to know how much I hated him for hurting me; for hurting Ryan. Neither of us deserved that kind of treatment from someone we trusted. I thought I meant something to him. I thought I was always his Lena. It pissed me off more knowing I had been played a fool.
 

Wherever Jammer was, I hoped he was getting herpes.
 

That is what he deserved.
 

Chapter 34
 

Jammer
 

For three weeks, three terrible weeks, I had been without Charlie. After taking my mother away from my father, we spent the first day driving.
 

Since I knew that I was going to be playing in the U.S. Open Nine Ball Championship, it was necessary for me to practice my ass off. I hadn’t been playing as much and my game was off even more considering that I had to buy a new stick and get used to the way it played. Most people think the stick doesn’t make a bit of difference, but that is one way you can tell a real billiards shooter from an amateur.
 

My mother and I found a motel that rented by the week. It was a shitty little place that was run down, but with her one credit card being our only source of money, it was important to save as much as we could.
 

I know she was hurting after leaving the comforts of her home. I had nothing to offer her except my companionship. The good thing was that it gave us time to reconnect. I think I hadn’t let
myself miss her the way I should have. We had little, but she took care of me. It showed me that all of those Sugars that I had bedded and got a hot meal from were taking the place of the mother that I had abandoned.
 

Maybe I was just feeling sorry for myself after losing Charlie. This whole idea was becoming an impossible dream. I couldn’t believe that I was considering playing the best pool players in the world for a chance at winning fifty grand. Still, my mother remained supportive and pushed me to keep at it.
 

I think I was completely in the right mindset until I woke up to my phone ringing one day. I saw the number on the screen and wanted to answer, but knew it would open up a can of worms that would be impossible to get out of.
 

When the phone beeped that I had a message I was shocked. I mean, she never left messages. I paced around the room a few times wondering if I should just ignore it or delete it before even listening. The last thing I wanted was to hear that she wanted me to come home. I guess somewhere in my head, I was hoping that is how she felt. When I got the nerve to listen, I think my world was shattered.
 

I listened to it several times, hearing every awful thing she thought about me. Sure, she was wrong about the part with my father, but it was still a kick in the nuts. Charlie wanted nothing to do with me. I had hurt her so terribly that there was no way she would ever forgive me again. Our relationship was over.
 

Knowing that made me reconsider even playing in the damn tournament. My mind was all fucked up and I knew I wouldn’t be able to focus on a game with that much money at stake.
 

One thing that I found out when going to register was that I was supposed to have done it months ago. Luckily, this pretty little thing who was working the event had someone cancel. She put me on the top of the waiting list and by the time I walked out of there, I was registered to play. Sure, I had to take her out to dinner for her helping me, but I was willing to do anything for the chance to play. I was so angry at myself for walking away from what I wanted. It was almost like I wanted to play just so I could fail and finally admit that I was nothing but a loser.
 

I’d lost Charlie, so I had nothing else that I wanted to live for. I would be a hustler for the rest of my life.
 

My heart ached for her, but I buried it behind liquor and pool. Some people would think playing so much before the event would have burned me out. On the contrary, it made my game better. I was struggling with my emotions and took it out on the table. There had been several nights where I played all night long and came into the motel when the sun was coming up.
 

I don’t know how much my mother approved of my lifestyle, but I think she was more concerned with me failing. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that I wasn’t ever going to be with Charlie again. I’d fucked that all up and now it was time to worry about my mother and myself.  I couldn’t go back even if I wanted to.
 

As the event got closer, more big time players were arriving in town. It was easy to scope out which bars they would be hanging at. I think I shocked myself when I came home one early morning with two grand in my pocket. Maybe at first she thought I had robbed someone, but when I brought her along the next night she was more than excited. We stayed up until the wee hours of the morning talking about how she used to go and watch
Joe/Joker play in events. She said I reminded her of him, but it was because he taught me everything he knew.
 

It was cool having a common interest with my mother. As much as I thought she was sad about leaving her life, she smiled every single day and seemed to genuinely enjoy being with me. I have to say that if I couldn’t ever be with Charlie, being with my mother and getting close to her again meant the world to me.
 

She supported me and rooted me on like I always had wanted her to. Maybe the time we’d spent apart had given us the time to accept the things we couldn’t change about each other. I was learning fast that my mother was a whole different person when she wasn’t being held back by my overbearing father.
 

Since I was no longer playing to get my father away from Charlie, I was looking at the prize money as a way for my mother and I to go somewhere and start over. That credit card was only going to last for so long. My mother was a pretty lady and she knew how to talk to people. Finding a job wouldn’t be a problem for her, but for me, well it could be a problem. I had tattoos all over me and aside from being a bartender, I didn’t have any experience. All I was ever good at was playing pool and drinking.