The Usual Pickup
Category: Uncategorized

Camellia closed her fathers door with a huff, puling her coat tighter around her frame as she stepped out into the dark night. It was pushing in on 1am, and she was about to climb into her estranged husbands truck to drive across the city and find her sister. It wasnt new for Camellia to have to hunt up Luciana, she had been acting out since she was in high school and their mother had passed. But with nobody stopping her it had only gotten worse before their father had been released from prison. Now this was fairly normal. One night every few weeks a family member would get a call or a text from someone the family knew and it would be news on Luciana or Marco, and someone would have to go get them. Last time Max had gone with Camellia to get her sister but now she was alone not wanting to ruin anyone elses night.

She held her hands to the heater vents for a moment before she shifted gears and pulled out. New York was called the city that never slept for a reason. And when she got closer to the club traffic and noise would be at a massive high. But just now she was gliding through upper middle glass neighborhoods and all was quiet. Dropping her daughter off to spend the night with her younger sister Gemma had been the easy part, but she dreaded having to get her rowdy middle sister out of whatever situation she was in. Tonight the text had been from a waitress who went to school with Gemma. She sent a picture that showed clearly up her sisters skirt and proved it was well past time for someone to bring Lucy home.

She cut through lanes, hating being behind the wheel but she couldnt stumble Luciana home through the subway so she had to drive which didnt help improve her mood one bit. The flipflop weather in the city had meant over Christmas it had been in the 70's and now that spring was on them it was dropping out below freezing. It only worked to aggravate her more which wasnt entirely her sisters fault but she would feel the brunt of that frustration tonight. She checked the forwarded texts she had naming which club her sister was stumbling through tonight and was glad it was one her family had a god relationship with. Marco had once wrecked the place but Sal had paid well for the damages and they held no ill will so the bouncers would know her well enough to help her without any extra pressure.

Cutting across the fire lane she pulled into what looked like an old loading dock, cutting the engine and sliding out of the car locking the doors with the button on her key ring. Hands shoved into her pockets wind sent her hair twirling around her face as she walked around to the side of the building where velvet ropes marked the entrance. She went around the line which surprised her in still being there since most of these places started closing up at 2. The bouncer was head and shoulders taller then her and she motioned him down to her level so that she could explain the situation. It didnt take much more besides giving Lucianas name and asking for the help so she didnt have to call Sal Mancini to help her get her sister home. He unclasped a radio from his belt calling someone who pushed open the thick squeaky metal door. This was her helper and motioned her to follow him.

Once inside she thought she would have an issue spotting her sister but Luciana was in a royal blue dress that barely covered her ass, dancing on a tabletop. She gave one look to the bouncer before she walked over. Already she had told him if her sister didnt come with them willingly to toss her ass over his shoulder and haul her out. Lucy had two moods and Camellia didnt have the time to work through her fun to her anger before they got to compliance. “Luce, come on, lets go, we need to go home,” she called over the music seeing in moments it would be a fight to get her out. So she tagged the bouncer in and he asked her to step down once before smoothly tossing her onto his shoulder, being gentleman enough to cover her backside as she kicked at him. It looked like little effort for him to haul her out and Camellia walked forward, unlocking the truck door so he could toss her in. Before he could shut the door on her though Lucy leaned out throwing up on the pavement and his shoes. She laid back then, groaning and closing her eyes.

“Im really sorry about this,” Camellia told them man pulling a couple of folded bill out of her back pocket and sliding them in his hand. “I really appreciate the help,” she told him, seeing he was annoyed at the puke on his shoes but not so put out with the five folded hundreds he had slipped into his pocket. As she climbed into the truck she looked back at her sister before turning the car on to warm up again, “Do not throw up in here Luce, we will be back at my place in 15, then you can puke as much as you want.”

Traffic started to thin out as they left the thick of the sleepless city and headed to where they houses were more spaced out. She was tired as she pulled into her driveway, knowing now she had to get her sister inside and up into bed. Of course Lucy had other plans. Hauling her out of the car was easy, to easy and standing on her top step trying to get in the front door Lucy was sick a second time, this one spraying the both of them. Grunting in frustration she got her inside the house and up to her bathroom. She turned the shower on dumping her sister onto the floor before she pulled off her own shirt. “Arms up,” she said to Luciana, who complied. She stood shirtless, hunched over in the shower as she washed sick from the thick curls her sister sported.

Getting Lucy into bed was hard, clean and dried off she didnt want to move and Camellia felt a small pop in her back as she hauled her up, knowing she would be in pain come morning. She tucked her sister in with a glass of water on the bedside table, the room dark and curtains closed because come morning her head would be killing her. Still not used to this new house Camellia managed to hit every step that creaked on her way down but she didnt manage to wake binge drinking beauty on the floor above her. Pulling on a hoodie over her damp bra she went to rinse her front stairs, texting Gemma that retrieval had been a win and what time she would be by to pick up her daughter come morning. Avoiding her own bed as she managed most nights since moving into the oversized house she went back to where her sister slept after locking up. Tapping on the screen of her phone she set an alarm and plopped down on the other side of the guest bed. She stayed on the top of the thick quilt, curled onto her side after toeing off her shoes. Mothering her sisters had come naturally after their own had passed and she drifted off to rejoin the sleep she had been woken from earlier in the evening thinking how she wished something could get through to Lucy so they didnt continue having nights like these.  

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