Obsession Starts with a V

Chapter 31

It was dark out when Veronica finally convinced her mom to take her over to Sam's house to hang out. Her mom did not want to agree, but somehow ended up in the car driving her over.

"You're not going to spend the night, are you?" She inquired of her daughter.

"No, I just want to ask David something. I already called and Sam said that the Boys were over."

"All of them?"

"No Mom, Marko's not there. So there is no need for you to go in with me."

"Why sure there is! Maybe I want to talk to Lucy or Max." She said with a smile and pulled into the driveway. Her smile turned into a frown as she watched Max pushing a lawnmower.

"What is he doing?" She whispered to Veronica.

Veronica looked at her mom with annoyance. "He's obviously mowing the grass."

"At night?"

"Why not?" Veronica smiled and bounced out of the car. Luckily, her mom did not follow her inside after all. She had told her mom a small lie about Marko not being there and was relieved to not have to deal with that awkward situation.

"Hey Little V! How's it going?" Marko asked as he patted her on the head. He did not wait for her answer and headed out the front door.

"Um, good I guess." She answered to no one. The living room was empty and she found Sam, Dwayne, and Michael playing poker at the kitchen table. Something felt off, but she could not figure out what it was.

"Hello Miss V." Michael said, not taking his eyes off his cards. Dwayne quickly peered at her and nodded, but immediately returned to the intense game. Veronica noticed the stack of cash sitting in the middle of the table and realized they were playing for real. And it appeared to be at least a few hundred up for grabs. Sam continued to ignore her and chewed on his lips as he analyzed his cards.

"Sam?" She eventually asked when she grew bored of staring at the boy, waiting for him to acknowledge her presence.

"Huh?"

"Hi."

"Hi." Sam responded, but did not add anything else to the conversation. Veronica stood there for a little longer before letting out an exasperated sigh.

"Sam?" She whined.

"Yeah?"

"Where's David?"

Sam shrugged and Dwayne answered for him. "He's out in the garage. His bike broke down on the way here."

She smiled at the long haired boy and returned her death stare to Sam. "Thanks Dwayne. Hey Sam?"

"Still here." He retorted.

"Take me to the garage, please."

Sam finally looked up from his cards and scowled at her. "You know where it is."

"Sam!"

"You used to live here!"

"Fine, be an asshole." She stomped off to the garage, leaving Michael and Dwayne speechless at their little tiff.

Once she was out of earshot, Sam punched his brother in the shoulder. "Idiot! You said she would want me more if I ignored her! You didn't tell me she would get angry!"

"How was I supposed to know she was going to get mad? Miss V never gets mad."

"You suck!" He threw his cards at Michael, not caring about losing out on the cash. "Dwayne, we need to talk."