Oh crap. He was there? Now? Probably, I should have asked about that in the first place. This definitely wasn't a conversation I wantedhimto be part of.
A second later, I heard Selena call out, "Hey, why didn't you mention your little trip this morning?"
I heard Bishop's voice call back, "I was just about to."
Selena groaned. "Oh cripes, not this again."
Soon, I heard Bishop's voice a second time, closer now. It was low, flirtatious even. "Hey, you were the one distracting me. Remember?"
Oh God. This was the last thing I wanted to hear right now, not with everything else going on. "Hey," I said, "I've gotta go. I'll talk to you later, okay?"
"No. Wait," she said. "Why don't you come for a visit?"
"Because I don't have a car anymore."
"You don't?" she said. "What happened to it?"
"It's a long story," I said. "I'll tell you later."
"Then let me come get you," she said. "If you want, I'll leave right now."
I heard Bishop's voice in the background. "You meanwe'llcome and get her."
"Oh stop butting in," she told him in a hushed tone. "Letmetalk to her, alright?"
"It'smybrother," he said.
"Yeah," she told him. "And it'smysister." I heard fumbling again, and a noise that sounded a lot like a door thudding shut. "Sorry about that," she said. "So, can I come and get you?"
"Well, the thing is," I said, "I don't really have a place to stay."
"Oh stop it," she said. "Yes you do. With me." Her voice grew coaxing. "Come on. It'll be fun. I haven't seen you in forever."
I bit my lip. "I dunno. Maybe in a few days, alright?"
Outside the guest room, Bianca was practically screaming now. In a way, she sounded almost exactly like Maddie, except Bianca's words were a whole lot bigger and only slightly less profane. And, she wasn't naked.
At least as far as I knew.
"That girl yelling in the background," Selena said. "Whoisthat?"
"It's someone Jake does business with," I said. "That's another long story."
Too bad I didn't even know the story, not all of it anyway. But that did remind me of something. "Hey," I said, "A question. By any chance, do you know someone named Debbie?"
"No," she said. "Do you?"
How to put this? I tried to remember what Bishop had said – something about Debbie turning up naked in Jake's bed? Had Jake stolen one of Bishop's girlfriends? Wasthatthe reason they didn't get along?
I was dying for more details, but I didn't want to upset my sister, so I tried to be vague. "I think she might've dated Jake. Or Bishop." I paused. "Or both. It sounds like she might've hung around their house or something?"
"Oh.Her?" Selena said. "No. If it's the person I'm thinking of, she didn't date either one of them."
Well, not as far as Selena knew, anyway.
"So who was she?" I asked. "Did you ever meet her?"
"Not really," Selena said. "She only lasted a few months. She was pretty rough, and a lot older than I was. But I guess that's to be expected, huh?"
"Why's that?" I asked.
"Because," Selena said, "that was theirdad'sgirlfriend."
