SIX YEARS AGO
Selena strolled into Johnny G's for sixth night. She'd been working there to help her family out since they'd just moved to Detroit. It was about 6:00 and the bar was packed. It was a Friday night, Johnny warned her about Friday's. Men like to stay late and feel up on women when they're drunk. Selena was only sixteen, but Johnny knew she desperately needed the job so he gave it to her.
Hours flew by and she served table's like it was nothing. Once it got around nine, it was harder than any other night, just like Johnny told her.
She was still holding herself together, but then four men walked into the bar, almost like they owned it. The Mercers. She didn't know them personally, but she heard enough from others to know what they're about.
Selena could tell they were regulars, they came once or twice since the days she worked there. Johnny knew them pretty well though, so she guessed they probably got cheap drinks.
Johnny was standing behind the bar, pouring drinks, when he ordered Selena to go serve the table with four men sitting around it.
She scoffed and rolled her eyes once Johnny looked away. Slowly dragging her feet to their table, she forced a smile at them.
"Hi, I'm Selena. I'll be your waitress tonight. What can I get you boys?"
She pressed her tongue against the side of her mouth.
The one with the slicked back, brown hair blanky stared at her for a second then grinned. "We'll just have four beers for me and my little sisters."
They all sneered as Selena nodded.
"So that'll be three beers and an apple juice. Got it."
As she began walking away, she heard snickering and laughter coming from behind her. They called her back to their table.
"Yes?"
The man with the mud on his head spoke again. "Jackie here is 21." He pointed at the sandy blonde hair dressed in a leather jacket, sitting across from him. "He can drink babydoll."
Selena observed the blue eyed guy who was leaning back in his seat, examining every inch of her body from head to toe. She realized where she knew him from. School.
She placed her hands on her hips and furrowed her eyebrows. " Nuh uh."
"Hey Lena!" Johnny yelled from behind the bar. "It's cool. He drinks all the time." He winked at her then went back to serving.
Selena shook her head at the nonsense. She knew he wasn't 21. He was the same age as her, but Johnny never seen it as a problem.
"Alrighty then." Jack watched her as she walked away, then when she came back with their beers, his eyes shot right back to her.
She sat the bottles down in front of them without saying a word, but before she could leave, the dark skin with a charming smile, gazed at her and spoke. "So Lena. I never seen you before. Wassup witchu girl?"
Selena glared at him. "Wassup witchu girl? I'm not your friend. I'm your waitress, so please don't acknowledge me like that or try to get to know me on a personal level. Cause I don't care who you are or where you're from."
They all laughed at her attitude, except for Jack, who was still studying her.
"Damn. Girl you mean and feisty."
"My name is Selena. Not Lena. At least not to y'all." She hissed
"Shit Angel." The one with big teeth laughed along with the other brother.
"Shut up Jerry." Angel shoved his brother as he took a sip of his beer.
"Bobby was the one who started all this shit." Jerry continued to laugh.
"Do you have any idea who we are babydoll?" Bobby asked, exchanging looks with his brothers.
Selena nodded and then laughed out a small laugh. "Of course. I've heard about y'all nonstop since I got here. You guys are the Mercers. You'd have to be at the bottom of the ocean to not hear about y'all."
They all shared a laugh for a moment. They knew the reputation they had, and they were fine with it. They enjoyed it actually, they weren't exactly feared for the most part, but more respected.
"So where are you from? New York?" Jerry asked.
"No Jerry you dumbass. Look at her skin tone, she's got a little tan shit going on, probably California."
Angel sucked his teeth. "She's from Jersey."
They began arguing across the table and throwing names at each other. Then Jack spoke up. He was still staring at her hard. "Texas."
"No Jack. She ain't from no Texas idiot."
Selena scowled at him then folded her arms. "And it took you a five minute stare to figure that out?"
Jack chuckled and sat up. "No. You're just nice to look at. I knew you were a Texas girl when I first saw you. I know what they look like when I see them. I banged plenty of y'all."
Angel and Jerry snorted in laughter as Bobby patted him on the back. Jack started to ask for her number, but she cut him off.
"Look, I'm not one of them girls who you decide to fuck one night then don't call the next day. Okay? I don't have time to play with a little Mercer boy, this is my first and last time telling you. What's underneath my clothes is up to your imagination. So have fun with your hand tonight."
Jack started smiling even harder then before as he chuckled. He was somehow amused by her attitude and curious about the rest of her character.
She walked off as the boys continued to laugh and joke.
The Mercers were the last ones to leave the bar, it was closing time. 12:00. This was the latest they closed on Friday's and Saturday's.
Selena was wiping down a table when Jack strolled up to her. He was ruffling his already messy hair and smirking at her.
She glanced up from the table to look at him for a second then continued to clean it, chuckling and shaking her head.
"I'm gonna make you my girl." Jack said in a husky voice.
"Really? What makes you think that?"
He chuckled then placed a cigarette in between his lips. "Well we go to the same school. You work here too, so I'm gonna see you a lot. And you look like you need some Mercer dick in your life."
Selena's jaw dropped and her eyebrows furrowed. She was in no hesitation to bring her hand to his cheek, causing the cigarette to fall out of his mouth.
Jack let out a bitter laugh as he caressed his cheek. He picked up his cigarette and headed over to his brothers, who were laughing by the main door, without saying a word to her.
She looked at them in disgust as they waved and went out the door. Selena didn't mean to slap him, but it was almost like a reflex for her. She never liked being disrespected, just like any other person, she was always the quickest to act on it.
Two days later, Selena was in the mall, searching for new clothes to wear. She searched the racks for a bikini to wear. They were going back to Texas for a few days to visit family and she was hoping they'd go to her favorite water park. Schlitterbahn.
She came across a black and gold , high waist halter bikini that would fit her body just right. Her fingers roamed around the soft silk fabric.
"Now you would look fucking stunning in that."
Selena rolled her eyes at the familiar voice. "Goodbye Jack."
Jack grasped her arm before she could walk away. "Wait Sel. I'm sorry for the other night. I'm not even really like that. I just had a few beers and went after what I wanted."
"You want me and every other girl in Detroit. You probably fucked half of the girls at our school." She laughed. "And I actually heard that you fucked Ms. Hollands after school in her classroom. You have plenty of girls Jack."
Jack raised his eyebrows and clenched his jaw. "Don't act like you know me Selena. I might have slept with a few girls and maybe even a teacher, but what the fuck does that have to do with you?"
Selena shook her head and released herself from his grasp, then began to walk away again, but Jack followed in her tracks.
"I actually like you. I've been thinking about you for the last two days. I think you're very enthralling."
Selena turned to face him and seen him grinning like a child. "Can you spell that Mercer boy?"
Throwing his head back, he laughed. "Probably not, but you could teach me." His finger traced down her arm as he bit his lip, gazing into her eyes.
"Jack what is it that you want?"
He began to hook his finger in her belt loop. "To get more than a C average, but the way those girls are lookin in math class, I don't think that'll happen." He furrowed his eyebrows as if he was thinking hard about that C average.
A small laugh slipped out of her gut, causing a huge grin to spread across his face. "Wow! It's a miracle! She actually smiles. I have to say, I'm amazed."
"Oh shut up." She giggled as she pushed him playfully.
Jack hung onto her belt loop, pulling her close to him. He stared down at her and searched her eyes.
Fuck butterflies. She felt a whole zoo erupt in her stomach. Jack made her nervous as hell, she never really been intimate with a guy before. Maybe a few short romances in Texas, but not anything serious.
"But honestly, you've been the only girl on my mind lately and I mean that. I wanna see where we can take this. What if I'm the one for you and you're the one for me?"
"What if?"
"Exactly. You never know right? So let's try this out."
Selena nodded. "I'll think about it."
Jack convinced her into giving him, her number, and buying the bikini. He walked around the mall with her as she continued shopping.
"So is your name like Jackson or something?"
He shook his head and laughed. "Nah. It's just Jack."
