I pulled a face at him. What do you mean by this?
They couldn’t fit their faces inside very well, anyway. “What do you
want?” I repeated as I put the juice into the cup. Out of spite, I deliberately gave him. “Mum wanted me to make sure you hadn’t died.” Lucky picked dirt out from under his fingernail. “She’s got this complex that you’re going to pass away one day.“It’s none of your business when I die or how much I’m consumed,” I said. “Please kindly ask her to keep her nose in her own business.” iness.”
“You’re cranky today.” I slammed the juice carton onto the bench. “I wasn’t until you showed up. I know why she sent you. She wants you to act like her spy so that she can gloat about how her own family is so much better than mine. If she really cared, she’d come herself.”
Lucky was close to my mom. They had the same sarcasm level, and I hated her of this. He was like my brother.
“Ouch.” His lip curled. “You really are mad. For what it’s worth, Mum
does actually care about you. Not that it matters”—he returned to picking at his fingernail—“but I think she doesn’t visit because she feels guilty.” Wanting the conversation to end, I focussed on making Lucky’s Juice. “Oh, and she wants me to bring back some of your brownies. The ones with crack cocaine in them.”
“I don’t put drugs in my cooking,” I grumbled.
“But then why do they taste so good?” I snorted. I couldn’t stay mad at him, no matter how hard I tried. Lucky gave me a grin, a proper one—big, wolfish, and too wide for his face. I pushed his mug across the bench to him. “All right, flatterer, you’ll get your brownies. But you’ll have to pay me in gossip. What news of the outside world?”
“Millie’s netball team won the season. Her coach says she has a good chance of being scouted next year. But personally, I suspect he’s just saying that to keep us paying for his lessons.” I hadn’t seen Millie, Lucky’s younger sister, in years. The last time I’d
been in my aunt’s house, Millie had been eight and obsessed with horses. “She must be excited. ” “She is. She thinks she’s going to play in the Olympics.” He took a sip of his juice. “Hm. Harsh and bitter. Just like me.” With a snicker, I began lining brownie ingredients up on the bench. “What’s up with your life? How’s that new partnership thing working out? You were really excited about it last time you visited.”
He grimaced. “Ah, yes, the flaming Titanic of deals. So much promise. So much suffering. I keep forgetting you haven’t heard yet.”
My heart sank. Lucky was an amateur film director. He was actually
good, and it wasn’t just family loyalty making me say that; two of his films had been well-received at Sundance, and he’d recently become a partner at a small but promising film company. “Oh boy. What happened?” “You remember me telling you about Joel, my new business partner? I remember raving about how talented he was and how he had all of these amazing connections.” Lucky rubbed a hand over his face. “Damn, I was an idiot. Well, that very same Joel stole our start-up money and fled overseas.”
“What?” I dropped a cupful of flour into the bowl. “He can’t do that.”
Lucky pursed his lips and spread his hands. “You’d think that. But
apparently, stealing from your partners is a well-respected tradition in the business industry. ” “No, but I mean, you had a contract, right? I know you would. You’re too cynical about everyone and everything to do business without one.” “Yeah, we had a great contract. Watertight. I ran it past a lawyer and everything.” Lucky folded his hands on the bench and flopped forward to rest his head on them. His voice was muffled, but I could still hear him.
“That contract would do amazing things if there was any way to get him to court. He pulled our money out of our account one Friday night, hopped on a jet, and, as far as I can tell, is residing somewhere in India. It would be a nightmare to extradite him… and even that would only be possible if we
could actually find him.” “Oh. Lucky. I’m sorry.” I felt ghastly. He’d put all of his savings— including the awards he’d won for his films and the money he’d earned from selling DVDs privately—into the business. That deal was meant to be his big break.