Page 25

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

S aint…

The pounding on my front door was insistent, and the way it went on said that it was likely the fucking cops. Wouldn’t have been the first time.

“Alright, alright, alright!” I barked, my head throbbing in time with each whump against the wood. It wasn’t until I was throwing back the locks that I heard the weeping.

I ripped open the door, and Velina threw herself into my arms.

I didn’t hesitate. I swept her into the foyer and looked outside to make sure nothing was trying to come up on her heels. There was nothing and no one out on the darkened street.

“Baby, what’s wrong? What’s happened?” I demanded.

“I’m gonna be sick!” she cried, and I thrust her into the half bath off the front hallway, where she went to her knees in front of the toilet and let loose.

I kneeled beside her, my knees crackling with my damnably getting older and rough treatment of my body, as I smoothed back her hair and let her hurl.

“What’s up, baby girl?” I asked soothingly, smoothing a hand over and over her hair.

“I came as soon as I could,” she said between dry heaves, and I continued to sooth her.

“Shhh, shhh, easy now, just breathe. Go on now, deep breaths, baby.” I flipped on the cold water and pulled the hand towel out of the ring into the sink's bowl to wet it.

She reached out, still retching, but nothing coming up, she depressed the lever on the toilet. The thing flushed, the water swirled, dragging down her sick with it into the rest of the sewage and muck unseen.

“Slow down, take it easy,” I said, pushing to my feet to ring out the towel. I got back down on my knees for her and pressed the cold cloth to the back of her neck, blotting the sides of her face, her mouth – I somehow didn’t think this was food poisoning or even some kind of a stomach bug.

If I had to guess…

“I had to blow him. I’m so sorry,” she blurted, and looked like she was going to be sick again.

“Well, if this is how you react, I promise to never make you blow me,” I said.

“Fuck you,” she moaned into the toilet, spitting again, but she was wheezing out a laugh.

“Not why I’m here. Definitely why I’m sick,” she said.

“Fair,” I said. “Why are you here?” I asked. “They moving on us?”

“Yes – I mean, no – I mean, I don’t know what was discussed. I’m here because who .” She heaved again and wasn’t making much sense, but I waited her visceral reactions out.

She was one of those ones who once she started heaving, it was hard to make it stop.

I thought about that, and it put me on my ass a bit.

This woman cleaned up dead bodies and some of the foulest shit you’d ever fuckin’ heard of in your fuckin’ life and didn’t bat an eye. Yet one blowjob later, she was here heaving her fuckin’ guts out like it was the most disgusting thing she’d ever encountered in her life.

She was emotional. A total wreck… shit . She hadn’t even fuckin’ cried this hard or this much when she’d found out her brother was dead .

She was trying to get whatever it was out, but suddenly, it didn’t fuckin’ matter. None of it did. The only thing that mattered to me was that she wasn’t alright, and I would do anything, and I do mean anything, to calm her down and make whatever it was okay again for her.

I sat on the floor of the john, gathered her up into my lap, and held her tight while she tried to get herself together when she finally choked out her story. About the fuckstick she was with ignoring her boundaries and telling her she had a mouth, about the blowjob on the front porch, and finally, about Ruthless.

“You’re sure?” I asked.

“Absolutely,” she said. “His face is all fucked up on the one side with the bad eye. He has an eyepatch there now.

“Jesus Christ,” I muttered. Of course it would be fucked up. One of our bullets caught him in the fuckin’ face.

“You guys were right,” she said. “It’s personal. He’s coming for you. I don’t know what they have planned next, but they were in that house all fucking day.”

She shuddered in my grasp and clung to me. She had a right to be scared.

“I’ve gotta call LaCroix and Hex,” I told her.

“Do it,” she said. “I came as soon as I could, as soon as he dropped me off. I made sure he was gone, and I walked here. I don’t think I was followed, but you really never can tell. Y’all motherfuckers are slicker than owl shit,” she complained, and I barked a bitter laugh at that one.

“I’ve got to grab my phone,” I said, and she nodded and drew back from me. “You’re staying here tonight. Call in tomorrow. You’re sick.” I stared her down, and she nodded at that too. I’d half expected her to argue with me, but she didn’t.

I grabbed my phone and shot a text that I would call as soon as I got Velina into my shower. I went back to her, stuffing my phone into my back pocket, and reached a hand down, hoisting her up onto her feet.

“Come on.” I led her to the master bath off my bedroom and started the shower for her.

“Oh, my God, I love you,” she said weakly, and I smiled. I knew she probably didn’t mean it like that, but it was nice to hear anyway.

“C’mere, baby. I’ve got you,” I said, and I helped her out of her clothes a little at a time, going slow and making sure she was alright every step of the way.

Once she was safely ensconced within the glass shower doors and soaking under the hot water with every bit of soap and shampoo and whatever else she could get into at her fingertips, I told her I’d be right out in the bedroom and to take her time.

I slipped out and called Hex first because he was the brains of this outfit and would be the one to figure out or know what to do when it came down to the nitty-gritty.

“What the hell is going on, now?” he answered by way of greeting.

“Velina says she saw Ruthless,” I told him.

“How?” he demanded. “How can she be sure?”

“Let her go through some old photos of mine looking for her brother. She saw some of Ruth and had a whole damn chat about him.”

Silence on the other end of the line.

“Hex?”

“Bring her to the clubhouse,” he said finally judiciously.

“Nah,” I said. “You wanna do this, you an’ LaCroix come here. She took one for the team tonight in a big way. She’s not fit to head anywhere.”

“What do you mean, ‘took one for the team?’” Hex demanded.

I told him. He was silent for a short time and finally said, “LaCroix’s at Alina’s apartment. I’ll swing by and collect him, and we’ll be on our way.”

“Thanks, man. She should be out of the shower by the time you both get here.”

“Copy that. See you soon,” he said and ended the call.

I stood in my bedroom and sighed. I felt like shit. While I’d taken into consideration that she’d have to possibly blow or fuck one of those douchebags, I had deluded myself into thinking that she was made of fire and steel. But even steel forged in fire had to be tempered correctly. Otherwise, it could be fragile. I was afraid we’d overestimated her ability, and she had snapped.

I couldn’t even imagine what it would be like to be in her headspace right now. To give pleasure to a man who was complicit if he hadn’t outright pulled the trigger on my own flesh and blood?

“Velina,” I called, and she called back softly, “Yeah?”

“Can I come in?” I asked.

“Yeah, of course,” she said. “It’s your fucking house.”

I cracked up a bit and got my shit together before stepping back into the bathroom to check on her.

She was still stood up, which was good. Her forehead leaned against the cool tile as the water poured over her back and body, washing her sins down the drain. Except to my mind, she hadn’t committed any and let any motherfucker even try and judge her in my presence. I’d tear them a new asshole.

“Hex and LaCroix are on their way. They want to talk,” I said.

“Oh, goodie,” she muttered and tipped her head back to take the water full in the face. I turned to the sink and loaded my toothbrush with paste for her. She jumped when I popped the seal on the glass shower door, and it clacked. I handed her the toothbrush. She didn’t say a word, just stuck it in her mouth and started scrubbing with a muttered word that was probably something like “thanks.”

“Don’t mention it,” I said. “Go on and finish up, baby. I’m going to find you something to put on and lay it on the bed.

“K,” she said, and I went back out again, digging through one of my drawers for a clean tee.

I found one that was on the bigger side even for me and hoped it would cover her satisfactorily. Her boxes of shit were in my spare bedroom, and they included clothes and shit – but I didn’t know what was what or where anything was, so I didn’t bother to go digging. It wasn’t entirely important right now.

What was important was getting her tucked into my bed, cozy, and with something fortifying be it tea or a stiff drink, and making sure she was taken care of.

I didn’t doubt for a minute that she saw what she said she saw. I just wanted to fucking know how?

How had that slippery fuckin’ snake even begun to survive that?

I went back to the bathroom door just as she shut off the tap. “You want tea, coffee, something stronger?” I asked her.

“Tea would be good,” she said and looked surprised.

“Okay, shirts on the bed, tuck yourself in. I’m going to the kitchen, and to open up for the boys. Be back soon.”

“Okay,” she agreed and she looked unnerved somehow.

I asked her, “What is it?”

“I don’t think I’ve ever been taken care of like this in my life,” she said, and I leaned a shoulder against the bathroom doorway as she worked on drying off and wrapped the towel around her.

“Need another for your hair?” I asked, and she nodded.

“Behind you on the shelf.”

She took down another towel to wrap her hair in, and by the time she threw her head back and stood up from where she doubled over to wrap it, I was already striding for the kitchen.

Everyone deserved to be taken care of at some fuckin’ point in their life, but from the way she talked, being a middle child like she was and so independent… I had to imagine she’d been skipped quite a bit when it came to any sort of love and care going back as far as she could remember.

While it didn’t surprise me, it sort of hit differently. It was probably some of the reason she was so selfless. She knew a certain level of neglect and didn’t want anyone to feel that way from her.

I went into the kitchen and switched on the electric kettle to get some hot water going.

I went with an herbal tea, one that my mother swore by to settle the stomach.

The water was just coming to a boil when I heard the bikes outside. I went to the front door and opened up, letting Hex and LaCroix slide by me into the house.

“Tells me what you think of this woman that you’d insist on us coming here,” LaCroix said.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.

“You don’t let anyone around your place,” Hex said affably, and I frowned.

“You’re right on that,” I said. “Hope y’all have never taken offense, though.”

“Nah,” LaCroix said. “But the Bayou Baroness was right once again.”

“Maybe,” I said and left it at that. I wasn’t willing to concede anything where that woman was concerned. She just… she creeped me the hell out.

I crossed myself and went about fixing Velina’s tea. LaCroix and Hex exchanged a look and a pair of grins but didn’t say nothin’ about it.

“So, if it is ol’ Ruthless, how d’you reckon he survived that shit?” Hex asked, pulling himself up onto my kitchen’s island to sit.

“Your guess is as good as mine,” I said. “Get off my counter.” He grinned but slid his ass off my kitchen counter and planted his booted feet for the drop.

“Where is she?” LaCroix asked.

“My room. Gimme a sec to fix this an’ I’ll take you back.”

“She real upset?” LaCroix asked.

“She’ll be fine,” I answered without answering. “She’s strong.”

The boys followed me back and we found Velina tucked into my bed, the television on, and her vacantly staring as she flipped through a streaming service looking for something to watch.

“Hey.” I handed her the mug of tea, and she took it, wrapping her hands around it and breathing in the steam, the muscles in her face relaxing some as it touched her skin.

I sat down on the edge of the bed and put my hand on her upraised knee, giving it a squeeze over the blankets that she was tucked up under.

“Hey,” she said somberly, looking up at LaCroix and Hex.

“You sure it was him?” LaCroix asked, cutting right to the chase like LaCroix was want to do.

“I’m sure,” she said. “You got my phone?” She looked up at me.

“Yeah, I think you left it on the bathroom counter. Just a sec.” I went and got it for her.

“I didn’t think y’all would believe me, so I did my best. I’m not sure if I got him on camera, though.”

She pulled up her gallery, and a five-minute or so video of her and some Bayou Bitch threading their way across a lawn to a row of bikes played. There was a bonfire and lights strung over yonder but not a whole lot of light to speak of for the camera to work with.

The footage was almost dizzying in a covertly taken, found-footage movie kind of a way. Couldn’t say much for the camera work, but she’d taken a huge fuckin’ risk to get it.

The chatter was overlapping, nothing real discernible there, but then it happened – an outburst of laughter and it was a familiar laugh.

Hex, LaCroix, and I all looked at each other at that sound.

“What?” she asked.

“That’s Ruthless, alright,” Hex said grimly.

“Know that laugh anywhere,” I said.

“There!” She paused the screen and flashed it in our direction. On it – at a crazy angle or so – was Ruthless, an eyepatch over his eye, face lit by his lighter as he sucked on one of his customary cigars to get it re-lit.

“I’ll be a son of a bitch,” Hex declared.

“You send that to Saint for me, would you, sweetheart?”

“Yeah,” she said and set to work clipping it down to get it through to me in a text.

“I’m callin’ all the boys to the yard,” LaCroix told me. “Best you get ready to head into church.”

“I’d expect nothing less at this revelation,” I said as the text came through from Velina.

“What about me?” Velina asked.

“Rest,” I ordered. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

She nodded but looked troubled.

“See you out front,” Hex declared, and he and LaCroix filed out of my bedroom.

“Be right there,” I told their retreating backs, and I dropped onto the edge of the bed to pull my boots on.

“Are you sure about me staying here without you?” Velina asked softly.

“I’m sure. I’d rather you here than at the roach motel,” I said. “Just in case dipshit comes back around.”

“He won’t,” she said with a sigh.

“Never know,” I said.

“You worried?” She was trying to make a self-deprecating joke, but I wouldn’t let her get away with it. I stared her down. She lost the smirk, her face going lax and then solemn.

“Yes,” I said, no joke or humor in my tone. “Against all odds, I actually like you – like really like you. I think I’d lose my shit if anything worse happened to you.”

She swallowed hard, her eyes growing misty with unshed tears.

She didn’t speak, and that was a first. I didn’t think it was possible to render Velina Young speechless. It certainly wasn’t easy. She was just like her brother in that regard.

I leaned in and captured her mouth with mine. Her hand went to the side of my face, her fingers tangling in my hair, her thumb stroking over my beard, and in that moment, I ached something fierce to just stay … but duty called.

I pulled back and told her, “Rest. Get some sleep. I’ll be back to you just as soon as I can.”

She nodded carefully and let me go. I could tell she was still emotional, the emotions she typically hid from the surface of her thoughts and expressions so carefully, sliding behind her eyes like a reader board in the middle of Times Square, telegraphing just about every feeling loud and clear.

She didn’t want me to go, and I got that. It made it that much harder to do it.

“Ride careful,” she murmured as I stepped out of my bedroom door to head down the hallway.

“You know it,” I tossed back over my shoulder.

LaCroix and Hex both looked over from where they smoked at the end of my driveway when I came out the front door.

I hadn’t bothered to pull into the garage when I’d gotten home this time, so my bike was sitting out on the concrete slab of the driveway, theirs parked right behind it in a typical pyramid formation.

“She all good?” Hex asked, concerned.

“A little rattled,” I said. “But she’s strong. A little rest, and she’ll be her feisty self.”

“Good,” LaCroix said, flicking the butt of his black Djarum into the street. He didn’t smoke more than weed very often, and neither did Hex. So if the cigarettes or cigars, or hell, even cloves were out, it meant they were thinking and thinking hard on things.

We rode on over to the club, most of the boys already there.

“On a scale of one to fucked, how fucked are we?” Chainsaw demanded as we walked in the door.

“I wouldn’t say ‘fucked’ but tonight’s been a revelation,” LaCroix said.

“We ain’t fucked, but we’re definitely in a game of chess, and the pieces been moving across the board without us,” Hex declared.

“Collier and Cypress better hurry the fuck up,” Chainsaw grumbled.

“Axe’ll be here any second,” Bennie threw in.

“Ditch your phones, head into the chapel,” LaCroix ordered, and he didn’t have to tell us twice. We tossed our phones into the basket on the bar, and I went behind it to pour myself a shot of tequila.

“Go easy on the drinkin’ boys,” Hex cautioned.

“Just the one,” I assured him.

I poured a solid count into a glass, took it with me into the chapel, and took my place at the table. It was a fine quality sipping tequila, and I had no intention of doing anything other than savoring it. The occasion certainly called for a fuckin’ drink. I tell you what…

It didn’t take but twenty minutes or so for the rest of the boys to arrive and likewise post up in their positions around the table.

“Where’s the fire at?” Collier asked.

“Saint is gonna bring his phone in here, show y’all something. I don’t want a fuckin’ one of you to say a goddamned thing until all of you have seen it, and he gets it back outta here. Am I clear?”

“Crystal fuckin’ clear, but you wanna give us a heads-up on what’s on it? Because not gonna lie, you’re freakin’ me out – me , if you can believe it.” Axeman stared LaCroix down, his face stony.

“You’ll see soon enough,” LaCroix said, and he threw me a jut of his chin and a toss of his head to go do what needed doing.

I returned and played the clip from Velina to each of my brothers in turn.

“No fuckin’ way,” Bennie muttered, and LaCroix gave him a hard look.

Bennie handed the phone back to me and held up his hands in surrender. LaCroix still stared him down for a few more heartbeats before turning those creepy tattooed eyes of his, looking at each of the faces around the table in turn.

Chainsaw harrumphed and grunted, handing me back the phone. With a wave of his hand, LaCroix sent me back out to the bar with it. I dropped it in the basket and returned to the chapel to a stony silence. I shut the door behind me.

“How in the fuck did that slimy giant rat get outta the swamp after we filled his ass full of holes, I’ll never know. But there he is, plain as day, and a whole lot of shit is startin’ to make sense,” Hex said finally.

“What the fuck do we do now?” Cypress asked, then lit off in a string of Cajun-French that sounded a whole lot like he was cursing the situation up one side and down the other.

“Better settle in, boys,” LaCroix said grimly. “We ain’t leavin’ until we have some solutions lined up.”

I sighed. I knew he was right, but damn if I didn’t just want to go home to the woman in my bed and make sure she was alright.