“What do they call a guy with hair longer than his date’s?” the mouthy one asked his three other buddies at the bar. Then he answered his own question. “A girl, that’s what they call him!” And he and his buddies laughed.
“He is so ignorant,” Jennifer said to Oz.
Oz smiled. “We can always go to my place. I have a bar second to none.”
Jennifer smiled. “Oh, do you now?”
But Mouth intruded again. “What do you call a guy who lets other guys talk about him like a dog?”
His buddy answered that one. “A dog?” he asked.
“There ya’ go!” said Mouth, and he and his buddies laughed again.
“Hey Big Guy?” Mouth yelled to Oz. “Or Hair? Or whatever they call you! Hey, you!”
Oz finally looked at the jerk. When he spoke, his speech was very precise despite his Greek accent. “Are you speaking to me?”
“No, I’m talking to the bartender. What other fool around here has hair like that but you, idiot? What are you stupid too?” His friends snickered.
But Oz was unmoved. “How may I help you?”
“Pass the dame around. Either you pass her around, or we’ll get rid of you and take her ourselves.”
Oz stared at the guy. There was no way that pipsqueak was going to do anything to him but run into his fist. But he wouldn’t let up.
Oz decided to put a stop to it, figuring the guy to be all mouth anyway. “Then get rid of me,” he taunted.
The guy looked at Oz hard, as if he was sizing him up, too, and decided, with his pals, he could handle him.
He, at first, pretended to turn away from Oz, as if he was dismissing the challenge. But then he turned right back around with a wide swing, attempting to clock Oz right on his chin. But Oz caught Mouth’s fist with one of his big hands and clocked Mouth, instead, with his other big hand. Mouth’s body swayed from side to side and then dropped straight down. Mouth was out cold.
But that only angered his buddies.
And just like that, it became a free-for-all.
They rose to Mouth’s defense, taking all kinds of wild swings at Oz, too. Jennifer, who’d just met Oz, ran out of the way as Oz swung back on all three men. As other patrons in the bar gave them clearance, Oz threw one of Mouth’s men over a table, breaking that table. Then he went fist to fist with the second man, even as the third man went behind him and put him in a chokehold.
But Oz was not moved by the double-team. Because even as he kept fighting the second man, he garnered the strength to flip the third man over his shoulder and toss him onto the bar counter with such force that the man slid down the counter like a bowling ball, breaking glasses and knocking over drinks as he did.
That move freed up Oz to give his full, undivided attention to the second jerk, who happened to be the best fighter of the three men. But he was not in Oz’s league. Oz traded blows with the man for several seconds, until he was able to grab the man from behind and put him in his own version of a chokehold, his big arms holding the man so tight that the veins in Oz’s arms were popping.
But the man was strong, too, and he was able to flip Oz over his shoulder and toss him onto a table. The impact of the toss, and Oz’s big, muscular body, caused the table to break in two. And caused Oz to feel the full force of that toss in every inch of his back.
Now Oz was mad.
He got up and ran at that man as if he was a bull running at a matador. His head barreled into the man’s stomach, knocking the man off his feet and running him backwards, until he was able to body slam him to the floor. And Oz jumped on top of him and began beating him down. He beat him and beat him until the man was knocked out too.
And then Oz, satisfied that he took care of each and every one of those clowns, got up on his feet. He was exhausted, and his back was killing him, but at least he won the fight. There was no doubt about that. He was the victor. And some patrons in the bar agreed, as they clapped at his prowess.
But then he turned around with a ready smile for Jennifer. She was the one he wanted. He knew her fine ass would be more than happy to join him at his place after witnessing that kind of machismo. What woman wouldn’t?
But he didn’t see Jennifer at all. She had, apparently, fled from that bar as soon as the fight broke out. What he did see, however, was a baseball bat right in his face. A baseball bat with the angry owner of the establishment holding it, an owner who knew he was going to lose thousands that night because of Oz and his disruption. He knocked Oz across the head with such determination that Oz, who had been ready to celebrate his victory, and who was caught so off guard, whirled around in a daze, amazed by the turn of events, and then fell straight out, like a sack of flour. It was a fall so mighty and unnatural that the dust of the floor bounced up in a thick plume, as soon as Oz Drakos fell down.
CHAPTER SIX
The next morning a big, boxy-looking Infiniti SUV pulled up outside of the Apple Valley Police Station and the bodyguard jumped out of the front passenger seat and hurried to open the back-passenger door. Alex Drakos, one of the richest men in America, stepped out of the truck, buttoning his Armani suit coat, and made his way inside.
Oz was standing at the release desk, signing papers, when Alex walked in. Some of the workers in the station nudged each other when Alex walked in, mainly because they knew he owned The Drakos, just as they had nudged each other when Oz was arrested last night. But Alex ignored their nosiness and walked over to his younger brother.
“I was only gone two days,” Alex said, as if whenever he was out of town Oz always managed to get into trouble. Even if he was away just two days. Then he exhaled. “How do you feel?”
“Like I was hit by a tank,” Oz replied as he put on his shades to conceal his bloodshot eyes, and continued to sign paperwork. Then he looked at his big brother. “What are you doing here?”
“Kari told me what happened when she met my plane. She said you were still here, so I dropped her off and came over to see what was going on for myself. Have you had a hearing?”
“Hell no. It wasn’t my fault! Even the bartender spoke up on my behave. Those guys jumped me, and the owner clocked me with a baseball bat. But they arrested me, despite all of that. They processed me in, but they had to process me right back out. A process that takes far longer than I feel is decent, given that I’m an innocent man.”
“Innocent my ass,” Alex said and Oz laughed his loud, booming laugh. “You’ve never been innocent a day in your life. Besides, you needed to sleep it off.”
“Not in jail, I didn’t!”
“Well, you did. It’s over now.”
“I don’t get it. What am I to do when three men decide they want a piece of me? Give it to them?”
“Stop frequenting those seedy bars you like to frequent,” said Alex.
“But I’m telling you, brother, it wasn’t my fault.”
“It never is, Odysseus. It never is. Just bring your ass on.” Alex began heading out. Oz signed the last form, handed it to the desk sergeant, and then headed out too.
Once outside, Oz got into the back of the SUV, beside Alex, and the bodyguard closed the door.
As the bodyguard got onto the front passenger seat and motioned for the driver to take off, Oz looked at his brother. “You know what the chief asked me when they first arrested me?”
“No.” When Oz didn’t continue, Alex looked at him. “What?”
“He asked if my brother was going to bail me out.”
Alex smiled, and then laughed. “You’re as rich as I am!”
“But they don’t believe it.”
“That’s because you won’t make it clear,” said Alex. “You don’t mind if they think you’re mooching off of me.”
“I don’t mind one iota,” Oz said. “Let them think I’m my brother’s leech all they care to. That way, they won’t bother me with all kinds of get-rich-quick schemes and all of that help me with this, help me with that nonsense the way they bother you.”
Then Oz
realized they weren’t headed to The Drakos. “Where are we going? I thought we were going home.”
“We are,” said Alex. “But I need to swing by Kari’s old office and pick her up.”
“What’s she doing there?”
“She still owns the place,” said Alex. “She checks up on it every chance she gets. I dropped her off on my way coming to get you.”
“That makes no sense. She’s married to a billionaire, a billionaire, but she still feels a need to hold onto her little ma and pop shop just in case?”
“You’re a billionaire,” said Alex, “and you feel the need to live as though you’re some bar bum? Living in an apartment in my hotel when you can build your own hotel. That’s what makes no sense.”
“It makes perfect sense,” Oz corrected him. “Your riches can be traced to your business dealings here in the States. My riches, well, let’s just say my riches aren’t as easily traceable. I don’t want to get myself deported. Or worse.”
Alex looked at his brother. “You’re completely out of that shit, though, right Oz?”
“What shit?” Oz asked, although both brothers knew full well.
Oz looked straight ahead. And didn’t elaborate any further.
CHAPTER SEVEN
As Lucinda Mayes got out of the car parked in front of her diner, she pressed the button on her key fob and her trunk sprang open. She and Gloria Sinatra, who got out on the passenger side, made their way to the trunk where both women grabbed a box each of the three boxes inside the trunk. The overhead sign still read Lucinda’s Diner, but Gloria was certain to change it soon. Lucinda closed her trunk and the two ladies headed toward the entrance.
“I’m going to miss the old girl,” Lucinda said as she kept staring at her old diner.
“You know you can come and visit anytime you like,” Gloria said.
Lucinda smiled. “You’re so sweet. Thanks. But no thanks! I’m going to enjoy my retirement.”
“You’re too young to retire, Miss Lucinda,” Gloria said as Alex’s SUV drove up and parked in front of the storefront office next door. “What are you, twenty?”
Lucinda laughed. “Yeah I was twenty, alright,” she said, “twenty years ago.” Gloria laughed too.
As they were laughing, Alex’s bodyguard hurried out and opened the back-passenger side door. Oz, the first to get out, was always a striking figure wherever he went because of his height and muscular build and hair. And he immediately caught Gloria’s attention. She was shocked, because she remembered him instantly. Who could forget a man who looked like him? And she couldn’t help it. She gave him a curious look as she and Lucinda made their way up to the diner’s front door. He told her he was from Florida, but he never said he was from Apple Valley, Florida!
“But no, sweetie, you’re never too young to retire,” Lucinda was saying as Gloria was glancing at Oz. “Not ever, you hear me?”
Gloria smiled. “I hear you.”
Oz noticed Gloria, too, and gave her an undeniable assessing look himself. But he didn’t recognize her at first. Mainly because he was looking more at her body than at her face. But when he looked into her face, he was shocked, too. He stood erect.
“What the?” he inwardly asked himself. And when Alex got out of the SUV, he leaned toward him. “Who’s that?” he asked him.
Alex looked where Oz was looking. Gloria was, by now, unlocking the door of her newly purchased diner. “I have no idea. But I know Lou sold that diner. She might be the new owner.”
“You don’t say?” Oz leaned against the SUV, folded his arms, stretched out his legs and crossed them at the ankles. “She’s hot.” He didn’t mention that he’d already met her and that she rejected him already.
“She’s a kid, Oz, come on. Don’t put her through all of that.”
Oz frowned. “All of what?”
“All of your bullshit. That’s what,” Alex said firmly. “Leave the lady alone.”
But Oz continued to stare at Gloria, and Gloria glanced back at him, as she and Lucinda disappeared inside of the diner.
Alex, realizing he was getting nowhere with his kid brother, nodded his head. “Okay, don’t listen to me. You never do anyway. But one of these days, little brother, you’re going to hurt the wrong one. And she’ll hurt you back. Mark my words.”
Oz looked at his brother as if he was talking Mandarin. A woman hurt him? He’d have to love her for her to hurt him.
But Alex was concerned about his brother’s lifestyle. Oz was hopeless when it came to women, and Alex wasn’t wasting another ounce of his breath trying to point it out to him. Alex, instead, began heading toward the door to his wife’s old office.
But Oz was still a little taken aback by seeing her again. He couldn’t remember her name, or much else about her either. He was more likely to remember the women he slept with, not the ones he didn’t. But he remembered that sting he felt when she turned him down. He remembered the embarrassment he felt when she didn’t want him. He remembered how he never felt that way before.
And that alone woke him back up, and decided he’d forget about her arrogant ass, as he hurried behind Alex.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Gloria and Lucinda were at the counter inside the diner unloading their boxes. “Are you going to keep everything the same?” Lucinda asked Gloria.
“No ma’am,” Gloria said, looking around. “I have painters coming right away. And new furniture coming to brighten up the place. That’s why I’m going to keep it close for the remainder of the month.”
“That’s three weeks,” Lucinda said. “Are you sure you want to keep it closed that long?”
“I don’t have a choice. There’re some wiring issues that have to be handled, and the painting, and I need to expand the office space in the back. I’m happy if they can do it all in three weeks.”
Lucinda smiled. “I know it needs repairs. That’s why I sold it as is. I’ve had sells that fell through over and over and I had been neglecting the place, to tell you the truth. I’m glad you have a vision for it.”
“Oh, I do.”
“Just remember it’s still a successful diner around here, with a loyal clientele. In the meantime, and if I were you, I’d keep the same workers employed, because the customers love them.”
“In other words?” Gloria asked.
“Don’t fix what’s not broken if having a successful business is your goal.”
“Oh, don’t worry,” said Gloria cheerfully. “That’s why I settled on your diner, rather than the other business I was looking at in California. Your business was still turning a profit, which is what I’ll need. I’ll keep as much the same, including the name, for now. Once they get used to new ownership, I’ll change the name then.”
“Good for you!”
“But eventually I’ll decide what kind of business I want it to be, and make those more substantive changes then.” Then she looked at Lucinda. “But you’re sure you’re ready to part with such a successful baby?”
“I’ve been ready, to tell you the truth,” Lucinda said. “I am so looking forward to my retirement I don’t know how to act!”
Gloria laughed. “I’m happy for you.”
“Thank you. But yeah, girl,” she said as they continued to unload their boxes, “I plan to enjoy this Florida sun for a change. And all of these Florida men, too? Honeybun, honeybun! I plan to have myself some fun!”
They both laughed.
But then Gloria asked the question she’d been wanting to ask since she first laid eyes on Oz again. “Speaking of Florida men,” she said. “Who was that guy out there?”
Lucinda was confused. “What guy out where?”
“Out front. The one with the hair.”
Lucinda frowned. “The hair?”
“He drove up when we were coming in.”
“Describe him.”
That was easy, Gloria thought. “He’s tall, like six-three or six-four. He’s very attractive. And very muscular too.”
“The kind
of muscles that look like they could break a woman in two if she got underneath him?” Lucinda asked. “The kind of muscles that look like he would have the perfect equipment to take a woman to the moon and back again if she let him? Those kinds of muscles?”
It was an odd way to describe him, Gloria thought, but she smiled and nodded. “Yes, I think so.”
“And you said he has the hair thing going for him, too?”
“Yes, it’s rather long. Who is he?”
Lucinda smiled. “That can only be Odysseus. Odysseus Drakos.”
“Drakos? As in The Drakos hotel and casino in town?”
Lucinda nodded. “Yup. His brother is Alex Drakos, the billionaire. Alex is a friend of your cousin’s.”
“My cousin? You mean Uncle Reno?”
“I thought you were his cousin, not his niece.”
“Well. Let me explain,” said Gloria. “In our family, if you’re a little older and achieved a certain level of success, you become an uncle regardless of the actual title. He’s Uncle Reno to me.”
“I see,” said Lucinda. “But yes, Oz is a member of the famous Drakos family of Apple Valley, Florida. I think he owns a big chunk of that casino himself.”
“Oh, really?”
“Oh, yeah. He’s no slouch now. But he’s a heartbreaker. That’s the cautionary tale. Because when they say he’s the wizard of Oz, they mean it. He’s a wizard in bed alright. I’ve heard stories you wouldn’t believe about how good he is, and what he can do to a lady.”
Gloria nodded. She’d already figured that out the first time she laid eyes on him. “He’s a ladies’ man.”
“That, my dear, is the understatement of the year,” said Lucinda. “He’s a man who likes the ladies, alright, but these ladies around him just loves him. But I’m going to tell you like your uncle Reno, if he was here, would tell you, and like I’m sure your mother, if she were here, would tell you too: stay away from that one. He’ll only break your heart in the end.”
Oz Drakos: Loving Mick the Tick's Daughter Page 3
