by Harlow Brown
I felt a hand bump my shoulder, which pulled me from my internal debate of whether I wanted to embrace this or run for the hills of Rudy. I turned to see who it was, and an upright hand was stretched out to me with a one-dollar bill in it. I looked up wondering why in the hell someone was handing me money, and realized it was Fury standing at my side.
"How about a dollar for your thoughts?"
"Nope. They are worth more to me than that, too. Good try though." I smiled at him. Something strange happened, and I thought I heard a brick in that wall of his fall to the ground. So much so that Whiskey took notice and nudged Magnum. Fury smiled back at me. It was almost as if the smile was slowly breaking through to the hardened parts of him. Until Magnum chimed in.
"Well now, the cranky bastard does smile. Quick, someone grab a camera."
That was the end of the smile, and the last of the bricks to fall. One down, a whole wall left to go. It was a start though.
"You want to go talk somewhere that isn't surrounded by idiots?" I asked him.
He stared at me, and I saw the battle within. His lips got thinner as he pressed them together in contemplation as he balled his fists then relaxed them. His eyes searched mine. For what, I'll never know.
"It is a simple question. Either you do, or you don't. You are going to give yourself an ulcer if you think about shit too much."
Still nothing. I waited and stared right back at him, trying to figure out why he was so conflicted. Finally, I helped him out and grabbed his hand. He looked down at our joined hands and stepped back. I felt like perhaps he needed to know that I was there for him, or was trying to be at the very least, the way he was for me a bit ago when I spewed my past at him.
"I can't. I just…"
"It's fine. At least now I have an answer and can go back to enjoying my sunset. I'll be here if you want to talk, but I'm not going to miss this breathtaking view to play stare out with you."
With that, I turned my attention back to the ocean and finished off my beer. I heard Magnum yell out after a loud thump met the back of his head.
"Asshole. You just couldn’t let it be, could you? You had to try to call him out and couldn't let him have a minute of happiness." Whiskey said through somewhat clenched teeth.
"Hey, I was just acknowledging the fact that the moody fucker can smile. It really wasn’t a dick move on purpose. I just wanted documentation of the monumental event."
I turned to see the commotion and caught a glance of the Fury’s back as he exited the patio. Charlie came over and sat with me on the lounge chair.
"So, I see you two have managed to talk some."
"If that’s what you call it."
"It might not seem like much, but I promise, according to what Whiskey has told me, that is huge for him. Do you want something with him? I'm just not sure I understand this budding relationship."
I sighed. Did I? The thought was so tempting, but the reality was this was a bad idea. Meddling cops, unsolved missing persons case, distance, fear of heartbreak all told me no.
"I don’t think so. I don’t think I can handle anything serious, nor do I think that’s what he wants. Charlie, we just click. It's easy to talk to him and I think if he ever did open up to me there could be something, if it weren't for the distance. Don’t get me wrong, he is the poster child for sex appeal, and I'm not saying a romp in the sheets wouldn’t be fun, but you know me, I'm not one for casual sex."
"You are stronger than you give yourself credit for. I think you would benefit from a guy friend. You don’t have any."
"That’s because any guy I get close to disappears on me. I don’t want to have to say goodbye again, Charlie. I just don’t think I can go through that for the third time. That's another reason I don’t particularly want to get close to Fury. I'm just not willing to risk the heartbreak of ending another relationship, be it platonic or romantic. My wounds are still fresh from Creed."
"Still no word from him?"
"No, and at this point I don’t expect there to be. I just wish it was over without having answers, if that makes sense. I enjoy not knowing because I fear the worst, and I don’t want to face that reality."
"Honey, it won't be until you let it be. Think about that. Go get yourself another beer."
She got up and went back to her man. I did sort of envy her just a little. I didn’t mention that to her though. That was a discussion I wasn’t ready to have with anyone, especially her being on a love high right now.
The beer was going down smoothly. I decided I wasn’t going to join the crowd again. I needed some me time. Time to sort through this mess in my head. Charlie had a point. I won't heal if I don’t let myself. How do I just get over two broken hearts though? Is there a how-to book on self-healing? Why was this my life? Why couldn’t I have been the lucky one that found and got to keep her forever person? Was I so delusional to think that was a reasonable request?
Lost in my thoughts, my body led me on a walk at the beach again. I listened to the waves crash on the shore then recede back into the vastness. I stopped and stared at the water. Why couldn't my life resemble the ocean? Full of life, powerful, and mostly routine? The tide comes in and goes back out, night after night and day after day, only causing hate and discontent when a storm is brewing. A storm every once in a while was okay, but damn, Hurricane Rumor was getting old. I was tired of weathering it. Acting like I am always okay starts to get old. I would give my right arm to be able to cry on my man's shoulder while he told me everything was going to be alright.
Lost in my fantasy, I hear, "How about two?"
I turned to look at the gravelly voice behind me that had become familiar, I gave him a sad grin.
"Oh, you look upset. I don’t do feelings well. I don’t know what to say. You want me to go? I can leave you alone." Fury said with empathy and as fast as he could. It was like he was trying to be nice because it was the right thing to do, but he had no idea how to accomplish the feat.
"You don’t have to, I'm not good company right now. Kind of in a funk at the moment."
He thought and grimaced a little, then shut his eyes and said, "I listen well."
"I don’t know. Yes, no, maybe." I let out a big sigh as I kicked some sand into the water. "I would love nothing more than to talk to someone, but I don’t know that I want it to be you. No offense."
All I got in return was a blank stare and confused look.
"Okay, that came out wrong. I mean, I would love to talk to you, I feel like you get me. I am just not ready, and I don’t think you are either. You don’t talk to anyone, and I can't be the only one communicating. I feel some sort of weird connection with you, but it's best if I steer clear, for your sake."
"Look Rumor, I promise you that there isn’t anything you can say that would floor me to the point of not wanting to talk to you. I have been through a lot of shit and your story is cake compared to…uh, a lot of others". He stammered like he was hiding something.
"You won’t scare me off, but I’ll not force myself on you either. I feel about the same way as you. I dig you. You are easy to talk to, easy on the eyes, and you don’t ask a ton of questions that I don’t want to answer.”
"At some point I would hope you felt comfortable enough to talk, but that is between you and your demons."
He looked at me with a serious look on his face. I could tell he was warring with himself on what or what not to say. It was almost as if he wanted to talk about something but didn’t know how. He opened his lips to speak and closed them right back.
"What Fury? I see you struggling."
"It's just, I get it okay? I understand and even sometimes wonder what it would be like to have someone to talk to." He replied quickly, as if he was trying to say it before he chickened out.
"Look at us. A couple of strangers out here on the beach talking about something that we probably won't ever have again. What do you say we agree to keep each other company while I'm here? No strings attached, no expectations, just a boy and
a girl that have some things in common and could use some company in our lonely lives."
"Rumor, I would like that, but it isn't a good idea."
"Why? Huh? What do we have to lose? I say we can make anything happen for a week. And that kiss earlier agrees, too.”
"I don’t know, what if we piss each other off and find ourselves let down again?"
"What if we don't? It's not like I am asking to commit your life to me and hold only me in your arms forever and ever. I am asking you to drink beer with me and have a conversation as adults. If we do piss each other off then you didn’t need me, and I didn’t need you all of this time. I'm placing odds we will recover just fine. We’ve made it how long without each other?”
We stared at each other for a few seconds, and I decided that I would try to get at him, or at least make him smile and break the tension.
"I'll make it easier for you. If you let Riddick get me alone again, I will find you, and bust a beer bottle over your head in while you sleep. Does my offer look good yet?"
Chapter 9
Fury
WELL, DAMN. THIS girl had made me smile for the second time in an hour. Her seriousness about our situation had me laughing. Although, I had no doubt that she probably meant it.
"Fine. You win. A week don’t seem so bad. At least you are pretty. You could look like Chief or Mag."
"Here's to a week of friendship, one that no one else understands."
"No makeup parties, or hours spent gossiping about your best friend’s ex though. I have to draw the line somewhere." I was only partly kidding.
"Deal."
"Let's head back, yeah?" I suddenly got an eerie feeling. It was hard to describe. A little caught off guard, a little heightened awareness, a lot of uneasy in my gut, it made me want to get Rumor out of there. I looked around and saw a car taking off in the distance.
I was going to be on alert. I usually don’t get these gut feelings, but when I do, I know I’d better listen to them. Not listening to my instincts landed me where I am today. I had a bad feeling about the Ray brothers. I knew that they were bad news from the start and I just kept giving them the benefit of the doubt, like some naïve fool. And now I'm dead because of it. Now, because I did something, I knew better than to do, my son had to grow up without a dad and Daisy had to raise him without me to help her. It didn’t take long to remove Rumor from that situation. I wasn’t about to let something happen to her, too. I’d never forgive myself.
The car resembled Jay’s. I made a mental note to investigate him a little further. I had a sneaking suspicion that he was up to no good. I could almost feel the proverbial knife twist in my back. I will kill him if he tried anything stupid. I knew good and well he was pissed because I cut him off. After all, we were his bread and butter. He made his money off running the booze we made that he re-sold for profit. Better yet, I bet Sully put him up to this. Sully is the one that really is feeling the sting of us not doing business anymore. He fed Jay enough to keep him loyal. Sully is the mastermind behind everything that involves Jay. From what Sax says, he’s too dumb to think for himself. I believed deep down that is who was lurking around tonight. I had to tell the guys.
Back at the house Rumor went to be with the girls, and I found Magnum and Chief.
"Guys, let's go somewhere and talk. I have business to discuss. Where is Whiskey?"
"With Charlie. Where else would he be?" Magnum said as he rolled his eyes.
We meandered up to my room where we shut the door and had no girls around to distract us.
"Jay is up to something. I think I saw him creeping around outside earlier when Rumor and I were on the beach. He, or Sully, are pissed because I cut him off. It’s one of the two. I know good and well that he set me up. I just caught on and avoided that shitty situation."
"What do you want to do, Chief?" Mag said in all seriousness.
"Nothing. Give him the rope and he will hang himself. He isn't smart enough to know where to draw the line. Sully uses him as some little puppet, and he will do whatever he tells him to. I actually think you should invite him over. Say for a poker game? Kill him with kindness and let him be his own demise."
"What? Are you serious right now? He is trying to sabotage us, and you are going to let him away?" I yelled at him.
"Look, Fury, I get that you are pissed. You always are quick to jump into things without totally thinking them through. If he was setting us up, he must have already gone to the cops. We are on their radar, and they are just looking for a reason to get us. A first-degree battery charge is not going to help our case. Instead, we go legal and stop production. Our customers will have to understand. We will put the stills in the room where Hensley was being kept, seeing as it is inconspicuous. Then you are going to call him up and ask him if he wants to come play poker."
"You got to be fucking kidding me." I growled as I turned away from him. I paced the floor, and tried to find some composure, I spewed, "and just what is that going to do?"
Magnum chimed in, "Wait. He has a plan I can already tell. What's up your sleeve boss?"
"He will hang himself, I promise. Trust me. I have seen his kind too many times. He will get on a power trip and think he can pull one over on us. He is going to try to get us back for taking away his main income source and it's going to backfire on him. Wait and see," he replied a little too happy and cheery for my liking. "Now, are we done?" Chief asked.
"You're the boss, remember?" I snapped at him.
"Tame it, Fury."
"Fury, let's go grab a sandwich or something." Magnum was trying to make the situation less tense, but right now I just needed to be alone.
"Nah man, I'm alright. I just need...", I paused. What did I need? Revenge on him? A punching bag to let my frustrations on? A drive to clear my head? Yes, that is what I need. "to ride for a while."
"Man, don’t do anything dumb. I ain't bailing your cranky ass out of jail. You'll sit there." Mag said as he walked past me.
As I walked down stairs, I saw Whiskey and Charlie curled up on the couch together watching TV. Unwelcome jealousy temporarily found a spot in my mind. I did miss the affection of a woman. I missed feeling soft skin, playing with long hair, and smelling shampoo. It was all of the little things that I got to see Whiskey getting to do that I was missing out on. I stormed out of the house right past Rumor, who was sitting outside on the porch alone.
"You okay? You look pissed, more than usual."
"Fine." I barked as I walked hurriedly past.
"Well, I'd love to sit around and chat with you, but it looks like you are too busy being a dick, and I just ain't got time for that. Later." She sassed as she spun and left the porch.
Great, now I have pissed her off, too. It wasn’t my intent, seeing as we just shared a moment on the beach, and decided that we could do this friend thing. I just didn’t want to involve her in any way. She doesn’t need this shit on top of all of her personal issues. She deserved a break from life, not to have more shit dumped on her during vacation. I debated on whether or not to go tell her I was sorry but decided that I just wanted out. As I tore out of the driveway, the engine and road noise started to drown out the noise in my head. It's amazing how hearing nothing but the rumble of the motor, and the wind whipping by my head calmed me. After an hour or so, I decided it was time to head back.
I drove by Sunset Tattoo to see what I could see, and lo and behold, Jay’s car was outside. Since I was told to invite him to a poker game, I decided to whip in and just do it, man to man. Let's see if he squirms under pressure.
"Jay," I deadpan.
"Fury. Didn't expect to see you here."
"Yeah, I bet you didn’t. Listen, the guys and I are having a poker game tomorrow. You want to come?"
"You made it clear you didn’t want anything to do with me. Why would I come to your house?"
"I got spooked. We can discuss future endeavors over some beer and cards. There’s no good reason we can't figure something out."
&nb
sp; I was giving it my all, trying to act like I cared and genuinely wanted him at the house. Much to my surprise, I was succeeding.
He thought for a second and replied, "I think it would be fun to hang out with the guys. What do you want me to bring?"
"Look dude, it isn’t a sleepover where we are going to paint our nails and do our hair. Just bring some beer and money to play with." I said in a put-out tone.
"You going to be in a better mood tomorrow?"
Not even giving him the satisfaction of responding to that, I replied, "Just be there at six o'clock with your money."
I got back on the bike and headed to the house. I had an apology to give…again. The entire way home, I ran through so many thoughts and ideas of what I could say, but I knew in the end that I wouldn't.
ON A MISSION to find Rumor, I ignored everyone else in my path. The first place I looked was on the deck. I had a gut feeling she was out listening to the waves crash on the shore. Sure enough, there she was. Stretched out on a lounge chair lost in the sounds of the ocean. I had some making up to do, so I figured I would try to break the ice with money. I stretched out my hand, sat it on her shoulder, and inside it was a twenty-dollar bill.
"How about twenty?"
Nothing.
"Rumor?"
"I heard you." She snapped and snatched the bill out of my hand and turned right back around to the ocean.
"Well, that wasn't exactly how I thought this would go."
"Wait, you thought? Clearly, your idea of thinking and mine are not the same. If you were, in fact, thinking, you wouldn't have stormed out earlier and snapped at me. If you were thinking, you would have stayed away from me tonight and tried your luck in the morning. So, think about this. I am going in for a beer, alone, and when I get back, I hope I don't see you."
"Harsh words for such a minor flub up, don't you think?"
"No. You want my thoughts, and you are willing to pay for them, so here they are. You, Sir, are a first-class horse's ass. I am so mad at you in this moment that I don’t know if I want to talk to you for the rest of the time that I'm here. It isn't only about this time, it’s the fact that you are so wishy washy, and I can’t keep up. I really wanted to hang out, talk, and do stuff with you while I'm here, but I am beginning to think it isn't worth the back and forth of your fucking mood swings. You need to make up your mind. Either you are okay talking to me or you aren't. I won't allow both. You… Uggh. You need to work out whatever it is that has your panties in a twist. Here's a newsflash, I didn't do it. I am not the one holding the proverbial wedgie in your britches. Find someone else to be a jerk to. And I'm keeping the money. I hope you think my thoughts are worth the twenty. Come back tomorrow and I bet I can rustle up some more thoughts for you to buy, but you better have a better fuckin' attitude or this arrangement is off. I won’t deal with this shit." She seethed as she stormed off.
