Unsurprisingly Complicated

by Claudia Burgoa

  “We should both die; I can be with my family. My mother, my siblings, you and James.”

  My parents come to mind, as does Mr. Bradley’s self-defense lessons before I headed to college. What would he say? Focus on your opponent, don’t panic. Find a way to distract him and run.

  A large band of steel squeezes against my chest, pressing hard and taking away my last breath. So much for not panicking. The gun wobbles in Porter’s hand. It isn’t too high; I could kick his hand and run to the deck. He has trouble standing—I hope. No, a kick might not carry enough strength. I touch my temple again as the dizziness and fogginess blur my vision. My fingers are slick with blood. Damn, he hit me hard.

  This is enough. Porter isn’t hurting me anymore. I won’t let him. Rage energizes my entire body; how dare I let him win? He’s no one, nothing. A scared, stupid man who couldn’t grow up. “You’re a coward, a cheater, and a liar incapable of doing anything.” I take a step closer. “Useless piece of shit and everyone knows it.” I’m hitting him hard where he hurts, but that’s the only weapon I know that will gut him.

  “Don’t make me do this,” his words stumble.

  I am close enough to use my head. I smash it against his face as hard as I can, coming in contact with his nose.

  “You’re tiny enough that you might have to use your head,” Mr. Bradley said. “It’s hard enough to cause damage if you hit your opponent in the face.”

  “Damn, you fucking crazy bitch.” A gush of blood bathes my hair.

  I use my knee to kick him in the groin, and when he drops to the floor I run outside the house. Screaming for help, I jump in my car.

  I don’t know how much time passes from the moment I lock myself in the car to when the sound of sirens approach. Blue and red lights blind me. My phone rings—Papi’s ringtone. I have trouble finding it inside the pocket of my raincoat, but I snatch it before the call goes to voicemail. His voice will help my frenzied state.

  “Ainse, are you okay? There are sirens approaching the block.”

  “Yes.” I gulp, wondering how he knows. “Well no, I’m terrified. Porter is in my house.” I swallow the orange-size lump in my throat. “I’m inside Eleanor.”

  Someone knocks on my window with urgency. Dad—Gabe.

  “AJ, sweetheart.” His blue eyes turn pale and so does his face. “Bring a fucking doctor, Christian. She’s bleeding. Good lord, her head.”

  A chuckle escapes me. I have no idea how I look, but I guess that Porter’s blood is in my hair. “No, that’s his blood, I think. My head’s throbbing, but I’m all right.” I try to calm him. “My only escape was to hit him in the face with my head. Nonetheless, he hit my temple and it hurts.”

  Dad pulls me out of the car and hugs me, making circles with his hand while we observe the movement going on around my house. A few officers go inside; Chris is next to one of them with his arms crossed. His gaze going from the door to me.

  “I didn’t know you were in town,” my words muffled in his chest.

  “We wanted to check on you.”

  They’ve called me so many times in the past two days, it’s as if they had a hunch that something would happen to me. “I told you I was fine, Dad. Until a few hours, or minutes ago.” I point at the door where I’m hoping they’ll soon bring Porter out. “He has gone insane. My guess is that switching my phone number wasn’t enough.”

  Chris and the officer, who waited beside him, approach us. “Come here, baby girl.” Chris takes me out of my father’s grasp and holds me tight. “The officer would like your statement. We can do it right here or tomorrow, which I prefer. I want to take you to the hospital.”

  “Where is he?” Porter is nowhere to be seen, and I want them to keep him away.

  “No one is there, Ainse,” he whispers. “They are organizing a manhunt. Don’t worry about him.”

  The officer asks again for my statement, and Chris asks me what I want.

  “Tomorrow,” I tell him. “I need food and my bed. My head’s killing me.”

  “First, we head to the hospital.” Chris touches my head. “Then I’ll feed you.”

  Karl Kowalski appears in front of me.

  “Sweetheart, are you okay?” I nod. “Wait until Bradley hears about this; he’s going to kill that asshole.”

  “Please, don’t tell Mase,” I request. “I’m fine. This is Porter’s blood. I smashed his nose with my head.”

  “You broke his nose?” He raises his hand and high-fives me. “Call us if you need anything. I know Karen’s going to worry about you; send us a text just so we know that you’re alive.”

  My parents, my brothers, and I arrive back from the hospital. An aggravating smell of antiseptic follows me around. A nurse washed my hair with some weird smelling soap to avoid cross contamination and to see if I had more wounds than the one on my temple. They ran an MRI. My head didn’t crack with either bump—the gun or Porter’s head.

  “Hey,” MJ hugs me as we step inside of my parent’s house. “You look better than when I arrived at the hospital.”

  “I feel better, Mattie,” I croak; three hours without any liquid or talking dried my throat. “Not loving the stitches, but I’m doing well.” I touch my temple. “You?”

  “Not great.” He hugs me tighter. “He was family, Ainse. Not blood, but family nonetheless. We all tried so freaking hard to help, and he almost killed my baby sister, damn it.”

  I feel another set of arms hugging me and I know it’s JC. “Want anything, little sis?”

  “I’m okay, Jacky.” He doesn’t protest. I barely call him that, but when I do, he usually goes off and tries his best to tease me. Chris and Gabe called us Jacky, Mattie and Ainsy when we were toddlers. I only use them on special occasions. Today calls for that.

  “Stop scaring the shit out of us. You know I hate hospitals.” He squeezes me tighter. “Nothing good happens in those places.”

  No one likes hospitals. I dislike them just as much.

  “Are you staying tonight?” Gabe asks.

  “Only if I can camp in your room, Daddy.” That’s what I did when Great Grandpa died. I was eight, and for three days I slept in my sleeping bag on the floor of their room. My brothers joined the cause that same night. My parents gave up on the fourth day, and the three of us kids slept in their bed for another few nights. The joy of having a custom bed for two tall men and three children who sometimes needed to crash while the goblins and monsters were rummaging their rooms.

  “We’re not dying.” He kisses my temple.

  Back then, I feared if Great Grandpa died, they could be next. My stomach hurt, I dry heaved and cried for hours, afraid my parents would die. It never fails in this family; when one catches a bug the other two follow behind. My two brothers followed my lead and we had a hard time separating from them.

  “You can’t guarantee that,” I retort without saying, I almost did. “One night, please?”

  “I’m too old for that shit. JC, you?” MJ’s annoyed voice draws a faint smile from of my lips. JC doesn’t respond, but the thick atmosphere lightens up some.

  “Of course you can stay with us, baby girl; I’ll kick your father out of the bed if the three of us won’t fit.” Chris joins the group hug. “Stay longer than a day, at least until they clean your place. You scared the shit out of us.”

  “Can I use one of your guest rooms?” JC finally speaks up. “Just in case she can’t sleep, and I have to pitch in.”

  “Good idea, bro,” MJ supports him. “I’ll use the other. She can be pretty dramatic, and what if Porter reappears and they need us?”

  “I think we did good as parents, Chris.” Gabe’s resigned voice comes closer, and we tighten the circle of five. “They seem to care for us. You all can stay, maybe we’ll head to Baja sooner, kids. I love you.”

  “I love you all,” I mumble.

  Chris Decker opens the door of his house, a dark frown settles on his scowling features. He’s going to kill me.

  My father called
earlier and told me that the Deckers were fuming. He wasn’t kidding, Chris looks like he’s about to shoot me.

  “You swore nothing would happen to the princess,” Dad said on the other line.

  Kowalski had already called me about the incident. Porter threatened her with a gun; he hit her on the temple with it and then escaped. But not before she did some damage of her own. It’s great to know that she can, in fact, take care of herself. Not that I like it much.

  “Nothing coming from the cartel, Dad,” I specified. “I had no fucking idea that Kendrick would have it in him to physically hurt her.”

  “Starting tomorrow I’m assigning a bodyguard, Mason.”

  It didn’t set well that my father would be the one taking care of her.

  “I’m on my way,” I protested. “Against the Decker’s wishes, Aisne will know about everything, and she’ll make the decision on what to do. I trust her judgment.”

  “As your father, I support you,” he grunts. “But I won’t back down until I see that you’re really protecting her. That’s not going to happen from wherever the fuck you are or plan to be in the future, Mason.”

  It was as if his words had a double meaning, and I didn’t like them.

  As I arrived in the neighborhood, I noticed a few lights still on in the Decker’s home. Instead of her door, I knocked on her parents’ to get a better picture of what had happened. Wait until I see Kendrick again; he’ll wish he was dead.

  “You said nothing would happen to her,” Christian stays put with his arms crossed. “He had a gun pointing at Ainse. How can I trust you to care for her?”

  “Excuse me.” I don’t want to fight with him, but this is bullshit. “You said that Porter would never hurt her, didn’t you? My job was to protect her from the bad guys, not the idiot who you trusted for so long.”

  He flinches and drops his head.

  “Is she in her house?”

  “No,” Gabe comes from behind. “AJ’s staying with us until her house is clean. Is the house in Baja ready?”

  Among all the other shit I’ve been working on, I had to inspect the house down in Baja since they’re going to be there for two weeks. My company upgraded the security system, hired a few guys to protect the house and made sure the two houses next door were safe, too.

  “Yes, you can head down as early as today, or next week,” I confirm, and my eye twitches as I refrain to tell them I’m taking my girl with me. “Your names are cleared, by the way. A couple of my men are searching for Porter. The car he left earlier was a rental. If I find anything, I’ll let you know.”

  “Make sure they don’t hurt him,” Chris tells me, and that infuriates me. “I want to do it with my own hands.”

  “Sorry.” I shrug both shoulders. “Finders keepers. I’ll see you later.”

  I pivot around and head to Ainse’s house, pull out my keys, and turn on the lights. The wood floor and the walls in the foyer are stained with red blotches of blood. I close the door and it’s the same.

  There’s a knock on the door, the doorknob wiggles and it opens. My father and I stare at each other.

  “I thought someone had broken in,” he finally says.

  “This is going to take longer than predicted.” Dad’s brow crooks and he stares at me waiting for some information, I guess. “Cleaning. I want to change the floor and have the walls repainted. Same with the door. Having it replaced will be best. Not sure where we’ll stay while this is going on.”

  “If you had a house…” He shrugs and gives me that fatherly look of ‘if you had listened to me, but what do I know.’

  The size I shrink to when my parents are around is the one of a toddler. Nothing I do satisfies them. At my age, I have a successful business. Large companies and even governments pay me a lot of money for what I do.

  “Dad, you have nothing either,” I refute. “The two bedroom apartment you’ve owned since I was a kid isn’t much. You live mostly with the Deckers and keep crying about my mother’s departure.”

  He stares at me, then studies me from head to toe and tosses his hands up in the air. “My marriage to your mother is not a conversation I want to have with you,” he finally speaks. “She blamed me for years about our marriage until I realized that she is incapable of having a stable relationship, Mason. For years, I believed that I shouldn’t settle down until you were older, and I had a more stable life. You’re old, but I don’t want to settle for just anyone. I’m happy, and I don’t see the point of buying a bigger place when, as you pointed out, I’m barely there. It has enough rooms for me and my child, but he doesn’t want to visit me.”

  I size him up. He’s about my height, but he never fails to look taller than me. It doesn’t matter how much I work out or how tall I pretend to be. He’ll always be this huge man that I can’t ever measure up to.

  “You lived your life,” I snap. “Let me live mine. I have you to thank for stopping me before I made the same mistake and marry like you did.”

  “It wasn’t a mistake. I loved your mom, she loved me the only way she knows how to—for a short time,” he bellows. “Nothing like Meghan. You never loved that woman. You were unhappy with her and were only trying to find a real family. Mason, you lost perspective of what you wanted and what made you happy. I hope you don’t lose it again.”

  He stops and stares at me for another minute or two.

  “Do you have tools?” I ask, breaking that scrutinizing gaze he’s using to shrink me down a size or two. “I want to start the job right now. There’s no way in hell I’ll leave her with this mess, and the sooner I finish this the better.”

  “She has the basics in the garage,” Dad informs me. “I’ll bring you what I have and some dinner.”

  A couple of guys from the construction company that the Deckers use are working side by side with me. They arrived after midnight and have been working nonstop. This is going to cost me a pretty penny. We’ve already replaced the floor, I’m priming the walls, and they should be finished polishing the wood and painting the walls by the end of the day.

  “Coffee?” I turn and find Ainse standing next to the door holding a mug. Her hair is up in a ponytail and her temple is covered with white bandages. I set the brush on the tray next to me and walk toward her. Sucking in her citrusy aroma, I extract her essence and reassure myself that she’s okay. Once I’m sure she’s real, I lower my lips to hers and kiss her with the intention of not letting her go for an entire year.

  “I’m sorry,” I mumble against her mouth and continue our kiss. “How are you, Nine?” I ask her and touch her temple with my lips. “I’m going to fucking kill him.”

  “Who told you?”

  “It doesn’t matter,” I murmur in her ear. “Do you want me to go with you down to the station?”

  “No, my parents are coming with me.” She hugs me with one arm. “I’m okay, Ten. Thank you for fixing the house. I really appreciate not seeing the mess he left.” She places her hands behind my neck and I lower my head; our lips meet one more time. It’s a tender kiss where our tongues dance at the rhythm of one of those ballads she sometimes composes after we have sex.

  “I told you I could take care of myself.” She breaks the kiss. “Though having the hero close comes in handy when I need a hug—or two.”

  “You’re the heroine of the book, remember?” An amazing, brave, strong heroine who belongs to me. “I’m proud of you, my Nine.”

  “Though I want to stay in your embrace forever, I have to go,” she whispers as her parents yell her name. “Can I see you later, maybe? Never mind. I can’t be with you until the house is ready.”

  “I’ll get us a suite at a hotel for tonight, beautiful.” I don’t let her go even when she’s fighting me to release the hold. “Please? The only reason I didn’t drag you out of your parents’ yesterday was because they’d kill me.”

  “I’ll think about it.” Her words don’t promise much, and my chest takes the blow like a pro.

  She kisses me one last tim
e and escapes from my grasp. Her parents are waiting next to their Land Rover and stare at me with animosity. It’s going to take a lot to convince them that I can take care of her and that I care for her, damn it.

  J-9: My parents just announced that we’re leaving early for Baja. I’d love if you come with us for the entire stay, but if not, at least a few days.

  Mase: I plan on joining you for as long as you want me.

  Mason growls at my parents loud enough that I can hear from the other side of the door. “I’m all about protecting her. But keeping her in the dark isn’t my style. Porter is at-large and I don’t know if he’s a threat or not.”

  Mason and my guys have been sequestered inside the library for the longest time. Once I approached the door, I could hear their loud voices. My parents are once again trying to save me from whatever shit is going on by either lying to me or hiding the truth.

  “Look, Ainse hates lies,” Mason continues. “My relationship with her has always been honest. I can’t and won’t continue hiding shit from her. For the last time, either you tell Ainse or I will. She won’t be happy with either of you, and I don’t like that.”

  “We’re Switzerland,” I hear MJ say. “And we have the tattoo and a certificate to prove our point.” They do. Both have a tattoo on the left side of their left foot that says: Made in Switzerland. Mine is a heart, also on the left foot, close to my ankle. A heart that has the initials: MIS. It sounded like a great idea back then, and we were trying to cheer JC up. The certificate... I guess they refer to our birth certificates, we were born in Switzerland.

  “I agree with Bradley.” JC surprises me. Usually, he sides with MJ. They’d rather not meddle. “You two have to tell her before she becomes a bitch. We hate the bitch.”

  There’s the brother I know and love with all my heart. Choices, truths… this is crazy. Didn’t we go through this only a few months ago? Once things cleared up, I thought nothing would become a complication. But, surprise, surprise. As I listen to them, the fear that there are plenty of obstacles ahead pulls my heartstrings. This is the story of my life; nothing is ever easy.