Dark Heart

by Eve L Mitchell

  What was I doing?

  Losing my head over a girl – like a kid.

  I drove to the Warehouse and picked up the spare cash. I counted it out and put it in a holdall. Three hundred grand and a sweetener. The fucker better not try and pull a fast one on me and tell me he wanted more. I headed to Two-Bit Tommy’s bar. When I parked in the street, I needed to give myself a pep talk.

  Go in.

  Head down.

  Be broken.

  Be contrite.

  Look beaten.

  Do not lose your temper.

  For fuck sake Aaron, do not lose your temper.

  I walked in with my head semi-down and the bag in my hand. There were regular customers sitting around the bar, with Tommy’s guys scattered amongst them. Tommy sat in his usual spot with Johnny at his side. He noticed me immediately and he leaned forward eagerly. I kept my eyes downcast and headed over.

  “Aaron, you look like shit,” he said by way of greeting. I heard Johnny snicker beside him.

  “Yeah, had a bad flu.” What is wrong with you? I barked at myself.

  “Flu?” Tommy was smiling like a Cheshire cat. He leaned back in his booth as he swirled his coffee cup. His eyes were glassy and I realised belatedly that he was stoned. Fantastic.

  “Yeah, hit me real bad.” I decided to run with it.

  Tommy started laughing. Johnny simply stared at me as he carefully assessed me. I dropped the bag and leaned on a nearby stool. I looked around. I couldn’t see Kyle or anyone. I caught a glimpse of Les but continued past him.

  “You got something for me?” Tommy asked. I nodded and bent to pick the bag up. I let out a groan as I straightened, it was small and hopefully seemed accidental. I saw the way Johnny’s eyes gleamed as I walked forward. Tommy nodded for Johnny to take the bag and he shouldered past me as he headed into the back with it. I shifted aside from the impact but said nothing, keeping my head down. My blood boiled as I raged internally, keeping a tight rein on the rage swirling through my veins.

  “You can sit with me,” Tommy offered.

  My normal response would have been to tell him to fuck himself and say I would stand. Today, I took a seat beside him, being careful to keep to the edge of the booth. “Thanks,” I said quietly.

  “You look like shit.”

  “Feel like it too,” I admitted. I kept my head down.

  “It’s always hard to teach some people lessons.” I dared to look up. Tommy watched me as he smoked his cigarette. He flicked his ash as he continued to watch me. “You have to know who to break and who to bend.” He took another drag. “You the breaking or the bending type Aaron?”

  “I’m the ‘try not to die too soon’ type,” I answered honestly as I rubbed my forehead. This answer seemed to delight him, as he laughed again.

  We sat in silence for a few moments as we waited. I didn’t speak, I didn’t smoke. Tommy stared at me the whole time – I didn’t make eye contact. Johnny came back out. I got out of the booth and stood.

  “You paid too much.” Johnny said as he sat back down.

  I shrugged. “Thought the late payment warranted it.” I flicked my eyes over to the guys standing at the bar, as if I was waiting for them to come over.

  Johnny leaned into Tommy and whispered. Tommy beamed at me. “I love when people bend, Aaron. You can go.” Johnny picked up his phone and started scrolling through it.

  “So... we good?” I rubbed my jeans. Like I was nervous. I was going to kill this fucker. Both of them.

  “Sure.” He turned his head away.

  “Tommy?” My tone was slightly harder. Johnny looked up at me. “Sorry.” My head dipped slightly.

  Tommy sighed. “Yes, the debt’s paid. We’re all good.” He waved his hand at me, dismissing me.

  I nodded and walked out as slowly as I’d walked in.

  I’ll see you in hell – you fuckers.

  I drove home and got out of the tin rust bucket. My blood was pumping through my veins so badly I knew I was going to explode. I stared at my house and knew I couldn’t go inside. Shadow would take one look at me and hide the girls. So, I crossed the path to Walter’s house. It was a strange choice but I didn’t even question it.

  “I’m coming in, you may want to shoot me,” I shouted.

  “I thought you were going to die,” Walter greeted me as I made my way into his living room. He turned in his chair and stared at me. I dropped into my usual seat.

  “I’m still here,” I muttered, I got up again and paced.

  “Yeah, for how much longer.” He watched me and I looked at him.

  “They left me to die,” I barked.

  “Would have been a waste.” He scratched his ear as he looked out the window. “No one else clears my drive in the winter.”

  “That’s because you’re a cantankerous old bastard and everyone hates you,” I muttered.

  “That’s the way I like it.” He grinned at me. I barked out a laugh. “Who you piss off this time?”

  “Two-Bit Tommy.”

  “The drug dealer?”

  I nodded.

  “Thought you were too clever to get mixed up with drugs?” he asked me.

  “I don’t touch drugs. It’s an old mix up. Finally sorted it. My mouth might have gotten me in trouble.”

  “I reckon your mouth’s been getting you in trouble since you were knee high to a grasshopper.” Walter chuckled. I grinned. “You fix it now?”

  I shrugged.

  “Think you’re still in trouble,” he commented as he nodded out the window.

  I looked and cursed as we both watched Shadow walking up the path.

  “Can we shoot him?” I suggested.

  “You suddenly a coward?” Walter eyed me.

  “If I say yes, will you judge me?”

  “Judged you a long time ago boy,” he answered as Shadow walked into the house. I huffed out a laugh. Yeah, I bet you did old man, I bet you did.

  “What the fuck? You can’t tell me you’re ok?” Shadow glared at me. “Hi Walt,” he greeted the old man.

  “Ronnie, how’s my girl? She ok?” It never failed to amaze me how Shadow was so easy-going with everyone, young and old. He got welcomed into anyone and everyone’s homes. Probably why his mother hated me so much. I was probably the bad influence.

  “Big as a house and getting bigger every day.” Shadow beamed. “Why are you in here?” he demanded of me.

  “He’s hiding,” Walter piped up.

  “Why are you hiding?”

  “He’s got that look when he’s going to blow up,” Walter said. “You know when you know he’s going to be stupid?” Shadow nodded. “So, he came here.”

  “Are you both done?” I snapped, looking at them both.

  “That’s the look,” Walter pointed out.

  “I’m familiar with it,” Shadow said drily as he and Walter nodded at each other.

  “Are you both kidding me?”

  “He needs to go get his filly and get it out his system,” Walter remarked as he looked over at me.

  “I dunno, we tried that. I think it’s making him worse.” Shadow sat down.

   “I’m right here. I can hear you.”

  “It isn’t working?” Walter continued to ignore me. “Well, maybe he isn’t doing it right? Is the girl satisfied? Does she seem ok?” Walter leaned around me to look at Shadow.

  “Yeah – she seems fine, but I haven’t asked her. Maybe I should get Maria to ask her.” Shadow looked thoughtful. Walter was nodding in agreement.

  “Enough!” I exploded.

  They both looked at me and then looked at each other with questioning looks. Bastards. Both of them.

  Shadow levelled me with a look. “You’re a fucking prick, I’ve been a fucking wreck waiting for you to come back and you come in here? No offence Walt,” Walter shrugged. “What happened?”

  “I did what I’d planned to do. He bought it; they took it. They said it’s over.”

  “Then why do you look lik
e you’re going to kill someone?” Shadow asked quietly.

  “Because they did this to me. They did this to see if – in Tommy’s words – I would ‘break’ or ‘bend’. They think they made me ‘bend.’” My eyes snapped to his. “I don’t fucking bend for anyone and I’m going to break that junkie and his sidekick and I’m going to burn that bar to the ground. I’ll show them bend. I’ll show them how fucking flexible I can be.”

  Shadow was staring at me. His eyes flicked to Walter once. I didn’t care. Walter looked at me and then he grinned.

  “Come with me, my boy, I know you don’t like them, because you don’t have any, but it’s time I think you met one of my friends.” I glanced at Shadow once and then followed Walter. We both followed him to his back room and I stopped dead in the doorway.

  “Holy shit Walter.” I looked around. The old man had an arsenal. He had a whole wall of guns.

  “Yeah, this is my collection.” He smiled at me with pride. “You shoot?”

  “No, I hate them to be honest. Prefer my fists.” I flexed my hands.

  “Yeah well, if you had this on you the night they beat you, you may not have needed Doc Crofton three times,” Walter muttered. He shuffled over to the corner. “This is the best gun for a beginner.” He hefted a 9mm into his hand and handed it to me. I went to take it and Shadow put his hand out to still my arm.

  “We don’t use guns, man.” Shadow pulled me back. “Walt, it’s appreciated. I know you mean well, but no guns. You don’t bring a gun to a fist fight.” Walter put the gun down and I dipped my head slightly in acknowledgment to my friend. “Let’s go, Maria wants to head out soon,” Shadow said to me quietly.

  “Of course.” I said goodbye to Walter and we left. As we turned off the path and headed to the house I glanced up at his window as he settled back in his seat. I gave a wave as I followed Shadow into the house.

  The following morning, I was up at my usual time. I ran my miles, almost back to my normal workout times. My pull ups on the door bar still hurt like a bitch but I was getting there. Lela arrived in the doorway when I was on the speedball and managed to distract me for an hour or two. Having the house to ourselves gave us freedom we hadn’t had the chance to explore previously. I was never one to take hook-ups back to my house, my home was private. Lela was now stamped all over it.

  I rolled off her for the last time that morning. “I don’t even know how we ended up in here.” I laughed as she pulled my arm around her. We were in the garage. It was freezing.

  “We should probably move,” she murmured as she snuggled in under my arm.

  “We should, it’s freezing.” I stood and scooped her up, carrying her back through to the warmth of the house. I dropped her onto our bed. She caught her arms round my neck and pulled me down with her.

  “I think you’re a nympho,” I muttered against her lips. She giggled as she kissed me. I grinned as she didn’t deny it.

  “You know you love it.” Her lips teased along my jawline as I held myself above her, her legs snaking out and securing themselves around my hips.

  “I know I have to go to work.” Her hands ran down my side and stroked up my back. “I also know you can’t possibly need more.” I firmly removed her hands.

  Her throaty laugh almost made me climb back on. “I just wanted to snuggle with my tattooed man.” I looked at her questioningly and she winked cheekily. I got out of bed and headed to the shower. I heard her follow me. “I have to go see my mom today.” She pulled a towel around her as I got into the shower. “She isn’t happy I haven’t come over yet.” Lela shrugged.

  “Ok.” I lathered up as I listened to her.

  “She mentioned meeting for dinner or for drinks?”

  “No.” I rinsed off.

  “I knew you would say that.” Lela opened the shower door. “So, I said you would say no.” She stepped into the spray, my eyes ran over her nakedness.

  “Glad I didn’t disappoint you.” I got out of the shower.

  “I don’t know what time I will be back,” Lela called as she started washing her hair.

  “Ok, just let me know if you aren’t coming back.” I closed the door behind me as I went into the bedroom.

  I was half dressed when the door was roughly pulled open. She stood in front of me half naked and furious.

  “What do you mean?” Lela demanded.

  “What?” I pulled a shirt on.

  “What do you mean if I’m not coming back? Why wouldn’t I be coming back?” Lela tucked the towel around her.

  I pulled a belt on and fought a smile as I looped it through the belt loops of my jeans. “I meant if you stayed the night at your mom’s, Lela.”

  “Oh.”

  I walked over and kissed her softly, my hands cupping her face. “You’re dripping on my floor. Go get washed. Be careful out there. Keep in touch. I mean it – I need to know where you are.” I kissed her again; her hands came up and caught my wrists. I pulled back and looked at her before resting my head against hers. She rose up and kissed my lips again.

  Fuck it.

  “I’m already late anyway,” I said as I untucked her towel.

  “You’re already late,” she agreed as she undid my belt.

  I was listening to Daisy tell me about why the new system wasn’t working for her while watching Gregor animatedly telling Trey something. Gregor was very low key. That’s why it shocked most people when he suddenly pulled out a tyre iron and hit you in the head with it. You weren’t expecting it from him. With Trey, you might be expecting a knife from a boot – he had that kind of edge about him. Gregor looked like he would fall over if a gust of wind passed over him.

  “Daisy.” She kept talking. “Daisy,” I tried again. She kept yammering on. “Daisy if you don’t shut the fuck up, I swear to God I’ll knock you out myself.”

  Dead silence.

  I glanced at her. Her mouth was hanging open. Jim, who had been standing beside me, waiting anxiously for me to tell her why she had to use Lela’s new system, also had his mouth hanging open.

  “Daisy. The new system works. Every single person in this building can use it.” She went to speak. “If you don’t like it, there’s the door.” Her mouth closed. “Get used to it, I don’t have time for this shit.” I turned to Jim. “What do you need?”

  He opened his mouth a few times. “I wanted to talk to you about the stock for the tyres and also Gregor and Trey’s work.”

  I nodded; I knew he would notice. “No problem. Let’s go talk to them.” I headed over to the two of them, Gregor was still seeming a bit agitated. “Meeting. Now.” I headed back to where my tyres used to be before the bastards tried to burn it down. The guys had covered it to make it as wind and watertight as possible and the salvageable stock had been covered. The area where the wonky table and chairs used to be, had been cleared.

  “Right, you two, what’s going on?” Both of them looked at Jim. “Jim, what’s your issue?” I addressed him. He looked at the three of us. He rubbed his neck.

  “There seems to be something wrong with the respray work,” he started. I glared at Gregor. He instantly flushed.

  “You don’t say. What do you think is wrong Jim?” I folded my arms as I levelled my gaze on Gregor. He shifted on his feet.

  “Well they seem like pretty new cars to be needing resprays.” Jim was also looking at Gregor now. “You don’t need to be a mechanic to know new cars getting resprayed means they’ve been stolen.” His eyes narrowed and he was now looking at both of them.

  “Fucking idiots,” I snapped. “What the fuck are you thinking?” I stepped forward as Gregor stepped back. “You said he was smart. This isn’t smart – this is fucking stupid and lazy. Get him told or get this shit out of my shop.” Gregor went to speak. “Shut up. If your cousin has a problem, send him. Or better yet, send his boss to me.” His head went down. “Fuck off back to work and I don’t want one more car in here this week.” Trey went to follow him. “Not you. You stay.”

  I t
urned to Jim. “I don’t need to run everything by you in my shop.” He wasn’t happy but he nodded. “But this was stupid of me and I should have told you. Had I been here, I would have told them to get it out of here.” I took a breath. “Had I told you, you would have done the same.”

  “I don’t like that kind of thing, I like clean and honest.” He shifted uncomfortably.

  “I know you do, that’s why I didn’t involve you.” I sighed. “But you also work for me and I’m not clean or honest.” He shrugged in acknowledgement. “I also think knowledge is better than ignorance and you would have stopped this level of stupidity.”

  “It was pretty blatant.” He chuckled as he shook his head. “I don’t want to be involved, but in the future at least keep me in the loop. I got to keep them rostered in for work after all.” Mumbling to himself, he wandered back to the main shop.

  I turned to Trey. “What was that about earlier?” Trey shrugged. “Do not shrug at me. I’m about a hair’s breadth away from knocking someone the fuck out, so you better just tell me. I don’t want it to be you that I punch.”

  “He was being a bitch because of the screwdriver.” Trey’s lip curled.

  “If he needs to go, say it, he goes.”

  “Seriously?” Trey eyed me.

  I flipped open my smokes. “Look. I’m fucking pissed off. I’ve had the shit beaten out of me, I’ve been left to die. I have people bringing attention to my garage with greed and stupidity. Every week you turn up for work, every weekend you work in the Warehouse. You turned up from God knows where when they called at the drop of a hat, just to see my truck go boom and then you spent the next couple hours searching for my dead body.” I took an inhale of my smoke. “You haven’t breathed a word to anyone, about how bad it was. You’ve told anyone who’s asked that I had a car accident. You saw the shit he was bringing in and said nothing, knowing I would lose it.” I flicked my ash. “I was kind of a dick to you about the Kayleigh thing in the Warehouse the other week – that girl just fucked me off.” He laughed. “So, yeah, if he’s giving you shit, say it, he’s gone. You’ve more than proved you’re with us Trey. You respray just as good as he can, you don’t have any dodgy cousins either. Well, apart from that fucker you keep bringing to the Warehouse.”