by W. S. Greer
I shake his hand and smile at him. “Thank you, David.” Then, I turn on my heel and walk out.
I push through the exit doors ready to exhale that the Red Pony saga is finally over, but the second I’m outside, I see Damien’s Lexus pull into the parking lot. He parks only a few spaces from where Austin is parked, so there won’t be any avoiding him. I’m going to have to walk right past him. Shit.
Damien gets out of the car, and he doesn’t see me at first, but when he does, all the emotion melts from his face. He glares at me like he wishes I was dead and I instinctively slow my pace as my heart starts to speed up. He walks towards the entrance of the club, and I decide to try to ignore him. So, I make myself walk to Austin’s car as fast as I can, but the second we’re shoulder to shoulder, Damien turns to me.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” he barks, making me jump.
“I just came to get my check, and now I’m leaving,” I reply, doing my best to remain defiant. I refuse to let him see me afraid.
“Your check? You don’t deserve a fucking check. Did you know we’ve lost five girls now, since you left? Five! Your little stunt has cost me a lot of money, and now you think you’re gonna come in here and get a fucking check? You must really be fucking crazy.”
I walk past him, but I hear him turn around and follow me, so I snap back around. I know I can’t have my back to him.
“Give me the fucking check,” he says, his voice low and menacing, and he has that ugly scowl on his face.
“This is my check, Damien,” I reply. “I’m not giving it to you.”
“You’re gonna give me that check because you owe me for all this shit you’ve caused. Now give it to me, or I’m gonna fucking take it. Ain’t nobody here to protect you now, bitch. Give it to me.”
He reaches for the check in my hand, but I pull it away. He takes another step towards me, and then I hear a car door being closed behind me and Damien stops in his tracks.
“I was wondering if I’d get the chance to see you again,” I hear Austin say. His voice sounds different though. I’ve never heard it this way before. “Especially after I heard about the way you like to run your business here. It’s almost fitting that I see you today.”
Damien takes a second to gather his thoughts, then he clears his throat and straightens himself up. Damien is big, but so is Austin. I think Damien’s main concern, though, is the fact that Austin obviously isn’t afraid. Damien thrives on fear, and Austin doesn’t have any to give.
“Who the fuck are you?” Damien starts. “Oh, wait. I remember you. You’re the idiot from Granger Park. Yeah, that’s right. You’re the guy who’s too stupid to know he’s holding hands with a whore. So, yeah, we’re here, face to face. And? You got a fucking problem?”
“Get in the car, Layla,” Austin says as he starts to walk towards Damien and me.
“She’s not going any-fucking-where. Not until she gives me that check she owes me.”
“She doesn’t owe you shit. But I do,” Austin says as he picks up his pace.
I go to step towards the car, but Damien grabs me by the arm.
“Hey! I said give me that fucking check!” he bellows, but suddenly, he lets go of me. I look over at him just in time to watch him fall down. He grabs his mouth and there’s a small trickle of blood seeping through his fingers.
I turn to look over and I’m surprised to see Austin standing directly behind me, his fists balled tight, and a pissed off look on his face. I don’t even know what to say, I just stand there looking at him.
“Get in the car, Layla,” he growls, and I start walking, but I don’t get far, because Damien is back on his feet and he charges Austin.
Their big bodies collide with a thud, and I watch as Austin pushes Damien off of him. Damien stumbles back a little, but then cocks back and tries to throw a wild haymaker punch. Austin ducks underneath the punch, and counters with an uppercut to Damien’s stomach, followed by a right cross to the face that sends blood splattering everywhere like an exploding water balloon. Damien falls down again, this time his nose is gushing blood. He reaches up to cover it with his hand, but there’s too much. It’s dripping all over the ground and making a puddle.
Austin looks like he maybe wants to kick him while he’s down, but he decides against it. He turns to me and leads me to the car, where he opens the door for me, and closes it once I’m inside. I look out the tinted window at Damien who’s still down on the ground, covering his nose, which looks like it might be broken from the amount of blood. Austin calmly walks to the driver side of the car and gets in.
“You okay?” he asks. The infuriated look he had on his face before is gone, and he looks normal now.
“Yeah. I’m good,” is all I manage to say.
I’m still in shock from how it all went down when Austin shifts the car into gear and slowly drives away with Damien still on the ground. As we pull onto the street, I see David and one of the available girls standing in the doorway of the club looking at Damien. He doesn’t even go to help his brother out. He just stares at him, and he looks pissed.
We drive away and I replay the whole thing in my head. I can’t believe Damien showed up as I was leaving, but I’m utterly shocked at how Austin handled him. For four years I was terrified of Damien, and Austin just swooped in and destroyed my boogieman for me. Maybe what he was saying before was right, it is fitting to end it this way. One of the things I wanted most was to watch Damien get what was coming to him, and I couldn’t be prouder that it came from Austin. My Austin.
When we hit the highway, I reach over and put my hand on top of his, even though he still needs his hand to shift the car. He glances over and smiles at me, and I smile back as our speed reaches sixty-five, and I leave everything about Damien and Red Pony Gentlemen’s Club in the rearview mirror.
Austin
“She’s not gonna stab me, is she?”
“Well, I don’t know. She might if you start talking all that BFF stuff.”
“Well, I can’t help it. We are BFF’s,” I exclaim as I pull up the parking brake and we get ready to head inside the MGM for drinks with Marlene and Amanda. “So, what is it we’re celebrating again?”
“I don’t know exactly,” Layla replies as she closes the door and starts towards the elevator. “Marlene texted and said we needed to come out with them for two reasons. One, it was time for you and her to meet, and two, we needed to celebrate. When I asked what we were celebrating, she didn’t say. She just said we’ll see when we get here. So, I guess we’re about to find out.”
“Well, this should be interesting,” I joke.
The two of us step inside the elevator and wait to be taken up to the main floor of the MGM Grand. Layla looks stunning in her gray dress. She looks so elegant and smart. She’s my butterfly, and when I stand next to her, I feel so much pride. Pride that we stuck together through all the craziness, and I’m proud of us as individuals, too. We’ve been through a lot in our lives, and I think our struggles helped to make us appreciate each other more. Our hardships are what brought us together, and it’s a connection we could never share with anyone else, because no one else has gone through what we’ve been through together or apart. It’s weird, but somehow her issues with men and my issues with PTSD made us stronger as a couple, and as I stand here next to her, I’m filled with pride.
“You look beautiful,” I say to her, unable to keep what I’m thinking from escaping my mouth. She looks at me and smiles that smile that knocks me off my feet.
“Thank you. I think that’s the third time you’ve told me since you picked me up.”
“Well, I really mean it, so I can’t help it. Every time I look at you, I think it, so it just kind of slips out. I’ll try to keep it under control now that we’re here. Don’t want to embarrass you.”
“I think I’m okay with it. I’ll be fine. In fact, you can go ahead and say it again to check to see if it’s getting old.”
“Okay. You look beautiful, Layla.”
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“Oh, why thank you, kind sir,” she says with a wide smile. “Nope, I think I’m still okay with it. Still sounds wonderful to me.”
Both of us laugh. “Good to know. I’ll stay on top of it then.”
We step off the elevator and into the lobby of the MGM. As usual, it’s packed, so I take her hand and lead us through the traffic of drunks, tourists, and single people looking for hookups for the night. As we approach the bar, I see two people stand up and start waving. It looks like they’re waving at us, and it’s confirmed when Layla’s face lights up and she starts waving back.
“Wait. That girl looks kind of familiar,” I say when I recognize the short-haired woman wearing a tank top to show off her awesome amount of tattoos.
“Yeah, that’s my girl Marlene,” Layla answers. “She served you guys at the bar . . . that night.”
“Oh,” I reply, stretching out the word. I don’t go into it any further, because I’d prefer not to think about “that night.”
When we approach the two women, all three of them hug like they’re having a family reunion, and then Layla steps back to introduce me.
“Ladies, this is the guy I’ve been talking about all this time. This is Austin,” she says, her words dripping with pride.
The short-haired lady steps up to me first and eyeballs me from top to bottom.
“So, you’re the one I’ve heard so much about. I heard you’re trying to steal my BFF status from me. Is that true?” she asks, standing as close to me as she can get, but the top of her head only comes to my chin, so it’s a little hilarious.
“Umm, well, I’ve been told that the official BFF title has been strictly reserved for you. So, I guess I’d have to say no, that’s not true. Or at least that’s what I think you want me to say. If not, I’ll say something else, just please don’t kill me.” I wrinkle my forehead to try to make myself look afraid, even though she’s so tiny compared to me.
Marlene turns around and looks at the blonde woman who’s standing behind her. I can’t see Marlene’s face, but the blonde smiles, then Marlene turns back to me.
“You know what, that’s a pretty perfect answer,” she says as she starts to laugh. “I think I’m gonna like you. It’s so nice to finally meet you, Austin. I’m Marlene.”
We all laugh as I shake Marlene’s hand and the blonde comes over to introduce herself. She’s wearing a yellow blouse that matches her hair and seems to fit her bright smile.
“Hi, Austin. I’m Amanda,” she says.
“Nice to meet you both,” I reply.
The four of us sit down and order drinks, and Marlene gets right to it.
“So, I have huge news about Red Pony and Damien,” she says. I make a face because I don’t like talking about either of those two topics, but Marlene notices. “Don’t worry, Austin, I think you’re gonna wanna hear this, too. Especially since you were the one who kicked Damien’s ass. I can’t believe you did that, by the way.”
I’m not really sure what to say, so I just shrug.
“Oh, you can’t just shrug this away. I got to work right after it happened, and I was fucking shocked when I saw Damien’s face. You broke his nose. His face was all bruised up and bloody and swollen. He had to go to the hospital.”
“Well, I was just protecting Layla. He put his hands on her right there in front of me, so he had it coming.”
“Honey, Damien has had that coming for years, and I’m so glad I got to see the little heartbroken look on his face when I came in. He was so embarrassed. It was classic. But, that’s not even the best part. You ready for this?” She looks over at Layla in anticipation, like she can’t wait another second to spill it.
“I’m ready, I’m ready,” Layla chirps. “What is it?”
“David fired him.”
“Holy shit. What?” Layla says, her voice filled with excitement and joy.
“Yeah, that’s right. I guess David saw the whole thing go down with you three, and when you left, he was getting onto Damien about always causing trouble and putting his hands on the girls. He told Damien he was done, and not to come back, because he didn’t know how to run a business. He kicked him out and said he was gonna run Red Pony by himself. You should’ve seen it, Layla, all the girls in the place started cheering right in front of him. You could see how ashamed and embarrassed he was. Honestly, if he wasn’t such an abusive asshole, I would’ve felt bad for him, but since he is an abusive asshole, fuck him. I was laughing.”
“Wow. That’s so good,” Layla says. “I’m sure the other girls were ecstatic. That’s great. He finally got what was coming to him. All the shit he did to us for all those years, it finally came back around to bite him in the ass. I couldn’t have written a better ending for that.”
“You got that right. It’s been a pleasure to go work these past few days without him there to act like an ass,” Marlene says, just as the drinks are brought to the table.
“Okay, so that’s Marlene’s news,” Amanda chimes in. “I have news of my own now, so everybody grab your drinks and let’s make a toast.”
We all pick up our drinks and hold them in the air as Amanda starts talking.
“Okay, so this is a toast to Layla. Not only did she start the revolution at Red Pony when she quit, she also earned her GED and has started taking college classes to become a teacher. And now, I would like to proudly announce that the principal at my elementary school has agreed to hire you as a secretary in the school office.”
“Oh my god!” Layla screams as she stands up and gives Amanda a hug. “I can’t believe that. Are you serious?”
“You know it! One of the secretaries moved away because her and her husband got a divorce, so we had a slot open. I told her about you and your situation and how you were going to college now to become a teacher anyway, and she decided to make it happen. You have to meet with her next week, but if you want the job, it’s yours.”
“Fuck yeah, I want it!” Layla chirps again, her face red from the excitement. “Oh my god, thank you so much, Amanda.”
“You’re welcome, sweetie. You deserve it. You’ve worked your ass off to bring yourself out of your situation, and we just couldn’t be prouder of you.”
The three of them hug, and then all of us chug our drinks. Marlene slams her glass on the table and then asks the bartender to bring us four shots of Patron, which he does without hesitation.
“Okay, so that was part one of the celebration,” she says when we get our shot glasses. “There’s a part two, and it’s so huge and awesome, we had to share it with you guys.”
“I’m not sure I can take too much more excitement,” I chime in. “You guys are hype already.”
“Damn right, we are, and it’s about to get louder in here,” Marlene continues, holding her shot glass up in the air and waiting for us to do the same. “Okay, so, to cap off the night of great news, Amanda and I would like to announce . . . that we’re getting married.”
The three women all scream at the same time. I see a few people’s heads look in our direction, but they don’t say anything. I’m not as connected to Marlene and Amanda, but I join in on the big group hug anyway. They’re awesome people, and they deserve just as much happiness as anybody else in this world, and I’m happy for them.
We all knock down our shots and order more. It looks like I might be taking a cab home tonight, but it’ll all be worth it. I wish Jason and Jordan were here to celebrate with us, but I’m glad I’m a part of this team, and I feel genuine happiness as the four of us take another shot and celebrate all the good news.
For me, the thing I’m celebrating most is how far Layla has come. I remember what she was like when we first met, and I basically had to force her to talk to me. She was so guarded, and trying so hard to keep everybody out. The men in her life had nearly ruined her, but she held on. She fought through all of it and persevered to become the beautiful woman she is now. She isn’t afraid of anything anymore, and I’m honored to be a part of her journey. I’m proud to b
e able to bring her some happiness, because she deserves it more than anybody. The road she has traveled has been cluttered with bumps and obstacles, but she made it past it all. She survived the long road, and now she’s gliding along smoothly to her light at the end of the tunnel, which keeps on getting bigger and brighter. She’s out of her cocoon and ready to take flight, and I plan on flying right beside her. So, I grab another shot glass and hold it in the air as the ladies follow suit.
“Congratulations, ladies,” I toast. “On the new job, on the engagement, and to Damien finally getting his ass kicked.”
“Hell yeah!” Layla says, and we all down our drinks.
Layla
One Year Later
“So, you nervous?”
“Uhh, I don’t know. Maybe a little nervous, but I feel okay. I mean, it’s been over a year, and I’ve been through enough therapy already. I’ve been through enough recertification training. I’ll be alright.”
“Good, good,” I reply. I grip his hand a little tighter as we walk down Lily Street towards my apartment. It’s seven o’clock in the evening, not exactly one of our night owl walks like we used to take, but that’s because we both have to go to work in the morning. After Just over a year of being grounded, Austin is finally being allowed to fly a training mission tomorrow.
Over the past year, I’ve been in his corner a lot. It’s ironic, really, but the tables kind of turned for us after we got back together. It’s been Austin who needed me to stick by his side while he struggled to get over his PTSD. I knew he needed my support, and there were many nights where he woke up after a nightmare, and I had to be there to comfort him. We’ve walked down this road more times than I can count, but over time, I saw him getting better. He never liked to admit he was having a hard time at night, but I can see the difference now. We’ve been spending weekends sleeping at each other’s houses for a few months now, so I know for a fact the nightmares have stopped, and that’s a huge step for him. I think this training mission tomorrow will be the biggest, most important step he’s taken yet. So, I’ll continue to be there for him just like I have been for the past year.
