by M. A. Stone
“Oh thank God. He was driving us nuts. Abby had him on internet lock down these past couple of weeks. He DVR’s weird stuff on the TV and stays up all hours,” he remarked.
“His sleep schedule must still be stuck on when he was working third shift,” I replied. He nodded.
“Either way, he is driving me crazy. But I hate to leave Abby alone with him. I am afraid she will kill him,” he said with a smirk. I patted his shoulder and walked into the house. I was greeted with the smell of pasta sauce and Abby yelling.
“No…Dad. I realize that you are going crazy, but I don’t think it’s a good idea,” she yelled. I walked into the kitchen and was faced with Abby, still in her gym clothes, facing off with an angry looking man who could be her clone. Blake, Abby’s dad was six five and still built. His blonde hair was crew cut short and he had some wrinkles here and there, but otherwise he was still an attractive man. He was wearing a navy blue t shirt and black jeans. He looked over at me and smiled.
“Hey there Bleu bell. How are you?” he said, crushing me in a hug.
“Fine. What’s going on?” I asked. He smirked.
“This one is giving me a hard time. As usual,” he said, pointing to his daughter. Abby rolled her eyes and smirked.
“About what?”
“He wants to join up with the ambulance squad,” she replied. I looked at him. He nodded.
“I did not want to retire. But I did when Abby’s mother left me. I had to. Curt was all alone,” he said, referring to Abby’s little brother, who was now 20. Abby’s mom left about five years ago.
“Okay.”
“I am physically capable of doing it. I cannot sit around here all day doing nothing,” he replied, folding his arms over his well-built chest.
“Abby why are you against this?” I asked. She sighed. I looked at her and she squirmed under my gaze.
“Dad, you are almost sixty. Shouldn’t you relax? Travel?” she asked.
“First of all, I am not almost sixty. I am 52. And where the hell would I go? And with whom?” he asked. She snorted.
“Yeah but you forgot one minor detail. You set your girlfriend on fire. Ladies tend to stay away from guys like you,” she remarked. I bit back a laugh and he glared at us. Abby turned to the stove and I could see her shoulders shaking with laughter.
“She told you?” he asked me. I nodded. His ears got bright red.
“I did not set her on fire. And I am doing this,” he said, leaving the room, letting us know that the subject was closed. I patted her shoulder.
“Well I guess you don’t need me after all,” I joked. She shook her head.
“All this stress is not good. He is driving me nuts. I am NEVER going to get pregnant,” she muttered.
“You guys are trying?” I asked, shocked. She nodded. I had been so swept away with my problems and my issues with Axel that I did not even ask my best friend what was going on in her life.
“We have been for about a year. I don’t want my dad to get hurt Bleu. Curt is away in the Army. God knows what is going on with him. And then dad and his internet date burn down the house. I feel like I am taking care of everyone,” she said softly. I pulled her into a hug.
“Well I am here. I am so sorry that I have been so focused on my issues. I have been a sucky friend,” I replied. She laughed.
“You are fine. I appreciate you trying to come over here and deal with Dad. He is a major pain in the ass, and you are one of the few people he does not bowl over,” she said. I nodded.
“Anytime my dear. Now can we eat?” I asked. She laughed and shoved me playfully. We talked for a few minutes as I helped her set the table and get dinner finished.
I returned back to the shop around nine thirty. Matt was still working, this time on a curvy lady who had a major sleeve going on. Chloe was cleaning up her room, while Jack was dropping down the table he used to do lower body tattoos. It looked like a massage table. He covered it with a paper sheet and began getting things ready. The waiting room was cleaned, swept and dusted. I stacked some new magazines that had come in on the tables in front of the couches. Making sure no one else was coming in; I put a little bell on the counter just in case we got a walk in. Jack came out and grinned.
“Hey how was dinner?” he asked. I smiled.
“Eventful. Abby’s dad wants to come out of retirement. He is bored,” I remarked. He raised an eyebrow.
“Why is he there living with Abby?” he asked.
“Long story short, he burned down his house getting it on with some woman he met on the internet. So he is staying with Abby. He is tired of doing nothing. He is not giving her room to argue with him. When he makes up his mind to do something, it’s done,” I replied. He laughed.
“Well your friends keep getting more and more interesting,” he muttered.
“You have no idea,” I replied. He patted the table in between us.
“You ready Mama?” he asked. Going behind the desk, I grabbed my bag, inside were a black t shirt and a thong. Underwear really was not an option. Jack was a professional, so I was not too worried. After I went into the bathroom to change, I came out, looking around me. Matt peeked over at me and whistled. He got a glare from me and he just laughed. Jack looked up as I trotted into his station and smiled.
“Nice thong”, he remarked. Climbing up on the table, I stuck my tongue out at him.
“Sorry, I was just trying to cut the tension,” he replied. He grabbed the drawing, which he had cut in half. He stood next to me and moved the picture around over my left hip, to see what the right positioning would be. He had my lie on my right side to better figure it out.
“I am going to go get all this taken care of. Hold tight,” he said. I relaxed a bit. After ten minutes or so, he came back with a pillow and a small sheet to cover me a bit. He put on gloves and walked over to me. He moistened my skin with water and positioned the tattoo stencil on my left hip area. Slowly and carefully, he pulled the stencil off of my skin. It left a purple blue image of my tattoo. He turned around and began setting up his tattoo gun. He pulled out small little cups that he poured black liquid into. He turned on the gun. He dipped the needle in the ink and gripped my hip.
“I know you know how all of this happens, you have gotten ink before. But listen to my little spiel and then we can start okay?” he asked. I nodded.
“The majority of what I am going to do today is outline the tattoo. I will try and do some shading too. We will have to see what your comfort level is,” he stated. I nodded and he bent over. The needle felt like someone was using a nail to draw on my skin and it did not hurt in the least. I relaxed and Jack and I chatted for a bit. I had covered with head with the hood of my sweat shirt, and I felt sleepy.
“What’s going on here guys?” asked Chloe. I looked up as best as I could and gave her a smile.
“Part one of a killer hip tattoo,” he replied.
“Just lining it out tonight I take it?” asked Chloe.
“Yep,” replied Jack. It was quiet.
So, when did you devious creatures set this up?” she asked. Jack smirked.
“Um yesterday. Is that okay Mom?” I asked. She laughed.
“Can I watch? I don’t have another client until later, last minute thing,” she explained.
“Absolutely lady,” I replied. Chloe was quiet for a minute, watching Jack work.
“Nice thong,” she said and giggled.
“Dude, that’s what I said,” replied Jack and he laughed.
Three hours later, Jack spread some ointment on my hip and covered it with some cling wrap My hip hurt and so did my lower back, but that was more from the position I had been lying in for three hours. Looking at Jack, I hopped off of the table and winced at the brief soreness. Jack handed me a pair of his sweatpants from his gym bag, which I gratefully took from him.
“Don’t worry, they are clean,” he said with a smile.
“Thanks! I did not think to bring some of my own,” I replied softly. Shutting the bat
hroom door behind me, I slid the sweatpants on and walked out again. He grabbed his bottle of soda, I grabbed my purse and we walked up to the front.
“Sore?” he asked. The office was quiet and I went over to the chair and sat down. I nodded. He put his hand on mine.
“What’s up?” he said. Here we go.
“I appreciate you letting me stay last night. So I guess we are going to be roommates,” I stated slowly. He looked at me.
“This was what you were so hesitant to talk to me about all day???” he asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Really? You have been hopping around like a poodle on crack all day whenever I came around. Like you are scared of me,” he replied.
“I am not scared of you Jack. I am scared of us,” I admitted and looked down at my hands. He came closer to me and tilted my face up with his hand, so that I was looking into his eyes.
“Why? Why does the idea of you and I scare you?”
I don’t want to lose myself again. I don’t want to hurt you with drama that inevitably comes along with me and I don’t want to lose you,” I replied. He gave me a tight hug and kissed the top of my head. He smelled so good.
“I am not going anywhere my dear. I promise. And drama? Have you not met my mother??” he asked with a smirk.
“Okay. I warned you,” I whispered. He laughed.
“Feel better?” he asked.
“I do feel better now that I told you. Also, Abs tore me a new one today at breakfast. It’s hard for me to open up like that. That was another thing she yelled at me about. Being so closed off. We are not really touchy feely people in my family, you know.”
“Well I cannot promise that I won’t have days where I am a total dick. But I would never hurt you intentionally,” he said softly.
He got into his car and I followed him in my truck. Walking into my new digs, I sat down on the couch and tossed my cell phone on the coffee table. I was wicked sore and unbearably tired.
“You look like you have a lot on your mind,” he said, coming to sit next to me, a beer in his hand.
“Abs and I were talking this morning, and she thinks I should go visit my Dad,” I said.
“Why?” he replied.
“Well growing up, my Dad, Aaron is his name, was a lot like Axel. He worked with Uncle Tangler at the bike shop, he was at every Bike Week, and he even rolled with an MC, the Diablo Demons. He is all tatted up and is even taller than you. He is handsome and intimidating. My Mom on the other hand, was a nurse in the ER, tiny, blonde hair, very soft spoken. She met my Dad when he and Uncle Tangler came into the ER after getting into a fight. She took care of him and things just happened from there,” I replied. He smiled.
“Axel is a lot like my father. But when I was growing up, I was closer to my Dad than my brothers were. My oldest brother Beau was always a loner, but always looked out for me. When Mom was murdered, he really withdrew, crashed on friend’s couches, stuff like that. He never went to the trial and left as soon as he turned 18.”
“When was the last time you saw him?”
“Beau? God, it’s been forever. And I have no idea where he is,” I replied.
“Abby thinks my Dad might be able to help me figure out what is going on with Axel. I think she may be right. I miss my Dad. He was my best friend,” I said softly.
“When are you planning on going?”
“Not sure. Maybe I can arrange to go there this weekend. Nothing is set in stone yet. I have to make some calls tomorrow to the prison and his probation officer,” I replied.
My Dad was on my mind this time when I tried to sleep. Ugh, this had to stop. After punching the pillow, glaring at my alarm clock and watching endless videos on YouTube, I got maybe an hour of sleep. Needless to say, I was tired and grumpy when I went in to work the next morning.
“How’s the hip holding up?” asked Matt when I walked in the back to grab some Windex. He was sporting some faded jeans and a black button down polo. His hair was now red.
“Not bad. I am a little sore. Otherwise good,” I replied. He nodded and gave me a smile. He was so quiet, but really nice. He was a really talented artist as well. He reminded me of someone, but I could not put my finger on it. And I really did not want to stare at him like a creeper.
“Can’t wait to see it when it’s all done,” he replied, snapping me out of my trance.
“What you didn’t get a good enough look at her ass last night?” asked Jack. We laughed and the guys both went to the drafting tables. Matt had a tricky cover up to do for a client and Jack was just lounging around.
“When can we do more work on my tattoo?” I asked Jack.
“I want to make sure your skin heals nicely. Sometime next week should be alright. I can outline the other hip, but it’s up to you,” he replied.
“I will let you know about the other hip,” I said. He nodded and went to work.
It took me two weeks to get a chance to go visit my father. Jack had outlined my other hip and did a five hour session on my left one. We had also moved into Chloe’s place and Matt had moved in above the shop. After our talk, I managed to relax a little and open up to Jack a little more each day. Abby kept me company along with Chloe. I knew I had made the right decision to move in with Jack and Chloe. And I finally was able to get some sleep. Jack was great and the three of us often did stuff together.
On Saturday, I woke up, had breakfast, took a shower and Googled directions to the prison on my laptop. Shutting the door behind me, I walked downstairs. I got into my newly fixed truck and took off. It felt good to be driving my baby again. Letting out a breath that I had no idea that I was holding, I forced myself to concentrate on my drive.
After parking, walking inside, getting a Visitor badge and being wanded and frisked, I was led into a common room type of area where the tables and chairs were seventies orange and bolted to the floor. The walls were beige tiled and there were windows all around, with cages over them. A few inmates visited with their families and a stern faced guard stood at the end of the room next to the door. The door opened with a buzz, and my father stepped out. Seeing me, he smiled. He was wearing an orange two piece jumpsuit that resembled hospital scrubs and dark brown work boots. His somewhat long hair was still wavy with a strand hanging over his eyebrow like Superman, but the black was shot with gray streaks. His goatee had some gray in it as well. He sat down and folded his tattooed hands. My name was tattooed on his right knuckles and my mother’s nickname, Angel, was on his left. His arms were inked up from shoulder to wrist, as was one side of his neck.
“Hey baby, how are you doing?” he asked in his deep, gravelly voice. He covered my hand with his huge hand. He looked me over hungrily and then smiled nervously.
“Good Daddy. But there is something wrong with Axel,” I replied. His face clouded.
“Did he knock someone up?” he asked.
“No Daddy,” I said with a laugh.
“What the hell did he do?” he growled, his hands going into fists. I placed my small hand over his and he relaxed a little.
“I moved down to be closer to him after Carl ditched me. He was alright for a few days, and then this crazy chick is in his life and I don’t know if she is calling the shots. But Axel is acting like a crazy person and then he goes off on me. Leaves town, kicks me out and won’t answer my calls or texts,” I blurted out. He is thoughtful for a minute.
“Doesn’t seem right,” he said.
“I know. Nothing adds up. It’s like this woman controls him, like she has something over on him. I asked him about it and he told me to butt out.”
“Baby, I don’t know. Everything about this is wrong. I can’t ask him because the little bastard won’t talk to me.” He glared angrily and then softened when he looked at my face.
“Sorry. Still haven’t learned to control the temper,” he said, looking embarrassed.
“I am going to figure something out. Abby thought it might be a good idea to talk to you, seeing as how Axel is a lot
like you. Have you heard anything from your lawyer?” I asked. He smiled.
“I am up before the parole board next month. July 5 is the exact date that they gave me. Funny huh? The day after Independence Day,” he said with a laugh.
“That’s good! You have definitely not done anything wrong, they have to let you out,” I said, hugging him tightly. He nodded.
“Aside from your dumb assed brother, how are you doing baby?”
“Well, after Axel kicked me out, I moved in with two people who work at the shop.”
“You shacking up with a guy??” he growled at me.
“Daddy, I live with Chloe and Jack. I am not shacking up with anyone,” I said quickly.
“Sorry I was worried baby girl, “he said.
“They are good people Daddy. When someone trashed my truck, they were there for me, gave me rides to work, etc. Axel bailed. They are like family now,” I said softly.
“I am going to kill Axel!” he replied, cracking his knuckles.
“And you will get thrown back in here Daddy,” I replied and he laughed.
“Wait…what happened with Carl?” he asked angrily. Oh boy.
On the drive home, I felt better, even if we didn’t really solve anything. Dad calmed down after I told him with I had done to Carl, he even laughed about it, a little. He laughed even louder and longer when I told him about Blake and him setting his house on fire. Axel was somewhere and I hoped he was alright. It was bad enough having one brother AWOL, but now two was painful. Thank God for Chloe and Jack, but I did not want to depend on them too much. As I pulled into the space in front of the shop, I grabbed my phone and texted Abby.
-Abs went 2 see Dad
-And?
-He wants 2 kick Axel’s ass
-Lol
-I feel better even if we did not solve anything. I mean, Dad understands and it was nice to just see him
-what about Beau?
-I have no idea where he is and right now, he is the last person on my mind
-it’s worth a shot right?
-IDK
What about my brother Beau? Where was she going with that one? What would that even solve? I mean our family has more than enough drama as it is. Besides, where the hell would I even look? It had been so long since I had seen him, I was not even sure I wanted to talk to him. Obviously he did not care enough about us; it was so easy for him to just walk away from us like he did.
