by M. A. Stone
"See problem solved," he remarked.
“What about Axel?”
“I am not sure, we will have to figure that out too,” he responded.
"Okay."
“How about I wipe all those worries away?”He gave me an evil grin. I squealed as he dove under the sheets and a few minutes later, I was lucky if I knew what my full name was.
Chapter Nine
Three weeks later
Axel was still a no show. No one had any idea where he had gone and, he did not answer texts or calls. It had been almost four months since I had made the drive down to come and live with him. Jack and I had been an official couple for three weeks and I was a very happy woman.
Today, Chloe, Abby and I were going to the beach together and the day was perfect for it. Jack was working on some drawings at a drafting table in his room and was not really paying attention to what I was doing. We still had not moved my things into his room, but we slept together every night, and I loved it. He gave me butterflies every time that I looked at him. The sex was amazing and it made me all warm just thinking about it. I could not get enough of him. In front of the mirror, I removed my jeans and tank top. On the bed was my bikini. It was hot pink with black polka dots. The top was a revealing halter top and the bottom was a boy short style. I loved it. I bent over to slide the bottoms on and I heard a pencil drop. Jack came up behind me and I could feel his hot breath on my neck. In the mirror in front of us, he eyed me up and down. He looked like a wolf about to eat its prey. He grinned. He kissed my neck and I closed my eyes, sighing.
“You like?” I asked. He got closer to me and grabbed my hips, pulling me to him, hard. I giggled. He was rock hard.
“Mm mm yes I like,” he replied, kissing my neck and making me giggle again. I reached behind me and touched his head, rubbing its smoothness. I spun around and brought his mouth to mine. He kissed my mouth like he wanted to eat me alive. I got hot and wet thinking about that mouth on my...
“Ahem,”said a tiny voice from the doorway. Chloe was standing there, her blonde hair flowing down her back. She was wearing a tiny black and silver bikini with a skull print all over. She looked hot, and she was curvy like me. She tapped her little foot on the floor and shook her head.
“Could you two break apart for a moment?” she asked with a smile. Jack kissed me one last time and stalked over to his drafting table. He looked up and shot Chloe a dirty look. I bit my lip to keep from laughing at the two of them.
“Almost ready?” asked Chloe.
“Yep, be right there,” I said. She turned and left the room, closing the door behind her. My flip flops were under the bed, so I bent over to retrieve them, not really paying attention to Jack. I gasped as I felt Jack grab my hips, pull my bikini bottoms to the side and slide two fingers inside of me, rubbing my clit with his thumb. It felt so amazing and I moaned softly, not wanting him to stop. He leaned over me and kissed my neck.
“Have fun,” he whispered and slid his fingers out of me. He spun me around and licked his fingers. Scowling at him, I grabbed my flip flops and left. His laughter followed me out the door.
It was sunny and warm; the beach was not too crowded. We plopped close to the water and set up a cooler with drinks and food behind us. We spread out our towels on the sand and relaxed, the sun beating down on us.
"So I talked to your Uncle yesterday," Abby blurted out. I lowered my sunglasses and looked at her.
"Why would you see my Uncle Tangler of all people?" I asked. She grinned.
"Well I stopped to see Lamar on his lunch for a little quickie, and your Uncle was talking to the principal of the school. You know your Uncle teaches up at the high school now right?" she said.
"A quickie?" asked Chloe.
"That's all you heard?" Abby asked Chloe. Chloe stuck out her tongue and then popped a Twizzler in her mouth.
“They are trying to get pregnant,” I informed Chloe. She nodded in understanding and looked back to Abby.
"Hmm, I thought he was still at the junior high. What was up with my Uncle?" I asked her.
"Apparently he has been hiding out from your Aunt and her nesting that she is doing. I filled him in on what was going on with Axel and he is not pleased," she replied.
"Not cool," I remarked.
“He said that there is really nothing that he can do about the situation. He said he would talk to Spike and see if maybe your cousin has any idea where Axel is. He also said that he was going to talk to your Uncle Sid. See if his contacts can find out anything,” she explained.
“Thanks Abby. I have not had a chance to go see Aunt Almeida. Her house is a madhouse. Poor Uncle Tangler,” I said. She nodded. She was thoughtful for a minute.
“Has anyone heard from Axel at all?” asked Abby.
“No. I am really worried about Axel. But we all are.” responded Chloe.
“I am thinking of hiring a private detective to see if they can come up with something. I am out of ideas.” I replied.
“That might be a good idea, “replied Abby.
"We have the business handled, but it’s not like him. None of this is like him," said Chloe. I nodded in agreement.
"I think I am definitely going to go the detective route. Especially based on the fact that we have not seen hide or hair of him, my Uncle Tangler has no clue and this is so out of character for my brother," I said. The girls both nodded in agreement. Then I smiled.
“Oh I forgot to tell you, Dad is getting out tomorrow!”
“What? That is great! Where is he going to stay?” asked Abby.
“I called my aunt and she said he could stay in her house,” I replied. Abby raised an eyebrow.
“What? How is that going to go over, especially when even your Uncle does not want to be there?” asked Abby. I laughed.
“I will let those two figure it out. I am definitely not getting in the middle of all of that, “I replied.
“Nice. Well its cool that she is going to let your Dad stay there,” remarked Chloe.
“Yeah. She and Dad are like Axel and I were. She is younger and he has always looked out for her. They went through a lot of heinous shit growing up and Dad is like her father really. It’s about time someone took care of him,” I replied.
“I remember her from the trial. She was always sitting there behind your dad. I even remember when his ex girlfriend or whatever she was, Kaci, took the stand. That crazy bitch sat there on the stand, lying her damn face off and your Aunt lost her shit. Your Uncle Tangler had to haul your Aunt Almeida out of the courtroom, pregnant and all,” said Abby, shaking her head and grinning.
“What trial?” asked Chloe with a confused look on her face.
“My father was convicted of killing my mother. His alibi was not all that great. The lady that he was shacking up with, I guess she was pissed off that my dad was going back to my mom, so she lied on the stand. The cops did not have a whole lot of evidence, so they figured it was open and shut. He has been in jail for over 12 years. My oldest brother, Beau, he took off three years after my Dad was put in jail, and we have not seen him since,” I replied. Chloe's eyes widened.
“That is rough. I am so sorry. Hey if you are going to hire that detective, maybe he can find your other brother for you too?”
“I don’t know Chloe. With Axel missing, Dad getting out of jail and Aunt Almeida on the warpath, finding Beau might be just too much for all of us to handle,” I replied. Abby nodded in agreement.
“Beau was always kind of a loner. Except where his mom was concerned. He shut down after her death. He did not have many friends and never dated. He was really into sports though. He was sort of isolated from the rest of the family,” remarked Abby.
“She’s right. He did not even come to my Mom’s funeral,” I replied. Chloe’s eyebrows shot up.
“At the time, we thought it was just grief. Now I don’t know,” I muttered.
“What are you going to do as far as your Dad goes?” asked Chloe. She was munching on another Twizzle
r.
“Well I had planned on talking to Jack about my Dad possibly working in the shop with Skeeter. He had mentioned something about needing another mechanic there. He knows Jack and Skeeter from when they hung out with Axel. Dad is old friends with Jack's mom. And like I said earlier, my aunt is letting him live in her house, which is a few blocks from us Chloe,” I replied.
“Sounds like a plan. But does he know about all of this?” asked Abby.
“He does not have much of a choice. That lawyer that I spoke to, he said there were conditions to Dad’s release. So whatever they are, he has to follow them. But I am going to take him out to dinner, in a public place to break it to him. Tons of witnesses,” I replied with a laugh. Chloe giggled. I just hope my Dad did not flip shit when I told him his new game plan.
The next morning, I woke up before Jack and tiptoed into the bathroom. Turning on the shower, I climbed in. Humming to myself, I let the hot water hit my skin as I tried to calm the butterflies in my stomach. My Dad was going to be out of jail. My Dad was going to be out of jail for good! It was a good thing. I just hoped that everything turned out well with Axel and this shit that had been going on did not cause my Dad to go back into jail. Drawn men were known for being stubborn, hot headed jack asses. Then again, looking at my Aunt Almeida, the women were not any calmer. Turning off the water, I jumped as the bathroom door opened and a sleepy boyfriend walked in. He planted a kiss on my cheek as I wrapped a towel around myself.
“I liked the view before,” he muttered as he got out stuff to shave. He looked exhausted. He had been at work until 2 am working on a chest piece for a former classmate. He had to be in early to open shop for an extra early appointment.
“Want me to bring you breakfast before I go to prison?” I asked, leaning against the doorframe. He grinned.
"Words that I never thought I would hear my girlfriend say to me," he replied with a laugh. I was his Girlfriend? Nice!
"Is that a yes?" I asked as I leaned against the bathroom sink.
“That would be awesome baby,” he replied. He went back to lathering his face and head with shaving cream as I went into the bedroom to get dressed. I went into the bathroom to give him a kiss before I left. He kissed me and then climbed into the shower.
Stopping off at Starbuck’s, I grabbed him a latte and a huge blueberry muffin. Walking out I looked up and I could have sworn I saw Barbie pulling out of the parking lot. Shaking my head, I figured I was just tired and overly nervous about the day ahead of me.
The shop was fairly quiet and Chloe was sitting in the waiting room reading a magazine and sipping a smoothie when I walked in.
“Hey chica, what’s up? “I asked her. She looked up and smiled. She had on electric blue leggings and a black and white checkered tank with Alice in Wonderland on the front. Her blonde hair was all pin up curly and she looked all sorts of awesome.
“I thought you had to go pick up your Dad?” she asked.
“I wanted to stop and bring Jack some breakfast. He did not have time to grab anything this morning,” I replied.
“What a nice girlfriend you are!” she mocked. I shoved her playfully. She giggled.
“Shut it,” I said with a laugh. We walked to the back room together. Matt was cleaning up his station and Skeeter was lounging on the couch talking with Jack who was at his drafting board. They looked up and smiled. Matt came over and gave me a hug and patted the top of my head. I gave him a smile and watched him walk back to his station. Skeeter nodded to me.
“Hey guys,” I called out. Jack smiled and came over. He took the paper bag with the muffin in it and the latte.
“Your breakfast has arrived sir!”
“Thanks baby. Much appreciated!” He kissed my cheek and sat back down next to Skeeter.
“How come you are back here?” Chloe said to Skeeter.
“Well Bleu had said she wanted to talk to me before she left for the prison. So here I am!” He gave me a blinding grin.
“Aww where’s my breakfast?” asked Matt, pretending to be offended. I giggled.
“Next time, place your order and I will be more than happy to bring you something too,” I replied. Jack frowned.
“Uh uh my woman only brings me breakfast,” pouted Jack.
“Dude, really? Bleu and I are like bff’s now. She friended me on Facebook and everything!” said Matt. Jack groaned and I laughed.
“Uh oh, I sense trouble in the bromance,” said Chloe with a snicker. Matt shook his head. I looked at Skeeter and rolled my eyes. He grinned. I walked over to Skeeter and looked down at him.
“Hey Skeeter, I wanted to know if you still needed help in the garage?”
“You have no idea! Craig quit yesterday and I am one man short for a mechanic. People are starting to pull their bikes out and get them ready and I am usually slammed this time of year!” he replied. He was all animated and loud, his hands flailing around like Chloe’s did when she talked.
“Well my Dad gets out of jail today and he was a kick ass mechanic before he got put away. He really could use the job and I figured that since you ran the garage, I would talk to you.”
“I don’t see why not. I had heard your Dad was, like, a motorcycle repair guru. Have him come by once he gets all settled in,” he replied. He was on his toes now, hopping from one foot to the other, super excited it seemed, to be working with my Dad.
“Thanks Skeeter,” I said softly. He smiled and walked out of the back room and the shop. Chloe gave me a small smile and a wave and then went over to her room and shut the door behind her.
“Okay, well I am going to take off,” I said to Jack. He came and kissed me softly and walked me out.
“Drive safe baby. I will see you later right?” he asked as he leaned against my truck.
“Probably not until later because I have that dinner with my Dad and all.”
“Okay, if you want to come in after that is all done with, I can do some more work on your tattoo.”
“I will let you know.” Climbing in my truck, I waved to him as I pulled out. I drove down the street, cranked the radio and made my way to the prison.
My massively tall father sat next to me in my truck, unusually quiet. This was not normal for him. At all.
“Dad?”
“What?” He jumped a bit. His large, tattooed hands were folded in his lap and he looked like he was on his way to a firing squad. His left leg was bouncing up and down. I put my hand on his knee and he stilled.
“What in the hell is wrong with you?” I asked.
“I am nervous.” He cocked an eyebrow at me as if he was daring me to make fun of him. I was so tempted.
“You??!!” He was a huge bear of a man, but he kept running his tattooed hands in his hair.
“It has been over 10 years Bleu. It feels good being out, but it’s been awhile. So much has changed,” he said softly.
“I know Dad. But I am so glad to have you out,” I replied, putting my hand over his. He smiled up at me and touched my cheek with his hand.
“You are such a good girl,” he said softly, which made me feel all warm and happy inside. I was far from a good girl, but it felt good to hear my Dad say it. My heart throbbed happily. My Dad was home.
We pulled up to the restaurant which was a biker bar/BBQ restaurant. Their ribs were amazing and I knew Dad would feel at home here. He smiled as we stepped in and we grabbed a table. Loud music was playing and a couple of grizzly bikers nodded to my Dad as we walked to our table.
“So what is the plan?” he asked. The waiter came by and took our drink order and Dad was twisting the wrapper to a straw around his fingers. He drummed his fingers on the table top in time with the music. Far off, I heard the subtle, muted click of pool balls.
“Plan?” I asked. I pretended to look innocent.
“Bleu?” he said, cocking his eyebrow at me. He knew me so well. I sighed.
“Ok. You are going to stay at your sister’s house. She is driving Uncle Tangler crazy and I thought it woul
d help him out to have you there. Plus it’s free until you can save up some cash. I also have a possible job for you at Axels’ shop. That’s if you want it. They need a mechanic and I cannot think of anyone who could do the job better than you,” I said with a smile.
“Well thank you Bleu. I just want to get settled in first and we will see how this all plays out,” he said slowly. He went back to fiddling with his straw wrapper.
“Okay Dad. Understood.”
“What’s good to eat here?” he asked with a wicked grin that was so much like Axel's.I suddenly missed my brother so much. We opened our menus.
Later in the car, we made small talk on the way to Aunt Almeida’s house.
“What are you doing tonight?” he asked me, his leg bouncing up and down again.
“Well after I drop you off, I am going over to the shop. Jack said he wanted to do some work on my tattoo,” I replied.
“Tattoo?” he asked, turning to look at me.
“Yeah. Jack is doing a rib piece. You can come and hang out if you want,” I offered. He shrugged. He opened his door.
“I will let you know honey. I think I just need some time, you know?” he replied. Nodding, I smiled and watched him walk up the walkway to my Aunt's house. She threw open the door and flung herself at him, screeching. Uncle Tangler stood off to the side, rubbing his head and then he and Dad hugged too. Tears were in my eyes as I pulled away, waving to my wacky family.
