Where There's Smoke

by B L Morticia

  “We don’t. I mean, I want to be with her every day. That’s why I wanted to take her back with me.”

  “Understood, but, I’ve missed her. A lot. I want to spend the time playing with her until we make up our minds on where we’ll be. I’ve been doing some thinking about it too. Since you don’t like Chicago and I’m not all that crazy about Cobalt, why not live in a town in between?”

  I scoffed at that. “What’s not to like about Cobalt? It’s a great place to raise a family.”

  “A typical family. Not one like ours. I thought of the neighboring town in Highland. In all truth, it is more of a place for us to build a house and settle, but I believe people stay to themselves there, mostly.”

  “And that’s what we want for our daughter? To be sectioned off from the rest of the world because people don’t agree with our relationship?”

  “No, not that but…”

  I pulled my hands away from his. “Look, Cobalt is wonderful. Sure, there are a lot of Bible thumpers, but they’ll have to deal. Jonas and I have. Myles, I don’t want sterile. I don’t want Macy to live behind walls because she comes from a different kind of family. She’ll face many challenges even without the fact of having three fathers. We can’t shelter her from everything. I suggest we stay in Cobalt because at least she’ll be able to interact with other children. If they or their parents don’t want her around, then fuck them.”

  Myles appeared exasperated by my answer. “Ah, Santiago, I knew you wouldn’t make this easier.”

  Upset over his words, I frowned. “What do you mean? Myles, this isn’t normal for you. I get that, but living in this ivory tower-like place or a castle in Highland just won’t do.”

  “Fine. We’ll leave that for another discussion with Jonas. Hopefully he’ll help you see that we should want to live elsewhere. I was only trying to provide an alternative solution for Chicago. I’d love to raise Macy here, but I’m aware it’s a hardship for you.”

  “I really do appreciate that, but a sterile suburb isn’t the answer. I think there are people in Cobalt that wouldn’t mind being friends with us and our child. I’m not sure about Highland.”

  “All right. Well, we’ll talk about it more soon.”

  “Okay. So how long will you have to stay here?”

  “Until January.”

  “January?” I looked away from Myles and shook my head. “Why? Myles that’s like four months away.”

  “Don’t worry, I’ll make plenty of visits, but I do have to carry out my duties as VP.”

  “God. Talk about missing everything.”

  “Santiago, I’m sorry. Garrett has been able to run the company without me, but there are several things we need to put in place. If you feel it’s too long, why not brave Chicago for a while and stay here? You quit your job, stay here with me, and Jonas could drive up on his off days. That way you’ll be with Macy all the time.”

  Hearing Myles’s suggestion, I started hyperventilating. Although I loved the thought of being with Macy all the time, I couldn’t do it.

  “No. Too… many bad memories, too much!” I got up from the couch and walked quickly to the window.

  “Santiago, for God sakes, I get that you went through a terrible ordeal, but it wasn’t the city’s fault. You’d be here at my place, secure, and away from Back of the Yards and anyone else who hurt you.”

  “You think?” I sniffed and tears fell from my eyes. “You really think I can forget what happened to me?”

  “I didn’t say forget−,”

  I cried openly. Right then, the visions replayed in my mind. “Myles, I was assaulted.”

  “I know baby. I−,”

  “No… you don’t know everything.” My lips quivered and breath caught in my chest.

  “You told me they drugged you and they roughed you up a little.”

  “Yes. And they raped me… repeatedly.” I sniffed again, feeling my heart skip a beat. Memories of my clothing being ripped from my body and the hands scratching my flesh came to life. I shook uncontrollably. I couldn’t stop the thoughts from repeating, unrelenting.

  “Myles, they penetrated me. All five of them did.”

  “Oh my God, Santiago, why didn’t you tell me? Baby… I…” Myles gasped and his footsteps came closer.

  “No, no, please. I can’t. I can’t be touched right now. I need…” I closed my eyes tight. My mouth was as dry as the Sahara desert and I’d heaved as if I was about to vomit.

  “Stay where you are. I can’t be here, Myles. I have to go back to Cobalt. I feel safer there, away from my attackers. One you know personally.”

  “What? Who? No one I know is a rapist.”

  “Yes, you do. I remember the tattoo. The black scorpion on the left side of his neck. He came to your mother’s memorial. He−,”

  “Karl? Karl was one of your attackers? How the hell. How could he?” Myles snarled, sounding furious.

  I sucked in a breath and dropped to my knees. I rocked back and forth, shaking my head, trying to calm myself as best as I could. No one could do that for me, except perhaps Sarah and Macy. I knew their touches wouldn’t be threatening.

  “I believe he always wanted you. I found it interesting that he waited until you left to do it. You went for that conference in New York, remember? I was raped while you were gone.”

  “That sonofabitch. Jonas! Jonas come out here now!”

  I heard Myles’s footsteps retreat in the other direction.

  I breathed in a sigh of relief, but my heart hadn’t stopped pounding and neither had my head. Pain surged through my chest and I gripped the spot where my heart was, feeling it hammering.

  “Ugh.” My legs were weak. I felt as if I wanted to throw up but I couldn’t move. I was paralyzed by the visions.

  “Sarah, take care of Santiago. C’mon, Jonas. I know you’ve got to work tomorrow, but this is important,” Myles said, his voice raised.

  “Santiago? Are you okay, babe? Myles, where are we going?” Jonas said.

  I couldn’t bring myself to look at Jonas right now, even though I loved him with all my heart. I only hoped he could forgive me for ignoring him.

  In moments, I felt soft hands on my shoulders along with a soothing voice.

  “It’s okay, honey. I understand what you’re going through. I’ve been there.”

  Just as the door closed, I turned to see Sarah’s sweet face. “You have?”

  “Yes.”

  I nodded. “Where’s Macy?”

  “Asleep, thank goodness. We can talk and drink tea until she wakes up. Do you need to go to the bathroom?” She held on to me as I tried standing up.

  When I struggled to my feet, she rubbed the back of my neck.

  “I think I’ll be okay. Where did they go?”

  Sarah gazed at me matter-of-factly and sighed while she wiped the tears from my face with her fingertips.

  “I believe Myles said something about street justice and he took Jonas with him.”

  * * * *

  Myles

  The elevator couldn’t get to the garage fast enough. I ran to my car which was parked only a few spaces away. Pressed the key fob so hard; I damn near broke it. If I’d had something else in my hand I would’ve snapped it in two.

  “Myles, what happened? You wanna tell me what you meant about street justice?” Jonas asked while getting in.

  I didn’t answer him right away because I had a phone call to make. After pushing the button to start the car, I pressed another to call the bastard who raped our man.

  “Dial Karl.”

  “Dialing.”

  “Myles, tell me…”

  “Shh, dammit Jonas. I’ll tell you in a−,”

  “Hey, Myles. What’s up?”

  Hearing that happiness in his voice made me sick to my stomach. I couldn’t wait to see him so I could beat the living daylights out of this creep.

  “Yeah. I want to see you. Uh… I need some, Karl. I need to be fucked.”

  Jonas slapped my arm,
looking at me frowning.

  I shook my head and placed my finger over his lips.

  “Oh yeah? You’re finally coming around to my way of thinking.” Karl sounded as if he was genuinely happy.

  “Yeah, well. I need some action. It’s been awhile. Anyway, where are you? I got lube, the condoms, everything we’ll need.”

  “Well, all right then. Why don’t you meet me at my place? You know where my condo is, right?” Karl said.

  “Yes. I remember it well. You had the Christmas party there last year.”

  “Uh, huh. The one you came to with another piece, but that’s okay. I’ll let that go.”

  My eyes narrowed at this asshole talking about the hot man I brought with me to his gathering. It was intended as a signal to step off, but had seemed to have the reverse effect on this jerk.

  “Mhmm. All right. I’ll see you there. Oh and a friend of mine is coming too because I’d like a threesome.” The bile rose in my throat, but I held it down. Karl would never get a piece of me in any way, shape or form. The only piece he’d get is my fist messing up that pretty face of his.

  “Cool. The more the better. Okay, babe. I’ll be ready. You want me naked and waiting for you and your friend?”

  “Nope. I wanna have fun undressing you. So leave everything on. Just have some liquor ready for us so we’ll loosen up. Can you do that for me?”

  “Sure can. See you soon.”

  “All right. Later.” I disconnected the call.

  “That conniving sonofabitch!” I pulled out of my parking space and raced out, nearly hitting one of the poles on the side of the exit. Thank goodness this asshole’s place wasn’t that far away.

  “Myles, what the hell, man! You wanna tell me what the heck is going on?”

  When Jonas spoke, I glanced at my other lover, noticing the fear in his eyes and his hands clutching the dashboard. I eyed the road again, making sure I didn’t run a red light. “That guy Karl. The one I told you that’s been stalking me?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Santiago said that sonofabitch raped him! He said he remembered the scorpion tattoo on his neck.”

  “Wait, what the fuck? Are you serious? Why the hell didn’t he say anything? That’s why he ran away yesterday?”

  “Yep. And we’re about to kick some rapist tail. I know you’re with me.”

  “Fuck yeah, I am. We gotta do this right though. You know better than me that a creep like him will probably turn on us and press charges.”

  “I don’t fucking care, Jonas!” I seethed, driving so fast I could’ve sworn I smelled smoke coming from my tires. “This motherfucker better be glad I don’t own a gun. I’d shoot him.”

  “Hey, hey, I would too, but let’s get him back the smart way. We rough him up, get him to tell us the truth, then turn him in to the police. That’s the right way to do it. Believe you me it might save us some grief.”

  “Fuck the grief! This prick needs to suffer! And he’s gonna suffer.”

  In a hurry, I turned the car on 16th and cut two other cars off to get to 16 Northway where this ass lived. He didn’t live poorly. It was a beautiful neighborhood, one I would love to live in if I didn’t value my privacy or all the amenities I got in the condo.

  “Myles, please.” Jonas put his hand on my arm, gripping it tight.

  “Jonas you’ve got to stop.”

  “Stop what? I’m trying to make you think clearly. Myles I’m with you. I want this asshole to suffer, but knowing how much of an ass he is, he’ll come up with some shit on us. Let’s do this right, okay?”

  I eyed Jonas’s hand on my arm, then nodded. “All right, you lead the way, Jo Jo.” I smirked at him.

  Jonas laughed. “Yes, let’s go kick some creepy tail, Fancy.”

  “You got it.” I winked at him and I hopped out of the car. I pressed the key fob to lock it and walked up the small steps to this rat’s place. I rang the doorbell and in moments Karl opened the door, looking snide and licking his lips. I saw red, but I willed myself to stay calm so we could get him to talk.

  “Hey, Myles.” Karl’s eyes went from me to Jonas. “Oh wait, aren’t you Santiago’s man?”

  Jonas nodded. “Not anymore. I’m Myles’s man now. We’re trying to get together and um, he mentioned how much he’d like to have a threesome with you before we get settled. I don’t believe in sharing once we’re in a committed relationship.”

  I smiled to myself. Jonas was very intelligent. I had him pegged all wrong. Perhaps that was another reason I was falling in love with him.

  “Really? Wow, Myles, you got yourself a winner here. So, does that mean Santiago’s available? I wouldn’t mind getting a…” Karl paused and swiped his tongue over his lips. “A little piece if you’re both done with him.”

  I gasped in response, trying to keep my composure over what this dickwad said.

  Jonas took a deep breath and his shoulders slumped a moment. He shook his head. “Fuck it. I can’t do this! You fucking asshole!”

  Before I knew what was happening, Jonas rambled through the door, knocking Karl to the floor. He had him pinned much like he had me during our scuffle.

  “What the hell, man? Why are you on me?” Karl held up his hands to cover his face.

  Jonas reared his fist back, but I held it and told him no.

  He nodded and took a deep breath. Fisting Karl’s collar, Jonas pulled him up with ease. “Fucking talk you piece of shit! You raped my man! You raped him, didn’t you?”

  Since Jonas had Karl occupied, I shifted around and plucked my phone from my pocket. I turned on my recorder app so I could get a confession verbatim.

  “Fucking talk now or I’ll break both your legs and arms!” Jonas yelled through gritted teeth. His face turned two or three shades of red.

  “All right, I did. I did. We−” Karl looked to be defeated. He was sweating and crying like a little weasel. Bitch was too good of a word for him.

  “Who is we?” Jonas dropped Karl, and he fell like a leaf onto the floor. “Goddamn you, who is we? Tell me asshole or I will rip you a fucking new one!”

  Jonas looked so angry. He was like the incredible hulk. Instead of green, he was red, menacing. Jonas put his hands around Karl’s neck.

  Trying to calm him, I tugged at his massive arms so he wouldn’t apply pressure. I knew the moment he did, Karl would be dead, and we’d have even bigger problems on our hands.

  “No, babe, no. Remember what you said.”

  “I fucking remember, but I forgot it all when he said that shit about Santiago! Talk, you ass! Tell me who else raped my man!”

  “Okay, okay! It was some guys we all know from The Yards. Jessie and them guys. When Myles left on that trip, we invited Santiago to a party.”

  “You know Santiago’s friends?” I said.

  “I’m from the Yards too. Jessie and them are closeted. They always wanted to fuck around with Santiago. So we came up with a plan to get him drunk and drugged.”

  “Then you all raped him,” Jonas finished the sentence.

  Karl hesitated.

  Jonas applied pressure again, and I slapped Jonas’s arm once more. I was no lawyer, but I knew if we kept using excessive force they might throw out the recording of this confession.

  “Yeah. W − we did. You can do what you want with me, just don’t tell anybody. That was a year ago, okay? We had our fun,” Karl chuckled nervously.

  “Fun? You fucking ass, my man can’t bear coming here because of you.” Jonas took both Karl’s arms and pushed them back over his head as far as they would go.

  Karl yelled as if he was in pain.

  “Okay, I’m sorry!”

  “Sorry isn’t fucking good enough. You better be glad I don’t want to catch a case for you. I should beat the shit out of you for what you did. But I tell you what you will do. You will confess to raping him to the police. Got it?”

  “No! I’m…”

  Jonas took one of Karl’s hands and twisted it the wrong way

&nbs
p; Karl screamed. “Ah shit, you’re hurting me. Dammit, all right, fine. I’ll tell them. I’ll leave Jessie and them out of it.”

  “No, you will not. You will tell the police about those bastards or I’ll break your face.” Jonas places his forearm on Karl’s neck.

  The weasel was squirming like a dead fish, breathing and turning red. His pretty face didn’t look so pretty now.

  “All right, I will. Just don’t kill me!”

  Jonas nodded, then with all his might, he delivered a swift blow to Karl’s jaw, knocking the man out cold. Karl’s body lay limp on the floor and Jonas got up, shaking his head.

  I took the opportunity to turn off the recorder so there wouldn’t be anything else. Surely Karl would want to press charges, but I was prepared to get a good lawyer and bail Jonas out if needed.

  Jonas stood up straight and eyed me. “When he said that shit about wanting Santiago another time, I almost killed him.”

  I patted Jonas’s shoulder. “I wanted to do it too, but Karl’s not worth it.”

  “No, but it would’ve felt good doing it. Then I thought about Macy, Santiago…”

  “And, me. Don’t forget about me. We couldn’t be together as a family if I’m behind bars.” I said.

  Although Jonas was still huffing, he eyed me in surprise. “Does this mean…”

  To cut him off, I leaned into Jonas and kissed him quickly. “Yes. I want us together, Jonas. All of us with Macy.”

  Jonas smiled wide and lifted me off the floor, swinging me around. “Hot damn, I knew it. It’s gonna be great, all right? You’ll see.”

  I nodded in agreement, grinning at the jolly giant I was quickly falling for. “Yes it will.”

  After returning the lip lock, Jonas put me down and turned away from me. “Time to move the trash.” He picked up Karl like he weighed nothing and dropped him on his own recliner. “We need something to tie his hands with.”

  “He’s out cold. I doubt he’s going anywhere.” I shrugged, looking around for something.