by Jess Bentley
“Actually… there has been a change of plans.”
“Owen, not again! Do you think you can just do what I tell you —”
“— it's gotta be Melissa, Silas. It had to be her.”
“Mama?” Angel asks, a note of concern in her voice. He bounces her hand in his meaty paw.
“Don't worry about it, Angel,” he reassures her. “It's all right. Your mom is everybody's Mother Melissa now.”
“What does that mean?”
“She's the new leader of Kingdom Come. We gave it to her. It's hers now.”
“Oh, I bet she will love that!” Angel scoffs. We all chuckle at that, knowing just how true it is.
“What made you give it to her?” I ask, careful to not sound too judgmental. As I’m finally realizing, Owen typically has very good reasons for his decisions.
“Well, I left the bar and headed home, thinking I would just grab whatever I could to get out of there, and I realized pretty quickly that Dustin’s guys were going to be right on my tail. It's not like the compound location was some kind of secret or anything. And I knew if they got me, I wasn’t going to be getting out. But if I left the compound undefended… I think you know what Dustin would do with Kingdom Come.”
“Yeah, I see what you’re saying,” I concede, slightly embarrassed that I didn’t anticipate that scenario. All I could think about was Angel.
“So I took a little chance.”
“What kind a chance?” I ask him.
“I pulled off at the Gas ’N’ Sip and called Sheriff Dooley. Told him the compound was gonna be in trouble. That Dustin’s guys were headed over there. But that we were gone for good. I just wanted to make sure he got there first, to head them off.”
“That's pretty good thinking there,” I have to admit.
“Whoa, a compliment? From you? Wow.”
“Oh, give it a rest, Owen. Don’t you get enough affirmation in your life?”
“Hey, Angel, maybe you need to write this down. On this day, Silas acknowledged that I can do something useful with my life!” Owen crows.
Angel chuckles deep in her chest, slapping us each lightly on our legs. “Yeah, I guess you guys really are brothers after all, huh? You sure bicker like brothers.”
“So anyway,” Owen continues, “I had a feeling that Melissa had some kind of thing going with the Sheriff. I had seen her a couple of times sneaking around in the middle of the night, going to meet somebody. And once, I saw his lights come on his cruiser when he went to go to a call. Sort of put two and two together.”
“Mama? Was going out to meet somebody?” Angel wonders aloud. “That’s… amazing. I never even suspected.”
“Don't you ever sleep?” I ask.
“Wow, Silas, you really think you're the only one who cares about the Family, don't you?”
I shift uncomfortably. Maybe he’s got a point. Maybe I haven't always relied on him like I should, or given him the respect he deserves. He may have just saved everyone’s bacon tonight.
“Well, I hope he still has a few more brilliant ideas,” I say, shaking my head. “I only picked up about six hundred dollars at the bar, and that is not going to get us very far.”
“Yeah, you're probably right,” he sighs. He hauls himself off the mattress and walks back to the door in the darkness, stretching and yawning. He pulls off his shirt and folds it neatly on the dresser before picking up the satchel next to his boots.
“I got what I could out of your desk drawer —”
“— my what?”
“Oh, you know, the fake desk drawer bottom you don't think anybody knows about? Yeah. I found it. I got all the crap out of there.”
“Well that's good, I guess. Thank you?”
“Yeah, you should be thanking me,” he quips. “I left the deed for Melissa and took the money and other goodies, and then another envelope of papers —”
“Show me that envelope!”
With a sigh, he stuffs his hand into the satchel and pulls out an envelope. The paper is brown and brittle, stained with mysterious splotches from maybe coffee cups or other sources of moisture.
I flip open the metal tab and plunge my hand inside, drawing out the sheaf of papers. Birth certificates, that sort of thing. Not for Angel, but for me and Owen. I have to figure out how to get Angel an ID and that sort of thing some other time.
But in with the papers, there’s a set of house keys. And another deed.
“Are you the only person who knows about the drawer?” I ask him slowly.
He shrugs, scratching sleepily at the hair that covers his belly.
“Yeah, probably. Not like anybody else would ever dare go through your stuff, Silas.”
“And how do you feel about LA?”
Owen raises his eyebrows at me. Angel shifts, raising her chin to stare at me and blinking, wide-eyed.
“What is an LA?”
“Los Angeles, baby,” I tell her softly. “The city of Angels. You want to go?”
“It's only about a two-day drive,” Owen chuckles. “Like the old days, man. Will we be cool there? What are those keys?”
“Dad’s last stand,” I answer quietly. I think he understands. Just before he died, he sent me a letter. It was kind of an apology, if you can call three pages of rambling accusations and non-sequiturs an apology. But he enclosed the keys, and asked that we visit him.
We didn’t.
A couple months later, his attorney sent me the death certificate and the deed. The house would be ours. I’m going to have a lot of explaining to do with Owen, though. He probably would have wanted to visit the old man. I have no regrets.
“So… we have a destination?” he asks quietly.
“Everything happens for a reason, I guess,” I say, finally starting to believe that maybe that is true after all.
“Could we really do that?” she asks me. “The three of us?”
“It kind of looks like that’s the divine plan, doesn't it? Who are we to argue?”
She puts a big smile on her face, the kind that stretches her lips so wide I can see both rows of her perfect white teeth, and the bunching up of her freckled cheeks as she closes her eyes. I realize that smile is the perfect reward.
She wriggles against me, squeaking tiny animal noises of happiness. “Let's do it!”
“Yeah, I suppose we can do anything we want now, right?” Owen suggests, coming back around to the empty side of the bed.
“Anything we want,” she echoes happily. She wriggles up my body, coming nose to nose with me, then kisses me gently on the mouth. “Like this? I just do this if I want to?”
“You could do that,” I say softly, and feel myself starting to stir.
Interested, Owen shifts too, bringing his body closer to hers. I watch him stroke the outline of her hip under that pretty floral dress she made.
“Kiss me harder,” she breathes, her tongue running along the seam of my upper lip. I take her face in my hands, opening her mouth with my thumbs so I can taste her sweet flavor. I kiss her hard, deeply, claiming her. She's mine now. Finally.
“Oh yes, Daddy,” she sighs. Just hearing the word starts to drive me wild. I’m suddenly aware of the lines of her body draped across mine, her long legs, her sweet, small breasts high against my chest. I feel Owen slipping her skirt up a little more, and I reach out to touch smooth skin of her thigh.
“You too, Brother,” she sighs, stopping just a moment to utter the command. “I want to feel you too.”
“Angel, I'm going to be your Master, you know that?” I tell her. Then I wait so she opens her eyes to make sure that she knows, that she really understands what that means. “I will take your flower now. It's ours. To share. Do you agree?”
She smiles again, so pretty, so full of joy. She nods urgently, kissing me over and over again, tiny little angel kisses all over my face.
“Yes! Yes! That's what I want!”
“Brother Owen is going hold you, and this is going to —”
“You do
n’t have to tell me,” she whispers urgently. “Just do it, Daddy. Just do it now.”
I glance at Owen to make sure he understands. He takes her legs and spreads them gently, letting her lean against him. I want this to be right. She's asked for both of us, and I want it to be both of us. But I also want to be first.
My cock is already hard and ready. I reach between her legs and feel the slick seam of her, so hot and wanting. I feel her pulse under my touch, the way she always has. So eager, so ready. She has the most inviting pink pussy I've ever seen. But I want to savor this, to want her intensely for just a moment longer.
I had forgotten what it's like to want someone. I've had duties as a holy man, but I've never wanted someone like this. I've never wanted to join my soul with anyone the way I do with her.
Aligning myself with her, I fist my cock until it is hard and ready, so ready I'm almost going to shoot my load before I can get inside her. But I won't. I know exactly what I want to do, and I'm going to do it.
“Look at me. I want to see your face,” I command her gently. She opens her eyes right away and stares into me, so willing. Owen maneuvers her gently, perfectly balancing her. I know he wants her too, but he's going to have to wait.
With my cock in my hand, I slide the tip along her sweet, dripping lips. She groans, opening her mouth and sighing deeply. That sounds so beautiful.
Pressing a little harder, I push against her. I love this resistance, this perfect tight hole, knowing that no man is ever been this close to her. I'm her first, the one to break open her seal. The first one to feel her slippery insides, to claim her.
And she is so ready. Resistance is only for a moment, just at the entrance, giving way as I gently push, not too fast but steadily. A force of nature, driving slowly into the center of her. She groans as I fill her, and I struggle to concentrate. Her walls clasp against me, bringing me to the brink of orgasm instantly.
Withdrawing slightly I press forward again, arching my back until she accepts all of me, somehow magically fitting my entire girth inside her.
Covering her mouth with mine, I start to move with her, and she begins to move with me too. Owen nibbles the back of her neck, flicking her nipples with his fingers as I thrust into her a little bit harder, a little bit faster, soon working like familiar lovers.
It's so natural, so effortless. And so perfect, when I come it's like nothing I've felt before. It's like fireworks, mortars, an electrical transformer struck by lightning showering sparks everywhere. I heave myself into her, drenching her insides with my seed.
Her kisses are so sweet now, sopping with hormones, filled with her own lust. Her body is covered in a film of sweat and she smells like lavender and salt. I hear Owen’s zipper as it goes down and he lines himself up.
“My turn,” he murmurs softly.
She nods, taking my lips again in a sweet, lingering kiss as he enters her smoothly, plunging himself deep inside, exploring this sweet Angel we found. His hands grip her waist. Though he is careful not to be too rough with this perfect, delicate creature, she begins grinding, begging for more. She wants it so badly, I can taste the lust on her tongue.
He comes with a roar, and the three of us rock together, riding those waves of bliss that we have finally shared. We are joined in the way nature intended, finally at peace with ourselves, finally at peace with the future.
As we drift off to sleep, cradled in each other’s arms, I realize that finally, all my dreams can be happy ones. Finally I have found peace.
Chapter 24
Angel
It actually takes us four days to get to California. Brother Owen said that he wanted to go the long way. There were all kinds of things that he had never gotten to see, like Chattanooga. Oklahoma. The Mississippi and Colorado Rivers. Snow in the mountains.
I just can't get over how big this country is. It seems like my life has always been very small, bordered by falling down fences on three sides and the love and support of all the people that I knew. But really, it's huge. Those songs that we sang, like with purple mountains majesty? We really have purple mountains! Amber waves of grain? That's a real thing!
Mile after mile, I just open my heart to all the wonder that there is. Sometimes cold, sometimes hotter than I could have possibly imagined, still, riding on the back of a motorcycle across the country has been an unbelievable dream come true.
Only, it wasn’t my dream. It was Owen’s. I didn't know enough about the world to even dream it.
I see him smiling proudly at me from time to time when he is showing me something new. Little by little, I am getting to know him more. He’s a dreamer, maybe even more than Father Daddy. He is always looking ahead, looking for more.
In Georgia, they have red clay roads. They're terrible for the motorcycle when it's raining, but it wasn't raining for us. The dust was fine and got all up in my nose. But still, something totally strange and wonderful to see. He seemed so proud to show it to me.
We keep to the back roads, away from the highways. That's another reason it's taking so long. But from what I gather, I'm not supposed to be here. I'm not supposed to be anywhere.
I didn't know what the man at the motel was talking about when we first left, that I needed an ID. I have nothing. I don't even have a last name. If we got pulled over by the police, I would have no way to prove who I am.
That's how they explain it to me, but it doesn't make any sense. Of course I'm someone. Just because the police don't know I am, doesn't mean I don't exist. It's ridiculous. But apparently there are laws that say I have to have certain kinds of pieces of paper. I need to be in the system, whatever that is. I need to be documented.
Father Daddy says that he'll work this out when we get to LA. Los Angeles means City of Angels, and that just makes me giggle. A whole city, just for me? I know that's not it, but it's still fun to say.
Southern California is yet another desert. This is also a surprise. I thought deserts were distributed perhaps one per country. I didn't know that the country could have more than one. Just another silly assumption because I didn't know anything about anything.
It's hot, but there are no mosquitoes. The light is golden everywhere. The sky is enormous. We sail through roads that shimmer at the far end and look like they're covered in water but when we get there, there's no water at all. Just more brown sand and dirt everywhere. Cactuses.
Everywhere we go, whether it's to eat or use the bathroom or camp, Father Daddy and Brother Owen stand on either side of me, like they’re my bodyguards. I'm not supposed to wander off. I'm not supposed to talk to strangers. I'm still enclosed in their protection.
If we need to get something, Brother Owen will go and get it. Father Daddy will stand next to me and wait. I don't need to do anything.
I don't do anything but daydream. I imagine that our new house is a bright white castle on a hill. Father Daddy said once it was in the hills of LA, so I'm pretty sure I have the hill part right. Trying to stretch my mind forward, I yearn to see a vision of our new life that I can access.
Will I be a housewife? A queen? The auntie of our new Kingdom Come? I don't know. I can't wait to find out. The possibilities are endless.
Eventually, we come to the ocean. It doesn't look anything like I thought it would. It's so big that the horizon doesn't even contain it. It just sort of fades into mist at the far end, though I know it eventually circles around to Asia somehow.
It smells like… the ocean, I suppose. I’ve heard people say that before, but it's really intense. Salty. Kind of feral, almost like a barnyard or something. Just a little bit filthy.
But so beautiful. The waves make a frightening amount of noise. Brother Owen asked me if I wanted to touch the water, but not yet. Today the waves are over my head. I'm afraid I will be swept out to sea.
There are thousands of cars and bikes on the highway. We turn off and begin the slow climb up the side of what looks like a small mountain. There are palm trees. The road zags back and forth, climbing ever hig
her. Houses seem to go all the way to the top. They’re enormous. Windows gape toward the ocean like eyes, all staring at the water at the same time.
Finally we slow. Motorcycle engines growl like big, African cats as we climb a brick covered driveway to the end. My heart begins to race.
Someone comes out the front door, gliding down the front steps as her shoes make sharp noises against the stones. She waves one arm over her head. Her hair is pulled back into a tight bun, so extreme that seems to elevate her eyebrows a full half inch.
“Mr. Redken? Yoo-hoo!”
Father Daddy doesn't say anything as she comes near. He dismounts the bike and edges to stand in front of me, protective as always.
“It's such a pleasure to meet you!” She sings, her voice strangely smooth like someone who speaks for a living. Maybe she's an actress. Maybe everyone here is an actress.
“Thank you for meeting with us,” he says formally. He stands straight and extends a hand to shake hers. It's a strange gesture, one I have seen in movies but never in real life. But I remember, Father Daddy had a life before Kingdom Come. He probably knows all of the customs here.
“And, um… Mrs. Redken?” she says brightly.
She means me.
Father Daddy steps aside slightly. He cups me under my elbow, supporting me.
“Yes. This is Angel.”
She holds out her hand. I extend my arm, sliding my fingers against hers. She pinches me slightly, bounces, then lets go. That didn't go so badly. She doesn't seem alarmed in any way. I suppose that was a success as first-time handshaking goes.
Then she turns and repeats the same sort of greeting with Owen. After, she pivots on her heel and sails back toward the front door, erupting into a musical description of the house, claiming that the estate preserved everything intact, hoping we all find it satisfying, and if he would consider selling it to please, please, please contact her first.
It's only the breeze of her flying past me that lets me know that she's gone. The front door closes, and finally it is quiet.
