Bones by the Wood

by Johnson, Catherine

  Before lunch, after he’d suffered the indignity of Moira helping him to take a piss, there was a knock at his door. It opened a crack and Cage peered into the room.

  “Hey, Pres. You free for company?”

  “No, I’m paintin’ my nails.” Dizzy grunted, and grimaced as he tried to push himself further up the pillows.

  Smiling broadly, Cage entered, followed by Fitz. Fitz closed the door behind them. There was only one chair in the room. Cage took it and pulled it close to the bed. Fitz leaned against the wall with his arms folded across his chest.

  “Fuck, boss, you’re gonna look as pretty as me when you heal up.” Fitz nodded towards him.

  The covers had been folded at Dizzy’s waist to allow air to get to his skin, and to stop the material from chaffing on the stitches and raw patches of charred tissue.

  “Tell you what, next Halloween, we can go trick or treatin’. You can be Freddy and I’ll be Leatherface.” Dizzy quipped.

  “The others wanted to see you, too, Pres, but Moira’s on guard duty. Samuel says since it’s healin’ business that he’s not arguin’ with her. Fuck me, she’s a feisty one.” Cage shook his head. “We had to promise our firstborn babies to her to get up here, and if we upset you, she’ll take our balls. I’m pretty sure she meant that part.”

  Dizzy knew damn well what Moira was like in protector mode. “Yeah, I’m sure she did mean it. She’ll be more ornery than a junkyard dog ‘til I’m on my feet. Then it’ll just be me on the receivin’ end.”

  “I don’t envy you that, boss.” Fitz said.

  “Nope, that’s why you’re all gonna bust me out of here as soon as you can.”

  “Jesus. I like my dick where it is, Pres.”

  “Don’t worry. I should be able to talk her round tomorrow.” Dizzy wasn’t convinced he’d be able to get out of the bed without showing the cost of the effort, which would be vital to mitigate any argument Moira would make, but he would fucking well try.

  “And how’re you plannin’ on ridin’ that far, boss?” Fitz asked, a little too sarcastically for Dizzy’s liking.

  “I’ll be in Thea’s truck. We’ll get Scrat to follow us with my bike.”

  The silence that followed the revelation of his plan was not comforting.

  “What’s up? You two look shiftier than a whore at confession.”

  Cage scooted the chair a little closer. “Pres, Thea won’t speak to any of us, not more’n she has to, and she won’t let anyone see Josh. Shaggy’s about ready to break the door down. We’ve got him on oath he’s gonna wait for your say so. But there’s talk that she’s plannin’ on leavin’ tonight. I can’t say I know for certain. She won’t let me in the fuckin’ room, and I don’t want to force it. The kid’s out of his mind enough already.”

  Dread twisted every internal organ that Dizzy could name. “You get in there, or get ahold of her. I wanna see her before she goes.”

  Cage simply nodded. Dizzy looked over at Fitz, who paused before he nodded, too. Dizzy knew that Fitz would drag Thea in kicking and screaming if he had to. He didn’t want that, but he didn’t want her leaving without the opportunity to find out what was really going on in her head.

  “How is everyone? When they’re not provokin’ Moira or anyone else?”

  “Concerned about you. They’ll be better when we report you’re not surrounded by angels. You were a mess, Pres. Not afraid to say I was worried when we found you.”

  Dizzy didn’t respond. He had nothing to say on that score.

  After an uncomfortable pause, Cage spoke again. “Shark found the Taser. He’s kinda giddy about it.”

  “It’s a lot wrong how giddy he is.” Fitz added.

  “He’s trying to persuade Chiz to let him try it out on him.” That idea obviously amused Cage.

  “Tell Chiz from me, if he can stand twenty shots over, without passin’ out, then Mardi Gras next year is on me, however he wants to do it.”

  “Twenty times? Pres?”

  Dizzy offered the best shrug that he could manage. “I lost count after that.”

  The uncomfortable quiet blanketed the room again, until Fitz made a joke about Shaggy, Scooby and Shark comparing bicep circumference and Dolly making fun of the size of a bicep being related to other muscles, then they were easy with each other again, until Moira arrived to shoo his brothers back downstairs.

  ~o0o~

  Lunch was an omelet that he’d managed to persuade Moira that he was capable of eating without help. Afterwards, Dizzy was resting and gathering his strength for the forthcoming confrontation with his President’s wife, and the hurt that he knew the journey home would lay on him.

  He wasn’t expecting another visitor.

  He nearly fell out of the bed when Josh crept into the room. The kid was wearing the clothes he’d worn for the wedding, although they looked a little more rumpled now. He was pale and drawn, and there were harsh, dark circles under his young eyes.

  “Hey, li’l bro. How’re you doin’?” He spoke quietly; Josh looked like he might spook easily.

  “Mama doesn’t know I’m here. She’s sleepin’. She didn’t think I should see you.” Josh was standing just inside the door. He hadn’t come any closer to the bed. He looked at his feet, then looked up. “You’re really hurt, aren’t you?”

  “It’s not so bad as it looks, li’l bro. The bruises make it look bad.” He fought to push himself up without making a face to prove his point. He’d seen his body. He knew fucking well that he probably looked like Frankenstein’s freaking monster to the boy.

  “Josh, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry I didn’t keep you safe.” It was all Dizzy could do to get the words out.

  Josh looked at him for a long, silent moment, and then he said, so quietly that Dizzy almost missed it, “I’m sorry you’re hurt, Dizzy.”

  Josh turned and left the room as stealthily as he’d entered it.

  Out of everything that Dizzy had endured, the unspoken accusation in Josh’s eyes had hurt the worst.

  ~o0o~

  A little while after that, his door opened again, and Thea walked in. She stopped short, as if unsure where she wanted to put herself in the room. Eventually she opted for the chair. She, too, was wearing the dress she’d worn for the wedding. Dizzy had fond memories of that dress. It looked a little incongruous on her now, since it wasn’t her style to dress up every day. The bruising on her face, which was turning the predictable rainbow of colors, was a poor accessory.

  “Cage said I had to come see you.” She said. Her voice was devoid of emotion.

  “You didn’t want to come?”

  “He made it plain that voluntarily was the best option, and I’m done bein’ kidnapped.”

  Christ, that barb hurt. “Not fair Thea. Not fair.”

  She just looked him steadily in the eyes and didn’t apologize or back down. He fucking loved her strength, her attitude, but fuck, she could be stubborn.

  “You were plannin’ on leavin’ without sayin’ goodbye, then?” He asked, although he knew the answer.

  “I didn’t want to make a fuss, Dizzy. I want to get home. I need to get home.”

  “You could wait?” He suggested. “I’m breakin’ out tomorrow.”

  She didn’t even try and smile at his joke.

  “I need to get back to my job. I can’t afford to miss another night. And I’m not so sure Moira’s gonna let you out tomorrow.”

  “I’m not goin’ to give her any choice. And what’s goin’ on with your job? What the fuck aren’t you tellin’ me?” It was bad enough he was stuck in this bed for the moment, but he was seriously considering crossing the room so that he could shake some sense or feeling into her.

  Thea raised one eyebrow at him. “I’d like to stay and watch you take Moira on. My money’s on her, well and truly. And nothin’s goin’ on with my job, Dizz. But I’ve got rent to pay and I have to make my shifts to earn the money to do that. I can’t afford to miss too many.”

  “I’ll...” He start
ed.

  “No you won’t. Don’t even say it.” She shot him down before he could make the offer.

  “Thea, sweetheart, I wanna take care of...”

  “You wanna take care of us? Really? You’re goin’ with that?” Her disbelieving tone opened every wound on his body and then some.

  “Jesus, Thea,” he exclaimed.

  “Sorry. You’re right. That was harsh. It wasn’t fair. But there’s no gettin’ around the fact that me and my boy are in danger if we’re with you. You can’t ever guarantee to me that you’ve killed everyone that wants to hurt us. Everyone that would try and do that to us again.”

  Honesty was his best option here. He had nothing to hide behind. “You’re right. I can’t guarantee shit. But don’t you see that you’re safer with us, with me, than on your own?” He would not beg her to stay... would not... would... He fucking would if he had to.

  “I’m not so sure about that, Dizzy. I thought that was the case but... now I’m not so sure. We’re goin’, Dizzy. We’ll be out of here within the hour. Don’t get the guys to try and stop us, that would really piss me off. I need some space, I have to figure shit out. I have to figure out what’s best for Josh.”

  There was a lump of lead in his chest, approximately where his heart should have been.

  “You ain’t even gonna give me a kiss goodbye?”

  “I think it’s best all round if I don’t. I wouldn’t want you pullin’ your stitches.” She offered a tight, wry smile.

  And with that, she was gone.

  Dizzy lay back on the bed and tried to order this thoughts.

  He was in the beating heart of his family, and he was alone.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Walking through the door of their apartment was... strange. It was strange, because it was normal. She experienced the same sense of reality having stayed still for her as she had when they’d come home after the lockdown. In the early hours of Saturday morning, they’d left to celebrate a wedding, full of excitement and anticipation and hope for the future.

  Since then, she’d found out that the man she’d loved was a self-confessed murderer, not that it had been a surprise exactly, but what he’d done during the lockdown seemed to be in abstract to her. He’d gone to wherever, done whatever, and come back to her. She imagined that must be a little like a husband going off to work, closing a big deal and coming home for dinner. Not beyond the realms of possibility, but not of her sphere. Finding out that he’d been responsible for the death of someone that she had been physically close to had brought his life, the violence of it, the violence in him, into stark relief.

  And as if that point needed driving home, she’d found herself in the alternate universe that was the nightmare of Saturday night. And that was a big problem, because she hadn’t been alone. That nightmare had bled all over Josh.

  She had vowed to Dizzy that she wouldn’t leave him. She’d agreed to take his ink, the sign to the world that they were together. She’d committed to him. And now she would walk away, because being with Dizzy had endangered the only thing she cared about more than life itself. What she had with Dizzy paled in comparison to the love she felt for her son, and the responsibilities she had towards him.

  She needed to keep Josh safe, and nowhere in her mind did Dizzy now fit into that plan. He had promised her that they would be safe, had given his word. But they hadn’t been safe. It was insane how wrong he’d been. It was almost impossible to comprehend how close they’d come to... torture, to death. Even having endured those horrific hours, having witnessed what she’d seen, even with the bruises still showing and the missing molar that left its own throbbing ache in her jaw, even with all that, the concept of almost having been tortured to death was abstract to her.

  No, she was not safe with him. She was a target because she was with him. Her son was a target because she was with Dizzy. The decision was logical. She could not be with Dizzy and keep her boy safe. And she couldn’t be with Dizzy and stay in Ravensbridge. First thing in the morning, she intended to start looking for a way to get them moved, across state, across many states, across the fucking continent, she didn’t care.

  For now, she needed to rest.

  It was late. It had been mid-afternoon by the time she’d managed to get her and Josh away from the Louisiana clubhouse. She’d expected to have to run a gauntlet of patches, and that had nearly been the case. But either Samuel understood, or Dizzy had sent word, because the patches of the mother charter had held Dizzy’s brothers back. But Samuel had not made any effort to hold his wife back.

  Moira hadn’t actually spoken one word. She hadn’t lambasted her, as Thea had feared she would. She’d done the opposite and refused to speak to Thea at all. But the way she’d looked at Thea had spoken volumes. Only the day before, she’d asked Thea if she could cope with the outlaw life, and Thea had replied that she could. But as far as Thea was concerned, they’d been talking in terms of Dizzy possibly being sent to prison, not in terms of who the fucking hell knew what had happened to her and her kid. As far as Thea was concerned, unless Moira could claim to have been a similar situation, she could stick her opinion up her ass.

  Now Thea needed to sleep. She’d only booked to miss the Saturday shift, and she’d gone and missed Sunday’s and Monday’s as well. And she couldn’t very well tell Dwight the real reason why. The best she could do was turn up to her Tuesday night shift as she was supposed to. She’d already had to endure a terse and humiliating phone call with her boss.

  She would have offered to work double shifts, but she couldn’t leave Josh with Clarice for so much of the day. It would be hard enough to explain why he was as he was. It would be hard enough to deflect the questions about why her own face was battered. She’d come up with a story about having had a near miss on the highway, some sudden braking and her head hitting the steering wheel. It was the best lie that she could come up with and she was going to stick with it.

  Thea tucked Josh into her bed and crawled in with him. She couldn’t leave him. He woke up screaming for her in the night. She would not force him to wake up alone, even in his own bed. She pulled the comforter over them both, put her arms around her boy, and prayed for a dreamless sleep for them both.

  ~o0o~

  A week after their abduction, Thea realized that reality was not making room for them, and they didn’t have the energy to force their way into the continuing rotation of the world.

  Both she and Josh were plagued with nightmares. She still hadn’t made him go back to his own bed, but now she’d had to add a plastic sheet to hers, because when he woke up screaming Josh generally also lost control of his bladder. Trips to the laundromat were becoming a daily ritual.

  Josh had only spoken once to her about the content of his night terrors. They were always the same. Over and over he was reliving the moment that she’d been dragged away from him.

  Thea felt sick with helplessness.

  Her own nightmares were a spectacular twist on that horrific night. She saw everything exactly as it had happened, but instead of Dizzy being strapped in the chair, battered, burned and bleeding, she saw Josh. And she was forced to watch as the torture took its course, until she too woke up screaming. Between the two of them, they weren’t helping each other, but Thea didn’t know what else to do, where else to turn. It wasn’t as if there was anyone she could go to for help. Neither of them could explain their predicament to a doctor or a therapist without indicting the Priests. Thea might not want to be associated with them anymore, but neither did she want to be on the receiving end of their anger.

  Tonight, as every other night, she was working. Dwight had taken to coming in at random times during her shift. She knew he was checking that she was actually there. It was humiliating, but she almost couldn’t blame him. From his point of view, she’d been the worst sort of employee lately. Tonight’s visit had been made even worse by Dizzy walking in while Dwight gave her his usual condescending lecture about employee responsibility and corporat
e image. Given the neglected state of the store, that was almost laughable, but Thea hadn’t laughed. Dizzy must have heard every patronizing and sarcastic word that had dripped from her boss’s mouth.

  Dizzy hadn’t been in the store all week, at least not while she was working. To see him now meant only one thing to Thea; he wanted to corner her so that he could speak to her. He’d obviously been quite capable of taking care of his grocery needs at other times during the day.

  “Good evenin’, Thea.”

  She’d been right. At least he’d waited until Dwight had gone to come over to the counter. He wasn’t even making a pretence of buying anything.

  She was momentarily at a loss for words. She looked at him and saw everything that they could have been. No greeting seemed adequate. “Hey, Dizzy.”