by Night, H. T.
“You know, your billionaire Mexican amigo that you decided to tell all of our pinky promise secrets to.”
Shit! Romero found Tommy!
“You talked to Romero?” I asked.
“Yes, we had quite the conversation. It seems I ran into some trouble and, low and behold, your boy was there bailing me out. Well, he wasn’t actually bailing me out; he was mainly giving me mercy.”
“What kind of trouble?”
“Well, after you cast me out of your Mani Kingdom, I took refuge in the city of sin.”
“Vegas?”
“No, Salt Lake City,” Tommy laughed. “Of course, Vegas. You know me, Josiah. When in Rome, I like to do what the Romans do.”
“Please don’t tell me you started gambling again. The last time you got into it cost you all of your winnings.”
“Oh, it cost me a lot more than my winnings this time. I began doing some serious gambling. It made what I got into before child’s play. I actually got up pretty good, but you know how that goes. My luck only lasted so long. Eventually, I was in pretty deep with more than one guy.”
“How deep?”
Tommy was referring to how much money he owed bookies, cashiers, whomever.
“Seven figures.”
“What the hell? You owed a million dollars! How does that happen?”
“It was 3.3 million to be exact.”
“Holy shit! Are you kidding me?”
“Like I said, I was up pretty big and about a month ago. I had a sure bet, it was a freaking lock, and I decided to put all my winnings, which was around 500 large, with six different bookies.”
“And you lost?”
“I sure as hell didn’t win.”
“You’re a werewolf. Screw them, split town. Who gives a shit about bookies?”
“You don’t think I thought about that. These guys aren’t dummies. They employ guys like us. If I tried to stiff any of them, I would have the whole immortal Mafia after me.”
“Is there such a thing?”
“You don’t even want to know the crazy shit that’s going on in Vegas. I met Doc Holliday!”
“Yeah?”
“He’s one of us.”
“Bullshit!”
“Or at least he’s one of you. The whole coughing-up blood routine is because he has a large appetite for blood. He’s no ‘lunger.’ That’s other people’s blood he was coughing up. He’s a notorious Mani who still resides in Vegas.”
“You’re trying to tell me that Doc Holliday, best friend to freaking Wyatt Earp, is after you?”
“Well, they’re not best friends any longer. Wyatt Earp has been dead for around a hundred years.”
“I could give a rat’s ass about Wyatt Freaking Earp! You’re telling me Doc Holliday, leader of the Immortal Mafia, is after you?”
“Him and others. Those guys don’t mess around.”
Was Tommy telling me the truth? I needed to know more. So, I asked, “How does Romero play into all of this?”
“He’s the head honcho. Doc Holliday reports to his ass! They were going to kill me until I brought you up.”
“Why did you bring me up?”
“I told them if they were going to kill me to let you know. You’re the only family I have since my Grandma passed a couple of months back.”
“So, you said my name? What happened after that?”
“Before I knew it, I was brought to Tijuana to some ranch to meet Romero. He made me an offer that I couldn’t refuse, so to speak.”
“Did you take it?” I asked.
“I had no choice.”
“How long will it take you to pay him off?”
“A-long-ass-time. He only gives me $25,000 a fight.”
I did the math in my head. Tommy was going to fight 130 times just to cover his debt.
“I’m a huge commodity,” Tommy continued, “because I can fight as a werewolf whenever he wants. Thanks to you, Romero is highly aware I have that ability.”
I noticed earlier that Tommy had some nicks and bruises on his face and arms and now I knew why. Apparently this poor guy was fighting every chance he got. I felt like shit. This was all my fault.
“Couldn’t you have negotiated a higher per-fight fee?” I asked.
“I actually did. He originally wanted to only give me $20,000. I got him to go to $25,000, as long as I fight at least five times a week.”
“What happens if you get really hurt?” I asked.
“I don’t know. We haven’t discussed that. I haven’t lost yet. I usually dispose of my opponent in minutes. It pisses off Romero, but I’m not about to put on a show and risk getting hurt.”
“So, why did you contact me?”
“I need your help.”
“In what regard?”
“I need for you to talk to Romero. He seems pretty fond of you. I’m worn out. I have fought the last ten days in a row. He’s talking about having me fight multiple times in a night. So I can pay off the money faster.”
Romero was completely exploiting Tommy and it was my fault. Well, it was both of our faults. After all, he was the one down three and a half million dollars to bookies. “Can you handle fighting as much as he wants you to?” I asked, feeling guilty as hell to even ask the question.
“I don’t know, probably,” Tommy answered. “But I don’t want to.”
“What do you think I can do?” I asked. I hadn’t a clue how to fix this problem.
“I don’t know; help negotiate a higher per-fight take for me. Maybe ask him to cut what I owe him down. I just need for you to talk to him. Like I said, I’m worn out. I only have a quarter of a million of what I owe paid off. It’s taking a toll on me.”
“Maybe I’ll have a drink, too,” I said. I walked over to Tommy and he poured me a shot into the glass he was drinking from and I downed it. Tommy had the cheap stuff. It tasted like ass.
We sat and didn’t say anything to each other for a couple of minutes. Finally, Tommy broke the silence and said, “What have you been up to?”
“Getting my head straight,” I said.
“That could be dangerous,” he grinned.
“You’re telling me.”
“How are Lena and Yari?”
I smiled at Tommy. “They’re doing well.”
“That’s good.”
“How are things with you two? You and Lena?”
“Look, Tom. I’ll help you in regards with Romero, but let’s leave Lena out of it.”
“Still bitter, I take it.”
“Just drop it.”
“Fair enough.”
“When are you going back to TJ?” I asked.
“Tomorrow; I needed a night off. Romero didn’t even want to give me that.”
The more I was finding out how bad Romero was treating Tommy, the more it was pissing me off. “I’ll come down and talk with him this weekend. Just be sure not to lose or get hurt until then. And it probably won’t hurt you to put on a little show for the crowd every once in a while. It could only help your case when I talk to him. It’ll make you a higher commodity.”
Tommy nodded.
“Are you going to be okay?” I asked. This time I was asking him a question as his friend, not someone who had been guilted into helping him.
“Sure, I’ll be dandy,” Tommy said, as he laid on his wooden floor.
“All right, then. I’m taking off.”
I turned around to leave the room and Tommy yelled out, “Josiah!”
I stopped and looked at Tommy. “What is it?”
“How did everything get so jacked up?”
“I don’t know, Tommy. It just did.”
Chapter Sixteen
I left Tommy’s place, hoping and praying that he would be okay. I felt bad that he had put himself in such a bad predicament. I felt a bit responsible for my part in his little dilemma. So many things were happening so fast. It was hard to know which decisions were the correct ones. My gut was telling me to be there for him. I just didn’t know h
ow.
I can’t fight his battles for him. Or can I?
Romero had offered me a lot more to fight. Maybe if I fought a couple of fights it could clear his name. The problem with Tommy is that even if I did this for him and paid off his debt, it doesn’t mean he wouldn’t be in more economic trouble down the road. Maybe the best way to teach him a lesson was by making him do it himself. I just didn’t want him to get killed. I’m pretty sure Romero wouldn’t let that happen. I’d go up and see him this weekend. I’d check out Tommy, too. I’d see what he’s up against.
When I got back to the house, Lena was swimming in the pool, alone. I went into the backyard and watched her as she swam. She looked cute in her white, two-piece bathing suit. “Hey, baby-girl,” I said, walking up to the pool. Lena had stopped swimming and moved her way to the shallow end.
“I was getting a workout in,” she said, sliding to the side of the pool.
“I never knew you were one to work out.”
“I don’t work out all manic like you, but I do some things here and there.”
“Well, you look great,” I said, giving her a sincere smile.
“Why don’t you come in the water with me?”
“I don’t have swimming shorts.”
“You must have a pair of shorts somewhere.”
“Just basketball shorts.”
“Go put those on. You don’t need swimming trunks.”
I looked at Lena in the pool and she seemed to be relaxing and enjoying herself. So I figured, why not? “Okay, I’ll get in. Hold on.” I ran upstairs and changed out of my clothes and put on a pair of red basketball shorts and grabbed a towel. I came down the stairs and everyone was watching a movie in the living room.
“Josiah is going swimming,” Yari laughed. “That boy must be whipped.”
“Yeah, don’t you wish,” I said, back to her.
“A whipped Josiah is a happy Josiah,” she grinned.
“Yeah, bro,” Cyrus said. “You were pretty depressed there for a while.” Cyrus was sitting in a recliner and Yari was on his lap. The others were all sitting on the other two couches watching the movie.
“I wasn’t depressed,” I said, to Cyrus. “I was just being introspective.”
“No, you were a lost puppy, Josiah,” Hector chimed in. He was on the couch closest to the kitchen with his arm around his girlfriend.
“I liked you better, Hector, when you didn’t talk. So, is everyone going to bust my balls?”
“If we didn’t bust your balls,” Yari said. “You wouldn’t know how much we all love you.”
I smiled. I never thought about the word ‘love’ when it came to all of us. I thought about words like trust, honor, and loyalty. Never ‘love.’ But, in the end, we all did love each other.
“I love all you guys, too,” I said, then walked into the backyard. It felt good saying it to a room full of people who have proven to have my back. In my entire life, I’ve only had one person that was always by my side, and that was Tommy. These guys have proven a lot to me in such a short amount of time.
I walked out and Lena was wading in the shallow end. “Is the water cold?” I asked.
“No, it’s heated.”
“It is?”
“You’ve never been in the pool before?”
“Nope, first time.”
“Oh, Josiah. You really need to start having a little bit more fun.”
“I guess I can start right now.” I dove into the deep end. Wow, the water was warm. I swam underneath the water all the way up to Lena and grabbed her and she squealed.
I pressed her up against the side wall of the pool. I turned her body around and held her tight as if I was going to do a wrestling move on her.
“Don’t be rough,” she said.
“Rough? This is me being romantic,” I said, as I softly leaned into her.
“Aren’t I the lucky girl?” she said, teasingly.
I turned Lena around and loosened my grip around her waist. “Well, aren’t you?”
Lena looked me in the eyes. “I’m very lucky, Josiah.”
“I’m glad you feel that way.”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“I don’t know, sometimes it’s hard for me to trust what’s going on here.”
“Why is that?”
“It just is. You can’t blame me for having doubts.”
Lena looked up at me and I could tell she was hurt. “Haven’t I proven myself?” she asked.
“Proven yourself?” I didn’t like that choice of words at all. “What does that mean?” I asked. “To say you’ve proven yourself? Are you trying to earn a promotion at a job or are you someone who wants to be my girlfriend?”
“I didn’t mean it like that. Josiah, I have given you 150 percent of my heart, time and love. I would hope at some point that you realize that I can’t change the past. I can only be here in the present and hopefully that will prove our future.”
I looked at Lena and felt bad that I made her defend her words, but I couldn’t help but be a tad insecure when it came to us. I hated feeling that way, but I have never cared for anyone as deeply as I did her. It made me a little crazy. “I know you love me,” I said. “Sometimes I just get a little scared.”
“Scared?” Lena asked. “What are you scared of?”
I looked away from the pool to gather my thoughts. I knew if I opened up in this way, it would lead to a kind of vulnerability that I wasn’t sure I was ready to show.
Lena repeated her question, “What are you afraid of, Josiah?”
I sighed deeply and I knew if I exposed what’s truly in my heart, it could be catastrophic in the long run if it backfired. I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to put myself out there, even to her. I figured she needed to know what was stirring up inside me. So I said, “Sometimes I think that the reason you’re here with me is because I’m ‘The Chosen.’ I feel like you’re afraid of being ostracized by others if you reject me or, worse yet, cursed by the Triat.”
Lena smiled at me and just shook her head and said, “Let me ask you a question. When have you ever seen me do anything that I didn’t want to do?”
I thought about it and she was right. She always did what she wants. “Never,” I said.
“Think about it, Josiah. I stubbornly was going to allow Atticai to drain all my human blood because I was sure I’d live forever with him. Do you think for one second if I wanted Tommy or anyone else over you I’d be here right now? Do you think I would give a shit about being ostracized or cursed? Josiah, you are the most beautiful person inside and out that I have ever known. I choose you, Josiah. I choose this moment. I choose to be in the pool and to love you till the end of my days. The Tommy’s, Yari’s, Atticai’s, were all stumbling blocks for us to get to where we are tonight, for us to have this moment we’re having right now.”
That was exactly what I needed to hear. I was afraid of exposing my heart, but Lena flipped it and exposed her innermost feelings. I stared across the pool at Lena and wanted her in a manner that I hadn’t quite ever felt. I wanted to consume her with every inch of me. “Why don’t we go upstairs?” I said, taking her hand.
“Good idea,” she said. Then the two of us dried off and went to my room and shared a closeness that was pretty out of this world, to say the least.
Chapter Seventeen
That weekend, I headed down to Tijuana. I wasn’t planning on staying long. I wanted to see Tommy fight a match and I also needed to have a serious talk with Romero.
I made an excuse to Lena about where I was going. I didn’t like lying to her, but in this case, it didn’t serve her any good to know what I was up to.
I told her I was going out for some air. I wasn’t necessarily lying. I made my way down to Romero’s fight ranch. I transitioned into the great white eagle mid-flight. When I reached Romero’s compound, I decided to land past the security and transitioned back to my Mani form. I was pretty discreet as I landed and I wanted to see if I could sneak in past his security
and I did pretty easily. I guess a million-dollar security detail doesn’t account for a freaking eagle. The problem with sneaking past the first set of guards was no one knew I had shown up. I decided to go to the front and request a sit down with Romero.
I walked out to a couple of his security detail. “Excuse me,” I said. “I’m here to see Romero.”
“Who the hell are you?” the security guard asked, in a very thick accent. He looked at me, frowning and very perplexed at how I had obviously gotten past their checkpoint without being stopped. I looked at the little shit in his full army gear. He looked like he had just gotten dropped into the jungle of Vietnam by a freaking helicopter.
“Tell him that Josiah Reign is here to see him,” I said, calmly.
Another security guy walked over to us and scolded the man in Spanish who had originally addressed me. He obviously knew who I was and was making sure this guy would show me a little more respect. Whatever he said to him put the little shit in his place, because he changed his tune real fast.
“Hold on,” the original guard said, to me. He radioed in to the front and spoke Spanish into his walkie-talkie. After a moment the guard said, “Follow me.” He led me through the back entrance Romero had brought me through weeks earlier. I looked up into the sky and the moon was as full as it was ever was going to be. I wondered if Tommy had the night off because the other wolves would be available.
I was led back up into Romero’s private suite. As I entered the room, Romero was sitting at a table in a very slick gray suit. He looked like a hit man. His hair was slicked back and he was smoking a cigar. Damn, he could look intimidating when he wanted to. “Josiah! Have you come to see your friend?”
“Actually … yeah,” I answered.
“I hope you’re not upset that I had him work for me.” Romero tried to sound like he cared about what I thought, but I knew better.
“He’s a big boy and he has big boy problems. Sometimes we all need to be reminded that there are consequences to all of our actions.”
“Well said.” Romero gave me a long stare to see if I truly meant what I told him. After a moment, he smiled and said, “I’m glad we’re on the same page.” It almost appeared that Romero was disappointed that I wasn’t pissed off. “So, what can I do you for, Josiah?”
