by Jessie Cooke
“Hi, Casey,” Levi said as he put the phone to his ear. He hadn’t talked to her since Krissy’s funeral. They’d sent a few text messages back and forth, but that had been it. Casey was the only person in the world that loved Krissy as much as he had and for some reason that fact had made it harder, rather than easier, for them to lean on each other. Maybe it was because each of them was just too immersed in their own grief to be able to be there for the other. Either way, he felt a little guilty about it.
“Hey, Booger.” Levi and Casey grew up together. Casey was a few years older and as soon as she turned eighteen, while her father was in prison, Casey broke all ties with the club, except for her friendship with Levi. She’d called him “Booger” since he was ten years old. He’d had a cold and he’d used his sleeve to wipe his nose. When they got off the school bus that day, some bigger kid had noticed the big, green booger on his sleeve and started making fun of him. Levi wasn’t one to back down from a fight, even then, but Casey hadn’t let him get into one with the much bigger boy. Instead, she’d grabbed the fourteen-year-old by his nuts and took him sobbing to the ground. She told him if he ever looked sideways at Levi again, she’d tell everyone in school that she felt his dick and it was only two inches long. He ran home crying and never bothered them again. But Casey continued to call Levi Booger, because it was okay for her to tease him. She used to even joke that when he was old enough to patch into the club, he should take on the name as his moniker. “You busy?”
Levi smiled at the little girl, who was now slurping her chocolate milkshake. She smiled back around the straw. “I have a minute for you. What’s up?”
“Well, I’ve been putting this off, but I went through Krissy’s stuff today. I have a couple of boxes for you and I was wondering what you thought about me donating her clothes and shoes to the homeless shelter.”
“I think she’d like that. Hey, Case…I’m sorry that I haven’t been around…”
“Oh, stop it. I know how much you loved her. You’ve been dealing with losing her and your dad.”
“You lost her too.”
“And my heart is broken. But I’m dealing. By the way, I passed my nursing boards. I’m a full-fledged registered nurse now.” Levi felt a pain in his chest. Being a nurse was Krissy’s dream too. She’d wanted more than anything to work at a children’s hospital once she was licensed. She’d almost been finished with school when she died.
“That’s awesome, Case. You’re going to be an amazing nurse.”
“Thanks. I wish Krissy had been here to celebrate with me. It’s a little anticlimactic without her. I’m celebrating with a glass of wine, in my pajamas, packing up her stuff.”
“No way. I’m in the middle of something I can’t get out of right now…but tonight, you and me and a Chinese feast, okay?” Chinese food was Casey’s favorite and Levi owed her so much. The least he could do was buy her dinner.
“You really don’t have to…”
“I really do. You want to go out, or you want take-out?”
“Nah, just bring it here. We’ll eat and talk about Krissy. I miss her, Booger.”
“Me too. I miss you too. I’ll see you tonight.”
“Thank you.” He heard her voice crack and felt like shit once again. He hadn’t been a very good friend.
After he ended the call with Casey and Susie finished eating, he walked her to a small park down the street. It wasn’t a nice place, but there were swings and a slide and since Susie was with Levi, no one would bother her. He was watching her swing with a big smile on her face when he got the call from Zoe’s grandfather. “We’re finished here. Where are you?”
Levi told him and a few minutes later the older man drove up in an unmarked police car. Another car pulled up behind him and a woman got out. She was holding a clipboard and Levi figured she was the social worker. While she went over to talk to Susie, Zoe’s grandfather approached Levi. “Cute kid,” he said, looking at Susie.
“Yeah, she seems like a sweet kid too. What’s going to happen to her?”
“She’s been in foster care before,” he said, disgustedly. “I don’t think they’ll be giving her back to Mom any time soon this time. But the good news is that the social worker knows the family and she says there are grandparents in Alabama that might be willing to take her.”
“Good,” Levi said. He didn’t know if that was good or not, but he wanted to believe so.
“So…you want to tell me how you found this guy? Is he affiliated with your club?” Levi looked down at his kutte. It was the first time he’d worn it around the older man.
“Sort of,” Levi said. “I was supposed to harbor him for a few days until he could get out of town.” He wasn’t sure why he was telling Zoe’s grandfather that, but they somehow seemed to be past the point of a lie’s being accepted.
“So you’re probably going to be in some deep shit with your club.”
He sighed. “Yeah, probably.”
“Patrick Monaghan was wanted for a lot more than shooting Zoe. He has three active warrants. We could always haul you down to the station, say we picked you up out front…cite and release…”
“You’d do that for me?”
The older man looked back over at the little girl and said, “If she hadn’t been there, would you have called me?”
“Doubtful,” Levi said.
“Were you going to harbor him?”
Levi shook his head. “No. I was going to kick his ass.”
For the first time since Levi met him, Zoe’s grandfather smiled. “That’s why I’d do this for you. I’m not usually a fan of anyone that belongs to a gang, but so far, you’ve got more going for you than against you. Besides, my wife likes you and she’s a fairly good judge of character.”
Levi smiled too. “What about Zoe? She likes me.”
“Yeah, but my poor Zoe can’t judge good character for shit.” He laughed. Then, sobering up, he said, “Give me your gun and I’ll have a uniform come pick you up.”
“My gun?”
“Don’t start bullshitting me now, kid.”
Levi took the gun out of the back of his jeans and handed it to Zoe’s grandfather. He looked at Susie and the social worker. The little girl was smiling and they looked about to head for the car. “Can I tell her goodbye?”
“Sure.”
Levi walked over and before he got there Susie said, “Maria is taking me back to the house where I used to stay when Mommy was sick. They have a playhouse and a lot of toys and I’m going to get to go to school!”
“That’s awesome, Susie. I’m glad you’ll be in a good place.”
“Just until Mommy gets better, though.” She looked sad and Levi wasn’t sure if it was because she missed her mother, or she didn’t.
“Yeah, baby girl. I hope she gets better soon. It was fun hanging out with you today.”
She smiled brightly. “You too. Thank you for the milkshake. I haven’t had one in a long time.”
“You’re welcome…” He hadn’t gotten the words out of his mouth before she opened her little arms and wrapped his legs up in a hug. With tears stinging his eyes he got down on one knee and hugged her back. When he let her go, she smiled at him again and then put her hand out and went willingly with the social worker. As she walked away he stood up and looked over toward the social worker’s car and his heart nearly stopped. Krissy was standing next to it. She smiled at him and blew him a kiss. Levi started toward her, but he’d barely taken three steps before she vanished. He was just about to tell himself that he was losing it again, when Susie turned around and said:
“Mr. Levi, the pretty angel told me to tell you that you’re a good man.” The social worker looked back at him and he knew his face had to be as pale as the ghost he’d just seen. He tried to smile at her and shrug, but when she turned back around, he winked at the little girl and mouthed:
“Thank you.”
31
“So…you spent the whole day locked up?” Casey handed Levi a
beer and took her seat on the couch next to him. They’d just finished pigging out on all the food he’d brought and he told her about his day, all except the part where he’d seen Krissy in the park.
He nodded. “Most of it. Cheney finally sent the lawyer down and he made them let me go. Not that he needed to make them…it was all kind of set up that way.”
“I get that you called them and took care of the little girl and all of that…but how do you know the man that set this up, the tech?”
Levi sighed and sat back into the couch. He took a long swig of his beer and then instead of answering her question he said, “Do you believe in ghosts?”
Casey raised her eyebrows. He didn’t know if it was the change of subject, the question, or both. She stared at him for a few moments and then she said, “If you would have asked me that a few months ago, I would have laughed at you.”
“But now?”
She sat her beer down on the table and with a pained expression she said, “Don’t freak out…but I think…no, I know I saw Krissy.”
He wasn’t going to freak out. He was relieved. “You saw her? Where?”
“It was the morning I was supposed to take my boards…two days after she died. We hadn’t even buried her yet. I was having an anxiety attack. I didn’t think I could go take that test. It just felt so wrong to just be going through life like nothing happened when she was…gone. I went out on the balcony and I just sat there in my robe with my knees up to my chest, bawling like a baby. I might have sat there all day, but I heard something. I heard her voice. I looked up and there she was, sitting at the little bistro table where she always had her coffee in the mornings. I was scared at first. I thought I was losing my mind. ‘Krissy?’ I said. She looked right at me and smiled and then I heard her voice again. It wasn’t like she was talking…I mean, the Krissy I was looking at. It was like her voice was in my head. All she said was, ‘You got this.’ I said her name again and just like that, she was gone. Maybe I imagined it…”
“I saw her too,” Levi said. “I see her, in my dreams all the time. But today, I saw her standing there next to the social worker’s car. I think Susie saw her too.”
“The little girl?”
He nodded. “She said, ‘The pretty angel said to tell you that you’re a good man.’”
“Wow. But you know something? If anyone was going to become an angel, it would be our Krissy. She was just good all the way through. Sometimes I thought, too good. It was almost like she was an angel here on earth too.”
“Maybe she was,” Levi said, almost unable to believe his own thoughts. “Maybe she was here because we needed her…”
“I still need her,” Casey said.
Levi sat his beer down and put his arm around his friend. She laid her head against his shoulder and he said, “So do I. Maybe that’s why she hasn’t left yet.”
He felt Casey nod against him. “It would be just like her to pass up on paradise to make sure the two of us were okay.” He smiled. Casey was right, that would be just like her.
Levi and Casey didn’t talk about it any further, but it made them both feel better to know the other believed she was still with them too. They watched a movie and had a few more beers and instead of driving home, Levi decided to stay in Krissy’s room for the night. He said goodnight to Casey and then went into Krissy’s little bedroom. As he closed the door behind him, he looked around the room. Krissy used to have every space on the wall filled with an inspirational plaque or a picture that made her happy. The top of her dresser used to be covered in framed photos of them together, or her and Casey. Now, the walls were empty and so was the top of the dresser. The closet door was open and filled with boxes. Levi sat down on the bed and took off his boots. He started to lie down, but his eyes landed on a framed photo on the nightstand that hadn’t been put away yet. It was Krissy’s favorite and he’d be willing to bet that Casey hadn’t had the heart to pack it. He reached over and picked it up, and he smiled when he looked at it.
He lay back on the bed and looked at Krissy’s smiling face. She was holding a teddy bear and standing in front of a carnival midway. Levi had taken the picture. They had been hanging out for a few weeks by that time, but the carnival was their first real date. As silly as he thought it was, that had been where she wanted to go, and she’d wanted to go on a picnic in the park next to the river afterwards. She’d packed a picnic basket and they had taken off for the carnival first. Once they were there, they had ridden every ride and played every game and Krissy had smiled all night.
The two of them had done a lot of kissing and petting by that time, but Levi had been hoping after their date, she’d be ready to go all the way. He was dying to be inside of her by then. She had the sexiest body he’d ever seen and he wanted to touch, feel, and taste every inch of it. But Krissy wasn’t a club girl and Levi had respected that. He’d started out just holding her hand while they watched TV on Casey’s couch. They had quickly graduated to making out, but he was waiting for her to give him a sign that she was ready to move forward…and that night, she finally had.
After Krissy finally had her fill of the carnival and they were both starving, they took the picnic basket and walked a few miles in the moonlight to a private little park area near the river. Levi spread out the blanket that she’d brought while Krissy set up their feast. He watched her, not concentrating on the food at all, but fantasizing about getting his hands underneath that thin, white cotton blouse she was wearing, and down inside the cut-off jeans that had been driving him crazy all night. Her thighs were thick, but muscular and smooth. She had her hair pulled back in a ponytail and tied up in a white satin ribbon. Her sexy, long neck was on display and although he’d nipped at it a few times on some of the rides they had gone on, he really wanted to give it more attention. He wanted to lick all the way down it, into the front of her blouse and finally get a taste of those amazing breasts.
She turned her back to him as she unpacked the basket and his eyes fell on her round ass. He loved touching it through her jeans. He couldn’t wait to feel it in the flesh. When she turned around and noticed him staring at her, she smiled and said, “You look hungry.”
“I’m starving.”
She giggled. “I brought lots of food.”
“I’m not hungry for food.”
She giggled again. “Oh, yeah?” She put her fingers on the top button of her blouse and winked at him as she unbuttoned it.
“Yeah,” he said, taking a step closer. “That food looks good, but it’s not what’s making my mouth water.”
She undid another button. He could see the swell where her breasts came up out of her bra and formed that delicious cleavage. He licked his lips and moved in closer. Wrapping his arm around her waist, he pulled her up almost off her feet and he bent down to kiss her. As their tongues tangled, exploring each other’s mouths, Levi’s hands began exploring her body. God, she felt so good, and he was so hard. He felt like he was about to explode. They kissed for a long time and when they finally came up for air, Levi’s fingers went to the buttons on her blouse and he undid the last of them. She shrugged it off her shoulders and let it fall down her arms until it floated to the ground behind her. Levi remembered exactly how beautiful she looked, standing there in her bra and shorts. He put his hands on her lace-covered mounds, feeling how hard her nipples were, even through the fabric. He massaged and caressed them and watched the sexy, lusty look on her face as he did.
After several minutes, he reached behind her and unhooked her bra. She shrugged that off too and he actually gasped when he saw her stiff, red nipples surrounded by the mounds of firm, white flesh. He reached for them, caressing them between his fingers and making her moan softly. He did that for a few minutes and then they kissed again, this time more passionately. When he let her go, she stepped back and began to undo her shorts. Teasingly, she slid them down her smooth, sexy legs. He tweaked those big nipples as she did. When she stood up, he saw that she’d taken down her panties as we
ll and he was looking at her entire, naked, sinfully sexy body.
He brought his mouth down to taste one of those breasts he’d been lusting after. It was as good as, or even better than he’d imagined it. He sucked and licked her nipples and then nipped softly at the flesh all around them before working his mouth up to her neck and continuing his feast there. His hand went down between her legs as he brought his head all the way up and began to bite and suck at her full lips. She was wet…soaking wet…and he growled into her mouth as he teased her lips open. Once he had his fingers in between those wet lips, he ran them up and down her slit, making her moan louder and shudder all over. The feel of her body as it vibrated against his was unbelievable. She let him touch, taste, explore, for a long time before pulling back and breathlessly saying:
