by Jessie Cooke
Her father rolled his eyes. “I wasn’t stealing. You can’t steal from your own establishment.”
“Oh, yeah? This is your establishment? Since when? Because the way I see it, I’m the one here running this place, putting up with shit from customers and distributors and bill collectors. I’m warding off bounty hunters coming up in here looking for your ass while I wash glasses until my fingers bleed. I’m kicking out the worthless scum that wander in here looking for you and that shit you’re selling them, just so you can make enough money to buy your own…”
Levi lost the battle with his smile when her father folded her arms and said, “And who do you have to thank for making you a strong enough woman to do all of that?” The young biker picked up his beer mug and carried it over to a booth before the glass started flying. Dax had sent him to be in on a meeting that was taking place there between a few of the Skulls and a member of a local street gang. The Skulls and the gang member weren’t scheduled to be there for another hour, but Dax had sent Levi early, to be there when the bar opened and make sure there was no set-up going on. Levi was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt and boots. He’d left his bike around behind the bar and his kutte was in the saddlebags.
The show between Kat and her father as he waited had just been a bonus. They were still sniping at each other when the doors opened and a few other regulars drifted in. None of the regulars were surprised by the fight, nor at the way Kat stopped to greet each one of them, and ask what they wanted to drink. Kat called out terms of endearment like “babe” and “sweetie” to those she liked. The ones she didn’t like were “motherfuckers” and “bitches” and those that she didn’t know, she was wary of right off the bat. She’d had a hard life and it had made her suspicious of almost everyone’s intentions. Levi liked her, but he had to admit if only to himself that she scared the piss out of him sometimes. He knew that she kept a handgun and a sawed-off shotgun both down behind the counter and he only hoped he wasn’t in the bar the day she decided to use them. He could just picture her peppering the place with bullets one day after the old man set her off.
His attention was drawn away from Kat and her old man when a young black man walked through the doors. He had on a ski-cap, which wasn’t unusual because it was the middle of December and Massachusetts was cold as fuck. It wasn’t the white t-shirt or baggy jeans that caught Levi’s attention either. It was the red bandana that he had tied around his neck and the other one that dangled from one of his pockets. His high-top tennis shoes were red as well and even the thin rubber bands that held his long braids in place were red. This had to be one of the guys the Skulls were there to meet. Dax had found out they were jacking cars in Skulls territory and this meeting was just a friendly “warning” to make sure they knew how dangerous it might be for them if they continued. Levi was surprised that the guy was alone, but he’d be willing to bet that a dozen of his closest friends were waiting close by outside.
“Hey there,” Kat said to him as he walked up to the bar. She looked him over suspiciously like she did every new customer and asked, “What can I get you?”
While Kat looked him over from the front, Levi checked the guy out from behind. It didn’t look like he had anything in the back pockets of the jeans that were dangling off his hips, but his t-shirt was big and long and it would be easy to conceal a weapon either in the front pockets or in his waistband. Levi took a sip of his beer and waited. “I’ll take a Bud and a shot of tequila,” the guy told Kat, dropping a twenty on the counter. Kat’s dad reached for it and she batted his hand away. Levi smiled again at the two of them; they were something else.
Kat sat a bottle of beer and a shot glass in front of the gang member and poured tequila into the glass. She put his change down and walked to the other end of the bar to tend to another new customer. Levi watched the guy throw back his shot and then down most of what was in the bottle before picking up his change and heading toward the bathroom in back. Levi slid around the U-shaped booth so that he could see both the front door and the bathroom door from where he sat. He sipped his beer and waited, and waited. Ten minutes passed, and then fifteen…and when fifteen turned into sixteen, Levi stood up and headed toward the back of the bar. Luckily it was early and the only day drinkers were a handful of regulars sitting at the bar. No one was in back around the pool tables or the dartboards or the entrance to the bathroom that the banger had gone into. Levi went over to the back-exit door and flipped the padlock on that, before posting himself next to one of the pool tables where the bathroom door would be in his direct line of sight.
It wasn’t long before the rest of his brothers arrived. He made eye contact with Cody, who was in the lead, jerking his head toward the bathroom door. Cody nodded almost imperceptibly as he took a seat with the five other guys that came in with him. Levi stayed alert to any movement in the bathroom while watching Kat go over and take the men’s orders. He didn’t miss that she noticed him standing there, mostly because she didn’t want him to miss it. She gave him a hard look, a warning look. Nothing pissed her off more than a fight in her bar…unless it was her and her father, and then it was just another day. Levi smiled at her and gave her a little wink that he thought was reassuring. She shot flames at him out of her eyes and then bent down and whispered something in Cody’s ear. He saw Cody’s shoulders shake in laughter as she walked away. He could only imagine what she was threatening to do to them. He was mulling that over when the front door swung open, violently, and Cody and the others got to their feet, weapons in hand.
Levi turned his attention back to the bathroom as gunshots rang out in front. The guy hiding in there stepped out, armed with a sawed-off shotgun, and Levi took him out with one shot before he knew what hit him. He heard the explosion of the semi-automatic weapon splitting the back door open. He began shooting in that direction, but the spray of their bullets forced him to take refuge behind one of the pool tables. He looked toward the front and saw Gunner moving in his direction, shooting as he came toward the back in a crouch. While the men coming in the back door were distracted by Gunner, Levi got back up to his feet and picked off one of the men in front. There were three of them and almost as soon as that one fell, Gunner picked off the next one. The shots that took out the last one came from behind Levi. When he turned around, Kat was standing there, clutching her own sawed-off shotgun and still giving him a hard look like the whole thing was his fault.
Levi and Gunner both moved toward the front of the bar but by that time, Cody, Jimmy, and the others had that situation under control. All the Street Chaos members were down, most of them dead. The one that wasn’t dead was on his knees next to the jukebox with his hands in the air. “Don’t shoot me,” he screamed. “I told ’em this was a stupid idea.”
Levi and the others stood back as Cody walked over to him and put his gun to the guy’s head. The man on his knees was crying—real tears—as he begged for his life. “You go back and tell them that this wasn’t just a stupid idea, it was an act of war. And then if you’re smart, you’ll pack up your shit and get as far away from here as possible because nobody in history has declared war on the Skulls and come out the other side in one piece. Nobody. Understand?”
The crying man nodded and Cody pushed him over with the barrel of his gun and said, “Get the hell out of here.” He crawled to the door before scrambling to his feet and running out. Cody turned then and looked around the bar. The patrons that had been sitting on the barstools were all still hiding underneath. Kat’s father was just standing up; he’d been crouched behind the bar. The expensive glass bottles of liquor that had been displayed on mirrored shelves behind the bar were mostly shattered. There were holes in the vinyl seats of the booths and in the tables where bullets had ripped through them. A few of the wooden beams overhead were splintered…and the back door was obliterated. Most obvious, however, were the bodies that littered the floor in pools of blood and other bodily fluids.
“Motherfucker!” Kat screamed suddenly at the top of her
lungs. “You motherfuckers! Look what you did to my motherfucking bar!”
“Sorry, Kat,” Cody said. “You know Dax will take care of it.”
“And what if I just tell you Skulls you’re not allowed back in my place? You think I need this shit? You think I can afford the business I’ll lose because of this shit?”
Cody went over and tried to put his arm around her. She was half his size, but she still pushed him away. “I’m really sorry, Kat. This wasn’t supposed to happen. We were just here to meet them, to talk.”
“Get them the fuck out of here, now. I want these smelly bodies out of my bar and I want this mess cleaned up, now.”
“You got it,” Cody told her. He issued a few orders to the guys, who all started dragging bodies out the back door. It was going to be a long day of cleaning up and Dax would probably put the ranch on lockdown. Levi knew that he shouldn’t be happy about any of it, but the truth was he did everything he could these days to stay busy. Busywork, even when it included dragging a dead gang-banger out the back door of a bar, kept him from losing his mind thinking about how badly, even after all this time, he still wanted Zoe back in his life.
44
Zoe came out of her biology class and pulled her phone out of her pocket. It had been buzzing off and on for the past twenty minutes, but she’d been in the middle of a test and hadn’t been able to check it. She was surprised when she saw that her papa had texted her three times. The first one asked her if she wanted to have lunch. That wasn’t too surprising, since they’d been making big strides in their relationship over the past few months. What was surprising was that they’d just had dinner the night before and the next two messages were one right after the other, urging her to text him back. Something was up and the first thing her mind went to was Nana. As far as Zoe knew, her grandparents were both still healthy. They were only in their late sixties and they both took good care of themselves. But why else would he be so anxious to talk to her? Instead of texting him back, she pressed in his number and called him.
“Zoe, there you are.”
“Papa, is everything okay? I was in class.”
“I’m sorry. I forgot you had school today. So, do you want to have lunch? I can drive over there. We can get a sandwich at the student center.”
“Okay, I have a couple hours before my next class. But Papa, what’s the urgency? You texted me three times in a twenty-minute period.”
“I’m sorry. I just really need to talk to you.”
“Is Nana okay?”
“She’s fine.”
“Then what is it?”
“I’ll talk to you when I get there, okay? I’m on my way now.”
“Papa…” He ended the call. Zoe was relieved that Nana was okay, but she still knew something was up. She sighed and headed for the student center. If Papa was at work, it would take him about fifteen minutes to get there. She was almost there when she saw Gil. Gil was in her statistics class and he’d been asking her out for the past month solid, every time he saw her. Zoe had turned him down every time. He seemed like a nice guy, but she didn’t think it would be fair to start anything up with anyone at this point. She still had strong feelings for Levi and although she hadn’t laid eyes on him in the past six months, she couldn’t shake those feelings. Levi had called her a few times since he left. The conversations had been awkward and uncomfortable and he seemed to want to apologize to her repeatedly for what he thought he’d done to her. She told him he didn’t need to apologize and she’d meant it. He couldn’t help how he felt, and the fact that he loved Krissy so much and was so loyal was part of why she respected him and cared for him so much. Their timing had just been off and now that he was two thousand miles away, it was still not right.
“Hey, Zoe,” Gil greeted her as she reached the door of the student center. “You weren’t in class yesterday.”
“My heater was out in my new apartment and I had to wait for the maintenance man to show up. He was late and I didn’t have time to get here.”
“Damn, I hope he fixed it. It’s been colder than hell lately.”
“Yeah, maybe we’ll get a white Christmas this year,” she said with a smile.
He laughed. “Yeah, that would be cool. So, have you had lunch?”
“Not yet, but I’m meeting my grandfather here for lunch.”
Gil looked disappointed. “Okay then, maybe next time.”
“Yeah, maybe,” she said. She felt him watching her as she went in through the door. She was having a hard time getting used to the attentions of men. She’d spent so many years practically emaciated, with bad skin and hair, that men—the ones who didn’t just want a quick blowjob or to take advantage of her in some other way—hadn’t really looked at her. She had put on twenty pounds since she quit using drugs and she actually had a shape again. Her hair was almost down to her waist and it was thick and shiny for the first time since she was a kid. She’d been going to the dentist and she’d gotten the cavities the drugs had left behind repaired, and her skin was clean and clear. She still couldn’t afford the best or most expensive clothes, but she’d managed to build up her wardrobe by shopping in bargain and thrift stores for things that were clean and in style. She felt good about herself for the first time…maybe ever…but it still surprised her how many men suddenly seemed interested. That would take some getting used to, especially since there was still only one man that she wanted.
She ordered a cup of coffee and had just taken a seat near the window when she saw her papa come in. She waved him over and as he sat down, she could see in his eyes that something was wrong.
“Did you order yet?” he asked her.
“No, Papa, but can we talk first? Can you tell me what’s going on? You’re worrying me.”
“I have news,” he said. He picked up a toothpick out of the holder and started rolling it between his fingers.
“Okay, about…?”
“Well, first the good news, Patrick took the deal the D.A. was offering, finally. He’ll be doing ten years solid before he’s eligible for parole.”
“Nice,” she said with a sigh of relief. That whole thing had been weighing on her, especially since it looked like he wasn’t going to take the deal for a while and Zoe was going to have to testify after all. “But why aren’t you happier?”
He sighed. “His girlfriend, Susie’s mother, was released from county jail on Friday. They found her in a motel yesterday…dead. They think it was an overdose.”
“Shit,” Zoe said. Susie’s grandparents had decided not to take her. They were both just getting ready to retire and they had plans to travel around the US in an RV. A barely six-year old girl would be a “complication,” Zoe assumed. She was angry with them, but instead of wasting time dwelling on that, she’d tried to do her best to spend that time with Susie instead. If anyone understood what Susie’s life had been like up to that point, it was Zoe. Now unfortunately, they had even more in common. “Does Susie know?”
Her papa shook his head. “Maria was going out to see her this afternoon. It’s actually why I wanted to see you. I wondered if you might want to go out and talk to her. If you don’t, that’s okay. I know it’s hard for you to talk about when your mother died…” Zoe hated talking about that day, the day she found out. But if it would help Susie, she could do it.
“I can talk to her,” she said. “I want to talk to her, and make sure she’s okay. The poor baby has been through so much.” Her papa was looking at her funny. There was sadness in his eyes, but something else too that Zoe didn’t recognize. “What?” she asked him, wondering if she’d somehow said something wrong.
He shook his head slowly and then he said, “Just remind her that no matter how much shit life throws at her, there’s always hope. Look at you, Zoe. Look at what you’ve done with your life.”
Zoe felt her heart swell. Papa wasn’t one for compliments, so when he gave them, it meant a lot. “Thank you, Papa. Honestly, I haven’t done anything extraordinary. I’m just doing
what other people my age do every day.”
“Just take the compliment, kid. You know I give them out sparingly.”
She laughed. “Okay, I’ll take it. Thanks.”
“Have you spoken to Levi lately?” he asked. Whenever one of her grandparents asked about Levi, they tried to make it sound casual. It was obvious when he left that they thought she was going to fall apart. When she didn’t, they worried that she’d explode one day because she was keeping it all in. The truth was that when she did talk to him, he seemed happy with his new life…and as much as she missed him, that was what was important.
“Not lately,” she said. “I guess I should call and tell him about Susie’s mom. What will happen to her now?”
“She’ll stay in foster care until someone decides to adopt her. From what I’ve seen, the kids that are up for adoption get moved around pretty frequently…”
“Moved? Why? She’s happy where she is.”
“It’s not a forever home, kid. You know that better than anyone. A lot of foster parents who are looking to adopt a child like to do a ‘trial run’ first. Susie might get lucky and the first couple she sees will adopt her.” Zoe didn’t like the idea of Susie being moved around to places where the people might not be as nice to her as they were where she was. Susie talked to her a lot about wanting a home of her own. Zoe knew stability went a long way in finally obtaining a sense of peace and security. She had just discovered that for herself. “Did you want to order a sandwich to go and we’ll get on the road?” Papa asked her.
“Sure, I’m going to call Levi first,” she said.
“You call him, I’ll get our sandwiches.” Her papa jumped up and headed for the counter. He was so obviously trying to give her space to talk to Levi, but that was silly, it wasn’t a social call.
Zoe pressed in Levi’s number and listened to the four rings before it went to voicemail and the sound of his strong, sexy voice telling her to leave a message, floated out of the phone and into her ears. She felt like it didn’t stop there. It went straight to her heart. After the beep, she had to suck in a breath before saying, “Levi, I’m sorry to bother you. I just thought you might want to know, Susie’s mom is dead. They think she overdosed. I also found out today that Patrick is on his way to prison. I’m going to see Susie now. I thought you would want to know what’s going on. I hope you’re doing well, Levi.” She ended the call and when their sandwiches were ready, she and her papa made the half-hour drive to the foster home. As soon as the lady that ran the house saw her and Papa, she went inside for Susie. Zoe and her papa got out of the car and started to approach the house when the lady came back out, with Susie in tow.
