by Tiffani Lynn
“I see that,” his sister replies with a moderate amount of irritation in her voice. I grin. It’s kind of funny that I get under her skin. It almost makes me feel like I’m in grade school tugging on a girl’s hair to make her pay attention to me.
The siblings make small talk like I’m sure they do each week when they meet for lunch. When Sam asks how her day is going, she replies, “Tough.”
This town seems like a place with little-to-no crime, beyond speeding tickets and jaywalkers. Wade finally speaks up. “We’re having issues with some local teenagers. Raising hell, vandalism, theft. There’s just nothing here to hold their interest or keep them too busy for trouble. None of them are team sports kinds of kids. Most of them live on the wrong side of the tracks and don’t have money or great role models. It’s a vicious cycle. I just hate arresting a fourteen-year-old kid because I know it’s a perpetual cycle from then on. The ones today really got to Collins.” He nods her way.
“There’s just so much potential there, but so little guidance. These kids just need someone to give a crap about them.”
I shift and cross my arms over my chest as I contemplate what they’re saying. I’m the kid they are talking about. Lou whipped my butt into shape and loved me along the way, but before him, I had no one and I acted like it.
“Do you think the kids you’re talking about would come meet with me?”
Her neck jerks back. “Why?”
“Because boxing is a good way for kids like the ones you’re talking about to burn off steam and redirect all that energy.”
“Wouldn’t that just teach them to be more violent?”
I bust up laughing. All three stare at me as I take a couple minutes to get myself together. “No, it will teach them discipline and how to channel that energy. Besides, the way I’ll work them out will leave them too tired to get into trouble.”
“That’s a great idea,” Wade declares.
“I’m not sure…” Collins’ reluctant thought comes out quieter.
“No skin off my nose, but if you change your mind, you know where to find me.” She is doing everything she can to dislike me, but I’m going to keep bugging her until she at least doesn’t look at me like she wants to punch me in the face.
Four
Collins
I refuse to say it out loud, but what Keegan talked about sounds like a good idea. My problem is I don’t trust him. First, I need to figure out if Sam is truly safe hanging out with him. So far, he’s been great with him and Sam really likes him, but Sam likes almost everyone. What if the guy is some kind of molester and preys on defenseless guys like Sam or kids with no parents paying attention? I mean, no one really knows this guy. Sure, he’s a famous boxer and the guys seem to know his boxing persona, but what do we really know about him? I mean, who moves to Sunnyville from the city if they aren’t wanting to raise a family or are old and ready to retire here? It strikes me as strange that a single, male professional athlete has moved to our little wine-country town. It’s not like he has family here or a girlfriend who brought him to this town. It’s just weird.
“You’re awfully quiet,” Wade notes.
“What?” I glance over at him, where he has one arm on the steering wheel and the other resting on his leg. His eyes turn to meet mine for a moment and concern is written in the lines of his forehead.
“I’m okay. I just don’t trust Keegan.”
He laughs a little. “Why? He seems to be a good guy and Sam really likes him.”
“Doesn’t it seem odd that he hired my brother after two conversations and is paying him what my mom was paying him?”
His eyebrows rise like he’s surprised at what I’m saying. “No, it doesn’t seem weird. Sam is a good guy, a friendly person and like anyone, he deserves a chance. I think Keegan met him and Sam worked his magic. It’s hard not to like your brother.”
“Maybe he likes Sam too much.” I cross my arms over my chest and glare at Wade, trying to make my point even though my gut is telling me I’m off base.
Wade laughs like I’m being ridiculous. “That guy doesn’t have some perverted interest in your brother. He moved to a new place and met the nicest guy in town right away, so he hired him.”
“You seem completely sure. What if you’re wrong?” I protest.
This time he laughs harder. I look over to find him grinning at me. “I’m not wrong. He’s a boxer, trying to start a business here in Sunnyville. This is a nice town to live in no matter who you are or what you do. Your brother is friendly and works hard. End of story. What I don’t get is why you want to make this guy into a villain. Did he say or do something to you I don’t know about?”
“No, it just all seems a little strange.”
“You are either being a crazy, protective big sister or maybe it’s possible that you’re attracted to the guy and are just fighting the feeling.”
My eyebrows snap together and I sit up a little straighter. “What?”
“You heard me. It’s okay to have the hots for someone, Sutton. Normal women your age do and he’s a good-looking guy. Lots of testosterone to attract a female. No one would fault you for that.”
I sigh and roll my eyes. Now he’s pissing me off. In fact, Wade is way off base. I open my mouth to argue my point and refute his lame idea, and then snap it shut. I’m obviously not going to sway Wade to see this from my perspective. I’ll do some digging on my own and see what turns up. I’m not even able to change the subject when he starts humming “Can’t Fight This Feeling” by REO Speedwagon. I reach over and smack him on the arm to shut him up and he laughs hysterically. I roll my eyes and look out the window, watching the landscape pass as we head to our call.
When we reach our destination, which happens to be the convenience store, I immediately see why we were called. A group of about ten to fifteen teenagers of various races is gathered on the side of the building. I recognize a couple of them right away as kids we’ve questioned recently. Two are seated on the ground with their backs to the building, under the sign that reads “No Loitering” as they smoke cigarettes and watch the others. One guy is dancing to the music coming in through his headphones and is oblivious to everything around him. The others are in a loose circle, talking about something, or more like yelling it with lots of profanity. These guys are being generally noisy, which wouldn’t be an issue if they were at home hanging out, but they aren’t. They’re at a place of business and they’re making the owners and customers nervous, so it’s time for them to go.
We get out of the cruiser and walk over to the group. The crowd quiets a bit and opens up, leaving a clear leader visible for us to deal with. The guys in the group all stare at us, doing their best to look intimidating, but I’ve seen bigger, badder dudes than these, so I ignore it.
The leader speaks before we can. “What brings Sunnyville’s finest out today?” His crew all share a laugh.
“Got a call there were people loitering on private property.”
“That’s a college word and as you can see, none of us are headed to college any time soon.” He smirks at us while the guy to his left, who is probably only fifteen years old, gangly and not even fully into puberty, is giving me a very blatant once-over. I fight curling my lip at him and I refocus on the leader.
“I think you’re smart enough to know what that means,” Wade fires back. “Let’s not make a big thing of this. Time for you guys to find somewhere else to hang out, and if you do that quietly now, then we have no issues.”
One of the kids sitting against the wall climbs to his feet and adjusts his baggy pants so they hang just right before he saunters over to our group. “I don’t know about you, Marlon, but I think it might be worth hangin’ around so Red will find a reason to strip-search me.” He nods my way as he runs his hands over his T-shirt and baggy pants, his slick grin more annoying than menacing.
“Sorry, boys, I only strip-search grown men. Officer Wade is right, time for you to go before this becomes uncomfortable for everyone
.” My eyes stay narrowed on the leader they call Marlon.
Finally, he lifts his hands in a gesture of surrender and laughs at me. “Don’t get feisty, Red. We can take off. We was done here anyway.” The leader lifts his hands and snaps his fingers twice and everyone moves, just not quickly.
I hold my position. I learned a long time ago, don’t let them see you flinch. It takes them a full ten minutes to mosey down the street, but we don’t leave until they are long gone.
“Those kids are punks,” Wade tells me, not saying anything I don’t agree with.
“Yeah, makes me wonder who’s in charge at home. They’re too young to live alone, but they act like they are the kings of the world.”
“Another Titanic reference.” He elbows me in the side and chuckles.
“I’m never going to live that one down, am I?” I ask, knowing the answer. Ugh. During a drunk evening at the bar, my loose lips confessed my closet love for Titanic and how I watch it when I’m feeling sad. It’s like an old friend at this point. I know everything it’s going to say and how it will make me feel when I watch it.
“Nope!” he chuckles as he walks ahead of me, back to the cruiser.
Once we’re buckled in and he starts the car, Wade asks, “You going to Malone’s this weekend for the party?”
“Yeah. I never miss a Malone party. Grant, Grayson and Grady may be mostly settled down now that they have permanent women in their lives, but they’re still Malones, so you never know what they will get into and what kind of show it will be for everyone around.”
“Truer words have never been spoken.”
“Were you at that party in high school when one of the guys from the football team tried to light a fart on fire and Grady put it out with a fire extinguisher?” We both bust up laughing. “Funniest thing I’d ever seen up to that point. Something always happens, so I like to sit back and watch at those parties and see how things play out.”
“I’m surprised their mother hasn’t pulled all her hair out or had a heart attack before now.”
“Yeah, thank God she has help with them now. Their wives have their hands full even if they’ve settled down.”
My workout took a little longer than I expected this morning, which delayed my whole day, so I’m a little late getting to the party. My dad and Sam are supposed to meet me here, along with Wade, Rayann, and my best friend, Ahmod. Some girls have close girl friends, some have good guy friends. I have Ahmod. He says his body is all man but his brain is all lady and therefore he identifies as both. He has no interest in transformation surgery to become a woman physically, but also no intent on conforming to his assigned sex. Therefore, Ahmod is a gorgeous, light-skinned black man with close-cropped dark hair, who wears women’s clothes and makeup most of the time, but will date either sex and respond to he or she. He’s the best friend I’ve ever had. The most loyal person I know and one of the funniest people you will meet anywhere.
I think when Ahmod was in high school and started accepting who he was and expressing himself however he wanted, people were shocked. It took four or five years for people to accept it and another one or two for people to totally embrace it—with the exception of my family, who encouraged him to live how he felt. Ahmod was incredibly close to my mom and was the one who called me to tell me what happened when she died. His own family disowned him during his high school years and he was living on the street until we took him in. Now he’s my brother too. Most of the year, he lives in L.A. and is a makeup artist for one of the big studios. He keeps a one-bedroom apartment here in Sunnyville so he doesn’t infringe on my family when he’s in town, but really, I think it’s because he likes to walk around naked when he’s home and knows he can’t do that at my dad’s house. This weekend, he’s here and I couldn’t be more excited!
I slip on an olive green tank top and a pair of cutoff jean shorts, then I locate my brown flip-flops and run a brush through my hair one time before I head out. Although I did put on mascara and lip gloss, I didn’t trick myself out. I’m not a fussy girl when it comes to makeup. I wear it when I go out with Ahmod in L.A.—because he insists—but most of the time I bypass it. The only reason I put what I did on today was because I knew Ahmod would light me up about not presenting myself nicely in public. He’s a stickler for appearances.
When I arrive, my dad is sitting at a table with Chief and Mrs. Malone and another couple we’ve known for years. Ahmod is standing off to the side, talking to Dylan McCoy Malone, Grady’s wife. When he realizes I’m there, we both turn into squealing adolescent girls and run for each other. We hug and rock back and forth like it’s been years since we’ve seen each other, when it’s only been a month. That’s the level of excitement we have for one another. The funny thing about it is that it’s very uncharacteristic of me. I rarely show emotion in public. I have a fantastic poker face, but not when it comes to Ahmod. He is truly joy personified for me. When I pull away and pat his cheek with a smile, he pauses in his most dramatic fashion and his eyes shift to something behind me. “Holy hot man with muscles, he’s beautiful!” he says a little too loudly.
“What—” I start to ask as I turn to figure out what he’s looking at. My eyes catch on Keegan Ranger and I stop. He is beautiful in a rugged boxer kind of way. I can’t deny that and he is exactly what Ahmod would drool over.
“Where did he come from?” Ahmod questions in a stage whisper so loud my dad and everyone at his table even heard it, judging by the fact that they are all staring at us now. Sam comes around the mountain of muscle and spots Ahmod.
“Ahmod! You’re here!” He rushes over and hugs Ahmod before they start their handshake that ends with jazz fingers. Keegan strolls up behind Sam with a swagger born from years of being in control of his body and his surroundings. There’s a smirk on his face that irks me and I instantly tense up. Being all macho and manly man, he better not even think about making fun of Ahmod or I will eviscerate him in the middle of this crowd. For years, men like Keegan tore at Ahmod’s self-esteem by teasing him relentlessly and even beating him up on several occasions.
Sam, being the oblivious guy that he is, reaches back and pulls Keegan forward so they are side by side. “Meet my brother, Ahmod!”
Ahmod, being Ahmod, stares at Keegan as if he’s a giant slice of tiramisu and Ahmod hasn’t had dessert in years. I’d roll my eyes and elbow him if I weren’t poised to punch Keegan in the nose.
“Hey, I’m Keegan,” he introduces himself as he reaches out to take Ahmod’s hand. Ahmod does a very girly handshake and grins at Keegan.
“What, pray tell, are you doing in this town, Keegan?” Ahmod asks as he flutters his fake eyelashes at him, in full flirt mode. I roll my eyes, having seen this behavior before from Ahmod.
Sam interjects, clearly excited about his new friend, “He opened a boxing gym here in town. I work there now! Can you believe it?” His excitement is infectious and I feel the tension slide out of me a little as Keegan adds to Sam’s thoughts.
“Sam’s doing a great job and the clients love him.”
Ahmod’s eyes squint and his head tilts like he’s pulling something out of his memory banks.
“Wait a hot honeyed second! You’re Keegan ‘The Punisher’ Ranger? Here? In Sunnyville?” Ahmod’s eyes are wide with awe and surprise.
Keegan chuckles a little and places his hand on the back of his neck like he’s uncomfortable. “Yeah.”
“What in the hell are you doing here?” Ahmod waves his hand, indicating the town around us. “Don’t you have an ass to kick somewhere?” I can hear laughter somewhere behind us at his question.
“Nah. I’m taking a break. I rode through here a few months ago on my Harley and liked the place. Decided to settle here. The pace is a little slower and the people more friendly. What are you doing here? You don’t exactly scream Sunnyville.
I tense again. No one ever brings up Ahmod’s differences anymore, especially a stranger, and I have no idea how my best friend will react.
A
little giggle precedes his answer. “Aren’t you funny and observant,” Ahmod quips with that flirty lilt to his voice again as he pushes Keegan’s shoulder playfully. “This is the place I call home. Sam, Collins and Mr. Sutton are my family so I come home to remind them of my fabulousness once a month. The rest of the time I’m in L.A.”
Keegan nods thoughtfully. “That makes sense. This is a good family to have. By the way, how did you know who I was? You’re not the typical boxing fan.”
“Oh, no, honey. I don’t do boxing. All those beatings and fluids flying everywhere. Ick. I like my men intact and secreting only the bodily fluids I request.” He winks before he shakes his head. “No way to all that! But I do enjoy the billboards and the televised weigh-ins of you guys wearing only those tight boxer briefs and you’re not hard on the eyes so, therefore, easy to remember.”
Another deep chuckle; this one reverberates between my legs. “Okay, I get it. What do you do for a living?” Keegan asks, seemingly comfortable hanging out with Ahmod.
“Makeup artist for a studio.” He does a fake toss of his hair, which he doesn’t have, for dramatic flair.
“Are you any good?” Keegan asks, clearly amused by Ahmod.
“Have you seen this masterpiece?” Ahmod motions to his face like he’s on a game show and it’s the prize. “This year I made the top one hundred list. I was number eighty-seven but it’s still on the list amongst the million Hollywood makeup artists.”
“That’s cool.”
Sam interjects before anything else can be said. “I’m hungry. Let’s get something to eat, Keegan.”
He reaches over and places a hand on Sam’s shoulder and squeezes slightly. “Sure, Sam, I could use a hamburger.” Then he focuses on me and I get a little swoop in my belly that I hate. I don’t want to have a physical reaction to him. “Collins, nice to see you again.”
“You too,” I choke out quietly as he saunters away, listening as Sam talks.
