Joke

by Mia Malone

  “Are you even listening?”

  Gibson’s rough voice sent another shiver down my spine, and I gasped again.

  “I’ll be there at twelve,” Joke said hoarsely and threw the phone over his shoulder and into the living room.

  Then he stood up, placed me on the table, and started pounding, hard and fast. His thumb was on my clit, flicking it in a way he knew would make me come, and I felt it wash over me.

  “Yeah,” he rasped out. “Just like that. Love how you sound when you come, Siss.”

  “Zacharias,” I breathed out.

  He leaned over me and put his mouth on mine and then he pushed deep as we both came.

  Then he carried me into the shower, and made sure all the syrup was washed away, and he did it in a way that made me come one more time.

  ***

  Joke

  “I don’t fucking get it,” Paddy said and leaned back in the deck chair.

  They were gathered at Mac’s place to talk about news Paddy had gotten from Doug Hanes, the president of one of the MC’s in the area.

  “What?” Gibson asked as he sat down, aiming a knowing grin at Joke.

  “Sissy is like one of those Russian dolls whatever the fuck they’re called. Just when I think I have her figured out, poof, there another Sissy jumping out from nowhere.”

  “Matryoshka-dolls.”

  “Huh?”

  Joke grinned. Of course, Day would know what a goddamned Russian souvenir was called.

  “Just saying.”

  “Whatever,” Paddy snorted. “Sissy handled your parents well. Jenny’s grateful, and so am I.”

  “She did,” Joke said calmly.

  “Are they still around?” Mac asked and handed out water bottles.

  “Nah,” Joke said. “Sat them down and shared in no uncertain terms that we would not sell the place. Repeated my offer to buy their share. They declined in a way that was spectacularly unhappy. I watched them do it for a while and walked out of there. Bobs told me their camper lit out of here yesterday.”

  “Why didn’t you tell someone he hit you?”

  Joke blinked. They hadn’t talked about that, and he hadn’t expected Mac to put the question out there. Hadn’t known he knew.

  “I did, but you know who was chief of police back then,” he said calmly.

  It had been his uncle.

  “Fuck.”

  “Outgrew Dad in size when I was fourteen, Gib taught me some moves, and I beat the crap out of him, which stopped shit pretty much immediately. Jen and I were mostly with either Grandpa at the farm or Grams at the diner anyway. Not much to talk about. Long time ago, Mac.”

  “You knew?” Day asked Gibson.

  “Guessed.”

  “You gonna keep the farm?” Mac asked.

  “Don’t want it, but the Haydens have lived there a long time, so they do. Don’t think they have the cash, though, and a big mortgage would hurt them. Jen and I are good as it is.”

  Joke took a deep swig of water and watched the neat, white fence around Mac’s backyard. He did not want a backyard mostly because he had zero interest in mowing a fucking lawn, but he could add a deck outside their place. Not ground level because it was a backside of a bar, but a raised one. Like a huge balcony stretching across the building.

  Yeah, Joke decided. He’d talk to Paddy and get his crew in to do that. They could sort out the bathroom situation at the same time. He mostly didn’t mind sharing the bathroom, but sometimes a man needed to sit down in solitude and not have to worry about any kind of smell lingering when he left.

  “You should take Sissy out to see the place,” Day said and leaned back too.

  “Yeah.”

  That wasn’t a bad idea. They were heading straight into mud-season so the place would look depressing but the sun was out. They were both off, so he had plans for the evening, but they had plenty of time.

  “Right,” Paddy said, and everyone focused on him as he shared that a criminal group which had caused them a shitload of trouble last summer apparently had started rebuilding what had burned to the ground on land they leased just outside Wilhelmine.

  Joke moved his fingers slowly over the scar he had on his hand and thought about that night. He’d been furious about how they’d kidnapped his sister. Scared out of his mind and the only thing holding him together had been the absolute focus Paddy had forced them all to hang on to.

  He’d been impressed then but even more so now when he had Sissy in his life and was planning to keep her there. He wondered if he’d manage to hold it together if that asshole made his way to Wilhelmine, and hoped to God he’d never have to find out.

  ***

  Bob Hayden looked worried when they drove up to the farm, so Joke pulled him to the side as soon as introductions were done. Then he shared that his parents had left, and he had no interest in neither living on the farm nor selling to some city-slicker who would build a vacation home and spend two weeks a year in it. Bob was relieved, and they discussed ways for the family to buy into the property but since it would require an agreement from Joke’s father, it seemed like a dead end.

  “We’ll just keep it like it is,” Joke said. “The lease is up for renewal. Won’t do ten years this time.”

  The worried look on Bob’s face was back, but he nodded slowly.

  “Talked to Jen,” Joke said calmly. “We need Dad’s okay to sell, but we do not need his approval to sign a new lease. We’ll do thirty years instead to be on the safe side. The old man will be gone well before that. Start putting money away, and we’ll make a deal then.”

  “You sure?”

  “Oh, yeah,” Joke said. “We’ll see if we can’t put some legal shit together giving you first option to buy.”

  “Thank you. My boy wants to stay here, and now that he has a family, it’ll be good for them with some stability.”

  “I know.”

  “Are both of you sure?” the other man asked again, and Joke nodded again.

  “We like where we are. No kids.”

  “You have ties to this land. Your family settled here.”

  “Bob,” Joke said gently. “It was a big family, and they settled all over Wilhelmine. Besides, the land will still be here if we want to go for a stroll.”

  “You’re a good man. Your dad always was a fool.”

  “Still is,” Joke said. “Jenny and I had the best party ever when they decided to retire down in Arizona.”

  “I know,” Bob snorted. “Who do you think got your sorry ass home that night?”

  Jesus. That had been the one time in his life when he’d been drunk enough to pass out.

  “Thanks, I guess,” Joke muttered.

  “Heard about her,” Bob said and nodded toward Sissy who was on her knees by the front porch, making what looked like really miserable mud-sculptures with Bob’s grandkids and laughing her ass off.

  “Bet you did.”

  “People gossip, Joke, you know that… Word is that she had some troubles.”

  Well, shit. There was no way to keep anything from spreading like wildfire around town.

  “Some,” Joke stalled.

  “People like you. They also like her, so word is also that anyone coming here will find nothing but a shitstorm full of get-the-fuck-outta-here.”

  “If anyone sees anything strange they should tell me. Paddy. One of the others.”

  “Of course, man. Everyone knows what to do.”

  They went back to watch Sissy and two kids finally agree that they’d created perfection. Then she got up and tried to brush off the dirt which only spread it over her pants.

  “Let’s go,” Joke said and took her hand. “Ten-minute walk, babe. There’s this place where I used to hang as a kid.”

  The small canyon was where he’d gone when he’d wanted to be alone. He’d never told anyone about the small path leading down through the bushes to a small cluster of trees where he’d used to go and think about shit when he needed it. It felt right to bring her
there, though, and they sat in silence a while. Then he told her about a young boy washing off blood in that creek when his father had used a belt. About roaring at the skies and crying his eyes out. And about the feeling of absolute, undiluted satisfaction when he put his fist in his father’s face and made him stop.

  He’d never talked to anyone about it. Not like that.

  “He is such a shithead,” Sissy sighed. “If I’d known this when I met him, I would have hit him too.”

  “Babe.”

  “I would,” she insisted. “I’m glad you told me.”

  “You should know,” he said. “Made me the man I am.”

  “Which is a good man.”

  He didn’t know what to say so he kissed her instead and murmured against her lips that he had plans for the evening so she should clean some of the mud off because they were going home. She balanced on a couple of stones as she washed off, and then she froze.

  “Joke, there’s a car in the creek.”

  His brows went up, and he waved at her to come back to the side so he could take a look.

  “Look,” she said. “It’s partially in the water. Up there.”

  She pointed, and he narrowed his eyes.

  “Fuck,” he grunted.

  In the far distance, just where the creek made a sharp turn forming a small pool it looked like there was a car standing front first and almost covered by water. The road would be pretty close to the creek, and the riverbank was higher and steep so it could have gone over the side of the road.

  He got back and started running up the creek. It wouldn’t have been a recent accident, he thought but still wanted to see what the fuck was going on. When they approached the car, he sighed. The accident hadn’t been recent, and he recognized the car, so he pulled his phone out.

  “Mac,” he said. “Remember Jenny’s part timer? Joanie?”

  “Yeah,” Mac said. “Left town a while back. Almost a year ago?”

  “She never left. I just found her car, it’s in Rock Creek, just outside our old place.”

  ***

  Sissy

  Day and Lee kept me company at the bar while Joke and Jenny went with Mac and a group of hard-faced men to pull the car out of the river. Tug had gone with them, but there weren’t a lot of people so I could handle the place on my own.

  “What was she like?” I asked.

  “I never met her,” Lee said when Day’s face closed down. “She left the day before I met Jenny the first time.”

  “Day?” I murmured when he still didn’t say anything.

  “Fuck it,” he grunted, and I took hold of his hand when our eyes met. “I yelled at her, Sissy. My last words to her were for her to get the fuck out of my house.”

  “Day –”

  “Couple days before she left. I came home and found her in my fucking bed. Fucking naked. I’d tried to brush her off for months.” He signed and shrugged. “Wasn’t clear enough apparently because there she was, and I yelled at her.”

  “Oh, honey, it wasn’t your fault that she had an accident.”

  “I could have been kinder.”

  “She’d broken into your house,” Lee said calmly. “Of course you were angry.”

  “Don’t even know why she was chasing me around that way,” Day muttered, and Lee and I shared a glance.

  We both knew exactly why she had. Day was gorgeous but more than that, his smile spread happiness, and he seemed to slide through life in a way that was contagious, making you think it was all just one big exciting adventure. It was very alluring.

  “What did she look like?” I asked, mostly to have something to say that would take Day’s mind off the last time he’d seen her.

  “Thirty-something. Pretty. Long, red hair, but I think it was colored. Liked older guys.”

  “Older guys?”

  “She lived here less than a year, Sissy. I wasn’t here all the time, so I didn’t know her very well. Heard she slept with Tug. Bobs too I think. Petey. A few others. Not a problem and her business, mostly since I wasn’t interested.”

  “Okay.”

  “Don’t do redheads,” he muttered.

  I stared at Lee who looked as surprised as I felt.

  “You don’t do redheads?” Lee asked slowly.

  Day made a face and raised his hands in an impatient whatever-the-fuck gesture.

  “Never did.”

  Okay. Alright. That was a bit strange, partly since he had red hair himself but mostly because who the hell chose their partners based on their hair color?

  “It wasn’t… I just never met anyone with red hair that I wanted to do.”

  I was going to let him know that I thought his statement was just a tad bit shallow when Joke walked in.

  “She wasn’t in the car.”

  “Fuck.”

  “Mac’s guys are looking down the creek. It’s not deep enough for her to have gone far. Don’t get how she would have been washed out of the car at all.”

  “Joke –”

  “Don’t take this on, Day,” Joke said calmly. “I told her to back off too.”

  Huh.

  “You –”

  “She cornered me in the kitchen, the first week she was here. I was busy and also…” He turned to me and made a face. “This isn’t gonna make me sound too good, baby.”

  “Okay,” I said, wondered what he’d done.

  “She was way too desperate. Pretty, and fun once she backed off from me. But she was desperate to find… I don’t know, someone? And it showed a little too much for my taste. So, yeah. I told her pretty roughly that I didn’t want her in my kitchen, and that she should look elsewhere. She did. Went home with Tug that night.”

  “It didn’t last?”

  “It was a hookup. He wasn’t too happy about how she handled it actually and would have seen her again, but she told him it was just a hookup and only that one time.”

  “Bobs?”

  “Same thing, although Bobs was happier about the outcome than Tug.”

  We stood in silence for a while, and I tried to feel sorry for a woman I’d never met but had to settle for feeling sorry for the ones who had known her. People came through the doors, and a hard-faced Tug walked in to join me behind the bar. Joke tried to send him home but he snarled, and we let him stay.

  It was late when Joke rang the bell, and we closed the place.

  “I had plans for tonight,” he murmured into the darkness, and I curled into him.

  “We’ll have other nights,” I murmured.

  “Yeah,” he sighed, and I knew that he thought about the woman who wouldn’t have any other nights.

  ***

  Joke

  The weeks passed by and gossip around Joanie’s car died down. She hadn’t been found, and it was assumed that she’d been washed away by the spring floods, if not before. The seatbelt hadn’t been buckled, so if there had been a rush of water, she would have been. Joanie hadn’t lived in town long, and she’d had friends but not close ones, so people were upset, but like life has a way of doing, it simply went on.

  Joke had a brand new balcony – which he refused to call a fucking balcony and referred to as the porch – outside his and Sissy’s apartments. Sissy’s place had a couple of new beds and some other bits and pieces, and they fought about that.

  She told him she’d pay for the furniture since it was there because her daughters were spending four weeks with her as soon as school was out.

  He told her that it was his fucking place so she would in no way pay for shit.

  She immediately got in his face with a fucking annoying finger poking him in the chest and shared that she’d take the beds and shit with her when she left so she’d totally pay.

  He blinked twice and told her that she wasn’t leaving, so her point was moot.

  Then he watched her backside while she exited the place at a speed that could not be described as slow.

  He gave her a couple of hours to calm down and then he walked into Oak.

&
nbsp; “Moot!” she yelled and pointed at him when he walked through the doors.

  He turned and went to Gibson’s place instead and spent the evening watching his friend laugh at him.

  “Joke, honey,” Lee said when he was heading home. “Why don’t you just split the cost?”

  He stared at her and wondered why the hell that thought hadn’t occurred to him.

  She grinned, probably interpreting the look on his face accurately which meant she knew what a goddamned fool he was, and gave him a quick hug.

  “Make-up sex,” she whispered, and he heard Gibson chuckle.

  On his way home, he decided that yeah. They’d totally have make-up sex. There hadn’t seemed to be a good time for the surprise he promised her after her trip to C Springs, but he would get to that when he got home. After they’d figured shit out.

  Sissy waited for him, and before he could say anything at all, she raised a hand.

  “We’ll split the cost,” she said.

  “Yeah. Thought so too, so it’s good that you figured that out by yourself,” he said calmly.

  “Tug told me,” she muttered.

  “Lee told me,” he retorted.

  Their eyes met, and he felt like laughing.

  “We’re a couple of idiots,” he said instead.

  “Totally.”

  “We good?” he asked.

  “Yeah. Sorry I yelled at you.”

  “Sorry I yelled too.”

  “You didn’t,” she said.

  “I did,” he told her. “Some in the car but mostly at Gibson’s place, though.”

  She giggled softly, and he grinned as he put his mouth on hers and let his tongue slide inside.

  Then he pulled back a bit and said quietly, “You owe me.”

  “What?” she breathed, but he could tell that she knew what was coming.

  “Sit.”

  He nodded toward the couch, and she sat down while he walked into the bedroom to get a gift-wrapped item he’d kept hidden on the top shelf in his closet.

  “We’ve been fucking for x days now. Got you an anniversary present.”

  “X days.”

  “Haven’t fucking counted,” he said. “Don’t know the number but it’s a number which means it’s an anniversary.”