Law Man

by Kristen Ashley

  “He’s got good stuff. So good, they’re willin’ to give into all his demands. And one a’ those demands is he gets to say where his kids’re gonna be. Now, you’re smart, you deal. We’re willin’ to give you the boy but we take the girl,” she said.

  I knew Mitch was preparing to speak but he didn’t get the chance.

  This was because, in a flash that lasted a nanosecond, it all came to me.

  Jez didn’t care about Billie. Whether she was moving into a trailer close to them or not, she was there because she was getting something out of it. What, I had no clue. But whatever she was getting, it wasn’t her daughter that she wanted.

  And I had no idea how Mom and Aunt Lulamae were paying for an attorney. They had no money and neither did Bill. Whatever it was was probably taken out in trade and I knew whatever they were giving some sleazebag lawyer to get him to take their case would lose its luster and do it quickly.

  And there was no judge in the land who would take two children from a woman who gave them a stable home, food, clothes and good people in their lives and plant them in a trailer two states away to live with women of proven bad character.

  And Bill knew this.

  But he didn’t care.

  He just wanted to fuck with me. Probably with Mitch too. But definitely with me.

  And he was using his children to do it.

  But that flash I had wasn’t just understanding what was happening right then in my apartment. It was understanding what Mitch had been telling me, what people who knew and cared about me had been saying and showing all my life.

  I was not a Two Point Five. Behaving the way they behaved, speaking the way they spoke, making the threats they were making would not occur to me. I would never, not in a million years, do any of that.

  Because that was not me.

  And it never had been.

  So when the reply came, it was me who gave it.

  “Get out of my house,” I said quietly and all eyes turned to me.

  “What?” Mom asked.

  “Get out of my house. Now,” I repeated with an added directive.

  Mom’s eyes narrowed. “Marabelle Jolene, have you been listenin’?”

  “I have,” I told her. “And I’m not listening anymore. I’m not breathing your air anymore. I’m done. You laid it out, now I will. This is the last conversation we’ll have not through attorneys. Unless I have to see you, I will never see you again. Do your worst. Right now, we’re done.”

  “You don’t get this,” Aunt Lulamae butted in, “but my Bill’s got good shit on someone. They’re kissin’ his ass to get it. You don’t take this deal, Marabelle, you could lose both those kids.”

  “And you don’t get this,” I retorted. “I do not care. If you think for one second I’m allowing you…or her,” I jerked my head at Jez, “anywhere near my kids, think again. It’s not going to happen.”

  “You’re wrong,” Aunt Lulamae returned.

  “We’ll see,” I replied instantly. “Now, get out.”

  Mom leaned a bit toward me and said with soft menace, “You need to think about this deal, girl.”

  My voice was clear and strong when I shot back, “No, I don’t. And you know I don’t. And you know why I don’t. But I’ll point it out. You both have records. I don’t. You both have not had steady employment in your lives. I have. Neither of you have seen those children until ten minutes ago. You haven’t sent birthday cards or Christmas presents. They’ve lived their whole lives in Denver; they’ve never been out of state and definitely not to Iowa. Their father is a drunk, drug addict dealer with two strikes. That woman,” I jerked my head at Jez, “left her infant daughter and didn’t see her again until whatever reason brought her here. And if you think we won’t figure out what you bribed her with to get her here, seeing as my man’s a freaking decorated police detective, you’re even more stupid than I thought and I had a lifetime of evidence suggesting you’re flat out dumb.” My eyes pinpointed Mom and Aunt Lulamae in turn and my voice dipped quieter. “And I have a really good memory. A really good one. You push this, you take this to court, I’ll be calling up all sorts of stuff on both of you,” my eyes shifted and narrowed on Jez, “all of you. There is no way in hell you’re taking either of my kids from me. And yes,” I looked to Aunt Lulamae, “I said they’re my kids because they are my kids. And seeing as they’re mine, I love them and they love me, I will exhaust myself, I will run myself ragged, I will bleed myself dry and I will do this to make sure they’re safe, protected and stay with me. You’re here simply because Bill is stupid, he’s petty, he blames me for his mistakes and he wants to fuck with me. He knows he has no prayer in the world. He’s smart enough to know that. He’s using you but you’re not smart enough to know that. Now, you can take this further and endure me wiping the floor with the lot of you in a courtroom or you can crawl away and stay away. Because you are not welcome here, you are not welcome in my home, my life or my kids’ lives and you never, ever will be.”

  When I finished, I held their eyes and I was calm, in control, breathing steadily and although Mitch’s arm around my waist giving me a strong squeeze felt great, I didn’t need it.

  I didn’t need it.

  Because I wasn’t a Two Point Five. I wasn’t an Eight. I wasn’t a Ten.

  Mitch was right. My classification system was bullshit.

  Bottom line, what I was is a decent person.

  And I always had been.

  “Fuck me,” Jez muttered, studying, me, “didn’t buy into this shit.”

  “Shush,” Aunt Lulamae hissed to Jez, “we got this.”

  My body jolted in surprise when I heard a burst of laughter. I looked toward my kitchen to see Elvira had an arm thrown out to hold onto the edge of the counter and her entire, petite, rounded body was visibly shaking with hilarity. Her head was thrown back and her other hand was beating, palm flat, at her well-endowed chest.

  She continued to laugh for a while then she sobered, still chuckling and wiping under her eye as she noted the obvious, “Hilarious. You got this. Ohmigod, that’s funny.”

  “You think they got more sway than the District Attorney?” Mom asked, sweeping an arm out to Mitch and me.

  Elvira totally sobered and focused sharp eyes on my mother.

  And when she spoke, her voice was quiet.

  “Yeah. Not to save you trouble but to save them the pain in the ass all you all got written all over you,” on the “them” she jerked her head toward Mitch and me, “let me explain somethin’. Detective Mitch Lawson is well-known in these parts for bein’ a good cop and when I say well-known, I mean, he’s made the papers. He decides he and his girlfriend are gonna take in a coupla kids that don’t have it too good and give them good, and the DA decides to give them to the likes of you just so he can get some info from a dirtbag, the papers get hold of that, he’s not gonna look too good. The DA likes lookin’ good. And, in case you haven’t clued in, I think Mara and Mitch here are willin’ to throw just about anything at you and won’t mind wadin’ in with the media to keep those kids safe.”

  She turned her head to Mitch and me.

  Then she said, “Sorry, gotta lay this shit out.”

  Before either of us could respond, she turned her head back to the Trailer Trash Trio and when she spoke again, her voice was even quieter.

  “Now, I know all about Bill Winchell. And I know who he’s got dirt on. And I know that person gets whiff that he’s talkin’, the number of breaths Bill Winchell’s got left to breathe on this earth just lowered significantly. Police protective custody or not, he’s dead man walkin’. If he’s too stupid to know that, he’s your boy, you go talk to him and you educate him. Right now he’s facin’ a not very happy future that includes a limited wardrobe selection. But at least he’s got a future. He talks, he won’t have that. You get me?”

  I looked from Elvira to the Trailer Trash Trio to see Jez still looked indifferent. Mom was studying Elvira closely. But, surprising me, Aunt Lulamae l
ooked pale and uncertain.

  Elvira spoke again and when I looked back at her, I saw her eyes were on Mitch.

  “I know the boys are fired up to take that guy down but that stupid cracker’s makin’ this play just to fuck with you, he needs a wakeup call.” Her eyes honed in on Mitch and she finished, “And you know it.”

  “We’ll tell him to add the Witness Protection Program to the deal,” Mom said and everyone looked at her.

  “You can tell him that but Winchell won’t get it,” Elvira replied. “He might have info but not enough to buy him that kinda deal.”

  “You can’t know that,” Mom returned.

  “Woman, you don’t know me but what I do, I know everything that’s goin’ down in Denver. I know that. I know a lot more. And I know, your boy don’t shut up, next time you see him, he’ll be in a coffin,” Elvira retorted.

  Everyone was silent. Aunt Lulamae shifted. Mom glared at Elvira. Jez looked like, if she had a watch (which she didn’t), she’d check it.

  Mitch finally spoke.

  “I think you’ve been invited to leave.”

  Mom transferred her glare to Mitch. Jez took a half step toward the door.

  Aunt Lulamae looked at Mitch too and asked on a jerk of her head toward Elvira, “What she said, is it true?”

  “Yes,” Mitch said flatly.

  Aunt Lulamae looked at Mom. Mom continued to glare at Mitch.

  And that was when I knew Mom was the mastermind (as it were) of all of this. This was not about Bill, Billy and Billie.

  This was about her and me.

  This was about her taking me down a notch.

  Mitch was right again.

  All my life, I had been in a competition with my mother. She wanted to take me down, hold me down, best me. She made nothing of her life and she wanted to make sure I didn’t make anything of mine because if I did, it would make her feel worse about the fact she’d thrown hers away.

  And there I stood next to a good man, a handsome man, a solid, respectable man in a fabulously decorated apartment and across the breezeway were two children who adored me and a cadre of friends who had my back.

  And she couldn’t stand it.

  “Move on,” I whispered and I felt Mitch’s arm tighten and saw Mom’s eyes come to me.

  “What?” she snapped.

  “You don’t exist for me, not anymore. Not after this, not even before this but definitely not after. We’re done. I’ve moved on. Now you need to move on too,” I advised.

  “Marabelle Hanover, don’t you stand there and tell your Momma what to do,” she kept snapping.

  “Okay then, don’t move on. Your choice. But take your bitterness and regret for throwing away your life somewhere else. Don’t you see?” I lifted a hand and kept it up. “You can’t beat me.”

  I dropped my hand and held her eyes.

  Mom glared into mine and then hers went to Mitch.

  “You’re a fool,” she stated, my body got tight and so did Mitch’s. “See she’s conned you with her fancy-ass clothes and her fancy-ass apartment into thinkin’ that she’s somethin’ she isn’t. You go home, ask anyone, they’ll tell you exactly who Marabelle Jolene Hanover is.”

  “No,” Mitch replied, “they’ll tell me who Melbamae Hanover is and, one look at you, I know the woman you are and I know Mara is not that woman.”

  “You go to Iowa, they’ll tell you,” Mom pushed.

  “I already responded to that, not gonna do it again,” Mitch muttered then said straight out, “Now, I’ll remind you, you’ve been invited to leave.”

  Mom gave up on Mitch and looked back at me.

  “You can’t run away from who you are.”

  “Wrong, Mom,” I replied. “I was never who you thought I was so I never had anything to run away from. But I did run away, not from who you thought I was but from you. I did it thirteen years ago. It’s done. I’m gone. I’ve been gone a long time. Move on.”

  “He’ll see who you are, he’ll figure it out and he’ll leave you,” she told me.

  “Jeez!” I cried. “I didn’t pick Mitch up at a Truck Stop, Mom, take him home and get him drunk on cheap whiskey. I’m not you and Mitch knew that before I did. You have no idea what you’re talking about. Now, for God’s sake, it’s late, I’m tired, my kids are tired and Bud’s freaked. I need to get them home, Bud calmed down and my family to sleep. So can you please just leave?”

  “I –” Mom started but Mitch cut her off.

  “Mara asked you to leave.”

  Mom’s narrowed eyes went to Mitch.

  “I’m gonna say what I –” she began again but Mitch cut her off again.

  “Mara asked you to leave.”

  Mom leaned in and her voice rose when she started, “I will say what –”

  Mitch let me go and moved.

  Luckily, Elvira moved before him. Hopping off the barstool onto her strappy, high-heeled sandals, she moved to the Trailer Trash Trio and she did it bossy.

  “Right, conversation over. You chose wrong, now’s the time for attorneys,” she said, herding the Trailer Trash Trio closer to the door.

  “We’re not done,” Mom snapped.

  “You’re done,” Mitch replied, still advancing but doing it slowly.

  “We’re not done!” Mom shouted and Elvira leaned around Jez and opened the door.

  Jez exited immediately. She didn’t buy into this scene. Whatever they offered her wasn’t much, definitely not worth the headaches she had to know I was ready to create. I fancied the minute I lost sight of her she went up in a poof of smoke.

  Aunt Lulamae grabbed Mom’s arm but Mom stood firm in the door, nose to nose with Elvira, Mitch now at Elvira’s back.

  Mom opened her mouth to be nasty but Elvira beat her to it.

  “Okay, woman, see you don’t get this but, the legal occupant of residence asks you to leave, you do not get a choice with that. They do it repeatedly, you do not comply with their request, things can get ugly. You’ve been repeatedly asked to leave by the tenant of this apartment and her partner who happens to be a police detective and you’ve been asked in front of a witness. You diggin’ in,” she shook her head, “not good. Now, you can walk out that door, make a stupid decision and call your lawyer or you can be led out that door in cuffs. I’m feelin’ hot guy, macho man, pissed off vibes at my back so my guess is, you got about five seconds. Think fast.”

  Mom glared at Elvira.

  Aunt Lulamae tugged at her arm.

  Mom stood firm and moved her glare to Mitch.

  All I could see was Mitch’s back but he stood firm too.

  Aunt Lulamae tugged at her arm again.

  Mom transferred her glare to me.

  Then she sneered.

  Then she whispered, “What was I thinkin’? You were never worth the trouble. Never.”

  I saw Mitch’s body get tight out of the corner of my eyes but I held my mother’s glare. I didn’t bother myself to reply because I knew she was wrong and, seriously, she wasn’t worth any additional effort.

  Mom waited.

  Elvira and Mitch stood firm.

  Aunt Lulamae again tugged Mom’s arm.

  “Bitch,” Mom hissed, turned on her platform stripper shoe and stomped out.

  And that was it. The last thing my mother likely would say to me.

  Figured.

  Aunt Lulamae avoided all eyes and followed.

  Elvira shut and locked the door.

  I sighed.

  Mitch turned on his boot and stalked toward me.

  My relief evaporated at the look on his face and the intensity of his gait. I had a second to brace before he was right in my space. Then I was in his arms. Then he was kissing me, hard, deep and wet. The kiss was a surprise but it was also a kiss from Mitch which was to say a really good one so I melted in his arms and mine circled his shoulders.

  Finally, he tore his mouth from mine, my eyes fluttered open and I saw his burning into mine.

  “That was…fucking
…phenomenal,” he whispered fiercely.

  Oh. Now I understood the intensity and the kiss.

  I grinned and pressed closer.

  Then I whispered back, “Thanks.”

  Mitch grinned too and his arms gave me a squeeze.

  “Mm-hmm, that one’s good,” we heard Elvira mutter and we looked her way to see she had her phone up and pointed at us. I heard what sounded like a camera phone shutter click then, “Nope,” she went on, “that one’s better.”

  “Uh…what are you doing?” I asked and Elvira looked from her phone to me.

  “I get that it’s bad timin’, hon, but my girls are chompin’ at the bit about you. Me and Tess been givin’ them the lowdown but neither of us have pictorial verification that Mitch got himself a sweet little hottie. Gwen, Cam and Beanpole have been all over Tess and me and even though Tess said things are intense with you two, they’re gettin’ impatient. Cam and Beanpole, I can handle. But Gwen is Hawk’s woman, Hawk’s my boss and Hawk pretty much gives her anything she wants. And when I say that, he buys her twelve hundred dollar shoes.”

  She looked back to her phone and started hitting buttons as I blinked at the idea of a man buying a woman twelve hundred dollar shoes at the same time blinking at the fact that there were twelve hundred shoes. I mean, in some vague recess of my mind, I knew such entities existed but only in some vague recess of my mind.

  As I struggled with this information as well as recovery from the aftermath of a Trailer Trash Trio Trauma and Mitch’s “I’m proud of you” kiss, Elvira continued.

  “So, Gwen recruited Hawk to put the pressure on. He pretty much don’t care who Mitch is givin’ the business. He does care about Gwen, givin’ her what she wants and, probably more importantly, gettin’ her to shut up about it. And Hawk’s kinda scary. Even to me. So I’ll just text them this photo. Give them somethin’ to go on.” She kept hitting buttons and kept talking. “We’ll schedule a sit down so they can give you the third degree over cosmos. I’m thinkin’ Club ‘cause they got them kickass glasses. Or the Cruise Room. I’ll set it up.”

  I looked from Elvira, who was still punching buttons to Mitch, who was staring at Elvira like he didn’t know whether to laugh or kick her ass out.