Daddy Next Door

by Tina Lee

  Thank you,” James said. “Hopefully this will be the only time you see me like this.”

  Jenna sighed. “You're worried about me seeing you a little beat up? I'm just happy you're alive. Besides, bruises on a guy can be kinda hot.”

  He chuckled.

  “So what happened? They roughed you up a bit and now it's over?” she asked.

  “Something like that, but they look a lot worse.”

  “Well what else was there?”

  “They were pretty insistent that I owed them money.”

  “You paid them off?”

  “Something like that. I gave them what they were owed. Now I'm just a regular schmuck with a regular job. We won't have any trouble with those guys anymore.”

  “Are you sure they won’t come back?”

  “I don’t think that’s possible.”

  “Thank you. That's all I wanted.” Jenna smiled with tears in her eyes.

  “So what do you want to do tonight?”

  “We could stay in or we could go meet Mandy and Phil at the bar.”

  “I don't think I feel like dealing with drunk Mandy tonight. She's not going to be easy on me as it is.”

  “That's true. We could always go for a quick motorcycle ride. I know it calms you down, and you know it gets me hot.”

  James looked sheepish and turned his head away. “I don't really feel like it right now,” he said. “Besides, I sort of sold my bike.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Well, I'm not exactly liquid right now. I have some money stashed away, but it will take me a couple of days to get it. I didn't want to wait,” James said.

  Jenna looked out into the parking lot with shock. Sure enough, James's bike was no longer there. That bike was James's favorite possession in the world. He didn't even look sad about losing it. He just looked relieved and at peace.

  “I can't believe that you would do that,” Jenna said softly. “I know how much you loved that bike.”

  “I can always get another bike. You're irreplaceable,” James said. He came up behind Jenna and hugged her. Jenna melted into his strong arms. She turned around to face James and started kissing him up and down.

  “So are we okay?” James asked. “We're back to normal?”

  Jenna continued kissing on James and giggled.

  “I realize now exactly how much you care about me.”

  “I love you,” James said. “I love you more than I've ever loved a girl before.”

  “I love you too,” Jenna said.

  James lifted Jenna's head up toward him and kissed her passionately. He placed his hands on the back of Jenna's head and let the hair flow through his fingers. Jenna pressed her body up against his, and she could feel his desire push up against her. Her emotions were overflowing, and she jumped up on him. He held her up and pushed her against the wall, kissing her while she tightened the grip of her legs around his waist. She felt his lips on her neck, and she slowly grinded against him.

  “Never scare me like that again,” Jenna whispered.

  “I promise,” James told her. He swung her over his shoulder and took her into the bedroom. He gently laid her down on the bed and started kissing up her legs. Jenna laid back and closed her eyes as his warm breath slowly climbed up her legs. Her body tingled as he got closer and closer. He kissed over her panties Jenna moaned and begged for him to keep going. He continued to kiss on her panties until she couldn't take it anymore, and she took the panties off herself. James dug his tongue into her, sending jolts of pleasure throughout her body. She licked her lips then bit them. “MMMMM” she moaned. “I am yours, now and forever.” Jenna said.

  “There is nothing I want more,” James said. He climbed on top of her and slowly entered her. They kissed the entire time as James loved her slowly and gently. Jenna felt connected to James in a way that she had never felt before. They maintained eye contact and fell into a slow, purposeful rhythm. Jenna wanted nothing more than to please him after everything that he had done for her. Jenna still couldn't believe that he gave up his bike for her. She felt special and loved. She knew with all her heart that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. Twenty-four hours earlier, Jenna wasn't sure if she would even let him back into her bed again.

  Money Problems

  “Well, that was the freaking least he could have done,” Phil told Jenna the next day when Jenna was telling him about what happened with James. Phil and Jenna had grown to become friends, and Jenna knew that no one was going to be sympathetic toward James after what she went through.

  “I still think it was brave and manly. He didn't have to do any of that,” Jenna said. “He could have just run away.”

  “That is not how to look at this. There was no reason for him to put you in that position in the first place.”

  “He fixed it. That will never happen again,” Jenna said.

  “That doesn't mean that it won't happen again.”

  “He promised that it wouldn't happen again. He gave up his damn bike. He loved that thing.”

  “I'm just saying, don't expect a desperate man to be a hundred percent forthcoming. There may still be issues that you don't know about.”

  “Whatever Phil. You don't know anything,” Jenna said.

  “Where is he now?”

  “He's at the bar. Working.”

  “Alright. Well, I have to head out. Just make sure you keep your phone by you so that you can call the police in case anyone tries to attack you.”

  “Phil, I have taken care of myself in many more situations than you have. Remember how I took the guy on at the bar? And I was smart enough to hide and be quiet.”

  “Just giving you some advice,” Phil said. “These type of guys not the type to mess with.”

  “Stop acting like you know anything about this stuff!” Jenna said.

  Phil left and kept his mouth shut, but he had more experience with dangerous men than Jenna knew about. In fact, he was heading out to meet some of those dangerous men right then.

  Phil was a good guy, but he had a couple of vices that cost him a lot of money. One of them happened to be gambling. Phil loved cards. He loved playing cards with friends at night, and he loved the easy money. He did make a couple of poor decisions, though. Mostly, he bet more than he had a couple of weeks back and still didn't have the money to pay the man back. Phil was being forced to meet up with one of the man's lackeys at the strip club today. That's where a lot of the games took place.

  Phil walked into the strip club to see the usual crowd that was there in the morning. There were some older townies gawking over the same girls. Larissa was on stage and smiled at Phil sympathetically when he walked in. She knew what was going on with him financially, and she also knew what these men were like.

  There was a man in jeans, biker boots, multiple faded tattoos, and a band tee shirt sitting by himself at a table in the corner of the club. He had a very obvious tattoo on his face on the right side of his face. Phil sat down next to him as casually as possible and nodded at the man.

  “Do you have the $40,000?”

  “You have the wrong guy,” Phil said. “I owe $20,000.”

  “No. You used to owe $20,000. That was before you waited two weeks to pay it back. My boss's time is very valuable, and he expects people to pay when they make him wait.”

  “I don't even have the $20,000. I don't know how I'm going to get $40,000.”

  “I don't care how you do it. Steal, sell drugs, open up that asshole if you have to. Work. And work hard, because my boss is not very happy with how long this is taking.”

  “Look, I'll get the money. It's just a lot of money to owe. It's going to take me some time.”

  “That's not my problem, and that's definitely not my boss's problem. You're the one who was so sure that you had the winning hand.”

  “I had a Full House, and there was nothing to work with on the table.”

  “Well, it looks like you miscalculated. I hope you learned your
lesson.”

  “I did! I did!”

  “Good. That doesn't mean that you're going to get away without paying. You owe my boss money, and he's going to expect you to pay him back.”

  “Can we make the interest a little more reasonable?”

  “What do you have to give me today?”

  “I have my bike, and I have about $1200.”

  “That's it?”

  “I'm sorry. That's all I have today. I will give you more as soon as I can.”

  The man looked pretty calm throughout their entire conversation. In fact, his eyes were more toward the stage the entire time. Suddenly, the man looked directly at Phil. His stare caused Phil to shake a bit. It was piercing into his soul, and it exposed every single one of his vulnerabilities.

  “You know, I had a little bit more faith in you. I thought that you understood how serious we were.”

  “I know you're serious.”

  “Not serious enough. All you brought today was your crappy ass bike and $1200? That doesn't sound like you're taking this very seriously at all.”

  “I am!”

  The man took out his lighter and just started letting it burn.

  “You know, this is not how my boss is used to being treated.” The lighter continued to burn.

  “I am sorry. I will get you the money as quickly as possible.”

  The man simply stared into the lighter that was still burning.

  “I know you will. I trust you.”

  “Oh, thank you.”

  “I do have to tell my boss that I gave you a lesson, though.” The flame continued to burn.

  “What are you talking about?”

  The man let the flame die out, he took the top of the burning hot lighter, and he shoved the lighter onto Phil's cheek. Phil could feel the skin burn, and he cringed at the pain.

  “Fuck!” Phil screamed.

  The guy smirked a little bit and removed the lighter. Phil's cheek was red and skin was already starting to peel off. It was the type of mark that stayed on a person for life.

  “Get out of here. And you better start to realize that we are not playing around. Leave me your keys and come back in a week with the money.”

  Phil got up and dropped the motorcycle keys on the table. He didn't say another word. He simply covered his face with his hand and started walking home. He sat by himself and wondered how he would explain himself to his friends and Mandy. Mandy was texting him throughout the day, and he didn't know what to say to her. He wanted to go somewhere to hide and drink, but he decided to go back to Jenna and Mandy's apartment later that night. The man stayed at the strip club and continued to enjoy watching the girls.

  “What the hell happened to you?” Mandy screamed when Phil walked in the door. She, Jenna, and James were hanging out in the living room when Phil got back.

  “You look like a god damn cigarette was put out on your face,” Jenna said.

  “I got into a stupid accident. It's not that big of a deal,” Phil said. “It just looks really bad right now.”

  “That's one hell of an accident,” James said.

  “I'm going to take care of this. Do you guys have any Neosporin or anything?”

  “Yeah, babe. Come here. Let me help you,” Mandy said and went with Phil into the bathroom to dress his wound. It stung like hell, and it looked even worse. It was blistering and bright red with skin peeling off.

  “Are you okay?” Mandy asked.

  “Yeah. I'm fine. Well, I'll be fine.”

  Mandy's touch was extremely gentle, and Phil was grateful to have such a good girl by his side. He didn't know how to tell her that he was in debt as much has he was. What would she think when she found out that he was a gambler? And apparently a bad one at that.

  They finished up bandaging Phil's cheek and went back to the living room with Jenna and James. Ever since Jenna found out that James gave up his bike for her, she had been especially affectionate. She was sitting with her legs over his and her head on his chest. James had a rather worried look on his face, though.

  “Hey, wanna go for a cigarette?” James asked.

  “Yeah. Sure,” Phil said.

  The men went outside and James handed Phil a cigarette.

  “Looks like you had a pretty rough day.”

  “You have no idea,” Phil said. “I owe some people some money, and I’m absolutely fucked.”

  “I've been there,” James said.

  “Look dude,” Phil said. “Don't put me in the same category as your criminal ass. I actually did what I did because of a problem. I didn't realize that I was a gambling addict until recently.”

  “Nobody is saying that you're a criminal. You've just got tied up with some bad people. Trust me, I've been there, too.”

  “Yeah, well, I never got Mandy involved in any of my bullshit.”

  “I thought it was over with. I wouldn't have had Jenna over if I didn't.”

  “And it's officially over now?” Phil asked.

  “Is yours?” James asked.

  They sat in silence for a moment smoking their cigarettes.

  “What are you going to do?” James asked.

  “Man, I don't even know.”

  “They will come for your family next.”

  “You don’t know them.”

  James blew smoke into the air. “I don’t have to know them. Scumbags are all the same.”

  “Then I better get their money fast.”

  “I will see what I can do.” James flicked the ash off the cigarette. “You want to protect Mandy and I want to protect Jenna. That means we have to work together. Tell me, how far are you willing to go for the woman you love?”

  The cut on Phil’s face made him look menacing. He looked James in the eye. Man to man. “I’ll do anything.”

  Tough Decisions

  James had his own reasons for sympathizing with Phil. James knew how bad it could be to deal with these type of people. His situation was slightly different, but not by much. James also knew in his heart that everything wasn't entirely over. He gave himself some time, but he was going to have to face the consequences for his actions sooner or later.

  He took care of the men that his boss sent for him, and it would be soon before his former boss send more men. The lovely life that he imagined was crumbling, and he didn’t know how to stop the disaster.

  James worked hard as a drug dealer and made a substantial amount of money. When James was growing up, he didn't have a lot of money. He lived with a single mother. His father had abandoned him when he was young, and his mother didn't take it very well. She did what she had to do to pay for a small apartment for James and her, she also had to support her drug problem, too. James grew up watching his mother smoking from a pipe throughout the day. She was a loving woman, but she wasn't able to support him. The older James got, the more he realized that his mother was not fit to care for herself, let alone him. Bill collectors and other people called over and over again trying to get money from his mother. James went to work making money as soon as he could.

  James started by selling weed to his high school friends. He hung out with the troublemakers, and he was able to hold weed at his house without his mother going through his stuff. He quickly realized that selling small bags of weed to his friends was not a way to pay the bills. He would make a couple dollars here and there, but it didn't put a dent in the bills. James was forced to save up and get more and more money so that he could buy more and more weed to sell. He avoided smoking any weed himself, he bought the cheapest lunches and dinners that he could, and he did every side job he could find. He continued to save more and more until he was able to help when he started answering some of the bill collectors.

  James couldn't be angry at his mother for her problem. At least she stayed with him when he was young; he couldn't say the same for his father who was a complete jackass. His father never provided for him or helped him in his entire life. His father didn't take care of him when he was sick, and his father didn't wake
him up for school every day, or yell at him about grades. Not that James was in school for very long. Yes, James loved his mother, but he couldn't deal with her drug problems until he made something of himself. When James was sixteen, he got an opportunity that he simply couldn't refuse. A boss of his gave him the opportunity to smuggle a larger amount of drugs for him across state lines for a very decent amount of money. Since then, he took on the biggest jobs that he could find. Sure, they were riskier, but he was also able to generate money for himself and his mother. James send his mother a portion of his money after every single job.

  That's what brought him to the country town in the first place: a job. Some bikers in the small town wanted to get a corner on the crack-cocaine business in the area. Methamphetamine was too complicated for them to make, and they were going to try to send out the crack. The next part of the job was going to be for James to make a second drop-off back at home. James just couldn't continue his lifestyle after meeting Jenna.

  Jenna was absolutely gorgeous, and she was feisty. James loved a girl who had an opinion. He also loved a woman who took care of herself and had as much fun as possible in life. James missed out on a lot of childhood stability in his life in order to take care of his household, so he was ready for something stable and grounded. James had met a lot of bartenders, strippers, and moms at the grocery store in his travels, but he never met one that he thought he could settle down with. Until Jenna.

  James looked at Jenna as stable, safe, and fun. It didn't hurt that she looked great on all fours, either. James liked staying home with her, watching movies, and having sex. He liked seeing her at the bar and talking over drinks. He also liked planning a future with her. He wanted to make her his wife. James hated his new job, because it was nowhere near the amount of money that he had been making, but he was happy to know that his new job made Jenna happy. He had plans of getting another job later when he could get himself established. It was weird for him to have an apartment and a nice job, but he was liking his new life. Except for the fucking job.

  James was doing very well at his job at least. James was big and intimidating. People behaved better with James at the bar. They knew that James was not a man to mess with. Most of the people had heard about his taking down Eli and his friends when they were messing with Jenna, and no one wanted to be embarrassed that badly. Plus, James was not afraid to work. He would help take out the garbage and change out the kegs when they were getting low. He was happy to bring the bartender any beers that they needed, and he always acted professionally. He even smiled and acted politely when people were behaving. After just a week, Dan was talking about how they were going to promote James in the future.