Russel sidestepped and left hand clubbed the man just below his left ear, stunning him. Before he could recover, Russel spun and clipped him behind the left knee with his right foot, then backed off as the bully fell over on his right side, rolling almost comically.
The other four men started forward in a group, and Russel said calmly and loudly enough for them all to hear, “You boys just back off. I don’t want any more trouble, and you don’t want to get hurt. Rudy ain’t hurt bad, and we all want to keep it that way, don’t we?”
They stopped moving, staring at him warily. Clarisse and Tommy stood just outside the car, gawking. They’d seen and heard everything, but that couldn’t be helped now.
Russel continued, “You don’t know me, but Rudy does. If he’d been thinking, he wouldn’t have started something he couldn’t finish. You saw how easy I took him down. Now, I’m just going to walk over to my machine over there and drive on off. If you’re smart, you’ll let it go at that, okay?”
He turned his back on them deliberately, and calmly walked to the Harley, glancing over at Clarisse. She had sense enough to usher Tommy into the car and was running around to the driver’s side. Relief flooded through him. She’d be fine. They’d all be just fine. But they needed to get out of here before the rest of the gang got any ideas.
Chapter 12
Russel left his helmet hanging by its strap and started the bike. He rode over next to Clarisse’s car and jerked his head toward the exit road. He slowly rolled out of the parking lot, pausing at its edge and waiting for her to start her car. When she reached him, he took off and led her across town to Albany Hill Park, all the way to the top of the hill. He parked the bike and waited until Clarisse parked behind him.
Russel strode over to the passenger side of the car and got in. Tommy sat in the back, pale and slack-jawed, staring at him. Clarisse had gone pale, and there was fear on her face when she looked at him.
“Who were those people? Do you know them? He talked to you like he knew you. That’s a gang, isn’t it? Or part of one. That Rudy was awful, but you hit him so hard . . . “
“Look, Clarisse, they won’t bother us again,” he started.
“How do you know that?” she demanded. “How do we know they won’t come after us?” She was gripping the steering wheel hard enough to turn her knuckles white. “Those are some horrible people, Russel. What have I exposed my boy to? I… I’ve worked so hard to make sure he’d find the right friends… not end up like his dad… and… and…”
Russel knew she was panicked and babbling. He didn’t know what the situation with Tommy’s father was, but he knew that Clarisse needed reassurances.
“They Will Not Bother us,” he told her emphatically. "I know them, yes, and they know me. Look, we need to talk about this, but . . .” he angled his head at Tommy, “first I need to give Tommy his ride. I promised, and I don’t break promises.”
Clarisse sat back and glared at him, but let go of the wheel. She took a few deep breaths and color started to return to her face. “I don’t think…”
“Mom,” Tommy whined from the back.
Russel didn’t want to go back on his promise to the boy, but Clarisse and her worries were his first concern. “Tommy, if your mom isn’t comfortable with it, then it can wait.”
Clarisse rubbed a hand over her face. It wasn’t the motorcycle ride. She was still shaken up from the fight. Well… it wasn’t much of a fight. The man charged, and Russel had him down in seconds. He’d been calm and in control the whole time. That part was reassuring, but the fact that Russel knew people like that... it bothered her. David had mentioned Russel had a background and his brother had done something. She really needed to ask Russel about that especially after this incident.
“But, Mom,” Tommy wailed.
Clarisse willed herself to have patience with her son. None of this was his fault, and she knew how much he was looking forward to the ride. Actually, the ride might be the perfect distraction after what had just happened. “Okay,” she said. “A deal’s a deal. But just a short ride. Those people— “
“Won’t be back to bother us. I guarantee it. We’ll talk. You’ll see,” he told her. “Tommy, you ready to see how the wind feels on your face?”
Tommy brightened at this and got out of the car to go over to the Harley.
Russel repeated, “We need to talk, but Tommy doesn’t need to hear about my past right now, okay? I’ll tell you everything. We’ll go for a walk after the ride. We won’t be gone long. You sit in the car for a bit and try to relax while I go impress Tommy.”
Clarisse didn’t think she could relax, given the past few moments, but she could sit in the car and breathe deeply until her stomach stopped its churning.
“They won’t come after us,” Russel reassured her again, squeezing her hand in his big warm one.
She looked at him. He looked so concerned about her. It helped smooth over some of her worries and gave her enough courage to say, “I know. Go on, and take Tommy on a ride. We can talk later, but you’ve got some explaining to do!”
“Okay, Lucy, I can esplain,” he said, grinning at her. “Don’t you worry. We’ll be right back.”
Russel strode over to Tommy. He showed him how to get aboard, helped him with the helmet, put his own on, and they rode off. Clarisse sat in the car, worrying not only about the ride but the gang of men Russel knew.
She sat drumming her fingers on the steering wheel for what seemed like forever but really was only about fifteen minutes. The day was turning the golden color of late afternoon moving into early evening when the sound of the motorcycle brought her back from her convoluted thoughts. She got out and locked up the car. Tommy’s animated and excited voice eased her worries. Hopefully, the memory of the ride would overshadow any lingering fears from the fight.
“Next time I want to go farther! Can we? That was so neat!” He handed his helmet to Russel, who hung it on the handlebars, next to his own.
“Sure, we’ll make a real trip of it next time, I promise,” Russel said. “Maybe go to the amusement park. That is, if your Mom is okay with that?” He looked pleadingly at Clarisse, his look mimicked by the twelve-year-old.
“We’ll see. First, we need to go for that walk you promised, and walk off that great fried chicken dinner.”
“Okay, Mom,” Tommy said. “Hey, which way are we going?” He pointed at the trail leading from the end of the road in front of them and then at a wider path going up the hill.
“Up there,” Russel said. “There’s a view from up that way you really have to see.”
“Up,” Clarisse sighed. “Oh, all right, I need the exercise. Not like I don’t get enough walking around campus and at work.” She wasn’t really complaining, just not particularly excited about hiking uphill, view or not.
They walked up path until they came to a bench over by a group of trees, facing the bay. Through the trees, Clarisse could see the city across the bay. The sun was getting low in the western sky, turning the city an orangey gold. They sat, and Tommy asked if he could look around.
“Don’t go too far, be careful of the edge, and stay on a trail,” Clarisse said.
“I’m not five, Mom.”
Attitude. Clarisse could do without it. Her boy was becoming more of a teen every day. “I know, just humor me.”
“Fine,” Tommy groused and dashed down a path.
“Now,” she said turning to Russel, “talk.”
“I was in a gang, way back, in Salt Lake. I got in trouble, got caught joyriding in a stolen car… part of the gang initiation. I wasn’t driving, so the judge gave me a break, Navy or jail. Could have been Army, but he was an old Navy man, knew people, and made a deal with the recruiter. A big kid like me, he figured the Navy would straighten me out, and it did, mostly.”
“Mostly?” she interrupted. “What does mostly mean?”
He explained that after he had got out, he tried to stay away from trouble, but the guys from the old gang wouldn’t j
ust ignore him. He was twenty-three years old, had spent quite a bit of time traveling, learned how machines worked aboard ships and decided that the Navy was not the career he wanted.
He had done what most his fellow sailors did, drank a lot when off-duty in ports all over the world. His drinking habit got worse when he got home with little to do and too much time on his hands. The Navy has also taught him how to brawl with skill and a bit of cunning. Which turned out to be a good thing. He never picked fights, but some guys couldn’t resist challenging the biggest guy in the room. Russel was often the biggest guy.
At home, he saw that his mother’s alcoholism had worsened, but Russel denied having any problem himself. Then, he got fired from a job with a local plumber for being drunk on the job. He went on a bender and got picked up for drunk and disorderly. He’d fallen asleep in a park and was awakened by some kids with a school group.
This judge wasn’t as sympathetic as the first one he’d met. He flat out told Russel he had a problem and needed to connect with AA or seek counseling from somebody. After thirty days in jail, he got out and got drunk again, this time with some guys from his old gang.
They decided they wanted to party in a church cemetery, figuring no one would bother them. The priest called the police, and Russel was too drunk to run, so they caught him.
When they asked the priest what he wanted them to do with Russel, he said, “Leave him to me. We’ll see how he likes using a mop and a broom. A guy his size shouldn’t have any problem cleaning up around here.”
Father Michael McLaughlin straightened him out. Russel wasn’t sure how, because the priest was a little guy, not much more than half Russel’s size, but he was tough. He set rules for Russel, like he was a little kid and needed supervision. Strict rules.
“I guess I needed it,” Russel told her. “I was used to discipline in the Navy, but once out, once back in with the old crowd, and drinking, a lot . . . well, I went wild—completely denying I had a problem.” He hung his head. “Father Mike got me back on my feet. He and I both tried with my Mom, but she was too lost in her disease and didn’t want help. I, on the other hand, did. I’ve been clean for eight years.”
“That’s why I’ve seen you avoid wine,” Clarisse said.
“Well, I’m not officially diagnosed as an alcoholic. I just had a bad alcohol problem, but I avoid all forms of alcohol just to be on the safe side. I don’t crave it. I think I drank for something to do with the guys. I didn’t have much in common with most of them. I guess you could say I wasn’t cut out to be in a motorcycle gang. I wasn’t, fortunately for me, wild enough. Or mean enough.”
“And those guys tonight?” she asked.
“They are. Or they think they are. The worst of them, Rudy Shonk, he really can be. Not completely dumb, usually. He’s smart enough to know, now he’s had another example, that he shouldn’t mess with me.”
“So, you think he won’t bother you again?”
“I can’t say that for sure, Honey, but he probably won’t. Rudy doesn’t hold a grudge. Unless he sees me again, which is unlikely, since I know him from Salt Lake. I’m not sure why he was even out here. It doesn’t matter. At least while he’s in town, he’ll remember why avoiding me is a good idea.” He smiled at Clarisse, “I mean that literally. This wasn’t his first experience getting knocked on his . . .”
“And that’s another thing!” she said, vehemently. “You just clubbed the man senseless and then tripped him. Is that how you respond to all people who annoy you?” She regretted saying that as soon as she’d said it. “I’m sorry, that wasn’t fair. He charged you, first. You were only defending yourself.”
“Well, I’m not sure you heard the whole conversation, and that’s probably a good thing. But I wanted to leave without fighting. Rudy just didn’t see it that way.”
She looked away for a second, then back up at his handsome features. “Okay,” she said, taking his hand, “I get it. But it was so sudden, so, violent. It’s a side I’d never seen of you. It startled me. And Tommy, too.”
“I know. I could see that. Given another situation I might react quite differently. But he had four friends with him—guys I’d never met. I had no idea what they might do if he told or asked them to. In a situation like that, you should be sure that the other side knows exactly what you’ll do if provoked. Now, they know. Clotheslining Rudy like that and putting him on the ground didn’t hurt a guy like him bad enough to do damage. He’ll get over it. I’m sorry you were there. I really didn’t have much choice.”
Clarisse sighed heavily, looking down at her feet. She gotten involved with a guy once who’d she’d known was trouble. True, she ended up with Tommy, and that was a blessing, but she had learned her lesson.
Russel put a hand on top of hers and tilted up her chin so that she looked him in the eyes. “I’ve only known you and Tommy a very short time, but it’s long enough that I know I want to get to know you better. I hope today hasn’t ruined my chances at that.”
She pulled away from his gaze. She had to think and couldn’t rationally do that while staring at him. She looked out at the view. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Tommy tossing pebbles over the bank. Somewhere he had picked up a stick and was pretending it was a sword.
She liked Russel and believed he’d fully turned his life around. Gangs, drinking, and trouble wasn't a part of his life anymore. He couldn’t erase the past, it would follow him forever, just like she would forever have Tommy. Our past shouldn’t define us. What’s important is what we do with our future.
“Look at that sunset,” Clarisse commented. “In just a little while it will be getting dark. We’d better go.”
“Is that a goodbye for now or for forever?”
Taking a deep breath, Clarisse said, “Just for now. I’d like to get to know you better. I think Tommy would too. Though, it’s probably due to your motorcycle.” She laughed at herself. “Kidding! Actually, he talks about you all the time. I hope it doesn’t bother you that he needs so much attention.”
“Not at all.”
Clarisse stood up. “We’d better go. Tommy’s got school tomorrow, and there’s always work on Monday mornings for me.”
They walked slowly back to the car, calling out to Tommy to follow.
Chapter 13
Over the next few weeks Clarisse, Tommy, and Russel spent more time in the evenings walking in the park at Albany Hill or one of the other nature areas around Albany. Tommy got out of school for Christmas vacation, and though it was cool, the rain held off. The grass in the parks turned golden colored, and the hills around them looked very dry. Everyone was very conscious of the need for rain and possibility of fire.
Tommy usually brought a basketball or baseball to practice with. Russel knew a little bit about being a baseball catcher and taught Tommy what he knew. Occasionally, Tommy would wander off with a book and read.
In those quiet moments, Clarisse and Russel talked. Clarisse found a kindred spirit in Russel. She felt completely comfortable in revealing her history with her parents, her schooling leading up to her move to Berkeley, and the fact that Tommy’s father was a lifer at San Quinton penitentiary. Russel offered his own confession that his older brother was also a Q resident in for murder and spending life in maximum security.
Somehow that shared past of tragedy and mistakes drew them both closer together. For Clarisse, it felt like a weight had been lifted. Russel adored Tommy and didn’t mind that his father was in prison, something she hadn’t even told her parents. All they knew about Darnell was that he ran off after Clarisse got pregnant.
Russel let her vent out her worry about raising Tommy right so that he never made choices like his father. She had dreams of visiting him in a plush office with his name on the door in gold lettering, not from behind a pane of glass. Russel understood it all like no one else could.
Russel considered himself blessed to have found a woman who wouldn’t judge him for his past. She was much more concerned about who he w
as now and who he’d be in the future. It was more than he’d ever hoped for and that shiny dream of having a family didn’t seem so far out of reach anymore.
Clarisse introduced Russel to her parents. She’d worried and had a few sleepless nights before the big meeting. Surprisingly, her parents didn’t even mention Russel’s white skin. Her parents had always been progressive, but she’d at least thought they’d mention it.
The only thing her mother asked was, “Does Tommy like him?”
“He does, and Russel adores Tommy.”
“That’s good then. I think he would be a wonderful provider.”
“Mother, we’re not talking about getting married!”
“Hmm…” her mother had mused. “I think he’s been thinking about it. The way he looks at you tells me all I need to know. You’ll do well together.”
Clarisse didn’t know what to make of her mother’s comments. She liked Russel and maybe was moving closer to genuine affection and love, but marriage? She wasn’t sure if she was ready for that step.
They spent Christmas together. Russel had purchased a model Harley that looked just like his for Tommy. They’d spent all Christmas day putting it together. The very realistic model now had a prime spot in Tommy’s bedroom, and he’d show it off to anyone who visited.
Russel had gotten Clarisse a gorgeous watch with tiny diamonds embedded in the watch face. Clarisse protested that the gift was too expensive, but Russel laughed, claiming the diamonds were more like chips that had fallen off actual diamonds.
Clarisse had found a print from that horrible modern art show and had it framed. She almost died with laughter when he opened it. Russel’s mouth gaped open like a fish seeking air. She pulled out another box with a leather coat that she’d found on the clearance rack. That gift went over much better.
All in all, they’d spent a wonderful day together. Clarisse had even secretly gotten his mother’s fried chicken recipe and made him dinner. Vacation ended and Tommy went back to school, but the visits to parks in the evenings continued.
A Slice of Heaven (Cupid's Cafe Where love is on the menu Book 6) Page 6