by Kara Parker
Rose is touched that these men care for Tim, and by extension Melina, so much. “Let’s just give it a try for a couple of days. See how it works. But let’s move the hours to seven to seven, or eight to eight, or something like that. It would scare the…” She glances at the kids. “…The poo out of me to hear the door open and close at four in the morning.”
“What do you think, Touch?” Guy asks.
Touch thinks it over. Guy has the tougher of the two jobs thus far, and he feels for him lying in the bushes at night. It’s not fun work anytime, but at night, using only the night-scope to watch through, it’s doubly tough. By rights he should be doing the night shift, but Guy had insisted that he take the morning hours when the hit was most likely to come. As it did with Tim. “Okay. Let’s try it. But don’t let them talk you into going to sleep,” Touch finally agrees.
“Nah. Michael and me, we’ll sit up all night a play poker, ain’t that right buddy?” Guy says, holding his ham-hock-sized fist out until Michael gives him a fist bump—something Guy has been working on with him all evening.
“When should we expect you back then, Mark?” Melina asks.
“Can you hold out until eight?” he asks Guy.
“Are you kidding? With cooking like this, I’ll just move in.”
“Can you eat breakfast food for dinner?” Rose asks Guy.
“Rose… Look at me! Does it look like I’m picky?” he teases. “I’m used to eating hotdogs, canned chili, and fast food. You cook it, I’ll eat it. Don’t worry about it.”
Rose smiles. “That makes it easy, then. We’ll make sure there is something you can pop in the microwave in the middle of the night, then plan the shift change at seven and seven? We’ll all eat together then?”
Guy and Touch grin at each other. “Gravy duty!” Guy crows.
Touch leaves, but returns later in the evening with a deadly-looking pistol and a shotgun. He gives a stern lecture to Michael about guns and then ruffles his hair before departing again.
While Guy and Michael cackle at cartoons on the television, Rose and Melina clean the remains of dinner. “How did you get Mark down out of the lookout to take you to ice cream?” Rose whispers as they clean.
“I didn’t mean to. I was just out in the yard with the kids and he shows up. Michael was making me crazy. He’s not used to be cooped up in inside this much. So we went out in the yard. Mark was lecturing me on not staying inside. You know the lecture. The same one we got Sunday.” Melina begins to bob her head side to side while rolling her eyes. “‘You have to stay inside where we can protect you. Don’t go anywhere without telling someone where you are going. Don’t talk to strangers. Don’t pet the dog. Brush and floss three times a day.’ Anyway, I told him I wasn’t going to be a prisoner in my own house. So, he offered to take us for ice cream.”
“Lucky you.”
“Yeah. We went all the way to Carson City. Safer, he said.”
“Not to mention he got to spend an extra ninety minutes with you.”
“Oh, pooh. Just stop it,” Melina says, but she smiles all the same.
“So. What did you think?”
“I think that strawberry milkshakes are still the best thing on this earth.” Rose stares a Melina, not saying a word, until she begins to giggle. “He’s sweet. Very gentlemanly. He’s from Mobile, Alabama.”
“That explains the accent.”
“Yeah. You should hear him do Foghorn Leghorn. He sounds just like him!”
“Who?” Rose asks.
“The rooster from the cartoons. Look him up. You’ll remember him when you see and hear him. Mark had Michael laughing his head off.”
“And Michael’s mom?”
Melina sighs, and closes the dishwasher door. “He’s sweet. But I think he is more interested in the kids than me.”
“Are you ready for him to be interested in you?”
“No.”
“Think maybe he knows that?”
“You think he is being nice to the kids just so I will like him?”
“Did I say that?” Rose protests. “No, I think he genuinely likes your kids. But I think he is giving you the time you need to grieve for Tim. Did you know he was married once?”
“No. Does it matter?”
“Only in that it shows he is the marrying type. His wife left him. Joseph said he took it hard. Maybe he is looking for someone too.”
“Maybe,” Melina allows. “But it’s too soon, Rose!”
“I didn’t say you had to marry him tomorrow, silly! I’m just making observations, that’s all.”
Melina looks into the family room where Michael and Kimberly are sitting in Guy’s lap, like they did with Tim. All three are in Tim’s chair, a kid snuggled in on each arm as they watch television. Seeing them, Melina can feel her face twisting as she struggles to not cry. “I don’t know what to do, Rose!”
“I know, Melina. But in time, you will,” she says, stepping in close behind her and putting her arms around her.
CHAPTER THIRTY
“How’d it go?” Rose asks Joseph on Wednesday evening. He looks dead tired and haggard. He had come straight to Melina’s after dropping off the other three members of the Nines.
“It’s bad, Rose. It’s real bad. A war is coming. You and Melina need to go. Tomorrow. Go back to Vegas. Or even better, go to somewhere else. Somewhere you always wanted to go. You said you wanted to see New York. Take Melina and go.”
“What happened?” Rose asks quietly.
“Nothing happened. But it’s clear they aren’t going to back down. And we can’t.”
Rose, Melina, Guy, and Joseph look at each other. “I’m not going,” Melina says.
“Melina! Be reasonable!” Joseph pleads. “We can’t protect you here. I’m not even sure we can protect ourselves!”
“It doesn’t matter. I’ll do whatever you tell me. I’ll send the kids away with my parents. But I’ll not run from these fucks. They took Tim from me. They won’t take my home, too. I’ll die first.”
“Melina,” Guy says softly. “You should listen to what...”
“No! I’m staying! So you had better decide how to best protect me, or just let me fend for myself. But either way, I’m not running!”
Rose can see the grim determination on Joseph’s face. “We’ll talk about this later,” he says to her. “Rose. You have to go. You promised me you would go when I tell you. I’m telling you.”
“But Melina!” Rose cries.
“She’s going with you. She just doesn’t know it yet.”
“I’m not going, Joseph!”
“You’re going if I have to bind, gag, and stuff you in the trunk of her car!” he snarls. “I can’t have your blood on my hands too!”
“Wait!” Rose calls. “Look, it’s too late to leave tonight anyway. Let’s just calm down. We’ll talk about his again in the morning, after you’ve had a good night’s sleep,” she says, looking to Joseph. “Okay?”
Joseph takes a deep, calming breath. “Okay.”
“Mark, Touch, he gets here about seven-thirty tomorrow morning. Why don’t you come have breakfast with us? We’ll talk about it, okay?”
Joseph finally nods. “Okay. I’m sorry, Melina.”
Melina smiles softly. “It’s not your fault Tim was shot. You couldn’t have known. I know if you had known he was in danger he would still be alive. I don’t blame you for what happened. Please, Joseph, don’t blame yourself.”
Joseph looks so sad that Rose thinks he might cry. “Thank you Melina. That means a lot to me. But it’s a hard thing for me to get over.”
“I know,” Melina says, her eyes bright with tears. “It’s because you are a good man. But never forget whose fault it is. Those fucks, the Matos. They’re the ones that took Tim from me. Not you.”
As Joseph and Melina embrace, both their faces wet with tears, Rose has to look away. Their pain is so clearly written on their faces that it breaks her heart. Finally Joseph clears his throat and pulls back fro
m Melina, wiping at his eyes. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” Melina says. “Crying is part of the grieving process. A friend told me that.”
Joseph looks to Rose. “Sounds like a great friend,” he says without looking away.
“The best,” Melina confirms. “She saved me. I wouldn’t have made it without her.”
“I wouldn’t have either,” he adds, his eyes still on Rose.
Rose whimpers, her resolve breaking as she begins to cry, turning from them so they won’t see her tears. Then she is in his arms, holding him tight as she tries to reign in her tears. “I’m sorry,” she whispers into his shoulder.
“Shhh…” he comforts. “It’s okay. You’ve been the rock we have leaned on. It’s okay to lean on us when you need to.”
“I know.”
“Guy? You have Melina tonight?”
“I got her. Don’t worry.”
“Rose and I are leaving. We have some things to talk about.” He then looks to Melina. “We’ll be back about seven in the morning.”
Melina nods. “Breakfast will be waiting.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
“I’m worried about you,” Rose says as she climbs into the cab of the big, bug-splattered and dirty Ford.
“I’ll be okay so long as you and Melina get away to somewhere safe.”
“You know she won’t leave.”
“She has to,” Joseph says as the truck rumbles to life. “You have to help me convince her.”
“I don’t know if I can.”
“We have to try,” he says as they back into the road and roar away.
“We can try. But, Joseph, it’s her decision. Isn’t that what you always say? You said it is up to each person to live their life responsibly… or something like that.”
He frowns at her. “It pisses me off when people use my own argument against me.”
Rose smiles at him, his face barely visible from the glow of the instrument panel. “Yeah, well, your arguments make sense. I’m still struggling with the whole drug thing, but they're hard to argue against logically.”
“This is different. She doesn’t realize the danger she is in. By being associated with me, with any of the Nines really, people have targets on them.”
“So what are you going to do?”
“I need to talk it over with Steven and a couple of others, but I think we’re going to hole up. Move into the clubhouse and stay there until we get this settled.”
“The clubhouse?”
He snorts. “It’s what we call a warehouse we own. Well, technically, Tim and Melina own it. Anyway, it was a trucking company back in the seventies. Big ol’ place. We bought it for a song, fixed it up a little, and now we use it as a place to park the bikes for those that don’t have a place, and the trucks and cars we mule the cocaine with… and some other things. A couple of the newer guys live there. We have four or five little apartments inside. It’s a place you can live until you can get on your feet when you first drop out.”
“What other things?”
“The product, for one. We bring back several tons of cocaine at one time and then warehouse it until we distribute it. It smoothes out the supply. There are also some guns and other equipment.”
“Guns! I thought you said you don’t have a problem with violence in your organization.”
“We don’t. But it wasn’t always that way, and we have to be able protect ourselves.”
“So all the Nines will move into the clubhouse?”
“Yeah. We’ll get some cots or something. There’s plenty of room. And it’s out away from everyone. No one else is around, so we don’t have to worry about someone being shot.”
‘What do you mean by that?”
“Someone not involved, I should have said.”
Rose is quiet until he turns the truck up the steep drive to his house. “I don’t suppose I can convince you to come away with me? We could go to New York together.”
“No, Rose. I have to stay.”
“You could die! All of you could die!”
“I could die. But if we run, a lot of people will die. The Matos will come in and purge all who were loyal to us. I can’t do it, Rose. I’m sorry.”
They don’t speak of the subject anymore as they prepare for bed. Rose doesn’t like how Joseph looks. He moves with a slumped shoulder, head hanging, with an aura of defeat… not the straight and proud bearing he normally has. But of more concern is his face. He looks haunted—the look a man would have while staring into the face of death.
As they snuggle in close, Joseph seems to just want to hold her, staring at the ceiling in the darkened room. “Joseph?” she whispers.
“Yes?”
“No matter what happens, I love you. I want you to know that.”
“I love you too, Rose.”
“If you are sending me away tomorrow, will you make love to me tonight?” she asks, kissing him softly on his chest.
He is quiet for so long she thinks he is going to reject her, but then he turns and his lips find hers. She melts into the kiss as his arms go around her, pulling her to him with bone-crushing tightness, but she wants to be held tighter still. He breaks the kiss, pulling her head to his shoulder where he holds her, clinging to her as if releasing her would mean losing her forever. She waits, not moving, as Joseph embraces her. Finally with a gasp and a sniff, his arms loosen, and she kisses his wt cheek, her own tears threatening to fall, her heart breaking for Joseph’s fear and pain.
She pushes him from his side to his back, following him as he turns, her lips never leaving his skin as she positions herself on his chest. She kisses away the tears, drying his face with gentle touches of her lips. “You can do this, Joseph,” she murmurs as her lips dance slowly across his face. “You can see this through. You’ve already done so much. This is the last step. The last fight. Once this is done you can rest. We can rest.”
“I don’t know if I can do it, Rose.”
“You can. We can do anything, together. I’m here for you. Do this last thing, then we can be together.”
“I need you leave,” he says, as he begins to kiss her, their lips touching only fleetingly. “I need you to take Melina and go.”
“Then I will. We’ll convince her, together, tomorrow. But tonight, it’s just you and me,” she says, rising up, her eyes fully-adjusted to the darkness so she can make out his face. “Tonight there is no worry, no fear, no pain. Just the two of us,” she says, leaning in and kissing him lightly. “I want you here, with me. The world can wait until tomorrow because tonight you are mine, and mine alone.”
Joseph can’t help but smile. “I’m yours,” he whispers, pulling Rose into a kiss.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
The kiss starts slowly, but then explodes with passion, their hands going to each other’s heads almost simultaneously, holding the other into the kiss, neither wanting to allow the other to pull back.
But finally the kiss breaks, and Rose attacks his neck with her lips and tongue. “I want you to make love to me Joseph. I want to feel you inside of me. I want you inside of me all night,” she whispers, her words running together in a litany of sounds. She kisses him frantically, his lips… his ears… his jaw… his neck… wanting to kiss him everywhere, unable to quench her desire.
He holds her tight as she kisses him, her lips dancing from place to place while never fully leaving his skin. His blood begins to roar, his desire threatening to sweep him away as his love for her burns within him. He may never see her again… the coming conflict tearing her from him forever. No! He will not let that happen! He lost her seven years ago… he will not lose her again! He will never lose her again! With a growl of desire he jerks her head back, exposing her neck to his kisses.
Rose grunts as Joseph pulls her hair, forcing her head back. She snarls at the violence, her lips curling back into a sneer as she pushes herself higher up on onto him with her knees, arching her back as she pushes until her spine threatens to break. With
a snarling growl she pulls his head to her breast, holding it there with one hand as she takes his erection with her other.
He releases her hair, concerned that Rose is going to break her own back as she forces herself up higher so he could take her breast into his mouth. She strokes him softly as he lashes her nipple with his tongue, her hand behind his head holding him tightly in place.
“Oh… shit that feels good,” she hisses as he subjects her breast to all manner of erotic tortures with his lips, teeth, and tongue. But she needs more. Tonight, she needs so much more. Their time together is short and they have to make the most of it. She attempts to slide down his body but he holds her firmly in place as he ravages her breast, so she pushes back with all her strength, pulling herself from his embrace.