Steal My Girl

by Casey McMillin

  "Are you serious?" Sam asked, wide-eyed over his bravery. "What'd they say?"

  "Simon made a run for it. He and I had a brief fistfight before I restrained him. I held him like that while everyone buzzed around, knowing it was about to go down. Ten men, including Manny watched me execute him. I won't go into how I knocked him out, but that's what I did. Then, I slit his throat and let him bleed out, and it was over."

  My first thought was to ask what happened in between slitting the guy's throat and the clean skull ending up on his ottoman, but he'd already said so much and I didn't want to push my luck.

  "Those men were so glad to be rid of him that they took turns hacking his head off with a machete. We put his head on the end of a stake in an act that was just as ritualistic and tribal as you'd imagine for something like that. We left it there for the animals clean and Manny gave me the skull as a thank you the next time I went to Saint-Marc."

  We all sat there for a few long seconds, thinking about the story.

  "What's the other story about?" Charlotte asked, surprising us all.

  I was almost afraid to look at Tom. I felt bad that my cousins were being so shameless with the questions, but he didn't seem to mind.

  "One's about a guy who just looked at me funny, and the other was a dispute over some stolen cargo. Both are equally as long and thought out as the one I just told you, but that's what they're about in a nut shell."

  "I like the one we got best," Charlotte said.

  Chapter 22

  We stayed at Tom's all afternoon. He loved to cook and was in and out of the kitchen making New Year's dinner. Drake and Addie came out not long after we got there, and spent the afternoon with us. I wondered if she'd ever heard the skull story.

  Tom taught us a card game that took a couple hours to get through. It was a lot of fun. He'd take turns standing behind each of us, giving us advice on our hand, and inevitably making us all laugh. He and his boys were really fun to be around—the type of good, clean fun you'd never expect from pirates.

  The boys made sandwiches that afternoon while we were playing cards, but I hadn't eaten since the giant pancake, and I was starving by dinnertime. Tom's cooking was southern soul food at it's finest, and we all ate like hungry animals when dinner was served. Sam and Charlotte never ate food like that in Ohio, and they went on and on about how good it was. Tom was pleased with our enthusiasm, and made a point of telling us how glad he was that we were all there. He was so charming it was impossible to fault him for killing the man that belonged to that skull—even if he was the one who just looked at him funny. I felt totally safe and comfortable with Tom Kelly and his boys, and when it boils down to it, feelings are what we have to go on.

  The next day would be my first day back to work since the incident, and I wasn't really looking forward to it. There were definitely worse things I could be doing, though, and I knew that. I was lucky to have the job, but I was still nervous about leaving the house, and couldn't help but be unenthusiastic about going back to work.

  Rory and I had already talked about it. I told him I'd head home after dinner since I needed to prepare for work, but that I'd call him the next day when I got off to see what he had going on.

  Was that where we were—the stage where we check in with each other and plan the next time we would talk to each other? It felt very girlfriend-like, and I had to remind myself several times over the course of the afternoon that it was okay for me to settle into that.

  Sam, Charlotte, and I went home just after dinner. Addie said she wasn't sure where she was staying, but said goodbye to Sam and Charlotte just in case, since they were leaving first thing in the morning.

  Rory walked us out. He held Thor's leash in one hand and my hand with the other the whole way to the car. It was oddly exciting for such a simple gesture. I felt utterly content with my current situation with Rory. I had no regrets whatsoever.

  I was in a really good mood and feeling extra talkative on the way home, so I started asking Charlotte about Connor Newman. She got as silly at the sound of his name as I did with Rory's. Sam sat in the back on the way home, doing his best to ignore us. Charlotte was actually a little more excited about Connor than I initially thought. She told me she'd been texting throughout the day, and seemed to think they might keep talking even after she went back to Ohio. It was obviously too soon to tell, but I wondered if that meant she'd think about moving here once she graduated in May. Neither of us mentioned plans like that, because we both knew Sam would say how ridiculous it was that we were thinking that far ahead after one night. I could tell Charlotte was excited, though, and I was happy for her.

  We pulled into the driveway to the sight of my little brother. He was dribbling the basketball, and tossing it around with Thomas. I got out of the car, smiling until I saw his murderous expression.

  "Oh, no," I said.

  "Fuckin' hell, Megan," he said. He hit his chest with closed fists as he said each word, looking like he could barely contain his rage.

  Thor stepped between him and me and gave a loud bark, and Steven glanced down at him with a slightly injured expression before looking back at me.

  Charlotte and Sam got out of the car and came around to stand next to me. Steven gritted his teeth and screwed up his face, staring at us like we should be utterly ashamed of ourselves. He was speechless. He just stood there sputtering. "I can't," he paced and shook his head. It was a very dramatic scene that probably would have been far worse had he not been scared of Thor. "I can't fuckin' believe y'all went over there without me, dawg. Y'all went over there all fuckin' day with out me." He paced, and continued to grumble, though it was unintelligible. He was so full of emotion over it that he took off his shirt and flexed angrily like he was the Incredible Hulk, only white and skinny. It was really hilarious, and despite my best efforts, I could not stop a giggle from escaping.

  "I'm sorry," I said, trying to compose myself. "You weren't here when we left."

  He stared at me with huge, angry, disbelieving eyes. "Haven't you ever heard of motherfucking text messaging, Megan?" He said the words really loud, and Thor let out another bark. "Thor, I thought you were my boy," Steven said, hitting a fist to his chest, like Thor's betrayal hit him right in the heart.

  I felt bad for Steven, and Thor must have as well, because he sat at my feet, looking slightly less alert.

  "Seriously, did y'all just go over to Tom Kelly's house all day?"

  Sam, Charlotte, and I all looked at each other, making it obvious that we didn't know whether to lie or tell the truth.

  "Y'all bitches! Son of a bitch. Seriously, Megan. Why'd y'all do that? Was Tom there?"

  I nodded cautiously and he groaned.

  "What? He just chilled with y'all?"

  "He's an amazing cook," Sam said.

  Charlotte slapped his shoulder with the back of her hand at the same time that Steven looked to the heavens and groaned loudly again. "Y'all sons of bitches!" he said. He looked at me. "And please don't tell Rory I said that. I'm just so fuckin' mad right now! I can't believe Sam and Charlotte got to go over there and I didn't." He looked at them. "No offense, but I've been wanting to meet him forever, and everybody fuckin' else in the rest of my family gets to meet him first."

  "I'm sorry Steven," I said. I said it firmly, trying to snap him out of it. "I didn't know it was this important to you, but now that I do, I'll see that you get to meet Tom. He's a regular old nice guy, so if you're expecting something crazy to happen when you meet him, you're gonna be disappointed."

  "I'm more disappointed not meeting him at all."

  "All right, I got it. You want to meet Tom."

  "Thank you!" he said.

  Sam followed Steven and Thomas into my parents' house. I wondered how much he'd say about his experience. I didn't think to ask him not to talk, but by the same token, couldn't see any real harm in him repeating those things if he decided to.

  Charlotte and I took Thor inside and spent the rest of the night preparing
for the next day. She got ready for the trip home, and I got ready for work. I had to keep reminding myself that it'd be good to get into a routine.

  The rest of the week went by really quickly. It was a busy time of year at work, and the planning firm I worked for was using me for more than just marketing. I had to contribute in other capacities, which was fine other than the fact that I was completely exhausted when I came home every day. It didn't help that I came down with a cold that Thursday. My symptoms weren't bad enough to warrant calling in sick after I just had so much time off, so I sucked it up and I made it through a pretty yucky end of the week.

  I'd been in touch with Rory, but warned him to stay away so I didn't get him sick. He and Drake had something to take care of down in the Keys anyway, and he was gone for a couple of days. He tried to get me to go out with them that Saturday night, but I just wasn't feeling up for it yet. It had been a rough week physically, and I felt like I needed another day to do nothing but lay in bed. Rory asked if he could come over, but I told him I'd rather he wait till I was feeling better. He didn't push the subject, but said he was willing to bring me something if I needed it.

  The place they were going that Saturday night was a trendy, throwback club that Tom tried to make an appearance at anytime he could. Apparently, it was a cool scene, and Rory wanted me to be on his arm, but as bad as I wanted to do that, I was just too spent to even think about getting dressed in normal, grown-up clothes and going out in public.

  Saturday passed in a blur. I ate two cans of chicken noodle soup throughout the day, but otherwise didn't get out of bed. It felt really good to sleep a day away, and when I woke up Sunday morning, I was pleased to find that it didn't hurt when I swallowed.

  It was just weird that someone was shaking my arm. It took me a second to realize that I wasn't dreaming, and I looked over my shoulder to see Addie sitting on the edge of my bed. I squinted up at her, then at the clock on the bedside table, then back at her.

  "What's up?" I asked sleepily. It was eight in the morning on Sunday, so my first thought was that something was wrong. I was still really tired, though, and blinked as I sat up to get a better look at her. When I focused on her expression, I knew I was right about something being the matter. "What's up?" I asked again.

  "It's Rory."

  I must have looked panicked, because she quickly put her hands out in a gesture to calm me down and said, "Everything's all right, he's fine, but he is in the hospital still. I just came from there. I didn't want to call you in the middle of the night because I knew you were sick."

  My heart sank. "What the hell, Addie? Are you serious?" I asked, sitting up straighter.

  I was on the verge of jumping out of bed, but I knew I needed to evaluate my own condition before rushing right out the door. For a second, I didn't even remember I had a cold. I was desperate to know he was gonna be fine.

  "What happened?"

  "We were all at that club, and this guy came up to me when I was on my way to the ladies room."

  "To you?" I asked, confused.

  She nodded, and continued her story. "He was a big guy. Dark hair and eyes. He had a Spanish accent, and when he first started talking to me, I couldn't really hear or understand him, so I leaned in to talk to him. He was dressed nice, and seemed like a good guy, so I didn't see the harm. He asked me if I was there with Tom Kelly, and said something about being from Puerto Rico and that he'd been looking for Tom for a long time. He was smiling at me, and seemed like a really sweet person, so when Rory came up from behind him to ask me if I was okay, I told him I was, and that the guy I was talking to had just been asking about Tom. I told Rory what the guy told me, that he was from Puerto Rico and he'd been looking for them, and before I could blink an eye, all hell broke loose."

  "What happened?" I asked.

  "I'm telling you."

  "Is he okay?"

  "Yes, I told you that."

  "What happens at the end of this story, Addie? How'd he get hurt? Why'd he go to the hospital?"

  "He got shot in the side."

  "Shot?" I choked out.

  "He's fine. The bullet went straight through his side. They repaired the damage, and he's already out of surgery."

  "Surgery?" I sat on the edge of the bed to put my pants on.

  "Wait," she said. "He's sleeping. Everybody's been up all night. He's fine. There's nothing you can do right now anyway. I just wanted to tell you in person before I went in there to crash."

  "I'm glad you came in here," I said. "You could have woken me up in the middle of the night."

  "You needed the rest."

  "Who shot him?"

  "Well, if you would have let me finish…"

  "I'm sorry. I just had to know what happened."

  Addie smiled sleepily. "That's okay. I don’t remember where I was, though."

  "All hell breaking loose."

  "Oh right, so Rory walks up to check on me, and he's already looking skeptical of the guy, so when I say he's from Puerto Rico and he's been looking for them, Rory grabbed him by the shoulders and shoved his knee into the guys ribcage. I felt like I was in a dream. One minute I was smiling at this tall, dark, and handsome guy, and the next, Rory's beating the crap out of him."

  Chapter 23

  Two hours later, I was at Rory's bedside having a whispered conversation with Tom Kelly. Rory was sleeping on the hospital bed, and Drake was sleeping on the fold out chair on the other side of him. The nurse knew Tom was awake, which was why she let me in there. He smiled and waved me in when I peeked through the crack, and I made my way to the chair next to him. There was white noise coming out of a phone on Rory's bedside so the constant in and out of the nurses didn't disturb him.

  "I just wanted to stop by to check on him," I said. "I won't stay. I'm sure you're tired too."

  "It's all right," he said, flashing that gold tooth. "I can't sleep in these places anyway. I'll rest when we get home."

  "Addie told me most of what happened."

  "Yeah, she was right there, poor girl."

  "She said the lady who fired the shot was just trying to stop them from fighting."

  Tom shrugged. "She said she was just trying to fire a warning shot, but the gun went off before she had it up toward the ceiling. She thought Rory was gonna hurt Angel, so she took the gun, the gun she had no idea how to use, out of her purse, and fired it."

  "Addie told me about Angel," I said.

  Tom laughed, humorlessly. "I guess it's good Rory didn't kill him."

  "Why'd he go off like that? Did he assume Angel had some connection to Luis?" I asked.

  "I'm sorry, but if ye tell me yer from Puerto Rico and yer lookin' for us, I'm gonna kick the shite out of ye first, and ask questions later." His eyes were still closed, and his voice came out sleepy, but it was Rory nonetheless, and I smiled at the sound.

  I didn't even look at Tom before I stood and crossed to Rory's bedside. I was really worried about him, and it was hard for me to refrain from touching him. Actually, I didn't refrain from it. The first thing I did when I came to stand next to him was put a hand on his arm.

  "I can't believe you got shot," I whispered, not knowing what else to say.

  He looked at me through squinted eyes and gave me a smile. "I'm fine," he said. "How are you?"

  I shook my head shyly. "I'm fine. I feel better. You don't need to worry about me. I know you need to rest, and I'm sorry for disturbing you guys, but I just needed to see that you were all right. I'm gonna let you get back to sleep. I'll come back later to check on you."

  "I'm not gonna be here for very long."

  "You had surgery," I reminded him, since he obviously forgot.

  "It wasn't really surgery. They just stitched me up," he said. "I’m fine, really." He patted the bed next to him as if he wanted me to hop up there.

  I looked over my shoulder cautiously at Tom to see if Rory was just acting crazy, and Tom said, "He's telling the truth. It went clean through right here." Tom pinched his own s
ide to demonstrate. "There wasn't any damage to anything but muscle tissue, but they wanted to watch him for a little while this morning."

  Rory patted the bed again, and I climbed in carefully and stretched out next to him. I wasn't lying next to his injured side, but I was still extremely careful. I put my head in the crook of his arm, near his chest, and he held me close with his big arm.

  "I can't believe you almost killed your brother," I whispered.

  "I can't believe I have another brother," he said. "I thought Da was joking all this time when he said he had a son in Puerto Rico."

  "Addie said she could tell he was your brother once you guys found out."

  "I don't know how," Tom said, sarcastically. "He had a swollen face at that point."

  I looked up at Rory and he smiled a little. "I'm not sorry I did it," he said. "I'll do it again to the next man who comes looking for me from Puerto Rico. I might not have been so feckin' mad if he'd have come to me first, but when I saw him talkin' to Addie, it made me think of ye, and well, uh—"