Bless Your Heart

by Kimbra Swain

  I couldn’t stop laughing at him. “Welcome to being a fairy,” I said.

  “Lord, help me,” he said.

  Betty brought us the burgers and fries. As we ate, we talked about the town, football and a bunch of stuff that didn’t include dead children or fairies. Levi was a good man, not a kid. Back in Texas, he worked on his father’s horse ranch. He said that he never considered going to college, especially when he realized he could do things. I wasn’t sure if he meant the magic or sex. He needed to get laid, but other than that, Levi Rearden was damned near perfect.

  No sooner had I started to contemplate who I could fix him up with did Ella Jenkins walk into the diner. He turned to look at the door when the bell chimed and locked on to the girl like a heat seeking missile. “Whoa,” he said.

  Ella was the mayor’s daughter. She graduated from high school two years ago. She attended school at the big University nearby, because she wanted to be a school teacher. She wore tight blue jeans and a cut off shirt showing her navel piercing. Her long blonde hair was tied up into a ponytail that swished in sync with her ass as she walked. Sitting down on a stool three down from me, she met Levi’s eyes and cocked her head sideways at him. I leaned back on my stool, so they could get a good look at each other.

  She shrugged, looking away from him like he wasn’t good enough for her.

  “Afternoon, Ella,” Betty greeted her.

  “Hey, Mrs. Betty, can I get a strawberry milkshake?” she asked sweetly. Her southern drawl was heavier than mine. Of course, mine was practiced over time. Naturally, I had an Irish accent, but I didn’t need that kind of attention.

  “You are drooling, Levi,” I mumbled to him.

  “I gotta go,” he said.

  “Go talk to her,” I said. Although, there were probably better girls he could hook up with than the mayor’s daughter. Ella would only get him in a heap of trouble, but I figured it couldn’t be worse than a swamp witch. I was sure she’d be good for at least a casual roll in the hay.

  Ella put her elbows on the counter leaning forward with her face down. Just the right pressure on her breasts making them bulge out the top of her low-cut top. Levi grabbed my leg and squeezed the tar out of me. I swatted his hand away. “She’s teasing you, because she knows you are watching. Do you not know anything about women?” I asked.

  “I know about women!” he said a little too loudly, and Ella’s eyes shot up to him. He lightly smiled, quickly turning his head the opposite way.

  “Hello, Grace,” she said to me.

  “Afternoon, Ella. How’s classes going?”

  “They are okay. All anyone wants to talk about it football though,” she said.

  “Meet any nice boys?” I asked her.

  “Oh, sure. There are lots of college boys out there. They are all horny as a three-balled tom cat,” she replied.

  “Holy shit,” Levi muttered.

  I smiled trying to continue the conversation with her in hopes that Levi would talk to her, “Oh, Ella, this is Levi Rearden. He’s from Texas. He’s staying with me for a little while.” I hit him on the leg to get him to turn around and look at her.

  “Hi, Levi,” she said.

  He cleared his throat, “Nice to meet you, Ella.”

  When it was clear that Levi Rearden had no game other than his good looks, I took out some cash from my pocket, slapping it down on the counter as they stared at each other. “Later, Betty. Thanks for the food, Luther. It was fabulous, as always,” I shouted to the back.

  Luther waved at me through the window. I grabbed Levi by the arm, dragging him out of the diner.

  “She’s nice,” he mumbled as he hung his arm in front of his crotch.

  “You ain’t gonna hide that. Get in the truck,” I laughed.

  “Damn it, Grace,” he cursed me.

  “You still want to get beer?” I asked.

  “Yes, lots of it,” he said staring at the diner as I pulled out onto the main road.

  Driving into the Food Mart parking lot, I noticed a sheriff’s car sitting on the other side of the lot, but I knew it wasn’t Dylan’s cruiser. His had the call number of 001 on the side.

  Levi and I went inside to pick up a few things. As I looked on the potato chip aisle, Mrs. Kathrine Frist pushed her cart next to mine.

  “Why, hello Grace! How are you, dear?” she asked sweetly. She was a rich old biddy who was the leader of the Ladies Auxiliary at the Baptist Church. She inherited a huge estate and lived on her daddy’s money. She was a widow in her late forties, but she could easily pass for fifty-five. I didn’t know anything about her ex-husband except he died not long after they were married. In my imagination, I couldn’t decide if she was a black widow spider or a praying mantis.

  “Good Afternoon, Mrs. Frist. I’m alright. Just picking up some snacks. I’ve got company,” I said as Levi approached with a case of Natty Light. “Levi, take that piss water back and get the good stuff.”

  “Well, I didn’t know since you were buying it,” he said turning back around with it. Mrs. Frist stared just a little too hard at his ass. I admitted it was nice.

  “Who’s the boy?” she leered.

  “He’s the son of a friend of mine in Texas. He’s coming here for school, and he will be staying with me,” I replied. She didn’t need to know that the friend was a fairy like me that I'd never met, and his schooling involved him staying away from a demon and learning magic.

  “Oh, how nice! I have some odd jobs around the house, if he’s looking to make some extra money,” she said.

  I bet she could come up with one hundred things to do to lure Levi into her web. “I’ll let him know,” I replied.

  “Bring him to church, Grace. There are a lot of nice young girls there,” she replied. Her meaning was obvious. She considered him too young for me. Crazy hypocrite woman. If he was too young for me, it meant he was too young for her.

  “Alright, then,” I smiled pushing the cart to the front.

  Levi met me at the end of the aisle with a case of Sam Adams. “This okay?” he asked.

  “Is that what you like to drink?” I asked.

  “Yes,” he replied.

  “Then it’s great, because I don’t drink beer,” I replied. He laughed shaking his head at me.

  We stood in the check-out when my phone rang. I handed Levi some cash, walking away from the noise of the cash registers.

  “Hello,” I answered.

  “Where are you?” Dylan rasped. I immediately knew something was very wrong.

  “At the Food Mart with Levi,” I replied. “What’s wrong?”

  “I’m sorry, Grace. I swear to you that I had nothing to do with it. Amanda was a plant with the Alabama Bureau of Investigations. They were investigating you working with us on cases. They think you killed those kids so you could find them,” he said.

  “You better be joking,” I choked.

  “No, Grace. I’m serious,” he said. “I tried to tell them, but now they think I might be an accomplice. I’ve been put on administrative leave.”

  “Shi-yat,” I said. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll get you cleared, but you just keep your mouth shut.”

  “Grace, they could send you to prison,” he said.

  “Aw, honey, you know better than that. Keep your mouth shut. Stay away from me. Got it?” I pressed him.

  “Okay. I’m so sorry,” he moaned, hanging up the phone.

  Levi walked up with a couple of grocery bags and the case of beer. “Where is the cart?” I asked.

  “I can carry these,” he said.

  “We need it,” I said grabbing another one. I saw that the cruiser pulled up next to my truck, and there were two others in the parking lot. Levi saw me looking that way.

  “What the hell?”

  “They are coming for me,” I said. “Listen to me, Levi.” He stared out of the window.

  “Why?”

  “Dublin, look at me. Dammit.” He turned toward me. “They are trying to nail Dylan. I’ve got
to separate myself from him. I can’t believe I’m asking you to do to this, but please act like you can’t wait to get home and fuck me.”

  “What!” he shouted. I grabbed his arm, pulling his face to mine.

  Through gritted teeth, I said, “Levi, I gotta make it seem like he means nothing to me. You are my new boy toy, and the sheriff is old news. Do you understand? Levi, please do this for me.” I pleaded desperately with him.

  “Yeah, okay,” he said, staring out at the cruisers. The officers were getting out of the cars, and Amanda Capps exited an unmarked car wearing a prim feminine business suit. Her badge clipped to her belt glittered in the sunlight. She was a waif-like five foot five. She looked like she needed a biscuit to get some meat on her bones.

  I pushed the cart out of the store as Levi saddled up behind me with his arms on each side of me helping me push the cart. As soon as the humid air hit our faces, his lips touched my neck, and I shivered at his touch. The tingles associated with fairy touch rippled from my lips to my toes.

  Fuckedy, fuck, fuck. This was a terrible idea, but it was too late. His hands wandered under the edge of my shirt, the rough callouses rubbed against my skin. We pushed the cart into one of the corrals, and when I turned to face him, he grabbed my chin with his hand, kissing me hard. I moaned, because I was playing a part. Yep, that was what I told myself.

  “Let’s finish this at home,” I said as I felt the officers approaching us. I whispered quickly, “Levi, take the truck and go home. Do not leave the trailer. You will be safe there. There is a phone number on the fridge with the name ‘Bear’ on it. Call the number and tell the secretary what happened. They will send my lawyer. Whatever happens, you keep your mouth shut, do you understand me?”

  His face was so close to mine, as he nodded slightly. He moved toward my lips once more, but hesitated just before touching them. Then quickly he latched on to my bottom lip, I damn near fainted. It wasn’t the hot fevered kiss of the sexual display. It was tender, sweet, and incredibly sexy.

  “Wow,” he moaned. I couldn’t agree more.

  “Miss Grace Ann Bryant, we need you to come with us,” Amanda said, holding up her A.B.I. badge. I noticed a couple of reporters with cameras on the other side of the line of officers. Shit. They taped it all. Actually, it was probably good for Dylan that they did.

  “Oh, hello, Amanda. What’s going on?” I asked as if I didn’t know.

  “You are under arrest for the murders of Colby Martin and Elizabeth Shanteal,” she said.

  “What?” I said in disbelief.

  “No, this isn’t right,” Levi said.

  “Hush,” I spouted at him, eyeing him with daggers. I wanted him to keep his mouth shut.

  Amanda approached me with her cuffs and the other officers held up guns. Most of the faces I knew. None of them looked happy about what they were doing except Amanda, and she seemed to take great pleasure in it. I put my hands up.

  “Move away from her, Mr. Rearden, unless you’d like to take a trip down to the holding cell too,” Amanda said. Levi put his hands up and backed away. I nodded at him in approval.

  People leaving the Food Mart stopped to stare at the local trailer trash being arrested for murder. My heart lurched, and I teetered for a moment before recovering myself.

  “Grace,” Levi said.

  “You do what I told you,” I spouted at him, pointing to the truck.

  Amanda read me my rights, cuffed my hands behind my back, and guided me to the closest cruiser. The driver was Troy Maynard, the officer that went into the woods with us. She ducked my head into the car.

  “Take her to lock-up,” Amanda told Troy. He didn’t speak to her, so she shut the door. I watched Levi put the bags in the truck and climb in. If he wanted to live, he had better do as he was told. But damn, the boy could kiss. A raging bag of fairy hormones.

  We rode in silence, but as we pulled into the lot at the jail, Troy spoke, “Grace, I’m sorry about this. Most of us know you didn’t do this, but she’s got some concrete evidence on you.”

  “Don’t worry about me. Keep Dylan out of it,” I said.

  “He’s been suspended,” he admitted. I hung my head because I didn’t want him to know that Dylan had warned me. He was in enough trouble as it was. Troy parked in front of receiving.

  This wasn’t my first time in a jail. However, things like this were the reason I moved around to new towns my entire life. As soon as I got out of this mess, Rufus, the double wide and myself would leave town. Levi, too, I supposed.

  As Troy helped me out of the car, the metal cuffs dug into my arm. I grimaced. Iron was a bane to fairies, but I’d lived so long in this realm that it didn’t faze me. I supposed I had an immunity to it, but the cuffs dug into my skin burning small lines across my wrists.

  “Sorry, I know those things hurt. I’m trying to help,” he said.

  “It’s okay,” I said quietly.

  They took me into receiving, printed me, and took mug shots. Thankfully, there was no press. Troy walked me back into the holding cells, opening an empty one for me. The county lock-up functioned as the jail for both county and city prisoners. Neither one of them ever had much business anyway. A few town drunks and the occasional domestic abuse situation.

  Troy removed the cuffs, and I rubbed my wrists. I felt the remaining power in my tattoo and knew it wasn’t enough to really do anything to help myself.

  “If there is anything I can get for you, Grace, just let me know,” Troy offered.

  “No, I’ll be okay,” I muttered. He stood looking at me for a moment. I watched his face contort with emotion. However, I wasn’t sure what was behind it. He walked slowly to the door, disappearing into the free world on the other side.

  I slumped down on the bed, lying down with my back to the cell door.

  Several hours went by, and an officer came to the cell door. “Miss Bryant, you have a visitor,” he said.

  “Unless it’s my lawyer, tell whoever it is to go away,” I said without facing him.

  “Grace,” Dylan’s tortured voice said.

  “I said go away,” my heart broke as I said it.

  “Please talk to me for just a minute,” he said.

  “Officer, I don’t want any visitors,” I growled.

  “Sheriff, let’s go,” the officer said.

  “Grace Ann Bryant, you get your stubborn ass over here and talk to me,” he yelled.

  I spun around on the bed, looking at him dead in the eye. “I never want to see you again, Dylan Riggs. Go to hell.” It was a good show. At least, I thought it was. He apparently believed it completely. He ran his hands through his hair in frustration, stomping out of the holding area and muttering curses.

  “Sorry, Miss Bryant,” the officer said.

  “I mean it. No visitors,” I said. He nodded and left. I curled back up on the bed and cried.

  “Miss Bryant, your lawyer is here,” an officer behind me said. I’d slept in peace most of the night, except for the drunk next to me, the sirens outside, the smell of piss on the mattress, and the fact that I saw that poor dead child repeatedly in my head. Which is to say, I didn’t sleep at all.

  I rolled off the bed, approaching the gate. Offering my wrists through the hole in the door. He snapped a pair of handcuffs on me, then led me down the hallway to a small meeting room. It had one of those double-sided windows.

  I took one look at the man at the table and said, “Nope, that’s not my lawyer.” Turning to walk back down the hallway, Amanda turned the corner, glaring at me.

  “Are you refusing representation, Miss Bryant? Please say yes,” she smirked.

  “You and me, we have a date coming up,” I snarled at her.

  “Are you threatening an officer of the law?” she asked.

  “No, honey, I was just asking you out. Are you a homophobe?” I asked.

  “Shut up. Get in that room,” she fumed.

  The officer grabbed my forearm, practically forcing me into the room and shutting the
door. I leaned into it, feeling the cool steel on my forehead. The cuffs released, tumbling to the floor. I groaned.

  “Sit down,” he gruffed.

  Sauntering over to the chair, I plopped down in it staring at him. He looked to be in his fifties wearing a black suit and tie with a crisp black shirt. His icy blue eyes stared through me. I hadn’t seen him in over one hundred years, but he hadn’t changed at all.

  As he adjusted his diamond cuff link, he said, “What do you have to say for yourself?”

  “Nothing to you,” I muttered.

  “Why must you be so insolent?” his voice cooed.

  “Well, let’s see, Daddy. I haven’t seen you in ages. You let your council banish me from my home. You don’t speak to me for several centuries, then you want to show up here in a jail to what? Rescue me?”

  “Your changeling boy called the number,” he said calmly.

  “I needed a lawyer. Not you,” I huffed.

  “Gloriana, please come home,” he begged tenderly. His demeanor changed completely, and for a moment, I saw the father that once adored his daughter.

  “Don’t call me that,” I said.

  “You are my child, that is your name, and I miss you. The banishment was lifted decades ago. I sent word. Why didn’t you come home?”

  “It’s not home anymore,” I said remembering my mind drifting to it yesterday. I certainly considered it home then, but now with my father sitting across from me begging me to come home, I wanted nothing to do with it. I don’t care how big the bathtub was.

  “This world will destroy you,” he said. “This dirty glamour you wear isn’t you. I know the power inside of you. You belong at home with me.”

  “If it destroys me, so be it. I’m not leaving,” I said.

  As he stood, he straightened his suit jacket. He walked to the door, but paused beside me. He lightly ran his fingers through my hair. “All you have to do is say the word, and you can come home.”

  I closed my eyes, steeling my resolve. He left the room quietly, and my lawyer Mr. Demetrius Lysander entered the room. My father muttered a few words to Lysander who nodded in response.