PRES: a bay falls high novel

by Kidman, Jaxson

  “You can’t just show up,” Amelia said.

  “The fuck I can’t,” I growled.

  “Pres, wait a second,” Tinsley said.

  She reached around the seat and touched my arm.

  “I just thought I should call you, Ti,” Amelia said. “Since you did this with your mother, you know? You’d know what to do and say to her. To help her. Say something to save her. Because I can’t. I’m scared…”

  Amelia buried her face into her hands and cried.

  I looked in the mirror at Tinsley.

  Holding Amelia.

  “Here,” Tinsley said. “Stop here, Pres.”

  I looked, and saw a small pizza place attached to a gas station that looked like it had been shut down for ten years.

  “Seriously?” I asked. “You want to get fucking pizza?”

  “Yes,” Tinsley said.

  “I could eat,” Amelia said. “I haven’t eaten since lunch yesterday.”

  I gritted my teeth and didn’t say a word. I couldn’t imagine a world where I wasn’t able to fucking eat when I was hungry.

  When I collected myself, I shut off the SUV.

  I turned and curled my lip at both Amelia and Tinsley.

  “This better be some damn good pizza.”

  * * *

  It was some damn good pizza.

  Well, maybe not the best, but the lady who ran the pizza place made it the best.

  Her name was Joanie and she looked to be about two hundred years old. But she was fast, funny, and didn’t miss a beat.

  The three of us sat at a sticky booth. It was a bright and ugly orange color booth with what once was a perfectly clean white table. There were leftover stains from markers. Phone numbers. Bad words. Pictures of body parts that were worthy of an eyebrow raise.

  “Are you going to need to shower after this?” Amelia asked me.

  “Excuse me?” I replied.

  “Rich boy. This is out of your element.”

  “I’m not like that,” I said.

  “Amelia, he’s here to help,” Tinsley said. “Turn the attitude off.”

  “Hard to do,” she said. “Look at this place. Everywhere. You got out. For free, Ti. And you got a man. With money. Shit…”

  Tinsley lowered her head.

  “Look at me, Amelia,” I said. “And listen carefully. You don’t know what Tinsley has been through. And she doesn’t have money. She works for everything she has.”

  “She working you?” Amelia asked. “What does she do? I bet I can do it twice as hard and fast.”

  “Fuck you,” Tinsley snapped.

  She pushed Amelia right out of the booth to the floor.

  Joanie popped up and almost came over the counter.

  I stood up and put a hand out. “She fell. We’re okay.”

  “Not here,” Joanie warned. “Oh, sonsabitches… not here…”

  I looked down at Amelia as she was on her ass. “You’ve worn out your welcome with me. Stand up and leave. We’ll find Ruby and help her.”

  Amelia’s eyes filled with tears. She looked at Tinsley. “I’m sorry I said that stuff. I didn’t mean it. I’m… jealous…”

  “Do what Pres says to do,” Tinsley said. “Let us find her and help her.”

  “I’m scared for her,” Amelia said. “Scared for me. Scared for everything.”

  “Stop being so damn scared,” I said. “Do something about it.”

  “I’m sorry,” Amelia said. “Oh god I’m so sorry.”

  Amelia started to cry again.

  I sat back down and grabbed another slice of pizza.

  Tinsley looked at me.

  I shrugged my shoulders.

  “Pres,” she whispered.

  “You want to clean up both of their lives?” I asked. “Fine. Give me the word, sugar. I’m more worried about the one that’s missing. The one that’s hooked on drugs. The one that really needs our help. Not someone who is being jealous.”

  “You don’t get what it’s like,” Tinsley said. “To live this life. To feel like you’re never going to get out of it. It’s the same thing each and every day. And it’s not that easy to just do something about it.”

  I gritted my teeth.

  I looked down at Amelia as she sat on the filthy pizza shop floor.

  Tinsley had a goddamn hold on me. One that made things fun and wild, but one that I wondered if it would eventually bring me down.

  I stood back up and then crouched down.

  Amelia looked terrified.

  “You finish all your classes and shit?” I asked.

  “For the most part,” Amelia said.

  “You’re graduating, right?”

  “I think so.”

  “If you left this town, would you ever look back?”

  “Never,” Amelia said.

  “I’ll get your number from Tinsley. I’ll find something for you. Okay?”

  “Something…?” Amelia asked.

  “I’m not just some rich piece of shit, Amelia. Things have fallen into my lap. Things have been given to me. But if I don’t give a damn and work at it, then I lose it all. You might be changing bedsheets at a hotel or you might be printing reports for orders, who knows. But it’s something.”

  Amelia swallowed hard.

  She looked at Tinsley.

  Then she looked back at me.

  “Don’t say anything else,” I said to her. “This isn’t about you. Don’t be so damn greedy.”

  I stood up and offered my hand.

  I helped Amelia to her feet.

  “I’m going to go to the bathroom,” she said. “Wash up for a second.”

  She walked away and Tinsley jumped up and grabbed my arm.

  “Don’t say anything either,” I warned.

  “You might have just saved her life, Pres,” Tinsley said.

  “Yeah. I picked up on that. Who would have thought… the Rulz out there saving lives.”

  Tinsley laughed. She slipped her arms around me and hugged me.

  I wrapped an arm around her and kissed the top of her head.

  The little bell above the door rang.

  I didn’t pay that much attention to it.

  At least not until I heard Joanie say a word that could change everything.

  Gun.

  * * *

  I pushed Tinsley away and turned.

  There were three of them.

  Punk teenagers. Probably our age. Eighteen or nineteen.

  The first guy had a gun and the other two were the muscle, ready to fight.

  “Who the fuck are you?” the first guy asked me.

  “Just trying to pay for my pizza,” I said. “Then I have some things to take care of. Are you really here with a gun. What are you going to get out of this place? Fifty bucks?”

  “Fifty more bucks than I fucking have,” he said.

  “That’s weak, bro.”

  “Empty your fucking pockets then. That your ride out front? We’ll take that too. Hell of a lot more than fifty bucks.”

  I nodded.

  I stepped toward him.

  The guy with the gun.

  “You little assholes, you leave,” Joanie shouted. She had a rolling pin in her right hand, waving it. “I’ll hit you so hard you’ll think you’re babies again and you’ll be shitting your pants!”

  I appreciated Joanie’s attitude.

  One of the guys didn’t.

  He jumped at the counter and Joanie screamed.

  She stumbled back and fell into the counter.

  She dropped the rolling pin and yelled in pain, grabbing her back.

  “That’s enough of that,” I said as I grabbed the attacker by his shirt.

  He turned and swung at me.

  I got out of the way of the punch but I was far from being out of the way from the guy with the gun.

  “Pres!” Tinsley yelled.

  “Pres,” the guy with the gun said. “Pres, Pres, Pres. Why don’t you put your hands up?”

  I sho
wed my hands. “Just don’t hurt Joanie.”

  “We know Joanie,” the guy with the gun said.

  “You know her?” I asked.

  “We’ve been here three times this week,” the third guy said. “You don’t know where the fuck you are. You’re some fancy clothed motherfucker thinking… what? You going to buy this block and turn it into stores?”

  “I’m just getting pizza with my girl,” I said.

  The guy with the gun looked at Tinsley. “She looks familiar. She used to live here.”

  My eyes looked around, I knew I had to make my move.

  The guy with the gun was looking at Tinsley.

  That’s when I attacked.

  My left hand grabbed his wrist and moved the gun out of the way of everyone. My right hand came forward and I smashed it as hard as I could off his jaw.

  The other two guys dove at me, which I figured they would do. But I kept a tight grip on the guy’s wrist holding the gun.

  Tinsley screamed.

  I turned my head and saw her coming toward the scene.

  “No!” I yelled at her.

  She stopped.

  Which surprised me.

  She never listened to me.

  A smile then climbed across her face.

  I turned my head back just in time to take a punch to the jaw.

  But then I smiled too.

  Barr and Kip were opening the door to the pizza place.

  * * *

  I slammed the gunman down on the table and he let out a breathless cry.

  My fist came down to his face three times before I picked him back up and threw him into the counter.

  Kip and Barr had the other guys down on the ground, pummeling them as though we were up at the ditch enjoying a night of fighting.

  Behind the counter Joanie kept yelling at us to stop.

  Tinsley and Amelia were huddled together in a booth, watching the scene unfold.

  My hand gripped the gunman’s shirt tight and I pulled him nose to nose.

  “You ever come back here again and I’ll bring everyone I know,” I said. “Money. Power. Everything possible. Understand me?”

  The gunman nodded.

  I threw him across the pizza place to the door.

  “Come on, man!” he yelled to the other guys.

  Kip looked back at me.

  I nodded.

  He backed off the guy he was taking care of.

  Barr stepped away from his guy.

  The two scrambled to their feet, diving toward the door.

  The gunman then looked at Amelia. “You coming?”

  Amelia pulled herself from the booth and started to run.

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” I asked. “You called them? You set this up?”

  Amelia didn’t say a word.

  I blocked her path.

  “Is Ruby actually in trouble?” I asked.

  “Yes,” Amelia said. “She’s going to die if she doesn’t get help. I’m sorry for this. It’s just…”

  “You wanted to rob me and take my ride,” I said.

  “I guess I’m not getting a job, huh?” Amelia asked.

  “Get the fuck out of here,” I said.

  “Wait,” Tinsley said.

  She was standing behind Amelia.

  She turned Amelia around and threw a right fist that exploded Amelia’s nose open.

  Amelia cried out.

  The gunman took two steps and Kip was there to punch him in the gut.

  “Everyone out!” I ordered.

  The three guys and Amelia stumbled out of the pizza shop.

  Joanie finally came from behind the counter.

  She put her hands to her head. “Look at my place! Look what you did! You rotten people! You terrible rotten people!”

  The place was a mess.

  I reached into my pocket and took out all the cash I had on me.

  I put it into Joanie’s heated hand.

  “Sorry,” I said.

  She looked at the money and then at me.

  She smiled big.

  “I love you!” she yelled. “Come back anytime! Anytime!”

  I grabbed for Tinsley’s hand and we got the hell out of there.

  “What are you doing here?” Tinsley asked Barr and Kip.

  “Coming to this shithole alone?” Barr asked. “Not a chance, love.”

  “Something told me there would be some fighting,” Kip said.

  He kicked the air and made a weird noise.

  “Thanks for showing up,” I said.

  “No, here’s the real question,” Barr said, “what are we actually doing here?”

  “We need to save Ruby,” Tinsley said. “You know that already.”

  “This is for real then?” Barr asked.

  “We’re going to track this junkie down and get her clean,” I said.

  “I have a more important question,” Kip said.

  “What’s that?” Tinsley asked.

  Kip grinned. “This Ruby chick… is she hot?”

  Chapter 14

  I had been involved in some crazy things in my life. I had seen dangerous situations. I had been in fights. I had seen weapons.

  But when we pulled up to the apartment building where Ruby was supposedly staying, I realized I was holding the steering wheel tighter than normal. We had no clue what we were walking into. If Ruby was okay or not. If Ruby owed money to anyone or not.

  Hell, we didn’t know if Ruby even wanted to be saved.

  Which would be the hardest thing to face.

  Because that would just bring back all the shit with Tinsley and her mother.

  To me, her mother never wanted to be saved.

  She was forced to be saved.

  And only then did something in her fucked up mind finally click and she stayed clean.

  Clean.

  What a word.

  Tinsley’s mother was clean but she was far away.

  She was in some hippie community and could never leave. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that if Tinsley’s mother ventured into the real world, she would fall prey to her demons in a heartbeat.

  I backed my SUV into a parking spot on the opposite end of the parking lot.

  Barr sat in the backseat and casually had a cigarette hanging from his mouth.

  Kip was in the backseat too and looked ready for a fight.

  “What do we do now?” Kip called out.

  I was still assessing things.

  “I’ll go knock on the door,” Tinsley said.

  My hand grabbed her hand. “The fuck you will, sugar.”

  “What?” she snapped at me. “She was my best friend, Pres. If she sees me…”

  “What?” I asked. “If she sees you and wants to leave, what happens?”

  “Pres is right, love,” Barr said.

  “I’ll go up there,” Kip said. “Make it look like I’m looking for something. Get a head count and feel the place out.”

  “How are you going to get out?” Barr asked.

  “I’ll say I forgot my cash in the car,” Kip said.

  “No way,” I said. “That’s an easy trick. I have a different idea.”

  “Which is?” Tinsley asked.

  “I need to know what Ruby looks like,” I said.

  “Just say if she’s hot or not,” Kip called out. “I can take it from there.”

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

  “You’re going to stay here,” I said. “Climb into the backseat. Get down. We’re going to go take care of this.”

  Tinsley put her hand on mine. “Pres…”

  “What?” I asked.

  “This isn’t… this isn’t the ditch. Okay?”

  “I never said it was, sugar.”

  “This is real. This is… dangerous. You coming here is really sweet. Same for the other two. It means a lot to me. But this isn’t some rich guy thing. This is for real. If Garcia isn’t alone up there… I mean, there are people who will kill and not think twice about
it. There are people who don’t mind jail. Who aren’t afraid of being in prison for the rest of their lives. People who will do anything to avoid jail time.”

  “Hey!” I growled.

  Tinsley jumped and closed her mouth.

  “We’re fine,” I said. “Get in the back, sugar.”

  I got out of the SUV and waited to meet Barr and Kip.

  “This is madness, man,” Barr said.

  “No shit,” I said.

  “If we pull this off,” Kip said, “you owe us. I mean, I don’t know what Tinsley is made of… but it’s got to be whiskey laced honey dripping from her…”

  “I’ll feed you to these people, Kip,” I warned.

  “We have to focus,” Barr said. He stepped forward and took the last drag of his cigarette. He flicked it away. “We have to think… like them.”

  I looked at Kip and nodded.

  This kind of situation brought back old memories for Barr.

  When he was part of BC.

  He looked around the parking lot.

  “I don’t see many vehicles here,” he said. “So I think we’re safe. I don’t think this is an active place.”

  “Meaning?” Kip asked.

  “I don’t think there’s going to be fifty guys with guns ready to take us out,” he said.

  Just hearing that statement made me take a deep breath.

  “Then let’s move,” I said.

  “We go through the door together,” Barr said. “Then split. Everyone look around and be smart. Any sign of trouble and we bolt. We meet back at that pizza place.”

  “Got it,” Kip said.

  I grabbed both Barr and Kip. “No matter what, Tinsley is our first priority. No offense to Ruby, but if there’s a choice to be made…”

  “It’s always Tinsley,” Barr said.

  “Agreed,” Kip said. “Unless Ruby’s hotter than Tinsley.”

  Kip grinned and winked.

  “I hope this chick is dead ugly,” Barr said.

  “I hope we find this chick alive,” I said. “For Tinsley’s sake.”

  That was enough to get them both to be quiet.

  We took Barr’s lead as he approached the apartment building. Just the way he walked, with cautious swagger, was enough that I shook my head. There were stories in his head and heart I knew nothing about. Things he had seen and done while at BC.

  Barr tore open the apartment building door and started to climb the steps.

  He pointed to Kip and I showing us where to go and where to look.