by Paula Cox
Enrique.
Fuck!
I should’ve known this wasn’t over. It’s never over with him. I brace for it—for him to launch on me and finish the job—but instead of Enrique, it’s Jenna who tackles me. She presses her thin body around me, protecting my chest and head with her body. I can feel her scream better than I can hear it before Enrique charges.
This is it. This is the moment I’ve been waiting for since I met her and made the decision to take her with me. Looking back to that day, I should’ve known that I would be stuck with her for better or for worse and that I’d be responsible for her. I’m not about to let her down now. She deserves much more than to die because of a piece of scum like me. Jenna has her whole life ahead of her, and I’m not about to let her waste it.
With all of my strength, every last ounce of it, I push her away. My hips rise into the air followed by my chest. The pain races through me, causing my spine to tingle and throb. The side where Enrique got his little toy dagger in me feels as if it weighs the amount of a sack of bricks, but I tumble her off of me while Enrique rolls to avoid her. The knife in his hand reaches high in the air at my neck, but he misses me by inches.
He lands hard on his shoulder, crying out in pain. Someone must have gotten him before now because he looks worse for wear than ever. His bruised body has small cuts and a bruise the size of a two-by-four. I’m going to take advantage of that. Using my legs, I hoist myself up and over to him, pinning the bad shoulder into the ground. Enrique screams and curses at me in Spanish. God, I’d love to know what he’s saying to me.
The second arm is easier. He makes the mistake of trying to hit my wounded side with his fist, but I’m there faster. I use my knee to crush his wrist down, so he won’t be moving at all. That hand holds the knife, still pointed out in hopes of connecting with me again. I’m not going to let him make that mistake again.
“Jenna!” I shout, but I’m not exactly sure if I’m actually speaking. The blood running through my mouth is stronger than ever. “Get it... Get the...” I’m seconds away from falling on him.
“Tommy!” Jenna shouts as she crawls towards me on her hands. She reaches over Enrique’s hips towards the knife and manages to yank it out of his dirty claws. Like magic, Tommy, my cousin, appears. Where’d he come from? What was he doing with Vic’s guys?
Without any instruction, he takes over for me by placing his weight on Enrique’s knees and using his bandana to quickly tie his wrists together above his head. Jenna holds the knife to his neck; her hands shake so much that the blade continues to vibrate into his skin. Still, she doesn’t flinch as Tommy lands blow after blow to Enrique’s face. She keeps her dazzling blue eyes on him as his eyes roll back in his head and his face falls limp to the side. Tommy wipes his face with the sleeve of his flannel shirt and turns to her, nodding that it’s done. She places the knife in his hand and finally looks back at me, satisfied.
For her, this was over. For me, it was ending. Taking Enrique out like that has spent the last life of me. But to save her was all worth it. My head grows heavy, and my eyes lose the ability to focus. Everything fades except for Jenna’s and Tommy’s shouts. Hands are placed on my body, but it’s hers I remember. Jenna’s fingers scan my face and trace my jaw. They run over my cheeks and along my closed eyes. And as everything goes black, one small tear drips on my lips.
***
“Is he up yet?” Vic’s voice seems a million miles away from me, but yet, clear as ever. While I can’t see a thing, I can sense him leaning over my bed, staring at the beeping monitors that have annoyed me to death for the last few hours.
Jenna, who has probably faithfully been by my side since whenever they brought me to this makeshift, backdoor hospital, replies, “No, not yet.”
“Good,” he mutters to himself. “We’ve got some business to attend to.” My skin crawls listening to him. The bastard is up to something. Even in my weakened state with me unable to talk or move, I know better than to trust him alone with my woman.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Vic. If you have business with Rev, it can wait until he’s up and recovered. The doctors say it should be in a few days’ time.” She places a hand protectively on my arm, rubbing gently near where they put my IV line.
“It has everything to do with you. The deal was that if I were going to help you and him take down Enrique, he’d be part of the Blazers for one year.” He walks around the bed towards Jenna, and I feel the mattress slightly move as she turns and leans against its side. He continues, this time directly addressing Jenna, “In the Blazers, we have a rule that no man can have claim on a woman except for me. If you want to stay with Rev, there’s gonna be a few things you’ll have to, well, do for me.”
Without hesitation, I hear the sharp ring of a slap. I try to turn my head towards her, but the painkillers they got me on leave me fucking catatonic. I can’t stop him as he grabs her and throws her up on the side of the bed next to me. But then, as soon it has begun, it stops. Something has happened.
The tides have changed, she sits up straight and gets off the bed to walk forward a few steps. I hear Vic’s boots walk backward towards the far wall of the room.
“Put down the knife, girl. You don’t know what you’re fucking doing here.”
“I know what I’m doing, and I’m done being threatened and pushed around like a piece of damn meat to you guys. I will not be your girl. I will not let you fucking touch me! Do you understand?!”
My heart rate must have ticked up because the monitors begin to buzz and ring. They don’t seem to notice as she continues, “Here’s what’s going to happen, Vic. You’re gonna forget the deal you have with Rev. If he wants to join up with the Blazers, that’s gonna be on him. And you’re going to march out of this room and never try to pull that shit with me again. I’m no man’s woman!”
Vic chuckles to himself and then replies, “Whoa, honey. Enrique must’ve done a number on you. It was a joke. I want nothing to do with a skinny, mouthy chick like you. You’re not my type. But I’m not letting up on that deal. He shook hands and gave me his word. I had two men die out there for him to end up alive.”
“No!” Jenna states, her voice pitching higher. “He will not be part of the Blazers!”
“Jenna...” I murmur. “Jenna....”
“Rev?”
Did she hear me? I’ve been trying to say her name for hours now. After my surgery, I did my best to scream it, but it was like communicating with the dead. Now, she runs back to my side, her hand on mine as she repeats my name over and over again.
My eyes flicker open. The pain from the sharp white overhead stings. I’ve been in the dark for way too long. I try to squint and focus on the two shapes leaning over me until they become crisp as possible. Still, a white fog surrounds them—the drugs.
“Well, fucking hell... you’re awake,” Vic says with a hint of excitement.
“Yeah, I am.” I try to press myself up, but the stitches along my side stop me from getting even an inch higher. I may be awake, but my body still has me pinned to the bed. I settle on looking straight up at the pair as I say, “Jenna, I’m a Blazer now. That’s how this is gonna work.”
“No, Rev... why would you do that? You gave up everything!”
“I didn’t give up anything,” I sigh. “At the end of the day, I get you. That’s everything.”I watch the corners of her lips peel up into a wary smile while the worried look crinkles the line on her forehead. A few tears fall like steady rain onto the scratchy hospital blanket. I squeeze her hand—the best I can do to comfort her. It was going to be okay.
“Don’t act like I fucking sentenced you to death. Jesus,” Vic interrupts. “I came here with an offer. After we got you the hell out of there, we started taking inventory of Enrique’s shit and the men who stayed behind. While he might have been a dumbass fucker for messing with us, he knew his business and had quite the empire growing. It’s too big for the Blazers to do alone.”
“What
does that mean?” I ask, frustrated.
“It means, I’m putting you in charge of it. You’ll report to me, but you run the guys, the business, the show... etc. You ride under the Blazer’s colors and come to a few business meetings with the secretary. But that’s all I need from you... for now.”
“My own club?” I struggle, not sure if I’m hearing him right.
“My club,” he corrects me, “but yours to manage. Don’t fuck it up. I’ll send you more details when you get the fuck out of here.” With that, he turns and heads out the door, not looking back to see if I accept. It doesn’t matter. The deal is sealed. I’m now the manager and president of the former Red Dukes, current Blazers. Didn’t think that day would ever come.
After a few long seconds where I mull the thought of me in charge, Jenna clears her throat. “Rev, you okay?”
“I’m better than okay.” I smile as I lean back into the thin pillow. Jenna crawls into bed next to me, her head resting on my chest. For a long while, we do nothing but listen to the sound of my heartbeats on the monitor.
Epilogue
Six months later
Jenna
“I have to go,” I whisper into this chest. He smells like gasoline and fresh dirt. God, do I love Rev’s smile after a night of sex. I smile thinking of his legs tangled in mine with the blankets being thrown off the bed onto a pile on the floor. I can still feel the moist press of his lips on my naked skin.
He pulls me up to him so that I sit straight up in his lap. After going in for another long, deep kiss with his hands tangled up in my hair, he pulls away and tempts me with, “You don’t have to. You could stay here and be a kept woman. I could provide.”
Kept. I would have hated that word nearly a year ago. The idea of being owned by anyone seemed so barbaric, so cold. And with the guys I was dating then, I would’ve rather taken a bullet to my brain than commit to assholes like them. But with Rev, being kept meant something completely different. It means he owes me his loyalty and devotion. It means that nothing can break our bond. What we have here, in our home, is forever.
I turn back to him, still smiling at me as he awaits the “no” I always give him when he begs me to skip out on work and stay with him in bed. I touch his cheeks and nose gently as I reply, “I know you could do a lot for me. You already have...”
I scan the room of our new condo. It’s been six months since we’ve moved in, and I still can’t believe how amazing this place is. Rev’s job of managing the Blazers sub-group has been anything but normal, but it sure has been profitable. I’d do anything to just lay here in the fresh linen sheets, against his warm, naked body, but today is a big day for me—the day I become head of the recovery center.
“But,” I continue, “I really have to get going. Can I get a raincheck on the offer to be ‘kept’ a little longer?”
“Tonight,” he growls. “If not sooner.” He scoops a chunk of my ass into his hands and squeezes until I squeal out in pleasure. How his hands can do this is beyond me. Every one of his touches feels like it’s the first—dangerous, forbidden, wild.
I force myself up and into the shower. I’m surprised he doesn’t follow me—he usually does. But today’s special. The only one in my bathroom is Barkley who insists on following me everywhere since the day we picked him up. I smile thinking of how he ran to me from across Rev’s old motel’s parking lot. The woman who kept him, a friend of Rev’s cousin Tommy, did a pretty good job keeping him fed and happy, but you could tell that he was waiting for me, and me alone.
It was a big surprise knowing that even then, when he could’ve just abandoned the dog, Rev did something so selfless. But the more I learn about him, the more I realize that it’s who he is. While he knows so much pain and darkness, there was a person in there that believes in honesty, loyalty, and most of all, love.
When I’m out of the shower and finally dressed, he’s in the kitchen making breakfast for me. Even with all the money we have now, he still insists on wearing that skin-tight black T-shirt and a pair of jeans with old boots. Through the fabric, I can see the outline of his scar from the surgery. I really wish he would’ve seen real doctors for the work, but that was club life—you don’t risk the outside world knowing what goes on, even if it means giving up your life.
Rev doesn’t worry about it. At one point, he told me he’d just get another tattoo to cover it up. But it already, oddly, fits in with the rest of the artwork he’s got up and down his body. For me, it’s a reminder of all that we’ve been through and all that he’s willing to do to make sure I’m safe. I hate to admit how much I love that damn scar.
“Do I need to dress up for this?” he asks as he places a plate down in front of me.
“No. They know you. Plus, it’s just a small ceremony, and then we can go out and get a drink at Tommy’s bar.”
“Yeah, maybe,” he mutters, avoiding eye contact. I push it aside as I change the subject to what’s on his agenda tonight. Fridays are reserved for club meetings with Vic and business with the Blazers. I try not to ask many questions about it. Early on, he made me make a deal that I wouldn’t get involved any more than I had to be. It was for my protection in case anything happened to him, and as much as I hate not knowing the details, I trust him. After all, he’s never steered me wrong.
***
The day passes quickly as I get used to my new office at the front of the wing. The entire staff has rallied around me since I returned. They had so many questions for me that I eventually had to use Rev’s connections with the local hospitals to get a fake doctor’s note to excuse my unannounced absence. To make it up, I worked my ass off, became a better therapist, and applied myself towards this promotion. It’s all paying off today.
About an hour before the ceremony, there’s a knock at my door. My new secretary walks in, holding Barkley’s leash. Getting him certified to be a therapy dog was the best decision ever. I love that I get to bring him into work, and he loves that he gets to cuddle other patients and still sneak off to see me. He follows my secretary in as she hands the leash over to me.
“Oh wow!” I say as I go to head out the door. “I can’t believe it’s that time already.” I turn to Barkley as I ask, “Are you ready for your walk?” He wags his tail and pants heavily in reply. I’ll take it as a yes.
We pass the parking lot, the gazebos full of patients, and the picnic tables where I usually take my lunch. Finally, we make it around towards the intake side of the hospital where new patients are admitted. We’re not expecting any entries today, but I’m surprised to see a man walking straight toward the door. He looks around nervously, itching the back of his neck. As he sees me, he stops dead in his tracks. With the sun glaring in my eyes, I place my hand above my eyes to see what he’s up to.
“Jenna?” he shouts across the yard. “Is that you?”
That voice is completely unmistakable. I drop Barkley’s leash as I run to my brother’s side. “Mark! Oh my God! Mark! What are you... how are you...” He engulfs me in a hug so that I’m smothered against his old, worn down T-shirt.
“I didn’t know... Jenna...” He chokes back. “I’m so sorry. I really am.” He looks down at me, taking my hands. After a few seconds to compose himself, he explains, “I heard about what had happened to you, what you went through for me. I would’ve come, I swear it, but I was in the hospital getting help and detoxing. It wasn’t until a few months ago when I guy came to see me.”
“A guy?” I ask.
“Yeah, this guy I didn’t know walked into my hospital room. He said he knew you and told me the full story—how you risked your life for me and tried to get out of my debt. God, I’m so fucking sorry, Jenna...”
“Please, no. Don’t.” I try to hold back the sob in my throat. I’ve been working on trying to forgive him for months now. Rev would talk to me for hours about my anger towards him, and how I thought I’d lost him forever. No one could find him, at least, I thought they couldn’t.
“The guy, well, he convinc
ed me to come get help here. He said that I should be close to you and that maybe ... maybe you could forgive me if I showed you how serious I was.”
“Mark, who was the guy? Did you get his name?”
“No, but he was wearing a Blazer jacket. That’s why it surprised me. I didn’t have anything to do with the Blazers...”
“Rev,” I murmur to myself. It had to be him. He’s the only guy with enough heart and balls to track my brother down for me and bring him here for some redemption. My chest feels as if it could burst wide with something more than joy. He found my brother—the brother I thought was dead. And not only that, he brought him back to me.
With the widest smile I can possibly carve, I take Mark’s arm and lead him into the intake area. He leans his head onto mine, the same way he did when we were kids huddled up on the couch watching TV while our parents were out doing who knows what. As we take a step inside, Mark’s first real step to recovery, I whisper to him, “It’s going to be okay, Mark. I love you, and I’m here for you—no matter what.”