Vivian, Midnight Call Girl (Iron Orchids Book 6)

by Danielle Norman

  “Thank you, Miss Mouseketeer, for that lovely tour, now let’s go,” Lara said and pushed forward.

  “Go like this . . .” Stella pressed her tongue against the roof of her mouth and made a strange clicking sound. “Snakes hate it, it hurts their tiny ears, they’ll stay away from you.”

  “Ha, ha, very funny, snakes don’t have ears.” Sophie rolled her eyes.

  “Yeah, but we all would have laughed loud enough at you that the vibration might have scared them.” Sophie leaned forward and kicked Stella in the butt.

  “You’re such a bitch, but god, I love you.”

  “It’s a talent, what can I say?” Stella flicked a hand in the air as if it was already known by all and then we all went in and were surrounded by more fucking plants.

  “Welcome, welcome. Everly, I see you brought some friends. Please remove your shoes and grab a mat. You can find a place anywhere.”

  I was the first to get moving.

  “Look at her go. You’ve really changed your mind about this yoga, haven’t you?” Everly asked.

  “Nope. I just figured there was only so much room in the back, so I better be first to grab it so no one ends up making fun of my ass.”

  That truth was all it took for my entire group to rush to grab mats and haul ass into the studio, pushing and laughing as they scrambled to grab a spot in the back.

  “Excuse me, would you mind moving forward? We’re all together,” Stella asked some stranger so she could sit in the back too.

  The guy next to the woman who had moved, looked at our group. “I guess you’d like me to move as well?”

  “You’re an absolute doll for offering.” Stella smiled, using her Marilyn-Monroe looks to get what we needed.

  Katy and Leo scooched close so they could fit in that spot, and Piper ended up next to them.

  The cloying smell of patchouli mixed with what smelled like jasmine and cinnamon filled the air. I wasn’t sure whether to light up a blunt and go all Cheech and Chong, take a luxurious bath, or get in the flipping kitchen and bake something. Scanning the room, the decor was more African with vases, dried leaves, and woven straw placemats hung on the walls like decorations.

  The instructor stepped forward and rang a triangle. “Jambo.”

  Everly and several others replied, “Jambo.”

  “Jumbo,” Stella and Lara shouted in unison and then looked at each other and cracked up.

  “I’m Willow, I’ve been granted the right to instruct you. For those who are new, Jambo means welcome. I’m happy to have you here.” She turned on the radio and the sounds of wind blowing through a field of grass filled the room. Willow spoke in a soft, lulling tone, trying to relax us, but her selected sound had soft bells going off every now and then.

  “Are those supposed to be bamboo whistles?” Katy asked. I shrugged, having no clue.

  “Let’s begin, Kumbhakasana,” she called out, and I stared around the room as did most of the rest of my group except for Everly, Sophie, and, to my utter surprise, Lara, who were already moving into whatever position that was. “Remember to inhale as you come into a high plank position.”

  I followed the others. “Why don’t they just call this push-up position?” I asked no one in particular and several people shhhh-ed me.

  “What’s with the bells? I feel like Quasimodo,” Lara moaned. “Hell, I think that I’d prefer John Mayer over this, and I chose a cat in heat over John Mayer on my latest BuzzFeed quiz.”

  “Shhh,” Willow hushed the entire room, but I knew that she was speaking to us, the non-model students.

  The rest of our class kept going while the eight of us pretended to follow along. “Very good, let’s move into Ardha Chandrasana, remember to keep your eyes on your hand on the floor then slowly lift your gaze when you feel your chakras are aligned,” Willow instructed.

  “Another pose?” Stella asked. “I’m already sweating like a whore in church. Can we get some AC in here? And what the fuck is a chakra, I’m a nurse and I’m pretty sure there has to be a medicine to cure it. Can I spread it to Tristan?”

  “Quiet back there, please,” Willow said softly.

  “It’s like a half-moon,” Everly whispered. I watched her but saw nothing half-moon about it.

  Katy and Leo were cracking up and fighting to hide it. “Umm, there’s nothing half-moon about this. It’s more like the Planter’s factory is having open house,” Katy said before collapsing on her mat, laughing too hard to stay upright. “We have our very own pppeanuttt man.” Katy bubbled with laughter.

  “Holy shit,” Leo gasped as she tried to stay in this weird triangle position, kicking one leg up.

  “What’s so funny?” Stella hissed.

  “Come see for yourself.” Katy gave a head tilt, and like a bunch of rodeo clowns, hopping one over the other, Stella moved into Leo’s spot, Leo moved into Katy’s, and Katy moved one down into Everly’s, who ended up in Stella’s place.

  Stella stared at the man in front of her and grimaced. “Great hairy balls of China, dude!”

  Aaron

  “Where are we going?” Ireland asked, as I fixed my tie.

  “We have to go talk to a judge, but don’t worry because Miss Karen will be with us.”

  She nodded while mumbling, “Don’t leave me, please.”

  Kneeling, I wrapped her in my arms and pulled her into a hug. “I will never leave you. I’ll be right next to you the entire time. We’re meeting with a judge named Martin Cree, do you know him?”

  “I think so. I think he’s been to the house before.” Ireland pinched her eyes as she tried to remember back.

  The ride to the courthouse was quiet, and I held her hand as we walked around the building and then was jerked back by the tug from Ireland’s hand as she dug her feet in at the base of the courthouse.

  “You okay?” I asked.

  She studied her shoes. “This is where my dad worked. Do I have to go?”

  “I’m sorry, yes. The judge may want to talk with you.”

  “Why? I don’t want to talk to him.” Ireland’s face was a mixture of confusion and frustration. “I want to be left alone.”

  Bending to her height, I placed a hand on each shoulder. “I know you do. You are so brave. We’re almost done with all of this and then you and I can decide what we want to do, okay?”

  “You promise?” Her lip trembled as though she expected me to tell her anything but what she needed to hear.

  With one index finger, I gestured as if to cross my heart while I told her, “I promise.”

  Jameson was waiting for us as we got to the top of the steps. Since she was my attorney, I knew she had to be ready to play hardball, but I wasn’t sure exactly how Jameson interpreted that phrase. I held the door for the ladies to go in and then swallowed down my nerves and followed, Ireland never once letting go of my hand. I had not been in a courthouse since I was sixteen and asked for emancipation from my mother. But it still had the same vibe that felt as if someone was watching you.

  After going through the metal detectors, we took the elevators up to the next floor, and Jameson talked the entire way.

  “Okay, like I explained before, the judge is going to talk with Karen first and then he will speak with you Aaron. He will want you alone so that he may ask you candid questions.” The elevator opened and we headed left down the hall. “Ireland can stay outside with Karen and me. Finally, he’ll ask Ireland if she would like to speak to him alone or if she would like you or Karen in chambers with her.”

  “I want Aaron with me,” Ireland interrupted.

  “That’s fine, honey, you don’t have to speak to him alone, it is up to you. Then lastly, we will all be in there together for his final ruling on the case. Then that’s it.”

  “Miss Lane, the judge is ready,” an older woman said as we came to a stop outside his chambers. She held open the door for us, and we all took a deep breath before moving forward.

  Judge Cree was younger than I had expected. At most, he w
as in his late thirties, and he was in shape. He wasn’t wearing a black robe, just normal clothes.

  “Mr. Martin,” Ireland called out and ran to him.

  “Hey, sunshine, I’m so sorry. How are you doing? Your wrist looks like it hurts.”

  “It does, but there’s nothing I can do about it.”

  “Nope, I guess there isn’t. Let’s all sit so we can get this started.” Judge Cree continued to hold Ireland in his lap as he spoke. “This case is personal to me as you can tell. Not only because I care about this little girl but also because I’m the one who drew up all the documents for Ryan and Shannon. They were very clear about what they wanted and explained all the reasons to me. I received all of the documents from Mrs. Koehler at the DCF—”

  Karen raised her hand slightly. “That’s me.”

  The judge continued, “Very good. Ireland?”

  “Yes?”

  “Look at me.” Ireland turned so her back was to us. “You can whisper in my ear, I can ask everyone to leave the room, or you can just say it, whatever, it is up to you. Your mom and dad wanted Aaron to take care of you if anything ever happened to them, you know that, right?”

  Ireland nodded. “Yeah, ’cause he’s my biological father.”

  “That’s right. Is there any reason why you don’t want to live with Aaron?”

  “No. I want to live with him.”

  Hearing her say that lifted something in me that I hadn’t known had grown so heavy. I had been so scared that she would say no.

  “Very well, sunshine. And, Mr. Skkye, I’m to take it that you have the financial means to care for a second person considering her future such as college, wedding, and other things the girls deem necessary?”

  “Yes, I believe that I can afford those.” I gave him a grin.

  “Then I declare that you, Aaron Edward Skkye, to henceforth be the legal guardian of Ireland Kelly Lacy. Miss Lane, do you have the documents for us to all sign?”

  “I do.” Jameson slapped them onto the desk. She was as excited as I was.

  While still dressed up, we headed to Oak Lawn Cemetery. Heidi had arranged a small graveside burial so Ireland could say goodbye to her parents, who had done an amazing job raising her when I couldn’t be there for her.

  We walked into the office at Oak Lawn and then were directed to the plots and small covered area surrounded by flowers.

  I took a moment to examine some of the cards, noting that Heidi had gone above and beyond. There were flowers from Gage and LeeAnn, and there were still more cards and flowers from some of the other guys on my team. I had asked Gage not to tell anyone, so I was guessing it was Coach who told them that someone I had been close to had passed away. Carmen sent flowers from herself, the team, the team mascot lightning bug, the coaches, and the staff, and one of the five arrangements was addressed to Ireland.

  “Who are all these flowers for?” Ireland touched the tips of several buds.

  “You, they are from people who want you to know that they are thinking of you and are sorry that you had to go through all of this.”

  “That’s nice of them.” She plucked a card and read, “From Gage and Ciara. Who is that?”

  “Gage is my best friend, and Ciara is his daughter, she’s a baby.”

  “He knows about me?” Ireland’s eyes were wide with disbelief.

  “Of course, I told you, I always thought about you,” I whispered as a man in a suit holding a Bible walked in, followed by three women carrying instruments: two had violins and one had the larger version, a cello, I think it was called.

  “Why are they here?” Ireland asked.

  “This is a funeral, this is your time to say goodbye to your mom and dad.”

  “But I don’t want to say goodbye. I want to see them.”

  “They’re right there,” I pointed to the two caskets.

  “Are they inside?” Ireland squeezed my hand tight but kept her focus on the two caskets.

  “Yes.”

  “Can I see them?”

  “No sweetie, their souls are already in heaven, so they won’t look like your parents.” In actuality, it was a closed casket because of the damage their bodies took during the accident. “The good thing about their souls being in heaven is that they can be wherever you are. When you need them, you just have to talk to them.”

  “I don’t believe that. They’re dead, they’re never coming back to me.” Ireland’s voice hitched up a few octaves. “They left me, why didn’t I go with them?”

  I pulled Ireland over to me, wrapped her in a tight hug. “Shhh, it wasn’t your time to go. God knew that you had more things to do. You have to grow up still.”

  “But I have no one, it isn’t fair. I belong to no one.”

  “Hey.” I tilted her face back, so her eyes were locked with mine. “You have me. I belong to you, and you belong to me. We’re a package deal now. Consider us a Happy Meal.”

  “I’m not very happy.” Ireland wiped her cheeks.

  “Of course you aren’t. But one day, when you don’t expect it, you will find yourself smiling and laughing and then you’ll know we are a Happy Meal.”

  “But we’re only hamburger and fries. We need a drink to be the whole deal.” Ireland’s simple proclamation hit me like a ton of bricks in a heart-clenching, belly-rumbling way.

  Vivian, my little drinker, she was the drink to our complete package. I needed to call her, no, I wanted to call her, hear her soothing voice. Shaking the thought from my head and promising myself to reevaluate my feelings later, I turned my focus back to Ireland, who needed me.

  The minister stopped talking, since obviously we weren’t listening and were drowning out his speech, but the strings players kept the music flowing.

  “Is there anything you would like to say?” the minister asked Ireland.

  “Say about what?”

  “To your parents?” he clarified.

  “My parents aren’t in there. They’re up in heaven.”

  “Very well then.” He closed his Bible and moved to the back chair.

  “Will I be able to go up and see them, like up here to Evansville, since you live in Orlando?”

  “Absolutely, we can schedule a trip to come up, we can stay in your house, and you can visit your parents.”

  Ireland nodded and then straightened herself and walked over to where both caskets were resting on top of brass mechanism bars. “Mom, Dad, I love you. Stay with me, will you come with me to Aaron’s house?” She looked over her shoulder toward me. “Do my parents know that I’m going with you?”

  “Yeah, they know. Remember, it’s what they wanted,” I reminded her.

  “Oh yeah, how did you know that’s what they wanted, did my dad tell you?”

  “Your dad left me a letter asking me to take care of you if anything ever happened to them.”

  “Aww, okay.” Her head bobbed as she took that in. “So, I’m going with Aaron, you know him, Dad we used to watch him play . . .” I stared at Ireland as her mouth continued to move, but her words fell so soft that I couldn’t make them out. So, I just waited. From what I had read online, patience was going to be the key with her. Sources said that her mood was going to run the entire gamut and sometimes that will be within just the first few hours of waking up.

  “Okay, I’m done,” Ireland announced, pulling me from my thoughts. “They are going to check in with me in Florida, but they are happy.”

  A shiver went down my spine. “How do you know this?”

  “They told me.” She was so firm in her answer.

  “You saw them?”

  “Sort of.” Ireland leaned down. “See those two butterflies on the end of Mom’s casket? That’s them. Mom always told me to look for butterflies.”

  Who was I to deny what she said as truth? “Let’s go back to your house and pack up whatever we can fit into my car for you to take with us.” Ireland wrapped her hand in mine. “If you want all new stuff then we can just buy you new things.”

  V
ivian

  “Vivian, what happened with you and Skkye?” one of the firemen asked. He was a frequent patron at Sixes and had been here the night Aaron came in to see me.

  Ever since that night, the Lightning games were often on the television, and tonight was one of those nights.

  “Nothing happened, we’re still friends.”

  “I thought you two were more than friends.”

  “Nope, just friends.”

  “Why wasn’t he playing tonight? Ever since he ran out of Thursday’s game, he hasn’t played, not once.”

  “He had a family emergency.”

  “What the fuck?” Stella grabbed the television remote from the counter and turned up the volume.

  Aaron’s face was front and center, along with a sweet-looking woman and a child who looked totally like Aaron.

  “Celtics beat the Lightning seventy-four to sixty-five in tonight’s game without their star shooting guard Aaron Skkye, who hasn’t been seen since last Thursday’s game. No one has heard word from Skkye’s representative or the team’s spokespeople as to why he left the game or when he is expected to return. But we may have uncovered something, a sister station in Evansville, Indiana captured this image while covering another story at the Vanderburgh county courthouse. Mr. Skkye was spotted leaving the courthouse with Karen Koehler, a case worker with the county’s department of Children and Family Services, and a young child. Keep watching as we continue to follow the mystery of what our golden boy is up to. I’m Haley Loles with Channel Two News.”

  “What the hell is this, did you know anything about this?” Stella shouted.

  “Nope. He told me it was a family emergency, and we’re leaving it at that until he tells me otherwise.” I hollered back.

  “What the fuck is going on?”

  “Don’t know, don’t care.”

  “Have you spoken to him since he ran out of the game?” Stella’s voice softened as she neared me.

  “Yep.”

  “How many times? When?”

  “That’s two questions.” Stella gave me her evil, don’t-fuck-with-me-bitch stare. “I talked with him Friday.”