He grabs a lock of my hair and twirls it around his finger. “Listen, Princesa, I’m sorry but your new life is here with me now. End of story.”
He walks over to the window and looks out. “Tell me about yourself.”
He wants to know me? I’m only telling him the basics. “I’m thirty-one. I was a fifth-grade teacher.”
“Married?”
Shit. I don’t want to answer his questions, but if I don’t, he’ll hurt me. “No. Never married.”
“Virgin?”
My face grows hot at the question. “No.”
I man up and reverse roles. “How about you Marco? Married? What?”
He smiles back at me then his eyes go dark. “Yeah. I was married and had two children, a twelve-year-old boy, Pablo, and a little five-year-old girl named Angela. They died from the virus.”
I can’t help but feel bad for him. Nobody deserved that, not even him. “That’s terrible. I’m sorry for your loss.”
He stares out the window for a minute before he speaks again in a gentle voice. “Now, you and I will start a new family. You’re a beautiful woman. We will make handsome children.”
Kids? What do I say to that? But damn it, it could happen. I don’t have my birth control pills with me.
“Stand for me, Shelley.”
“Can I make a request?”
He cocks his right eye up. “Depends.”
“If I’m good to you, please don’t share me with the men. I couldn’t handle that.” As much as I want to look brave, tears come to my eyes.
He rushes to my side and wipes the tears from under my eyes with his fingers. “Don’t worry. I don’t share. Ever. Now stand and take off your clothes. I want to see you.”
My hands shake, but I do as he asks. I take off my shirt and pants then stand still in my bra and panties.
He growls, “All of it, Princesa.”
I reach behind me, unfasten my bra and let it fall to the floor then shimmy out of my panties. I try to hide my private parts with my arms and hands.
“Arms at your side.”
My face hot with embarrassment, I lock my knees to keep from wobbling, but I obey and put my arms at my sides.
He steps in close and takes a deep breath. “You smell clean and sweet.” His fingers run lightly down my shoulders then down between my breasts. “You’re perfect.”
“Please be gentle with me.” I whisper.
“Princesa, get on the bed. Let Papi take care of you.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Hank
Leo and I jump and pull our guns when the patio slider inches open.
Anticipating our response, Gus sticks his hand inside and waves. “It’s just me, guys.”
We breathe a sigh of relief, snicker and put our guns down.
Gus, looking hot and sweaty, grabs a water bottle, twists the cap off and chugs half of it. “I just played hide and seek for the last half hour,” and finishes the bottle.
I ask him, “How it go?”
“No problem finding them. They were behind the donut shop in the parking lot next to McDonalds. I drove them to Mala’s and stayed long enough to calm Cindy down.”
“So, what really happened?” Leo asks.
Gus tells us what Mala and Michael said. Basically, Shelley gave herself up to save the kids and Mala.
Right now, I’m a mess over it. Half of me is proud as hell at her bravery, but the other half is royally pissed at her for risking herself. I know it’s illogical, but what the fuck, I care about the woman. I was days away from using the L word. Damn it, I want her back.
I kick the table leg. A box of ammo slides off, scattering cartridges over the floor. “This is my fucking fault. I’m the one who thought the Car Guys wouldn’t be on the streets.”
“No, we agreed on that. Don’t go crazy on us.” Leo says sternly. Then he looks over at Gus, “Hank’s going undercover. He’s gonna let them recruit him and rescue Shelley from the inside.”
Gus raises his eyebrows at me. “You sure you can do this? It ain’t gonna be pretty.”
“Yeah. I can do it. I have to.”
Leo puts his hand on Gus’s shoulder. “I told him everything, Gus. He knows about my training, schooling and my dad.”
“It’s about damn time.”
I chuckle, “I always thought there was more to Leo. Glad to finally know the truth and happy to have someone with that much experience on our team.”
I grab another glass and pour us each a shot. “To getting Shelley back.”
We chug our shots and Gus says, “You can do this Hank, I know you can.”
“Let’s go pack and put our packs in Levi’s caddie since the van is wherever you left it.” I point at Gus. “We’ve already loaded the extra guns, food and supplies. We even packed the solar generators and fridges.”
Gus looks confused. “Are we moving to Mala’s?
“Yeah. Until we get Shelley back. We can’t stay here. The Car Guys probably got Shelley’s address from her bag and they’ll come here for sure.” Leo stands. “Let’s get going.” He looks back at me. “Pack for Shelley, too. She’s gonna want her stuff when you get her out of there.”
I give him a salute. “Yeah, she will.”
Walking through the house I think about all the things I should pack. What would Shelley want? There’s a good chance we’re never coming back here.
Opening the kitchen drawer, I take out a pencil and notepad and laugh at myself. Some of Shelley’s LMO habits must have rubbed off on me. I make a list.
I start easy, the kids room. I take plastic garbage bags and fill them with the last of their clothes and shoes then grab the bucket of Legos; Can’t forget those.
My belongings are next. I stuff everything in my pack. Takes only five short minutes.
Now Shelley. I open her closet. “Jesus, there’s no way I’m taking all this stuff.” There’s at least thirty pairs of shoes in here. “Women and their damn shoes.” Instead, I pack things I’ve seen her wear; jeans, t-shirts, sweatshirts, pajamas and a few pairs of tennis shoes. “Don’t forget underwear.” I open her top drawer and pull out bras and panties.
My hand touches something square in the bottom of the drawer. “What’s this?” I take a cardboard box out and open it. It contains ten unopened disks of birth control pills. My legs threaten to give out forcing me to sit on the bed. “Fuck!” I run my fingers across my chin. “Jesus, what if that asshole gets her pregnant?”
Engrossed in thought, I don’t hear the knock on the bedroom door. Leo sticks his head inside. “You almost done?” He takes one look at my face and asks, “What’s wrong?”
I hold up the box. “Birth control.”
Leo takes the offending item out of my hand. “She needs to take one daily. This isn’t good.”
“I know. I can live with Shelley screwing this guy to save her life but get pregnant by him? Damn!”
“Pregnancy is a crap shoot. You know as well as I do it doesn’t happen every time. Besides, I read somewhere it takes a few weeks for a woman’s body to regulate when she stops taking the pill. There’s a good chance she wouldn’t get knocked up.” Leo says as he sticks the pills in Shelley’s bag.
“God, I hope you’re right, Leo.”
“But what if she did end up pregnant?” Leo asks and steps to the window and looks out at the garden.
Could I love the baby? It would still be half Shelley and it wouldn’t be the baby’s fault who it’s father was. The baby would be an innocent. Hell, I love Cindy and Michael and they aren’t my blood. “Leo, it’s complicated. I wanted to be the one to give Shelley a baby, not some asshole.” I hesitate and blow out a breath before continuing, “But I’d want us to keep the baby. We’d love it just like we love Cindy and Michael.”
“Good answer, and you know, you can still give her a baby, just later.” Leo looks around the room and adds, “You about done in here?”
“I need a few more minutes. Can you grab her laptop and favorite books
for me? I’ll be right out.”
We load everything in the Caddie and lock up the houses. Then I remember, Shelley’s cats and step away from the car. “Wait, we need to do something about the cats. I better put down enough food and water for a few days. And clean the damn cat boxes. I hate cats.”
Gus calls out, “Leave the backdoor open. They can fend for themselves if we don’t make it back.”
I make an executive decision and pour six boxes of cat litter into the guest bathroom’s tub making it into a super large cat box. In the kitchen, I open the remaining bags of cat food and fill the farm sink full of water. On the way out, I leave the backdoor open like Gus suggested.
Gus opens the car door for me when I arrive. “Ready?”
I take one last look around. “Yeah, let’ go,” and get in the passenger seat. Leo squeezes in the back. They’re dropping me close to one the main streets we know the Car Guys patrol then picking up the van.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Shelley
“Did I hurt you? Marco whispers as he kisses my bare shoulder.
“No.” He didn’t hurt me and even stranger than that, he made sure I enjoyed it. It didn’t feel like I thought it would. I feel super guilty. I shouldn’t have enjoyed it.
“What are you thinking, Princesa?”
I turn and face him. “Why are you being nice to me? I expected you to rape me, but you didn’t. You made love to me instead. Downstairs with your men, you treated me like a possession you paid for. But since we’ve been in your room, you’ve been kind. I don’t get it.”
He laughs against my skin. “My men expect me to be rough and crude. It shows strength and keeps them in line. When I’m alone with my woman, I let the lover in me come out.” He kisses down my spine. “So, understand, I will treat you differently in front of my men.”
“I don’t like the crude talk.”
“Sorry, Princesa, but you’ll have to get used to it. Can I ask you something?”
“Go ahead.” My guard goes up.
“My guys killed a yard full of dogs, were they yours?”
The truth will work best here. “Yeah. I found them when I was removing dead bodies from my neighborhood. I couldn’t bear letting them starve to death. I put them together in one yard and took care of them.”
He nuzzles my neck. “You are such a sweet girl.”
I flip over and look him in the eye as pictures of dead bloody dogs flood my mind. “Why did they shoot them? They were nice, family pets.”
“Because my men are assholes sometimes.”
“It broke my heart.”
“Oh, Princesa, I’m very sorry.” He pulls my head down to his chest, holds it against his heart and pets my hair. “You’re a kind-hearted person. A school teacher who saves pets. You will make a good mother.”
Yeah someday, but hopefully you won’t be the father, I tell myself.
We lay in silence for a few minutes. I’m almost asleep when he asks, “Princesa, who are Hank, Leo and Gus?”
Boy, is he sneaky. He waits till I’m almost asleep to ask the hard questions. My guard goes back up. “How do you know about them?”
“I heard them on your walkie talkies. Who are they?”
My lie better contain a lot of truth or he’ll see right through it. “I met Hank first. We were both scavenging at the same supermarket. We decided to work together. A few days later, we met Leo and Gus at a camping store. Leo and Gus were friends before the virus and both miraculously survived. They came to stay with us, too.”
“Where are they now?”
I give off a deep mournful sigh before answering. “Gone. They left yesterday to go check on their families. Hank went to Michigan. Leo went to New Mexico and Gus goes wherever Leo goes.”
“They left you alone?” He growls and pulls me tighter against him.
“Yeah. They asked me to go with them, but I refused. I didn’t want to leave my house, or my garden.” Now here comes the actress part. I cry real tears. “I wish they didn’t leave, but I couldn’t stop them.”
He pulls my hair forcing my head back so I’m looking him in the face. “They were assholes to leave you alone. They are not real men. Besides, I’m pretty sure they’re the ones that killed my brother. It’s better they are gone, saves me some bullets.”
Oh, thank God, he bought it. And he still doesn’t know about the kids or Mala. I need to keep him off the subject. “Can I go home and water my garden, please? I worked hard on it.”
“No, Princesa. No need for you to work like that, my men will provide us with everything. Do you need anything special?”
“Yes, Marco. I need …”
He interrupts me and puts his fingers against my lips. “Please call me Papi.”
“Papi? Why?”
“Cause, it will make me happy.” He adds with a nibble to my neck, “And because I told you to.”
Lucinda at work calls her husband Papi. I guess he’s calling me Princesa and I’m calling him Papi. It would be adorable if this was a real relationship. “Okay. Papi, it is.”
“Now what do you need to make you happy here.”
“Clothes, shoes, cosmetics, female products and books.”
He bites my earlobe and runs his hand down my breast. “I’ll get it all for you.”
He shifts onto his back and pulls me toward him. “Put your mouth on me, Princesa.”
“Yes, Papi.” He pushes me down his body until I’m where he wants me.
The second he feels my mouth, he moans and whispers, “Good girl.”
Chapter Thirty
Hank
I hear the roar and rumbles of their engines coming up the street behind me.
“Thank God, It’s about damn time.” It’s the morning of my third day marching up and down the street waiting to be captured. I’m happy it’s finally game time.
A souped-up white Camaro with red racing stripes pulls to the curb directly in front of me. A slim guy with a head of messy red hair is in the passenger seat. He waves and in a southern accent says, “Hey, another survivor. Good to see you, man.” He has an M-16 rifle, but I can tell by the way he’s holding it, he’s not trained.
I slip my heavy pack off and lay it at my feet. “You’re the first people I’ve seen. I thought I was all alone.”
“Hey, we thought the same thing for a while. Where you off to?” Mr. Southern accent asks.
“My car broke down.” I point down the street in the direction they just came. “I’m walking to the dealership I saw a few blocks back. Gonna get me a new car.” I add a laugh for good measure.
The driver gets out and steps to the front of the car. He’s tall, has a heavy gut and wears his pants down under it. “New car, huh. I got this one off the showroom floor at a racing dealership.” He runs his hand over the hood and smiles. His teeth are yellow and crooked. “She’s a beauty. Fast, too.” He walks over and extends his hand. “My name’s Thomas.”
“I’m Ben. Ben Rivers.” I shake his hand and allow him to impress me with his hand strength. Let him think he’s the alpha dog.
He points at the red headed guy. “That’s Eddie.”
“Nice to meet you guys.”
Eddie gets out of the car, rifle in hand. “Listen, we’re part of a group of guys. Why don’t you come stay with us?”
I don’t want to accept too quick, it would look suspicious. “No, thanks for the invite, but I like being on my own.”
Thomas starts to crowd me. “Sorry, Ben, but saying no is not an option. We need more men and you have just been recruited.”
“Listen, I don’t want any trouble.” I take a step backward and put an annoyed look on my face.
When I go to pick up my pack, Eddie pushes the barrel of his rifle against my chest. “Our Boss says we either recruit you or shoot you. You seem like a smart guy, you don’t want to die today, do you?”
“Really, you’d shoot me just for not wanting to join your little group?” I push my chest against the barrel of the gun.
Thomas smacks me on the back of my head, Gibbs style. “Marco, our boss, has some great ideas and we need more men to pull them off. The truth is, if you’re not one of us, you’re the enemy. We kill our enemies.”
I put my hands up in surrender. “Okay, I’ll come. Just put the rifle down.”
Thomas opens the car door, takes my backpack and throws it in the backseat. “Get in.”
I do.
We drive for about three blocks before anyone talks. Eddie breaks the ice. “It’s better to be with a group anyway, Ben.”
All I do is grunt.
The idiots didn’t frisk me, at least not yet. I slip my hand in my pocket and key my walkie talkie three times fast and then twice slow. That’s our code for this part of our plan. I hold the button down, never letting go. I want Leo and the others to hear everything being said. This was Leo’s idea. He’s going to have their walkie talkies manned twenty-four/ seven. I really hope we’re in range and they’re hearing this. I start my info gathering. “So, Eddie, how many people are in your group?”
“There used to be more, but some guys got killed or disappeared. Right now, there’s ten, including you.”
“Only ten? Does the boss count in that number?”
“Yes.”
“Do you live close by?”
Eddie turns in his seat and looks at me. “We live in Encino. On Karen Drive. Up above Ventura Blvd.”
He never even looks at my hands; another sign they aren’t trained.
Thomas makes a turn onto Lindley Avenue. “Is it off this street? Off Lindley?”
“Yeah, up by the country club.”
“Wow, sounds like a ritzy neighborhood?”
“Sure is.” Thomas answers. I can see him smirking in the rear-view mirror. “Marco picked out the best mansion in the area.”
Eddie laughs, “We only had to clean out three dead guys and a dead maid.”
“You were lucky. There’s lots of bodies out there.” I quip back.
Bingo! Leo and Gus now know where we are and how many men they have. Perfect. I take my finger off the walkie talkie button. Still in my pocket, I pull the battery out of the unit. Slipping the walkie talkie out, I tuck it deep between the car cushions. I don’t want to risk being caught with it, besides, I have another one, in parts, hidden in my pack. Leo took it apart and showed me how to reassemble it.
Starting Over (Starting Over 1 Page 17