by S. A. Mecham
“Gabe don’t go out that door!” Ava yells. I see her run from the hallway towards us. She stops dead in her tracks with her eyes glued to me. “Huh…” she gulps before looking down at the little boy at my feet. I look down at this cute little dude who has backed up to study me. He looks about four years old. He has raven hair, brown eyes, and cute button nose just like his mom. I see the resemblance immediately.
“Hello, there little dude, what’s your name?” I kneel down bringing myself face to face with him. He looks me up and down before noticing my tats.
“Wow…what are those?” He asks while pointing. I grin up at Ava who has now joined us at the doorway.
“Honey, don’t point it’s rude. Can you say hello to mommy’s friend, Luck.” Ava says with those gorgeous eyes on me. Damn, she has a kid. That’s why she was tripping. Shit is she married. He backs up hiding behind Ava’s legs. “Come on Gabe say hello, you are not shy.” She continues while leading him back around to the front of her legs.
“Hi! I’m Gabe.” He answers with his hands over his mouth before giggling. “Your name is Luck?” He adds obviously amused by my nickname.
“No, not really. My real name is Luke Conway but my friends call me Luck.” I answer before winking at Ava. She smiles a bit.
“I like it. I want a different name too. Mine sounds like a girl’s name.” He stresses with his eyes on his shoes, a pair of mini size version Converse. I just melt right there as I realize we are wearing the same style of shoes.
Instinctively I stand lifting him up into my arms before saying, “What would you like to be called, little dude?” I ask. I notice Ava’s face as she looks like she’s seen a ghost. Gabe grins at me.
“I want to be called…” he starts to say before scrunching up his face like he is thinking super hard. I chuckle as I notice Ava beaming a smile that I’ve never seen from her until now. Damn if I was driving down the street and I saw this smile she’s giving me, I’d crash for sure, it’s that pause-worthy. “Dragon…you can call me Dragon. I like Dragon,” he finishes while bouncing in my arms almost falling if I wasn’t holding on to the little firecracker. I laugh at his excitement as I shift him over to my side while handing Ava the flowers I have barely managed to keep intact.
“You can come in, Luck.” She says while she takes the roses in her arms smiling at me from behind them.
Chapter Six
I manage to keep from falling on the floor from shock as Luck enters my place for the second time. He looks fucking amazing but nothing like last night, he’s not wearing a suit for one. He has on jeans, a sleeveless shirt which exposes his tattoos setting me off again. He has a black beanie hat on covering up his blonde hair. His black beanie only accents those light-blue eyes of his. He puts Gabe down before his attention is back on me.
“Hi, Ava…I hope it’s ok that I just come by without calling but I DIDN’T have your number for some reason,” he jokes adding a cute wink before rolling his thumb down my arm. I can’t help but grin at him while my mind goes blank. I become lost in his smile, his face, his lips, and even his shoulders. Yup, even his fucking shoulders are turning me on. Fuck, every single inch of him is perfect for me. I don’t even mind his subtle teasing. I actually kind of like it. He’s wearing the same cologne from last night too and it must be my fucking Achilles heel because every whiff of his scent almost makes me want to jump him right in front of my son. What the fuck is that about? I’m not drunk anymore either. And I swear he somehow got better looking in the daylight.
* *
Good thing for me that Gabe has kept Luck busy for the last three or more hours playing video games. I have been watching them secretly as I pretend to clean the kitchen. My phone buzzes on the counter. I answer it.
“Hey please don’t be mad at me. I’m so sorry I ditched you at the bingo table. I had this hot ass fuck guy talking me up in the hallway. Turns out he wasn’t worth my time but I did get some much-needed pampering from him. He was so sweet. You’re not saying anything. Are you mad?” Carla rambles her long-winded apology. I am not the least bit angry at her but I remain silent making her work for it. “Baby girl? Boo? Please don’t be mad at me.” She adds.
I look over at the boys on the sofa as they yell about some cool thing they just did on the video game. I walk back into my bedroom entering the master bathroom. I put the phone on speaker before placing it on the counter by the sink. I can hear Carla losing her shit on the other end.
“I’m here…I just couldn’t talk.” I finally answer her.
“Why couldn’t you talk? Gabe doesn’t understand what you’re saying, he’s only four.”
“I’m not alone.” I add pausing awaiting her shock.
“Of course you’re not alone, Gabe’s with you, right?”
“And my friend Luck is here too. I met him last night after you fucking ditched me, bitch,” I scold her one more time.
“What the fuck! No shit? My girl—you got down with someone last night? Holy shit!” She shouts. I reach turning the volume on my phone down for fear that somehow Luck might hear us talking about him.
“Shhh…he is right in the living room with Gabe. Stop yelling into the fucking phone, shit.”I order before closing the door. “Yes, I got down with Luck, not just someone,” I say before pausing regretting my last statement.
“Damn…you sound like you are falling for this guy…Luck? Are you? I mean I won’t judge you Ava its fine if you can’t keep sex and love separate. Most women can’t.”
“What the fuck are you going on about? Who the fuck is talking about love here? Damn Carla no one is falling for anyone here. We are simply kicking it. Actually, he is mostly hanging out with Gabe while I’ve been cleaning the house. He is a great babysitter—” I stop as I notice the bathroom door knob start turning. I scramble for the phone hitting the ‘end call’ button just as the door swings open.
“Hey, babe—I’m so sorry to just come back here but there’s some lady outside in the driveway honking her horn,” Luck says just as Gabe pushes pass him.
“Mommy Aunt Robin is here to take me to summer camp. She looks really mad. Can I go get my bags?” He asks. I nod and he racing out the bathroom.
My stomach sinks into my shoes. This bitch is outside honking her fucking horn like she can’t be bothered to come to the door. It dawns on me that she had called me yesterday and I had forgotten to check her stupid message. It was probably a message explaining this shit. I was supposed to take my own son to summer camp and now she’s pulling this shit. My mind floats through our past conversations which only further fuels my rage.
“Do you want me to leave? Maybe it would be better for you. I mean only if you want. Or I could go outside and fuck up her car. Scaring that bitch real good—either way, I’m down to do whatever you need me to do to make this easier for you Ava,” Luck adds before he walks over and places his hands on my shoulder like he is a coach and I’m the head quarterback and together we can do anything.
“Where did you come from?” I say while smiling at him. I squeeze his hands with mine. “I got this. Just give me a minute. But I love that you got my back.” I add before walking out the bathroom. I turn noticing that he is watching me, staring at my ass, of course.
“I will be right here when you are done then—go handle your business girl. With your sexy ass.” He adds while licking his bottom lip.
By the time I reach the front door I notice Robin's car with Gabe inside pulling away. I wasn't even able to kiss him good-bye before she took off with him. I don't understand why she is acting this way out of nowhere. Luck emerges from the hall and I try to conceal my upset state.
“Where’s—Dragon, I mean Gabe?” He presses as he joins me by the open front door. I continue to turn away from him. I can feel the waves of anger mixed with shock course through my body pushing tears to the surface. “Talk to me…you alright Ava—I got you. You can tell me—everything I mean it. Don’t be ashamed of some shit that someone else is doing. Talk—come on, p
lease.” He pushes. I close my eyes and I feel him wrapping his hands around me easing me back into my apartment while closing the door behind us. I don’t want to open my eyes as I feel the pressure of his touch cocooning me in some sort of safety-net from behind.
“Logan—my husband, sorry I mean my dead husband, sorry I mean—shit!” I try but fail to explain at least some of what I feeling to him.
“Go on its fine.” He sounds from behind me in the softest tone I’ve heard him use and I can’t help but drop my guard.
“I have spent the last twenty-six years trying my hardest to live for someone else’s happiness it seems.” I gasp out with heated wind and a power in my belly that I’d never felt before. “He has been dead for two—no—three years in a month from now and I’m still jumping through hoops for him.” I continue as his grip on me loosen I spin to face him with open eyes. “He was a police officer. Officer Logan Lowe, was his name but who he was at home—well let’s just say he was the one who give out all the orders and no one was, is, or ever will be able to question those rules. Robin his sister—“ I add before looking towards the door again, “you know the one who loves her honk?”
“Yes—the crazy bitch who just left.” He clarifies while nodding. I start to pace.
“Exactly—right, completely crazy I know. But she has more authority over my son than I do, thanks to that stupid fucking will of Logan’s. I don’t even understand how that is right at all.”
“What the fuck? Wh—wh—why in the fucking world would anybody want to fuck with you, Ava. My god, you’re like the best mom I’ve ever seen—granted I haven’t spend too much time with other mothers but still. You sure are a far better mother than mine ever was. You are amazing, actually.” He adds before joining me in a feverous pace.
“Really? You think that?” I ask while looking up into his eyes. I stop pacing and he grabs my hands in his. “Thank you for staying. And thank you for coming back, especially after the way I treated you this morning. I’m so sorry for that shit—I was…” I try to continue but I’m met with his forceful kiss on my neck, collarbone, and back to my neck.
“No need to apologize, Ava.” He says through another kiss to my neck and then my ear. “Fuck—I love the way you smell…” He leers into my ear while sniffing me. I feel his tongue glide down my neck slowly and I know that I had better change the subject quick or we’re fucking again.
“Huh…th—thank you, Luck—maybe we should take it easy though—I mean…” I start but pause after he licks his way back up my neck closing my mouth with a kiss.
We kiss wildly for a moment. Tongues twisting and colliding his hands moving around my back like his trying to push the stress out of me and it is working.
“Fu—fuck—no we can’t, okay…I want to but can we just chill?” I stammer through kisses. He pulls away revealing those dimples with a huge smile. “God—those dimples of yours shit I’m a goner.” I let slip causing him to chuckle.
“I guess we’re both goners then, brown eyes.”
* *
I feel Luck’s body shift underneath mine as I realize that we have somehow managed to fall asleep on the sofa together. The last thing I remember he was trying to show me how to bet the game he was playing with Gabe earlier. The game is paused on the TV other than that it is pitch black in the living room. I go to move to find the remote to the TV to turn it off but I feel my shoulders being snatched backward. I fight to move as I see glove covered hands grab me around my torso yanking me up off of Luck. The shuffle wakes Luck as he opens his eyes I try to reach for him but I’m lifting up into the air. I watch helplessly as two men dressed in black wearing masks covering their heads hold Luck down. He tries to move as one of the men hits him twice in the head with a small object. I start shaking as I notice blood start to stream down Luck’s face. I kick my legs wildly about hoping to hurt the man holding me enough so he’ll drop me but he doesn’t respond to my kicks. I try reaching back to grab a hold of his head or anything that I can reach but I’m met with a cloth which he covers my face with. My mind starts swimming as my vision gets blurry before I slump over passing out.
Chapter Seven
Heated blows divide me from my senses. I laugh at him as his last left hook lands right across the right side of my jaw. I spit out my own blood onto the kitchen floor.
“Come on big guy that’s the best you got?” I taunt him before he sends his bloody fist violently into my left side, cracking two of my ribs. I try to get up to look for Ava. I lose my balance flopping forward onto my face. His last shot has really fucked me up as my vision starts to blur. He has my hands tied at the wrists and I’m tied around the waist to the kitchen chair and we are both now tipped forward, my tied hands on the floor in front of me. I notice his boots, standard army issue I can tell even through blurred vision. I can hear Ava’s muffled screams coming from behind me, I think. Every time I try to move to see her, this fucking meathead starts working me over again.
“Well don’t you untie me so we can make this a fair fight, bitch!” I growl. The consistent waves of pain are all that is keeping me humble at this moment. Staying alive is my goal but getting this meathead to talk more so I can figure out who these fuckers are would be great. I feel someone behind me picking up the chair and setting me back in front of Mr. Meathead.
“You’d love if I fucking let you go, huh?” I wait for him to say more. “And who are you calling bitch?” The masked meathead fuck says to me before he pulls something off of counter. It starts making a buzzing sound and I realize immediately that he’s holding electric hair clippers. As he lifts it to my head I feel him shaving a perfect stripe down the middle of my scalp. I try to move but two hands hold me in place from behind. “Yeah. Hold this fucking white-boy in place. I want to skin his fucking head so he matches his brothers, those Nazi mother-fuckers,” he jokes before he sends the razor back through my hair several more times, removing all of my blonde hair and leaving me bald. I resist struggling as I don’t want to give this shit-fuck the satisfaction. The man behind me starts laughing as meathead moves to grab another tool off the counter.
“Leave him alone!” Ava yells. “Sto—” she stops suddenly.
“Ava? Ava baby are you hurt? Did they hurt you?” I shout before meathead smacks my face.
“Ava…Ava…,” he says, mimicking me, “shut up white-boy! You need to learn your place. Maybe I should mark your ass. That way you will remember what the fuck you are,” he snaps, before revealing the knife he has in his hand. “I should carve you. That’s it." He growls pointing the tip of the knife less than an inch from my eye. "I will crave your forehead so everyone knows who the fuck you are,” he adds.
“Stop—please don’t hurt him!” Ava manages to yell again. I leap to my feet surprising them both before ramming shit head. He and I go flying into the stove causing him to drop the knife on the ground. He scrambles to grab it but I ram the fucker again.
“Dirk! Stop man, we can get caught,” a voice that I’ve yet to hear, yells out from somewhere behind me.
Dirk…who the fuck is that? I try turning to see him just as a brick wall hits me in the face and the room goes dark.
* * * *
I feel cool breeze blowing on my face causing me to open my eyes. I see a wall of green and I try to move realizing that I’m in a car. The green wall takes shape revealing its true form, row after row of corn stalks. And now, more aware, I see we are moving, driving on a highway through corn fields. I turn my head, Ava is driving and I see she’s crying. I try to move my arm but I stop as the searing pain rolls down my forearm rendering me damn near paralyzed.
“FUCK—Ava where—” I gag before I start coughing. My whole body violently rumbles sending stringing waves of discomfort throughout my chest.
“Oh baby—don’t try to speak—just sit back and try to rest.” Her soft hand glides across my cheek bringing me much needed relief. “I can’t believe that they did this to you! Fuck—you aren't breathing, right? I was going to tak
e you to the hospital but when I went to help you into the car you handed me this,” she explains before pointing down at a small business card on the dashboard. “There’s some address handwritten on it. I have been driving for hours now to get you to this place. Where are we heading Luck, whose address is that? Is it your families place?” She places her hand back to my face.
I nod once. Most of my body has become numb while other parts like my chest are throbbing like nothing I’ve ever felt and it's all I can do to keep from yelping out in shear agony. My mind starts racing through what little memory I have of the last twenty-four hours and I can’t focus for long as my head starts to throb.
“Shit—your head is bleeding again!” Ava scrambles for something before returning her hand back to my face placing a soft, wet cloth to my forehead. She rubs the blood off while managing to keep her attention on the road and her other hand on the wheel.
I start coughing again forcing me to bend forward sending a sharp cutting pain through my left side. I groan before I feel her softly push me back upright.
“Oh Luck, be careful try to not move I think that they broke something!”
I can hear the deep concern in her tone, and her cheeks are damp from crying. I notice a small bruise on her chin. I shift closer bearing through the torture of it.
“Did they touch you? I’m fucking going to—ugh!” I slouch onto my side unable to maintain my balance enough to sit up.
“I’m just fine—lay back baby. I can take a hit but I wasn’t going to let them crave a fucking racism symbol into your forehead, scarring you for life so I got in the way is all.” She puts both hands on the wheel as she turns the car off of the highway and onto a very familiar road from my past. Ava continued, “I think I know who those men were that did this—they were all wearing ski masks but I still think that I know who they are. And if I’m right—than this is all my fault that you got beat down. I think those men are ex-cops—dirty ex-cops! My husband—my dead husband was a police officer and he pissed off some very bad people—it got him killed. And now those same men are still hanging around and I don’t know why. You have done nothing to them. This makes no sense at all,” she finishes just as she brings the car to a stop. “We’re here! You are home Luck…come on let me help you inside.”