by Xander Hades
Rock
You got some small kids here now, bro. They need you and they need to eat. I can fend for myself, you don’t need to worry about me. take care.
Hector.
“Damn it, where the hell is he going? Back on the street? The gangs will pull him back in in a heartbeat.” Rocky set down the coffee he’d been drinking. Diaz was constantly on him about his coffee habit, and no, it wasn’t the best thing for a fighter in training to use, but Rocky pointed out that it was the one remaining vice he’d held on to, leaving them at something of an impasse.
Murray was right about Diaz, he wasn’t a professional trainer, and maybe Rocky should have a better one. But Diaz knew Rocky better than anyone, and no one else was ever able to make Rocky listen to them. So Diaz stayed.
He still wasn’t giving up his coffee.
And then Val comes along and turns my world upside down. I’ll listen to anything she has to say.
No. Tasha. She’d confided that to him last night. Her name was “Tasha.” But it was a name she hated, it came with its own baggage and when the Gilas dropped the name “Valkyrie” on her, she took it as her own and has been “Val” ever since.
He’d been honored that she’d trusted him with that. Especially after last night.
She’d been so close to walking out on him. Last night they renewed their vows of attraction and support. Even love. She’d come back to his rooms after her nap and brought her things with her. They’d shared a bath, a flirtatious evening and drank beer while they talked for hours about almost nothing at all.
He smiled absently, listening with only half an ear while Maria went on about some bill they owed, and went over the latest inventory figures. Eventually she seemed to realize that Rocky wasn’t really paying attention and slammed out of his office, the door rattling in its frame in her wake.
Not that he could blame her.
The thing is, he’d BEEN immersed in all those problems for days. But last night…he’d been given a gift. Something to cherish that took him outside these stained and rotting walls, outside of collections agencies and long-winded reports. He’d had Val in every sense of the word.
Even now, remembering their time together left him feeling that urgent need all over again. Last night, having her wet and pressed so close against him had had an amazing effect and he’d spent as much time running his hands over her soapy form in the bath as he had, whispering small words to her.
They’d made love. There was no room in the tub, Rocky took too much space, but they ran soapy and wet to the bed and he laid her down and crawled between her legs, kissing her from thigh to nape, paying close attention to those areas that made her squeal in delight, the rising breasts and to the hot corner of her neck that always made her bite down and arch. He was able to keep kissing and nibbling her neck, biting her ear as he entered her, and she groaned and wrapped her legs around him, pulling him deeper inside of her.
They locked to each other, feeling the need after the separation, after the fight, the tenderness of reclaiming each other. When he thrust inside of her and felt the release, she quickly followed, her orgasm pulling his, draining him into her.
They walked back to the tub and resumed the bath in the afterglow of their joining, where they soaked and reveled in each other’s flesh and breath until the water ran cold.
The next time, they took the time to dry off and went back to the bed. She stripped it of the wet blankets and sheets and they fell onto the bare mattress, side by side and she threw a leg over his hip and they lay together, face to face, eye to eye and kissed as they both ground their hips together.
They’d slept that way, tangled in each other’s arms and legs, ensconced in the night and the movement of their breath and the beating of their hearts.
Then to top it off, Rocky woke that next morning with the most beautiful girl in the world, naked in his arms and sleeping as though she hadn’t a care in the world. His heart skipped at least one beat, maybe two, and he leaned to kiss her cheek before heading downstairs to start his day.
And it had been a good day. The sun was out, the room was warm, a particularly good thing as the blankets were still a wet mess and piled at the end of the bed. He’d dressed quietly, not wanting to wake her, but he did enjoy watching her sleep. She was aptly named a warrior goddess, though she didn’t look at all Viking in her features, sharing his darker, Hispanic coloring.
He did manage to find another blanket and covered her before taking the wet laundry out to be washed. All he needed was a good cup of coffee and…
And that damned note from Hector.
“It always hurts when you lose one,” he whispered and wadded up the note in his hand.
“Hector is worried about the money,” Maria had confided before she’d left. “Most of the kids are. Hell, so are most of the adults.”
“I’m worried about the money,” Rocky murmured, pressing his fingertips over eyes that suddenly hurt from too much light. “I don’t know what to do.”
“You’re running a shelter, right?” Val asked from the door. “Can’t you get state funds or federal help?”
Rocky’s head came up sharply. He hadn’t even heard her come in. “Good morning.” Rocky walked over to her, wrapping her in his arms.
“Good lord,” Maria said from the hall. “I swear, Rocky, you squeeze too hard, you’re going to shoot that poor girl through the ceiling. I supposed this is what we’ll have to put up with, hugs and kisses and lovey-dovey all day?” Maria was beaming when she said it though, and Rocky chuckled.
“You damn right!” he shouted back, finding in that moment the calm that had been with him all night. That he felt whenever Val was near.
“Rock,” Maria said, coming over for a proper introduction. “Let the poor girl breathe, I can’t even see her behind that slab of meat you call an arm!”
“I said ‘nice to meet you’,” Val laughed.
“It is a great pleasure to meet you, too, since my baby brother is too thick to introduce us, I’ll do it for him. My name is Maria, I’m Rock’s older sister.”
Val shook the proffered hand. She turned to Rocky and addressed them both. “I am right, though, aren’t I? I mean you could get government aid?”
“We could…” Rocky said, hesitating, “but it isn’t free. California has some laws about… well, we would be considered a half-way house. We would have to put in a lot of money in this place, hire professional counselors, the whole thing.”
“How can they make you spend money if you don’t have it? You need their money to operate, right?”
“It’s not just that,” Maria said. “We are doing a lot of those improvements. We’re just doing it as we can, a little at a time. Sometimes just one room at a time.”
“It would be about eight grand to do everything on the current ‘To Do’ list, and that’s only a drop in the bucket for what this place needs,” Rocky interjected. “Do you know how many kids we can help for eight grand? That’s enough to house and feed six kids for half a year.”
“And the state requires someone with a master’s degree in child psychology to run the place. They would shut us down tomorrow if we declared ourselves a half-way house or any kind of aid,” Maria added with a sigh.
“That’s why you were going for your degree?” Val turned back to Rocky.
“I grew up on these streets,” Rocky said, “I ran with the gangs, learned to fight in a gang. It’s tough getting out. It’s not a life that’s good for anyone. I’m trying to help these kids see that.”
“Is that where you got your name, ‘Rocky’?”
Maria laughed. “Oh, Lord no. I gave him that name, ‘cause he was thick as a brick.” She smiled and her eyes sparkled with the memory. “I always figured the boy to have a head full of rocks.”
Rocky retrieved his coffee cup and reluctantly let Val free of his arm. Her hand trailed after his and she followed him, never breaking contact.
“Do you want some coffee, sweetie?” Maria aske
d.
“You’re getting someone coffee?” Rocky feigned shock.
“Oh hush, you!” Maria scolded, “Today, she’s still a guest…” She turned to Val and waggled a finger at her. “…Tomorrow, you’re on your own, though!” Maria’s severe expression blossomed into the smile again. “Damn, but you are a cute little thing! I’ll be right back.”
When Maria stormed out of the room like a happy rhino, Rocky turned to Val. “You have a fan, I think.”
“I think she just dotes on her baby brother.”
“Well, she likes someone that makes me happy.”
“Do I make you happy?” Val teased, sashaying over to where he was standing.
He held the empty cup in his left and used his right hand to grab her butt cheek and pull her closer.
“I guess so.” She smiled and pressed against him.
“No need to guess,” he said and shifted his stance a little to prove it.
“Oh!” Val chuckled, eyes wide. “Nope, I see you brought your proof of happiness.”
Rocky looked at her for a long moment. “I hope she’s bringing the whole pot, I need a refill.”
“You have strange priorities,” Val said, looking up at him.
“Well, it is coffee, I mean… HEY!”
“Just checking the happiness level,” Val said innocently.
Rocky squeezed.
“HEY!” Maria called from the door. “Get a damn room! It’s a motel, there’s gotta be fifty rooms in here, are you telling me that you can’t find another place for that except in my office? Don’t you look that way at me, baby brother, this is my office as much as it is yours. You know it, I know it. The kids know it, and now this sweet girl is gonna know it.”
She handed a coffee cup to Val without missing a beat. “I forgot to ask how you took it, so I brought everything, cream, sugar and the pot.” Maria smiled brightly.
Rocky reached for the pot and Maria slapped his hand hard enough to really sting. “You had your first cup, you let your lady have hers.”
Rocky turned to Val. “If you love me, get some coffee. Fast.”
Val shook her head, eyes brimming with laughter. “Get your own coffee.” And she stuck her tongue out at him.
“I like her!” Maria said to Rocky, her grin beyond pleased. “I really like her!”
Chapter 12
The next morning the news was much the same as it had been almost daily since Val had arrived.
“Another three took off last night,” Maria said as they came into the office. Val looked up at Rocky, every time one of the kids left, it was a visible burden, as though someone had dropped another stone onto his back. As big and strong as Rocky was, there was only so much a person could take before he broke.
“I’ve never seen this place so empty,” Rocky said quietly. It was only a week since she’d gotten there, her trial stay with Rocky already half over. But the money had dried up. Val had finally started putting in applications, one after another, but had yet to get an interview, and still wasn’t altogether sure that staying was the best thing to do. Right now she was feeling more and more like just one more burden, an extra mouth to feed. And much as she loved Rocky, she needed to be…useful. To be doing something worthwhile.
Even some of the older kids seemed to feel the same way. They were trying to help, though young Diego had a very timely lesson on the topic of stolen money is not helpful. The store agreed to not press charges when the boy was brought in to apologize and returned the money. Rocky wound up giving the store an extra $1.50 for the candy bar that had found its way into Diego’s pocket after the hold-up.
“His heart was in the right place,” Maria had defended the boy.
“Yeah, but his head was up his ass!” Rocky shot back. In the end, they decided that the motel needed a good and thorough cleaning, and for a few days, Diego was kept busy with a bucket and a scrub brush.
The funny thing was, after the first day, to everyone’s surprise – mostly Diego’s – the boy discovered he liked the accomplishment of cleaning and he became a small but powerful force for cleanliness.
“Well,” Rocky said finally, “I have a job tomorrow, so the money will start to come in again.”
“It’s minimum wage,” Maria sighed. “But Lord bless you for trying, Rocky.”
“You heard anything yet?” Rocky asked Val. He was frowning. He hated to ask, she realized. There had been a small argument about her putting in those applications at all. He’d wanted to be the one to take care of her, not the other way around. And while she loved him for his sometimes very old-fashioned values, it had driven her crazy all the same, and she’d had to put her foot down, very hard, regarding the matter.
“I have another interview today at 4,” Val said with a shrug. “It’s not a great place, but it’s clean and the tips should be pretty good, I would guess from the menu.”
“Well, then,” Maria said, tossing the towel she used for drying dishes to one side. “We’re golden! It’ll work itself out….” There came a commotion from outside. The three of them looked at each other, Maria being the one to move first. “Now what in the world…”
The children were raising a fuss, gathering around a car in the parking lot. Rocky trailed Maria outside, Val close behind. The car was a black Mercedes with smoked-out windows, an expensive vehicle for this area, and the children knew it.
“Effective security alarms!” said a man who was crawling out of the car. “More effective than a pack of dogs letting you know you have company.”
“But not much less likely to eat you for it,” Rocky said flatly. The stranger shot him a nervous glance and Val wondered at it. What sort of history did you have to have in order to take a particularly bad joke like that and even wonder if it was true?
As accustomed as she was to alpha males, it always amazed her that they seemed to know when another one was in his turf. Rocky was posturing, he had that chest out, arms half-flexed look he got when facing down someone perceived as a threat.
“Well, they needn’t bother with me,” the man said, smoothing his mustache. “I’m afraid I would make a poor dinner.” He waved a hand over his rake-thin frame. “However, I can provide much better! Is there someplace we might speak?”
Rocky bristled, Val could feel the waves of it, but she couldn’t quite place the emotion. Anger? No, that was too personal for this. Was distrust an emotion?
“This way,” Rocky said, indicating the office. “But I have to leave in a few minutes.”
“Oh, this… this will take no time at all,” the man assured him. Val had a very sour feeling in the pit of her stomach. The man was trying to ooze charm, but he was oozing something else. He felt… greasy, slick… like a used car salesman. But that wasn’t right either. She just wasn’t finding the words today.
She thought for a moment about last week, when Rocky snapped at her for being a part of the discussion with Murray. Maybe it would be better to find something else to do?
The very thought rankled. She had no reason to run and hide just because the grown-ups were about to have words with each other. He was still rattled from that fight. He apologized. This is partly you now, you’re with him in this.
“Ah,” the slick man noticed with some carefully masked disapproval that she and Maria had both joined them. “Ah, well, of course,” he captured Maria’s hand and leaned over it as though he were going to kiss it. She pulled it away before he could do more than look at her fingernails.
“Charmed,” he said and turned to Val. Val crossed her arms under her breasts and then realized that she was probably giving him more of a show than she’d intended. He seemed to be waiting for an introduction, but none was forthcoming.
“Ah, yes, then, I’ll get right to the point.” He turned to Rocky and subsequently ignored both of the women. “I recognize you from your pictures,” he said. “You are Rocky Veliz, the greatest MMA fighter to enter a cage. My name is Óscar, and I am a huge fan of yours!”
“Thank you,�
�� Rocky said, but he said it flatly as if it were a formality he had no time for. “What can I do for you?”
“Indeed, the question is, what I can do for you? I represent a group that have their own concern, similar in nature to the MMA and we would like you to fight for us.”
“Where?” Rocky said, his arms falling to his sides, his face taking on a suddenly interested expression. Val and Maria exchanged glances.
“We are all throughout Mexico,” Óscar said. “You already have a large fan base there, to have you come and fight for the people that love you, would be a dream come true.”
“I have to be careful,” Rocky said, shaking his head. “I can’t do any more unsponsored fights. I’m risking my MMA title as it is.”
“I understand,” Óscar said sweetly. “But you know, the MMA is big in this country, but it’s not the same everywhere. Some countries do have their own organizations. I know that because of the unfortunate incident in your last fight, you are under suspension. But in Mexico, we would welcome you with open arms. Cage fighting is a bigger sport there than here, anyway, and the money…” Óscar made a waving motion with is hand.
“What about the money?”
Val looked at Rocky in alarm. Was he actually considering this?
“We pay you $20,000 for the first fight.” Óscar grinned and tapped Rocky’s chest. “Not bad for one fight, eh? And the money goes up every time you fight. You could make a LOT of money!”