“Well, get yer toosh in here,” Danny smirked. “I’m starving, an’ my chivalry only waits so long when there’s food on the line!”
I smiled at that and hurried in. We were sat with relative ease, the hostess pausing to look at me. I could see that she seemed to recognize me, but that she was unable to place the ‘why.’ This, I realized with some surprise, filled me with a strange sense of pride. Then, just as quickly—realizing that the changes I’d gone through were almost entirely because of Jace’s introduction into my life—I felt myself begin to plummet back into that dark forest where Depression and other mind-monsters lurked. We sat, and for a while we sat in silence; Danny studying me while I withdrew into myself, only distantly aware that I was being studied. I still couldn’t help but feel that something wasn’t right. And I couldn’t hide that feeling that it was only about to get worse. My stomach turned, Depression finally talking me out of what my stomach had been so eager to bring me here for, and I looked away from the menu. I decided that I would just get tea and maybe some toast.
“What’s on yer mind?” Danny asked, his concerned gaze boring into my own.
“You can tell that easily, huh?” I answered with my own question, unable to bring myself to look up. “Honestly? It’s probably nothing. Just me being stupid…”
“Yer lotsa things, girlie, but stupid ain’t one of ‘em. You say it’s nothin,’ but hows about ya let ol’ Mercury decide that?” Danny pressed, leaning forward on his big slabs of arms.
The entire table shifted under his weight, and the condiments at the end of the table slid a half-inch in his direction. They seemed in that instant to side with him.
I realized I was inclined to do the same.
“Well, last night when Jace got home, he… well, he just seemed really distant,” I shook my head. “I thought maybe he just didn’t want to wake me up, you know? Or maybe he’d had a rough night or something; some pressing Crow business maybe.” I paused then, perking up and asking with no effort to hide the desperation from my voice, “Something didn’t happen yesterday, did it? Something that would have him acting off?”
But Danny only shook his head and shrugged. “Not that I know ‘bout,” he confessed.
That, I knew, meant “no.” If Danny didn’t know about Crow business, it was because there was no Crow business to know about. Nothing happened without his knowing it.
Not unless Jace didn’t tell him, and that, from what I’d gathered so far, just didn’t happen.
I sighed and nodded, already suspecting that was the case. “And then, this morning, it was the same thing: distant and cold. And then he looked at me and it felt like…like he was a totally different person. Like he didn’t even know me. Like he didn’t even…” but I couldn’t complete that sentence.
Not that sentence.
“That don’t sound like Jace,” Danny said with a deep frow, rubbing a large hand over his chin. “But, I mean, this is Jace we’re talkin’ ‘bout. Boy’s nothin’ if not focused, y’know? Maybe he’s jus’ workin’ another surprise for ya. Or maybe he’s jus’ throwin’ himself full-force back into his work; catchin’ up an’ crap like that; not like he needs my permission or involvement to do that. In either case, I’ll talk to ‘im t’morrow; see if there ain’t somethin’ more I can dig up fer ya.”
I blushed and nodded my thanks. “Again,” I said, not wanting Danny to discover that nothing was wrong and think I was nuts for saying anything, “I’m sure it’s nothing,” I bit my lip, suddenly worried about what might happen if Danny said anything of this to Jace. “A-actually, you don’t need to do that. No point in bothering him. Really.”
“A’right,” Danny said after a skeptical pause, his eyebrows raised at me like he already thought I was nuts. “But if things get worse, ya tell me, kay?”
“I will,” I said, forcing a smile. “Thanks, Danny.”
“‘Mercury,’” he corrected me before saying, “So is that all that’s on yer mind?”
“No, I was also thinking,” I began, considering something that had been bothering me for some time. “I don’t know much about his past… and I don’t know exactly how to ask him.”
“Well, let’see…” he began, only to have the waitress arrive and interrupt his thoughts.
The waitress took our orders, and, feeling a bit better, I managed to talk myself into ordering a small plate of pancakes and a blended coffee drink instead of just toast and tea. Danny’s order went on for nearly two minutes and, when all was said and done, comprised of four full entrees, a heavily modified appetizer, and a salad that somehow contained more calories than most of the meals on the rest of their menu. Still scribbling the modifications to Danny’s order into her notepad and looking more than a little war-torn from the experience, the waitress hurried away. I thought she seemed to be retreating from the possibility that he’d change his mind and start ordering more, and this thought made me giggle a little.
With her gone, Danny continued where he’d left off:
“I’ve known Jace since he was little. Used t’bounce ‘im on my knee while ‘is dad an’ me talked business.”
I caught myself genuinely smiling at the thought.
Danny responded with one of his own before continuing. “He was the smarts of the Presley-fam. That’s not t’say that the Presleys were dumb—far from it, n’fact—but Jace was…” Danny paused, considering, and then said, “Even when ‘e was a babe, he’d jus’ look at ya like he was thinkin,’ y’know? Like, ya’d walk into a room, an’ ya’d know there was a li’l tike in there—think nothin’ more of it—but then ya’d find yerself lookin’ at these eyes that just seemed… just seemed to know things. Even ‘fore that boy could talk, folks’d say ‘there’s a boy who can think.’” He paused on that for a moment, seeming to replay his own words back in his head, and then nodded, apparently deciding that, yes, he’d explained this right. “Michael, Jace’s older brother, was sort of raised with the understanding that the Crows would eventually be his to lead. It seems unfair to say aloud, I know, but there was never really any sense of force or demand with the Presleys when the Crows was involved. Everyone in that family jus’ sort o’ knew their place and played the part—‘cept that Jace never had no place in the Crows. He was jus’ a Presley. His dad ran the ship, his mom ran his dad, an’ Michael was the one on deck to run things when his dad stepped down or… well,” Danny sighed and shrugged, “Michael was the one on deck. So everyone jus’ loved Jason fer bein’ the li’l thinkin’ tike he was. With no expectations loomin’ over him he was free to do what he pleased, an’ he was pleased with keepin’ to hisself fer the most part. Didn’t have a lot of friends—wasn’t exactly the socializin’ sort—but he liked music and he liked girls—liked lookin’ at ‘em, at least, even when he was little—and, really, he just liked keepin’ things organized.”
I raised an eyebrow at that. “Organized?” I repeated, not sure I understood.
Danny nodded, furrowing his brow in a confused-yet-entertained expression. “Yeah. Like…” he thought and then smirked, “Like, if he had any porno mags—an’ I can almost guarantee he did—I wouldn’t have been the least bit surprised to find out that he had ‘em alphabetized and separated based on fetishes or whatever. Like, the big-titty mags sorted over yonder an’ the dick-suckin’ mags sorted over yonder. An’ so on an’ so forth. Even young, Jace was the ‘a place fer everythin’ an’ everythin’ in its place’-sort.”
“Any idea why?” I asked, intrigued.
Danny shrugged. “I suppose he got it from the other Presleys. They all had their li’l vices. Dad loved ol’ movies, Mom was into anythin’ and everythin’ vampire-related”—I blushed at that, remembering his reaction to my own interest in vampires—“an’ Michael, ‘cuz of his pops, loved motorcycles and basically anythin’ with an engine. Dad’s movies were kept on a series of shelves in the TV room, organized with more care an’ attention than most libraries can boast. Same with all the vampire-stuff in their Mom’s own l
ittle private room.” He leaned forward like he was sharing a secret then. “She called it her ‘office,’” he explained, “but it was basically ‘er own private vampire museum. An’ Michael’s own collection of model bikes an’ cars were all lined up and kept spotless—damn kid actually dusted the things ever’day.” He gave another shrug, this one more dismissive. “So I guess Jace saw all that an’ jus’ took to that sense of order, but applied it to everythin.’ Those thinkin’ eyes never stopped; he jus’ always seemed to be puttin’ what he saw in some sort of box in ‘is head. ‘A place fer everythin’ an’ everythin’ in its place,’” he repeated with another shrug.
“Wow…” I said, considering this and how it applied to Jace in the here-and-now, finding that it explained his meticulous approach to our dates and… well, everything.
The waitress slid back our drinks, still seeming nervous that Danny might start ordering more, and she hesitantly asked if we needed anything else.
Danny dismissed her, and I saw a look of relief on her face as she left.
“So what about his wife?” I asked after taking a sip from the blended coffee. It was sugary sweet—almost too sweet—and I found myself going back for a second, then a third pull on the straw. “How did he meet her?”
A painful expression of pure joy and utter sorrow passed in front of Danny’s face. “Anne?” he said the name as though he expected a response from it. “She… well, she was a childhood friend, one of Jace’s only if she wasn’t his actual only friend,” Danny said. “Her folks were friends of the family—on their mom’s side,” he added, sounding like that fact was important somehow but not explaining why.
I felt like I had a good idea why.
“She was a sweet kid. Sweet to Jace, anyhow, which was rare. Bein’ the only kid in preschool who lined up his Cheerios in li’l shapes had a way of makin’ other kids think he was weird.”
“Kids can be cruel,” I agreed.
Danny laughed. “They’d learn not to be pretty quick with Jace,” he said. “This one time, a boy decided to mess with Jace. He was playin’ with dominos or somethin’ like that, an’ this li’l bastard comes and, like, musses ‘em all around—‘ruined their order,’ was how Jace explained it later—an’ Jace… well, Jace punched the kid in the pecker.” He laughed again and shook his head. “Funny to think ‘bout, actually: this li’l fucker stormin’ over, all cocky an’ swaggerin,’ an’ swings a kick at li’l Jace’s setup, right? An’ then ‘ere comes li’l Jace with a right-hook right to sonny-Jim’s tackle.” Danny nodded in admiration. “Yeah, Jace might’a been a bit screwy, but he had the Presley charm when someone tried t’fuck with ‘im.”
I caught myself giggling at the thought, as well.
“But, yeah, Anne,” Danny went on, bringing back the subject of Jace’s wife. “She seen somethin’ in Jace early on—everyone with eyes ‘nuff to see could see that much—an’ the two of ‘em got along great. I guess ya could say the way it happened was exactly how everyone suspected it would: they grew, an’ as they did… well, I won’t say they grew closer. That’d be a lie. No, they was always close, but that closeness started to realize what it was more an’ more as they got older. Like, they’d always held hands—right?—but when they went from bein’ li’l boppers to bein’ teens, we could all see that the way they held hands had gone from bein’ friendly to bein’…. well, y’know. Like I says: it jus’ happened the way everyone suspected it would.”
I blushed at that, feeling both a twinge of jealousy at the thought as well as a mighty wave of sorrow for Jace. Knowing how things turned out made such a happy story into a bitter tragedy.
“Annie woulda liked ya,” Danny offered with a smile, seeming to understand what I was thinking. “An’ I think she’d agree that ye’re exactly what Jace needs.”
“Th-thanks, Danny,” I smiled. “I think… well, I feel better knowing that.”
“‘Mercury,” he corrected me again, but the smile didn’t waver. “An’ it’s no prob.” Then, after studying me for a moment longer, he said, “Hey, I gotta go downtown to pick up some supplies after lunch. Ya wanna join? There’s a few cool little shops ‘round there ya might like.”
“That would be nice,” I answered with a smile.
I wondered just how much Danny could see. He seemed to just understand exactly what I needed. Like Jace, as it turned out, I hadn’t grown up with many friends, and I wished I had someone like him growing up. Even though Danny seemed to occupy the role of a friend, I couldn’t help but see a paternal connection, and even I felt like I was being “adopted”—for lack of a better word—by the jolly gay giant.
As our food arrived, I found myself hoping all over again that things with Jace would turn out alright. I was too in love with my new life and everyone in it to have to go back to square-one.
****
“Danny? Why don’t you have someone in your life?” I asked over the bike’s engine as we headed downtown.
“Me? Well, I’m married to my work, I guess.”
“Really? I’m sure you could find someone nice,” I added. “There’s a few gay bars in the area even, have you been to any of them?”
Danny shrugged, glancing over his shoulder. “Don’t ya be worrying about my love life, I’m fine with how I am,” he turned back quickly.
I bit my lip, hoping I didn’t offend him. I didn’t want to lose one of the small list of allies I had in my life. With Jace’s coldness and how busy Candy was with opening the brothel for the Crows, I didn’t have many people left in my life.
“There was somebody,” Danny said over the bike. “But when he found out what I did fer a livin’, well…he didn’t want nothing to do with it.”
“I’m sorry for that, Danny,” I said, squeezing his shoulders reassuringly.
“Yer a good girl, Mia,” Danny gently patted my hand on his shoulder.
He turned the bike onto another street, pulling to the side and parking the bike. I moved off the bike, handing him the helmet and looked around. The street consisted of a few small local shops, including a parts store, a clothing store, and a small bakery.
“I’ll be over there,” Danny pointed to the parts shop. “That shop there,” he gestured to the clothing shop, “they might promote themselves as clothes, but they got a lotta cool knick-knacks if you wanna check ‘em out.”
“I think I will,” I smiled. “Meet me there when you’re done?”
“Will do,” he turned away, heading towards the parts shop.
Taking a deep breath, I headed inside the shop, deciding that I’d buy something for Jace. I wanted to get him a gift that meant just as much as the bird pendant he’d gotten me on the first date. Looking around the shop, I saw just what Danny had meant. While the shop did have a good amount of clothes for sale, the other half of the store sold a myriad of random stuff. I began to look around, wondering if I would be able to find anything for Jace here. As I made my way to the last aisle, I began to lose hope. I hadn’t even realized how much I wanted to find something to give to Jace. I wanted to be able to show my thanks, wanted to see the familiar smile I’d grown to love as I handed over whatever it was that I’d found for him.
Face it, Mia. Things are only going to get worse. You’re lost.
I remembered Jace’s cold eyes and shivered again. I closed my eyes, willing myself to relax. I didn’t know what was going on with Jace and I didn’t have any right to assume anything. Things would be fine when I got home. I was sure of it. Finishing down the aisle, I sighed, not able to find anything for Jace. I headed out, seeing Danny stepping out of the parts store. He seemed to see something on my face and moved closer.
“Ya okay? Somethin’ happen?” he asked, looking around as he did. There was a violent edge to his scanning gaze, and I realized that I wouldn’t want to be a person caught in that radar.
Knowing that he was prepared to hurt somebody on my behalf was more endearing than it was horrifying, and I realized I was smiling at the thought. “I’m fine,”
I assured him. “I think I’m just tired. Rough night worrying about Jace and all,” I explained, then immediately regretted it. Knowing how intense Danny’s radar was for me made me wonder if he’d still take my concerns to Jace; made me wonder what he might say. Smiling, hoping it would be enough to convince him that I wasn’t as wracked in the brain as I was, I said, “I think I’m going to call a cab and get home. I’m sure you’ve got to get back to work.”
“Ya sure?” he asked with a frown. “It’s not a problem fer me to drop ya off at home.”
“It’s fine,” I assured him. “I need a bit on my own, anyway.”
“Alright, be careful though, a’right?” he said sternly, and I remembered that word again: “adopted.”
“I will be,” I said.
I watched as he sauntered over to his motorcycle. He kept looking back at me, concern filled his face and I offered him a reassuring smile as I pulled my phone out. I called for the cab, glad I had taken the number down earlier when the front desk assistant had helped me at the apartment.
The cab was there ten minutes later and as I slid in, not wanting to go home yet. Deciding I still had some time, I asked the cab driver if they knew any good area with a lot of various types of shops. After a few different choices, I picked one and the driver headed out. I stared out the window, hoping I’d be able to find something for Jace.
****
It was starting to get dark as I walked through the last shop. I’d begun to feel defeated in my mission to find Jace something, and with that sense of defeat came an overwhelming dread that we truly were doomed.
And then, when everything seemed at its most bleak, that’s when I found it.
Sitting on a shelf with a few others styles was a small hand-crafted black crow keychain with bright green inlaid eyes. The eyes, what initially caught my attention, reminded me of Jace’s, and I realized I was smiling at the find before I’d even come to register what I was looking at. Without a second thought, I grabbed it, feeling a sense of rightness from it in my hand, and hurried to the counter with it.
CROWS MC SET-TO LOAD Page 48