BABY GIRL II For the Ones We Love

by Scott Hildreth

  “Wild paint,” Easter agreed as he took a drag off of his cigarette. He hand shook as he smoked.

  “Fuck, Bunny. You’re shaking like a dog shittin’ peach pits,” Teddy laughed.

  “That fuckin’ Slick, Crash. He’s got me pretty shook up,” Easter admitted.

  “Hey!” Erik said sternly as he motioned toward Easter.

  “Well, fuck, he’s a piece of shit...Oh, yeah. Gotcha, Doc. My bad,” Easter said as he took another drag off of what was left of his cigarette.

  I immediately knew what had happened. Easter had mentioned club business in our presence. The business of the club was never discussed around outsiders. Big things or small things – it didn’t matter. Unlike on the television shows, it was never discussed. Erik said it protected everyone. Things that weren’t club business were discussed freely.

  I quickly changed the subject.

  “I wish I wasn’t dressed like this, it’s a great night for a ride,” I mentioned as I looked up at Erik.

  “Fine with me, you can ride in slacks and heels, I don’t care,” Erik smiled when he answered me.

  From him, a smile was a form of reassurance. It was proof he was satisfied to some degree with what I was doing or what I had done. He didn’t smile freely, and his smile was never fake. If Erik smiled, he was happy. If he wasn’t happy, he didn’t smile. Most of the time, his mouth was closed and his lips were pursed.

  “Here you go,” the waitress said as she began to pull the beers from the tray she was carrying.

  “I’ve gotta pee, you need to go, Heather?” I asked as the waitress placed my water on the table.

  “No, I went when I was inside,” Heather responded, Teddy’s arms still around her waist.

  “I’ll go with you. I could use the bathroom,” Erik said.

  When I came out of the bathroom, Erik wasn’t done yet. As I waited, I looked around the bar. As always, it was packed. It was a huge open restaurant full of wooden tables with wooden stools. In the center was a large square bar surrounded by stools. The bar was covered in large screen televisions, and people often sat there and watched sports events.

  Looking at the bar, I saw Tommy standing and talking to someone.

  Oh God, no. I don’t want to walk past this idiot.

  “Come on, baby girl,” Erik said as he walked past me.

  I stood frozen, and stared at Tommy, who was facing the bar and had not noticed me yet.

  “Baby Girl,” Erik said over his shoulder as he approached the bar.

  I ran toward him to catch up as he started to walk beside Tommy. He faced forward toward the exit to the patio. As he walked up to Tommy, he turned to me.

  “Baby girl, on my left,” he demanded.

  Tommy turned around and looked at Erik as he spoke.

  Oh God. I hate it when he thinks I am fucking up. On my left. Always on his left.

  I ran to Erik and grabbed his left arm as he was passing Tommy. I stood between Erik and Tommy as we walked past.

  “What is she, your fucking dog?” Tommy asked.

  Oh my God, please, please, please shut up.

  “Excuse me?” Erik said as he stopped.

  Tommy turned around and faced Erik.

  “Nothin’. Never mind,” Tommy said as he turned around.

  “No, there isn’t a never mind option, you called her a dog,” Erik said as he rolled his shoulders slowly.

  The people beside Tommy moved out of their barstools.

  “I didn’t call her a dog,” Tommy said in a matter-of-fact tone.

  I held Erik’s arm. As he started to move his right foot slowly toward Tommy. I watched his feet. As Tommy talked, Erik inched his right foot forward and his left backward. He raised and lowered his shoulders slowly.

  “You asked if she was my dog, which would be indicative of her being a dog,” Erik corrected him.

  “Indicative? Who talks like that? Are you a biker or a school teacher?” Tommy laughed as he looked around the bar.

  “I’m the guy that’s going to teach you some manners, that’s who I am. You need to learn how to be respectful around people. Primarily women,” Erik said, his tone becoming more authoritative.

  “Respectful? ‘On my left’ is respectful? I heard that shit. Hey, bitch, on my left,” Tommy laughed, and made funny face when he said bitch.

  Obviously, Tommy was stupid, brave, or drunk.

  “I’m done arguing with you, you little cock sucker,” Erik took a deep breath.

  “Life is about opportunities and options. I’m going to give you both. An option to apologize and an opportunity to walk away. Now, apologize to the lady, and because you’re a mouthy prick you can apologize to me,” The tone of Erik’s voice was different. This wasn’t going to be good.

  Everything happened so fast.

  Tommy, as soon as Erik said prick, thrust his hands out toward Erik’s chest like he was going to shove him. Erik’s left arm swept me forcefully behind him, and he stepped to the right, positioning me behind his left side. Tommy’s right arm fell short as Erik twisted his body.

  Erik’s right arm shot straight up in the air, and as Tommy’s left arm almost hit Erik’s chest, Erik’s arm came back down and circled around Tommy’s arm. Tommy’s right arm was now stuck in Erik’s armpit, and Erik held it there.

  Erik’s left hand hit Tommy in the face several times. Much faster than I could count. Tommy started to stumble backward, and as he did, Erik’s right foot swung in a circle, sweeping Tommy’s legs out from under him.

  Erik’s left hand immediately reached to his left and behind him, and touched me - as if to conform I was there. His head twisted to me and back toward Tommy instantly.

  Tommy’s feet came up, and he fell, lifeless – until the back of his head hit the bar.

  Several people sitting closely, and now watching said a uniform, “Oh shit” or “God damn” as his head hit the bar. Tommy ended up in a pile on the floor.

  Erik immediately turned to his left, and held his arm out.

  “Get ahold of my arm, baby girl,” he demanded.

  I grabbed his left arm and held it tight.

  Some people came to look at Tommy, and knelt down on the floor beside him.

  “Somebody needs to call an ambulance, he’s missing teeth, and he’s bleeding bad!” someone screamed from the floor in front of Tommy.

  “I really wish that kid would have apologized,” Erik said sincerely.

  “Hey, call the owner over here. Tell him Doc got in a fight,” Erik said to the girl behind the bar.

  I squeezed Erik’s arm as Tommy started to groan.

  Tommy looked up, and seemed confused.

  Within a matter of what seemed like seconds, a man in dark jeans and a dress shirt came walking up to us.

  “God damn, Doc, you paying for the stain on my floor?” the man asked as he stuck his hand out toward Erik.

  Erik shook his hand.

  “What happened?” he asked.

  “Well, as we were walking by, the kid …”

  “I already know what happened,” the man laughed, “the manager saw everything from the other side of the bar. I was leaving and he called me to come back. Said you gave the kid the option to cut out, and he hit you. Smart kid,” he said as he shook his head, looking down at Tommy.

  As Tommy was being helped up, the man turned back to Erik, “You’re good to go, Doc. I sent a round out to the fella’s. We’ve got an ambulance coming. Self-defense, no worries. We’ve got dozens of witnesses and cameras too.”

  “Appreciate it,” Erik said as he shook his hand.

  As we walked toward the door, I held Erik’s left arm tight.

  And as we walked, I realized.

  That my pussy was soaked.

  We got to the door, and Erik stepped beside it.

  “Now, do you understand why you walk on my left?” he asked.

  I shrugged.

  “My right side is my strong side. My dominant side. I have an unorthodox fighting style. I u
se my left side to protect you. To keep you from harm,” he said as he looked into my eyes.

  “Uhhmm, yeah. Yes sir. You moved me behind you with your left arm,” I remembered.

  “Correct. And I made sure you stayed there,” he reminded me.

  I nodded.

  “It may not seem like it, Kelli, but for the most part, everything I do has a reason. You may not understand now, but it does, okay? You will always be on my left. Always. Never anywhere else. There’s not one place on this earth, outside of your home, that you will ever be anywhere but on my left, is that understood? It’s for your protection,” he nodded and opened his eyes wide as he spoke.

  I nodded and smiled.

  He bent over and grabbed my face in his hands.

  As he kissed me, I wiggled.

  My thighs touched. As they did, I felt my wetness on the inside of them.

  Erik fucking Ead.

  TEDDY. Being with a girl that makes you feel good inside is better than damn near anything. Having someone in your life you look forward to seeing can sure make the time stand still whenever they’re gone. When you finally get to see ‘em again, the clock spins like mad. That’s what life’s all about; findin’ that one that makes the clock spin like crazy. The way you know when a person is the person, that one that is special, well…it’s when she fucks up your sense of time. Heather fucked up mine. And I liked it.

  “Hey babe, you like your eggs wet or dry?” I screamed from the kitchen.

  “What does that even mean?” Heather said from the bedroom.

  “Wet or dry. You know the difference between wet and dry don’t ya?”

  “Well, not when it comes to eggs. I’ve never been asked that before,” she laughed.

  “Well, I’m scramblin’ these fuckers. And you can cook ‘em till they’re all dry, and that’s dry. The other option is you can stop ‘em short, and they kinda glisten, but they’re cooked up good - just kinda shiny, and that’s wet. Either way, you better hurry decidin’ ‘cause they’re gonna be dry in about a minute no matter what your answer is,” I hollered at her.

  “Wet,” she screamed back.

  “Hell yeah. That’s the right answer. Dry eggs are hard for me to swallow,” I laughed.

  “The three of ya need to get outta bed, babe. Come in here, it’s ready to eat,” I said as I took the skillet from the stove.

  “The three of us?” she screamed from the bedroom.

  “Yeah. You and those two twins of yours,” I chuckled as I yanked the toast out of the toaster.

  She walked out of the bedroom into the hallway and stood there in the sunshine. The bedroom windows faced east, so the sun came in through the bedroom windows in the morning. That’s the main reason I picked that room for my bedroom. The sun always wakes me up – making sure I never oversleep.

  She stood there in my sweat pants and one of my shirts. I stared at her as I got our plates ready for breakfast. I carried the food to the table and made our places on the table side by side.

  “C’mon. It’s ready to eat,” I said as I set the plates down.

  “Thanks for making breakfast Teddy,” she said as she sat down.

  “Well hell. We had to eat. You sure weren’t getting up to cook, so I did.”

  “Well, thank you,” she laughed.

  “Eggs, toast, coffee, juice, and bacon. Dig in,” I told her as I grabbed a piece of bacon off my plate.

  “So, you think anything will come of that fight last night?” she asked as she took a bite of her eggs.

  “Like what?” I asked over my shoulder.

  “Well, Erik getting in trouble?”

  “Hell no. That kid got what he had coming. Smart ass little fucker. He’s lucky Doc didn’t just kill him. Shit. I’ve seen Doc beat a few people over the years - he’s mean as a fuckin’ snake if he needs to be. Kid’s lucky, you ask me.”

  “Well, do you think anything will be said or done about it?” her face looked worried.

  “Don’t worry babe. Ain’t nobody gonna get in no trouble. That was nothing,” I reassured her.

  She smiled as she ate her breakfast. We didn’t talk much, just poked food in our faces until it was gone. She finished before me, and took a drink of her coffee.

  “Oh God. That’s good coffee,” she said as she took a sip.

  “Made it myself,” I chuckled.

  “Well, it’s good. Really good,” she said as she took another sip.

  “It’s the four dollar Italian roast. Four dollars a can, not four dollars a damned cup. I don’t drink that six dollar a cup coffee like Doc does. He’s a damn fool,” I said as I took a sip of my coffee.

  “Why do you say that?” she asked as she looked over the top of her cup.

  “Well, he admits he spends about eight hundred bucks a month on coffee,” I asked as I picked up the plates from the table.

  “What?” Heather hollered as I walked to the kitchen.

  “Yep. Eight hundred bucks,” I said again.

  I put the plates in the dishwasher and walked to the table. I sat at the end, two seats away from Heather. I rocked my chair on its hind legs, picked up my cup, and took another slow drink. I took a long, look at Heather and thought about how she made me feel. She didn’t want nothing from me - just for me to be me. She didn’t care what we did or what we talked about. She never complained about what we ate. She only wanted me to be nice to her and not dump her like all of the fellas in the past had.

  Hell, all I wanted was for her not to dump me. She was a good woman. A damned good one. She made the time fly when we were together, and she made the clock stop when she was gone. That’s all that matters. That ain’t got nothing to do with looks or the size of someone’s titties. That’s got to do with what she makes your head do. And she made my head spin. Can’t argue that. I set my cup down on the table.

  “I been thinking,” I said as I put my elbows on the table and rested my face into my hands.

  “About what?”

  “I don’t want ya thinking I’m nuts or anything, but I got an idea,” I said as I spread my fingers across my beard.

  “You want to move in here? Be with me all the time?” I asked as I rubbed my beard with my hands.

  Sometimes when you say things to people they aren’t expecting to hear, they’ll do something that’ll make you wonder what they’re thinkin’. They’ll look at ya weird. Or, they’ll say something long and stretched out. Doc does that. Says a ten sentence response to something that requires a one word answer. People can be confusin’ sometimes.

  Heather’s response didn’t leave me wonderin’ much. As soon as I finished askin’, she jumped out of her chair and squealed. Two quick steps, then her arms hit me across the chest as her head hit me above my shoulder. The chair toppling over and the look in her eyes when we hit the floor was a surprised one. Not so much of the chair tipping over, hell anybody woulda known that was prone to happen – but surprise that I asked her to move in.

  “Here? With you? Like, well…like we’re a couple? Like we’re together?” she squealed as she flew my direction.

  “Babe, I don’t know if you missed it, but you clean knocked me outta the chair. Get off of me, and we can talk. Damn,” I joked, laying there on my back with her sitting on top of me.

  She looked down and shook her damned head. When I looked up into her pretty eyes is the first time I knew, damn right out knew that a woman was happy with something I’d done. Tears dripped off her lips onto my face. She started to talk - and although her mouth was workin’, her voice couldn’t escape her lips.

  I got ahold of her shoulders and pulled her down on top of me. I reached up, put my hand behind her head, and rested it on my shoulder.

  “I know by a lot of people’s standards this might be a bit early, but there ain’t any sense in lyin’ to myself, babe. I ain’t ever gonna find anyone that makes me happier than you. Whenever you’re willing, we’ll get my truck and move your stuff over,” I said softly into her ear.

  It coulda
been the belly full of breakfast, the fact we was up all night fucking, or just that we were both happy with the idea of her movin’ in, but we stayed right there on that damned floor.

  Until we fell back asleep.

  KELLI. There are things a man can say that make you think he cares for you. There are things he can do that make you pretty certain. There’s absolutely nothing about a man defending your honor - being willing to stand up and actually risk his life in a fight – that does anything but confirm what he feels inside.

  Erik. Made. Me. Melt.

  “You sure you’re okay?” I raised my eyebrows as I turned the bolt on the door.

  “I’m fine, I didn’t hit him that hard,” he responded as he inspected his elbows and hands.

  “Do you need anything for your hands?” I asked as I walked toward him.

  “No, they’re not cut, just sore,” he assured me.

  “I want you to understand something, Kelli. I’m not a violent person. Understand that. I don’t get into bar fights, or any fights for that matter because I like it. But there’s one thing I will never stand for – and that’s someone being disrespectful toward you. Do you understand, baby girl?” he said as he reached out and placed his forearms over my shoulders.

  “Yes, I understand,” I relaxed as he placed his arms around me.

  The thought of him fighting for me, mentioning defending me in the future, and finishing his sentence with baby girl made me tingle all over. I slid my arms around him and gave him a hug. My face buried in his chest, I drew in a slow breath through my nose. His distinct smell made me sigh in comfort.

  I want you.

  No matter how much time we spent together, I always feared doing something that would be the wrong thing. Erik never gave me a reason to think I had done anything that would make him angry, but I always feared doing something he didn’t want me to do. Right now, more than anything, I wanted him to fuck me. I wanted him to toss me on the floor and just take me.

  He had told me at the airport right after we had met, that I had only seen a facet of what he prepared to do to me - a facet. I was ready for the entire diamond. Most of what he had done was focused on mind-fucking me. He had crawled inside of my head for sure, but I wanted him somewhere else.