“Yeah, but....” Thomas said, his voice trailing off because he didn’t want to make her mad.
Midnight glanced up at him, her eyes narrowed. “Yeah, but what?” she asked. “Yeah but it looks like I lost. Well I did okay?”
“Okay…” Thomas said, taken back by her admission.
It was very rare that Midnight lost a fight; she was a damned good fighter.
“The bitch jumped me,” Midnight said, turning back to her drink, and taking a long swig.
“Who?” he asked her.
“Talma.” Midnight spat the name out like it left a bad taste in her mouth.
“The leader of the Piranhas?” Thomas asked, not totally surprised.
Talma and her gang had been making noises about trying to take over Vette territory for months.
“We gonna smoke ’em?” Thomas asked then, looking excited suddenly.
Midnight glanced sharply at her little brother. She didn’t like the aggression he was starting to show. The last thing she wanted was for him to turn out like the animals she ran with. She wanted him to go farther than San Ysidro, California.
“Don’t give me that look, Mid,” Thomas replied, his tone irritated. “The bitch jumped my sister, what do you expect me to want?”
“Okay, fine. And yeah, I’m gonna reciprocate,” Midnight said, looking more like herself again.
She got up from the couch, and walked into the kitchen to refill her glass. Thomas noticed a piece of paper that Midnight had been sitting on.
“What’s this?” Thomas asked, as he reached over to it up.
Midnight walked back into the room, eying the paper in his hand, with a look on her face that Thomas didn’t understand. Then she regained her composure and shrugged.
“Nothing,” she said. She went to take the paper away from him, but he was already opening it and scanning the writing on it.
“This is from a college …” Thomas said, sounding shocked as he looked up at his sister. “It says you’ve been accepted to UCSD.”
Midnight looked back at him for a long moment, giving nothing away.
“I know what it says,” she said finally, her tone blasé, “I can read you know.”
“Yeah, but … I didn’t know you applied to college,” Thomas said, looking dumbfounded.
“I didn’t,” Midnight said, her tone cool, “some do-gooder teacher did. Okay inspector?”
“Okay,” Thomas said, still trying to understand, “but you got accepted …”
“Yeah, and I’m not goin’, so what,” Midnight said, sitting back on the couch, her face closed off, her eyes averted from his.
“Why not?”
Midnight looked over at him, the look on her face disbelieving. “College costs money, Thomas. They don’t just hand it out for free. Besides what would you do? Stay here in la-la land with Jack and Carrie?” Her tone was sarcastic, and Thomas didn’t know how to reply.
Midnight took another long swig from the glass in her hand, her eyes fixed on a spot on the carpet in front of her, her foot moving in agitation.
“Well, I’m goin’ to college,” Thomas said finally. “Or maybe I’ll join the Navy and fly jets. I don’t know yet,” he said, sounding very young in his ambition.
Midnight looked over at him, grinning despite her mood. “You are, huh?”
“Yep, I’m gettin’ the fuck outta here that’s for sure,” Thomas said, sitting up a little bit straighter.
“Good,” was Midnight’s only comment.
Thomas left a while later; he said he had a date with Sandy. Midnight sat alone for another hour, drinking and thinking about her life. She was feeling very depressed, feeling trapped by circumstances and she was angry about it. College was impossible; she wasn’t even sure how she’d gotten accepted to a college like the University of California at San Diego. It was a prestigious private college that took the best of the best. Midnight figured someone must have screwed up in admissions office. She also knew that taking care of Thomas was her future. Trying to figure out how the two of them were going to make it was the concern that kept her awake at night. She knew that she could make it on her own, but Thomas was her responsibility and she wouldn’t let him down. She was deep in thought when her parents arrived home after a night out at the bars. She didn’t hear them come in.
“What are you doing?” Jack snapped.
His voice made Midnight jump, but she recovered quickly. She stood up and turned around giving them a cynical look.
“Why Jack, you wanna join me?” Midnight asked, using her father’s first name.
She hadn’t called him “Dad” in many years. She also knew it irritated him.
“You’re under age, young lady,” Carrie chimed in, doing her best to sound parental.
“And you’re crocked, Carrie,” Midnight replied, her tone derogatory.
“Don’t talk to your mother like that!” Jack yelled, tensing as he did, as if he wanted to hit his daughter.
Midnight looked at him for a long moment, noting the movement. Then she started to grin, the look in her eyes telling them what she thought of them.
“Try it, Jack, and you’re drinking days just might be over,” she said, her voice light, but the look on her face indicating that she meant it.
“Get out of my house you little bitch!” Jack screamed, feeling very impotent, but not willing to take on his daughter.
Something in the way Midnight looked at him made him sure she would kill him if she got the chance. He wasn’t going to give it to her. Midnight stood in the living room looking at them for a full minute longer, a challenge in her eyes.
It was a moment Carrie Chevalier would recall for years to come. It was the moment when she saw her daughter as clearly as she’d ever seen her. Midnight was one hundred percent a gang leader, in look and stance, her body spoke the most serious of challenges. Carrie doubted anyone could hurt her at that moment. Neither she nor Jack dared to call their daughter’s bluff, if it was a bluff, and Carrie doubted that it was.
Without another word, Midnight walked past her parents, her eyes on them the entire time, then she walked down the hallway, picking up her Vettes jacket on her way out. Outside she stood leaning back against the doorway, blowing her breath out. She made her way to the café, and went to the jukebox first, selecting a song that had been going around in her head since she’d left the house. The song was Pat Benatar’s “Invincible.” It made her think of her and Thomas against the world. As the song started, she sat down in her usual booth, and closed her eyes, listening to the words.
She sat there most of the night. No one bothered her, no one dared. The owner of the café knew her and liked her, so he told the waitress to take her coffee and not bug her otherwise.
****
Joe, who was still in his office, noticed the tall blond kid, looking at Midnight’s awards and he watched him for a while. It was obvious the kid had a crush on the leader of FORS. Joe shook his head ruefully, not wanting to think about Midnight one second longer than necessary.
He was now genuinely pissed off that she had told Rick about their business. He was even more pissed that Rick had the nerve to stick his nose in where it didn’t belong. The fight had been between Midnight and himself, and where Rick got off pulling that possessive act, Joe hadn’t the faintest notion. Without realizing it, Joe snapped the pencil he had been holding in half as his angry thoughts ran the course they had run all day. When Randy came in, she saw the anger on his face. She picked up the work in his out basket and turned to leave without a word. Joe watched her walk out and his thoughts turned to the night of the storm. It seemed like a hundred years ago, a different time, a different life even. The events of the last two days had numbed him to the point of not feeling anything. Somewhere in the smallest place in his heart, he sincerely believed that this wouldn’t be a permanent condition.
Taylor had been gone when the cab had dropped him off. He couldn’t have cared less. All he could do was wonder how many people had never b
elieved him. It was eating him alive. His ghosts were coming back to haunt him, taking shots at him over and over again.
****
That night, Midnight was working in her little-used kitchen. She was cooking herself chicken soup, a recipe she had learned when she was taking care of Thomas and herself. She often made it when she was feeling down, or upset. It seemed to cure everything and she hoped it would heal her ailing heart. Her whole world was turned upside down; her best friend in the world had not only abandoned her, but also kicked her on the way out.
She stood in the kitchen, the stereo was on, and she was listening to the soundtrack from Flashdance. She liked dance movies, and therefore thoroughly enjoyed their soundtracks. She was leaning against the island in her kitchen with her arms gripping the counter top behind her. Her face was turned up toward the ceiling and her eyes were closed as she listened to the music.
She didn’t notice Rick standing in the kitchen doorway watching her. After a few minutes, she sensed his presence and her head snapped around to look at him.
He saw that she had tensed, but when she saw him, she relaxed.
“My front door unlocked?” she asked, smiling weakly at him.
“It’s a bad habit,” Rick said, smiling back at her. “What’re you doing in here?” he said, indicating the kitchen.
Midnight laughed. “I can cook, you know,” she chided him. “Just because I don’t choose to most of the time doesn’t mean I can’t.”
“Okay,” Rick said, holding up his hands in defense. “I believe you.”
“Okay,” Midnight said, looking at him. Her face grew serious then. “You and Joe got into it yesterday.” It was a statement, not a question.
“Yeah,” Rick said. He held her gaze. Looking away would make him look guilty and he certainly wasn’t. Not in his mind, anyway.
Midnight shook her head. “I don’t know how I’m supposed to feel about that.”
Rick shrugged. “You don’t have to feel anything. He was mouthing off and I got mad, so I hit him.”
Midnight didn’t respond, she just nodded sadly. She didn’t like the idea that Joe and Rick, who had been friends almost as long as she’d been alive, were now fighting because of her.
With a sigh, she walked over to the stove and stirred the soup. “Will you at least stay for dinner?”
Rick smiled at her, nodding.
Later they sat on the couch. Flashdance was still playing on the stereo. They didn’t really talk, they just ate and mulled over their own thoughts. Then the song “I’ll Be Here Where the Heart Is” began to play. Rick watched as Midnight sang the words, feeling his own heart torn out from the emotion and pain he saw on her face.
As the song faded away, Rick saw a tear roll down Midnight’s cheek and he felt the knife twist in his heart. He knew she had been singing about Joe, and he knew that she would always hold Joe in her heart. If he thought about it long enough it would drive him crazy. How she could still care about him after what he did to her? But it obviously wasn’t enough to make her hate him, even if she seemed like she wanted to. Rick was, however, grateful to be here with her now, to be there for her.
He realized that he was starting to fall hard for this woman, and the idea tore at him even more. He knew that falling for her would probably mean a life of misery, because she didn’t seem to have any deep feelings for him or any man, other than Joe. Again, Rick cursed Joe and his damned luck. He had someone like Midnight devoted to him, and instead of treating her with the tenderness and love she deserved, he attacked her and bruised her. Yet she still loved him, obviously.
They sat and talked for a while, but it became increasingly obvious to Rick that she was exhausted. The strain of the last few days was starting to tell on her face.
“Midnight, you look beat,” Rick said.
Midnight looked at him and nodded. “I am, but … I really don’t want to be alone.” Her eyes pleaded with him to understand. Rick thought he did.
He nodded at her and without a word, Midnight moved closer to him. He put his arm around her, and she leaned against him. After a few minutes he noticed that her breathing had become even, and he looked down to see she was asleep. He knew the position she was sleeping in couldn’t be comfortable so he gently picked her up in his arms. He carried her to her room, and laid her gently on her bed. She stirred, and opened her eyes. Her hand reached out and took his.
“Stay, please,” she said, and Rick knew that wild horses couldn’t keep him from doing just that.
Again, he nodded. “I will, but I want you to get some sleep, I’ll be right here,” he said softly.
She nodded, closing her eyes. Her hand still clasped his. He knelt next to the bed watching her. Eventually he moved to lie next to her. Again she stirred. She looked up at him, and smiled, and then she moved to rest her head on his chest. His arm encircled her shoulders and his other hand came up to stroke her cheek. She sighed and fell asleep again. Rick spent the night holding her, and tried to convince himself that the events of the past few days were going to come to some positive end. As it stood, he was at serious odds with his best friend, and he was falling hard for a woman who he was sure wasn’t capable of loving him back. Things were not going well at all.
Things got worse at FORS the next day. Joe came into the office looking particularly hungover and very hostile. When Rick and Midnight came in together, Joe’s eyes narrowed at them, the look of disgust on his face indicating his distaste for them being together at all. Rick stood across the room and glared at Joe. Joe did the same, and they were trying to stare each other down.
“Fuck it,” Rick said, flicking his hand in a dismissing gesture at Joe.
That triggered Joe’s temper. He strode threateningly toward Rick. Midnight witnessed the whole thing and immediately insinuated herself between the two of them. She held up her hands to Joe, and gave him a stern look.
“Get out of the way, Midnight, this is between me and Rick,” Joe said, his eyes flicking coolly over her, in a possessive way. Midnight felt Rick tense behind her.
“No, Sergeant, this isn’t between you and Rick. It’s between you and me. And I’m telling you that if you continue, you’re going to be in a shit load of trouble. So it’s my advice to you that you go and cool off.” Her voice was the epitome of authority.
Joe hesitated, but she could see that his anger was still burning, and his eyes narrowed at her use of his rank. His eyes flicked to Rick, who stood ready behind Midnight.
“You going to let her fight her battles for you?” Joe said, his voice derogatory. “Or are you afraid to fight me when we’re both sober?”
“Fuck you, Joe. I’ll fight you anytime, anywhere,” Rick said, keeping his voice cool. “I’m not worried, you seem real tough against a woman, but you aren’t shit to me.”
Joe’s temper flared and his fist came up. Midnight managed to dive out of the way and she heard the impact of Joe’s fist. Rick fell to the floor, and Midnight turned to see Joe going after him again. She moved with lightning speed getting to Rick first, and kneeling next to him. She threw a deadly look at Joe that stopped his forward movement. Even in his anger, he knew better than to confront her.
Rick was lying on the floor; he was conscious, but it was obvious that he was dazed. Midnight looked down at him.
“Are you okay?” she asked, her voice concerned.
Rick nodded, his narrowed eyes on Joe as he started to stand.
But Midnight stopped him. “No!” she said harshly, holding her hands on him to keep him down.
Her head snapped to look at Joe. She saw that the temporary hesitation on Joe’s part had worn off and he was heading forward to drag Rick up. She jumped to her feet, and shoved him back. Tiny, who had come up behind Joe, grabbed him roughly by the arms and held him firm.
“You,” Midnight said, sputtering in her anger. “I warned you. You’re out of here pal, you’ve just crossed the line.”
Joe’s look was indifferent. “That so?” he said, his
voice antagonistic.
Midnight nodded at him, her eyes blazing. “Yeah that’s so. Get the fuck out, and don’t come back.” She looked at Tiny and gestured to the door with her head.
Then she turned her back on Joe. He was still looking like he didn’t care.
“Get him the hell out of here, Tiny,” she said, her voice cracking on the last word.
There were tears in her eyes as she knelt down next to Rick again. But Joe didn’t see them. Tiny ushered him out the door, and Joe didn’t bother to fight him. He knew that Tiny would do anything for Midnight and that included doing him some serious damage if Joe said or did the wrong thing to Midnight.
Randy had watched the entire scene from her desk. She felt frozen in place. She couldn’t believe what was happening. Tears came to her eyes when Midnight told Joe to get out and not come back. She wanted to run after Joe, but she also wanted to go to Midnight who was crying as she knelt near Rick. Randy watched as Rick got to his feet, bringing Midnight to her feet with him. He hugged her, and then turned and guided her to her office, holding her close. Rick kicked the door closed behind them. The whole office was silent for a full five minutes. Everyone was shocked by what they had just seen. Nobody was sure if Midnight was serious about Joe not coming back, but she had sounded serious. When people started to move about the office again, everything was very subdued and the whole office seemed to feel depressed.
Once outside in his car, Joe sat staring at Midnight’s Corvette that was parked right across from him. He closed his eyes against the deep pain that was starting in his heart. He knew he’d gone too far, he knew that she was serious. He thought it might kill him. It took a long time for him to calm down enough to drive out of the parking lot. No sooner did he get home than he went to the bar. Joe proceeded to drink until he passed out. When he woke up, he started drinking again.
The rest of the day at the office was very tense and very quiet. No one dared to say anything about the scene between Joe, Midnight, and Rick. After about half an hour, Rick had left Midnight’s office while she stayed behind working on reports. No one entered her office and no one approached Rick. He sat at his desk working. There was a bruise starting at his jaw, and the sight of that kept everyone away from him.
Building Empires (MidKnight Blue Book 1) Page 21