The kiss was more magical than the kiss prior to it, and far more passionate than any kiss I had ever experienced. I think, on that night, Katie gave me a part of her that she had been reserving for when she realized I had given her all of me there was to offer. It had nothing to do with the bracelet or the diamonds, it had to do with my heart, and hopefully she realized I had given her no less than my heart and soul.
I had no more of myself to give, she was the recipient of all I had to offer her, and all I could do was hope having me in her life was enough to please her half as much as she pleased me.
As our lips parted and our eyes met, I was sure of one thing and one thing only.
I had truly been blessed.
Chapter Two Hundred Sixty-Seven
Early Winter 2014, Austin, Texas, USA
The entire group paced the hospital waiting room floor, waiting for an answer. Ripp insisted on being alone with Vee during the birth of their child, and that the sex of the child be a surprise. After over two hours of no news whatsoever, the crowd was growing weary.
I walked to the car seat, gazed down at Casey, and shook my head. “Get that little Marine out of that shit you got him wrapped in Kace, you’re smothering him.”
Kace stopped pacing and turned to face me. “Keep your hands off of him, Alec. He’s sleeping. You can hold him later.”
She turned toward Shane. “How long are they going to be in there? I popped mine out in like ten minutes.”
He might have been sleeping, but he looked uncomfortable. It appeared she had him dressed for a Canadian vacation, and although it was technically winter, it was winter in Texas, and the temperature outside was 65 degrees.
“I know he’s hot, he’s got to be,” I said as I reached into the car seat.
Kace stopped pacing and pressed her hands to her hips. “Stop it Alec, you’re going to wake him up.”
As I pulled him from the seat his eyes opened, closed, and opened again. After a few more sessions of opening and closing, he opened them, did his best to focus on me, and gazed up at me with one eye looking directly at me and the other looking toward the wall.
“Stop that, or they’ll stick,” I said with a laugh as I wiped the tips of my fingers over his eye lids.
When they opened again, his eyes were right where they should be.
“That’s more like it. Now, let’s take a walk,” I said as I walked to Katie’s side.
“You ready to be an aunt?” I asked as I leaned forward and kissed her.
“I feel like I already am,” she said. “But yeah, I’m pretty excited.”
I nodded my head and smiled as I bounced Casey in my arms. After a few seconds, he began to fuss.
“He needs me to sing to him, I’ll be right back,” I said.
I walked to the windows, tilted him to the side so he could see the street lights outside, and began to hum.
“You ready for our song?” I asked.
His eyes said yes.
“Here we go…”
As we paced the floor, I began to softly sing the Marine Corps Hymn.
“From the Halls of Montezuma…”
“To the shores of Tripoli…”
“We fight our country's battles…”
“In the air, on land, and sea…”
“First to fight for right and freedom…”
“And to keep our honor clean…”
“We are proud to claim the title…”
“Of United States Marine…”
I continued to pace the floor, not paying much attention to anything other than the baby in my arms. After a few laps across the floor, I shifted my eyes down to Casey. He was fast asleep, but that by no means meant he wasn’t listening to his favorite uncle.
“You see, as Marines, we’re first to fight. Anytime, anyplace, anywhere. As soon as you wake up, I’ll tell you a story about the night Gunny Marshall and I got drunk in Okinawa, Japan. You’ll appreciate it when you’re a little older,” I said.
“You will not, Alec. Don’t fill his head with stories about your drunken escapades,” Kace snapped from across the room.
I glanced toward Kace and grinned, not realizing I had walked close enough for her to hear me. “Just reassuring him he’s safe in my arms.”
The unmistakable sound of someone running down the hallway echoed throughout the hospital. All eyes shifted to the door.
“You motherfucker’s ready?” Ripp screamed as he stepped in front of the door.
“Michael!” his mother gasped. “Don’t say that in the hospital.”
“It ain’t a church, Ma. And it ain’t the dinner table, it’s a fuckin’ hospital,” he said as his eyes darted around the room.
He tossed his hands in the air and widened his eyes. “So, you ready for the news?”
Apparently he didn’t like the lack of response from the crowd and was attempting to develop interest.
“Ready!,” Katie hollered.
“We’ve been waiting for three hours, spill it,” his father bellowed.
Katie walked to my side, squeezed my arm, and waited for the report.
“Eight pounds and fifteen ounces. Almost a nine pounder,” he said. “And both my little girls are doing just fine.”
“A girl?” Kace shouted. “Vee had a girl?”
“We had a girl, she’s ours,” Ripp responded.
“Congratulations, Brother,” I said with a nod.
“A baby girl,” Katie whispered.
“What’s her name?” Kace and Mrs. Ripton asked at the same time.
Ripp remained standing slightly inside the door, and looked like the ring leader for a circus who was making his announcement to the crowd. With his shoes covered in protective booties and still wearing the Tyvek paper suit, it was hard for me to take him seriously.
He waved his arms like an excited child as he responded. “Three at a time can come see her, and her name is Jessica Ann Ripton. We’re gonna call her Jessie. Jessie and Casey, has a nice ring, huh?”
I held Casey with Katie at my side, not necessarily as interested in the birth of Ripp’s daughter as much as I was in holding my nephew. It wasn’t that I didn’t care, or that I was even insensitive to the event, it was more a matter of prioritizing.
Katie was my first commitment, and she was the most important thing to me. Casey was my second, and he was equally important, but his needs were different. I had always done a pretty good job prioritizing my commitments, and the majority of my devotion was currently cradled in my arms.
“How’s Vee?” Kace asked.
“Vee’s doing great,” he responded. “I need to get some cigars; we need to celebrate.”
“Got ‘em right here, Ripper,” Kelsey said as he reached into his gym bag. “Brought several of both, just in case.
“Alec?” Mr. Ripton asked as he held a cigar in the air.
I grinned and shrugged my shoulders. “Still trying to quit.”
He shook his head from side to side and tossed the cigar into the air. I cradled Casey with one arm and caught the cigar with the other. As I shoved the cigar into my back pocket, I glanced around the room.
The excitement lingered heavily in the room. Hugging, talking, and Ripp’s repeated telling of the birth continued until his mother complained about needing to see the baby. After a short argument, Ripp decided to take his parents and Kace in the first wave to see the baby.
I continued to cradle Casey in my arms, hoping Shane wouldn’t object. As Ripp walked out of the room, I wondered how many babies were born throughout the course of a typical day and if that number exceeded the amount of men killed in a normal day during the war.
As Katie began to walk in my direction, her face covered with the satisfaction of being new aunt, I decided it didn’t matter. All that mattered at that moment was what was in my arms, and what was walking toward me.
I was no longer at war, and I was no longer in charge of protecting Marines. My solemn duty, at least at the moment, was to protect the people gat
hered in the waiting room.
And I intended to do that at all costs.
Chapter Two Hundred Sixty-Eight
Early Winter 2014, Austin, Texas, USA
In what was to be our pre-fight celebration, we left the kids with the grandparents and had gone out on the town the night before Shane’s heavyweight championship fight. He was an extremely humble man, and he certainly didn’t act like the celebrity he had become. He was soon going to be fighting in a match with tens of millions of people watching which would net him in excess of 50 million dollars if he won. To be in his presence, however, a person would have no idea he was any different than anyone else.
I couldn’t help but admire his simplistic way of living life. His quiet and humble demeanor resembled mine in many ways. He was not one to tell stories about the events of his life, and didn’t care to brag about what his accomplishments were. Ripp was a completely different person, and I felt that Shane and I both lived vicariously through him.
After a late night of drinking and listening to Ripp’s stories, one of which was about him throwing up on his daughter after smelling her diaper, we decided to call it a night.
“Big fight tomorrow, Dekk,” I said as I patted Shane on the back.
Walking down the sidewalk with his arm over Kace, he glanced over his shoulder and grinned. “Hope I don’t embarrass myself.”
“All you can do is give it your best, Brother,” I said.
“He’s gonna smash that dude,” Ripp said.
Shane’s opponent, ‘Tick-Tock’ Brock earned his nickname from knocking out his rivals in a matter of minutes. According to his camp, the clock ticked past the seconds until the inevitable happened.
He was massive, he was strong, and he was as mean of a boxer to ever step in the ring with anyone. But, in my opinion, he wasn’t as determined as Shane. All Shane needed to do was get angry. And making him angry wasn’t always an easy feat.
“It’s not going to be that easy, Ripp. We’ll see,” Shane said as we walked alongside the parking lot where Vee had parked her SUV.
The bar we had been in was in a district labeled Dirty Sixth, which was the east side of 6th street in downtown Austin, and earned its name from being a filthy place to be. The area was filled with bars and other forms of entertainment but deciding what to enjoy and what to avoid wasn’t always easy.
Parking was disastrous, and remote parking areas were generally the only option. Luckily we had found one close to the bar we were patronizing, and by the grace of God, Vee’s SUV wasn’t stolen while we were in the bar.
As we stepped into the parking lot, Vee, Katie, and I walked to the left side of the SUV, and Ripp, Shane, and Kace walked to the right side. Immediately after Vee pressed her key fob and unlocked the vehicle, the dirty side of 6th street emerged.
“Oh my God! Shane!” I heard Kace screech.
Her voice clearly conveyed her fear. I ducked down and peered through the windows toward the other side of the vehicle. Although I couldn’t see everyone, I was able to see all I needed to see.
A man had a gun pointed directly at Shane’s head.
“What happened?” Katie asked.
“Listen,” I whispered as I shifted my eyes back and forth between Vee and Katie. “There’s a man with a gun. Do not walk around the other side of the car. Is that understood?”
“Oh my God,” Katie whispered.
“I’ll be right back,” I said as I leaned forward and kissed her.
She pulled away and glared at me. “Alec, no. He could kill you. I’ll just call the police.”
I glanced through the windows again. The man continued to hold the gun at Shane’s head and seemed to be mumbling demands. There was no time to argue, and there was no time for the police. In a city like Austin, the police wouldn’t arrive for half an hour, and a robbery like this ended – one way or another – in less than five minutes.
“I’ll be right back,” I said.
“Please,” Katie begged.
“Go,” Vee whispered as she wrapped her arm around Katie.
“Alec…”
“I’ll be right back,” I assured her.
As Katie began to softly cry, I slumped my shoulders and sauntered to the other side of the SUV.
As I walked around the back side of the vehicle, I could clearly see everyone and everything. Half of the parking lot lamps were broken, but the illumination from the adjacent building’s lights was enough for me to see what I needed to. The man, wearing a dingy black hoodie and dirty jeans, appeared to be holding a semi-automatic pistol with an external safety. My intention was to take it from him without him shooting me or anyone else during the process. With his back slightly to me, and Shane, Kace, and Ripp facing me, I raised my right index finger to my lips as I slowly approached them.
“Give me all your muh muh money, boxer man,” the man stammered.
“Give him whatever he wants,” Kace shouted.
Quiet down, Kace.
Apparently he knew Shane was a professional boxer and had probably seen us going into the bar and recognized Shane. His two-hour wait let me know he was determined to get what he came for.
“Babe. Just settle down, I’ll give him whatever he wants,” Shane said.
“Well, get get get to givin’, muh muh motherfucker,” the man stuttered.
With the gun an inch from his forehead and his hands held in the air at each of his sides, Shane responded. “I’ll give you what I’ve got but…”
I cleared my throat lightly to get his attention. “But, I carry the money. I’m his bodyguard. I’ve got all the cash.”
You need to focus on me, motherfucker.
“Duh duh don’t walk up on me, Mr. fuh fuh fucking bodyguard. I’ll kuh kuh kill this boxer lickety split if you do,” he said as his eyes darted back and forth between Shane and me.
As I continued to study the pistol, I walked in a wide sweeping pattern around the four of them and stepped beside Shane. I wanted the man to be as comfortable as he could be considering the circumstances. Having his attention diverted to behind him may have caused Ripp to attempt something, or possibly even Shane, neither of which would end well for anyone.
“Listen. I’ve got the money. So, you’re going to need to talk to me. But we’ve got a little problem,” I said as I shifted my eyes to the pistol he held.
Colt 1911 A1, cocked and locked.
Thank God.
He’ll have to release the safety.
The pistol he held would require two steps before it could be fired. First, the safety would have to be flipped to off. Second, he would have to pull the trigger. The entire process, if performed by an absolute idiot, would take one second. A second didn’t sound like much time, but it was all I needed. The extra step of flipping the safety provided me just enough time to do what I needed to do.
I shifted my focus from the pistol to his eyes. “He pays me to keep his money safe, you know, protect it. Now, I can’t just give it to you or he’s going to fire me as soon as you’re gone – and I’ll lose my fucking job.”
“So for me to let you have it, I’m going to need you to point the gun at me and threaten me,” I said.
I needed him to move the gun directly in front of me, preferably either at my chest or directly at my head.
“I ain’t duh duh dumb. He’ll buh buh box my ears when I muh muh move the gun,” he stuttered.
His eyes told me he was long overdue for whatever drugs he intended to buy with his proceeds from the robbery. He was a time bomb waiting to explode.
Eliminate his perceived threat, Jacob.
I shook my head lightly. “No he won’t. I’ll make sure he doesn’t do a god damned thing. It’s my job to keep him safe, and keep you happy. You’re just going to have to trust me.”
His eyes remained focused on me while I spoke, which at least let me know he was more concerned with getting paid than anything else.
“He’s got seventeen bucks in his wallet, and I’ve got ten thousand bu
cks, so you need to pay attention to me, not him,” I said.
His eyes fell to my feet, quickly raised the length of my body, and eventually he met my gaze.
“Dekk, slowly put your hands in your jeans pockets. And I mean slow. Kace, I need you to take four steps to your left, babe. Just four. And stand there quietly. Ripp, Brother, don’t you dare fucking move,” I said calmly.
“Now, as soon as he gets his hands deep in his pockets, you’re going to need to point the gun at my head,” I explained.
“Alec, no!” I heard Katie scream from the other side of the car.
“It’ll be just fine Katie,” I said. “We’ll all be sipping slurpies at the 7-Eleven in five minutes. I promise, Baby.”
As Shane lowered his hands and pushed them into his pockets, the robber’s eyes shifted downward and then quickly raised. As they darted back and forth between Shane and me, I gave my next command.
“Dekk, step four steps to the side slowly, and stand by your girl. He’ll move the gun when you do. Just make it slow, Brother,” I explained.
“I uhhm…” Shane began.
“Just move slowly. He doesn’t want you, he wants me because I’ve got the money,” I lied.
Shane slowly stepped to my left and wrapped his arms around Kace. Ripp, still standing to my right, was potentially in the danger zone. Normally, there would be a few ways I could disarm the man, but with the people I was trying to protect on my left, there was only one way to do it, and it was the least favorable.
“Ripp, move to my left and stand with them. I really need you to go over there, Brother. Being behind me like that makes me nervous, and I know it makes him nervous too. You’re just too damned close,” I said flatly.
“Wuh wuh what about thu thu the ten grand, fucker?” the gunman asked as he moved the gun directly in front of my forehead.
As he stood and stared at me with uncertain eyes, I slowly raised my hands as if I was scared, stopping them in front of my chest.
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