Charlie's Whiskey

by Harlow Brown

  "Whiskey?"

  "Yeah, babes?"

  "You okay? For someone who needed me so badly, you’re moving awfully slow."

  "Oh, I do need you. Trust me, more than anything. I just want this. Just us."

  "You sure you’re okay? You’re acting like a chick."

  "How's this for chick?" I pulled her as close as I could get her so that she could feel my body against hers.

  "Well, I don't have that anatomy, so can I take back my previous statement?" she asked in a coy voice.

  "Only upstairs."

  "Let's go. It sounds like I have some wrongs to right.'' Then she took off running upstairs as I leisurely followed to our room.

  At the top of the stairs, my eyes deceived me. My heart sped up, and my world stopped. There was Charlie—my angel, my fighter, my soul mate—in the arms of Hensley, and he had her at gunpoint.

  The look of sheer distress on her face broke my heart, pissed me off, and terrified me all at once.

  "Well, well, well. I see this is going to be fun. Charlie, I told you that I'd have you. It would’ve been easier if you had just cooperated from the beginning," Hensley said in true douche bag fashion.

  "Hensley, please let me go. I know you don’t want me, so tell me why you’re so insistent," Charlie begged.

  "You’re right. I don't want you. You’re pathetic and have nothing to offer anyone. You are scarred and barren, of no use except for a warm wet place to rest a dick. I know your parents left you money. I want it, and if you want to see this piece of shit biker trash again, you'll come with me and give me what I want."

  The bastard only used her for her money. "Babes, he’s wrong. I need you. I don't want anything from you, except you. I love you, and I will get you back. I promise. No, I swear on all that I am and all that I have, Charlie. I'll get you back." I wanted to lunge at him and take the fucker down, but he had a gun to her head. "Charlie, go with him and do what he says. Make it easy for yourself."

  I knew if I wasted enough time that Briar would come up here. He and Jazz weren't in on the party downstairs.

  I raised my voice loud enough so that someone could hear me. "Hensley, if you lay a finger on her, I'll kill you. Do you hear me, motherfucker?"

  "Yeah, I hear you. I just don't know how you think you’ll get me, or her, when we leave here. You won't see her again."

  "This is how!" Briar exclaimed, his gun aimed at Hensley's face when he came busting through the door. He spoke slow and with purpose. "Let her go, or I kill you. Simple as that. You have till the count of three. One. Two. Bang."

  "No!" I screamed as Charlie crumpled to the ground. I rushed over to her and wrapped her in my arms. "Charlie, fuck me, Charlie. I'm here. I love you, babes. Talk to me."

  "I love you. too. Calm down. I'm all right."

  I looked down and saw blood. "Then where is this coming from?"

  Immediately, I saw Hensley in a flaccid pile in the middle of the room.

  "Shit," Briar muttered, then turned away. "Jazz, I said only if things got bad. Now we have a body to dispose of."

  "For the record, Briar, things did get bad. Three years of bad. He crossed a line, and I wanted to make him pay, but I didn’t kill him. I left that for Charlie. I just wounded him. Charlie girl, you'd better have a plan for the fucker because if not, I got no problem ending him."

  "Yeah, I got a plan. I just need some mirrors and a room that’s secluded where no one will hear him. This won't be pleasant."

  "Babes, have you been to the basement here?" I asked her.

  "No, didn't know you could have a basement at a beach. How does that even work?"

  "Money. Lots of it. That's where the shine is made and stored. No one thinks twice about it being here because most people with any sense don't pay an ass-ton of money for a basement. Usually, they just build bigger garages.”

  "That works. Let's get this cleaned up before the girls get up here. Raige is nosey, and I'm sure they’re expecting us back soon, Whiskey."

  She walked over to Hensley and kicked him in the gut with as much force as a petite person could muster. "Don't fuck with me. I will win, and I have an astounding support team that loves…." She stopped abruptly and whipped around to me. "You love me?" she asked.

  "It wasn't ever a question. I just had it in my mind that my past pain would resurface if I said it out loud. I should use my head. You’re different, Charlie. I have loved you since the first time you got on my bike. I knew something was different with you that night on the porch, but the feeling solidified when we went riding to help you forget. There’s a part of that journey that will always be embedded in my brain, and it’s the moment I felt the fall."

  She looked down into Hensley’s eyes, so she could see the look on his face. "Whiskey, I love you. I can't wait to marry you."

  "Go you two. I'll get him dealt with," Briar said.

  "Wait. How did you know where I was? We took off the tracking devices you put on my car," she asked Hensley.

  In a shaky voice, he said, "I can't give away all of my secrets."

  "That's fine, ass wipe. I'll figure it out."

  ''Hey, Hensley!" I yelled at him. "Watch this." I grabbed Charlie and kissed her like she'd never been kissed. I told her how scared I was just minutes before, how much I wanted her to be my wife, and how much she meant to me all in one kiss.

  It was a good thing Jazz had that silencer put on her pistol. With that on her little .22 caliber the party down on the beach didn't hear a thing. I took Charlie's hand and led her back down to her teammates.

  As we were walking, I said, "Can you act like nothing just happened up there?"

  "I acted for three years, Whiskey. I can handle it. I just want to get to the bottom of how he found me. That's what unnerves me most. But I feel gross knowing he touched me, so I’m going for a dip. The girls will just think I needed an after-sex swim."

  "Charlie, you know when shit like this happens I want to put you in a fucking bubble so no one can hurt you, right?"

  "As much as I appreciate that, I'd have to say I'd pop the bubble and do what I wanted."

  "Figured. However, you won't be going anywhere alone for a while. Not after that."

  "Good. I don't want to. Not yet, anyhow."

  We continued our walk to the beach, and then she said to me in a concerned voice, "I want to know how he found me."

  "We will. But for now, let's drink and hang out with your friends. Besides, I need to fill Magnum in on shit."

  "You're back so soon?” Haze said as she wiggled her eyebrows.

  Clearing her throat, Charlie said. "Yeah, well, when it's this good it doesn't take long. The boy has skills," she announced as she headed towards the water.

  "Damn. Will you show me?" she said before she thought, obviously. "Wait. That came out wrong. I mean not show me, but fuck…. Never mind."

  I chuckled and told her that Shooter could probably show her some things.

  Splash!

  I turned and saw Charlie rising above the water, and damn if it didn't hit me right in the gut. She looked like someone out of one of the Baywatch scenes. Her beauty amazed me. There I was, supposed to be a mean-ass dude, and all l could think about was my girl's beauty. She’d taken away my man card and she didn't even know it.

  Soon after she trailed off into the water, the other girls followed, which gave me a perfect time to talk to Magnum.

  "Mag, I need to talk to you."

  He was there in a second. "Sup?"

  "Hensley is here."

  "Here as in Florida here?"

  "No. Well yes, but he's here like ‘in the basement with a bullet hole from Jazz’ kind of here."

  "What the actual fuck? How'd…?"

  "Don't know. But I'm going to find out. You can bet your ass."

  "What do you need?"

  "Tell Chief and Fury what's going on. Charlie and I tried to escape for a little alone time, and when I got to the room Hensley had her with a gun to her head. Since Briar and Jazz weren
't down here, I knew they were in the house. They heard me bellowing and busted in. Jazz shot him."

  "Shit the bed, dude. Y'all okay?"

  "Yeah. Charlie wants the basement full of mirrors. She wasn't kidding about her plan."

  "She'll get it. I’ll get her whatever she wants if it means the fucker dies."

  "He will, one way or another. Between Charlie and Jazz, the dude will meet his maker."

  NIGHT APPROACHED, AND we all got out of the water. We were more than drunk, hungry, and waterlogged. Briar and Jazz, with Whiskey helping out as well, had dinner going so that when we were all changed it would be nearly done. I had a buzz and hatred flowing through me. Just knowing Hensley was in the same house made me want to vomit and commit capital murder at the same time. My eyes wandered the room, and I didn't see Magnum. Whiskey had told me earlier that he would tell him what happened. I knew where he was, but didn't want to think about it. If I did, I just wanted to kill Hensley sooner. Seeing as Whiskey was helping Briar, I decided to go for a stroll.

  I wanted one last time alone with the bastard, but not knowing where the basement was made it a little harder. I guess I had to tell Whiskey. So, I walked up to him and pulled him aside.

  "What up, babes? You okay?"

  "Yes, but I want to give Hensley a piece of my mind. Where is the basement?"

  "No."

  "No? No? Who the fuck do you think you’re talking to? I don't—"

  "Shh…. No, as in you ain't going alone. I'll take you down there. Damn, Fireball makes you feisty."

  "I want to go alone."

  "No. That's the end of that. I will not chance you being put in danger. I'll go with you, or send Riddick seeing as he's on door duty. But that fucker has touched you for the last time. And just so we’re clear, the only reason he ain't dead yet is that I know how badly you want to watch the life fade from his eyes. It’s taking every ounce of my being not to go downstairs right now and slit his throat and watch him bleed out."

  "As much as that pisses me off, it’s equally as hot…. And that pisses me off. Damn it."

  "I'll take care of you later if you still think it's hot, but for now, let's go down there. Why do you want to, anyhow?''

  "I don't know. I just have some shit on my mind, and I want him to know it. And I want to try to find out how he found me."

  "Okay then. Let me tell Briar where we’re going."

  "Fine." I had a few minutes to myself to try and gather my thoughts. What was I going to tell him? Why did I need to do this? Was it for some kind of sick closure? Whatever the reason, I knew how fucked up it was.

  "Let's go, babes." He took my hand and pulled me behind him through the halls.

  "Can you please tell me why you’re dragging me?"

  "Just trying to hurry and get this over with, that’s all. Still ain't sure why you think it's necessary, but I’ve never been in your shoes so I’m just going with it. I trust you understand, though." He abruptly stopped and spun around to look at me. "You cannot come here without Briar or me. There will be a prospect at the door at all times, and he will be informed of the same. Charlie, I'm not kidding, I will go to any means necessary to keep this prick from touching you again."

  "Fine, whatever."

  "Great. Now you're pissed."

  "Yes. Now just take me to him, please."

  "Suit yourself." He sighed. "I'm sorry you’re upset, but I will never apologize for keeping you safe."

  That made sense and put the thing into perspective. Knowing that he was coming from a place of love made it hard to stay angry. I'd have done the same thing if the roles were reversed.

  "I'm sorry. I just really hate orders."

  "I know you do, but I will stop at nothing to make sure you’re not hurt again. I couldn't live with myself if something happened and it was because I let down my guard."

  "I love you. I'm still mad, but I love you all the same," I said honestly.

  "Well, I love you too, and I think I like you tipsy. Your attitude is sexy."

  Once we were down by the stairs, Whiskey opened the door under the stairwell. In the floor there laid another door. He opened it and turned on a light. "Be careful. Don't fall."

  I climbed down into the hole in the floor, followed closely by Whiskey. Once on solid ground again, he took my hand and led me down a hall. Instead of a handle, though, it had a latch that looked like part of the wood, so it blended well.

  "Charlie, this is where the still is." He pointed to the door as we walked past it.

  A little ways down the hall, Riddick stood up tall. "Whiskey. What are you doing down here with her, man?"

  "She's my girl, and I'll bring whoever I want anywhere I want. Feel that, prospect?"

  "Yeah, I feel it. He's been quiet."

  "Good," I chimed in. "I have shit to say. Open the door please."

  "Damn, dude, she's hot."

  The sound of Riddick hitting the wall echoed. "If I hear you talking about or to her in a less-than-respectful way again, I'll make sure the vote isn't unanimous for you to be voted in. Then after the vote, I will kick your ass. Feel that?"

  "Yeah." He acknowledged he had overstepped his bounds and was officially walking on thin ice.

  "Now open the goddamn door like she asked."

  Riddick cut his eyes to me and pushed the door open. Inside, I saw the person who used to be my future, the one who had my heart, the one who took the one thing I wouldn't get back. Anger, pity, sorrow, and anxiety seeped out of my pores. So many emotions were at war inside my head, just begging to be let free.

  I grabbed a chair and sat it right in front of him. He held his shoulder and raised his angry hate-filled eyes at me. "What in the fuck do you want?" he spat.

  "Just had something to say to you. Figured I better do it now before I kill you in a couple days…. Provided Jazz lets you last that long."

  "Oh, Char, you won't go through with it. I know you better."

  "You mean you knew the weak and fragile Charlie, the one you ruined and manipulated into a nothing shell of my real self? She died when Whiskey revived my soul and brought the real me back to life. I'll damn sure carry it out. You can bet your sorry ass on that. I just wanted to let you have one last piece of me before I kill you. I want you to know that you didn't break me. No, that would mean you win. Fuck that. That’s one thing you don’t get to claim. You might have beaten me senseless, but I'm the one who broke me.

  “You see, I broke my own heart by falling in love with you. I don’t even miss the future I thought I was supposed to have with you any longer. All you can claim are the scars on my flesh, not my heart, and damn sure not my future. The ugliness you marked me with can be taken away. So, let it be known that you've no real hold on me anymore. Also, I'll find out how you found me, and I'll see to it that it’s dealt with appropriately. You fucked with the wrong girl for too long. Enjoy your last days." I walked over and punched his newest flesh wound.

  All he could do was scream in agony. I wasn't even offering him a Tylenol.

  As I reached the door, where Whiskey patiently awaited, he muttered the words that brought me to my knees.

  "You bitch. I enjoyed my night of drinking and wild sex with Garyn the night your parents died. She fucks better than you ever dreamed of, and you should know your mom went suddenly. Your dad, though? He struggled for air and had a slower, more painful death. The last thing he heard was me telling him that I would have your money and that you were a lousy fuck."

  As fast as I hit my knees and had the breath knocked out of me, I stood back up, determined that he wouldn’t see me lose my composure. I turned around to see a blur of Whiskey breeze past me and hit him in the head several times. He finally knocked him out.

  "Whiskey, he ain't worth it. And if you finish him off now, I don't get to. Please, hearing what I just heard, I need to be the one who takes his life. He owes me that," I pled as tears trickled down my face.

  "Then let's get out of here because I can't promise you I won't snap his
neck like a fucking twig."

  Once we got outside the door, Riddick just looked at the two of us and asked, "Whiskey, what do I need to do?"

  "Get a boat with a compartment in the hull. Hensley's lifeless body will take its final ride there, and he will be buried at sea. Cocksucker will be shark food."

  "Got it."

  Whiskey turned to me. "Babes, are you okay?"

  "I will be when I see the fucker take his last breath. That's what Daddy was talking about. Now it makes sense. God bless, I want to see him again! I want to tell him I know what happened, and I swear on everything that I will make it as right as I can."

  "I know you do. It isn't fair that this piece of shit got to live and your parents died. He will pay. I swear to you."

  "Garyn! Of all people, he went to a sister. How could he? How could she? I'll be goddamned if I play a championship tournament with a back-stabbing, slutty, whore-bag, murderous bitch. You just wait until I get a hold of her. I'll mop the fucking floor with her. I'll also have the rest of my girls on my side.''

  "Let's go tell them what happened. I have a feeling shit is about to hit the fan.” He paused. “Charlie?"

  "What?"

  "I'm not leaving your side. I'll be right here the whole time. Promise."

  "Where the hell have you been all my life. Seriously?"

  "Lost," he said calmly. "Let's go. I need a beer, and I'm sure you could use another. I'll tell Briar."

  "Yes, I want a beer, or seven, but I'll tell Briar and Jazz. They need to hear it from me. They’re the ones who were there for me through that hellacious time. It should come out of my mouth. Thank you for offering, though."

  "Come again?" Jazz muttered after I told her what had transpired mere minutes before.

  "I didn't fucking stutter. Garyn. He was fucking Garyn. That's how he found me, and he’s the one… well, they are the ones who were driving the vehicle that killed Momma and Daddy."