Emory

 

Love is the bane of no man’s existence…

 

 

 

 

It’s been a long day at the shop, I go to leave but my phone pings, letting me know I have a message. I check it and am pleasantly surprised that it’s from my sister, I haven’t heard from Marcus all day, and was hoping it was from him.

 

Ariel: I’m at your house.

 

Well, one last stop for me it seems. I don’t bother replying, knowing that I’ll be seeing her soon. I pull out of the driveway, and notice Rainey is following me instead of going in the other direction towards her house. Guess it’s a family night at my home, we closed the shop earlier than normal, it’s midnight, but it suddenly dawns on me that Ariel shouldn’t be at my house this time of night. It was different before she became a wife and mother, we’d usually end up at one or the other’s house to unwind. Her getting Devon out of the house, at this hour, has me anxious to make my way home.

When I pull into my driveway, I was not expecting to pull into a madhouse. In my front yard, I see Marcus and Dillon toe to toe in an argument that doesn’t look like it’s going to end well. It’s then I finally notice that my yard is littered with motorcycles and club members. Not just the men this time either, their women have come along for the ride. I quickly get out of the car, so I can diffuse whatever this situation is before something happens that could possibly divide my family.

“What in the hell is going on here?” I holler out.

Everyone stops and turns and looks at me, I get the ‘deer in the headlights’, and ‘we’ve been caught’ looks and I have to hold back the laughter that wants to bubble out of me. Knowing that this situation isn’t funny, I just barely am able to hold onto my composure. “Marcus, you’re home,” I say running and leaping into his arms. He catches me and buries his nose into my shoulder, I can feel him take deep breaths in.

“Hey, baby, sorry I didn’t call you once I got home, but I needed the guys’ undivided attention,” he says, placing a kiss on the nape of my neck. I lean back and then reach up and grab his hair in my hands, I pull him down to me and place my lips on his.

“That’s the type of kiss you give your woman when you’ve been away and haven’t seen her in days,” I tell him.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” he says, and smiles, the first one I’ve seen since I pulled up.

“Think we can take this shindig inside, I do have neighbors you know?”

“Yeah, baby. You heard my woman, let’s move things inside.” He grabs my hand and pulls me inside with him. I’m so happy that he’s made it home, but I know that something’s not right. I can feel it deep down in my bones, and the sullen look on his face would give it away even if my gut wasn’t screaming it out at me. I look over and see my sisters trailing in behind us, and Dillon is giving Marcus a look that sends shivers down my spine. He looks almost lethal, and I’ve only seen that look on his face one other time, when Ariel was in danger. This thought halts me where I am, and I pull back on Marcus’ hand.

“Is Ariel in danger again?” I ask, not ready to hear the answer, even though I really want to know.

“Have a seat, baby, and I’ll tell you everything I found out while I was away.”

 

 

Stunned. I’m sitting here, and stunned, is the only way I can describe how I’m feeling. My mind is racing, how does someone escape military custody? I can’t wrap my brain around it, and when I asked the question, no one had any answers. Apparently, it’s top secret and they aren’t privy to that type of information, even though their lives, our lives, are at stake.

“I can’t believe he blames you all, he’s the one who did this to himself,” Ariel says, bringing me out of my inner musings.

“I can’t believe you’d bring this kind of trouble to our family!” Dillon hollers out as he paces the living room floor.

“Now wait a minute!” I say, having enough of his sulking. “Marcus has done nothing wrong here, Dillon. He served his country, he is not responsible for the actions of other people. This is ridiculous, no one blamed you for your psychotic father, and we all fell victim to his actions, one way or another. Instead of pointing the finger in his direction, you should be thanking him for his service to his country,” I’m on a roll now. I am pissed, no I am livid! “He went over there, with the intent to protect and serve, not to take down one of his own and help put him away. If anyone is to blame, it’s this Branson asshole!” Once I finish my tirade, I hear applause, and look around and see everyone applauding my words, even my sister, who is giving her husband a very mean look, one that says retribution will be had in private once they’re home.

Dillon slides down the wall he stopped at during his pacing, and looks up at Marcus, and myself. “You’re right, damnit! I’m just pissed that we finally had everything past us, and now we have another threat to our family. I’m sorry, Marcus,” he says, and I can tell he means every word of it.

“I understand, man, and all is forgiven, I would probably feel the same way in your shoes,” Marcus says, holding out his hand and helping Dillon up, they do that man slap thing on the back that I still don’t understand. If I was to slap one of my sisters’ backs in that fashion, I’d find myself lying flat on my own.

The women gather in the kitchen as the men meet in the living room. We all start discussing kids and what antics they’ve gotten into lately when I hear my own begin to cry. I get a bottle ready and head into her room, she’ll want to be changed first, then eat, then she likes to have some one-on-one time alone before she succumbs to sleep. It’s a ritual I love, and one I look forward to each and every night that I walk through the front doors after a long day catering to grown people.

 

 

I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I know, I hear the rumblings of many bikes, as they fire up and head down the street. We’re going to have to move if this is to become a common occurrence. My neighbors won’t appreciate all the motorcycles shifting gears and loudly making an entrance or exit from our neighborhood. I get up and put Shyann back into her crib and turning out the bedroom light, I look over and am satisfied when I see her snuggle down into her bed. I head into the living room and see Marcus sitting there with his head hung down. He looks so defeated that I want to banish all of the ghosts that are haunting him. Unfortunately, I can’t do that, all I can do is be here for him in his time of need and lend an ear when he needs to talk.

“It’s not your fault, you know that, right?” I ask as I sit down next to him.

“It sure feels that way,” he says on a sigh. I lean my head on his shoulder just to let him know I’m here. He lifts his arm and wraps it around my shoulder, we both fall back into the couch and he pulls me closer to him.

“I can’t lose you or Shyann,” he whispers out.

“I’ve told you before that you won’t,” I reply.

“I can’t help but worry, Branson is unpredictable, Emory. He never has the same pattern in anything that he does. It’s why it took so long for us to track him to the fires and knowing that he killed Shyann’s parents is killing me.”

“I blame the military for that one,” I tell him. “They should’ve informed you all the second he managed to escape. It may or may not have changed the outcome, but at least everyone could have been prepared for him to attack. From what you’ve told me, he’s always been unstable, they should’ve let you guys know that danger to you all was out there lurking around.”

“The ball got dropped somewhere,” he says.

“Makes you wonder doesn’t it?”

“Wonder what, baby?”

“If the same guy who dropped that ball was in anyway involved in his escape.” Suddenly, he jumps up from the couch and walks out of the room with his phone to his ear. I hope my thought helps them figure out this mystery. Deciding to let him do his thing, I head to the bedroom and grab my nightclothes for a much-needed shower. I need to wash as much of this day away as possible. After a quick shower, I go into the bedroom to see it’s empty, I crawl into bed and am asleep before my head even hits the pillow.