Chapter 11
Pipe
This place was a fucking hell hole.
From the outside, it looked like a well-maintained duplex, and from what I had seen from Nikki’s side, hers was well kept. My side was a different fucking story.
This is what happens when you decide to rent a place sight unseen. There was a deck off the kitchen, and I knew that was where I was going to end up spending most of my time.
It had the same layout as Nikki’s, but nothing was updated, the carpet was a crunchy beige, and the walls were gray, but I think they had started out white. Four of the kitchen cabinets didn’t even have doors, and the kitchen faucet leaked, bad. The bathroom and bedrooms were just carbon copies of the living room and kitchen.
Thank God I planned on wooing the hell out of Nikki, and I hoped to be out of here in a month tops.
I hadn’t packed much in the way of furniture, but I at least had a bed and a couch. Maniac had been cool enough to drive a cage up to Kales Corners and drop off my shit. He was making another trip today, dropping off other shit I needed. Other shit that included a coffee maker, cups, plates, and silverware. This moving out on your own shit was hard. Probably something I should have figured out in my twenties, not when I was thirty-four.
Right now, I had a bottle of water, a half pack of cigarettes, and that was it. It was at least the essentials.
Last night, I had watched Nikki come home with some old guy following her. I had to fight back the urge to go out to make sure she was okay, but I knew I couldn’t come charging out of the house. She had run from me before. I didn’t want to make the same mistakes; so for right now, she wasn’t going to find out I was here until I wanted her to know.
Grabbing the keys to my motorcycle, my cigarettes off the counter, and headed out the door. My first mission today was to get an ally on my side.
Nikki had mentioned Alice worked at the diner in town, and I knew if I wanted to get Nikki, I was going to have to get her friends on my side. I knew Karmen liked me, although the past couple of days she had given me the eat shit look. I had to assume Nikki had told her what had happened between us. That was fixable.
I pulled up to the diner, saw four cars in the parking lot, and parked next to the door. Four bay windows lined the front of the restaurant, and I noticed everyone sitting by the window turned to watch me, Alice included. There went my idea of walking in under the radar.
“You have balls of steel,” Alice hissed at me when I sat down at the counter.
I dropped my keys and cigarettes on the counter and flipped over the coffee cup in front of me. “Give me five minutes before you start laying into me, Alice. I haven’t had any coffee yet.”
She grabbed the coffee pot from behind her and filled my cup. “You have two minutes.” She flounced off, moving around to the other tables refilling coffee cups and checking on everyone.
Two minutes were better than none.
I sipped the hot coffee and looked around the restaurant. I felt like I had been teleported back to the nineteen fifties, and at any moment, the Fonz was about to walk through the door.
Black and white tile on the floor, red and black booths, and a long counter that stretched the length of the restaurant with swiveling chairs lined in front of it.
There was a guy behind the counter, and through the window into the kitchen, he was not so secretly staring me down. This was the kind of welcome I knew I was going to get. After spending only a few hours in Kales Corners last weekend, I knew an outsider was not going to fit in easily. Especially one who rode a motorcycle and looked like me. I had left off wearing my cut today, but I knew I was still intimidating.
“What in the hell are you doing here?” Alice hissed as she sat down next to me.
“Hey, you’re on the clock, Alice,” the old guy in the kitchen called.
“I’m also on break, Bos. I’m entitled to those, you know.”
He waved his hand at her and disappeared to the left of the window.
I sipped my coffee, and Alice watched me.
“Look here, big motorcycle man. What in the hell are you doing in Kales Corners? It better not be to see Nikki.”
I looked over at her and shook my head. “I don’t have a coffee maker.”
“So you just thought you would drive an hour to get some of our sludge to drink? Are you insane? All that handsome wasted,” she tsked.
I set down my cup and swiveled toward Alice. “I didn’t just drive here for a cup of coffee. I moved here.”
Alice sputtered and uncontrollably blinked her eyes about twenty times. “Come again?”
“I moved here. Specifically in the duplex next to Nikki.”
She lifted her hand to my forehead and frowned. “I thought for sure you would have a fever because that is the only thing that would explain what the hell you just said.”
I lifted her hand off my forehead and shook my head. “I feel fine. I’m here because I fucked up before, and this was the only way I could fix it.”
“Well, you’re right on the first part. You really did fuck up.”
Great, Nikki had told her too what had happened. “Look, in my defense, I had no idea what the hell I was doing.”
“So you did the typical male thing and decided to sleep with whatever slut tried to throw themselves at you.” She crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head. “I don’t know what the heck you are doing here, but I can tell you right now, Nikki is my friend, and I have no plans to go behind her back for you.”
“I don’t want you to go behind her back.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “So Nikki knows you are here talking to me?”
“No, I thought she could find out when she actually learns I moved here.”
Alice tossed her hands in the air and stood up. “Oh, hell no. She doesn’t even know you are here?”
I shook my head. “Not yet. I got into town yesterday, and she didn’t get off of work until late last night.”
“So why didn’t you go over there this morning?”
“Because I may have only spent one night with Nikki, but I know she doesn’t do anything ‘til after nine in the morning.”
Alice scoffed. “If that ain’t the truth. She always sticks Bev and me with the early mornings. Although I don’t really like working the night shift, so I’m good with that.”
“I just came in here to let you know I’m here, and I have no plans of leaving unless Nikki is with me.”
She crossed her arms over her chest and looked down at me. “And why the hell do you think I should believe that? You tossed her aside like she was nothing back in Weston. I really doubt you’ve had that big of a change of heart in a month.”
“Look, I’m not going to explain this to you before I even talk to Nikki, but just know I’m not going anywhere. I don’t need you on my side, but I just wanted you to know and hope you won’t bash me too hard when Nikki tells you I’m here.”
“I’m the friend. It’s my job to bash the guy who broke my friend's heart.”
I reared back. “Broke her heart?”
Alice rolled her eyes. “You really are a man,” she mumbled. “Look, I’m gonna lay this out for you only in the hopes you’ll leave, terrified. That night may have been fun for you, but to Nikki, that was a whole lot more than one night. She came back to you that night because she wanted to be with you but instead you had a slut in your room but you were a dumbass and were more concerned about getting your dick wet in the nearest hole. If you’re only here to reenact that night and then leave, I would just leave right now. You hurt Nikki before. You do it again, and I’ll cut your nuts off.” She made a snipping motion with her fingers and flounced off.
Well, that was not how I expected that to go at all. My plan to possibly get Alice on my side had backfired. Now she was just more pissed off then she had been before.
I tossed a five down on the counter, grabbed my keys and cigarettes, and left the diner. I was hungry, but I was afraid Alice would spit in my food before she brought it to me.
I shoved a cigarette into my mouth, lit the end, and pulled my phone out of my pocket. “Yo,” I said when Maniac answered.
“I’m about to leave. Is there anything else you need? I got all the shit you messaged me this morning.”
“That should be it. You think you can stop and get some breakfast?” My stomach growled, and I glanced back at the diner. Alice was standing at the door, guarding it from me. Dammit.
“Yeah. What do you want?” Maniac asked.
“Breakfast burrito or something like that.”
“Can do,” Maniac mumbled. “Anything else I can pick up?”
“Nah, that should be it. I’m headed back to the house. I’ll see you when you get there.” I ended the call and shoved the phone in my pocket.
I swung my leg over my bike and inhaled deeply. The nicotine traveled through my body, and I relaxed a little bit.
I knew this wasn’t going to be easy. Winning over Nikki’s friend was going to have to happen later because right now, Nikki was my only concern.
Once Maniac got here, unloaded the rest of my shit, and had breakfast, I was going to figure out my next move.
That move was going to involve Nikki, and I couldn’t help but be a little wary of how she was going to react.
I finished my cigarette, and tossed the butt on the ground, grinding it with the heel of my boot.
This wasn’t going to be easy, although nothing worth it ever was.
Nikki was definitely worth it.
*