Rain
“DID YOU HEAR ANYTHING YET?”
“Not yet,” Devino says. “Can’t count on too many people to actually do their damn jobs. I’ll start figuring shit out myself.” He tosses his cigarette onto the stone drive in front of my house and puts it out with the toe of his boot as he leans against his truck. “How she doin’?” he asks, nodding in the direction of the house.
“Better than I thought she would be. I’m not sure if she’s really that tough or just . . . conditioned.”
Devino’s face twists as he shakes it in disgust. That was a rule even we followed. Never hit a woman.
I thought having him out here would make me feel nervous. Vulnerable. But when Devino pulled up to the house with my car, I didn’t feel that way. I actually got a little fucking excited. It was like the weight had been lifted from my tired shoulders. The air was a little lighter and the sun that was shining above didn’t make my skin burn.
“Thanks for bringing my car back.” I clear my throat and force out the words that I never thought would come out of my mouth. “You should come out next week. We’ll have a cookout or something.”
Devino smiles and smacks my bicep. “I’ll fuckin’ do that.” Quickly removing it and placing it on the back of his neck, he rubs and angles his head up sideways at me squinting from the sun. “I’ve missed the hell out of ya’. Wanted to come find your ass. But Klipp told me to leave you alone. Said he promised to let you live out your days free of the shit. I respected you enough to listen.”
“You know it was never you, right? It was the job. It was Jansen. Not you.”
“I know.” Then he gets in his truck and gives me the finger as he pulls away. Classic Devino.
Looking back at my cabin, the smile on my face is uncontrollable as I realize my entire life is inside. Last night while lying next to Charlie’s beat-up body, I swore to protect her for the rest of my days. I gently traced her peaceful face and tucked a stray hair behind her ear as she slept in my arms. Then I battled the demons that raged inside of me for every bruise, cut, and scar on her milky skin. My fingertips shook as I grazed every one of them, swearing to destroy anyone who dare touch her again. The palm of my hand rested on her belly for the poor child who never asked for any of this. It took me a long time to fall asleep, partly because Luther’s huge ass had shoved himself in between our legs and was taking up over half of the bed. He refused to not have some part of him touching Charlie. Even though my back ached and my feet stuck out from the side of the bed, I loved him for it.
I pull the car that Charlie drove away in back into the bay in the garage. As I stand back looking at it, I decide it needs a new paint job. Every time I watch her take this car somewhere, it will be a constant and painful reminder of the mistakes I made. Mistakes that almost cost me everything. Never again.
It’s been a few days since we got back to the house. Charlie can’t get into the doctor that Nicole recommended until after the weekend to check on the baby like the ER doctor advised. I told her to stay on the couch, but I can see the silhouette of her body moving around through the windows. She’s been so nervous about the baby that she can’t sit still. Two presses on the horn is all it takes for Charlie to appear on the porch. Her long auburn hair flowing behind her from the gentle breeze exposes her sleeveless, gray, jersey knit dress. With both arms folded across her chest, her plump breasts pillowing over the top of the neckline makes me almost regret blowing my horn. Seeing her like this is damn near brutal. I shout out of the rolled-down window, “Want to go to town?”
Her smile widens in excitement. “Yeah. Let me get a coat on.”
As soon as she’s out of sight in the house, I firmly adjust myself. She better get a coat on, or I won’t be able to get out of the damn truck.
“Where are we going?” she asks, as she carefully pulls herself into the truck. She sucks in a small breath and grabs her side. Immediately, she looks to me and shakes off my concerned look.
“Groceries.”
“But it’s the middle of the afternoon?”
“I know. Thought I’d try something new.” I smile.
Three hours, two parking lots, and a fast-food drive-thru later, I’ve decided I hate daytime grocery shopping.
“Well, I tried it. Won’t be doing that again. Two a.m. shopping is way faster.”
“It didn’t help that it’s Saturday.” Charlie giggles as she finishes her chocolate milkshake. “Never go on Saturdays.”
Instead of parking the truck in the garage, I pulled it close to the steps of the front porch to unload the groceries. Charlie begins to grab bags from the back.
“Put that shit down,” I say, taking it from her hands. “I’ll do this. You go sit down.”
“I want to help.”
“You’ll be helping me if you go sit your ass down.”
Her face softens as I meet her honey eyes, and she pushes her body against me. I place a kiss on the top of her head and breathe in the sweet scent of her fruity shampoo. She angles back and presses her soft pink lips to mine. Watching her trot inside looking more beautiful than I have ever seen. Times like these make it really fucking hard to doubt fate.
As I place the bags onto the table, Charlie’s horrified gasp from the living room sends me flying to her side. With the TV remote in one hand, her other over her mouth and tears in her eyes, I pull her into me as we listen to the reporter.
“Powerhouse local attorney Austen Greenwood was found dead early this morning along with multiple known gang members. An anonymous insider claims that Greenwood has recently come under fire for allegations of corruption. Greenwood had multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead on the scene by Multnomah County Coroner.”
Taking the remote out of her frozen hand, I set it down and turn her body to face me. Her head doesn’t follow and remains locked on the TV. We hadn’t talked about what happened to Austen. She didn’t ask, and I wasn’t going to tell her until she did.
“I . . . I just assumed. You know? I knew,” she says, her eyes filled to the brim with tears that hadn’t yet fallen. “I should be happy, right? He hurt me for years. Why do I feel so sad?”
“You loved him at one point?” I asked, and she reluctantly nodded. “Stop questioning how you feel. You need to be sad, then do it.”
As Charlie weeps into my shoulder, I can’t help but think how glad I am that fucker is dead. He got what was coming to him. Karma holds no bounds. As her body begins to stop shaking from her sobs, she takes a deep breath and a step back. She wipes the wetness from her cheeks and looks me straight in my eyes with a look so fierce it makes me falter.
“And that is the last time a tear will ever be shed because of Austen.”
She nods her head in certainty, then moves to the kitchen. That woman is amazing, and she’s all mine.
“Nicole, what the hell are you doing here?” I ask her as she comes bouncing up to me, the smile of pure deceit evident on her face.
“Am I not allowed to come and visit my favorite brother?”
“Devino is coming to dinner tonight. You weren’t invited.”
“Are you sure about that?”
Charlie rushes out of the front door onto the porch, waving happily at Nicole. She waves to her, then turns back to me with her devious smile. This isn’t sitting well with me. Devino is the last man I’d picture for my sister. He’s my best friend. Hell, he’s my only friend. But he’s a sick son of a bitch.
“Charlie invited you,” I state, already knowing the answer.
“I brought the spuds.” She smiles as she gestures to the bag in her hand holding a casserole of potatoes. “Spuds for the studs.” She giggles as she heads into the house.
Smacking my hand to my face, my eyes roll uncontrollably. I guess it won’t be too bad since Nicole and Charlie are so close. This will give me some time alone to talk with Devino. I need to hear what he’s found. He told me earlier he’d have his answers by the time he came for dinner.
I’m in the garage when I hear the roar from Devino’s Mustang pull up. I learned all about my love for old cars from him and Klipp. As I make my way out to the drive, I see his Royal Blue 1967 GT Fastback parked next to Nicole’s plain, ugly sedan. Regular cars just never did anything for me.
“Hey, man,” he says as we slap our hands together in a handshake.
“What’s that?” I ask, pointing to the grocery bag he’s holding.
“Charlie said for me to bring the buns.”
“Oh, you brought ‘em all right.”
“Nic!” I shout as Devino smiles and turns to see Nicole standing behind him on the porch. Her wicked eyebrows bounce up and down on her face with laser beam eyes.
“This is going to be a long damn night,” I say, and both Devino and Nicole chuckle.
“I’ll take those,” she says, holding her hands out. Devino walks to the side of the porch and hands the bag up to Nicole. I watch their exchange, not sure I like what’s happening here. Devino starts walking back to me. “I’ll take those, too.” Her arm stretch out, finger pointed right at his ass.
“Nicole!”
She laughs as she turns and goes back in the house to help Charlie.
As Charlie finishes up preparing dinner that she refused to let me help with, Devino and I sit on the porch.
“Please tell me you’re a lying sack of shit right now.”
“I wish I was,” Devino says. “I’ve done some fucked up shit in my lifetime. But that was done by Satan himself. Here’s the address. And here’s the name of the cemetery.”
“Don’t say anything. I’ll talk to her tonight.”
Devino nods then twists his head as Charlie walks out.
“Hey, Zach.”
Charlie’s warm, welcoming voice slithers down my back. I’d love nothing more than to kick the other two out and show my woman the real love she deserves. One she’s owed. It’s taken everything in me to hold myself at bay from her body. But until we went to the doctor today and got confirmation that everything is looking okay with the baby, I wasn’t risking it.
“Charlie,” he says, getting up and taking her hand. “How are you feelin’?”
“For this minute, I’m good,” she says, laughing. “Dinner’s ready.”
Having dinner at a table surrounded with the people I care about the most is something I miss. My mom was always strict on eating dinner at the table with the family. Now years later, it’s clear why. It’s hard to keep track how many times I’ve yelled at Nicole for some pun she threw towards Devino at the table. Charlie nearly spit out her food in laughter at one of them. The two of those women are going to raise some hellfire in this house. Devino is no better; he is laughing right alongside of them. It’s obvious that Devino and Nicole get along well. But I haven’t made up my mind on whether I like him around her. I’ve seen what he’s capable of. Never mind the women who used to come and go quicker than the sand running through a three-minute timer. Friends is one thing, but I saw their eyes meet. Friends isn’t what either of them have on their minds. As the evening goes on, I have every intention on having a solid conversation with Devino before he leaves to stay the fuck away from my sister.
With the dishes going in the dishwasher, Devino and Nicole head into the living room. Nicole trips over one of Luther’s toys on the ground, and before I can even step out of the kitchen, Devino has her in his arms. In my opinion, they are holding on a little too long. Charlie comes up behind me as we watch them in the living room from the kitchen. Her fingers wrap around my pulsing bicep.
“Leave them be, Rain. She’s a big girl.”
“I know what he’s like.”
“Like you?” she asks. Her wet lips touch the back of my arm, and bumps rise on the back of my neck.
“That’s the problem.”
Charlie moves in front of me and pulls my face down to look at hers. “If I fell, would you catch me?”
“You’d never touch the ground, Angel.”
“Yep,” she says, looking back at them. “He’s just like you.”
I look over her shoulder and see Devino still holding Nicole, their lips together and her feet slightly hovering over the ground. I rub a defeated hand over my face. “Son of a bitch.”
The sound of running water from the bathroom makes my fingers twitch. I want to go in there and swipe my tongue over every inch of her body. But I can’t. I’m about to drop a nuclear bomb on her that won’t be easy. The water cuts off, and I know she’ll be out in a minute, so I take a sip of my beer, trying to figure out exactly what the hell to say. I’m zoned in on Luther and playing this conversation out in my head when she’s suddenly right in front of me.
“You okay?” she asks.
Her nose scrunches and she spots the beer. With the speed of a roadrunner, she bolts to the bathroom with her hand over her mouth. Shit. I forgot about the beer. Grabbing it, I quickly head to the kitchen and dump it down the drain, then toss the bottle in the garbage.
I shrug as she comes back out. “Sorry about that. Slipped my mind.”
“It’s okay.” She gets a glass of ice water, then sits on the couch under a blanket and Luther hightails it right to her. He places his head over her belly and closes his eyes as she strokes his fur. “What were you thinking about when I came out here?” she asks.
“I’ve got to tell you something that might not be easy to hear. You good for that?”
Her worried eyes angle at me from the side of her face. “Tell me.”
“It’s about your parents.”
The glass clanks hard against the side table as she sets it down. Luther grunts as she pulls her legs out from under him and turns fully toward me.
“Tell me.”
“I have the name of the cemetery. Devino did some work for me. Found the cemetery where your dad is buried.”
She picks up on that right away. Her confused expression is only the beginning of what’s to come.
“Are you telling me they buried my parents in two different cemeteries? Why would they do that?”
My head begins to slowly shake from side to side. “Your mom isn’t buried. She isn’t dead.”
Charlie’s pale skin grows nearly transparent. The whites of her eyes grow large and freeze as if the words had just impaled her.
“Wha . . . what? I . . . I don’t understand. They died in a car accident.”
“Your dad died, Angel. Your mother did not.”
To watch her chest visibly heave with pain so deep makes me want to set this world on fire. I want to annihilate anything that causes her that kind of hurt. Makes me wish I could bring Austen back to life so that I can kill him all over again.
“If that’s true, why didn’t she call me herself to tell me that my dad died? Why didn’t she try to come and see me?”
“She did.”
Devino is good at what he does. He found the letters that her mom had been trying to send to her for years, explaining everything.
“When? I never heard or saw her agai—” Her hands sink into her hair, and it pains me to watch her grip two handfuls in frustration. “Austen,” she whispers, seething.
I nod. “Austen.”