Micah

 

The next morning, I fixed Kaci breakfast. Then I took Kaci to all the places I thought she'd want to go that a life like hers would have kept from.

 

We parked my bike down at Club Hades and headed down to Cafe Du Monde, a few blocks away, for coffee and beignets, their wonderful fried dough and powdered sugar practically melting in our mouths. We fought back through the crowds and strolled through the French Quarter, then, just window shopping as we walked by all the businesses throughout the neighborhood.

 

We pushed past a bustle of tourists and headed out to the river, down to the walk. We were side-by-side on the sidewalk, our hands just barely touching.

 

I'd never exactly been much of a hand holder, or anything like that. I'd never felt the need, especially since I hadn't ever really felt this way about a woman. Not before.

 

“Been down here?” I asked as we approached the Big Muddy.

 

She shook her head. Then sort of shrugged. “Kinda. Never really been down to the river just to, you know, hang out or anything. I grew up near it, though, back home, and we'd go down to the edge of it sometimes and get high, drink some beers.”

 

“Back home, huh?” I asked. “Up North?”

 

She nodded, bit her lip.

 

We looked out over the railing at the river, watching it churn and flow as it made its way out to the sea. “Your brother was there in that hotel to take you home, wasn't he?”

 

“Yeah,” she said, nodding a little, “my stepfather went away on a DUI, so we were free from him. I could've gone home.”

 

“Would you have?” I asked. Had her brother not been there in that hotel room, she and I would have met under completely different circumstances. Abram would still be alive, and she'd still be one of the girls he was running. Would she have caught my eye? Or would she have just been some street-walker I would have turned down at the end of the meeting, then left forever?

 

The thought that it took her brother dying for us to meet was somehow disheartening. But, strangely, it somehow gave my feelings more import. Like, somehow, we were meant to meet.

 

“I was going to,” she replied. “Romeo and I were about to leave when Abram came back. Then, well, you were outside my hotel room when I came running out.” Kaci glanced down at my hand next to hers. They were the smallest fractions of an inch apart.

 

I looked down, followed her gaze, and smiled a little.

 

Without saying a word, she slid her hand into mine, and our fingers entwined together.

 

“I'll take you home when this is all done,” I said, the words leaving my mouth before I even realized I was speaking them. “Give you a shot at a new life.”

 

She laughed, the sound like the tinkling of bells to me.

 

“Who said I wanted to go home to that piece of shit anyways?” she asked, then laughed again.

 

# # #

Kaci

 

“I don't think you could pay me to live in a small town ever again,” I said, leaning up again Micah’s side and gripping his hand tighter.

 

He laughed. “Really? But that's home, right?”

 

“When Romeo was around, maybe,” I said, the laughter leaving my voice. “But I realized just now, when you told me you'd take me home, that, well, Romeo was the only thing tying me there. What would I do, anyways? Get knocked up and have a bunch of kids with some meth-head, then go to church on Sunday, while I'm working at Tilly's Diner every night?”

 

He grinned. “Nah, I guess not.”

 

“Can you picture me with grease stains all over my outfit?” I asked, returning his grin as a lopsided smile.

 

“So, what do you want to do, then?” he asked, emphasizing the first “do.”

 

I shrugged. “Stay here with you, if it's an option.”

 

A look of shock passed over his face, one that was soon replaced with realization. “With me?”

 

“Yeah,” I said, bumping into his side with my shoulder. “Why not?”

 

“Well, first thing, you know I'm gonna be a hell of a lot poorer with Efraim behind bars. No guns getting stolen means no money coming in.”

 

I rolled my eyes and turned my attention back to the water. “Micah, you know why I like you?” I asked after a while.

 

“Cause I'm a bad ass and great in bed?”

 

I laughed and shook my head. “Yes, Micah, you are. But, I respect you, too. I respect that you're trying to go after this guy, and trying to get him for me. Even though you know it's going to hurt the bottom line. That takes guts, especially when you're leading the men you are.”

 

“Well,” he said, putting an arm around me and pulling me close, “at least it's not just Gov that respects it. I just hope we come out on top.”

 

I let him crush me into his chest, the smell of him and the city filling my senses. “We will,” I whispered. “Don't worry, we will.”