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“Mainly the brothel, but they come together. Anyways, my dad’s killer is the husband of the owner.”
“Ms. Adelaide? Ain’t she like one hundred and twenty years old?” someone else asks, making the room laugh.
“Ms. Adelaide doesn’t own it. A woman named Ronnie does. She is on the run from him because he wants to kill her. She came here, became friends with Ms. Adelaide, and took over the business since, as you said, Adelaide is one hundred and twenty years old, and she wants to retire,”
“How do you know?”
“Cause I met her. She stole the Hayabusa,” I say, and everyone quiets down, knowing that’s a death sentence in and of itself, but they also know what that bike means to me and Bones. “Anyway, I tracked her down, got the bike, and the story. The mafia out of the Maryland D.C. area is still here, so I got Slim and Shadow there watching out for Ms. Adelaide.”
“Lucky bastards.”
“I am going to meet with Giovanni to pay the debt Ronnie’s husband owes and send him on his way, and then I am going to deal with the husband Sinner style.”
“Everyone stay frosty. If Lion can’t get this Giovanni to go quietly, we’ll have to convince him, and that will probably lead to a messy bullshit war. However, avenging Big Easy is non-negotiable. We will get payback in blood for the death of our brother,” Loki says, and everyone agrees. “Be ready to help Lion and Bones do what needs to be done. This meeting is over. Dismissed. Sinners all.”
“Never Fall,” we all replied.
“The meeting is set, two days from now at Cypress,” Bones tells me.
“Gotcha. We’ll meet but I am going in alone. I need to post up somewhere with a rifle. Talk to Dragon or Loki about some additional backup,” I tell him, making my way out the clubhouse.
“In a hurry?”
“Yes, I left her by herself with Jazz and Blues,”
“Mmm hmm,” he says, knowing it’s more than the fact I left her at my house with my lions alone, and he would be right. I miss her. I hated leaving her this morning, but as secretary, I could not be late for church this morning. “I’ll be out later today or tomorrow,” he says, and I shake my head in acknowledgment. He peels off on his bike, and I am almost to mine when my Prez’s voice halts me in my tracks.
“I want to meet her. The next time you come to the clubhouse bring her with you.” I turn to him to feign ignorance when he says, “The fact that she is still alive after she stole your dad’s bike is all I need to know. Bring her.” He finishes turning on his heels and walking away.
I get on the bike, start it, and take off. I make a stop by the store to pick up some provisions since we ate everything between fucking all over the house and head to her. Just this little time apart has me missing her like crazy. I feel like a teenager again.
Ronnie
I watch those big ass cats chase something before catching it and, I assume, eating it. Lion says he brings live animals in for them to eat, which is cruel, but I guess if they were still in the wild, that’s what they’d be doing, so I guess I understand. Every time Lion goes out to feed them or play with them, he takes an article of clothing that I have worn and lets them smell it before rubbing it on them. He says he is familiarizing them withmy scent, making me family. Apparently, someone bought them from an illegal breeder and used them in an illegal fighting ring. The owner felt that since they were lions, it was fair to let them fight a Kangal, and both of them almost died. The owner took the cubs and threw them in a dumpster behind a bar to let them die, and Lion’s father found them there and brought them home to Lion. He nursed them back to health but was told they could never be released into the wild because of some of the injuries they sustained, so Lion has had them ever since.
When he left me this morning, I immediately felt the loss. I felt lonelier than I have felt in a long time. With him being gone, I was able to relive last night on the kitchen table. I will never look at a kitchen table the same way again. I was a virgin when I married Franklin, but I had heard what other girls said about sex, and I wasn’t a stranger to porn. I had even had a chance to witness a few acts while I was with my uncle but he always limited that stuff. So imagine my surprise when on my wedding night it was lackluster and completely unsatisfying, at least for me. Franklin finished, rolled over, farted, and immediately fell asleep. Meanwhile, I laid there wondering if that was what all the hype was about. It didn’t take me long to realize that Franklin and I's sex life was full of shit. When I tried vocalizing my wants, he got so pissed off with me. I thought his head was going to explode, and he basically told me that I was the one at fault. After a while, I started to believe him. I thought maybe I was one of those women who have a hard time cumming, especially from sex. I lived with that shortcoming until last night. Lion had me cumming so much so fast that I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was Franklin and not me.
Where is he?Ugh, who is this needy woman I’ve become? And for the man whose bike I stole and who was going to kill me. I can’t keep sitting here twiddling my thumbs, and I think I remember some equipment under the house where he parksthe bike, but the lions are out there. Well, in for a penny, in for a pound, and all that. I grab my phone, stuffing it in my back pocket before taking a deep breath and walking out of the door. I leave the big door open since there is a screen door and head down the stairs. As soon as my foot touches the cool concrete I hear a chuff coming from behind me. Well this is going to either go good or go bad, and I turn to face Jazz and Blues.Don’t pee, don’t pee, don’t pee,I chant to my bladder and urethra. Both lions walk over to me, circling me, and I stand perfectly still, waiting.They haven’t attacked yet so that’s a good sign,right? My internal monologue is driving me crazy. Finally, they walk to the front of me and sit down. Well, Blues does. Jazz walks over to me and bumps his massive head on my hand. I assume asking for pets, to which I oblige cause who the hell is going to tell them no? I lift a shaky hand and run it over his mane. And just like a sibling, as soon as Blues sees his brother getting love, he walks over, nudging my other hand, and before I know it, I am rubbing and scratching two honest to god lions.
“Okay, okay, boys, I’m hungry, so let's see if we can scrounge up some food,” I tell them, walking over to the pile of equipment, among them a fishing pole and net, along with a few other things. I grab everything I can carry and begin walking toward the beach. There are no other houses for miles, but Lion still has the beach fenced off from the lions. I open the gate and realize Jazz and Blues are following me. “Now listen, I am not your dad, and I have no idea if you guys will continue to listen to me, but if you come through the fence, you have to stay with me, okay? No running off,” I say, looking at them both like I am waiting for an answer.Girl, you’ve lost it.But they both walk over, sit at my feet, and look up at me like they did, in fact, understand me, and this was their answer. We walk through the gate, and it opens up to a gorgeous, almost white sand beach.Wow. The boys take off for the water that’s not too far ahead and begin playing in it. Itoe my shoes off and roll my pants up to my knees before joining them in the water with the net and rod.
Lion
I break every speed limit and street law there is getting back to Ronnie. I stop byRichards, and grab some provisions since we pretty much ran through everything between last night and this morning. I threw the groceries in the bags on the bike, praying I didn’t break every egg in the carton, and take off home. I swear this road is longer than I have ever remembered. This woman has gotten under my skin and stolen my heart like she stole my damn bike. For years I didn’t think it would ever happen to me, I wasn’t looking or asking for it, and it came into my life like a damn hurricane, and I am not mad about it at all. Finally, I see the fence line. I enter the code on the keypad and wait for the gate to open before I speed down the road to the house. When I get close to the house, I blink a few times because I know I have to be hallucinating, but the scene doesn’t change as I get closer. She is outside under the house, sitting on the ground, hand-feeding MY lions! They don’t even move when I pull up. They stay right by her side. I stop the bike, leaving a few feet from them, remove my helmet, and make my way over to her, marveling at how she’s gotten my beasts to trust her so easily.
“Are you feeding my boys fish, and are those blue crabs?” I ask incredulously.
“Yes, and yes. I left some for you over there.” She points to the pot on the outside griddle. I head over to see she has caught a pot full of blue crab along with corn and potatoes and on the grill are fish she must have caught. I wash my hands at the outdoor sink before picking up a plate, heaping it with food, and coming back to take a seat next to her on the ground.
“Where did you get the potatoes and corn and stuff from?” I ask, biting into her food and moaning from the flavor that explodes in my mouth.
“You actually have a pretty stocked pantry, and I found the rest of the stuff in your freezer. I wanted to cook inside, but the boys kept hollering, so I came out here to cook, and before I knew it, I was on the ground feeding them and me. We had a great time on the beach catching dinner,” she says, stuffing the sweet crab in her mouth.
“You took them to the beach?” I ask, eyebrows raised to my hairline. “And they didn’t run away from you?”
“Nope, we had a conversation before I went out there and let them know I wouldn’t be tolerating any bullshit,”
“I’m at a loss for words.”
