Page 30 of Undefeated

“What do you weigh, a hundred pounds?” Ripp asked.

“Thometimeth,” I responded.

“Sometimes,” Shane said.

“Dependth on what I eat,” I said.

“Depends on what she…” Shane started to say.

“I can fucking understand her. It just takes me a minute,” Ripp said angrily as he shook his head.

“He’s not mad at you, babe. He’s just mad,” Shane said as he rubbed my thigh.

Shane stood up from the lounge chair.

“I’m gonna kill him, Dekk. The dead kind,” Ripp said as pressed the knuckles of his right hand into his left palm.

“I’ll take care of this,” Shane said.

Ripp shook his head.

“Sorry, brother. Can’t let that happen. I gotta leave you here with the girl. If something goes to shit, if the cops get called, I can’t risk that. She needs you. Look at her. And I don’t just mean now. Shit, Dekk. When you tell me stories about you two eating lunch…well, your fucking eyes light up. This little girl means the world to you. Let’s let what happens between you two happen. If you’re in jail, she’s alone again. Hell, that fuck nugget might come back,” he said.

Shane pulled his hood over his head and paced back and forth across the deck.

“I don’t know, Ripp. It’s my deal. It’s my fight. I don’t let people fight my fights for me,” Shane said as he shoved his hands in his hoodie pockets.

“Listen to me, Dekk,” Ripp turned toward Shane.

Shane stopped pacing and faced Ripp.

“You got nobody. You ain’t got a dad, and you ain’t got any family that I know of. I got two sisters and a mother and father. I never had a brother – until I met you. Always wanted one. You need to take care of this girl. Let her take care of you – she needs that too. This is about minimizing risk. I got this. You’re in Texas, not Compton. This is how we do it here in the great state of Texas. We take care of our family. You’re my family,” he wrapped his arms around Shane and hugged him.

“Let me go with ya,” Shane said as Ripp released him.

“No can do, bro. I got this,” Ripp responded.

Shane shook his head and rubbed his hood into the sides of his face.

“Just don’t kill him,” Shane said.

“Can’t make that promise. We’ll see how it goes,” Ripp said as he walked toward the barbeque grill.

“Damn it, Ripp,” Shane said softly, almost as if talking to himself.

“I ain’t gonna do it right now. I need to eat,” Ripp said as he grabbed a few more pieces of chicken from the platter that sat beside the grill.

He walked back toward his chair with a plate full of chicken. As he sat in the chair and started devouring another piece of chicken, he nudged his head toward the back door.

“Go inside Dekk and get her a piece of paper off my desk. And a pen. I need her to write down everything about this asshole that she knows. Everything,” He said as he dropped a bone onto the plate.

As I watched him eat it dawned on me that he was probably the biggest human being I had ever seen. I have never seen anyone, of any size, that was as muscular as he was. He was a boxer, like Shane, but he was huge. Without a doubt he would either beat Josh half to death or possibly even kill him.

After spending ten years with Josh, I realized that a small part of me should feel sorrow for what might happen. Maybe I should feel a little compassion and want to prevent it from occurring.

I felt nothing.

I looked at him as he ate another piece of chicken. His head was cleanly shaven and he had hair on the tip of his chin. He was very tan, almost like he was Hispanic, but he was white. As he chewed, I could see the muscles in his neck and jaw flex.